


Dedicated

by Luciel89



Series: Bonded verse [4]
Category: Original Work, Supernatural
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Anal Sex, Domestic, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Interspecies, Light feminization even though subs are not exactly males, M/M, Masturbation, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Minor Character Death, Mpreg, Oil glands, Oral Sex, Possessive Behavior, Pregnant Sex, Racism, Self-Lubrication, Sex Toys, Sexism, Size Kink, Tails, Wing Kink, Wingfic, tail!sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-07
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2018-02-03 18:27:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 73
Words: 877,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1754113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luciel89/pseuds/Luciel89
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Demon/Angel AU. This story is a spin-off to my Bonded Verse stories, so please read those first! The story follows Noah and Jayden’s lives as they go through college, mating, parenthood, and life’s challenges.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a **spin-off** to my Bonded, Mated, Devoted stories, and it focuses on the life of Dean and Castiel’s son Noah and his boyfriend Jayden. If you haven’t read the other stories, Dedicated won’t make any sense to you, so I highly recommend you read those first!
> 
>  **Beta** : Chapters 1-15 are beta’ed by [Mishasenpai](http://mishasenpai.tumblr.com/). From chapter 16-50, the story is beta'ed by [bookwormblondie](http://bookwormblondie.tumblr.com/), and from chapter 52+ the story is beta'ed by [That_One_Curly_Haired_Fangirl](http://that-one-curly-haired-chick.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> **Notes** : I’m pretty amazed that I’m actually continuing with this verse. I thought for sure it would be over after Devoted, but it seems that so many readers really like Noah and Jayden, so in the end I decided to give them their own story :) I’m really not used to writing a story that has this much focus on OCs so that’s a little new for me, and it has made this chapter pretty challenging. But I’m accepting the challenge, and I hope the outcome will turn out well! :)
> 
> **Find character descriptions and house layouts here:[Livejournal](http://luciel89.livejournal.com/62063.html). **

**November 2044 (Noah is 18, Jayden is 20, Christie is 18).**  
  
Noah woke up that morning when he felt Jayden shift under him. He was lying with his head on the alpha’s naked chest, his body leaning into Jayden’s, and with Jayden’s arm wrapped around his waist as they lay there.  
  
Jayden had stayed the night in Noah’s dorm room in secret. It wasn’t really allowed, but sometimes when Christie was willing to sleep with some friends of hers further down the corridor in their room, Noah would invite Jayden over to stay in his dorm room for the night so that they could spend some time together and make up for the sex that they normally didn’t get to have on school days.  
  
Noah let out an annoyed grunt as Jayden’s shifting woke him up, and the alpha chuckled fondly at him when he saw Noah snuggle into him and try to get settled to sleep again. The alpha turned his head to look at the clock on the night stand, seeing that it was 7:28am already. The room was mostly dark, but a bit of light on the other side of the curtains made them able to see a little bit of the room around them.  
  
“C’mon, you gotta wake up. It’s 7:28,” Jayden spoke. He reached out his hand towards the alarm clock and switched it off before it would go off at 7:30, and he turned on the lamp as well.  
  
Noah whined and refused to move away. Instead, he shied away from the disturbing light from the lamp and snuggled even closer to the alpha. “But my classes first start at 9:30…”  
  
“I know, but mine start at 8:30,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“Doesn’t mean that _I_ have to get up already,” the submissive murmured against Jayden’s chest. His eyes were still closed and his voice was sleepy and hoarse. He shifted a bit and put his leg in the space between Jayden’s, causing the front of his body and his soft dick to get pressed into Jayden’s naked skin. Noah was nude like Jayden was, and he hummed absently as he felt their naked skin touch. It felt nice. His right wing was resting down along his side and touching some of Jayden’s skin too, and he could feel the alpha’s softened but still somewhat rough feathers under him as he lay on top of Jayden’s wing.  
  
“You do have to get up, otherwise I’ll just have to have sex with you while you’re still asleep,” Jayden smirked. He moved his hand on Noah’s waist down towards his boyfriend’s perfect, naked ass and ran it across the soft skin. Noah made a soft noise at that, and Jayden smirked as he moved his fingers down to the cleft of Noah’s ass and teased them over his hole.  
  
Noah gasped and jerked away from him so that he was sitting up and scowling down at Jayden. “Don’t do that!” he groused, blushing furiously.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Why? It was _your_ suggestion that I come here and sleep over so that we can be together, and we still have time for one more round of sex.”  
  
“I know. But you touching me there when I’m not aroused yet or prepared for it… It startled me,” Noah murmured. The light from the lamp hit his face more now, and he squinted his eyes together because his eyes weren’t used to it just yet. It was too early and he was too tired to have any light shining in his face.  
  
Jayden smiled at him and then pulled him down for a kiss. Noah melted against him and shifted so that his legs were framing Jayden’s hips while his body was pressed flush against Jayden’s and their mouths were connected. Jayden grasped Noah’s hair tightly in a dominant gesture as he devoured Noah’s mouth, seeking to dominate the kiss. Noah fought him a bit until his wings slumped submissively behind him and let Jayden take charge of their kiss and deepen it further. The alpha let out a pleased growl at that and licked his tongue all over the inside of Noah’s mouth while keeping him in place with his hand in his hair, swallowing the needy mewls that came from his boyfriend.  
  
Jayden was always very gentle and affectionate with Noah, but in bed they both liked it when he was rough and dominating sometimes. He still always made sure that Noah was comfortable, and he would caress or touch Noah ever so tenderly sometimes even while he was a bit rough with him. Noah liked that a lot about him. He liked that no matter how rough, dominant, and horny Jayden got, he was still gentle inside and took care of him.  
  
The kiss was deep and dirty and Noah loved it. He mewled into Jayden’s mouth and writhed on top of him, making his hardening dick nudge against Jayden’s abdomen and his ass push into the alpha’s already hard cock.  
  
Jayden pulled away from the kiss to let them both breathe, and they panted against each other. “Fuck,” he cursed when Noah grinded against him and made Jayden’s cock nudge his ass and get some of Noah’s slick on it. It was fucking hot and it made Jayden desperate to just fuck him already.  
  
“Your tail,” Noah said all of sudden.  
  
Jayden looked at him, confused. “What?”  
  
“Your tail – put it in me and stretch me. I want you. Please?” Noah begged, panting as he held himself up with his hands placed on either side of Jayden’s head and stared back down at him.  
  
Jayden blinked at him before slowly reaching his hand down to Noah’s ass, probing his hole with his fingers to determine whether or not it was loose enough to take his tail. They had had sex just eight hours ago, but Noah quickly got all tight again, so Jayden often needed to stretch him once more the following morning.  
  
When his fingers entered Noah’s hole, Noah gasped softly and let out a moan. Jayden grunted in appreciation when he felt the hole still somewhat stretched but also tight and already wet and hot for him. He pushed three fingers into him and swirled them around a bit before he pulled them out and replaced them with his tail.  
  
“Ah!” Noah exclaimed, fisting his hands in the pillow under Jayden’s head as he supported himself with his hands next to Jayden’s head. His eyes were squeezed shut in pleasure and his mouth was open as he felt the alpha’s strong tail going inside him. Jayden appreciated that sight before he slowly began thrusting his tail in and out of the tight hole, feeling it clench around his tail like it didn’t want to let it slip out. “Ah, god!” Noah cried out.  
  
Jayden chuckled and put his hands on Noah’s hips, holding him still as he pleasured him with his tail, soon speeding up the thrusts and twisting it around inside him. “Like that?”  
  
“Ah, yes! Feels so good,” Noah moaned, grasping the pillow tighter. He tried to meet Jayden’s thrusts of his tail by moving his hips, but Jayden kept him still and forced him to just take it. Noah obediently kept himself still and moaned as his boyfriend pleasured him.  
  
“You know, I really like it when you’re such a slut for my tail. It’s really hot,” Jayden smirked, unable to take his eyes off Noah’s face which was full of pleasure and loss of control. He could only imagine what his squirming tail felt like for Noah inside his sensitive ass.  
  
Noah blushed, briefly becoming rather self-aware again, and he seemed almost ashamed of how desperate he was for having Jayden inside him. Jayden just grinned at it, finding it pretty cute. He moved one hand up to the back of Noah’s neck and pulled him down for a deep kiss, still thrusting his tail in and out of him and twisting it around inside.  
  
“Ah,” Noah moaned between the kisses, panting from pleasure and trying to catch his breath whenever their lips parted.  
  
“Mm,” Jayden hummed and let their noses touch as they took a break from kissing. “Can I fuck you now? My dick is getting pretty jealous of my tail already.”  
  
Noah looked really embarrassed all of sudden, and he just nodded in reply and let out another small gasp as Jayden’s tail struck his prostate and cervix inside him.  
  
Jayden growled in approval and placed a quick kiss on Noah’s lips before he pulled out his tail and all but pushed Noah onto his back, switching their positions. Noah gave a short yelp of surprise as he was suddenly on his back with his wings spread out on the bed, and then Jayden parted his legs, grabbed his hips, and shoved his dick into him before Noah was even prepared for it.  
  
“Ah!” Noah grunted in response to the intrusion, and quickly locked his feet behind Jayden’s back to hold onto him as the alpha started pounding into his body.  
  
Jayden pressed his body down into Noah, completely trapping him under him, and grasped his somewhat rough grey feathers tightly. The action caused Noah to buck up into him with a loud moan, and Jayden leaned down to gently suck on Noah’s neck while he fucked into him. He was going in deep with every thrust, his balls slapping against Noah’s ass every time he thrust forward, and Noah was clinging to him and digging his nails into Jayden’s back. It was rough and desperate, and they were both glad that there was no one around to hear it.  
  
“Fuck, I’m coming,” Jayden warned, his voice deep and rough from sex, and he buried his face in Noah’s neck as he felt his muscles begin to contract before his orgasm.  
  
“Me too,” Noah moaned in reply. He grasped a hold of the alpha’s softened feathers and held onto to them as his orgasm was about to take over his body.  
  
They clung to each other as climax finally hit them. They came with a sharp grunt of each other’s names and squeezed their eyes shut as the waves of pleasure took over and shook their bodies.  
  
Jayden panted through the rest of his orgasm, pressing as far into Noah as he could as he shot his load into him in waves. Noah squirmed under him and ran soothing hands up and down Jayden’s back, humming in content as he listened to the alpha’s moans as he rode out his orgasm.  
  
When it was over Jayden slumped and went limp on top of Noah, though still keeping most of his weight off him.  
  
“Mm,” Jayden hummed and nuzzled Noah’s neck with affection. He inhaled the submissive’s scent which always had a nice, spicy sweetness to it when they had sex. It was the best smell Jayden knew, though he couldn’t help but wonder sometimes how sweet Noah would smell when he was heat. Jayden imagined him to smell better than any food and any perfume in the world; a smell that was so heavenly that even God would admire it. He really hoped he would get to smell it one day.  
  
Jayden slowly leaned back a little so that they were looking at each other. Noah smiled fondly at him and reached up his hand to cup the alpha’s cheek. His smile widened a bit at how Jayden leaned into his touch.  
  
“I don’t want you to leave…”  
  
Jayden’s face turned kind of sad at Noah’s words, and he supported himself on one arm as he moved up one hand to cover Noah’s on his cheek. “I know. I don’t wanna go either, but we both have school.”  
  
Noah watched Jayden’s handsome face, running his thumb over Jayden’s cheek in small, gentle motions and felt tiny bit of stubble under it. Jayden usually shaved all beard and stubble away, but sometimes Noah could feel a bit of roughness on his skin when stubble was beginning to grow again. He kind of liked that feel. It was masculine and sort of fascinating to Noah, who didn’t grow any stubble or beard himself.  
  
“Can we meet up after school and do something together?” Noah asked, still watching Jayden’s face and rubbing his thumb over the alpha’s cheek in slow motions. “We’re both off at 3:30 today, I think, and I feel like going somewhere with you. We’ve barely seen each other in the past two weeks.”  
  
“Okay, I’d like that. We can go have a burger or something, if you want?”  
  
Noah smiled. “That sounds nice.”  
  
Jayden smiled back and gently removed Noah’s hand from his cheek, placing a soft kiss on it before he leaned back and pulled out of Noah. The submissive gasped at the sudden emptiness, since he had gotten so used to feeling Jayden’s dick filling him up.  
  
Jayden took pity on him and chuckled somewhat. He sensually moved down Noah’s naked body and started licking off the come that Noah had covered himself with when he came. Jayden licked his tongue over the creamy skin and hummed as he licked off the come and felt the taste hit his tongue. It tasted nice and somewhat sweet, and Jayden could never get enough of tasting his beautiful submissive.  
  
Noah giggled and squirmed when Jayden’s tongue tickled him a bit, and the alpha grinned in response and placed a chaste kiss just above Noah’s bellybutton. He then moved further down and licked Noah’s softened dick clean and some of the come that was leaking from his hole, before he got off the bed to get him a towel to clean the rest up with.  
  
Noah started cleaning himself up with the towel while Jayden washed his tail in the sink that was placed near the door. He made sure to get Noah’s slick off it so that it wouldn’t stick to his tail for the rest of the day.  
  
They got dressed together afterwards. Jayden was in somewhat of a hurry now since it was 8:09 already and his classes started in 21 minutes. He grabbed the banana he had in his bag (he knew the day before that he wouldn’t have much time for breakfast when he slept over in Noah’s dorm room, so he had brought a banana with him from home) and quickly devoured it before getting ready to part ways with Noah and walk out the door.  
  
“Just come by my school at 4pm or something and then we can go to some diner together,” Jayden spoke as he headed for the door. He turned around to face Noah as he reached the door, but he hadn’t opened or unlocked it yet. “And if any guys give you a hard time, just quip something back at them to make them shut up. They should really stop treating you like you’re nothing but a sex object,” he added with a growl.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but smile a bit at Jayden’s protectiveness. “I know. But they harass all submissives at this school, so I’m not the only one…”  
  
“Well, you still gotta take care of yourself and not put up with them. I really wish I was here every day to keep those perverts off you. I don’t like it that they approach you in the corridors,” Jayden spoke, his feathers puffing out in anger.  
  
Noah had told him that guys – especially alphas – would leer at him in the corridors and in class, and proposition him to have sex with them. It happened almost on a daily basis, and it was almost like the alphas had some game going on where they wanted to see who could get into the pants of all the college’s unmated submissives.  
  
“I know. I won’t let them touch me or anything,” Noah said, determinedly.  
  
“I certainly hope you won’t,” Jayden smirked. He reached out to cup Noah’s cheek before leaning down and pressing a kiss to his lips.  
  
Noah returned the kiss, leaning up on his toes a bit to reach his boyfriend. He shivered and moaned softly when Jayden ran his hand down his feathers before pulling away.  
  
“See you later,” the alpha smiled and opened the door to leave.  
  
“Yeah. Bye,” Noah smiled and saw him out the door.  
  
Jayden slung his bag over his shoulder and waved at Noah as he disappeared down the corridor, keeping his head somewhat down since he was on the girls’ floor in the dormitory building. Some of the girls passing by looked him up and down with interest and snickered a bit, since everyone knew that when a guy was on this floor at this hour then it was because he had stayed in one of the girls’ rooms for the night.  
  
Noah blushed when the girls in the corridors looked over at him with knowing smirks, and he quickly retreated back into his room and closed the door.  
  
Ten minutes later, Christie returned to the room. She carefully knocked on the door to be sure that she didn’t walk in on Noah and Jayden having sex.  
  
“Come in,” Noah called when he heard her knock.  
  
Christie unlocked the door and slowly opened it. She looked around the room carefully, and when she saw Noah sitting alone in the room by the desk and looking at stuff on his laptop, she quickly relaxed and came into the room, shutting the door behind her.  
  
“Hey,” Christie smiled and dropped her bag on the bed. She always packed a bag with pajamas, clothes for the next day, and her toothbrush before leaving the room when Jayden was visiting. She didn’t want to have to go back to the room after leaving it, since she knew what he and Noah would be doing. “Did Jayden leave already?”  
  
“Yeah, his classes start at 8:30.” Noah spun the chair around so that he was facing her, and he smiled at his friend who was standing in front of him. “Did you have fun in Rebecca and Marie’s room?”  
  
“Yeah, we had lots of fun and watched movies until 1am,” Christie grinned. She looked around the room and sniffed a bit. “It smells like sex in here…” she murmured and gave Noah an almost accusing but teasing glare.  
  
Noah blushed furiously and averted her eyes. “S-Sorry… We hadn’t, um, been together that way for five days already…”  
  
“Wow, five whole days,” Christie giggled before going over to open the window next to her. Noah had opened the curtains and turned off the lights after Jayden had left. “Let’s get some fresh air inside. Smells too much like sex and alpha in here, and I don’t want to start having images in my mind based on those smells.”  
  
Noah blushed more and Christie laughed fondly at him as she walked over to him again.  
  
“Do you wanna go have some breakfast together? We can just leave the window open while we’re gone.”  
  
Noah nodded and was grateful for the change in topics. “Yeah, I’d like that. I’m starving.” He turned off his laptop and got up from his seat, getting ready to leave.  
  
Christie smiled and slung her arm around Noah’s shoulder as they left the room together, and Noah returned the smile and leaned into his friend’s touch.  
  
They headed to the college’s southern cafeteria together to have breakfast and chat with their friends before classes began at 9:30.  
  


 

***

  
  
Noah was finally properly adjusting to going to college. It had been pretty hard at first to not live at home anymore and he still missed his parents a lot sometimes, even though he went to visit them sometimes on the weekends when he had time.  
  
He had made a few new friends; mostly girls. For the first time in his life, Noah suddenly had three other submissives that he shared classes with. He only got along with two of them since the third one (Martin) was from a very traditional angel family and he did not like the idea of angels and demons breeding, and since Noah was an angel/demon hybrid, the guy wasn’t very interested in having anything to do with him. It frustrated Noah, but he didn’t bother trying to persuade Martin that he had no reason to hate angel/demon couples or hybrids, because it seemed that such a speech wouldn’t change Martin’s mind. Noah got along well with the two others, though – Niko and Alfie. Although he had made new friends with other submissives, he still had a special friendship with Lucas. They saw each other sometimes after school, and Lucas still seemed to be rather sad about Noah and the others leaving high school. Noah missed him too, and did his best to see both Lucas and Abby whenever he could.  
  
After ending his last class of the day, Noah made his way back to his room to get rid of his laptop before going over to Jayden’s school to meet up with him there as they had agreed.  
  
As usual, the trip through the corridors was a battle since they was crowded with people, and sometimes Noah would still get a little lost since the college was big and had a lot of corridors that looked the same. He kept his head down and tried not to attract too much attention to himself since he didn’t want to get leered at again.  
  
He entered an almost empty corridor and was almost at the exit where he had to cross a small lawn to get to his dormitory, when his way was suddenly blocked by two alpha angels.  
  
“Hey, there, sweetie,” the largest guy smirked. He crossed his arms and took on a cocky posture as he purposefully blocked the door for Noah. His friend joined him, and they both spread their wings a bit as they looked down at Noah. The larger alpha had grey wings with a nice mix of black and brown feathers, and the other had white wings with black and brown mixed into them. They were attractive by angel standards, but Noah wasn’t sexually or romantically interested in anyone but Jayden.  
  
Noah stopped and stared at the alphas’ small display of their wings. He knew exactly why they were spreading their wings like that; it was to show off their attractive color mix, like alpha angels always did when trying to find a mate or just someone to have sex with. In Noah’s case they just wanted to get into his pants, nothing more.  
  
“I’m not your sweetie,” Noah retorted and gave the alpha a defiant glare. He clutched the strap of his shoulder bag as he stared from one alpha to the other.  
  
“Whoooa,” the alpha laughed, mocking that he was impressed by Noah daring to be rude to him.  
  
The other alpha laughed too. “Oh, I like this one. As rude as he is, I think he’ll still be just perfect and pliant in bed.”  
  
“Mm, I think so too,” the first alpha grinned. He smirked as he looked Noah up and down. “You sure you don’t wanna drop by my dorm room tonight? I’ll fuck you really hard and good, just like you want it.”  
  
“I _don’t_ want it,” Noah retorted in a mutter, glaring at both at them. “Will you please step aside and let me pass?” he asked, taking a step forward to get past them but they both continued to block his way. Noah’s wings twitched in annoyance but also wariness. He hated situations like this.  
  
“Are you turning me down?” the alpha growled. “I’ve already slept with three subs at this school and they fucking _loved_ it.”  
  
“Good for you, but I have a boyfriend so I’m really not interested,” Noah said, hoping that the guys would just let him pass already. He glanced briefly over his shoulder but there wasn’t anyone nearby in the small corridor right now, so it was unlikely that he could sneak his way out if someone else showed up and had to use this exit.  
  
The two alphas shared a look.  
  
“A boyfriend?” said the larger one. “Well, then you aren’t completely taken if he hasn’t claimed you as his mate yet.”  
  
The other alpha burst out laughing. “Are you kidding me? Who’d wanna mate with _him?_ ”  
  
The words stung Noah more than he wanted to allow them to. He knew that Jayden loved him deeply and wanted to mate with him someday, but it still hurt to know that to everyone else he was just as much worth as a simple toy. A toy that could be used and discarded without a thought. Just a simple fuck-hole that didn’t matter.  
  
The two alphas laughed at that before stepping away and clearing the exit for Noah. The sound of a crowd of girls approaching the small corridor was likely what made them back off already.  
  
“Let me know if you ever want some real cock,” said the larger alpha and flashed Noah a dirty smirk before he and his buddy walked away.  
  
Noah lowered his head and ignored him, feeling a bit too humiliated right now to quip something at the guy. He just wanted to get out of there. He quickly headed over to the door and hurried over to the safety of his dormitory.  
  
The dormitory had six floors – the first, third, and fifth floors were for the boys, and the second, fourth, and sixth floors were for the girls. It annoyed Noah a bit that it was divided like that, because it meant that he could sometimes run into sexist alphas in the elevator or on the stairs when making his way to the fourth floor where he lived. It would have been easier if the whole building had just been for girls.  
  
When Noah reached his floor there were a lot of people on it since many students were out of class now. They were laughing and shouting, and Noah cringed at the loudness as he made his way over to his room.  
  
When he approached room number 412, he saw an angel girl banging on the door in anger.  
  
“Damnit, Chad! Open the fucking door! It’s _my_ room!” the girl roared and continued to slam her hand against the door aggressively.  
  
Noah watched her as he headed up the corridor, which wasn’t too crowded at that spot.  
  
Suddenly the door to the room was opened, revealing a lazy-looking and completely naked alpha angel in it. Noah’s eyes widened in absolute horror, and he caught a brief glimpse of the guy’s cock while he was idly scratching the hair down there. Noah quickly looked away though, shocked to see a guy standing like that in the doorway to one of the girls’ rooms.  
  
“Oh my god! What the hell are you doing, you idiot?!” the female angel exclaimed, completely mortified, and all but shoved the guy back into the room as she pushed past him to get in.  
  
A couple of girls who had also witnessed it giggled and snickered as they walked by, where Noah was just trying not to look at the guy.  
  
The alpha appeared in the door again to close it, but he used his wing to shield his nakedness now. He cast a look at Noah when he noticed him walking by and trying not to look at him. “Sorry, dude,” the alpha said before going back inside and closed the door.  
  
Noah groaned and covered his eyes in disgust and mortification even though he could no longer see the alpha. His face was completely red now, and he hurried over to his room with quick steps. He felt like he needed to clean his brain and eyes with bleach, since he _really_ didn’t want to see any naked guys except for Jayden.  
  
He entered his room quickly and threw his shoulder bag on his bed. He grabbed his smaller bag which could only contain his wallet, his phone, and a bottle of water before heading off and locking the door behind him.  
  


 

***

  
  
Jayden was finishing up his final class that day. They were twelve students in his class, which took place in a kitchen at the school. It wasn’t many students, but it helped making sure that the teacher could pay closer attention to each of them – in bigger classes that was more difficult. Jayden got along well with his classmates who were evenly divided between being female and male. There were no submissives in his class, though he knew there were two at his school in total.  
  
“Looking good in that outfit,” said Janine after the teacher had left and everyone was packing up to leave. She was a female demon, around 19 years old, and with red hair. She was pretty attractive, and Jayden had seen the other guys in class check her out a few times.  
  
They were all dressed in white chef uniforms with hats, which looked a little goofy in Jayden’s opinion, but he also liked the professional look it gave everyone. It helped them gain some confidence in themselves as they trained their skills and tried to do things the way the teacher had shown them.  
  
Jayden blinked at her and glanced down at himself. “Thanks,” he chuckled modestly. “Though I am happy to get out of it,” he continued and started taking the uniform and the hat off.  
  
Janine just chuckled and did the same.  
  
Jayden turned around and packed his outfit into his bag and got ready to leave. The others had already left by now so it was just him and Janine in the kitchen now.  
  
“See you tomorrow,” Jayden told her and began to leave, but Janine stopped him.  
  
“Ah, wait,” she said, making Jayden stop and look at her in wonder. Janine shifted shyly and looked Jayden in the eye. “Maybe you, uh, wanna go have a cup of coffee or something?”  
  
Jayden stared back at her in surprise. “Um, I have to pass on that. I’m in a relationship.”  
  
Janine’s eyes widened at that information. “Oh, I didn’t know you had a girlfriend. Or boyfriend…?”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “He’s a submissive.”  
  
“Ah.” Janie shifted a bit and looked a little embarrassed, even though she was smiling. “Too bad you’re taken. You’re just my type of guy.” She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder before leaving the room, winking at Jayden as she passed him.  
  
Jayden scrunched his nose a bit in displeasure and watched her leave. He had liked Janine as a person, and she seemed smart and passionate about what she was doing, but he didn’t like the interest she was showing in him – especially not after he had mentioned that he had a boyfriend. He hoped that Janine wouldn’t make any further advances on him, as he really didn’t have any interest in her, nor did he want to have any tension going on with one of his classmates. Noah was his true partner and Jayden wasn’t interested in anyone else – and that would never change.  
  
He waited a bit until he was sure that Janine had left the building before he left the kitchen and headed outside to meet with Noah.  
  
When Jayden came outside, the weather was sunny and somewhat warm even though it was November. He greeted a few classmates whom he passed on his way out, and then made his way over to the bench in the front yard of the school where Noah would usually wait for him when they met up. He smiled when he saw that Noah was already there, waiting for him.  
  
Noah was sitting on the bench and typing something on his phone, obviously sending a text or an email to someone, and Jayden walked over to him and chuckled a bit when the submissive didn’t even sense him approaching. He decided to sneak his way around the bench so that he could approach Noah from behind. He grinned as he slowly sneaked up on him, and Noah didn’t even notice that Jayden was standing right behind him now.  
  
“Boo!” Jayden shouted, slamming his hands down on Noah’s shoulders as he stood behind him.  
  
Noah let out a loud yelp and almost dropped his phone as he flinched in shock. His wings spread out and he quickly swirled his upper body around to see who it was. Noah’s eyes widened when he saw Jayden, who was laughing at him now. “Don’t do that!” he growled in anger and swatted his laughing boyfriend’s arm. “You scared me half to death, Connor!”  
  
Jayden just laughed and walked around the bench to stand in front of Noah who was now getting up from the bench and putting his phone away. “Sorry, I just couldn’t resist,” he grinned and brushed his tail against Noah’s leg in apology.  
  
Noah blushed when he noticed a few people passing by laughing or giggling since they had witnessed him getting scared like that, and he hated Jayden for doing this to him in public. “It was mean,” he grumbled and glared up at the alpha from under his lashes.  
  
“Sorry,” Jayden chuckled and leaned down to kiss Noah.  
  
Noah kissed him back, closing his eyes and humming softly before they pulled away. He stared a bit at Jayden’s dark leather jacket and his jeans, finding that they suited him really well. He liked how Jayden’s clothes smelled like him, and when they hugged he often found himself inhaling the alpha’s scent from his clothes.  
  
“So, how was your day?” Jayden asked as they started walking.  
  
“It was okay,” Noah replied. They left campus and went out on the sidewalk now, careful not to walk into the other pedestrians. “But I really need to find some bleach to clean my brain with…”  
  
“What? Why?” Jayden asked, blinking at him in confusion.  
  
“Some guy was standing naked in the door of some girl’s room at school…”  
  
“What?!” Jayden exclaimed loudly. “He was flashing himself on the girls’ dormitory floor?!”  
  
“Well, he was standing inside the room, so only I and two other girls saw him when we walked by… But it was still pretty nasty. I don’t think he meant to creep anyone out; he just seemed pretty careless about his modesty as he opened the door for his girlfriend…”  
  
Hearing that, Jayden couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh boy, I would have loved to see your face,” he chuckled. Noah glared at him. “I hope that sight didn’t traumatize you too much. And I’m not exactly very comfortable with some other guy flashing you his junk… Did he try anything with you?” He growled slightly at that idea and his tail swished behind him.  
  
“No, not at all. But I still really didn’t want to see that…” Noah grumbled.  
  
“Good. I would have kicked his ass if he had tried anything with you.” Jayden wrapped his arm around Noah’s waist and pulled him close as they walked together.  
  
Noah laughed softly at Jayden’s possessiveness and leaned into him. “I know.”  
  


 

***

  
  
They arrived at the diner where they often went when they went out to have burgers together. It was the place with the best burgers in town – at least in Jayden’s opinion and now also in Noah’s.  
  
It was little crowded when they arrived, but there still seemed to be available seats, so they headed inside and went over to the line to order.  
  
“What would you like?” Jayden asked him as they stood behind two other people in the line.  
  
“The usual; a cheeseburger, fries, and a coke,” Noah replied, smiling.  
  
Jayden grinned. “I still like it that you don’t mind eating the greasy stuff. Most girls order a salad or something lame like that.”  
  
Noah scowled at him. “I’m not a girl.”  
  
The alpha grinned and playfully bumped into Noah just a bit. “Yeah, you kind of are, actually.”  
  
Noah blushed at that, and Jayden chuckled, watching his boyfriend’s cute face as his cheeks reddened.  
  
An alpha angel in his mid-twenties got up from his seat then. He left his empty plate on the table and headed over to the exit where Noah and Jayden were standing in line. The guy stared intensely at Noah as he passed him, checking him out with a lewd smirk. “Mm, nice ass. I’d fuck that,” he commented.  
  
Noah tensed up and pulled his wings as close to his body as he could, making sure to cover his butt with them so that the alpha couldn’t see it anymore.  
  
Jayden saw red at that. He growled and immediately went forward to grasp the guy by the front of his shirt. “What was that?!” he demanded, growling into the guy’s face and sharpened and spread his wings in a threatening display.  
  
“Jayden!” Noah exclaimed in horror, since starting a fight in a diner was not a good idea.  
  
The other customers were gasping in shock and staring at the scene now, making Noah more self-conscious as he tried to pull Jayden back.  
  
The alpha angel struggled a bit in Jayden’s hold and sneered back at him. “I said he has a nice ass that I’d like to fuck,” the guy grit out in challenge.  
  
Jayden’s growl got lower and more intense, and he bared his teeth in anger as he glared the other alpha down.  
  
“Jayden, please let him go. He’s not worth it,” Noah pleaded and put a cautious hand on Jayden’s arm, careful not to get into contact with the extremely sharp feathers that were puffing out in all directions.  
  
Jayden’s posture immediately relaxed a bit. He gave the guy one final growl before he let go of him and pushed him away harshly. “You should show more respect to submissives,” he sneered at him.  
  
“Why? They’re nothing but breeders with an ass itching to have a cock inside it. Why should I show them respect for that?” the alpha angel spat back.  
  
Jayden growled in rage and spread his sharpened wings again, but before he could do anything to the guy, the manager of the diner suddenly showed up and grabbed the alpha angel’s upper arm harshly. The manager was a big, muscular alpha angel, and he looked quite intimidating. He wasn’t really someone you would think worked as a manager at a diner.  
  
“Get out of my diner,” the manager growled and practically dragged the young alpha out of the place and onto the sidewalk. “I will not tolerate such rudeness and sexism in my diner!” he told the guy, giving him a firm glare before he headed back inside and ignored the insult that the young alpha shouted at him from the sidewalk outside.  
  
The customers standing by the counter blinked at the manager in amazement, as did the others by the tables. Some clapped and cheered at him, showing that most of the other customers weren’t happy with the guy’s rudeness either.  
  
Noah and Jayden were a little surprised by how the manager had quite rudely thrown the guy out of the diner like that. The guy had been a customer, after all, and it was unusual for managers to treat customers like that.  
  
“I have zero tolerance for people treating submissives like that and behaving the way he did– especially not when I have a submissive child of my own. Guys like him ruin the stay for the other customers and I won’t have such behavior in here,” the manager mumbled as he went back behind the counter. He looked at Noah and Jayden then and smiled. “I will personally take your orders now.”  
  
Jayden grinned at the manager’s comment. “Thank you, sir.”  
  
They ordered their burgers and some coke before they found a nice seat in the back of the diner where they waited for their orders.  
  
Noah smiled shyly at Jayden as they seated themselves. Although he didn’t like it when Jayden got into a fight in public, it was still quite fascinating to see the more aggressive side of Jayden. It was sometimes easy to forget how much of a badass alpha he could be when he got angry, protective, or territorial, and Noah couldn’t help but be a little turned on about it since Jayden had done that to protect _him._  
  
“What an asshole that guy was,” Jayden grumbled as they sat down. He put his bag next to him on the seat while Noah was sitting in the seat across from him. “I hope there aren’t too many guys like that at your college.”  
  
“There are some,” Noah replied and glanced over at Jayden. “And thanks… for standing up for me earlier when the guy made that comment.”  
  
“You don’t need to thank me. It’s my job to protect you and stand up for you, and I really can’t stand guys like him. No one gets to make such comments about you without having to deal with _me._ ” Jayden’s voice was determined, and a low growl rumbled in his chest.  
  
Noah watched as Jayden’s tail swished back and forth down by Jayden’s leg, showing that he was still a bit agitated over the incident. He smiled at how protective Jayden always was of him. It made him feel loved and special.  
  
Jayden then turned his gaze to Noah and met his eyes. “How’s school? Is Mrs. Finch still being a bitch to you?” He leaned back in his seat a little and seemed to have switched the topics to calm himself down from being annoyed with the guy from earlier.  
  
Mrs. Finch was Noah’s psychology teacher. She was a female demon in her forties and she was against mixing demon and angel genes. Although she mostly behaved nice around Noah, she would sometimes glare at him or ignore him in class when he reached up his hand to say something. She had even accused him of not being active enough in class when they had gotten some feedback from their teachers last week. Noah and his family had been outraged by that since Noah was trying to be active, but Mrs. Finch just always ignored him when he had something to add or say. It frustrated Noah that his teacher was claiming that he was lazy in class when it was her who didn’t want to listen to what he had to say.  
  
“She’s the same as she always is,” Noah murmured bitterly. “My dad really wants to kill her…”  
  
“No shit. I wanna beat her up too for being such a bitch,” Jayden muttered and clenched his jaw. “I hope she won’t be a problem when you have your exam in a few weeks.”  
  
Noah’s wings slumped a bit at that. “I don’t look forward to the exams… That means that I have to study a lot and I won’t really have much free time. And then I won’t be able to see you that often.” He lifted his gaze and stared at Jayden with a helpless expression.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden said softly and reached across the table to take Noah’s smaller hand in his own. “It’ll be okay. I have some exams too so the teacher can evaluate my progress this semester, so I won’t have much time either. And we’ll pull through this… We’ve managed it so far, right? And it’s Christmas soon and then we’ll have the holidays to be together in.”  
  
“But it’s still an entire month where we can’t really be together…”  
  
Jayden cringed. “I know. I don’t like it either, but we can’t really do anything about it.”  
  
Noah nodded, knowing that Jayden was right.  
  
The manager then personally arrived with their orders and smiled between them as he put their plates in front of them. They thanked him before digging into their delicious meal.  
  
They spent the next hour eating and chatting, enjoying each other’s company and hanging out during the free time they had before their exams started.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought writing the spin-off would be a piece of cake, but it actually turned out tougher than I imagined XD; I don’t know why, but it feels so different to write now than Devoted did. But I shall do my best to write their lives and keep it interesting (though it will be pretty full of fluff and also smut). And yes, Eden, Adrian, Isaac, Lily, and their mates and families will appear in the story too, as will Dean and Castiel, but only when I can make it fit into a chapter :) You will also see more of Lucas later.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I’ll try to update at least once a week!
> 
> Thanks for reading, please leave a comment to let me know what you think :)


	2. Chapter 2

**December 2044 (Noah is 18, Jayden is 20, Christie is 18, Brandon is 18).**  
  
Noah grunted as his alarm clock went off at 7:50am. He reached out towards the night stand where the alarm clock was to turn off the awful noise, and he could hear Christie groan and turn in her bed too. Neither of them wanted to get up and start the new day, especially not since they both had a long day ahead of them with classes and studying for their exams.  
  
Noah hated exams and projects. He hated all the studying that followed with it and how little free time it gave him. He hadn’t been home to visit his parents for almost four weeks now because of his studies, and he already missed them. Jayden too had exams. He had to be evaluated by his teacher on how he had mastered the cooking skills taught during the semester, and that too took up a lot of Jayden’s free time. They had barely seen each other for two weeks now. It was frustrating to Noah to not see his boyfriend for that long, and the three times they had met during that time hadn’t involved any sex. He knew it probably frustrated Jayden a lot more than him that they hadn’t had sex, since Jayden was an alpha with a high libido and he needed to get off pretty much every day, but Noah too was starting to get sexually frustrated, especially since he barely ever had time to masturbate. He didn’t want to do it in the shower since there were always other people in there with him, and Christie spent a lot of time in their room lately to study for exams too, so he couldn’t do it there either unless he was lucky that she was out for a bit.  
  
“Ugh, I don’t wanna get up,” came Christie’s sleepy and lazy voice from the other bed, and Noah could hear her roll over on her stomach and groan into her pillow.  
  
Noah groaned too and rolled over to hug his pillow while he rested his head on it. “Me neither…”  
  
They lay there for a few more seconds, feeling sorry for themselves that they had to get up so early, when suddenly there was a hard knocking on their door followed by giggles and angry shouting from the corridor. They both flinched awake, but could hear that other doors were knocked on too.  
  
“Fuck you, you assholes!” Christie shouted out in anger, making Noah flinch and stare at her with wide eyes through the dark room. “I hate when they do that! This isn’t kindergarten,” she growled in annoyance.   
  
The past three mornings some girls had thought it was funny to knock on several dorm room doors on that floor to wake people up, and it was really getting on Christie’s nerves now.  
  
“Me too. I hope they get caught and punished soon,” Noah murmured and slowly sat up on his bed.  
  
Christie too sat up on her bed, her blonde hair and her feathers sticking out in all directions. She yawned before getting up to open the curtains and allow light inside. She opened one window just a bit, and Noah shivered when a cold breeze came in. She chuckled at him and proceeded with taking off her pajama to get dressed.  
  
Noah politely looked away as Christie stood in the room in just her panties, though it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her naked before; they had taken showers together since the showers at college were communal. There were seven other submissives living in their dorm building, so for once Noah wasn’t always the only sub showering with the girls. He barely knew the other submissives though, but they had exchanged a few words when meeting each other in the bathrooms.  
  
“Oh, I forgot to ask you how Lucas was doing. You saw him yesterday, didn’t you?” Christie asked while she put on her bra. She turned around to face Noah who glanced at her from the corner of his eyes as he too started getting out of his pajama and putting on proper clothes. Christie had come back to their room rather late last night since she had been hanging out with a friend, and Noah had already gone to bed by that time, so she hadn’t been able to ask him about Lucas earlier.  
  
“Yeah, I did,” Noah replied, using his wings to shield his nakedness a bit as he changed clothes. “He was doing rather well. Caleb is still making him a bit nervous, though… I keep telling him that Caleb seems like a nice guy, but Lucas doesn’t trust people that easily… But at least Caleb is still helping Lucas out when the alphas approach him in the corridors.”  
  
“Well, I don’t really blame him for not trusting guys so easily.” Christie cringed somewhat and pulled a shirt over her head. “Does he still get along with his new friends?”  
  
“Yeah, he does,” Noah smiled. “But he misses us a lot, he says.”  
  
“I miss him too. It’s still so weird without him, Abby, and Jayden around. But at least I still have you – and Mick, whom we run into here sometimes.” Christie chuckled at that.  
  
Noah laughed a bit. “Yeah, I’m glad to have you too.”  
  
Christie grinned and flared her wings a bit before pulling out a pair of jeans from her clothing drawers and putting them on. “Oh, and I met this hot dude last night when Rebecca and Marie took me out. That’s why I came home so late.”  
  
Noah stopped dressing and turned his head to stare at her in almost shock. “Did you sleep with him?”  
  
His friend blushed at that and looked down while her wings twitched shyly behind her. She fumbled to button up her jeans while she felt Noah staring at her. “It was quick… I don’t usually like just doing it once with some random guy, but I really liked him…”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but smile a bit at that. “Maybe you will see him again?”  
  
“I gave him my number, but I don’t know if he’ll call…”  
  
“I think he will. You’re really nice, after all. Why shouldn’t he call?”  
  
Christie chuckled, a shy grin on her face. “Thanks. We’ll see if he does.”  
  
They smiled at each other and continued getting putting their clothes on.   
  
As soon as they were both dressed and had brushed their messy hair and wings, they headed off to the cafeteria together to eat breakfast.  
  
  


***

  
  
The cafeteria was crowded, and Noah made himself as small as possible as he and Christie made their way between people to get to the line and get their food. After getting bread, butter, cheese, and juice from the canteen they headed over to some available seats where Christie’s friends Rebecca and Marie were sitting. Noah got along well with them too, though he was a little uncomfortable sitting there since a lot of people were passing by all the time to reach the seats by the table behind him, and he tensed whenever someone was close to brushing into his wings.  
  
Rebecca and Marie were very interested in hearing more about Christie’s guy, and Christie was very uncomfortable discussing him in the cafeteria where others could listen in. Noah chuckled, but felt a bit sorry for her as the other girls continued to poke around in the subject.  
  
After five minutes, Noah’s submissive friends Niko and Alfie showed up. They were both submissive angels. Alfie had sandy-colored hair, light blue eyes, and white wings, and Niko had brown hair, darker blue eyes, and light grey wings bordering on white. Their feathers looked much softer than Noah’s somewhat rough ones, and he couldn’t help but envy them for it.  
  
“Hey,” Alfie smiled at them. “Can we join you?”  
  
“Sure,” said the girls, and Noah smiled as Alfie and Niko sat down next to him to eat.  
  
Alfie suddenly leaned in to tell Noah something. “You know that guy you told me has been staring at you sometimes for the past three weeks? Well, he’s been hitting on me and Niko lately too. I think he’s one of those guys who’re trying to get into every sub’s pants here at school.”  
  
The larger of the two alphas that Noah had run into a few weeks ago and who had blocked the door for him had suddenly started staring at Noah whenever they passed by each other in the corridors. Noah didn’t like it one bit. The guy was watching him like he was easy prey, and Noah almost felt sick whenever he felt the alpha staring at his scrawny body and licking his lips at the sight. He had come to learn that the guy’s name was Damon and that he had apparently been targeting a lot of the college’s submissives and had tried to persuade them to have sex with him. Some had done it but others had rejected him, Noah had heard.  
  
“Ugh, I hope he stops soon. He’s kind of creeping me out,” Noah replied to Alfie, and shivered lightly.  
  
“I don’t like him either,” Niko murmured and stared into his plate for a bit. Alfie put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, and soon they all continued with eating.  
  
When breakfast was over they all got up to get ready for class.   
  
Noah and Christie parted ways with their friends in the cafeteria since Alfie and Niko were in a hurry to leave because Niko had forgotten to print his project, and Rebecca and Marie were staying behind a bit to chat with some other friends. Noah and Christie had to go back to their room to retrieve their laptops and then head to their classes afterwards.  
  
When they reached the exit of the cafeteria, Noah suddenly found his way blocked by Damon – the alpha angel who had been eyeing him a lot lately. He tensed and tried to walk around him, but Damon took a step to the side to block his way again. Noah lifted his gaze and glared at the alpha angel who was watching him with an arrogant smirk.  
  
“Please get out of my way,” Noah said, trying to give the alpha an intimidating stare, but he wasn’t very good at looking scary.  
  
Damon’s smirk widened and Noah hated how cocky he looked. “Well, I’m not gonna leave you alone until I get what I want.”  
  
“Piss off, dickhead!” Christie growled at him and grabbed Noah’s hand as she led him around Damon to get out of there.  
  
Noah was relieved that Damon didn’t block their way again, but he didn’t like the smirk on the alpha’s face as Noah glanced back over his shoulder at him only to see that Damon was still watching him. Noah shivered at the creepiness and eagerly followed Christie out of there.  
  
“Are you okay?” Christie asked once they were in a corridor far away from the cafeteria. They walked towards their dorm but at a slower pace now.  
  
“Yes, I’m fine. I just don’t like that guy…”  
  
“No kidding,” Christie growled. “My classmates talked about him and his pals the other day. Some of the school’s alphas have this childish game going on about who can sleep with most subs, and it’s a bonus if they can get laid with a lot of girls too. If they want to have so much sex, I think they should go to a whorehouse instead of a college.”  
  
“Yeah, I agree. And I had hoped that the guys would be more mature in college than in high school…” Noah murmured bitterly.   
  
“Well, most of the guys here _are_ more mature now, but there are also some who aren’t…” Christie spoke, sighing and slumping her wings behind her. “If that guy ever tries anything with you, kick him in the balls and come find me – I’ll help you make him back off if he comes after you.”  
  
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Noah smiled. “I’ll help you too if someone tries anything with you.”  
  
Christie grinned and brushed their wings together to show him her gratitude, and the two friends smiled at each other as they walked back to their room.  
  
  


***

  
  
Noah had classes from 9:30am to 4:30pm that day. It could have been worse, but with all the projects they had lately it really made it stressful. He also had a history exam coming up in a few days which he needed to study for, so that too made him feel pretty stressed. He had passed all his mid-terms so far, but still had two finals left – Classical Medieval Periods (his history class) and his Intro Into Education class, which he had since he was an education major.  
  
His World Religion class started at 12:15pm, and the tables were arranged so that each row behind the front row went one step up, allowing all students a better look at the teacher and the projector screen. Noah preferred to sit as far in the back as he could so that he had no one staring at him from behind. Today he only managed to sit on the second last row in the back, and he cringed when the only available seat left was right in front of a couple of alpha demons.  
  
“You look cold, little sub. Sure you don’t want us to warm you up?” one of the alphas slurred as Noah sat down. His buddy cracked up next to him.  
  
Noah lowered his head and chose to ignore them, instead focusing on opening up his laptop on the table in front of him. He tried not to be humiliated when a few others snickered at the comment as well. It was just his bad luck to be seated near the worst sexist alphas in his class today, but all other seats were taken because he had arrived a bit later than usual.  
  
“You can sit on my lap if you want?” the guy behind him continued. “Can’t promise you won’t feel a little poke in your butt, though.”  
  
More snickering sounded from the nearby classmates while the teacher was still getting the projector ready for the lesson. The teacher wasn’t paying any attention to what people in the classroom where chattering about, and thus didn’t pick up on the harassment going on in the back.  
  
Noah clenched his jaw before looking over his shoulder at the alpha. “No thanks, I’d rather freeze to death. And I wouldn’t want to break that little twig anyway if I sit on it.” He turned back around to face his laptop, unable to suppress the smug smirk on his lips when the girls in front of him burst out laughing at his comment.  
  
The alpha gasped at Noah’s comeback, obviously not prepared to get such a reply. He growled when the others laughed at him. “Why, you little—!”  
  
The teacher cut him off as she told the class to be quiet and to pay attention to the lesson.  
  
Everyone looked at the Power Point presentation that the teacher showed them as she introduced a new project to them. The teacher announced that the project was due in one week and that each student should pair up with someone else to write it.  
  
Once the introduction was over, the students began looking for a project partner.  
  
Noah hadn’t really made many friends in that class, and the few girls he had talked to and gotten along with seemed to have already paired up with others when Noah cast a look around to find a partner. Others were beginning to notice that he didn’t have a partner, and Noah cringed at the humiliation before he was suddenly approached by one of the human guys from his class.  
  
“Hey,” the human – Anthony – spoke as he stood in front of Noah’s table. “I don’t have a partner either so, um, wanna pair up?”   
  
Anthony was a thin and rather short human male, but by far not as short as Noah was. He had brown hair and thin framed glasses.  
  
Noah looked up at him and felt instant relief that he had been asked to partner up with someone, even though he barely even knew Anthony.   
  
“I’d love to,” Noah said, giving Anthony a smile that turned out a bit awkward.  
  
“Cool,” Anthony smiled and took a seat next to Noah after the girl who had sat there before had gone somewhere else to sit with her project partner. Noah felt a little awkward around Anthony since they had never spoken before, but he was grateful that he hadn’t ended up being paired with some sexist alpha or beta.  
  
Everyone got started with discussing their project and there was a lot of chattering around the room. The teacher walked around, assisting those who needed her help or had questions about the project.  
  
“So, um, you’re a submissive, right?” Anthony asked and gave Noah a curious but somewhat wary glance.  
  
Noah tensed a bit and kept his eyes on his laptop. “Yeah… Why?” He dared a glance at Anthony who seemed a little embarrassed now.  
  
“Uh, sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you by asking or anything. It’s just that I grew up in a small village with only humans there, so I’m not too used to being around angels and demons. We humans don’t have that alpha, beta, submissive thing, and before I came here I had never seen a submissive before. I didn’t believe it at first when I was told that you guys are, um, part female.” Anthony looked Noah up and down and seemed to take in the physical differences between him and the betas and alphas in the classroom.  
  
Noah was a little uncomfortable with the conversation. It wasn’t a very appropriate one, but he couldn’t blame Anthony for being curious. “Oh,” he said. “Um, I hope that’s not a problem?”  
  
“No, not at all,” Anthony quickly said, looking rather afraid that he had somehow offended Noah. “It’s just not something I’m used to. You seem nice, though.”  
  
“Um, thanks,” Noah said, smiling shyly. He coughed and straightened up a bit. “Maybe we should start with our project?”  
  
“Right. Of course,” Anthony spoke and pushed his chair a little closer to Noah, although he made sure not to get too close to him. “Can I ask you one more thing before we begin, though?”  
  
Noah blinked at him. “Sure.”  
  
“…You’re an angel/demon hybrid, right?” Anthony asked carefully. “Are you related to that guy from _The Sorcerer’s Redemption_? The one who plays the magician named Richard?”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, that’s my brother Isaac.”  
  
Anthony’s eyes widened in amazement. “Wow, that’s cool! I started watching the show about a month ago and it’s really awesome. Your brother seems pretty funny.”  
  
Noah chuckled. “Yeah, he is.”  
  
“Can you get me his autograph?”  
  
“I suppose…” Noah had gotten some classmates autographs from Isaac before, and his brother was always so cocky and proud whenever Noah asked him to write one for them. It was pretty annoying when Isaac got too full of himself like that, Noah thought, but at least he was getting kind of famous already.  
  
“Thanks. That would be awesome,” Anthony grinned.  
  
Noah smiled in reply.  
  
The conversation made them both feel a bit less awkward with each other, and they soon started discussing which topic to write about in their project. Noah was glad that Anthony seemed like a decent guy and that he didn’t seem to be interested in Noah in a sexual way. It made Noah feel more comfortable around him.  
  
When class ended Noah and Anthony exchanged emails so that they could get into contact with the other about the project if needed.  
  
Noah then made his way to his history classroom to have his next class. The alpha from earlier glared at him as he left the room, but Noah wasn’t bothered by it. He was rather satisfied with himself that he had made that alpha shut up, and the guy hadn’t said anything to him since – and Noah kinda had the feeling that the guy probably wouldn’t speak to him again for quite a while.  
  
  


***

  
  
It was 4:30pm when Noah’s classes ended. He felt completely exhausted by then, having spent 7 hours with classes and projects. At least he had had classes with Christie today – they both took the same education class, psychology, and drawing class, and he had those classes with Alfie and Niko as well. The other submissive, whom Noah didn’t get along with, shared the same history class as him. Religion was the only class which he had by himself.  
  
Noah exited the classroom along with the others and sighed at the prospect of having to work on that religion project tonight and the rest of the week.  
  
The sun was already setting, casting orange colors into the mostly empty corridors as it disappeared into the horizon that December day, and Noah quickly made his way back to the dormitory.  
  
He stopped in one of the smaller corridors when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and pulled it out to read the text message he had gotten.  
  
 _ **Jayden** : Hey gorgeous :) do you have time to go out and get some dinner together tonight? Been a little too long since we last hung out and I really wanna see you. I miss you. I hope you have some time?_  
  
Noah smiled at the text and felt ridiculously excited about his boyfriend texting him. He quickly typed a reply.  
  
 _ **Noah** : Okay, I would love to :) Meet you outside my school at 5:30pm? And I miss you too…_  
  
 _ **Jayden** : Okay, that’s a deal ;) See you at 5:30._  
  
Noah smiled at the screen of his phone and flared his wings in excitement. He was about to put his phone away when a voice startled him.  
  
“What’s up that that girlish, excited grin on your face?”  
  
Noah swirled around and widened his eyes in horror when he saw Damon standing right next to him now. The alpha eyed him with a curious smirk and took a step forward, and Noah’s back and wings hit the wall behind him as he backed up to put some distance between them.  
  
Damon seemed almost satisfied with how horrified and small Noah looked all of sudden. “You know, I can make you pretty excited in bed too…”  
  
“No you can’t, and please leave me alone,” Noah croaked out and tried to straighten up to not appear intimated by the large alpha. He clutched his shoulder bag against his side and felt panic rise inside him when he realized that the only people in the corridor right now were guys who didn’t really care that he was being cornered like this. They were standing further away, minding their own business.  
  
Damon growled and slammed his hand into the wall right next to Noah’s head, making Noah flinch and stare back at him with wide eyes. A growl rumbled in Damon’s chest as he leaned in so that their faces were just inches apart. His hand was still resting on the wall right next to Noah’s head, and he was cornering him like a predator did its prey. “I _will_ get a taste of you sooner or later, even if I have to force myself on you,” he growled lowly.  
  
That threat was enough to make Noah kick the guy in the shins and try to run away. Damon cried out in pain but managed to grab Noah’s arm before he could run off. Noah yelped loudly and was suddenly thrown up against the wall by a very pissed off Damon.  
  
“How dare you, you little bitch!” Damon growled, his hand grabbing Noah’s upper arm so hard that it made Noah gasp in pain and know it was going to leave bruises.  
  
Noah panicked when he couldn’t get out of Damon’s grip, since the alpha was dodging every move he made to get free, but before Damon could do anything to him he was suddenly being yanked back. Noah was both surprised and relieved to see that Brandon – whom he knew from high school – had come to his rescue.  
  
“Hey!” Brandon growled as he harshly shoved Damon away and spread out his sharpened wings in anger. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”  
  
“He kicked me!” Damon snapped and pointed accusingly at Noah.  
  
“Yeah, and you were cornering him against the wall – I saw that before Noah kicked you,” Brandon growled. “Just fuck off, you pervert.”  
  
Noah watched them from where he was standing with his back against the wall, and he clutched his shoulder bag tightly against his side. He saw Damon shoot them both a harsh glare before he stalked off down the corridor and disappeared.  
  
Noah sighed and slumped his wings in relief.  
  
“Are you okay?” Brandon asked then, eyeing Noah in worry. “I was going back to the dorm when I saw him cornering you here…”  
  
“I’m okay. Thanks,” Noah said, giving Brandon a brief smile of gratitude.  
  
“You should really report that guy for harassing you. I can go with you if you want, since I’m a witness?”  
  
“Um, thanks. I appreciate that,” Noah spoke and shifted a bit. He wasn’t entirely comfortable with being around Brandon – especially not when they were alone – since it felt wrong to hang out with an alpha when he already had a boyfriend. Jayden certainly wouldn’t like the idea either. Noah had the feeling that Brandon wouldn’t hurt him though, and that made him feel a bit safer around him.  
  
“Wanna head there now?”  
  
“Um, I’d like to go back to my room and see if Christie is there. I kinda wanna have her go with us, if that’s okay?”  
  
“Sure. Though, if you think that I’m gonna lure you into some empty classroom on our way and grope you then I’m afraid I must disappoint you. I may have been a bully, but I’ve never been a slimy pervert like that guy,” Brandon said, chuckling a bit.  
  
“I didn’t say that,” Noah blurted out quickly.  
  
Brandon laughed. “I know, I’m just saying. Go get Christie and then I’ll just wait for you outside the main entrance to the dorm. We live in the same dormitory anyway.”  
  
Noah nodded. They headed towards the dormitory together, but kept some distance between each other as they walked since neither was comfortable with getting too close to the other.  
  
  


***

  
  
Christie was outraged when Noah told her about what had happened. She immediately abandoned her studies to go with him and Brandon to the administrational office to talk to someone in charge. They were referred to the college’s vice president, and waited in the corridor outside for twenty minutes until he was available.  
  
The vice president was a 53-year-old alpha angel named Josh Miller. He looked pretty strict, like a guy that never smiled, and Noah instantly felt rather uncomfortable around him.  
  
They sat down in the chairs in front of the desk and explained why they had come. Noah shifted uneasily as he recited to Mr. Miller about how Damon had kind of been stalking him for a while and about what had happened earlier. He was grateful when both Christie and Brandon confirmed his story.  
  
“Hmm,” said Mr. Miller as he rested his chin on his hand and stared between them with a calculating but also rather uninterested expression. “Damon Sullivan gets quite good feedback from his teachers, my database tells me. And he’s a straight-A student.” He glanced at his laptop next to him from where he had looked up some basic info on Damon while Noah and the others told him about the problem. Mr. Miller turned his unkind eyes to Noah then. “Are you sure he’s not just taking a liking to you because you’ve somehow given him the idea that you’re interested? I doubt that a guy with such nice grades would be much interested in someone like you otherwise. You must have shown an interest in him, somehow.”  
  
Noah was mortified by that comment, though he couldn’t say that he was completely surprised.  
  
Christie growled. “ _What?!_ How can you say that? _Noah_ is the victim here, and Damon has been bothering other submissive students as well with his propositions! _No one_ has been showing that guy any kind of interest!”  
  
“No one else has complained about him, so you guys could just be making this up. He appears to be a good student, and unless I get more complaints I’m not gonna look more into this matter,” Mr. Miller said dismissively. He turned a sharp glare to Noah and cut them all off before they could protest. “As for you – kicking or otherwise being violent towards other students is not allowed here. You should be damn glad I’m just giving you a small warning for it.”  
  
“Hey, Damon was threatening him! And he bruised Noah’s arm pretty bad!” Brandon argued, looking quite pissed at the vice president’s total disinterest in the matter.  
  
“Which is why I’m only giving him a verbal warning,” Mr. Miller explained in a tight voice. “Now, I believe we’re done talking. You’re dismissed.” He leaned back in his chair and waited for them leave.  
  
They all slowly got up from their seats, and Christie shot Mr. Miller a sharp, unimpressed glare before she led Noah out of the office.  
  
When they were out in the corridor and had closed the door behind them, both Noah and Christie sighed in frustration.  
  
“What a dick,” Brandon muttered and crossed his arms. “I seriously hope that someone else will complain about Damon and finally knock some sense into Mr. Miller. I don’t think he even took my statement that seriously either; I can tell he’s not very fond of demons by the way he was looking at me…”  
  
“What idiot hired such a racist for the position of vice president at a college?” Christie grumbled and clenched her jaw in anger.  
  
“I don’t know…” Noah murmured and wrapped his wings as tight to his body as he could. “This hasn’t helped me feel any better about Damon’s threat…”  
  
Brandon looked at him in sympathy. “I know you don’t entirely trust me and that we aren’t friends or anything, but I can keep an eye on you if I spot you in the corridors and make sure that Damon doesn’t get too close. I’ll probably stalk that guy a bit around and see if he bothers others too.”  
  
“Um, thanks. I’d be relieved if you would do that,” Noah said, smiling a bit.  
  
Christie crossed her arms and gave Brandon a skeptic frown. “Why are you suddenly so eager to help out Noah? You used to be quite a dick to him.”  
  
Brandon looked a little offended by that. “I know that, and I said I was sorry. I also said I wanna make it up to him, and I kinda promised my sister I would make sure he’s okay. Besides, I was once molested as a kid by some old pervert, and I can’t stand seeing guys sexually harassing others the way Damon is. I certainly won’t let him rape anyone either.”  
  
Christie flinched a bit at that and Noah turned to stare at Brandon in surprise.  
  
“Oh… I didn’t know. I’m sorry,” Christie said, suddenly feeling bad for making Brandon bring that up.  
  
Noah glanced at Brandon in sympathy and slumped his wings a bit behind himself. “I’m sorry to hear about that…”  
  
Brandon looked away and shifted uncomfortably. “It’s fine. It was a long time ago. Anyway, let’s get out of here, shall we?” He turned around and started walking down the corridor, trying to keep a casual posture. He seemed very uncomfortable with the topic, and Noah could tell that he hadn’t really meant to bring it up.  
  
Noah and Christie shared a sad look before following after him.   
  
They were headed back to their dorms, but Christie was hungry so she hugged Noah goodbye before parting ways with him since he would be going out to eat with Jayden and thus wouldn’t be going with her to the cafeteria. Brandon was headed back to the dorm building as well, and he and Noah walked there together, though they didn’t speak that much and they kept a respectable distance to each other as they walked.  
  
  


***

  
  
Jayden was headed towards Noah’s college to meet up with him and go out to have something to eat. His exam had ended at 2pm and after that he had gone home to get rid of his bag and to study a bit before meeting up with Noah for the first time in five days. He had taken the bus to the college since it took over 45 minutes to walk there from his house, and his bike was broken.  
  
It was already completely dark at 5:25pm when he arrived at the college. Winter was somewhat cold and Jayden kind of hated how fast it got dark outside. He buried his hands in his jeans pockets to keep them warm and was grateful that he had decided to wear a warm hoodie under his leather jacket.  
  
When he approached Noah’s dormitory where they always met up when Jayden went there to see him, he saw Noah standing ten feet away from the entrance under a lamppost. Jayden immediately tensed and became alert when he spotted Brandon standing there with Noah. It looked as if the two were parting ways, and he watched as Noah smiled and nodded goodbye at Brandon before the alpha headed over to the dorm and disappeared into it.  
  
Jealousy and possessiveness immediately rose in Jayden’s chest.  
  
He didn’t like seeing other alphas interacting with Noah, and he certainly didn’t like to see them smiling at Noah and Noah smiling back. A low growl rumbled in Jayden’s chest and he felt his instincts telling him to protect his boyfriend and keep the competition away. He didn’t fully trust Brandon, even though the guy seemed to not be much of a threat to Noah anymore.  
  
Jayden walked over to Noah, going a bit faster now, and the submissive looked up and spotted him when he was almost right next to him.  
  
“Hi,” Noah smiled and flared his wings excitedly at seeing Jayden again.  
  
“Why were you talking to him?” Jayden immediately asked. He knew he was being a bit rude but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t trust Brandon to be around Noah when the two were alone – which they had been when saying goodbye just now.  
  
Noah frowned, his wings drooping slightly behind him in confusion. “I… We just came back from the college’s vice president’s office. Some alpha angel has been bothering me and he cornered me today, so Christie and Brandon went there with me to support me.”  
  
“What?!” Jayden exclaimed in shock. His wings spread out slightly in alarm when hearing that some alpha had been bothering Noah. “What happened?”  
  
Noah lowered his gaze. “Some guy named Damon has been staring at me for weeks now and has been trying to, um, get into my pants. I keep telling him I’m not interested, but he still keeps bothering me. And then today he cornered me when I was alone and threatened he’d force himself on me, so I kicked him. He grabbed my arm pretty hard though, so I couldn’t run away. That’s when Brandon came to help, and we went to the vice president to report Damon, but he didn’t really take our statements seriously…”  
  
“You went there with _Brandon?_ ” Jayden blurted, clenching his jaw.  
  
Noah lifted his gaze and narrowed his eyes at him. “Yes, I went there with Brandon. He witnessed Damon harassing me and offered to give his statement to make the school believe me.”  
  
“Well, that makes sense…” Jayden murmured. “But why was he walking you back to the dorm and smiling at you like that? Do you guys hang out now or what?” The jealousy was eating away at him inside now and he hated it. At the same time he trusted that Noah would never cheat on him or be romantically interested in anyone else. At least not for as long as they were together.  
  
“No!” Noah denied. “He was headed here too, so we walked together. Besides, he’s keeping an eye on me and I’m grateful for that. Why is that so bad?”  
  
“Well, he’s an _alpha_ and he used to call you mean names before, remember?”  
  
“But he’s not anymore. It’s not like I trust him fully either,” Noah argued. “Can we please not fight about this?” he asked, giving Jayden a pleading look. Jayden seemed very on edge right now, and Noah didn’t quite like it.  
  
Jayden groaned and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. His body posture relaxed as he took a deep breath. “Yeah, okay, sorry… I just don’t like it when an alpha smiles at you like that. And he was standing a bit too close to you for my liking when you parted ways…” He growled at the image in his head with Brandon and Noah hanging out together. Noah was _his,_ even though they weren’t mates yet. Jayden wouldn’t tolerate any other male getting too close to him, and the idea of having competition scared him more than anything else.  
  
“We barely talk and we’re not friends…” Noah murmured. “You don’t have to be jealous of him or anything.”  
  
Jayden let out a sigh and stepped closer. He grabbed Noah’s hand and stared down at it as he held it in his own, gently rubbing his thumb against the skin on the back of Noah’s small hand. “I get possessive when I see another alpha around you… I can’t help it. And I don’t like it that I can’t protect you during the day from the perverted guys.” He lifted his gaze to look Noah into the eye. “Why didn’t you tell me that some guy has been bothering you for weeks?”  
  
“Because I didn’t want you to worry or overreact,” Noah told him with a sad smile. “But he’s really freaking me out now… I’m scared he’s going to try to rape me or something. He threatened that he would.”  
  
Jayden growled and his feathers sharpened as Noah’s words caused him to feel protective. “If he touches you, I’ll kill him.”  
  
“I know,” Noah spoke and stared at Jayden’s clothed chest. “I’m scared to walk the corridors alone now, after Damon said he’d force himself on me if he doesn’t get what he want…” He shivered slightly in fear. “I wish you were here to keep him away from me.”  
  
Jayden wrapped his arms around Noah and pulled him closer so that Noah’s head was resting against his chest. He tightened his arms around Noah’s smaller body protectively. “I wish I was too. I don’t like not being around you to keep the perverts away from you, and I keep worrying that something’s gonna happen to you. These two weeks with exams and barely seeing you hasn’t been easy either…”  
  
Noah brought his hand up to rest on Jayden’s chest, next to where his head was leaning against the alpha. He grasped Jayden’s cotton hoodie, which was visible at the front since Jayden’s jacket was open, and closed his eyes as he felt Jayden’s protective arms around him.  
  
Jayden then slowly pulled away, making Noah blink up at him in surprise when the alpha placed his hands on his shoulders and stared him into the eye.   
  
“Do you know where that guy’s dorm room is?” Jayden asked, looking very serious and determined now. “’Cause I think I really wanna have a chat with that prick.”  
  
“I… I don’t know. But I can ask at the reception – they would know.”  
  
“Good. Let’s go there now.” Jayden grabbed Noah’s hand and headed for the reception which he already knew where was located.  
  
“W-Wait, what are you gonna do when you find Damon’s room?” Noah asked, following after Jayden who still hadn’t let go of his hand. He swallowed the lump in his throat when he thought of Jayden getting into a fight with Damon and potentially getting hurt. He didn’t like that idea one bit, but on the other hand he would feel safer after Jayden had ‘taken care of’ Damon and maybe managed to make sure that he would leave him alone.  
  
“I’m gonna tell that ass to stay the fuck away from you, what else?” Jayden growled, slowing down a bit to let Noah catch up to his speed.  
  
They reached the college’s reception where Noah identified himself and told the woman that he needed to know where Damon Sullivan’s room was because he needed to speak to him about a project. It was a little lie though, but he needed to give the woman a reason to tell him which room number Damon had.  
  
Once they got the room number they headed over to the block D dormitory where Damon resided.  
  
Jayden determinately climbed the stairs to the third floor where Damon lived, and Noah followed him.  
  
The guys in the corridor seemed surprised to see a submissive on their floor, and Noah stayed close to Jayden when a couple of alphas eyed him with small smirks. One guy whistled lewdly at him, but flinched and quickly backed off when Jayden growled at him and gave him a territorial display of his sharp feathers. Noah couldn’t help the proud smirk on his lips when he saw how scared that alpha was of Jayden. When Jayden was angry, possessive, or protective of Noah, he wasn’t someone you would want to fuck with.  
  
They reached room 313 where Damon lived, and Noah flinched a bit when Jayden knocked harshly and loudly on the door. Jayden had told him to back up a bit, so that’s what Noah did. He was now standing a few feet away from Jayden and shifted nervously as he waited for Damon to appear at the door. He hoped that Jayden wouldn’t get too violent with the guy and get into trouble.  
  
After a few seconds they could hear the door being unlocked, and then Damon opened the door and cast a bored glance at his visitor. “Yeah?” he said, leaning against the doorframe a bit.  
  
“Are you Damon?” Jayden asked, a growl in his voice.  
  
“Yeah. Who the hell are you?” Damon barely managed to finish his sentence before Jayden growled, grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and pushed him hard into the doorframe without warning.  
  
Noah gasped in shock, staring wide-eyed as Jayden pinned Damon to his own doorframe and growled into his face. Jayden’s feathers were sharper than ever and he looked pretty intimidating.  
  
“What the fuck, man?! Who are you?!” Damon demanded and tried to get free, but Jayden used his weight to help him pin the younger alpha against the doorframe.  
  
The others guys who were in the corridor right now all stopped to watch the scene in shock, but no one intervened.  
  
“Stay the _fuck_ away from my boyfriend, you hear me?!” Jayden growled at Damon, baring his teeth at him in anger as his face was just inches away from his. “If you as much as _look_ at him or _speak_ to him again, I’m gonna make you pay, you understand?”  
  
Damon stared back at him with wide eyes, confusing passing over his face before he caught a glimpse of Noah who was standing somewhere behind Jayden. He stared back at Jayden then, his lips curling into a snarl. “That little bitch came running to his alpha for help, huh? Well, you haven’t even fully claimed him yet, so you can’t expect others not to look at the nice view he offers or blame them for wanting a piece of that ass— Ow!” He grunted in pain when Jayden pulled him forward a few inches by the shirt only to throw him back into the doorframe.  
  
Jayden leaned in so close that Damon shifted uncomfortably. “Touch him and you’re _dead,_ ” he growled threateningly before finally releasing Damon. He shot the other alpha a sharp glare before he gently grabbed a hold of Noah’s hand and led him out of the place.  
  
Noah was completely speechless. He glanced over his shoulder at Damon and saw the angel shoot him a pure look of contempt before he turned his head back around and followed Jayden out of there.  
  
There was complete silence in the corridor for a moment except for some whispering, and suddenly there was a loud cheering among the guys.  
  
“Fuck yeah! That was awesome! You had that one coming, Damon,” one of the alphas cheered and smirked over at Damon, who was still standing in his doorway.  
  
Damon slowly retreated back into his room, feeling humiliated now that the other guys were laughing at him.  
  
Meanwhile Noah followed Jayden back outside, and they both sighed in relief once they were back out in the cool December air, away from Damon and the noisy dormitory floors.  
  
“Fuck, what a jerk,” Jayden groaned and ran a hand through his hair. He was relieved that Damon hadn’t managed to throw him off or start a physical fight with him. Threatening Damon like that was risky since the school wouldn’t be happy if they knew about it, but Jayden didn’t care. He wanted to make sure that Damon stayed the hell away from Noah and that Noah was safe.  
  
Noah stood next to him under the lamppost outside, watching the light fall on Jayden and illuminate him in beautiful ways. He liked the way Jayden’s rough, half-sharp feathers glistered a bit in the light.  
  
“Yeah, he is…” Noah agreed, his voice low and quiet. “Thanks for confronting the guy for me… I just hope it’ll be enough to make him stay away.”  
  
Jayden turned his head to look at him with a small, reassuring smile on his lips. “I think he will. Unless he wants to risk me beating the shit out of him, and something in his eyes told me he didn’t want that to happen. I think he’ll back off. If he doesn’t, let me know.”  
  
Noah nodded. He stared at the ground for a second before glancing up at Jayden again. “You were quite scary,” he said then, a smile tugging at his lips.  
  
“Good. That was the idea,” Jayden chuckled. He turned so that his body was facing Noah and then gently placed his hands on Noah’s hips, standing so close that their fronts were almost touching. “Did I scare you?” he asked softly.  
  
Noah looked up at him. “No. Not in a bad way, at least. It was kind of hot, actually…” he admitted, blushing a bit.  
  
Jayden grinned before leaning down to kiss Noah softly on the lips. Noah returned it, and their lips moved together in slow, sensual movements, letting them taste and feel each other’s lips in the cold.   
  
When they pulled apart, Jayden hummed softly and closed his eyes as he gently nuzzled his nose against Noah’s cheek. He was all calm and gentle now – the complete opposite of the angry and protective alpha he had been just minutes before.  
  
Noah smiled at Jayden’s ministrations and ran his hand over Jayden’s clothed chest, enjoying the moment.  
  
The alpha slowly pulled away then. “Just don’t let Brandon replace me, okay? Or another alpha for that matter. I’m glad he looks out for you when I can’t, but I really don’t like you hanging out too much…”  
  
“I won’t. Stop being so worried about that; I’m not interested in him at all,” Noah said, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend.  
  
“Good,” Jayden said, pleased with Noah’s words, and leaned in for another small kiss which Noah returned. He pulled back after a few seconds and smiled down at Noah. “Let’s go get something to eat now, shall we? I’m starving.”  
  
Noah chuckled up at him. “Yes, let’s do that. I’ve been hungry for hours already. My stomach almost rumbled in the vice president’s office…”  
  
Jayden laughed at that. “Then I better take you somewhere nice to make your stomach happy again,” he smirked, and grabbed Noah’s hand as they started walking in the direction of town to find a nice place to eat at.  
  
“Yeah, you better,” Noah smirked back and shoved his wing playfully into Jayden’s.  
  
Jayden laughed and squeezed his hand tighter, and together they headed off to get something to eat.  
  
They were set on enjoying the next couple of hours together since they hadn’t seen much of each other lately and there were still a few more days left before the exams and projects were over.  
  
Noah was less worried about Damon now after Jayden had taken care of the matter, but knew that he would always have males leering at him and harassing him for being what he was. But for now he was just glad that he didn’t have to worry too much about Damon anymore.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a tricky chapter and it didn’t turn out how I wanted… Sorry if I get a few things about college wrong – I’m not entirely sure about how it works in America, but I hope you can ignore mistakes that I make about that.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed some badass protective and jealous Jayden XD Just wanted to show how not being around Noah every day anymore affects him, since he really has no idea how Noah is doing during the day and he worries that something is gonna happen to him or that he will make wrong friends. You’ll likely see more of that soon.
> 
> And for those who don’t remember it: Noah is studying to be a kindergarten teacher, and Christie is studying to be an elementary school teacher. Brandon is studying something with technology, and Mick is into architecture. Also, Noah’s friend Alfie is not Samandriel’s son Alfie. Alfie is just a common name for submissives and betas :)
> 
> I’m glad my readers are excited for this spin-off! And I appreciate all your support so far! :)
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed :)


	3. Chapter 3

**March 2045 (Noah is 18 (almost 19), Jayden is 20, Christie is 18 (almost 19), Castiel is 55, Dean is 57, Isaac is 24, Kaylen is 19 (almost 20)).**  
  
Spring arrived again, as it did every year, and the weather turned warmer and the days got longer.  
  
Noah was glad that it was Thursday and that he had Friday off because of some event that his teachers were attending, so classes had been cancelled on that day. He just had to do a bit of homework which the teachers had given him since the classes were cancelled, but he could live with that.  
  
It was 4:40pm and Noah sat at his desk in his dorm room and was looking through his emails. His legs were folded under him on the chair as he rolled through his unread emails.  
  
He had received a few emails from Isaac who always sent him funny and silly videos, gifs, and comic strips, and he chuckled as he went through them. Isaac didn’t send him emails that often anymore, though. Noah suspected it was because he and Kaylen were together now. Isaac had changed a bit after Kaylen became his boyfriend; he was a bit calmer now and didn’t try to get others’ attention as much as he used to, but that was mostly only when Kaylen was physically close to him. He was still a prankster and liked to tease and annoy everyone around him. Kaylen too was a bit of a mischievous person. Noah had been stunned the first time he heard Kaylen tell a dirty joke, but Isaac had just laughed out loud and looked pretty proud to have a boyfriend like that. Everyone in the family got along well with Kaylen though, and he was very polite and had seemed a little bit shy the first time he came over to Dean and Castiel’s house, but now he was more outgoing and open. It was still strange for Noah to see Isaac kissing someone the way he kissed Kaylen – there was so much emotion in it (at least when Isaac wasn’t grabbing at Kaylen’s ass or his wings, which often earned him a smack on the head in return), and Isaac seemed to be more happy now than he had been before.  
  
Noah scrolled down to see the other emails he had received and was happy when he noticed that he had gotten an email from Lily. It had been a week since he had last heard from her. He eagerly opened the email to see what it said.  
  
 _‘Hello, little brother :) I hope all is well at college. I miss you so much and I hope we’ll see each other at dad and papa’s house again soon. I’ve added some photos to this email and I hope you’ll enjoy them. Hugs and kisses from Lily (and from Tony too).’_  
  
Noah scrolled down a bit and opened the attached image files, curious to see the photos Lily had sent him.  
  
He smiled when he saw that Lily had sent him some recent photos of her and Tony’s little son, Alec. He had been born on the 27th February and was just two weeks old now. He was an alpha hybrid with white wings with a bit of dark and light grey in them, and he was tailless. The baby looked so cute on the photos that Lily had sent him; all wrapped up in fluffy blankets and with big, blue eyes, and Noah grinned warmly at the pictures. It was hard to believe that such an adorable baby would one day grow up to be a tough alpha.  
  
Noah had been there at the hospital along with his parents, Isaac, Adrian, Natalie, and Eden and Jason to congratulate Lily and Tony on their new baby after Alec was born. It had been wonderful to see his sister so happy that she was finally a mother, and Noah had envied her a bit.  
  
He looked up when the door to the room was being unlocked, and smiled at Christie when she entered their room.  
  
“Hey, Noah,” Christie smiled, closing and locking the door behind her, and put her keys away into her pocket.  
  
“Hi, Christie,” Noah smiled back. “Did your classes finally end?”  
  
“Ugh, yeah. I envy you that you’re free tomorrow – only two of my teachers are going to that event, so I still have one class that I gotta attend…”  
  
Noah chuckled and gave her a sympathetic look.  
  
Christie walked over and looked at the photos on Noah’s laptop as she stood behind him. “Aww, is that your new nephew? He’s so adorable!”  
  
“Yes, that’s Alec; Lily’s son,” Noah said and smiled at the photos.  
  
“Oh, he’s such a cutie for an alpha baby,” Christie grinned and leaned in over Noah to have a closer look. “Aww, just look at him! Doesn’t that make you want to have a baby of your own?” She poked the back of Noah’s shoulder teasingly, laughing when she saw him duck his head and blush.  
  
“Kind of… But I’m not ready to have a baby just yet.”  
  
“Well, I bet it won’t be that long before Jayden knocks up – it’ll probably be right after you finish college. I wouldn’t be surprised if he knocks you up multiple times, actually.”  
  
“Christie!” Noah chastised, blushing like mad.  
  
Christie just laughed at him and gave him a small wink, which made him blush even more.  
  
“So, I’m gonna crash at Rebecca and Marie’s room since Jayden is coming over tonight… And I don’t really want to be around for that,” Christie said and started packing a small bag with her pajama and some new clothes for tomorrow. Her friends’ room was just down the corridor, but she didn’t want to have to enter their dorm room while Jayden was visiting Noah.  
  
“Ugh, Christie,” Noah whined, embarrassed.  
  
“What? You know I’m right,” Christie grinned.  
  
Noah groaned loudly and Christie laughed before packing her stuff and saying goodbye to him as she left the room to hang out with her friends.  
  
After Christie had gone Noah got up to tidy up a bit before Jayden would arrive. He opened a window to let some fresh air inside the room, and stood there for a bit to feel the warm spring breeze hit his face and blow through his feathers and hair.  
  
Things were going well at college. There were still sexist alphas around, but at least Damon had left him alone since Jayden threatened him back in December. He glared at Noah in contempt whenever their paths crossed afterwards, and he had snapped a few rude comments at him, but it was nothing that made Noah worry too much. Damon had continued to hit on other submissives as well, and also on some of the girls, and eventually his behavior had been reported to the college president. Unlike the vice president, the college president took such matters much more seriously, and Damon had been given a firm warning. It didn’t stop others from hitting on Noah and other victims, and trying to get into their pants, but they weren’t as persistent or threatening as Damon had been. At least not to Noah.  
  
A sound from his laptop caught his attention then, and Noah turned around and walked over to see what was going on. He was half surprised to see that Isaac was calling him on Skype. Noah sat down, put on his headphones, and clicked ‘accept’ to pick up the video call.  
  
Isaac’s face appeared on the screen, and his brother glanced around the room he was in before leaning closer. _“Hey, Noah. How’s it going?”_  
  
“Hi, Isaac,” Noah replied, eyeing his brother skeptically through the screen. Isaac called him on Skype sometimes, but his brother looked oddly restless right now. Noah wondered why. “And I’m good. What’s wrong with _you?_ ”  
  
 _“Well, uh, I kinda need your advice, little bro,”_ Isaac said, shifting a bit. Noah could see that Isaac was lying on his stomach on the bed in his apartment with his laptop in front of him while he was skyping with Noah, and he still seemed a little nervous.  
  
“What is it?” Noah asked, getting a little worried.  
  
 _“You’re a sub so you know what subs like and what they don’t like… And I need to know what I should buy for Kaylen for his birthday,”_ Isaac said, giving Noah a pleading look through the webcam. _“Please hurry up before Kaylen comes back into the room.”_  
  
That was not what Noah had expected, but he was relieved that it wasn’t anything more serious that had Isaac looking so nervous. His brother was just worried that Kaylen would return to the room before Noah could give him the advice he needed.  
  
Noah frowned. “Isn’t his birthday first in April?”  
  
 _“Yeah, but I like to be prepared, and I can’t stop thinking about what the hell I should give him. It’s giving me a headache to think about it,”_ Isaac groaned.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but laugh at how lost Isaac was when it came to buying someone good presents. It was cute how genuinely freaked out Isaac looked right now since he had no clue what to do or buy for Kaylen’s upcoming birthday. How would he know? He hadn’t had a boyfriend or a girlfriend before, so he had no experience with buying presents for one.  
  
 _“What’s so funny? Stop laughing at me!”_ Isaac snapped, groaning in annoyance that Noah was making fun of him. _“Please just give me a good idea about what to buy?”_  
  
“Sorry, I just find it funny how lost you are about what to buy for Kaylen,” Noah grinned and gave Isaac a teasing smirk.  
  
 _“It isn’t funny, man. I don’t know what to get him – he doesn’t even know what he wants, so that’s not helping.”_  
  
“Well, how about you give him a good experience instead of buying a thing for him?” Noah suggested.  
  
Isaac frowned. _“What? Like romantic sex or what?”_  
  
“No! Well, yeah, but not just that.” Noah groaned and shifted in his chair to fold his legs under him again. “Maybe you should take him out to his favorite place to eat, and then perhaps go with him to some place that you think he might like? Somewhere where you can do something together and have fun, or just take him to the mountains to look at the city at night or something. And then you can, um, do naughty things afterwards if that’s what the mood is calling for.” He blushed a bit and almost couldn’t believe that he was telling Isaac such stuff.  
  
Isaac considered that for a bit. _“Hmm… That doesn’t sound too bad. I’m pretty sure his family won’t mind that I steal him for the night and take him somewhere. Do you think Kaylen would like doing that stuff with me?”_  
  
“I think so, yeah,” Noah said. “As long as you do something special for him then I definitely think he would be happy.” He didn’t know much about what Kaylen liked and what his interests were yet. He had only met Kaylen about eight times, but they already got along really well.  
  
 _“Well, thanks for the help, Squirt,”_ Isaac grinned. _“I would kiss you if it wasn’t for the screen.”_  
  
Noah grimaced. “Ew. Please don’t.”  
  
Isaac barked out a laugh but looked up when the door to his bedroom was suddenly opened. Noah could see Isaac grinning widely and talking to someone in the room, and then Kaylen suddenly appeared on his screen as he lay down on the bed next to Isaac.  
  
 _“Hi, Noah,”_ Kaylen smiled and waved at him.  
  
“Hi,” Noah grinned.  
  
 _“I hope college hasn’t killed you yet. It’s almost killing me,”_ Kaylen said and groaned loudly.  
  
Kaylen was studying to be a nurse at the college in L.A. He wasn’t living with Isaac, but he came over to visit him as often as he could. They had started dating in early September last year after Isaac had finally asked him to be his boyfriend, and so far things were going well between them.  
  
“It hasn’t killed me yet, but sometimes it feels like it’s about to…” Noah murmured.  
  
Kaylen laughed at that, and he squirmed when Isaac lifted his wing up and blanked Kaylen’s body with it as they lay next to each other. Noah watched as Isaac leaned in to place a lazy kiss on Kaylen’s cheek, and he could tell that Isaac was doing something with his hand as well since it had disappeared somewhere between their bodies.  
 _  
“Isaac!”_ Kaylen suddenly yelped and flinched away. _“Get your hands off my ass! Your brother is watching us!”_ He glared daggers at Isaac who was just laughing at him now.  
  
Noah groaned in disgust, but couldn’t help but find it a bit amusing too. It was weird seeing Isaac so relaxed around someone like that, and Noah hadn’t gotten used to it yet.  
  
 _“Noah can handle it. He’s witnessed a lot of weird stuff in his life,”_ Isaac snickered.  
  
Another groan escaped from Noah’s throat.  
  
Isaac leaned in again and kissed Kaylen on the jaw. Kaylen smiled at his action and bared his neck to him, giggling softly as Isaac’s kissing tickled a bit.  
  
“Gosh, get a room!” Noah groaned and put a hand up to the screen to block the image in disgust.  
  
Isaac laughed and pulled away from Kaylen to look at Noah through the screen. _“This_ is _my room!”_ he reminded him. _“And now you know how I’ve felt all the times I had to watch you and Jayden get gross with each other. I’ve been scarred for life by watching you guys kiss, touch, and grope each other.”_  
  
Noah put his hand down again and blushed furiously. “We have barely touched each other in front of you!”  
  
 _“Oh yeah? Jayden has his tail curled around your leg all the time, and don’t think I haven’t seen him rest his hand on your ass a few times too when we’re visiting dad and papa!”_  
  
Noah blushed. “That’s…”  
  
 _“I’m surprised I haven’t walked in on you guys fucking yet.”_  
  
That comment mortified Noah who was now crimson red all over his face.  
  
Kaylen swatted Isaac gently on the arm. _“Come on. Don’t be so rude to Noah…”_  
  
 _“I’m not being rude,”_ Isaac denied and gave Kaylen a rather affectionate smile.  
  
Noah groaned once again. “Well, I gotta go. Jayden is going to be here soon…”  
  
 _“Aww, Noah is getting laid tonight!”_ Isaac teased and grinned at Noah who blushed even more now.  
  
“Shut up!” Noah snapped, completely embarrassed.  
  
Noah watched as Kaylen put his hand over Isaac’s mouth before the beta could say another word, and then practically pushed him away from the bed so that he couldn’t embarrass Noah any further. Isaac seemed to try to protest, but his words came out as uninterpretable, muffled mutters under Kaylen’s hand, and Noah couldn’t help but giggle at that. After Isaac was off the bed, Kaylen lay down on his stomach again and inched a bit closer to the screen, completely ignoring Isaac’s complaints from somewhere behind him.  
  
 _“I think we better log off now. It was nice talking to you again. Have fun with Jayden and greet him for me,”_ Kaylen said, grinning at Noah and gave him a small wink.  
  
“Um, thanks. I will. Take care of Isaac,” Noah said and smiled at the other submissive through the screen.  
  
 _“I will,”_ Kaylen smiled, flaring his wings and tail joyfully before they said goodbye and logged off.  
  
Noah took off his headphones and leaned back his chair, continuing to smile for a few moments. Isaac seemed really happy around Kaylen, and Noah was glad for him. He missed his brother though, even though he hated admitting how much he could actually miss Isaac’s silliness and his teasing. He missed his other siblings too. He pretty much only saw them when they were all at Dean and Castiel’s house for a weekend, though he had been Christmas shopping at the mall with Eden and Lily in December.  
  
Sighing, Noah finally got up from his chair and turned off his laptop. He put his room key into his pocket before leaving the room to use the bathroom before Jayden arrived.  


 

***

  
  
It was 5:23 when Jayden finally arrived.  
  
Noah grinned up at his boyfriend as he opened the door for him. “Hi.”  
  
“Hi, gorgeous,” Jayden grinned and entered the room as Noah stepped aside to let him in.  
  
Noah blushed a bit at the pet name, but he kind of liked it when Jayden called him that.  
  
As soon as Jayden was inside and the door had been shut and locked, the alpha pulled Noah close to his body and kissed him deeply. Noah was rather surprised by the deep, hungry kiss that Jayden was giving him, but he kissed him back with eager and fought half-heartedly for dominance. Jayden growled into his mouth and grasped his hair tightly, and Noah finally submitted and let the alpha kiss him as hard and deep as he pleased.  
  
The kiss was dirty and deep, and Jayden grasped some of Noah’s feathers dominantly while he continued to devour his mouth. Noah mewled and lowered his wings submissively as he melted into Jayden’s arms as the alpha grasped his feathers like that, and he gasped for air every time Jayden pulled back just a bit to breathe before kissing him again.  
  
After a minute, Jayden finally pulled back. They panted to catch their breaths, and the alpha rested his forehead against Noah’s and rubbed their noses together in affection while his eyes were closed.  
  
Noah stared at Jayden’s closed eyelids, humming softly as he felt his boyfriend caress his scalp with his thumb as his hand was still grasping his hair. “What was that about?” Noah asked, chuckling softly.  
  
“Nothing. I just missed you so much all week, you have no idea,” Jayden hummed. His eyes were still closed and he ran a lazy hand through Noah’s feathers, hearing a soft ruffling sound coming from as the movement stirred them.  
  
“Oh. Did something happen?” Noah asked, a hint of worry in his voice.  
  
Jayden finally opened his eyes and stared back at Noah. He chuckled fondly at the worried look the submissive was giving him. “No, not really. It’s just been a bit stressful, and there’s one classmate that keeps pissing me off.”  
  
Noah’s eyebrows furrowed. “What did this person do?”  
  
Jayden sighed and pulled away. “He’s an alpha angel. He saw us when you came to my school last week to meet up with me, and he mistook you for an angel. He started throwing some racist shit at me since he thought I was dating an angel, and it didn’t exactly get any better when I told him you’re half demon too. The guy’s just a dick, that’s all.” He hadn’t really told Noah about his female classmate Janine who was making him a bit uncomfortable with being attracted to him. She never really spoke much to him, but he had seen her watching him on several occasions. He didn’t quite like it, but she hadn’t made any moves on him so he didn’t think of it as a big deal. He just ignored her instead.  
  
“Oh. What an assbutt,” Noah muttered.  
  
Jayden leaned his head back and laughed at that. “Wow, very creative word. When I finally hear you saying a cussword it’s just a silly word that sounds like something a kindergartener thought up.” He grinned fondly at Noah and ran another hand through his feathers with affection.  
  
Noah scowled at him, his lips forming a small pout. “So what? My papa has always said that word a lot so I started using it too. Do you want me to curse more or what?”  
  
“No,” Jayden said, chuckling. “Definitely not. Unless it’s while we’re having sex and the words express how much pleasure you feel – _that_ is hot. Kinda wish you’d do it more…”  
  
Noah blushed and stared down at his feet. “I’ll… keep that in mind.”  
  
A fond chuckle came from Jayden and he gently reached out his hand to cup Noah’s cheek, making him lift his head to look at him. “That would be very hot.”  
  
Another blush reddened Noah’s cheeks, but he couldn’t help but smile shyly at the alpha. He closed his eyes as Jayden leaned down to press a soft kiss on his lips and let his lips linger on his for a bit until he suddenly kissed him a bit harder. Noah moaned and wrapped his arms around Jayden’s neck, feeling a spark of lust run through him as Jayden kissed him so intimately.  
  
Jayden then put both hands on Noah’s ass and lifted him up. Noah immediately wrapped his legs around Jayden’s waist and let the alpha carry him over to his bed.  
  
When they reached the bed, the alpha then sat down on the edge with Noah straddling his lap. They kissed and teased each other’s lips with their teeth, and Jayden ran his hands over Noah’s chest possessively before snaking them up under the submissive’s shirt.  
  
Noah moaned and leaned his head back as he felt Jayden’s large, rough hands move across his skin and tease his nipples a bit. He quickly reached behind himself to unbutton his shirt below his wings, and a pleased sound came from the back of Jayden’s throat when he realized what Noah was doing.  
  
When the shirt was unbuttoned, Jayden quickly grabbed it and pulled up off of Noah who lifted his arms to help him. The shirt was throw to the floor, and then Noah pressed his lips to Jayden’s again as he reached behind the alpha to unbutton his shirt next.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted into Noah’s mouth when the submissive rubbed the base of his wings to give him pleasure while undoing his shirt. The touch sent sparks of pleasure and arousal through Jayden’s body and he shuddered lightly at it. He all but threw the shirt off himself once Noah had unbuttoned it, and Noah pulled away from his mouth to look at his naked chest. Jayden watched as Noah’s pupils dilated with arousal as he took in his muscled torso. He thought it was cute how interesting Noah always seemed to find his muscles, and he smiled as the submissive ran his hands across his chest as if he was worshipping it.  
  
Jayden’s hands were both placed on Noah’s butt, and he gave it a firm squeeze which brought Noah out of his trance.  
  
“Ah!” Noah yipped, blushing at the girlish sound he made.  
  
Jayden just grinned at him before capturing his lips again.  
  
They were both very aroused now, and Noah could feel his slick staining his panties and his oil begin to flow slowly down his back. He inched further up into Jayden’s lap, still kissing him back eagerly, and gasped when he felt the alpha’s erection through their clothes.  
  
“You’re so gorgeous. So amazing. And you’re _mine,_ ” Jayden purred, grasping Noah’s feathers possessively.  
  
Noah let out a soft moan and bared his neck to Jayden. His wings were spread out behind him but lowered submissively, and his body shuddered when he felt Jayden’s mouth close around the sensitive skin on his neck and suck small bruises into it. “Yes, all yours,” he breathed.  
  
Jayden let out a possessive growl against Noah’s neck and tightened his arms around him. He moved his hands over Noah’s ass before moving one up to touch his wing bone and caress it. Noah jerked at the touch, and Jayden loved how responsive and sensitive the submissive was.  
  
As things got more heated and their arousals increased, Jayden started running his hands over Noah’s body more. He moved them over his butt, his wings, his naked stomach and chest, briefly over his crotch, and then his back. Noah just moaned and let Jayden touch him as he pleased, unable to keep his own hands off the alpha in the meantime. They were both so caught up in each other and their arousals that they were not paying to attention to _where_ they were touching.  
  
And that was when it happened.  
  
As Jayden’s right hand moved across Noah’s back to feel more of him, it suddenly came into contact with Noah’s leaking oil glands – the one place on Noah’s body that he couldn’t touch.  
  
As soon as the oil made contact with Jayden’s skin, they both felt a sudden overwhelming warmth filling them up from the inside out and going deep into the core of their minds. They gasped in shock and flinched away from each other.  
  
“Shit! I’m so sorry! That wasn’t on purpose!” Jayden immediately blurted, staring at Noah with wide eyes that were full of shock and guilt.  
  
Noah was still sitting on Jayden’s lap, but he was leaning back to the point he was almost losing his balance. He stared back at Jayden in equal shock, almost unable to believe or understand what had just happened.  
  
But there was no doubt about what had happened. They could both feel it; the mating bond between them. It was resting in the back of their minds, warm and pulsating, and as they stared at each other and were as physically close as they were right now, they could feel it flare and strengthen inside them, already demanding to get stronger and be consummated.  
  
When the worst shock had left Noah just seconds later, he scrambled off of Jayden’s lap and stared back at him in horror. “No-no-no-no! That’s… T-This wasn’t supposed to happen,” he stammered, panicked.  
  
Jayden got up from the bed too, looking just as distraught and panicked as Noah. “Fuck,” he cursed and ran his non-oiled-stained hand through his hair. “I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking where I was putting my hands. I’m so sorry.”  
  
Noah blinked at him as Jayden was now looking at him with such a guilty and apologetic look that it hurt Noah to look at him. His expression softened. “No, it’s okay. I’m not mad…” he said softly, though he still felt pretty panicked about what had happened.  
  
“How can you not be mad? I touched your most private place, and now we’re bonded. I did that without your permission,” Jayden pointed out, and Noah could see how frustrated and mad he was at himself for letting this happen. “I’ve wanted to mate with you sooner or later, but I wanted it to be when we were both ready and consenting for it. Fuck, I’m so sorry that I touched you there.” He groaned and slumped his wings behind him in defeat and frustration.  
  
Noah’s wings relaxed a bit behind him. “It’s okay. Really. It was an accident, and it was kind of my fault too. I wasn’t paying attention either.”  
  
Jayden relaxed a bit at those words.  
  
“And you’re the only one that I would ever want to mate with, it’s just… I’m not ready for this. My body is going to change and I—” Noah trailed off, staring at Jayden’s naked chest for a bit before raising his gaze to look at his alpha. His eyes were prickling with water since the frustrating and somewhat scary situation rather upset him. “I’m not ready for that change,” he finally said, finishing his sentence.  
  
Jayden knew what change he was talking about – it was his heat. Being bonded to someone was now going to make Noah’s body fertile. His body would go into heat soon to drive him to complete the bond with his mate and conceive a baby with him, but Noah was by far not ready for that yet. And neither was Jayden.  
  
Jayden cringed and carefully approached Noah to hug him. Noah was a little stiff at first but quickly relaxed against him, and they both felt their newly formed bond flare in joy over their closeness. It was strange and yet comforting and nice. A non-consummated bond made it harder to sense the other’s emotions, but they could already weakly sense what the other was feeling. It was strange and unfamiliar to them since it wasn’t something that they were used to, but it already felt so intimate and right even though the bonding hadn’t been on purpose.  
  
“We’ll figure it out. I can’t really take it back now,” Jayden murmured and placed a kiss on top of Noah’s head. He ran his hands over Noah’s back to soothe him, although he was careful not to touch his oil glands again. The damage had already been done, but he didn’t want to start touching that place right away. Mates could touch each other wherever they pleased, but Jayden was not the type to take advantage of that. Everything should be with Noah’s consent.  
  
Noah nodded against him before gently pulling away. “What are we going to do?” he murmured, staring at the floor.  
  
Jayden groaned and ran his hand through his hair with a deep sigh. “I don’t know. I didn’t think it would happen like this.”  
  
“I think I need to go see my papa,” Noah said then, lifting his gaze to look at Jayden. “He will know what to do, and he can give advice.”  
  
“Your dad’s going to kill me, though.” Jayden cringed at the thought of seeing Dean after this had happened.  
  
“No, he won’t. I won’t let him.”  
  
Jayden chuckled awkwardly. “That’s mildly comforting.”  
  
Noah lowered his gaze and rubbed his left arm with his right hand in a nervous gesture. They were still both shirtless in front of each other, but their arousals had died down by now.  
  
“Um, I should pack some stuff before we go see my parents. And I, um, gotta change my underwear,” Noah murmured, blushing as he went over to his drawers to find a new set of panties to replace his current ones with. His underwear felt kind of unpleasant and wet since his slick had leaked into them earlier.  
  
“Okay,” Jayden said, chuckling softly, and watched as Noah took off his pants. The submissive kept his back turned to him, and Jayden couldn’t help but stare when Noah’s ass was exposed to him since his wings were spread out to help him keep his balance as he changed into a new pair of panties. He felt an odd sensation inside him as he watched Noah, realizing that it was their mating bond reacting to him checking Noah out. Mating bonds intensified physical attraction between mates, and it increased an alpha’s possessiveness towards his mate so he could keep them safe and away from harm and competition. It also made the mates crave more physical contact with each other, both sexual and non-sexual, and Jayden felt the sudden urge to touch Noah as he watched his naked skin.  
  
Jayden shook the urges off, knowing that now wasn’t the time, and instead he picked up his shirt from the floor and pulled it on while Noah was packing a bit of clothes since they would most likely be sleeping over at Dean and Castiel’s house tonight.  


 

***

  
  
They took the bus to Dean and Castiel’s house since Jayden rarely got to borrow his parents’ car when he was sleeping over in Noah’s dorm room. His parents had to use the cars on the next day, after all.  
  
Jayden could already feel the intensified possessiveness that their bond made him have. He found himself not liking any male looking at Noah as they rode on the bus, and he made sure to hold Noah’s hand and let their wings touch so that everyone knew that Noah was _his_ and they should stay the fuck away from him.  
  
Noah had picked up on Jayden’s increased possessiveness too, and he felt their yet unfinished bond flare in approval. Noah blushed a bit, but he couldn’t help but smile at how Jayden was behaving.  
  
They got off the bus, and Jayden had grabbed Noah’s bag for him as they got up from their seats to leave. Noah took his bag back though after the bus left though, since he didn’t want to be treated like he was helpless, and together they started walking towards his parents’ house, which was ten minutes’ walk away.  
  
They walked in silence some of the way, just listening to the birds tweeting and kids playing in the streets. When they spoke it was mostly about something else than their bonding.  
  
When they finally arrived at the house, Noah felt rather nervous about telling his parents about what had happened. He had no idea how they would react. He suspected that Castiel wouldn’t be particularly angry and would be far more understanding than Dean, who would most likely be a bit upset by the news. Bonding was a big deal, after all, and it shouldn’t be done by accident.  
  
Jayden too was pretty nervous, mostly because he was afraid of Dean’s reaction. Noah grabbed his hand for reassurance before they both went up to the front door and rang the doorbell.  
  
After a few moments they heard the door being unlocked, and a rather surprised Castiel appeared in the doorway.  
  
“Oh. Hello, Noah and Jayden,” Castiel smiled, looking between them in slight confusion. “What are you doing here? We were not expecting you…?”  
  
Noah shifted a bit. “Um, sorry for dropping by unannounced, papa. I hope you and dad are not busy…?”  
  
“No, not at all. We were just about to cook dinner,” Castiel smiled and looked between them curiously.  
  
Bella appeared in the door then, barking happily and practically jumped up on Noah to greet him.  
  
“Hi, Bella,” Noah grinned and rubbed the dog all over, chuckling as she panted and barked in satisfaction. Jayden chuckled next to him and rubbed Bella too when she came over to him.  
  
Dean then appeared in the door behind Castiel, who had just stepped a bit aside to let them in. “Hey, guys. What’s up with the unannounced visit? Did something happen?” Dean asked, looking between them with squinted, worried eyes.  
  
Jayden rubbed the back of his neck nervously and avoided Dean’s eye. “Um, you could say that.”  
  
Dean eyed them both with suspicion and worry as he sensed that something was wrong. “What’s wrong?” he demanded.  
  
“Dean,” Castiel chastised. “Let them come inside before you start an interrogation.”  
  
Dean nodded quietly and stepped back a little, allowing Jayden and Noah inside so they could take off their shoes and put their bags away in the corner. Bella continued to be all hyped up and happy, and they petted her every now and then to make her stop poking her nose against their hands to get attention. It was clear that she wanted to play, but they didn’t really have time for that now.  
  
Once they had gotten out of their shoes and jackets, Noah and Jayden went into the living room with Dean and Castiel, who were both eyeing them in anticipation.  
  
“So… What happened? Is everything alright?” Dean finally asked.  
  
“Um,” Noah started and shifted uneasily as he glanced between his parents. “Um, we kind of, um…” He glanced briefly at Jayden before looking back at Dean and Castiel again, staring at them as he hesitated. “Jayden touched my oil glands,” he finally blurted, staring at his parents to see their reaction.  
  
Castiel’s eyes widened in surprise and slight shock, since that was clearly not what he had expected to hear, and Dean completely froze next to him.  
  
“It was an accident. I didn’t mean to,” Jayden added, cringing.  
  
Castiel seemed to soften up a bit before he let out a deep sigh. Dean, however, wasn’t taking the news quite as lightly as him.  
  
“He did _what?!_ ” Dean blurted, staring between them in shocked disbelief. “How the hell did that happen?” he demanded, looking at Jayden.  
  
Although Dean was clearly somewhat upset, he didn’t look particularly angry. Jayden was kind of relieved about that.  
  
“Um, things got kinda heated between us and then my hand just started wandering around without me really paying attention to where I was touching, and then it suddenly came into contact with Noah’s oil gland. I swear this wasn’t on purpose. I hadn’t meant for it to happen like that,” Jayden explained, feeling rather guilty. His wings were pressed tightly against his back and drooping a little, and his tail was motionless and lowered in shame.  
  
Noah glanced up at him with a gentle face. He slowly reached out and grabbed a hold of Jayden’s hand. “I told you I’m not mad…” he said softly.  
  
Jayden relaxed somewhat at his words and gave him a tiny smile.  
  
Dean groaned, rubbing the top of his nose at the brink of his eyes with his fingers. “Wow, that’s… two generations in a row that this thing happens. I hadn’t expected that. You angels are really weird when it comes to how you bond, Cas.”  
  
Demons didn’t have oil glands, so when they wanted to bond with someone they had to do it willingly by reaching out to their partner’s mind and trying to form the bond with them. It was usually easier to do during intimate activities. But when a demon came into contact with an angel’s wing oil, the bond could form unless the demon was purposefully trying _not_ to let it happen. Neither Dean nor Jayden had been prepared for the bond to form though, so they had been caught off guard before they could stop the bond from forming.  
  
Castiel scowled at Dean for making that comment. “That isn’t _my_ fault, Dean. It is just how we are built, and unfortunately Noah inherited that from me.” He turned to look at Noah and Jayden again then, his expression softening. “And I’m not mad at either of you for letting this happen, although it would have been easier had you waited a few more years.”  
  
“Well, that was our plan,” Jayden said, rubbing the back his neck again. He was relieved that Dean hadn’t been more upset about it and that Castiel too wasn’t angry at him for being so careless around Noah. Bonding was a big thing and they had both wanted to wait until they were ready before doing it.  
  
“What should I do now? The bond, it’s going to, um… you know.” Noah blushed furiously and stared at his feet as they all looked at him. They all knew he was talking about him being forced into a heat soon, and that was so embarrassing that Noah just wanted to dig a hole in the floor and bury himself in it. Jayden squeezed his hand a bit to offer reassurance, but that didn’t help much.  
  
“Well, let’s talk about that, okay?” Castiel smiled, and walked over to Noah to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.  
  
“Well, I’m not staying around for that conversation; it’s too awkward. I’ll go take Bella for a quick walk,” Dean announced. He looked at Jayden then, who was fidgeting like he didn’t know whether to stay around for the conversation or go join Dean for that walk instead. “You should stay here and support Noah,” he told him.  
  
Jayden nodded weakly. “Yeah, okay.”  
  
Dean whistled at the dog who jumped over to him eagerly. “C’mon, girl, let’s go take a walk while the others have the most embarrassing talk of the century, shall we?” he grinned, casting a smug look over at the others as he went into the entrance hall.  
  
“Just leave, Dean,” Castiel muttered back and glared over at him.  
  
Dean laughed out loud and put on his shoes to leave.  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but chuckle at Dean’s comment while Noah felt even more embarrassed and awkward now.  
  
They sat down on the couch after Dean had left – Noah and Jayden sat down on one side of the couch, and Castiel sat on the other so that they could face each other more.  
  
Jayden was the one that started the conversation. “So, um, is this going to be a problem for Noah?” he asked, glancing at Noah in worry before focusing on Castiel again.  
  
“Going into heat is always somewhat of a problem,” Castiel explained patiently. “Especially the first heat is rather unpleasant, particularly if you have to go through it alone. I would suggest that Noah does that. I know I cannot tell you what to do or not to since you are both adults, but I would advise you not to have children yet.”  
  
Noah’s face flushed as he stared into his lap. “We’re not. I’m not ready.” He noticed Jayden nodding in agreement next to him before Noah glanced up at Castiel again. “When is it, um, going to start?”  
  
“It varies a lot. With me, my first heat started about three weeks after I was bonded to Dean, but just a week can pass until it starts. Your body first needs to respond to your bond and then trigger the first heat, and that can take a little while. Though, I suspect it only went that slow with me since Dean and I were avoiding each other after the bond was formed, and thus the bond got drained and that may have slowed down the process in my body. I think with you, your heat may appear sooner since you and Jayden are close, but I’m not entirely sure how this works, to be honest.”  
  
It was awkward to talk about this, even for Castiel, but it had to be done. He tried to stay as supportive as he could and not let it get too awkward as they spoke about these intimate things.  
  
“Oh, okay… But what I am going to do when it starts? I can’t be at school, and being here will just be awkward.” Noah cringed at the thought of being in the same house as his parents – especially his father – while he was in heat. It would be too embarrassing since both Dean and Castiel would know that he would be pleasuring himself non-stop in his room while riding out his heat. He really didn’t want to picture that scenario.  
  
“All colleges have certain rooms where females or submissives can go during their heats so that they are safe and away from the other students,” Castiel replied. “Such a room is mostly located in a basement, and it has very restricted access – only two people are allowed to have a key for the room; the person’s mate, a close relative, or a trusted friend of the same sex. You would stay there during your heat, alone, and a person of your choice will be bringing you food every day. There is a bathroom connected to that room, so you will not have to go outside and risk running into someone who could assault you.”  
  
“Oh. That’s good…” Noah sighed in relief. He was glad that there was a room he could stay in alone during his heat, and Jayden seemed rather relieved about that too.  
  
“I would advise Jayden not to visit you during that time, though…”  
  
“Yeah, I won’t,” Jayden promised.  
  
Castiel chuckled a bit at how quick Jayden responded to that.  
  
“But do I stay there until my heat starts or what? How do I know when it’s coming?” Noah asked then.  
  
“Well, your body will warn you at least a day or two before it happens. You will feel weak, somewhat hot inside, and your wings and, um, private parts will feel very sensitive.” Castiel shifted awkwardly but continued to smile in order to reassure Noah about the situation.  
  
“Ah, okay,” Noah murmured, blushing so hard his face and body felt all warm.  
  
Jayden too shifted a bit at the awkwardness.  
  
A questioning frown appeared on Castiel’s face then, and he gave them both a cautious look before asking, “You have not consummated your bond yet, have you?”  
  
“What? No. We came here as soon as it happened,” Jayden replied.  
  
“Alright. I would suggest that you wait with consummating it until Noah’s heat is over. As far as I know, his first heat would only feel worse if you are fully mated when it starts. The urges should be less intense if the bond is not consummated when the heat begins.”  
  
Jayden paled somewhat. “What? You mean… no sex until it’s over?” That would be around 2-4 weeks without him being able to have intercourse with Noah. They _could_ use a condom since the bond would only be consummated when Jayden’s seed entered Noah’s ass, but Jayden had the feeling that it would be tortuous to have sex without consummating the bond when their bodies demanded for it to happen. He wasn’t sure what would be worse – no sex, or having sex without satisfying the needs their bodies and their bond craved so desperately.  
  
Noah groaned and hit Jayden in the side with his elbow for saying something so embarrassing in front of his papa. Castiel chuckled lightly at them.  
  
“Can’t I just take heat suppressants so that this doesn’t happen?” Noah asked with a small whine.  
  
“No, suppressants can first be taken after you have had your first heat,” Castiel explained, feeling a little sorry for Noah. “You should go talk to an ob/gyn about this as soon as possible – preferably before your heat begins so she can write a note for your school and have you excused from classes. I can give you Charlie’s contact information, if you like?”  
  
“Yeah… I’d like that. She seems nice,” Noah murmured.  
  
Castiel got up from the couch to go and get Charlie’s contact information for them.  
  
Noah and Jayden stayed behind, both of them still pretty lost in thoughts after today’s little accident.  
  
Jayden glanced at Noah and reached out to put a hand on his boyfriend’s – no, his _mate’s_ – thigh, trying to reassure him. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.  
  
Noah nodded, still staring into his lap. “I’m okay. I’m just… kinda scared.”  
  
“Don’t be. You’ll pull through it.”  
  
Noah raised his gaze to give Jayden a small glare. “That’s easy for you to say. _You_ won’t be the one going into heat.”  
  
The alpha laughed at that. “Yeah, thank god. That would mean I had a uterus, and I definitely don’t wanna have that.”  
  
“You’re stupid,” Noah growled, annoyed, and gave Jayden a harsh shove.  
  
“Sorry,” Jayden chuckled fondly. He smiled at Noah, who was still sulking a bit, and then leaned in to nuzzle his nose against Noah’s face tenderly. “Do you know this Charlie person?” he asked, still rubbing his nose gently against Noah who purred softly at the gesture.  
  
“Yes, I’ve met her a few times. She seems nice. She helped my papa deliver me and my siblings, and Lily and Eden’s children as well.”  
  
“I see. Let’s go see her as soon as possible then.”  
  
Noah nodded and closed his eyes contently as he leaned into Jayden’s touch and felt their newly formed bond flare inside of them in satisfaction. It still felt strange, but they were both already getting used to it, and Noah liked the intimacy it provided between them.  
  
Castiel came over to them soon afterwards with Charlie’s business card. Noah took it, but he couldn’t call her today since her clinic closed at 5pm. He would call her tomorrow instead.  
  
Dean returned from his walk with Bella then, and they could hear the dog give a happy bark when Dean opened the front door.  
  
“Is the awkward conversation over?” Dean asked as he took off his shoes and got Bella off her leash, not bothering to hide the hint of teasing in his voice.  
  
“Yes, it’s over. You may re-enter the living room without your manliness getting damaged,” Castiel replied dryly from the living room.  
  
Dean leaned his head back and laughed as he walked into the room with Bella. He went over to Castiel and rubbed the angel’s leg with his tail. “Good. We wouldn’t want that to get too damaged.” He smirked lewdly at Castiel who rolled his eyes at him.  
  
Noah groaned in disgust. “God! You guys are so embarrassing sometimes.” He and Jayden had gotten up from the couch as well, and they petted Bella a bit as she went over to them and was eager for some attention.  
  
Dean laughed once more. “Well, I bet there isn’t much left of Jayden’s manliness now,” he teased.  
  
“There’s plenty left,” Jayden argued and straightened up a bit.  
  
“Good. I need a real man to look after Noah properly and keep him safe,” Dean smirked. He went forward and patted Jayden on the shoulder a few times.  
  
Jayden smiled, glad that Dean didn’t seem upset anymore about what had happened today. He was a little surprised by that, though.  
  
“You’re not mad…?” Noah asked, looking at his dad cautiously.  
  
Dean stepped back from Jayden and turned to face Noah. “Nah. I mean, it wasn’t a very smart move and it was reckless of you both, but considering that I once screwed up even worse than Jayden did with this, I don’t think I’m in a position to get upset about it. Especially not when I know that you care for him and he cares for you. It was kind of expected that you’d mate one day, so I suppose it isn’t such a big deal. Just don’t go out and produce any Winchester/Williams babies just yet. That would be a total waste of the money that Cas and I are paying for you to go to college, ‘cause you’d most likely be dropping out then.”  
  
“Ugh, dad,” Noah groaned, blushing furiously at that comment.  
  
“Dean…” Castiel sighed, glaring at his mate.  
  
Dean laughed fondly at Noah before pulling him into a hug, and Jayden chuckled quietly behind them.  
  
“I will go make dinner now,” Castiel announced, smiling at Dean and Noah before he headed over to the kitchen.  
  
“Do you want me to help you out?” Jayden offered.  
  
The angel looked back over his shoulder at him, and Jayden watched as Castiel’s lips curled into a smile. “I would like that.”  
  
Jayden smiled and went over to help. He let his tail brush against Noah’s leg as he passed him and was rewarded with a shy smile and a small pulse of joy in their bond.  
  

 

***

  
  
After dinner and hanging out with Dean and Castiel and sharing the latest news in their lives, Noah and Jayden finally retreated to Noah’s room for the night.  
  
It was 10:30pm and it was already dark outside by now.  
  
Noah closed and locked the door to his room after they had entered it, and then went over to pull the curtains. The lamp on his ceiling was illuminating the room for them, and he could tell that Castiel had vacuum cleaned his room recently. He felt a bit guilty that he hadn’t done it himself lately, but it just wasn’t on his mind anymore whenever he came home to visit for the weekend.  
  
Noah fumbled a bit with one of the curtains and grunted as it got stuck a bit. He got up on his toes, but he still couldn’t reach the top of the curtains properly to solve the problem since he was too short.  
  
Jayden chuckled at him and went over to offer his help. He reached up and unjammed the curtain for him, pressing his front right against Noah’s back and wings as he stood behind him. Noah shivered lightly as their bodies touched, and once the curtain was free he pulled it into place so that no one could look into his room anymore.  
  
“Thanks…” Noah murmured, feeling annoyed that he had to have Jayden help him reaching places that were too high for him.  
  
“You’re welcome,” the alpha chuckled, somewhat amused. He put his hands on Noah’s hips and gently made him turn around to face him.  
  
The submissive shyly lifted his head to look up at his new mate, and he purred a bit when Jayden ran a tender hand down his feathers.  
  
“I’m still sorry about earlier,” Jayden spoke, his voice soft and low. “I would never want anyone else but you to be my mate, but I didn’t want it to happen like this. I’m sorry for the trouble is going to cause you with your heat and everything…”  
  
Noah’s face softened, and he slowly reached up to put his hand on top of Jayden’s, which was now placed on his cheek. “I told you it’s okay. I’ll survive. I hope…”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at that. “You will; you’re strong,” he said and looked him into the eyes. “I kinda don’t wanna let you go through it alone, but I know I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you once you go into heat, so I better stay as far away from you as I can. I’m not ready to have a baby with you yet, and you certainly aren’t ready either.”  
  
Noah blushed, his cheeks reddening rapidly. “You… You want to have a baby someday? With _me_ …?” He lowered his head shyly, but kept his eyes on Jayden’s face as he glanced up at him from under his lashes.  
  
They hadn’t really had any talks about babies before, even though they had both hinted at wanting it. They were too young for having kids yet anyway, since they both needed to finish their education and be mentally ready for it.  
  
Jayden chuckled and curled his tail around Noah’s leg while cupping his cheek tenderly with his hand. “Yeah, I do. In a few years,” he admitted. “If, of course, that’s also what _you_ want?”  
  
The blush on Noah’s cheeks deepened, and he nodded against the alpha’s hand. “Yes,” he croaked, keeping his eyes locked with Jayden’s. “Someday. When we’re ready.”  
  
Jayden grinned, his tail tightening around Noah’s leg in a possessive gesture. He leaned down for a kiss, humming when their lips met and immediately felt their still weak bond flaring in joy. His possessive instincts took over then, and he moved his hand from Noah’s cheek up to grasp his hair and force Noah to tilt his head back a bit so that Jayden could kiss him deeper and harder.  
  
Noah mewled, bucking his hips forward and spreading out his wings behind him in response. He immediately lowered his wings to show submission to his alpha, and Jayden let out a pleased growl into his mouth.  
  
“Fuck. You’re _mine._ All mine,” Jayden growled possessively, moving his other hand over Noah’s body and snaked it up under his shirt. He needed to feel skin, and he sighed in relief when he felt his mate’s soft, smooth skin under his hand. He didn’t know if it was the bond’s fault that he was so hungry to feel Noah, or if it was because the simple thought of Noah finally being his mate was making him feel extra possessive. He didn’t care, though. He just wanted to feel as much of Noah as he could.  
  
“Yes, I’m yours,” Noah panted, unconsciously trying to get even closer to Jayden.  
  
The bond was pulsing inside of them, though it was still rather weak due to it not being complete yet.  
  
Noah purred in content and grasped at Jayden’s shirt. He bared his neck to Jayden, gasping as the alpha’s mouth closed around the skin there. Jayden sucked determinately on his skin, and Noah shuddered and let out a small gasp at the sensation.  
  
At this rate, Jayden was going to leave bruises on his neck.  
  
That was when Noah regained his senses again, and he gently started pushing Jayden back, who responded with a small, displeased whine against his neck. “Connor, we can’t. We can’t complete the bond yet.”  
  
Jayden groaned into Noah’s neck and took a deep breath to calm down from his sudden arousal. “Yeah, I know… But handjobs and blowjobs aren’t banned, are they?”  
  
“No… I don’t think so.”  
  
“Good. ‘Cause I really want to blow you right now,” Jayden smirked.  
  
Before Noah could reply, the alpha reached down and began undoing his pants, eager to get them off of Noah. The submissive quickly helped him out and stepped out of his pants and panties. When Noah reached behind himself to unbutton his shirt like he always did, Jayden let out a small growl and gently pushed his hands away to do it for him instead.  
  
Noah gasped when he felt Jayden’s hands fumble around behind him and unbuttoning his shirt below his wings as fast as he could. He flinched when the alpha’s hands brushed his oil glands just a bit, sending sharp waves of pleasure through him. Jayden was careful not to touch him there too much though, which actually kind of frustrated Noah, who liked having his oil glands stimulated. But they were rather sensitive right now, so perhaps it was best that Jayden avoided that place.  
  
Noah then reached down and unzipped Jayden’s jeans in the meanwhile, eager to get his mate naked as well.  
  
Pieces of clothing were discarded one by one, and once they were naked, Jayden picked up Noah and carried him over to the bed.  
  
The submissive gasped as his back hit the bed and felt his body bounced on it a bit. Without warning, Jayden settled himself between his legs and took his hardened dick into his mouth in one go.  
  
“Ah! Connor!” Noah cried out, bucking hard up into Jayden. His hands grasped the alpha’s hair for support and held onto it as Jayden sucked him hard and swirled his tongue over his dick the way he liked it best.  
  
Jayden was too busy sucking Noah to protest at the name. He had gotten used to Noah calling him that sometimes anyway, and he didn’t mind it that much anymore. Noah was still the only one he would allow to call him by his first name.  
  
Noah mewled and writhed under Jayden’s ministrations, grinding his back and oil glands into the sheets in desperation. He was begging Jayden to touch his hole as well, but the alpha stubbornly neglected that place for now.  
  
“Jayden, _please._ Touch me there,” Noah begged, hating how desperate he sounded, but he felt like he was going to go crazy if Jayden didn’t push something into him soon.  
  
Jayden grunted around Noah’s dick, staring up at him as he pleasured him with his mouth. He grinned smugly around Noah’s member before finally moving his hand down to Noah’s ass, circling the leaking hole with his finger before pushing it inside. The muscles clenched around his finger so deliciously, and Jayden wished he could put his dick in there as well, but he wasn’t allowed to do that for a while now. Unfortunately. He swirled his finger around in there and quickly found one of the sweet spots inside, crooking his finger into them, hard.  
  
 _“Oh!”_ Noah came at that; his body too sensitive to stimulation at the moment and unable to hold back. Jayden held his hips down as Noah came with a muffled scream, shooting sweet wetness right into Jayden’s mouth. The alpha hummed and swallowed it like it was a treat, and lazily licked the softening organ clean afterwards.  
  
The alpha sat back then, licking his lips and wiping his mouth, and he smirked when he saw Noah lying panting and boneless on the bed.  
  
“Mm, that was tasty,” Jayden grinned.  
  
Noah blushed, bending one leg and tried to shield his crotch from Jayden in a shy manner.  
  
Jayden chuckled before leaning down over Noah’s body, blanketing him. He caught Noah’s lips in a sweet kiss, humming into his mouth and enjoying the skin contact between their naked bodies.  
  
Noah moaned at the taste of his own release in Jayden’s mouth, always finding it odd yet kind of hot to taste. He could feel Jayden’s erection poking against his thigh and smearing precome into his skin, and it made him moan into Jayden’s mouth and tighten a hand in the alpha’s hair.  
  
They pulled apart, and Noah reached down to grab Jayden’s cock. He looked him in the eye as he started stroking it slowly, swirling his thumb over the sensitive head and earning a pleased moan from the demon.  
  
Jayden used his arms to support himself as he hovered over Noah, and he gently bucked into Noah’s hand as it began moving faster over his cock. “Fuck,” he moaned, closing his eyes.  
  
Noah chuckled, pleased that Jayden liked what he was doing, and made sure to stimulate Jayden by rubbing his thumb against his foreskin as he used his hand.  
  
The alpha was trembling now, having trouble keeping himself up with his arms since his body was so desperate for release already. They had been interrupted earlier today, so Jayden’s need for release was higher than normal. Noah felt a bit sorry for him since he could feel how frustrated he was, so he did his best to give his mate pleasure.  
  
Noah suddenly leaned up and placed a small kiss on Jayden’s broad shoulder, before gently getting up and maneuvering Jayden into lying down.  
  
The alpha complied, lying down on his back on the bed and watched as Noah settled between his legs and returned the blowjob he had given him earlier.  
  
The bond was not going to be consummated through oral sex; Noah’s body would only react if Jayden’s seed came into contact with mucous membrane surrounding his cervix, so letting Jayden come inside his mouth was safe.  
  
“Mm,” Jayden hummed, grasping Noah’s hair tightly as the submissive took him into his mouth and sucked him off.  
  
Noah couldn’t fit everything inside his mouth, so he used his hands to stroke the rest of the shaft and touch Jayden’s balls as well. He could feel Jayden’s cock throbbing with need, and he hummed as his nose was filled with delicious alpha pheromones, all spicy and masculine. He sucked harder and lifted his gaze to stare at the alpha. Their bond flared when their eyes met, and he could feel Jayden’s balls contracting as his orgasm approached.  
  
“Shit,” Jayden cursed, throwing his head back and arching his back a little as he finally came.  
  
Noah swallowed as much of his release as he could and stroked him through the rest. He loved the way Jayden’s cock twitched as semen flooded from its tip, and how Jayden panted through his orgasm. He licked the rest off then, not wanting to miss a single drop of the white fluid or leave a mess behind.  
  
When Noah pulled back and looked down at Jayden, the alpha was completely boneless and sated, and his tail was flicking in satisfaction. Noah chuckled at him, feeling proud that he had made Jayden look so pleased and exhausted.  
  
“Was that pleasurable?” Noah asked, grinning and flaring his wings a bit.  
  
“Mm, it always is,” Jayden hummed, and flickered his eyes in Noah’s direction. He grinned back at him then and pulled him down onto the bed with him, shifting so that Noah could rest against him.  
  
The submissive smiled and settled himself against Jayden’s side, snuggling into him.  
  
“I can’t wait for you to be completely mine, though,” Jayden purred, nuzzling Noah’s hair with affection. He petted some of Noah’s feathers before putting his hand on Noah’s hip, liking how it bulged out a bit like a female’s.  
  
Noah blushed and squirmed a bit as he leaned further into him. “Me neither.”  
  
“I love you,” the alpha whispered softly, and ran his hand gently over Noah’s hip as it rested there.  
  
Noah glanced up at him, watching him for a second before smiling. “I love you too.”  
  
Jayden grinned and pulled him closer. “My parents are gonna kill me, though…” he murmured quietly.  
  
Noah chortled. “No, they won’t. Don’t worry.”  
  
“Well, my mom is gonna be pretty displeased with me. And she’s no fun to be around when she isn’t pleased with me.”  
  
“I think it’s funny to witness, though,” Noah giggled.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden warned and slapped his ass gently as a playful warning.  
  
Noah jerked a bit at the unexpected slap on his ass, but couldn’t help but laugh at how offended Jayden acted. “Sorry.”  
  
Jayden just smiled and pressed a kiss to Noah’s forehead, before they both lay their heads down to rest.  
  
They settled down to sleep, snuggled up against each other, and felt the bond pulsate happily in the back of their minds as they fell asleep together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been planning since Devoted to have Noah and Jayden bond this way. At first I wanted it to be “consensual” and planned, but then I changed my mind and thought it could be interesting if it happened by accident like it did with Dean and Cas xD I hope you like how this turned out. Noah won’t be going into the heat in the next chapter, first in the one after that, but there will be some very hot scenes coming up with that :D
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Sorry for updating a bit slow, I’ve just been a bit busy and my writing mood hasn’t been the best. I’ll try to update faster with the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

**March 2045 (Noah is 18 (almost 19), Jayden is 20, Castiel is 55, Dean is 57, Leila is 47, Micah is 48, Laura is 9 years old.)**  
  
Noah called Charlie’s clinic the next day to schedule an appointment with her. He was incredibly lucky that another client had called in that morning to cancel their appointment, so he could go there at 12:30pm already. It was important that he saw Charlie as soon as possible, since she needed to write him a note for his school to excuse him from classes until his heat was over.  
  
Jayden went there with him on the bus, since Dean and Castiel had work that day and couldn’t drive them.  
  
Noah had the day off because of his teachers going to some event, and Jayden called in sick at school to be able to go with Noah to the clinic and support him.  
  
They sat down in the waiting room together, feeling some of the other clients stare a bit at them since they looked like an angel/demon couple.  
  
Noah took a seat near the table with the magazines on it, and glanced around at the other people in there with them. There were three pregnant women – two humans and one angel – in there with their husbands. The clinic had two ob/gyns working in it, so it wasn’t unusual that there were many people in the waiting room.  
  
They waited quietly, and Jayden let their wings touch between their chairs and didn’t bother keeping his tail away from Noah’s leg either. It was a bit embarrassing for Noah sometimes when Jayden displayed affection for him so openly in public, but he also kind of liked it.  
  
While they waited, Noah found himself staring at one of the human women, who seemed to be about eight months pregnant. Her husband was sitting next to her, and they were both smiling at her heavily pregnant bump and rubbing it tenderly. Noah smiled as he watched them. The man looked so proud to be a father soon, and he kept pressing small kisses to his wife’s hand and her cheek. It was beautiful to watch.  
  
Jayden watched Noah quietly, smiling when he noticed where his mate was looking and how he smiled at the couple. He curled his tail around Noah’s lower leg, causing the submissive to blink out of his thoughts and turn to look at him with a shy blush.  
  
“Noah Winchester?” Charlie called then, smiling as she finally spotted him on one of the chairs. Charlie’s face was a bit wrinkly now, but she tried to stay young the best she could. Humans did age faster, which was a downside for her.  
  
Noah immediately got up, as did Jayden, and went over to greet Charlie. “Hi,” he said, smiling and shaking her hand politely.  
  
“Hi,” Charlie grinned. “I was wondering if I was ever gonna have you as my client.” She smirked and led them into the clinic room before closing the door behind them.  
  
Noah smiled and shifted a bit after they had entered the room. Jayden was standing a bit behind him, but still stayed very close to him.  
  
The clinic room looked white and clean. It had a patient bed and ultrasound scanning equipment there, and a desk where Charlie would sit and put client data into her computer.   
  
Charlie then turned to look at Jayden. “You must be Noah’s accidental mate,” she chuckled, and reached out her hand to shake his. “Nice to meet you.”  
  
“You too. I’m Jayden,” Jayden replied, shaking her hand as he introduced himself. He rubbed the back of his neck a bit in shame when she made that comment about him.  
  
Charlie just grinned before clapping her hands together, getting down to business. “So,” she started, and looked at Noah with a wide grin. “You really _do_ take after Castiel in so many ways. I always knew you were gonna be just like him from the moment I pulled you out of his womb. You even got bonded to a mate in almost the same way.”  
  
Noah blushed, shifting on his feet a little as he glanced at her from under his lashes. Jayden just chuckled at Charlie’s comment about Noah and Castiel being so alike.  
  
“It was an accident that Jayden touched my oil glands, though…” Noah murmured. “But I’m not mad at him,” he quickly added.  
  
Charlie laughed softly. “I figured. You two seem very close, judging from your body language.” She smiled between the two young mates who shared a brief glance and smile with each other. “So,” Charlie continued. “I’m guessing Castiel told you about what’s going to happen now that you’re bonded?”  
  
Noah nodded. “Yes, he did…”  
  
“Then you will know that your heat will likely begin very soon. Castiel told me his heat took a few weeks to appear, but yours is likely to appear within 6-14 days due to you and Jayden being so close. The stronger the bond, the stronger are the hormones in your body which will trigger your heat, and this speeds up the process,” Charlie explained. “I’m going to write a note to your school to excuse you from all your classes until your heat is over, which means you can’t go to classes before your heat starts either. On Monday, four days will already have passed since you bonded, and it’s too risky having you go into heat while being surrounded by a so many males – I don’t think Jayden likes that idea either…”  
  
Charlie glanced at Jayden, who let a possessive growl and sharpened his feathers at the idea alone.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened. “But… that’s a long time where I can’t go to classes.”  
  
“Well, you’d still have to do your homework – at least until your heat begins. It’s gonna be too hard to concentrate working on it while your heat is there, since you are gonna feel preeetty uncomfortable during that time,” Charlie chuckled.  
  
Noah’s cheeks reddened a bit, and he stared down at his feet again.  
  
“Anyway, I’m gonna have to do an examination on you since I will be prescribing you some heat suppressants today already. I want to make sure that things are looking okay ‘down there’, and also make some tests to better determine what strength of suppressants you would need. I promise that all samples and information will not be shared with anyone else – I make all tests alone. You won’t be able to collect the suppressants from the pharmacy until after your heat is over, though. They aren’t meant to be taken until after you’ve gone through your first heat – which really sucks, doesn’t it?” she grinned.  
  
“Yeah, it does suck,” Noah agreed, chuckling a bit.  
  
Noah instantly felt more comfortable around Charlie since she wasn’t strict or overly professional. She liked to joke a bit around and throw in some comments sometimes, and Noah kind of liked that. It made the situation feel more relaxed. He was still nervous about the examination, but he trusted Charlie, and Jayden was there too to support him.  
  
“Alright then,” Charlie smirked. “Now, strip from your waist and down and go over to the bed, and then I’ll be there soon.” She chuckled at how Noah’s eyes widened a bit at her blunt comment.  
  
Jayden couldn’t hold back his snickering at the face Noah made when he was told to strip down like that. He tried to stop when Noah sent him a sharp glare for finding it amusing.  
  
The examination went rather well. Noah couldn’t help but tremble nervously since he hadn’t tried it before, and he didn’t like being half naked around people, but Charlie was really good at making him feel comfortable and relaxed. She told some joke which made them both laugh, and told them a bit about the time when she first met Dean and Castiel.  
  
“The funniest thing I can remember about Dean was him not having any diaper-changing skills _at all,_ ” Charlie grinned as she took off her gloves and threw them in the trash bin after the examination was over. “I mean, he had no clue at first how to put that damn diaper on the doll’s butt, and he looked kinda adorable as he stood there, looking like someone who had been told to explain rocket science.”  
  
Jayden laughed out loud at that, and Noah laughed too as he quickly put on his clothes again.  
  
“I would have loved to see that,” Jayden laughed.  
  
Charlie smirked at him. “Do _you_ know how to change a diaper?”  
  
“Not really, but it can’t be _that_ hard.”  
  
“Well, so Dean thought,” Charlie chuckled. “Castiel got the hang of it pretty fast, though. Most women and subs do. Ah, I can’t believe that was over 30 years ago already…”  
  
Noah smiled a bit at that. He was finally done getting dressed and went over to stand next to Jayden, who slowly curled his tail around his leg.  
  
Charlie snapped out of the nostalgia again. “Anyway, I’m guessing Castiel probably didn’t tell you about how buying lots and lots of sex toys can be very helpful for your heat. Do you own any sex toys?” she asked Noah.  
  
Noah’s face flushed furiously. “Um, no…”  
  
“Well, you should buy some. I’d recommend buying several different ones so that your body gets to sense different things – dildos, vibrators, anything. Just hoard them if you need to.”  
  
Jayden chuckled at how Noah’s face was all red now, and he thought it was kind of cute.  
  
“Um, okay. But I’m not sure if I dare going into a sex shop. And I don’t wanna buy them online either since I kinda wanna look at them first,” Noah spoke, finding the topic incredibly embarrassing, even in front of Jayden.  
  
“You can have Jayden go to a sex shop with you. I’m sure he doesn’t mind,” Charlie suggested, smirking at Jayden who was a lot more relaxed about the topic than Noah was.  
  
“Yeah, I don’t,” Jayden confirmed, still looking at Noah in slight amusement.  
  
Noah’s face reddened further.  
  
They said goodbye to Charlie and thanked her for her help. Noah was a little flustered when Charlie winked at them and wished them good luck with finding the right sex toys for him. Jayden just chuckled and held his hand as they left the clinic.  
  
  


***

  
  
Afterwards, Noah and Jayden decided to go visit a sex shop right away to buy the toys that Noah would need. Jayden knew a good store just outside the center of the city, so they got on the bus and rode there together.  
  
“I’m not sure I wanna go in there… It’s embarrassing,” Noah groaned as they stood outside the shop. There weren’t many advertisements in the windows of the shop since kids weren’t supposed to see anything inappropriate, and there was a sign on the door that said that you needed to be at least 18 years old in order to enter.  
  
“Well, it won’t kill you. And I’ll go in with you,” Jayden reassured him, feeling rather amused with Noah’s embarrassment.  
  
“You have been inside this shop before, haven’t you…?”  
  
“Yeah, once when I was out with Rick and Chris and we hung out together in town one night. Chris insisted we entered it to look around a bit. It was a little awkward to enter it, but not too bad. I didn’t buy anything though, but the shop was very nice and they had many good products on the shelves.”  
  
Noah let out another groan. “Okay, fine. Let’s go inside. I just wanna get it over with. And stop laughing!” he chastised when Jayden laughed at him.  
  
“Sorry,” Jayden chuckled and brushed his wing against Noah’s with affection. He went forward and pulled the door open, letting Noah enter the place first.  
  
The shop was rather big, and all the shelves were full of various sex toys, both for men, women, and subs. The shop’s floor was covered in a dark red carpet, and along with the lights and the red-painted shelves it made it look pretty fancy in there.  
  
Noah blushed and tried not to look at the dick-shaped toys that were placed everywhere, or at the posters of naked men, women, and subs of all species.  
  
A human guy in his early twenties came over to them as they entered, and the badge with the name Stephen on his shirt told them that he was an employee there. “Hi there,” he smiled. “Can I see some ID, please?” He mostly looked at Noah, since he could rather easily tell that Jayden was over 18, whereas Noah was smaller and it was hard to pinpoint his age.  
  
“Um, sure. Just a sec,” Noah murmured and clumsily reached into his small bag to find his wallet, containing his personal documents. He showed his ID to the employee who looked at his date of birth before nodding in approval and saying ‘thanks’.  
  
“Feel free to look around. Let me know if I can help you with anything,” Stephen said, smiling as he gestured at them to come further inside to check out the shop.  
  
“Thanks. We will,” Jayden told him with a smile, before leading Noah a bit further into the shop.  
  
There were a few other customers inside; two alpha demons in the back, three young human and angel/human hybrid girls giggling somewhere over by the large dildo section, and another human woman checking out the costumes near the entrance.  
  
Noah mostly kept his head a little down and was wary to stare too much at the different toys since he could feel some of the others looking at him. It felt so awkward looking at such stuff while strangers were staring at him.  
  
Jayden didn’t mind it much, though. He looked around at the items and ignored how those three young girls were staring and smiling at them until they minded their own business again.  
  
“So, do you see anything you like yet?” Jayden asked and glanced down at Noah. They were standing near one of the dildo sections now, a bit further away from the group of girls.  
  
“Um…” Noah looked around, but was kind of unsure about what he wanted to buy. Looking at those dildos on the shelves made him feel pretty curious about them, but he couldn’t stop comparing their size to Jayden’s dick. Jayden was very well equipped, and Noah really appreciated that, and although some of the dildos looked a little longer than Jayden’s dick, they didn’t look quite as wide and seemed to lack some girth. He wasn’t sure if that would be satisfying enough, since he really liked the stretch that the girth of Jayden’s dick gave him.  
  
Jayden could easily tell what Noah was thinking, and his lips curled into a smug smirk as he watched Noah’s profile. “Are you almost done comparing those toys to me?” he asked, teasing in his voice.  
  
Noah’s face went completely red, and he reached out and smacked Jayden on the arm in embarrassment. “Shut up!” he hissed, blushing. “And it’s not that easy to choose!”  
  
The alpha laughed. “I know, I’m just teasing you. Maybe we should look more around before you decide?”  
  
Noah considered that a bit before a purple dildo a bit further down the shelf caught his attention. It looked nice; it was long and wider than most of the others, and it had a crooked tip which would be perfect for rubbing against his sweet spots. Noah could feel his ass slick up a bit as he stared at it and imagined using it.  
  
“Um, I like that one,” he spoke and went over to check out the toy, which was inside a transparent box.  
  
Jayden followed him and eyed the toy curiously. His lips curled into a small smirk. “Oh, that looks nice. Or so I guess; I don’t use dildos myself.” Not many alphas were into having something penetrate them – some liked it, others didn’t. Jayden wasn’t very interested in trying it, though.  
  
“Well, it isn’t for you,” Noah mumbled, and checked out the price tag. It was 43 dollars. It was an okay price for a toy, and the quality seemed to be good. He took the box down from the shelf and read the description on the back.  
  
Jayden just chuckled at his comment and rubbed the tip of his tail against Noah’s leg with affection.  
  
While Noah was reading the description, Jayden took a look around the place to see what the others were doing. He noticed the two alpha demons in the back glancing over at him and Noah, whispering something at each other. Jayden’s wings rose a bit in a cautious gesture, and he narrowed his eyes as he looked over at the guys. They seemed to be around his age, maybe a bit older. Jayden was guessing that the demons were mistaking Noah for being an angel, and were thus thinking that he and Noah were an angel/demon couple. Not that that was any excuse for the way they were glaring or whispering about them.  
  
“I’ll take this one,” Noah said then, drawing Jayden’s attention back to him.  
  
Jayden smirked. “Now I’m too tempted to see you use it.”  
  
One of the girls a few feet away heard what he said and giggled, glancing over her shoulder at them as if she thought they were cute.  
  
“Don’t say that out loud!” Noah scolded, feeling completely embarrassed that that girl had heard Jayden tell him that.  
  
Jayden just chuckled at him and ruffled his hair with affection. Noah shied away from his hand with a dark glare, and Jayden followed him over to the vibrator section next.  
  
The vibrators were most difficult to pick from.  
  
Noah spent fifteen minutes going through all of them and trying to decide, and Jayden waited patiently and tried to offer him some help with choosing one. The vibrators had different strengths and vibrating patterns, making it hard to choose the perfect one based on the description on the back of the box. Noah only had money to buy two items in total, since sex toys were a bit expensive, so he had to choose carefully what he was going to spend his money on.  
  
Jayden watched as Noah took down a vibrator from the shelf and turned the box around in his hands, staring at it with interest. He couldn’t stop imagining Noah using one of those toys on himself, and picture how blissed the submissive would look with a toy vibrating inside him, and the sounds he would make. He had to shake the images off his mind when he felt himself getting hard. He was too easily aroused when it came to Noah, and that was both a good and a bad thing sometimes.  
  
Finally, Noah found a vibrator that he liked and quickly moved over to the register to pay for the items. He just wanted it over with and get out of there, and he blushed as he put the items on the counter in front of Stephen.  
  
Stephen just smiled and began scanning the barcodes, and that was when Noah noticed that Jayden wasn’t behind him anymore. He frowned and glanced around the place, looking for his mate. He was about to panic when the alpha finally showed up, grinning as he made his way over to the counter with his hand slightly behind his back.  
  
Noah’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What are you hiding?”  
  
Jayden smirked and pulled out an item from behind his back and put it on the counter. “This,” he said, smirking as he watched Noah’s eyes dart towards the item to see what it was.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened when he saw it was a small, oval-shaped vibrator, which was designed to be put into the vagina or butt and then be switched on with a remote control. It had a long string on it so that it wouldn’t get stuck anywhere inside the body.  
  
“I’m paying this myself,” Jayden told the employee, to make sure he didn’t put the item on Noah’s bill.  
  
“Alright,” Stephen said, smiling as he finished up Noah’s order. “That will be 78.99 dollars.”  
  
Noah was busy staring at Jayden and at the toy, his eyes wide and his cheeks flushed, but he snapped out of it when the employee spoke. “Oh. Right.” He pulled out his wallet and paid his order with his card, too embarrassed to meet Stephen’s eyes.  
  
Noah was all flustered when Stephen handed him his orders in a bag afterwards, and then proceeded with Jayden’s order. Noah hated how Jayden’s tail was flicking and curling, indicating that Jayden was somewhat amused. Noah strongly suspected that Jayden thought his embarrassment was hilarious, and that made him a bit annoyed.  
  
“Thanks for your purchase. Have fun,” Stephen said when handing Jayden his order in a white bag, smiling knowingly at them.  
  
Noah just ducked his head and blushed, eager to leave the shop already.  
  
“Thanks,” Jayden replied, chuckling as he followed Noah outside.  
  
They were met by the sounds of traffic, people, and birds tweeting when they came outside. The sun was shining into their eyes, and they had to adjust to that after having been inside a shop for so long.  
  
“Why did you buy that?” Noah murmured as they walked down the sidewalk and headed for the nearby bus stop.  
  
“What, this?” Jayden asked, gesturing at the bag with the toy inside. “Just for fun. I think it could be really fun to use on you, and I have the feeling you’d like it,” he grinned.  
  
Noah already suspected what Jayden had in mind. He would place the toy inside him and then turn on the vibrations whenever he liked, using it to tease Noah. He would be completely at Jayden’s mercy and couldn’t come unless Jayden turned the toy on, since Jayden would probably tell him not to touch himself. Noah felt a spark of arousal and excitement run through his body at that thought, and he shivered a bit. He definitely liked the idea, even if it was embarrassingly kinky.  
  
“You have a dirty mind,” Noah told him, raising his gaze to look at Jayden with a small blush and a chuckle.  
  
“And I have the feeling you like that,” the alpha smirked, brushing his wing into Noah’s and let their feathers touch.  
  
Noah shoved his wing slightly into Jayden’s in embarrassment, but didn’t protest.  
  
  


***

  
  
They spent the rest of Friday and most of Saturday at Dean and Castiel’s house.  
  
Noah had texted Christie and told her that he and Jayden had gone home to his parents for the weekend, but he hadn’t told her yet about what had had happened on Thursday. She would know about that soon enough.  
  
Saturday afternoon they drove over to Jayden’s house, since it was about time that his parents heard about the news too. Jayden hadn’t told his parents yet about their accidental bonding, since he wanted to tell it to them face-to-face. He didn’t want to listen to his mom’s lecturing over the phone.  
  
Dean and Castiel drove them to the house at 5:30pm, and Jayden was a little restless as he and Noah sat in the backseat.  
  
Dean chuckled as he watched Jayden in the rearview mirror and could see how nervous he was. “I rarely see you looking that nervous, Jayden.”  
  
“Yeah, well, you’d be nervous too if you had to tell my mom such news,” Jayden murmured, squirming a bit. Noah giggled next to him, and Jayden shot him a small glare.  
  
Castiel chuckled from the front seat. “I’m sure she won’t be too upset. I think we all saw it coming that you and Noah would bond someday.”  
  
Jayden smiled at that. He was always glad to hear that his love for Noah was so obvious to others, and that Noah’s was as well. He was also glad that both Dean and Castiel were so accepting of him and had welcomed him right into the family without much protest.   
  
He glanced at Noah who was ducking his head but smiling. Jayden and reached out his hand to place it on top of Noah’s, feeling a small wave of happiness going through their still weak bond at the gesture.  
  
They arrived at Jayden’s house soon afterwards, and Dean and Castiel got out as well to greet Leila and Micah.  
  
Jayden’s parents knew that they were coming over since Jayden had called them earlier, so Leila opened the door and eagerly invited them inside as they arrived.  
  
“Please, come in! It’s been so long since you’ve visited us,” Leila smiled and welcomed Dean and Castiel into the house. Micah was waiting for them inside, smiling as they entered. Laura was nowhere to be seen, though.  
  
“Thank you, Leila,” Castiel smiled, and returned the hug she gave him.  
  
Noah and Jayden entered the house too, watching as their parents greeted each other, hugged, and shook hands. They quietly took off their shoes and put their bags in the corner so that they wouldn’t be in the way.  
  
“And hello, Noah!” Leila grinned then and came over to hug Noah next. “I hope college is still going well for you.”  
  
“Yes, it is. Thank you,” Noah smiled and hugged her back.  
  
Leila pulled back and gave him a wide smile, before Micah came forward and hugged Noah lightly. He never hugged Noah too tight or for too long since he could always feel Jayden staring at him, and Noah had always been a bit uncomfortable with hugging alphas that weren’t close family. However, Micah had been his father-in-law for three years already, so he wasn’t as stiff anymore when they hugged.  
  
Dean flinched a bit when he felt something brush against his tail and some of his feathers, and he immediately looked down to see what the heck it was. He groaned in both relief and annoyance when he saw it was just the cat that had walked by. “Damn cat.”  
  
Castiel chuckled. “It’s a very nice cat, Dean,” he argued.  
  
“Oh yeah, Mr. Giggles is harmless, but he can startle the crap out of you sometimes with his sneakiness,” Micah grinned, and pet the black and white cat a bit with his tail as Mr. Giggles went over to him next.  
  
“I wasn’t startled,” Dean denied defensively.  
  
The others chuckled, and Noah gently squatted down and made a soft clicking noise to make the cat come over to him. He smiled as Mr. Giggles came over and let him pet him, and the cat purred as Noah stroked his fur.  
  
Jayden watched the scene with a smile, and absently rubbed his tail against Noah’s leg as the submissive was squatting. He liked watching the loving, gentle expression on Noah’s face when he petted the cat.  
  
Everyone looked up when they suddenly heard small feet storming down the stairs heavily.  
  
“Jay! Noah!” Laura cheered happily, and ran over to hug them once she came downstairs.  
  
“Hey, princess,” Jayden grinned and lifted Laura up by grabbing her under her arms, making his sister squeal and laugh before he put her down again. She was getting bigger and heavier, but Jayden could still easily lift her up, as long as he didn’t have to hold her up in the air for too long.  
  
Laura grinned at him before going over and hugging Noah tightly, who had gotten to his feet again. “Been so long since I saw you, Noah! You need to visit more often.”  
  
“I was here a month ago,” Noah chuckled and hugged her back. She was about a head and a half shorter than him now, and he suspected she would be a bit taller than him when she reached her teenage years. It kind of hurt his pride, but he couldn’t help that he was so short.  
  
“Exactly. It’s a long time,” Laura pouted and pulled back.  
  
Noah chuckled and smiled at her, and Laura grinned and curled her tail happily. Noah was kind of like a big sister to her in some way and she had grown pretty attached to him. Noah too felt a bit like Laura was his sister, and he suspected that Jayden was a little jealous sometimes when Laura stole his attention too much when Jayden wanted to hang out with him. He liked hanging out with Laura though, so he had a hard time telling her no when she asked him to come to her room to play with her.  
  
“Wow, she got taller since last time I saw her,” Dean commented, staring at Laura in amazement.  
  
The girl then turned to look at Dean and Castiel, blushing slightly at Dean’s comment.  
  
“Yeah, kids grow up too fast,” Leila said, a sad yet loving smile on her face as she reached out and gently put some of Laura’s dark blonde hair behind her ear.  
  
“They sure do,” Dean agreed, smiling at Laura who finally overcame her shyness and politely shook Dean and Castiel’s hands to greet them.  
  
“I was just making dinner before you came, and I insist that you stay over and eat with us,” Leila spoke then, smiling between Dean and Castiel.  
  
Castiel’s eyes widened. “Ah, we don’t want to impose—”  
  
“You’re not imposing; I am offering it, after all,” Leila cut him off with a gentle chuckle.  
  
“Well, considering how nice it smells in the house, I don’t mind accepting the offer,” Dean smirked.  
  
Micah laughed, and Castiel rolled his eyes in slight embarrassment. Leila just grinned and invited them into the living room, and Jayden, Noah, and Laura followed them.   
  
Noah smiled and giggled a bit as he watched Jayden and Laura shove into each other playfully as they headed towards the living room, and how Jayden managed to knock his sister back with a gentle shove of his wing. Laura only got even more determined to make her brother lose his balance too after that, but a sharp warning from Micah (who didn’t want them behaving like little kids in front of their guests) immediately made her stop and behave again.  
  
“I’m surprised that Jayden wanted to come home so early. He usually stays the whole weekend with you guys when he’s visiting you,” Leila commented as she, Micah, Dean, and Castiel approached the couch area.  
  
Dean glanced over his shoulder at Jayden, who was shifting slightly near the dining table. “Well, he has some serious news to tell you guys… And so does Noah.”  
  
Noah groaned a bit when he felt Dean’s stern gaze on him, and Leila, Micah, and Laura all turned their heads to look at them in bewilderment.  
  
“Um, don’t kill me, mom,” Jayden started, cringing.  
  
Leila’s eyes narrowed and sharpened, and her wings rose a bit in alert. “What did you do now, Connor?” she demanded.  
  
“Don’t call me that,” Jayden grumbled, scowling at her. “And don’t look at me like that either – it was an accident.”  
  
“What was an accident?” Micah questioned, looking genuinely worried and confused now.  
  
Jayden shifted as he felt everyone staring at him, and Noah reached out to grab his hand for reassurance. Noah’s touch immediately relaxed him, and his mother’s reaction no longer seemed that scary in his mind anymore.   
  
Looking directly at his parents, Jayden finally said, “Noah and I are bonded now.”  
  
The looks on Leila and Micah’s faces were almost comical, where Laura just looked really surprised and a bit confused.  
  
“Oh wow, I didn’t expect that this early,” Micah spoke, blinking at them.  
  
“You’re _what?!_ ” Leila blurted, her sharp eyes immediately on Jayden. “Gosh! Why can you never keep your hands to yourself when it comes to Noah?!”  
  
Noah blushed at that comment, and Jayden let out an annoyed groan.  
  
“It wasn’t on purpose! Angels and angel hybrids just have very weird ways of bonding, and my hands kind of wandered off to the wrong place. But it’s done now and I can’t take it back, and as far as I know, Noah isn’t upset about it.”  
  
Noah nodded next to him. “Yeah, I’m not upset.”  
  
“Well, that’s a good thing,” Micah said, a relieved sigh escaping from him.  
  
Leila just shook her head helplessly at Jayden, clearly not pleased that he had let this happen. She looked over at Dean and Castiel then. “And how are you guys feeling about this? I always have to apologize to you that my son can’t keep his hands to himself…”  
  
“Mom!” Jayden groaned, rolling his eyes. He glared a bit at Laura who giggled at him, since she found it amusing when their mother got on Jayden’s nerves.  
  
Castiel just chuckled lightly. “You only had to apologize for that once before. And we don’t mind it. Noah is not upset, and it was kind of expected that this would happen sooner or later. Jayden is a very good and polite young alpha, and Dean and I could not wish for a better mate for Noah.” He glanced at Dean for confirmation and was pleased when Dean nodded.  
  
“Yeah, he’s been a part of our family for years already,” Dean spoke.  
  
Jayden was both relieved and grateful when Dean looked at him with a smile after saying those words, and he could see that his parents – especially his mom – were calming down now.  
  
Leila sighed heavily, her wings slumping behind her. “Gosh, my son is gonna give me grey hairs soon…”  
  
Castiel chuckled lightly at that, as did the others except for Jayden.  
  
Leila raised her gaze again, her eyes boring into Jayden once more as her face turned sharp. “You didn’t consummate that bond yet, did you?”  
  
Jayden pulled a face and felt his cheeks redden a bit. “Mom, that’s kind of a personal question. But no, we didn’t.”  
  
Noah’s cheeks reddened a bit to. He stared down at his feet, wriggling his toes a bit in a sheepish gesture.  
  
“What does that mean? To consummate a bond?” Laura asked, staring between the adults with a curious frown on her face.  
  
“It means that the people are fully mates then,” Micah explained, smiling as he gently ruffled Laura’s hair with affection.  
  
Laura’s eyes widened. She practically squealed and turned to look at Jayden and Noah’s with sparkling eyes. “Are you gonna be mates and have babies?” she blurted, excitement and happiness in her voice and on her face as she grinned widely at them.  
  
Noah blushed like mad and tried to hide a bit behind Jayden, whose cheeks also flushed a bit.  
  
“Um, yeah, someday,” Jayden told Laura somewhat dismissively, feeling rather embarrassed now.  
  
“Yay!” Laura squealed and jumped up and down, spreading her wings as she jumped.  
  
The others laughed at her excitement, and Laura looked a bit confused about why Jayden and Noah looked so embarrassed all of sudden. She hadn’t been given the sex-talk yet, so she didn’t know how mating and sex worked, and why it was embarrassing.  
  
“Well, I guess we’re closer as a family now that our kids have finally bonded,” Micah remarked, looking at Dean and Castiel as he spoke. “We should celebrate that with a beer, if you’d like one?”  
  
Dean grinned. “Sure. Can’t turn down that offer.”  
  
“No beer for me, thanks,” Castiel spoke, smiling politely as he declined the offer.  
  
Leila smiled and put a hand on Castiel’s shoulder, drawing his attention to her. “Well, you can have anything you like,” she smiled.  
  
Leila led Castiel into the kitchen to find something to drink for them, and Micah and Dean followed too to find that beer.  
  
Jayden sighed when he, Noah, and Laura were left alone in the room with Mr. Giggles, who was wandering around on the back of the couch now like he owned the place. The cat loved walking around on the shelves and on the high places in the house; it gave him confidence. Jayden often joked that they should have named him ‘King of the House’ instead.  
  
“I just _knew_ you’d be mates someday! Jayden really loves you,” Laura grinned, folding her hands behind her back and curling her tail as she smiled up at Noah.  
  
Noah smiled at her words and noticed Jayden looking a little sheepish next to him. “I love him too.”  
  
Laura’s grin grew wider. “Are you gonna have babies soon or do I have to wait for that?”  
  
Noah flustered at the bold question.  
  
“You’re gonna have to wait a bit for that, kiddo,” Jayden told her with a small smirk, ruffling Laura’s hair so much that she had to shy away and frantically correct it again.  
  
“Argh! You’re a dummy!” Laura growled and tried to make her hair look nice again.  
  
Noah laughed fondly at them before stepping forward to help out Laura. He corrected her hair as well as he could to make it look nice again, and she seemed very grateful for his help. It was girlish, but Noah had helped Laura put her hair into ponytails and stuff before when Leila wasn’t around to help. Noah didn’t mind helping her with that, and it was a good way for them to bond.  
  
Jayden just smirked and reached out to mess up her hair once more, but Noah swatted his hand away and spread his wing defensively in front of Laura.  
  
“Don’t be so rude to your sister,” Noah chastised, sending Jayden a firm scowl of disapproval.  
  
“Yeah, don’t be so rude!” Laura echoed, sticking out her tongue at Jayden and squealed when he took a playful, threatening step forward. She grinned and hid behind Noah to hide from her brother.  
  
“As if _you_ are never rude. All the times you’ve used your body to bomb my stomach when I’m napping on the couch, I’d say you’re even more rude!” Jayden said, scowling at his sister who was still hiding behind Noah and giggling at him.  
  
“But it’s fun to startle you and make you wake up!” she grinned.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but laugh at Jayden’s annoyed – yet still very fond – face. He liked watching the two of them interact and be both playfully rude and loving with each other.  
  
Leila entered the room again with Micah, Dean, and Castiel right behind her. “Hey, stop acting like little kids in here. You’re getting too old for that.” She brushed her tail against Jayden’s and Laura’s as she passed them, and headed over to the couch to sit down with their guests and talk. She gave Noah a wide smile as their eyes met, and Noah returned her smile shyly.  
  
As the adults sat down on the couch and began to chat and talk, Noah felt Jayden grab a hold of his hand and gently lean down to press a chaste kiss to his temple. Noah smiled and blushed shyly at the tender gesture, immediately leaning into his mate. Jayden moved his hand around and placed it on Noah’s waist, while his wing covered Noah’s behind him.  
  
The alpha hummed contently as he gently nuzzled his nose into Noah’s soft hairs and breathed in his scent, and Noah almost forgot that Laura was standing right next to them and watching them. The girl didn’t say anything, though. She just smiled at them and curled her tail as she watched them, before slowly going over to sit with her mom on the couch.  
  
Jayden and Noah soon joined the others, but only stayed for a few minutes until they went out into the kitchen when Leila told Jayden to check on the dinner for her. They spent the rest of the time there until it was time to eat, and while Jayden was cooking, Noah and Laura set the table and chatted a bit about how things were going at Laura’s school.  
  
  


***

  
  
After dinner, Dean and Castiel stayed an hour more before going home again. They thanked their hosts for the meal and agreed to meet again soon. Hugs were exchanged before they left, and Noah promised Castiel he would keep him updated on his situation, and stay away from alphas and other males as soon as he felt his heat approaching. His heat was most likely to appear around Thursday next week or after that, but he was glad that he wouldn’t be attending any classes before that either.  
  
It was past 10 when Jayden and Noah entered Jayden’s bedroom to head to bed.  
  
Jayden had locked the door, and Noah slowly began to undress to get out of his confining clothes to enjoy the feel of soft sheets against his skin instead. He wasn’t surprised when he felt Jayden come up behind him and wrap his arms around him.  
  
Jayden leaned down and nibbled a bit at Noah’s earlobe while he used gentle hands to help Noah get out of his clothes. Noah purred softly and leaned back into him, and the alpha took his time undoing Noah’s pants, before sneaking an exploring hand inside them to palm Noah’s growing erection.  
  
“Mm, you smell so good. Something about you smells even more addicting now,” Jayden hummed against Noah’s ear, sensing how his voice sent small shivers up Noah’s body.  
  
“You smell good too.”  
  
The alpha chuckled and placed a soft kiss on the crook of Noah’s shoulder, still rubbing his palm against the submissive’s erection. He loved how small Noah’s dick was compared to his. It was all pink at the tip, and had such a cute look to it, whether it was hard or soft. He also liked how Noah’s cheeks flushed whenever he commented on it.  
  
Noah gave a needy whine and squirmed a bit, needing Jayden to touch him more. He bucked into Jayden’s hand and was pleased when Jayden rubbed him a bit harder.  
  
“I can’t wait to claim you. To make you all mine, forever. It frustrates me that I can’t do it now,” Jayden spoke, placing another kiss on Noah – this time on his neck.  
  
“I know. Me too,” Noah whined. He bared his neck to Jayden and purred when the alpha’s teeth traced his skin carefully.  
  
Jayden continued helping Noah undress then. He undid Noah’s pants fully and let them slide down the submissive’s legs so that they were pooling at his feet. Noah had already unbuttoned his shirt below his wings, so Jayden just helped him out of it and threw it somewhere on the floor.  
  
Dressed in just his light blue panties now, Noah turned around and undid Jayden’s pants next, eager to get them off of him. He could see the bulge of Jayden’s erect cock behind the jeans, and it looked so obscene and yet so arousing.  
  
Impatient growls came from them both when Jayden’s belt caused some trouble, but Noah quickly unbuckled it before Jayden shoved his jeans and his underwear down.   
  
Noah moved around to stand behind him while he got out his pants, and Jayden then felt Noah’s small hands begin to unbutton his shirt below his wings. Jayden shuddered a bit when Noah rubbed the base of his wings as he stood behind him, and the alpha made sure that his feathers were completely softened so that Noah wouldn’t get hurt.  
  
When the buttons were undone, Jayden grabbed his shirt and pulled it off so that he was now completely naked. He was a bit surprised when he felt Noah linger behind him and how the submissive was running his hands up and down Jayden’s muscled back, almost as if he was worshipping and admiring it.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden gasped softly when he felt Noah place a small kiss on his spine, right between his wings. He leaned his head back a bit and felt his cock twitch in interest as Noah’s hands rested on the base of his wings and how his lips were still lingering on his skin in a soft kiss. It was such a loving yet submissive gesture from Noah. He was basically trusting and accepting Jayden as his protector by being behind him and pressing his forehead and lips against his muscled back. The hands on the base of Jayden’s wings was a sign that he was accepting his role as Jayden’s mate, since only mates would to let their hands rest on that place like this. It was a sensitive place on a demon, and alphas could easily calm down from their aggression if they felt their mate touch them there.  
  
Noah let his hands linger on the base of Jayden’s wings a bit longer, before softly rubbing his palms over that spot a few times and finally stepping back.  
  
Jayden slowly turned around to look at him, and Noah just smiled at him when their eyes met.  
  
The alpha returned the smile and cupped Noah’s cheek, before leaning down to kiss him. Noah melted into the kiss, and Jayden quickly gained dominance of it. The kiss was deep and hungry, and Jayden’s tongue moved around everywhere inside Noah’s mouth, tasting him and owning him. He pulled back a little to breathe, and his cock twitched painfully when he saw Noah’s lust-dilated pupils and his flushed cheeks. Jayden gave a pleased grunt before gently biting at Noah’s lower lip, making the submissive shiver.  
  
Jayden then moved his other hand behind Noah, touching his feathers and tugging a bit on them to make Noah gasp in pleasure, before his hand reached the leaking oil glands. He let his hand linger just below that place, feeling oil touch his fingers since the oil was leaking down Noah’s back a little. He wanted to touch those sensitive glands so badly, but he wasn’t sure if he was allowed.  
  
“Can I touch you there?” Jayden asked, placing kisses on Noah’s jawline now.  
  
Noah shuddered in his arms and let out a soft moan. “I… Maybe not yet. They’re so sensitive lately, and I feel like if you touch them, my body is going to demand our bond to be consummated even more. So please, not yet…”  
  
The alpha’s wings slumped in disappointment, and he let out a small sigh against Noah’s jaw. “Okay. But I do hope you’ll let me touch them later.”  
  
“Of course.”  
  
Jayden smirked against Noah’s skin. “I really want to groom your wings in your oil someday,” he whispered.  
  
A small, arousing shiver ran up Noah’s spine. “I’d like that,” he croaked out, putting his hand on Jayden’s chest; showing Jayden had he trusted him with that. Only mates could groom each other’s wings so intimately, but there were actually some who didn’t like it being done to them. It was a very intimate thing, and it could be scary to give yourself over so completely to someone else. Noah wouldn’t mind it, though. He wanted to fully and completely belong to Jayden, and he trusted him with all he had.  
  
Jayden growled possessively and nibbled Noah’s neck just once before he guided Noah over to his bed, gently pushing him onto it.  
  
Noah immediately lay back on top of the sheets, bending and spreading his legs. He lifted his hips so that Jayden could slide his panties off him, and he blushed a bit when he saw the alpha scent his panties with a pleased smirk when he could smell Noah’s slick on them. The panties were thrown over to the small pile of clothes on the floor then, and Noah frowned when Jayden suddenly got up and walked over to his desk.  
  
“Where are you going?” Noah asked, whining in disappointment since he was all worked up now, and he wanted Jayden to touch him.  
  
“Don’t worry. I have something nice in mind,” Jayden said, chuckling at Noah’s impatience.  
  
Noah let out a small, displeased grunt and dropped his head back onto the pillow on the bed. He was lying there with his wings spread out, his knees bent and spread, and his little cock curling up towards his abdomen. His hole was wet and twitching, impatient to be stimulated already.   
  
He turned his head and looked over at Jayden, taking in the sight of the alpha’s perfect body. The muscles flexed in Jayden’s back when he moved, and Noah could see his shoulder blades flex as well when he moved his wings. He moved his gaze further down to stare at Jayden’s ass, admiring the sight while his mate was busy fumbling with something over by his desk. Noah couldn’t see what he was doing since Jayden’s body and wings were blocking his view, but he was feeling kind of curious now.  
  
Then, Jayden turned back around, a smirk covering his face as he went over to Noah with something in his hands.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened when he recognized the small vibrator that Jayden had bought at the sex shop yesterday. “That’s…”  
  
“I think you’ll like this,” Jayden smirked, giving him a cocky wink before getting on the bed so that he was sitting in front of Noah’s bent legs.  
  
Noah blushed and squirmed on the bed, suddenly feeling both very excited and kind of nervous about what that toy was going to do to him. He slowly spread his legs to give Jayden better access to him, and the demon rubbed his leg in gratitude.  
  
Jayden reached down towards Noah’s ass and traced the hole with a finger before easing it inside. Noah inched a bit closer to him and grabbed his own legs below the knees to fold them back towards his body and give Jayden even better access.  
  
The alpha hummed in approval when he could better see Noah’s twitching, pink hole now. He pushed his finger further inside, twisting it around and rubbing the walls, before adding another.  
  
Noah moaned and wriggled slightly the more Jayden stretched him, and he jolted a bit when Jayden crooked his finger and hit his sweet spots.  
  
As soon as Noah was stretched, leaking, and wriggling in impatience, Jayden finally put the toy into him.  
  
“Don’t worry, I cleaned it earlier,” Jayden told him when he saw Noah’s face freeze a bit. The submissive relaxed at his words, and Jayden pushed the toy in and made sure that it was placed right against Noah’s g-spots. The string attached to it made sure that he could pull it back out anytime he wanted. “Is that okay?” he asked, looking up at Noah’s face to see if the toy was somehow making him uncomfortable.  
  
Noah nodded. “Yeah, it feels okay. But a little strange, though.”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Good.” He then put his thumb on the button on the small remote control and turned on the vibrations.  
  
“Ah god!” Noah exclaimed and flinched violently. He had not been prepared at all for Jayden to turn on the vibrations already, and the unfamiliar sensation of something vibrating right against his most sensitive spots startled him completely. Immediately his body was assaulted by pleasure. It felt so good, so satisfying, and indescribable that Noah couldn’t hold back the sharp, long moans escaping from him. “Nrruugh, ah!”  
  
Jayden grinned cockily, pleased with the reaction he got. With the remote in his right hand, he gently pushed his way between Noah’s legs and leaned down over his body so that he was covering him. He pressed his lips against Noah’s, stopping the precious sounds coming from his mouth and swallowed them as he kissed him.  
  
Noah whined and mewled in the back of his throat, panting for air as Jayden kissed him. The toy was still vibrating inside him, driving him crazy while his body was being pressed into the bed by Jayden on top of him. His dick was getting squeezed by Jayden’s abdomen, but the alpha tried to keep the pressure off it as much as he could so that Noah would come only from the stimulation in his ass. It was frustrating, but Noah accepted it.  
  
“Mmm, this is so hot,” Jayden smirked, nuzzling Noah’s jaw before catching his lips again. And it really was hot. He could feel Noah tremble and shudder under him, and they could hear the toy buzzing and vibrating inside Noah’s ass. Noah was squirming and wriggling like never before, clearly completely overwhelmed with all the sensations, and it was the hottest thing Jayden knew. He loved how Noah was completely at his mercy now, and that it was _him_ who was in charge of how much pleasure Noah got and when.  
  
Knowing that Noah liked the vibrations and had gotten used to them now, Jayden decided to turn up the intensity just a little. The reaction was immediate. Noah cried out in pleasure, his back arching and causing his chest to bump into Jayden’s body above him, and his wings trashed helplessly on the bed.  
  
“Ah! I can’t— Jayden!” Noah cried, almost sobbing from pleasure.  
  
Jayden just smirked smugly and nuzzled his nose against Noah’s neck, feeling his mate tremble under him. “Shh. You’re doing so well,” he soothed him. He was so turned on now that he couldn’t stop himself from grinding his cock into Noah’s thigh, desperate to get some friction. Hearing the noises coming from Noah and feeling how he was trembling and squirming made Jayden so hard it almost hurt. He could almost come from just watching Noah right now.  
  
Noah was gasping and writhing uncontrollably. “Ahh! I’m gonna—”  
  
“Already? You’ve only had it in you for like five minutes, and it’s only on level 2,” Jayden chuckled, fondly rubbing his wings into Noah’s and restricting his movements by pressing his body down into him.  
  
“But it’s too much,” Noah sobbed, wriggling desperately under the alpha.  
  
“Mm. Then come, baby,” Jayden hummed into his ear, giving it a playful bite.  
  
Jayden’s words were like an order to Noah. The submissive cried out as he came hard between their bodies, and Jayden had to muffle his cries since they were so loud that it could be heard from the corridor outside. Noah’s body shook and trembled under him as he came, and Jayden growled and buried his face possessively in Noah’s neck. He soothed Noah through it and gently pet his wings until the submissive’s body had stopped trembling from his climax.  
  
Noah went completely boneless then, and Jayden immediately turned the toy off to let him catch a break. The submissive was panting heavily, and when Jayden looked at his face, Noah looked completely debauched and adorable.  
  
“I’m guessing that was nice?” Jayden smirked, leaning up a bit to see Noah’s face properly.  
  
Noah’s cheeks were still flushed from arousal, and got a little redder as he shyly nodded his head.  
  
The alpha grinned. “I’m glad I bought that toy. Though, I’d really like to see you using the ones _you_ bought.”  
  
Noah slammed his hand against Jayden’s chest in embarrassment, averting his eyes. “Another day.”  
  
“I certainly hope so,” Jayden smirked.  
  
Noah blushed more, still recovering from his mind-blowing orgasm and how breathless it had left him.  
  
The alpha leaned back and pulled the string of the toy, letting it come out of Noah’s body, and then put it away on the bed.  
  
Noah eyes darted down when Jayden had leaned back a little, and they fell on Jayden’s cock, which was still hard and twitching in neglect. His come was sticking to their skin, and he kinda liked seeing smears of his own come on Jayden’s abdomen.  
  
Reaching down between their bodies, Noah finally grabbed Jayden’s dick with a firm hand, wasting no time in stroking it and swirling his thumb over the leaking tip.  
  
Jayden moaned and closed his eyes as Noah jerked him off, supporting himself on his hands and knees above Noah. His wings spread out and flapped in approval, and his hips bucked forward into Noah’s hand as the submissive pleasured him.  
  
Noah moved his gaze up to look at Jayden’s face, thinking that the alpha looked beautiful when he was being pleasured and was about to come. He liked the way Jayden panted and moaned as he touched him, and how restless his tail got as it started flicking back and forth behind him. The best part was feeling the alpha’s cock twitch in his hand, and he could practically feel the pulse in it and how it got hotter as Jayden got closer and closer to his climax.  
  
“Shit, I’m gonna—” Jayden grunted. He didn’t manage to finish his sentence before he came in hot spurts all over Noah. He grunted through his orgasm and bucked into Noah’s hand, which was milking every drop from him as it tightened further around his dick. His semen splattered across Noah’s hand and his body, and Jayden felt himself release a few more drops when he looked down and saw his come painting and marking Noah’s stomach and chest, mixing with Noah’s own release from earlier. Some even spurted all the way up to Noah’s face, and the submissive scrunched his face and closed one eye as the hot seed hit his right cheek. He continued to stroke Jayden through it, though.  
  
Jayden collapsed on top of Noah afterwards, feeling sated and satisfied. He chuckled when he heard Noah make a small noise of protest, and quickly leaned back a little.  
  
“It suits you,” Jayden smirked as he saw the way his come was decorating Noah’s cheek.  
  
“Shut up,” Noah grunted, looking rather annoyed to have gotten it on his face so close to his eye.  
  
Jayden just chuckled at him before he leaned down and licked the stripe of come off of Noah’s cheek.  
  
Noah smiled and purred a bit when he felt Jayden’s tongue lick him clean, and the alpha even licked some of the come off that was on his body. Noah laughed and shied away from him when he tickled his stomach, though. “Stop it! It tickles.”  
  
Jayden lifted his eyes and grinned up at him as he was between Noah’s legs with his face just above Noah’s belly. “I know. I love to tickle you.”  
  
Noah groaned and shoved Jayden’s face away when the alpha tried to lick him again. “I told you to stop,” he growled, half-heartedly.  
  
The alpha laughed, but didn’t try to lick/tickle him again. He got up from the bed to find a towel to clean the rest up with, and wiped the toy as clean as he could before putting it away in a box. He’d clean it properly tomorrow since he didn’t feel like putting on clothes and head to the bathroom to do it now. He was looking forward to using the toy on Noah again, and he was determined to get to level 4 at some point, which was the strongest level. Noah had come so hard at just level 2, and Jayden almost got hard again when trying to imagine how Noah would react to level 4. It was hot that Noah’s body was so sensitive, though. Sometimes Jayden could make him come in less than five minutes, and he didn’t even have to stimulate all his sweet spots at the same time to achieve that.  
  
They settled themselves next to each other on the bed to sleep, and Jayden covered Noah’s body with his wing as they lay on their sides, facing each other.  
  
“Promise me you’ll be careful at college,” Jayden spoke after a few moments. “Don’t let anyone besides Christie know that you’re about to go into heat. Some alphas could be bold enough to stalk you if they find out and hope to get a taste of you, and I’d rather die than allow that to happen.” He growled, and struggled not to let his feathers sharpen at the sudden anger he felt when thinking about that scenario. He didn’t want to hurt Noah with his sharp feathers, so he had to suppress the reflex that sharpened them.  
  
“I won’t. Don’t worry,” Noah promised, smiling a bit at Jayden’s sudden protectiveness. He grabbed a hold of Jayden’s hand and cupped it between his own. “I will only ever let _you_ touch me. You know that.”  
  
“Yeah, I know. But I can’t stop worrying… I just want to protect you and keep you safe.” The words ‘from other alphas’ were left unsaid at the end of the sentence, but Noah could still hear them.  
  
Noah squeezed Jayden’s hand. “I know. But I’ll be fine. If someone finds out and comes near me, I will kick them so hard they can never use their privates ever again.”  
  
Jayden laughed at that, instantly feeling more relaxed. “Yeah, you do that.”  
  
“And if you come near me, I will kick you too.”  
  
“Hey!” Jayden protested, pouting a bit. “Hopefully not forever…”  
  
Noah laughed fondly and smiled at Jayden. “No. Not forever. Only until I’m ready to let you touch me when I’m in heat, but if you try it before that I _will_ kick you.”  
  
“Yeah, okay, warning understood. Just don’t make me sterile.”  
  
Noah chuckled. “I won’t.”  
  
Jayden chuckled back before placing a kiss on Noah’s forehead, pulling him closer as they settled down to sleep.  
  
Noah sighed in content, feeling safe and complete in the arms of his mate. His upcoming heat was kind of frightening to him, but he knew he could pull through it. He had to. But for now, he just wanted to feel Jayden’s protective arms and wings around him and fall asleep, listening to the steady heartbeat in Jayden’s chest.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been going a bit slow with writing lately, sorry. Hope you enjoyed this little filler-like chapter, I just really wanted to show Jayden’s parents’ reactions to their bonding. Noah’s siblings will find out about it soon as well XD There will be lots of smuttiness in the next chapter as Noah rides out his heat :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**March 2045 (Noah is 18 (almost 19), Jayden is 20, Christie is 18 years old).**  
  
The following week Noah was waiting for his heat to appear.  
  
Christie hadn’t been too surprised to hear about Noah and Jayden bonding by accident. She had made fun of it since she knew that almost the same had happened to Noah’s parents, and she thought it was funny that Jayden had been so horny that he forgot where he had his hands on Noah’s body. She was happy for them, though.  
  
The worst part about the bonding was that Noah knew it was only a matter of time before his classmates found out about him being mated now. It would be too obvious since he wouldn’t be going to classes until after his heat was over, and that could be in 2-3 weeks, depending on when it was going to start. The girls on the dormitory floor could tell that he wasn’t sick even though he wasn’t attending classes, so Noah feared that gossip would spread soon. His teachers already knew what was up, since they had been told about it through the note he had gotten from Charlie. It was embarrassing that they knew that he was going to go into heat soon, but he was more worried about the alphas in his classes finding out about it. He knew they were going to make fun of him and say even more perverted things to him if they knew.  
  
It was Friday morning, eight days after Noah and Jayden had bonded.  
  
Noah had felt his heat coming since last night. His body felt oddly weak, and Christie had said that he did smell a tiny bit different. She couldn’t pick up on his pheromones that well though, since she was female and her biology wasn’t programmed to pick up on it as much as a male’s, but she could still smell a slight difference.  
  
Christie sat up on her bed after her alarm clock had sounded. She stretched and yawned, and looked over at Noah who was still under his covers. “Morning,” she yawned. “Ready to get up and do lots of homework?”  
  
Noah had been doing homework in their room this week. He had to read up on what was being taught in the classes that he couldn’t attend, and his teachers sent him emails with attached files of what he had to read and questions he had to answer and send back to them, so that they were sure that he had been studying. He even had to be a bit ahead of his classmates since he wouldn’t be able to read or study for a week during his heat, but he still had to do all his homework and be up to date with what was taught during his classes. Christie had helped him a bit, since they shared three classes together, for which Noah was very grateful.  
  
Noah groaned and rolled over on his stomach. “No… And I don’t feel so well…”  
  
Christie’s brows furrowed in worry. “Is it worse than last night?”  
  
“Yeah… It’s getting stronger.”  
  
“We should get you to the safe room in the basement, then. Come on.”  
  
Christie got up to get dressed, eager to get Noah out of the room and to the safe room before he was in full blown heat. It wouldn’t be good to guide him through the dormitory towards the safe room while he was full of pheromones, since the alphas would be jumping on him if they smelled him. She had wanted to take him there last night when Noah told her that he could feel it coming and she could smell the sweetness on him, but he hadn’t wanted to leave just yet and spend the night alone. Besides, it would take a while before his heat reached its peak anyway.  
  
Christie was the one who had the key to Noah’s safe room, where he would be during his heat. No one else would be able to enter the room, except for Castiel who had been given the second key just in case. Christie would be the one to bring him food three times a day and make sure he got lots of water too. Castiel would come over in a few days to collect Noah’s laundry and then wash his bed sheets, since Christie didn’t really want to do it at the college where every alpha around would be able to smell what was on those sheets.  
  
Noah finally forced himself off the bed, amazed with how odd his body and limbs felt. He felt weak and tired, and his wings and groin had a weird tingly sensation in them. He also felt hot inside, and he had been sweating a little during the night.  
  
They got dressed fast, and Noah made sure he had clothes, towels, bed sheets, his toothbrush, laptop, phone, and sex toys (hidden safely inside a box) with him when they left the room and headed towards the basement where the safe room was. They both carried Noah’s stuff, struggling a bit with all the bags since some of it was a bit heavy.  
  
“We really should have gone to that room last night,” Christie spoke as they walked down the stairs from the fourth floor to the basement. They avoided the elevator since it was more often used, and it would be bad if alphas or betas ended up in the elevator while Noah smelled the way he did.  
  
“But it hasn’t fully started yet, and I don’t really want to be alone in that room for longer than necessary,” Noah groused, whining softly. They walked side-by-side down the stairs, hearing their footsteps echo through the staircase.  
  
“Aww, are you going to miss me?” Christie teased, grinning at him.  
  
“Of course I am. I don’t wanna be alone for a week…”  
  
“Well, I’ll still come visit you,” Christie smiled.  
  
A group of three alpha demons were headed up the stairs to the third floor, and they passed them somewhere between the second and the first floor.  
  
“Just don’t look at any of them,” Christie whispered to Noah when she spotted the alphas approaching.  
  
Noah glared at her somewhat, since he certainly wasn’t going to be brought closer to his heat by looking at those alphas. He then realized that she had probably meant for him not to look at them so that they wouldn’t notice him too much. Getting hit on or having his way blocked by stupid alphas again would not be very good in his current situation, since he was pretty sure that his pheromones could be smelled now that he was so close to his heat.  
  
To his big dismay, one of the alphas they passed them was the annoying guy from his religion class, Jack. Jack had left him alone since Noah had retorted something back at him a few months ago, but recently he had begun annoying him again a couple of times.  
  
“Hey, freak,” Jack called, blocking their way as Noah and Christie tried to make it downstairs. “Why haven’t you been in class? I’ve been missing looking at your sweet butt.” The alpha demon grinned maliciously and his friends laughed behind him.  
  
Noah froze, not knowing what to do or say, and prayed that the alphas wouldn’t be able to smell him.  
  
“You smell good too. Did you get a new perfume in order to get laid?” Jack continued, looking all cocky as he blocked the stairs along with his friends.  
  
Noah flinched as he said that. He was glad that Jack hadn’t realized what his scent meant just yet, though.  
  
“Fuck off! We don’t have time for losers,” Christie growled, and pushed her way past them while dragging Noah along by his arm.  
  
Noah felt relief for a second when he thought that the danger was over as Christie led him past those guys, but then he suddenly felt Jack’s hand close around his bare arm to stop him from walking away. Noah flinched heavily, his body going into defense mode since it knew it wasn’t his mate, and it wouldn’t accept another alpha’s touch right now when he was so close to his heat. All his instincts were on alert to protect him from having another alpha take what rightfully belonged to his mate.  
  
“Fucking _answer_ instead of ignoring me!” Jack growled, his hand tightening on Noah’s arm, making it hurt.  
  
Noah turned his head to glare hard at the alpha. “Let me go,” he growled, low and threateningly.  
  
Jack’s eyes widened in shocked surprise when he saw the aggression on Noah’s face, and how the submissive’s wings were raised and spread in a sharp warning. The two other alphas looked startled too, since they had never seen Noah glare them down so hard before. He looked kind of scary.  
  
Jack finally let go, blinking at Noah in absolute bewilderment before he growled a bit at him, clearly not pleased to get answered back at, especially not by a sub.  
  
Noah continued to glare at them for another second until he felt Christie tug at his arm to get him out of there. He eagerly followed, desperate to get away from the staircase and to safety.  
  
Once they were out of earshot, Christie looked at him with an amazed expression. “Wow, that was pretty awesome. You totally spooked those guys.”  
  
“I couldn’t stand him touching me,” Noah murmured, shivering at the memory and felt the urge to wash his arm to get Jack’s scent off him.  
  
“Well, at least they didn’t make any more advances on you, even though it seems they did pick up on your scent a bit. We would have been in trouble if your scent had been stronger than it is now.”  
  
Noah could only nod in agreement. He kind of regretted that he didn’t go to the safe room last night when he had first felt his heat approaching.  
  
When they reached basement level, Christie used the key that the administration had given her to unlock the door. The basement level had very restricted access, and the doors needed to be locked at all times. It was pretty comforting to Noah that he knew that not everyone could just walk into the basement and get to him.  
  
On the other side of the door there was a corridor with a few rooms. It looked rather abandoned down there, and the place was mostly only used for storage. Noah noticed that there were cameras in the corridor, which gave him an extra sense of security, but it was still kind of creepy and awfully quiet down there. The long, cold corridor with its white walls and lifeless atmosphere reminded him a bit of a something from a horror movie.  
  
They walked over to room 009, where Noah would be staying.  
  
“It’s kinda creepy down here,” Noah murmured and glanced around while Christie fumbled with the keys.  
  
“Would you rather stay on the boys’ floor?” Christie asked, her lips tilted into a teasing smirk as she glanced at him. She laughed at Noah’s horrified face, before finally unlocking the door so they could enter the room.  
  
The room was about the same size of their dorm room, but slightly smaller. It had a large bed, a desk, and some drawers and a wardrobe. There was a door to the right that led into a small bathroom, which had a toilet and a bathtub with a showerhead fixed on the wall. There were no windows in the room to avoid the person using it from getting harassed by people standing outside the windows or trying to get inside, but the room had air conditioning to keep the air cool and fresh. Noah spotted a large TV on the wall, which really relieved him, because then he wouldn’t get too bored by being down there all by himself and having nothing to do except for masturbating.  
  
They carried his stuff inside and put it on the bed and on the floor.  
  
Noah suddenly felt pretty weak in his knees. He gasped softly and sat down on the bed to take a break, and Christie immediately turned worried eyes on him.  
  
“Are you alright?”  
  
“I’m okay…” Noah answered, taking a deep breath. He felt so warm inside and his ass was slowly beginning to feel a bit wet. He didn’t like this at all, but he had no choice but to go through it.  
  
Christie gave him a look of sympathy, before guiding Noah over to sit on the chair by the desk while she put fresh sheets on the bed. Castiel had lent Noah six sets of sheets to use, knowing he would have to change them frequently whenever they got wet and full of slick and come.  
  
Christie helped get him settled a bit, and then left the room to get him some breakfast from the cafeteria. She had been getting him food from there during the week, since Noah had been told by Charlie to stay in his room as much as possible. He also hadn’t wanted to show his face in the cafeteria because he didn’t want his classmates to start asking why he wasn’t in class.  
  
When Christie returned, she could tell that Noah was starting to look more and more uncomfortable, and they both knew it was only a matter of hours before Noah’s heat was full blown.  
  
They ate together, and afterwards Christie hugged him and promised to come back in the afternoon to check on him and bring him lunch. Noah was sad to see her go, since the basement and the room felt so lonely and creepy, and he didn’t want to be alone, but Christie had classes to attend.  
  
Noah sighed, waiting anxiously for his heat to start properly and for Christie to return later and keep him company for a bit again.  
  


 

***

  
  
Noah spent the first three hours getting settled and putting some stuff into the drawers, before lying down on the bed to watch TV. There was a good TV show on, but he still couldn’t wait for Christie to come back to the room so that he had someone to talk to. He had taken off his clothes due to his body feeling pretty warm, and it felt nicer to lie there without any restraining clothes on his body.  
  
It was noon when Noah’s heat finally hit him full on.  
  
He was squirming restlessly and naked on the bed while watching TV, feeling his body starting to get warmer and warmer, and his genitals and wings were tingling with need. He groaned and rolled around a bit, trying to get rid of the tingling sensations by rubbing his wings, crotch, and ass against the sheets. The satisfaction was only temporary, and it was frustrating to no end.  
  
All of sudden, it was like his whole body was on fire, and he could feel his ass leaking excessive amounts of slick. Noah groaned into the sheets when he realized his heat was full blown now, and the need to have Jayden fuck him was overwhelming.  
  
Noah had prepared his toys earlier and had cleaned them and gotten them ready, and he scrambled off the bed to get them before dropping back down on his stomach on the bed, and desperately reached a hand behind himself to touch his hole.  
  
His ass was begging to have something inside it, and Noah had never felt anything like it before. All he wanted was to have Jayden by his side to take care of him and fuck him through it, but the alpha wasn’t there. It was painful and agonizing to be alone and feeling so empty, and his ass was twitching and clenching, begging for his mate’s cock to fill him up and breed him.  
  
Noah whined helplessly and bit into the sheets with a long groan as he pushed his fingers into his ass. He couldn’t remember ever getting so wet this fast before, and he was half surprised that stretching himself didn’t take that long. Still, his fingers didn’t feel satisfying or enough. Not by far. He craved something bigger, something wider, and he sobbed into the sheets in desperation before reaching for the dildo with trembling hands.  
  
He almost couldn’t shove the fat dildo into himself fast enough, and he let out a keen cry as it slid into him and rubbed his clenching muscles so deliciously. His body immediately felt some satisfaction at that, but it didn’t last long. He was being filled up now, but it still wasn’t Jayden’s dick and it didn’t feel the same. It would have to do, though.  
  
Noah moaned and writhed against the sheets as he moved the dildo in and out of himself, loving how the crooked end rubbed the sensitive opening to his uterus so deliciously. His cervix was different than a female’s, and its angle inside his body didn’t make it hurt when something bumped into it. It felt nice and stimulating, and during his heat it was opened wider and incredibly sensitive. It made his body jolt in surprise when it felt so _good_ when the dildo rubbed that spot just right. It was like all his senses were heightened, and his body was more sensitive to stimulation than usual. It was both great and very frustrating at the same time.  
  
“Ahhh, oh! Jayden,” Noah moaned, imagining that it was his mate’s fat cock that was buried deep inside him. The fantasy made him so hot and horny, and slick was pouring from him so much that his thighs and the sheets were getting soaked.  
  
He rubbed his wings and dick into the sheets below to feel more pleasure, and he only needed to nudge the dildo against his cervix a few more times before he came. He cried out his pleasure, his body shaking and trembling as he came into the sheets below and stained them with his release.  
  
The orgasm was so strong that it left Noah limb and panting on the bed for a few moments. His heart was pounding in his chest, and just when he felt himself beginning to calm down a bit, his heat flared up once more.  
  
Noah whined in frustration. His orgasm hadn’t left him satisfied for very long, and now his body was all aroused and sensitive once again, demanding more.  
  
He reached for the vibrator this time, hoping it would satisfy his needs for a bit and make it bearable for him.  
  


 

***

  
  
Christie returned to the room at 2:30pm with some food for Noah. She had sent him a text message beforehand to ask if it was okay that she dropped by, since she didn’t know when he’d be busy pleasuring himself, and she didn’t want to walk in on him unannounced.  
  
Noah was curled up in a blanket on the bed when Christie entered the room. She quickly locked the door and smiled when she approached him with a bag of food.  
  
“Hi. I’m guessing it started? You look pretty flustered,” Christie remarked, chuckling a bit at him as she handed him the bag.  
  
Noah took the bag with a small ‘thanks’ and peeked into it. He put it away on the bed for now, first wanting to start eating when Christie had left again. “Yeah, and it’s bad…” he murmured, replying to Christie’s comment. He wrapped the blanket more around himself, feeling embarrassed with his condition and the strong scent of heat in the room. His heat wasn’t flaring up so bad right now, but he was still leaking slick all over the mattress as he sat there.  
  
“I can imagine. I feel pretty sorry for you,” Christie said, chuckling at him in sympathy. “But at least you’ve got a TV and your laptop with Wi-Fi, so you won’t be too bored here. The sex toys help, don’t they?”  
  
Noah blushed and hid himself in the blanket so that only his eyes and the top of his head could be seen. “Yes, but not enough…”  
  
“Should I call Jayden and make him come over?”  
  
“Christie!” Noah whined, lifting his head to smolder at her for suggesting something so tempting.  
  
Christie laughed. “Okay, I won’t. I won’t even do it for fun, ‘cause he’ll probably be here in a second if I told him that you want him to come. By the way, he called me an hour ago to hear what’s up, and he sounded pretty worried about you when I told him that your heat was beginning to start this morning.”  
  
“Please don’t talk about him… It only makes it worse when I think of how much I want him here.” Noah wrapped the blanket tighter around himself. His wings were wrapped around his body too under the blanket, and he didn’t care that the blanket only made his feathers even more ruffled as he pulled it tighter around himself.  
  
Christie smiled at him in sympathy. She was about to ask if he wanted her to stay while he ate when she suddenly noticed him gasping and shuddering under the blanket, and smelled a sudden sweetness in the air.  
  
“Okay, I guess I better go. I’m sure neither of us wants me to be around now that your heat just flared up again, making you have urges.” She chuckled at him, teasing him just slightly.  
  
Noah blushed furiously. “I’m sorry…”  
  
“It’s okay. I’ll come back tonight with dinner for you. Let’s hope your heat doesn’t flare up that fast again when I come back.”  
  
Christie turned to leave the room, and Noah felt so embarrassed that his heat had decided to flare up while his friend was present, making him inappropriately horny. He was glad that Christie was as kind and understanding as she was, and didn’t seem in the slightest disgusted by the situation.  
  
As soon as Christie left, Noah untangled himself from the blanket and pushed the dildo into himself once more, desperate to be filled up again.  
  


 

***

  
  
The next day was just as bad as the first day.  
  
Noah’s heat flared up constantly, leaving him unable to catch proper sleep. He had already messed up three sets of sheets, but luckily Castiel would come by tomorrow to take the pile of dirty sheets with him home to wash. He’d bring two new ones so that Noah wouldn’t run out of them while Cas was washing the sheets.  
  
By the evening Noah was exhausted, sleepy, and utterly frustrated by his current situation. Being horny and aroused non-stop, and having your body begging for your partner, who couldn’t be there, was agonizing. The toys helped a lot, but not enough. He wanted Jayden. He _needed_ Jayden.  
  
Noah was watching some TV while his heat was finally giving him a small break after one and half hours of torture. He sat back against the headboard of the bed, wrapped up in the blanket, and watched a show that was on. He made sure to use the time to drink lots of water and keep himself hydrated, since he sweated a lot during his heat and lost fluid.  
  
His phone buzzed on the small nightstand next to the bed, and Noah groaned as he reached out his hand to grab it. He felt joy in his stomach when he saw that he had received a text message from Jayden, who had also texted him last night to ask how he was feeling. Their interaction last night had been cut short by Noah’s heat flaring up again, though.  
  
 _ **Jayden** : Hey baby, how are you doing? Are you in a condition to skype with me, perhaps…? I really miss you and I want to see your face again._  
  
Noah smiled and squirmed joyfully when he read Jayden’s message. It was sweet that the alpha wanted to see him again, and Noah really wanted to see him too.  
  
 _ **Noah** : I’m okay. Don’t know if I can skype. It can start again at any time…_  
  
 _ **Jayden** : Even if it’s just for two seconds, I’d be happy :-)_  
  
Noah smiled, feeling the same.  
  
He got up, not caring to put on any clothes since they would have to get off again soon anyway, and quickly found his laptop. He placed it on the nightstand by the bed and turned it on, logging into Skype as soon as the desktop had loaded.  
  
Noah crossed his legs under him and settled on the bed, hiding his nudity with the blanket as he called Jayden on Skype and waited for his face to appear on the screen. Jayden picked up the video call at the first dial, and Noah felt such relief to see his alpha’s face again.  
  
 _“Hey,”_ Jayden grinned, briefly flaring his wings in joy behind him. _“It’s good to see your pretty face again.”_  
  
Noah blushed and wrapped the blanket tighter around himself. “You too.”  
  
 _“Fuck, I’ve been worried sick about you. I think of you all day and wonder how you’re doing. Are you making sure to eat and drink enough water? And do you make sure to stay in the room at all times?”_  
  
Noah rolled his eyes, but smiled a bit at Jayden’s worried tone. “Yes, I’ve been doing all that. I wouldn’t leave this room unless there was a fire.”  
  
Jayden growled a bit. _“Yeah, don’t leave that room otherwise. I don’t want anyone to touch you.”_  
  
“I promise I won’t.”  
  
Jayden looked relaxed at that. _“So, how are you feeling? Is it bad?”_ he asked carefully, his brows furrowed in worry.  
  
Noah nodded weakly. “I don’t like it, and it’s frustrating. I really wish you were here…”  
  
The alpha made a noise between a groan and a whine. _“I know. God, you have no idea how much I have to control myself to not come over and be with you. Everything inside me is_ screaming _for me to be with you and help you through this, but we both know I can’t. I don’t think I’ll be able to leave your side and keep my hands off you if I caught even the smallest hint of your scent.”_  
  
Noah blushed a bit, but couldn’t suppress the small smile that appeared on his lips. “I still wish you could be here…”  
  
 _“I’ll be there next time. If you’ll let me.”_  
  
“Yeah, I would.” Noah’s cheeks turned even redder.  
  
Jayden grinned, but his face instantly turned into worry when he saw Noah’s expression change into one of discomfort. The submissive let out a soft gasp and squirmed, looking almost as if in pain.  
  
 _“What’s wrong?”_ Jayden demanded, concerned.  
  
“It’s starting again. We should hang up—”  
  
 _“No, wait!”_ Jayden said before Noah could end the call. The submissive blinked at him in surprise, and Jayden continued. _“Maybe, since I can’t be with you physically, we could, uh, do this through the webcam?”_  
  
Noah’s eyes widened. “Y-You mean like webcam sex?”  
  
 _“Yeah. We can talk to each other and see each other, and maybe it will help your heat a bit?”_ Jayden suggested. _“Besides, I’m dying to see your body again, and I really want to hear your sweet noises of need while you’re in heat.”_ He smirked persuasively at Noah, whose face went bright red.  
  
“I…”  
  
 _“Only if you want to,”_ Jayden told him patiently.  
  
Noah pulled the blanket up so that it covered most of his face, except for his eyes. He was blushing so hard that he didn’t want Jayden to see him. “I want to. It’s just… embarrassing— Ah!” He gasped when his heat flared up stronger, sending waves of arousal through him and making him so wet that he could feel his slick pouring into the sheets under him. He let out a loud, desperate whine. “Oh god, I need—”  
  
 _“Then give yourself what you need. Let me watch you put that nice, big dildo of yours into yourself,”_ Jayden purred through the screen. He was already getting so hard from the thought of seeing Noah be all desperate and in heat, and pumping those dirty toys into himself while letting Jayden watch. He couldn’t help but palm and rub his aching erection through his jeans as he sat there in his room at home.  
  
Noah shivered at his words, and his arousal increased. The thought of letting Jayden watch him and be able to hear his voice made him get up from the bed fast to get his toys. He threw the blanket aside to get it out of the way, and got settled on the bed as fast as possible when he had gotten his toys. He angled the laptop so that the webcam had the best view possible of him on the bed, and was relaxed that he knew for certain that only Jayden could see him.  
  
Meanwhile, Jayden unzipped his pants and pulled his erection free, stroking it slowly as he waited eagerly for Noah to use his toys and satisfy his heat in front of him. It hadn’t been easy for Jayden since yesterday when Christie told him that Noah’s heat had started. He had been grumpy all day, and he knew his parents and sister had picked up on that too. He just couldn’t help it. Knowing that his mate was in heat and needed him made his body overflow with testosterone, which made him both very protective but also incredibly horny whenever he thought about how his mate was fertile and ready to mate, and that he should be there with him and take care of him. It was frustrating that he couldn’t, and his alpha instincts didn’t like him being kept away from his mate.  
  
Noah settled himself on his belly on the bed, glancing back over his shoulder to make sure that Jayden could see him properly from that position. He gasped when his ass felt all hot and wet, and his inner muscles clenched in anticipation of him being filled up. He quickly grabbed the dildo and pushed it into himself, arching his back and letting out a loud noise of appreciation when the toy satisfied some of his need to be filled.  
  
 _“Fuck, you’re leaking everywhere,”_ Jayden commented, stroking his hand faster over his cock when he saw how wet Noah was. He could tell that the sheets were covered in the slick too, and Noah’s back was glistering with oil that was running down his back from his oil glands. It was so hot that the alpha had to squeeze the base of his dick to stop himself from coming right then.  
  
Noah just whimpered, pressing himself further against the sheets and desperately pumped the toy in and out of himself. His breathing was labored and the noises he was making were embarrassing, but he didn’t care. All he could think of was to quench the needs he felt.  
  
 _“You’re so desperate to be filled up, aren’t you?”_ Jayden remarked, appreciating the sight of Noah’s ass clenching hard around the dildo that was being moved in and out of it steadily. His dick twitched when he thought about how warm, tight, and delicious it felt whenever he was inside Noah and fucking him good.  
  
Noah just mewled, pushing his ass back against the toy that he was moving in and out of himself to get pleasure.  
  
 _“God, did I ever tell you how hot you look when you’re grinding back into the thing that’s filling you up? I could watch that forever,”_ Jayden spoke, smirking as he watched how Noah was pushing back into the toy and rolling his hips desperately, probably not even aware that he was doing it.  
  
Noah blushed furiously, becoming aware of what he was doing and that Jayden could see everything he did with that toy. His wings flapped on the bed where they were spread out next to him, and his arousal increased. He liked when Jayden talked dirty, even though it made him painfully embarrassed when the alpha made comments about him.  
  
The dildo hit his cervix head-on, making Noah’s body jolt and his abdomen burn with the need to come. “Ahh!” He writhed and whimpered, and finally he found that perfect angle again that caused the pleasure. He pressed the dildo hard against that spot, which was enough to push him into a climax. He cried out as he came, and his dick twitched and jerked under him. He had come so much lately that his body had trouble keeping up with producing fluid for his orgasm, so barely any wetness came out. Still, his muscles contracted through his release, giving him every sense and feel of an orgasm even if he couldn’t make much of a mess of himself.  
  
Jayden let out a pleased hum when he saw Noah go boneless on the bed after his orgasm, but Jayden hadn’t come yet. He was close though, and he kept stroking himself lazily as he watched Noah try to catch his breath again.  
  
 _“You okay?”_  
  
Noah nodded against the bed. “Yeah…” He let out a gasp when his heat already flared up again.  
  
 _“Damn, you don’t really get to catch a break, do you?”_ Jayden said, chuckling softly.  
  
“Shut up. It isn’t funny, I— Ah!” Noah shuddered and moaned, feeling a wave of heat run through his body and making him horny again.  
  
 _“How about you use the vibrator this time? I’ve always wanted to see you use such a toy on yourself.”_  
  
Noah obeyed, pushing the embarrassment aside, and immediately reached for the vibrator that lay a bit further up the bed. He put the used dildo away and pushed the vibrator into himself instead. It wasn’t as wide as the dildo, but it had delicious vibrations and six different patterns.  
  
He quickly turned on the vibrations, moaning when the toy pulsed inside him, and tried to bring it closer against his sweet spots.  
  
 _“Don’t turn it up higher yet. I wanna watch you squirm for a bit,”_ Jayden said when he saw that Noah was about to turn up the volume.  
  
Noah let out a frustrated groan. “But I need more! Everything feels so hot inside. _Please._ ”  
  
 _“Just a few more seconds,”_ Jayden said, chuckling at the small growl that Noah made before the submissive put his head back on the mattress in submission and did as he was told.  
  
They both liked a little dom/sub between them, where Jayden was the one to call the shots and tell Noah what he could do or couldn’t do. Noah didn’t like being too much in control or taking initiatives, and it came natural to him to let Jayden take care of that instead. However, he _could_ be a little bossy sometimes when he was really horny or annoyed with Jayden’s teasing.  
  
After a few seconds, Jayden finally gave in. _“Okay, turn it up a bit higher.”_  
  
Noah quickly pressed the button on the toy, moaning louder when the vibrations increased and got harsher. It still wasn’t at the maximum, nor was it as his favorite, steady pattern yet, but it felt nice. He grinded his dick and wings into the sheets in both frustration and desperation, eager to finally come.  
  
 _“Does it feel good?”_  
  
“Ah, yes, but I need more. Please, Jayden, let me have more,” Noah begged, practically sobbing now.  
  
 _“Hmm, well, I have something else in mind that I think you’ll come pretty hard at.”_ Jayden smirked at Noah even though the submissive was facing away from the screen. He saw Noah’s wings flap a bit with interest, although the submissive looked pretty disappointed that he didn’t get to turn up the vibrations even further just yet.  
  
“It isn’t funny, Connor. I need to come. Everything is burning inside,” Noah whined. He turned to look over his shoulder at Jayden through the screen, shooting him a disapproving glare.  
  
 _“Hey, you’ll get to come very soon. Don’t doubt my ideas.”_  
  
“Okay. I’m sorry…”  
  
Jayden chuckled fondly. _“That’s okay. Now, take the vibrator out and put the dildo into yourself again.”_  
  
Noah shot him a questioning frown through the screen, but did as he was told. He replaced the vibrator with the dildo, sighing when it filled him up.  
  
 _“Okay, now turn the vibrator on to your favorite pattern and press it against your perineum. Make sure the dildo is pressed as hard against your sweet spots as possible inside you.”_  
  
The submissive wondered why Jayden would have him do that, but he did it anyway. He pressed the dildo in as far inside as it could go, so that the flat ends on the base of the toy made contact with his butt cheeks, preventing the toy from slipping into him and getting stuck. He clenched his inner muscles to let the toy stay in that position, moaning when he felt the crooked end nudge his cervix and prostate, and then fumbled with the vibrator. It was hard to do it with his hands down by his ass and behind himself, but he managed to turn it onto his favorite pattern rather fast. He lifted his hips a bit and guided the vibrator down to let the tip touch the skin between his hole and his balls like Jayden had told him, still making sure that the dildo was in place.  
  
When the pulsating toy touched that spot, Noah’s body jolted in pleasure. The place allowed him to stimulate his g-spots from the outside, and at the same time the dildo was pressing against them inside, providing pleasure from both inside and outside his ass. He had been so focused on stimulating his ass from the inside that it felt so good and new to get pleasured from another angle.  
  
“Ahhh god!” Noah screamed, bucking his hips and flapping his wings helplessly. “Fuck…!”  
  
Jayden grinned, stroking his dick faster now. _“I knew you’d like it. And I love it when you curse like that.”_  
  
“Nrrrugh, Jayden, _please!_ ” Noah begged. He wanted Jayden to touch him so bad, but it wasn’t possible. He could only hear his voice and use the toys to quench the needs his heat made him have.  
  
 _“Shh, it’ okay. You’re doing so well without me there,”_ Jayden soothed him softly. His heart clenched when he saw how much Noah needed him but couldn’t have him. _“If I was there with you right now, I’d fuck you just the way you want, and I’d cover your pretty back and wings in sweet kisses while holding you tight. Would you like that?”_  
  
“Yes! I want you here so bad,” Noah sobbed into the sheets while he writhed and bucked into his toys frantically.  
  
Jayden had to close his eyes and take a deep breath for a moment, feeling almost unable to control his instincts that told him to go find Noah right away. It took all he had not freaking out that he couldn’t be with his mate, satisfy his needs, and claim him like he wanted. He would kill to get to Noah right now, and that almost scared him.  
  
 _“I’m with you, okay? I’m right here,”_ Jayden said, trying to soothe and reassure Noah. _“Just let it go…”_  
  
Noah came with a scream that sent shivers of arousal through Jayden’s body.  
  
 _“Fuck,”_ Jayden grunted, finally shooting his load over his own hand as he watched Noah jerk and tremble through his intense orgasm, and listened to his pretty screams and moans. It was so hot to see his mate all wet and needy, and to hear him come like that.  
  
They both went limp from exhaustion after that.  
  
Noah quickly turned off the vibrator when it got uncomfortable for him, and he pulled out the dildo and put both toys away on the bed while he tried to catch his breath again. His wings twitched and tingled in satisfaction, and he had the feeling that his heat would give him a break for a little while. Without Jayden’s semen entering his body, his heat would continue to flare up strongly and with barely any breaks, but his climax just now should satisfy it for a bit. He cursed his body for being hardwired to only give him proper breaks during his heat if his mate came inside him. His heat wanted him to breed, and it punished him when he didn’t let it happen.  
  
 _“Are you still alive?”_ Jayden asked, a small chuckle in his voice.  
  
Noah grunted and lifted himself up from the bed. He wrapped his wings around his sweat and slick-stained body as he turned to face Jayden’s through the laptop screen. “Yes, I’m okay. I’m just so tired…”  
  
 _“I know. You look pretty exhausted. Did it make it worse to talk to me like this or did it actually help a bit…?”_  
  
Noah considered that and settled down on the bed in front of his laptop. “It helped a bit. It made me come faster, but it also makes me wish even more that you were actually here with me…”  
  
Jayden wiped his come-stained hand off in a tissue, but kept his eyes on the screen. His dick was softening, but he hadn’t tucked it back into his pants yet. _“Oh. So it’s both good and bad then…”_  
  
“Yeah… But mostly good.”  
  
Jayden smiled. _“As soon as it’s over, I’ll come see you. I’ll stay with you for as long as you want, okay? You just have to pull through this first. I know you can do it.”_  
  
Noah let out a small whine, placing his hand on the screen since he couldn’t touch the alpha directly. “But it’s too much, and I miss you…”  
  
 _“I miss you too, but you can do this.”_  
  
Jayden reached out and put his hand on the screen too, hoping to reassure his distraught mate. Noah smiled at the gesture, and Jayden could see his wings relaxing.  
  
“I love you,” Noah said softly, not taking his eyes off his mate’s image.  
  
Jayden smiled widely. _“I love you too.”_  
  
They continued to chat a bit after that, and Jayden could tell that Noah was extremely sleepy now. His heat hadn’t let him get much sleep, and all those orgasms and heat flares left him exhausted and tired. It hurt Jayden to see his mate like this, but he knew that next time Noah had a heat, he would be there to help him through it and make sure that his heat was properly satisfied and that it would give him longer breaks to catch sleep in.  
  
Jayden logged off not long after, telling Noah to catch some sleep during the breaks. They both looked forward to it being over and being able to see each other again, and they agreed to meet on Skype again the next evening for another webcam sex session. Noah really couldn’t wait for that.  
  


 

***

  
  
As the days passed, Noah’s heat got weaker and weaker since his fertility was slowly declining from its peak.  
  
Castiel had dropped by twice to take the dirty sheets with him home and wash them, and Noah had been pretty embarrassed to have his papa see him while he was in that condition. He had stayed curled up in his blanket and had made sure to keep his toys out of sight while Cas was there. Castiel wasn’t bothered by Noah’s condition or the dirty sheets, though. He had stayed for a bit and chatted with him, asking him how he was doing, and had even brought him some homemade sandwiches – Noah’s favorite.  
  
By Saturday the following week, Noah’s heat was finally over. It had stopped on Friday already, but Castiel had told him to wait 24 hours before leaving the room to be sure that his heat didn’t flare up again and that it was indeed over.  
  
Noah was so relieved that he had gotten through the unbearable experience. It had been hell to constantly be horny and leaking slick everywhere, but now it was over and he finally felt normal again. Now he was just looking forward to seeing Jayden, after having been separated from him for over a week.  
  
Christie came down to the room to help Noah carry his stuff up to the fourth floor where their dorm room was.  
  
Noah put the last set of sheets he had used into a large bag and closed it tight so that no alphas could smell what was on them. His parents would come by tomorrow to take the sheets with them home to wash, so for now they just had to stay in the bag in the corner of the dorm room. He had cleaned all his toys and put them away safely inside a box so that no one could see them when he and Christie carried his stuff upstairs.  
  
“Glad it’s over?” Christie asked him as they headed up the staircase, carrying bags with Noah’s stuff.  
  
“Yes, definitely. It wasn’t any fun at all…” Noah murmured, walking side-by-side with his friend on the stairs. He was looking forward to see the real world again, after having been locked up in the same room for an entire week. He didn’t suffer from claustrophobia, but it still made him uncomfortable to be confined to a single room for such a long time.  
  
Christie chuckled. “Well, I’m sure that when Jayden is one day allowed to join you for your heat, it’ll be lots of fun for you both.”  
  
Noah groaned and blushed in embarrassment, but knew that she was right.  
  
“And our classmates have kinda figured out what’s going on with you…” Christie said, glancing cautiously at Noah. “The alphas have been asking me stupid things like letting me into your room, but I’ve just ignored them. They’re assholes. Just so you know that some people know about you being mated and having been in heat…”  
  
The news was so humiliating to Noah. He tightened his wings against his back and ducked his head a bit, feeling his chest and stomach knot up uncomfortably inside him.  
  
They reached the fourth floor and exited the staircase. It was Saturday evening, so the corridor was full of students paying each other a visit, and some were leaving to go out and party.  
  
Noah felt the eyes of several people land on him as he appeared in the corridor. He avoided eye contact with them and hurried towards his and Christie’s room, eager to get away from people.  
  
“Oh, there he is! The horny little slut,” some alpha angel exclaimed as Noah and Christie passed him in the corridor. The guy was with a group of girls and guys, who were getting ready to head out for a party.  
  
“That’s not funny, you jerk,” one of the girls groused at him in disapproval.  
  
Christie glared at the guy as they passed him, where Noah kept his head down and just wished they were in their room already.  
  
The guy didn’t seem bothered by Christie’s glaring or that girl’s comment, though. “Let me know if you need nice, big cock sometime!” he slurred, laughing when he saw Noah flush even more.  
  
“As if yours is bigger than mine,” one of the other alphas retorted teasingly, making the guy shove him playfully while the others laughed.  
  
Noah dared a look over his shoulder, but couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth and make a sassy comeback at the guy when their eyes met. The courage just wasn’t there right now, especially not when all those people were gathered around the guy. Instead, he hastily entered his room with Christie and sighed in relief once they were inside and the door was shut and locked.  
  
“You shouldn’t have put up with that prick,” Christie told him, staring at him for a bit before putting Noah’s bags down next to his bed.  
  
“I know…” Noah murmured, putting down the bags he had carried.  
  
“Well, do it next time,” Christie said, giving him an encouraging smirk. “And I think I better leave now. Going out to eat dinner with my mom and dad tonight, and then I’ll stay the night at their place. Jayden is coming over soon, after all, so I’ll let you two have some privacy.”  
  
Noah blushed when Christie gave him a suggestive wink.  
  
“Good luck consummating your bond,” she added, a lewd grin on her face.  
  
Noah stared at her with wide eyes. “That’s… I… we…” he stammered.  
  
Christie laughed out loud before going over to Noah, putting a friendly hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be so embarrassed. I’m glad for you guys. It’ll be good for you both to finally consummate your bond and be real mates.”  
  
Noah blushed sheepishly. “Thanks…”  
  
“Gosh, I envy you so much. I wish I had such a great mate too…”  
  
Noah smiled up at her. “You’ll find a mate someday. Aren’t you and Tyler almost together now…?”  
  
Tyler was the beta angel that Christie had met in December. They had shared a few nights together, and recently they had started going on out a few dates.  
  
Now it was Christie’s turn to blush, and her wings twitched in embarrassment. “Almost, I guess. I don’t know where I’m standing with him since he’s seeing other girls too, but he says he doesn’t hang out with them like he does with me and that he doesn’t sleep with others anymore. Still, I’m not sure what we are…”  
  
“If you don’t know if he feels the same for you, maybe you should see if he gets jealous?”  
  
Christie grinned widely. “What an awesome idea! I’ll test him a bit and see how he reacts. If he has jealous tendencies then I’ll assume he has a thing for me.”  
  
Noah chuckled and smiled at how excited Christie suddenly looked. His friend beamed before hugging him tightly.  
  
When they pulled away, Christie picked up her bag and went over to the door to leave. She turned to look at Noah, giving him the thumbs up. “Go get ‘em, tiger, and make sure that he’ll be all yours,” she grinned, winking at him before opening the door.  
  
Noah laughed. “I will.” He watched as Christie grinned at him before leaving the room, and Noah went over and locked the door just in case since he didn’t want anyone barging into the room uninvited.  
  


 

***

  
  
Twenty minutes later, there was a soft knocking on the door.  
  
Noah jumped up from his seat in front of his laptop and eagerly went over to open the door, knowing that it was Jayden who had arrived.  
  
As soon as the door was open, Noah threw himself at Jayden. He wrapped his arms around his mate’s neck and pulled him down for a deep kiss, not caring that people in the corridor could see them.  
  
Jayden growled possessively and buried his hands in Noah’s hair and in his feathers, and he used his wing to push the door open to get them both inside. He kicked the door shut afterwards, not letting their kiss break as he reached a hand behind himself and turned the lock on the door. He dropped his bag on the floor, which had been slung over his shoulder before.  
  
Noah grunted in appreciation when they were finally all alone, and he mewled into Jayden’s mouth when the alpha touched him all over. Noah’s own hands were grasping at Jayden’s shirt and his softened feathers, pulling him closer, and moaned as their tongues played together inside their mouths.  
  
Jayden put his hands on Noah’s ass and lifted him up in a smooth move. The submissive immediately wrapped his legs around Jayden’s hips, and they moaned when their erections touched through their clothes. Jayden kept the submissive in place, holding him rather effortlessly, and Noah loved that the alpha was able to do that with his strong arms.  
  
“Fuck, you smell nice,” Jayden purred when they pulled apart to breathe. He stared into Noah’s gorgeous, blue eyes, and loved the debauched look on the submissive’s face after their intense kiss.  
  
Noah’s heat had been over for about 26 hours now, but some of the scent was still on him. He had showered and gotten cleaned up, but his clothes were slightly polluted with the scent that had been lingering in the safe room for days now. His natural scent had also changed a tiny bit now that his body had been fertile for the first time. It was a bit sweeter, more mature, and the bond made Jayden able to smell it better.  
  
“You smell nice too,” Noah breathed, staring into Jayden’s pupil-dilated eyes. He flared his nostrils, catching Jayden’s potent alpha scent. He body shivered at it, and his ass got hot and wet. He tightened his hands in Jayden’s shirt and grasped some of his softened feathers as he supported himself against Jayden with his arms wrapped around the alpha’s neck.  
  
Jayden let out a pleased growl and captured Noah’s lips again.  
  
Their hands were grasping at each other, their mouths and tongues colliding and dancing, and their hips began grinding together to get sexual friction.  
  
“Fuck, I need you to be all mine. I want our bond to be complete. Please let me claim you…?” Jayden asked between kisses, holding Noah tightly against him.  
  
Noah pulled back to look at him, staring the alpha into the eyes. They were both panting, their lips swollen and red from kisses, and their hairs were ruffled from having their partner grasp it tightly.  
  
Noah’s lips curled into a wide smile. “Yes. Make me yours.”  
  
With a deep, low growl, Jayden smashed their mouths together once more and grasped Noah’s hair and feathers painfully tight while he carried him over to the bed.  
  
The submissive let out a soft gasp when his back suddenly hit the bed, and then Jayden was hastily pulling the clothes off him. Noah helped him out and rolled over on his stomach to let Jayden unbutton his shirt, before the alpha moved him over on his back again and pulled his pants and underwear off.  
  
Jayden’s clothes were next and they were pulled off in record time, before the alpha covered his submissive with his larger body and kissed him again.  
  
Noah moaned into Jayden’s mouth, purring when he felt his mate caress his body so tenderly as he moved his hands down his skin. He eagerly spread his legs for Jayden, who traced his hole with his fingers for a bit before pushing them into him.  
  
“You’re stretched,” Jayden remarked, lifting himself up a bit to stare down at Noah in bewilderment.  
  
“I did that earlier. I didn’t want to waste too much time with it; I just want you inside me,” Noah said, staring right back into Jayden’s blue/grey eyes.  
  
With a pleased growl, Jayden pushed Noah’s legs further apart and settled himself between them. He hooked his arms under Noah’s knees and pushed forward, penetrating Noah’s leaking, ready hole roughly.  
  
Noah cried out and arched his back, welcoming the feel of his alpha thrusting into him. God, he had missed it so much to be filled up by Jayden and not some toy, and his mouth was open in awe as he felt himself being stretched around Jayden’s dick as it moved all the way into him. It filled him up so good; better than any toy.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted, still keeping Noah’s legs up with his arms under his knees, and he stared down at the place where his cock was disappearing into his mate. Noah’s muscles clenched tightly around him, and his little cock was twitching and leaking just slightly against his abdomen.  
  
“J-Jayden,” Noah moaned, staring up at Jayden and whimpering with need.  
  
Jayden snapped out of it and lifted his gaze to look at Noah’s face. The submissive looked so beautiful with his cheeks all flushed from arousal, his wings spread out in submission, and Jayden’s cock buried deep inside him.  
  
Jayden moved down and covered Noah’s body. He moved one arm away from Noah’s leg to touch his wing instead, and Noah immediately wrapped that leg around his waist to steady himself as Jayden began thrusting into him.  
  
The alpha kissed Noah’s shoulder and then his wing while he thrust into his body in a steady pace. He caressed the feathers with his hand, admiring their unique feel and look, and pressed another kiss against the wing bone before turning his attention to Noah’s bared neck.  
  
The submissive sighed and purred in content as Jayden nibbled at his neck. He could feel the alpha’s breath coming out in harsh puffs against his skin every time Jayden thrust forward into him, and it made him shiver.  
  
“Gonna make you mine,” Jayden grunted against Noah’s neck, biting him gently with his teeth.  
  
“Yes, make me yours. I’ll always be yours,” Noah moaned, gasping every time Jayden’s cock struck his sweet spots inside.  
  
Jayden growled and started fucking into him harder, making the bed creak. He closed his mouth around Noah’s neck and sucked bruises into the delicate skin, intent on marking and claiming him in every way possible.  
  
Noah mewled and cried out in appreciation. His wings flapped on the bed, and Jayden was forced to hold them down with his own to stop the movement from distracting him too much. Noah just moaned at the feel of their feathers touching, and he got so turned on by feeling the demon’s strong wings holding his own wings down like that. He started clawing at Jayden’s shoulders and back, writhing and squirming as his climax approached and as he felt Jayden leaving his marks on his neck.  
  
“Connor, please,” Noah whined. “Just– _fuck!_ Just make me yours already.”  
  
“Just a little more. I’m almost there,” Jayden replied, grunting as he pounded into Noah over and over while he continued biting and sucking bruises into Noah’s neck.  
  
Finally Jayden felt his orgasm pooling in his abdomen. He growled into Noah’s neck and grasped the grey feathers tightly as it finally washed over him. He cried out into Noah’s neck as he came in hot waves inside him, his dick twitching and his balls contracting as he released his seed deep inside Noah’s ass, marking him from the inside out. Noah came too, his come splattering across their abdomens and his muscles clenching down so hard around Jayden’s dick that the alpha almost couldn’t take it.  
  
They felt a deep, warm sensation inside their minds as Jayden’s seed flooded into Noah’s ass. The sensation spread through their bodies, making them gasp as they felt their bond and senses heighten and increase. It was a much stronger, much more intimate feeling than when their bond had been formed. It lasted just a few seconds before it slowly faded away, leaving them amazed with how intense it had felt.  
  
They blinked their eyes open after that, and Jayden lifted himself up a bit to stare back down at Noah.  
  
Their bond flared when their eyes met, and they could both suddenly feel each other’s emotions on a much higher level than before. It was a strange feeling to feel so connected, but it was also one of the most beautiful things either of them had ever felt.  
  
Jayden’s lips curled into a happy grin. “We’re real mates now.”  
  
Noah grinned back, a shy blush on his cheeks. “Yes. Indeed we are.”  
  
“Finally you’re all mine. _Mine_ only,” Jayden purred and leaned down to bury his face in Noah’s neck again.  
  
Noah smiled and put a gentle hand on the back of Jayden’s head, purring in content with the alpha kissed and marked his neck even more. “And you’re mine.”  
  
Jayden let out a pleased growl at that and bit Noah’s neck playfully.  
  
Noah gasped and pushed at the demon’s chest to make him stop. “What are you doing to my neck?! It feels so sore now.” It was first now that he started to really feel the bruises that Jayden had left there, and it was a little painful.  
  
The alpha leaned back and laughed fondly at him. “Sorry. My alpha instincts told me to mark you up good. I have to make sure that competitors know that you’re mine now, after all.”  
  
“You didn’t have to do it that much! Gosh, how bad does it look?” Noah asked, cringing as he moved his hand up and touched the place carefully.  
  
“Well, I guess I could have been more subtle than that…” Jayden admitted when he saw how red and bruised Noah’s neck was. He cringed a bit at the sight, but was still pleased that Noah was wearing his marks now. He had claimed him well.  
  
Jayden finally leaned up and pulled out of Noah, who let out a soft gasp when Jayden’s dick slipped out of him. Jayden just chuckled softly, always loving the disappointed look on Noah’s face when Jayden wasn’t filling him up anymore. He sat back and moved his gaze over Noah’s gorgeous body, admiring every inch of it. His eyes then landed on the stains of come that covered Noah’s lower abdomen and some of his own. He chuckled at the sight. “You made a little mess of us.”  
  
Noah glared slightly at him. “And _you_ always make a bigger mess of _me._ ”  
  
Jayden leaned his head back and laughed. “But you like it when I do.”  
  
Noah couldn’t argue with that. He did indeed like it when Jayden came inside him and filled him up with his seed. It was a dirty kink, but Noah wasn’t ashamed of it.  
  
“Let’s get cleaned up,” the alpha suggested, and got off of the bed to get a towel.  
  
They wiped themselves clean and put on some clothes since it wasn’t late enough to go to sleep yet. It was only 7:45pm and both of them were hungry.  
  
Noah let Jayden help him button his shirt up under his wings, and he smiled contently when the alpha placed a chaste kiss between his shoulder blades before he put the shirt on him.  
  
As Jayden buttoned up the shirt, he carefully touched Noah’s oil glands with his fingers, making sure not to press against them too hard to cause any discomfort. He immediately pulled his hands back when Noah let out a gasp. “Sorry. Did I hurt you?”  
  
Noah shook his head. “No. You just startled me.”  
  
“I still can’t touch them?” Jayden asked, disappointment in his voice.  
  
“You can,” Noah said. “You just haven’t really touched them before, so it’s a bit new to me…”  
  
Jayden moved his hands up and gently touched both oil glands with the tip of his fingers. Noah’s back was still a bit slick with oil from before, and Jayden could feel that the glands were kind of swollen from Noah’s arousal earlier. “Does this feel okay?” he asked softly, rubbing the glands delicately.  
  
Noah moaned and shuddered at the sensation, unconsciously spreading his wings in invitation. “Yes, it feels nice.”  
  
“I’m glad,” Jayden smiled and rubbed the glands a bit more until he felt them starting to get wet. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on both glands, tasting honey on his lips afterwards.  
  
The loving and affectionate gesture made Noah shudder all the way to the core. He willed himself not to get aroused from it, since they would soon be heading out for dinner and he was already starving. He wanted to eat, not have sex again just yet.  
  
“I hope you’ll let me touch them and rub you to climax like that soon. I bet you can come from that stimulation alone, can’t you?” Jayden’s voice was silky soft, and Noah could almost hear the smirk in his voice too.  
  
“I-I don’t know. Maybe.”  
  
Jayden just grinned before buttoning up the shirt the rest of the way.  
  
“And I also can’t wait to be with you next time you go into heat,” the alpha added, his tail curling in excitement when he thought about it.  
  
Noah blushed and was grateful that Jayden couldn’t see his face right now. “Me too, but you’ll have to wait a few years, you know.”  
  
“Yeah, I know. No babies yet.” Jayden leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on the back of Noah’s neck, caressing his wing tenderly as he did so.  
  
Noah closed his eyes and moaned softly, leaning into the touch. He smiled at the affection and gentleness Jayden was displaying, and their bond swelled with their love for each other.  
  
When they were both fully clothed, Noah was about to get his little bag to put his phone and wallet inside to head out, but Jayden stopped him.  
  
“Ah, wait. I, uh, kinda have something for you, and I want to give it to you before we leave.” The alpha rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, making Noah tilt his head at him curiously.  
  
“What is it?”  
  
Jayden moved over to his bag, which he had dropped next to the door, and searched through it.  
  
Noah waited, watching Jayden’s back and his moving tail while wondering what it was that Jayden wanted to give him.  
  
The alpha then walked over to him, hiding something between his palms. “Um, this is for you.” He presented Noah with a small box, and looked pretty embarrassed and self-aware as Noah gently took it from him.  
  
It looked like a jewelry box, and Noah was a bit surprised by that. He glanced up at Jayden before carefully opening the box to see what was inside. He gasped when he saw that it was a mating pendant, like the one Dean had given to Castiel after they got together.  
  
“It’s kind of a tradition for male demons to give their mates such a pendant right after they become mated. My dad has kind of been bugging me ever since we bonded to buy you one,” Jayden said, shifting sheepishly and watched Noah’s face carefully as the submissive stared at pendant. His tail moved back and forth in anticipation as he awaited a reaction from Noah.  
  
It was a grey, rectangle-shaped pendant, looking exactly like Castiel’s except for the flower inside. Where Castiel’s had a blue rose inside it, Noah’s had a pink orchid. The pink was deep and a bit dark, looking almost like it was bordering on a purple color and yet not, and it was very pretty. It was one of Noah’s favorite colors. Noah’s name was carved into the back of the pendant – but only his first name so far, since there was a chance that he would take Jayden’s last name if they ever got officially married.  
  
Noah stared at it in awe and carefully took it out, holding it by the black leather string attached to it. “It’s beautiful,” he breathed.  
  
“Yeah? I’m glad you think so,” Jayden said, grinning and curling his tail in joy. “I had such trouble finding a flower that suits you, but I like orchids a lot; they’re pretty and gentle-looking, and so are you.”  
  
Noah blushed and smiled up at Jayden shyly. He let his mate help him put the necklace around his neck, and once it was in place the alpha stepped back to look at it. Noah held the pendant and moved his thumb over its surface, smiling and feeling proud to wear it. He looked up at Jayden then, grinning widely as he moved forward and pulled the alpha down for a deep kiss.  
  
Jayden wrapped his arms around him and returned the kiss hungrily, curling his tail around Noah’s leg possessively.  
  
When they pulled away from the kiss, Noah stared back into Jayden’s eyes and caressed his cheek gently. “Thank you,” he whispered, smiling.  
  
Jayden grinned. “You’re welcome.”  
  
They shared another quick kiss before leaving the room to head out and eat dinner together. They were headed to the pharmacy first since Noah needed to buy his heat suppressants and start taking them.  
  
People stared a bit when they saw Noah and Jayden holding hands as they walked through campus on their way out, and some noticed the marks and the pendant hanging around Noah’s neck. Noah held his head high though, not feeling ashamed that Jayden was his mate now. He was proud and happy, and Jayden displayed a lot of possessiveness as they walked past other alphas on their way.  
  
They felt more in love than ever now that they were fully bonded and mated to each other, belonging to each other in every way possible. Their bond pulsed and flared inside them, getting stronger with every happy emotion that went through it and linked them closer together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, all that smut! XD I hope you enjoyed the chapter. They’re fully mated now, with a mating pendant and everything :) I’m still sorry that I’m updating slower. I’m always trying to update as fast as I can, but it just doesn’t go as fast anymore. Writing about Dean and Cas is so much easier. I can’t wait until I reach the point in the story where Noah and Jayden are gonna have babies, though XD
> 
> And the idea of webcam sex during Noah’s first heat came from my old beta, iloveanime9251. It’s still my new beta, Mishasenpai, who is doing the proof-reading for me.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading the chapter! The next one will be a family chapter, so you’ll get to see all the siblings again :)


	6. Chapter 6

**April 2045 (Noah is 18 (almost 19), Jayden is 20 (almost 21), Castiel is 55, Dean is 57, Eden is 31, Adrian is 28, the twins are 24, Jason is 32, Daniel is 5 (almost 6), Luna is 2 (almost 3), Natalie is 27, Maya is 2 (almost 3), Kaylen is 20, Tony is 25 years old, Alec is 2 months old).**  
  
It was Friday, and Noah was about to head back to the college after having spent the day on a nearby elementary school. He had been doing observation studies, which was mandatory for his education to be a kindergarten teacher, and that meant that he had to go out and visit a kindergarten or a school, watch what the teachers did, observe what was taught and how, and then make a report about it. He had been going to an elementary school for two weeks to observe a class of first graders, and he got along well with the teachers and the kids. He was lucky that the female angel who was his mentor at the school and who had allowed him to come there for observation had a weakness for those who were different. She was fascinated to see an angel/demon hybrid since they were so rare, and she had almost immediately said yes to have Noah coming over to the school do to his observation.  
  
Today was his last day in the class. The children were sad to see him go, and they all gathered around him along with the teacher to say goodbye to him after classes had ended.  
  
Some of the kids had made him drawings, and they handed them to him as they said goodbye. They were mostly drawings of animals or of Noah himself, and although the kids weren’t brilliant artists, Noah was still very touched by it and loved every single drawing he got.  
  
“Thank you so much for all your drawings; they’re wonderful,” Noah smiled and looked around at all the children. There were twenty-one students in the class, all of mixed species.  
  
The children cheered happily.  
  
“Do you like my dog?” one of the human girls asked, grinning and waiting for Noah’s response excitedly.  
  
“Yes, I like it very much, Jessica. It totally looks like my dog, actually,” Noah grinned. The girl beamed at that.  
  
“And I drew you!” one of the angel boys exclaimed, jumping and grinning proudly.  
  
Noah laughed. “Yeah, a lot of you guys drew me. I haven’t gotten this many portraits of myself before. They’re all very pretty. Thank you.”  
  
The kids grinned and seemed proud and happy that Noah liked their drawings, which he was still holding in his hands.  
  
“Are you gonna come back again?” asked a little beta demon boy as Noah started packing the drawings into his bag, making sure not to wrinkle the papers too much.  
  
Noah smiled gently at the boy while fumbling with his bag on one of the tables. “I don’t know, maybe. I do have to make more observation reports later, but I don’t know yet if I’m coming back to your class. Though, I probably won’t…”  
  
The female human teacher smiled at that. “Well, I think we’d all love to have you back here if you can. Isn’t that right, kids?”  
  
“Yeah!” the kids cheered in unison. “Please come back soon!” some of them added, staring at Noah with pleading eyes.  
  
Noah smiled at the children, and was touched that they were sad to see him leave and wanted him to come back. He was going to miss them too. The two weeks he had spent observing that class had been very fun and he had learned a lot. In the breaks he had interacted a lot with the kids and had helped them with stuff that they had trouble with in school, and he hadn’t been above playing a bit with them, as long as he stuck to the rules that his college had made for him during his stay.  
  
The kids were 6-7 years old, so they weren’t too aware of racism yet or that angel/demon hybrids were considered abominations in the eyes of society. They didn’t look at Noah like he was wrong like racists did. Noah liked that about kids. They were pure and mostly untainted by the cruel things that people did or had opinions about, and they saw people for who they really were instead of judging them only by what others said about them.  
  
However, there were two alpha demon boys in the class whose parents had heard about Noah and had told their sons not to speak to him. The boys didn’t seem to fully understand why they couldn’t talk to Noah or why their parents considered him wrong, but seeing the other kids loving Noah so much had made the boys talk to him a bit anyway. Noah hoped that they wouldn’t let themselves be influenced too much by their parents’ opinions later in life.  
  
“I gotta go now. It was nice meeting you all, and I hope you guys will behave and study hard,” Noah told the kids as he slung his bag over his shoulder, getting ready to leave.  
  
“I like the breaks more than the studying…” one of the boys murmured. Noah laughed at that, and the teacher didn’t look too impressed with the boy’s comment.  
  
“But I don’t want you to leave…” said one of the demon girls, looking kind of distraught as she stared up at Noah.  
  
“Yeah, I don’t want you to leave either! It’s nice to have you help with our homework during the breaks, and it’s fun to play hide and seek when you’re around!” another girl exclaimed. The others cheered in agreement.  
  
Noah laughed fondly at that. “I’m going to miss that too, but I can’t stay here any longer. I have school too, just like you do.”  
  
“Aww,” the kids said in unison, disappointed.  
  
They all said goodbye to Noah, and some of them gave him a goodbye hug before they left.  
  
Noah said goodbye to the teacher afterwards, thanking her for having helped with some stuff for his report. The teacher smiled and wished him good luck, and Noah left the classroom along with some of the kids, who were headed out to the parking lot area to be picked up by their parents. Noah was headed in the same direction anyway.  
  
“Do you get lotsa homework in college?” asked Hollie, who was an angel girl who had taken a special liking to Noah. She and three other girls and a demon/human hybrid boy walked with him over to the parking lot, which was full of cars and kids getting picked up by their parents.  
  
“Yeah, we have lots of homework there. You should be glad you’re in the lower grades for now,” Noah told her with a smile.  
  
“No way! I wanna be big!”  
  
“Me too! I can handle homework!” the boy exclaimed, determination in his voice.  
  
Noah chuckled at that, thinking to himself that the kids would soon change their minds on that matter. Homework was never any fun, and first graders didn’t even really know how horrifying and stressful it could be to have a lot of homework. He envied them for having it so easy for now.  
  
“And why are you still wearing that scarf? Is your throat still sore?” one of the girls asked, giving Noah a curious and somewhat worried look as they walked.  
  
Noah blushed and unconsciously brought his hand up to touch the light purple scarf that was covering his neck. Jayden had marked his neck with a lot of hickeys lately. It was like the alpha still needed to show the world that Noah belonged to _him_ now and that the submissive had been mated and claimed already. Noah didn’t feel comfortable letting the children see the mating marks, so he covered them up while he was at the elementary school. The kids had asked why he was wearing a scarf when it was spring and the weather was nice, and he had told them that he just had a sore throat and that the scarf helped. It was kind of true since the bruises _were_ a bit sore when being touched, but he still felt a bit like he was lying and he didn’t like that.  
  
“Well, I just like wearing it. Is that wrong?” Noah asked, chuckling at them.  
  
“It’s spring! My mom says scarfs are for the winter!” the girl argued.  
  
“But my scarf is thin, so I can still wear it.”  
  
“I bet he’s hiding a tattoo,” the boy said, giggling a bit.  
  
The girls gasped.  
  
“Really? Is it a tattoo?” Hollie asked, looking really curious now.  
  
“What? No!” Noah exclaimed, horrified. “I’m too scared to get a tattoo and I don’t really want one anyway.”  
  
“My sister has a really cool one just above her butt,” the other angel girl said, giggling. The others laughed and giggled at that.  
  
“I wanna have a tattoo too!” one of the others girls blurted.  
  
“You’re six; you can’t have tattoos yet,” Noah told her, chuckling a bit. “But what kind would you like?”  
  
“One with a pony! And a kitty!”  
  
“That’s so girlish. I want a car tattoo,” the boy said, rolling his eyes at the girl.  
  
Noah chuckled as the girls scowled at their male classmate for saying that it was girlish. They bickered a bit back and forth until Noah made them calm down again.  
  
He stayed with the kids until their parents arrived to pick them up. When everyone had been picked up and had left, Noah began heading back to the college. It was a thirty-minute walk from there, and he enjoyed the warm sun shining on him as he headed there by himself, avoiding too much eye contact with strangers on the sidewalk.  
  
As a submissive, he did get stared at in public sometimes, even when walking down the sidewalk. Noah shivered in disgust when he felt the eyes of an older alpha angel staring at his wings and his butt, and Noah quickly used his wings to hide his rear from the guy’s view. The alpha was older than his father, and Noah thought that is was kind of creepy to get leered at like that by someone so old. The guy probably even had kids older than Noah.  
  
After half an hour, Noah was finally back on campus. It was almost 3pm now, so he had to hurry with packing his stuff since Dean and Castiel would be picking him up soon.  
  
He was going to spend the weekend at his parents’ house along with Jayden (who didn’t come over that often anymore, ever since they had started in college). He was especially excited about it since he knew that Isaac and Adrian were dropping by too along with Kaylen, Natalie, and little Maya, and Lily and Tony were also coming with their new little baby, Alec. He was so excited to see them again, since the siblings rarely ever saw each other anymore, and he couldn’t wait to see how big Alec had gotten. He was hoping that Eden and Jason were coming over as well, but when he spoke to Castiel yesterday his papa didn’t know yet whether or not they would show up. It had been a coincidence that everyone suddenly wanted to come by for a visit at the same time, since none of them had a birthday yet and Noah’s was 2-3 weeks away.  
  
Noah hurried over to his dormitory building and fumbled to find his access card. He muttered a small curse when the card refused to leave his bag without a fight.  
  
Suddenly, someone appeared next to him and opened the door with their own access card. Noah flinched in surprise since he hadn’t sensed that person approaching at all, and he snapped his head up to stare at the guy.  
  
The person in front of him was an alpha angel from Noah’s psychology class, named Jeff. He had large black/grey wings, brown hair, hazel eyes, and muscular biceps. He smirked at Noah when he saw that he had startled him. “Sorry, did I scare you?”  
  
“Um, kind of. But it’s okay,” Noah answered, still staring at Jeff in surprise. Jeff was one of the better alphas. He wasn’t as sexist as the rest, and he had a girlfriend so he never really stared at Noah like he was a piece of meat, unlike most of the single guys at the college.  
  
Jeff pulled the door open and let Noah enter the building first. Noah felt a little awkward about that, but he entered it anyway, murmuring a small ‘thanks’.  
  
As he passed him on his way inside, Noah noticed Jeff staring at the scarf around his neck for a few seconds. It made Noah a bit uncomfortable, but Jeff quickly looked away politely.  
  
“Hey, Jeff! Getting some sub ass?” one of the guys living on the first floor slurred as he approached them just after they had come through the entrance door.  
  
The corridor was pretty crowded with people about to leave for the weekend, and there was a lot of noise. Noah scrunched his nose a bit when the overwhelming smell of too many alphas in one room hit him. His body was more or less only attracted to Jayden’s scent now, but it still smelled overwhelming potent in that corridor.  
  
Jeff glared at other alpha. “No. I have a girlfriend and Noah has a mate, you know.”  
  
“And yet he hangs out with Brandon sometimes,” the other alpha angel commented, looking Noah up and down before smirking. “I guess your mate likes to share you?”  
  
Noah’s face hardened. “No, he doesn’t, and neither do I. Brandon is just someone I know.”  
  
“Maybe Jeff here wants to get to know you too?” the alpha mocked, smirking at Jeff and gave him a shove. The shove was supposed to be playful, but turned out a lot harsher than intended. It caused Jeff to lose his balance and fall into Noah, and Noah gasped and flinched when their wings bumped into each other.  
  
“Fuck, I’m so sorry!” Jeff immediately blurted, flinching away and staring at Noah in shock.  
  
Noah tensed up and stared back at Jeff with an equal expression of shock. His stomach knotted up as a violating feeling overtook him because he had touched wings with an alpha that wasn’t his mate. It was one of the worst things that could happen to a mated submissive.  
  
The others guys around them just laughed out loud, finding it amusing, and it made it so much more humiliating.  
  
Jeff was now growling at the other guy in annoyance, telling him to grow up.  
  
Noah knew it wasn’t Jeff’s fault at all, but he still felt utterly violated from having touched wings with him. He quickly made his over to the stairs, eager to get away from the laughter and the situation. He stormed up to the fourth floor, feeling dirty and wrong all over. He wanted to shower so bad and wash Jeff’s scent off him before seeing Jayden, but he didn’t have the time.  
  
He hurriedly packed his stuff before heading out to the parking lot where Dean and Castiel would pick him up at any moment now.  


 

***

  
  
“Hey, Noah,” Dean smiled when Noah got into the back of the Tahoe to drive with them home.  
  
“Hi,” Noah smiled back, fastening his seatbelt. He still felt shivers of disgust running up his spine every now and then because of the incident a few minutes ago, but he was trying to shake it off.  
  
“How did it go at the elementary school this week?” Castiel asked from the front seat, looking over his shoulder a bit at Noah, who was seated behind him.  
  
“It went well. I really liked it there and I’m gonna miss it. The kids gave me lots of drawings as a parting gift,” Noah answered, grinning as he thought about the time he had spent there.  
  
“Any Picassos among them?” Dean asked as he drove out of the parking lot to head over to Jayden’s place to pick up the young alpha.  
  
“Well, their drawings are kind of messy since they’re so young, so I guess in a way you could say they are kind of like tiny Picassos… I can’t make sense of most of his art either.”  
  
Dean laughed out loud at that.  
  
“Don’t be like that. Picasso was a great artist,” Castiel argued, though still a bit amused by Noah’s comment.  
  
“I think you’re a better artist, Cas,” Dean chuckled. Castiel smiled shyly at that.  
  
Noah watched his parents from the backseat, smiling when he saw them exchange a look of devotion before Dean focused on the road again.  
  
“And what’s up with that scarf?” Dean asked a few moments later, sending Noah a calculating frown in the rearview mirror. “Do I need to grab a hold of Jayden and tell him to stop leaving marks on my kid?” he added, growling a bit. He wasn’t an idiot; he knew very well why Noah was wearing that scarf. The weather was nice and warm, and Noah never wore scarfs at this time of year.  
  
“Dean,” Castiel chastised him softly, rolling his eyes.  
  
Noah blushed and squirmed a little. “No, it’s fine. It doesn’t hurt much or anything; I just don’t like people staring at the marks.”  
  
“Damn young alphas. They just can’t help themselves,” Dean muttered, his hand gripping the steering wheel tighter.  
  
“You are being hypocritical, Dean. As if _you_ have not left your marks all over _me,_ and last time you did it was just a few months ago. Stop being so protective of Noah; if Noah doesn’t want Jayden to leave marks, then he will tell him so himself,” Castiel argued. “And it’s a good sign that Jayden is leaving mating marks on him – it proves they have a healthy and well-functioning relationship.”  
  
Noah groaned in embarrassment and shrunk into his seat.  
  
Dean sighed. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Jayden just hasn’t left strong marks on him before… At least not from what I’ve seen. But they’re mated now, so I guess Jayden just can’t help himself.”  
  
“Dad,” Noah whined, completely embarrassed now.  
  
Dean laughed again, and Noah hated his parents for being so embarrassing.  
  
They arrived at Jayden’s house a bit later, and the alpha was already waiting for them outside. He beamed when he spotted Noah inside the car, and quickly said goodbye to his family in the door before going over to put his stuff into the trunk.  
  
“Hello, Jayden,” Castiel greeted him when Jayden got into the other side of the car on the backseat.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Jayden replied, smiling at them before turning his attention to Noah. He leaned over to his mate and planted a quick kiss on his lips, grinning at him.  
  
Noah smiled shyly, and they waved at Jayden’s family as they drove off.  
  
Noah could feel his dad staring at him and Jayden in the rearview mirror sometimes, and it made him feel a bit annoyed and embarrassed. They weren’t doing anything inappropriate, after all. Jayden was just holding his hand on the seat between them, and they were chatting a bit with Castiel who was asking how Jayden was doing.  
  
When they arrived at the house, Dean pulled the Tahoe up into the garage to make more space for their guests when they arrived the next day. Today it would be just the four of them in the house.  
  
Jayden helped Noah get his stuff from the trunk, while Dean and Castiel headed into the house.  
  
The garage was the same as always; cold, a bit gloomy if not for the lights on the ceiling, and it smelled of gasoline and car oil.  
  
“Why are you wearing that scarf? It totally works against my efforts to show others that I’ve claimed you,” Jayden asked, sounding half amused and half hurt while they grabbed their stuff from the car.  
  
Noah’s cheeks reddened, and he moved a hand up to wrap the scarf a bit tighter around his neck, but not too tight. “Because it’s embarrassing to have everyone stare at the marks, and I can’t really walk around without it at an elementary school. The kids are asking questions that I don’t really want to give an answer to.”  
  
“Well, you’re not at the elementary school right now…” the alpha pointed out, pouting slightly at how his marks were all hidden from view by that scarf.  
  
“But my family is coming over.”  
  
“So what?”  
  
“So… That’s embarrassing too.” Noah groaned and shoved Jayden lightly, wishing he’d stop trying to convince him to take the scarf off.  
  
Jayden laughed. “They’re first coming over tomorrow. Besides, if I know your siblings right, they’re gonna make you feel embarrassed one way or the other anyway.” He laughed more when Noah growled and swatted his arm for pointing that out. That was when Jayden suddenly picked up a foreign scent on Noah. He furrowed his brows, carefully sniffing the air. When he realized the scent came mostly from Noah’s wing, he growled and sharpened his feathers. “What’s that smell on you? Were you with another alpha?”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened, and he could see confusion and hurt flicker across Jayden’s face as the alpha stared back at him. “No!” he denied. “It’s… Someone shoved an alpha from my psychology class into me today. It was an accident. The guys thought it was funny, but the alpha was just as horrified by it as me. He has a girlfriend and he’s not interested in me at all.”  
  
“He touched your wing?” Jayden demanded, his wings rising possessively and angrily behind him.  
  
“Our wings bumped into each other when he got shoved into me. It didn’t mean anything, I swear! You think that I _want_ this guy’s scent on me? I’ve wanted to shower and scrub it off me since it happened, but I haven’t had time yet.”  
  
The alpha visibly relaxed and his wings slumped down again. “No, of course I don’t think that, I just… Fuck, I hate that scent on you.”  
  
The almost forlorn look on Jayden’s face made Noah smile a bit. “I know. Me too. I’ll go shower now and get rid of it.” He slowly reached out and touched Jayden’s arm, trying to reassure him.  
  
Jayden smiled in relief. “Yeah, you do that. Otherwise I’m gonna go crazy from all my instincts flaring up inside me right now. I just wanna keep you safe…”  
  
Noah smiled back, chuckling softly. “I know. You are annoyingly possessive sometimes.”  
  
“Hey, I can’t help it.”  
  
Noah laughed at Jayden’s pouting face. He let his hand slide down his mate’s arm before going into the house, greeting Bella and telling his parents that he was heading to shower. He couldn’t wait to get the scent off him, even though he didn’t really have a problem with Jeff himself. He just didn’t want to smell like anyone else but himself and of Jayden.  
  

 

***

  
  
The next day the others arrived at the house at around noon.  
  
Eden and Jason arrived first with Daniel and Luna. When hearing from Castiel that all her siblings were going to be at the house that weekend, Eden had decided to come over for a visit as well. It was rare that they were all together now that they had all moved out from home and had their own lives, and she didn’t want to miss an opportunity to see everyone again.  
  
Soon after Eden and Jason had come, Adrian and Isaac arrived as well. They drove there together to save gas, and Kaylen, Natalie, and Maya were with them.  
  
Bella barked happily when they entered the house, and she got some rubs and attention in between all the hugging that was going on.  
  
“Oh, you’ve grown so big, Maya!” Eden exclaimed with a grin when she spotted the little girl, who was hiding a bit behind Adrian.  
  
Natalie chuckled and peered down at her daughter. “Yeah, kids grow so fast… She’s almost 3 already, just like Luna.”  
  
Maya glanced up at them shyly, before grinning and greeting Dean and Castiel when she saw them. She then ran into the living room to watch some TV with Luna and Daniel while the adults continued to greet one another. Bella joined them, and the kids were all over her to play.  
  
“You didn’t really expect them to get smaller, did you?” Isaac asked, raising his brow at Eden and Natalie.  
  
Eden swatted Isaac’s tail with her own. “Stop being such a smart-ass!”  
  
Isaac just grinned at her cockily, hiding a bit behind Dean as his sister glared at him.  
  
“He can’t help it. It’s hardwired into him,” Kaylen commented.  
  
“Oi! Whose side are you on?” Isaac demanded, pouting at his boyfriend.  
  
Kaylen just sent Isaac a smirk before turning to greet Noah and Jayden, who were the only ones he hadn’t said hi to yet. He smiled widely at Noah, whom he hadn’t seen for a while. “Hi, Noah.”  
  
“Hi,” Noah grinned, pulling Kaylen into a hug. He smiled when he felt the other submissive poke his leg gently with his tail in a demon way of greeting friends, and Noah was a bit sad that he couldn’t return the gesture.  
  
Kaylen smiled at Noah after they pulled apart, and then turned to face Jayden. “And hi, Jayden. You whose name is very similar to my own.” He chuckled up at Jayden as they shook hands.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, indeed.”  
  
“That’s just his middle name though. ‘Connor’ is first name,” Isaac butted in.  
  
Kaylen’s eyes widened since he didn’t know about that. Everyone always called him ‘Jayden’, so Kaylen had never suspected that it was in fact his middle name and not his first name.  
  
Jayden scowled in Isaac’s direction. “Only Noah gets to call me that, though.”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but smile, and he lowered his head shyly when the others looked at him. He brushed his wing gently against Jayden’s as they stood next to each other, and he felt a surge of joy when Jayden’s tail caressed his leg fondly. He liked that Jayden only allowed _him_ to call him Connor. It made him feel special, in a way.  
  
“Only Noah, huh?” Dean chuckled, watching the two with a smile like the others did.  
  
“Yeah, and I bet he uses it a lot in bed!” Isaac blurted, smirking between them.  
  
“Isaac!” Castiel scolded, outraged that Isaac could never keep such comments to himself. Isaac just laughed, especially when he saw Noah’s face turn even redder.  
  
Adrian crossed his arms and stared at Isaac in disapproval. “I’m half tempted to ask Kaylen about what _you_ say in bed, just to make you embarrassed for once.”  
  
“Yeah, I agree. Though, I don’t really wanna know what Isaac says in bed,” Eden murmured, also scowling at Isaac now.  
  
“Hey!” Isaac complained, mostly glaring at Adrian who was snickering at him. Kaylen giggled next to him and gently brushed his tail against Isaac’s.  
  
Castiel was as always embarrassed by Isaac’s rude comments, but he smiled when he saw Isaac turning to give Kaylen a loving smile as the submissive demon brushed tails with him. It was strange to see such a smile on Isaac’s face, but everyone was happy for Isaac that he had found someone whom he could smile at like that.  
  
Noah too smiled when he looked at them. He felt Jayden’s tail tighten around his leg a bit, and Noah welcomed the touch.  
  
“But I still can’t get over it that Isaac has a boyfriend now,” Eden grinned.  
  
“Yeah, I never expected that to happen either,” Jason chuckled behind her. “Especially since he always used to spend his time hitting on everything that moves.”  
  
“Oi,” Isaac warned, making the others laugh as he scowled at Jason and Eden.  
  
Adrian just grinned and reached out to ruffle Isaac’s hair. “My biggest little brother is all grown up now,” he said, not hiding the teasing in his voice.  
  
“Hey! Hands off the hair, and stop mocking me!” Isaac groused, stepping away from Adrian to glare at his brother. The others laughed when they saw his cheeks reddening just slightly in embarrassment.  
  
Kaylen grinned and curled his tail lovingly around Isaac’s. “Yes, I am rather amazed that I’ve actually survived all your jokes, pranks, and sarcasm so far.”  
  
“Well, it’s my kinkiness that you need the most skills to survive,” Isaac quipped back with a cocky, lewd smirk.  
  
Kaylen snorted, and he smacked Isaac lightly on the arm for being embarrassing. “Well, then I’m an even better survivor.”  
  
Eden groaned in disgust. “Ugh, I don’t need to know about that.”  
  
“Yeah, me neither,” Dean said, although he was laughing like the others at Isaac and Kaylen’s interaction.  
  
“Actually, Kaylen is pretty kinky as well,” Isaac grinned. “We’re a pretty good match when it comes to that.” He turned his head to smirk at his boyfriend, wrapping his tail closely around Kaylen’s and grinned when he saw the submissive demon blush just slightly.  
  
“But I’m not half as embarrassing as you, at least,” Kaylen muttered back. They were standing very close, so Kaylen reached out and pinched Isaac’ side discretely, knowing that the others wouldn’t see. He smirked when Isaac gave a sudden, girly yelp, and the others stared at him like he was a total weirdo.  
  
“Why, you nasty little—” Isaac threatened playfully and began tickling Kaylen’s stomach. His boyfriend shrieked and shied away from him with a laugh, going over to hide behind Noah.  
  
Bella barked, getting excited when she noticed the playfulness between them. The kids too had turned their attention to them after hearing Isaac’s loud yelp earlier.  
  
“Isaac! What are you doing?!” Castiel scolded, thinking that Isaac was just being rude.  
  
“He pinched me!” Isaac exclaimed, pointing accusingly at Kaylen who was laughing behind Noah now.  
  
Noah just chuckled at them and allowed Kaylen to hide behind him, even though the other submissive was touching his wings a bit. Noah was okay with that, though. They knew each other and they were both submissives, so touching each other’s wings a little wasn’t wrong or violating, as long as it wasn’t too much.  
  
The kids were giggling and laughing at what was going on, and the others laughed as well.  
  
“Well, I’m glad Isaac got a boyfriend who’s almost as childish as himself,” Adrian commented, smiling over at Kaylen who just chuckled at his comment.  
  
“I think they’re adorable,” Eden grinned, reaching out to ruffle Isaac’s hair fondly.  
  
Isaac quickly shied away from Eden with an annoyed growl. “Gosh, would you guys leave me hair alone already? Do you have any idea how much time it takes for me to make it look this nice?”  
  
“It takes you five to ten minutes,” Kaylen pointed out, rolling his eyes and emerging from behind Noah again. He let his tail brush Noah’s leg for a second, and Noah smiled at the friendly gesture. It was something demons only did with people whom they were comfortable around.  
  
“Exactly! Means I gotta get up 5-10 minutes earlier each morning to fix it!”  
  
“Oh no, the world is gonna end…” Adrian deadpanned. Natalie giggled next to him, and Jayden laughed.  
  
“Shut up, man!”  
  
Castiel sighed and shook his head helplessly at his children. Dean just chuckled in amusement and brushed his wing against Cas’ when he saw the defeated look on his mate’s face.  
  
“Daddy, Isaac curses a lot,” Daniel suddenly spoke.  
  
Jason looked down at his son, who had appeared by his side without him noticing it. He smiled down at the boy and patted his head lovingly. “Yeah, he does. Go cover your sister’s ears whenever you hear him say a bad word.”  
  
Daniel frowned a bit at that. “But then I have to cover her ears all the time.”  
  
The others laughed out loud.  
  
“Sorry for having a filthy mouth,” Isaac muttered, sulking a bit.  
  
Eden laughed at that, but then the sound of a car door slamming outside caught everyone’s attention. Eden beamed. “Oh, I think Lily and Tony finally arrived with their baby! I’m so excited to see him again!”  
  
Noah agreed with that. He too was looking forward to seeing the little alpha baby again and see how much he had grown in the almost two months since he was born. It was still so hard to imagine Lily as a mother, but Noah knew that she was perfect for the role.  
  
Castiel squeezed his way between the others to open the door, and everyone smiled when Lily and Tony came inside. Lily was holding little Alec in her arms, where he was beginning to wake up from the nap he had taken while driving there. She and Tony had proud smiles on their faces as everyone leaned forward to see the baby.  
  
“What’s dat?” Maya asked curiously when she saw everyone gathered around near the door to the entrance hall to look at something that Lily was holding in her arms. Luna came up behind her, looking just as curious, and Daniel too seemed pretty interested in knowing what was going on.  
  
“That’s Lily’s baby,” Noah explained to them patiently. He, Jayden, and Kaylen were standing near the couch table since the others were gathered around Lily and Tony in a crowd. They were waiting for Lily to come further inside before having a look too.  
  
The girls gasped.  
  
“A baby?” Luna asked, squealing in excitement.  
  
Maya looked up at Noah with big grin. “Cans we see?”  
  
“I’m sure you can, once Lily comes over with him,” Noah replied, chuckling fondly at them.  
  
“Alec is an alpha, right…?” Kaylen asked, looking at Noah.  
  
“Yeah, he is,” Noah confirmed. “And he’s very cute,” he added, grinning at Kaylen who grinned back at him.  
  
Jayden rolled his eyes a bit. “Alphas are not cute.”  
  
“Yeah they are! When they are babies,” Noah argued, giving his mate a defiant scowl.  
  
“Well, that’s the only exception,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“I don’t know. I’ve seen many cute alphas in my life. Just… a different kind of cute,” Kaylen spoke, smirking.  
  
Noah chuckled at that.  
  
“Oh, so you’ve dated alphas before you got together with Isaac?” Jayden asked, looking at Kaylen who was standing on the other side of Noah.  
  
“Well, I’ve only ever dated one alpha, when I was 17. It didn’t last long. He… turned out to be an asshole.” Kaylen glanced down at the floor, suddenly looking kind of uncomfortable. He lightened up a bit when Noah gently brushed their wings together to offer him reassurance.  
  
Noah had no idea what had happened with Kaylen’s former boyfriend or why he was an asshole. It was the first time he was hearing about it, and he didn’t want to start asking questions right now, since he felt that Kaylen was slightly uncomfortable with the topic. He considered asking him about it later if they had a minute alone.  
  
“Sorry to hear that,” Jayden said, sincerely. He felt kind of bad for asking when he noticed the look on Kaylen’s face, and he cringed at himself. Noah sensed it through their bond and tried to reassure him, and it made Jayden relax a little.  
  
The kids weren’t paying much attention to them right now. They were tumbling around, waiting impatiently to be able to see the baby for themselves. Bella was over by the others now and was happy to see Lily again. She barked and jumped up on her, and Dean had to grab her collar to keep her off of Lily so that the baby wouldn’t get frightened.  
  
Finally Lily and Tony came into the living room after the others had greeted them and had seen the baby. Lily beamed when he saw Noah, Jayden, and Kaylen there.  
  
“Hi, guys. It’s good to see you again,” Lily spoke, coming over to hug them.  
  
“Hi, Lily,” Noah smiled and carefully hugged her back, making sure not to crush the baby between them.  
  
Lily hugged Jayden and Kaylen too, before stepping back and staring proudly down at little Alec.  
  
“Hi, Alec,” Noah grinned and stepped forward to see his little nephew. He reached out and gently touched the baby’s fisted hand, smiling when Alec squirmed and made soft cooing noises, before blinking his baby blue eyes up at Noah.  
  
“Aww, he’s cute,” Kaylen grinned, peeking down at the baby. It was the first time he was seeing Alec, since he hadn’t gone with Isaac to the hospital back when the beta went to see his twin after the birth.  
  
Lily grinned proudly at his comment. “Thank you.”  
  
“He looks a bit like Tony,” Jayden chuckled, peeking over Noah’s shoulder down at the baby. Noah was much shorter than him, so he could easily see.  
  
“Well, he better. Otherwise I’d have to ask Lily if she’s cheated on me,” Tony joked, grinning at Lily when she sent him a dark scowl over her shoulder.  
  
“You _know_ I didn’t cheat on you,” Lily groused, glaring at him. They did have threesomes and stuff sometimes, but only Tony was allowed to be with Lily during her heat, and they never had sex with others unless both of them approved of it. There was no way that Alec wasn’t Tony’s, and they both knew it.  
  
“Wanna see! Wanna see!” Maya and Luna begged, jumping up and down behind Lily.  
  
“I wanna see too,” Daniel pouted.  
  
Lily laughed fondly at them, and turned around to squat down in front of them to let them have a look. The kids gathered around her and stared down at Alec in awe. The baby was beginning to get a bit grumpy from all the attention though, but the girls were still very fascinated by seeing a real life baby. They had dolls and stuff, but a real baby was different. Daniel wasn’t as excited as them, but he still thought it was pretty interesting to look at the small baby.  
  
Everyone was smiling and happy that Lily and Tony had started a family of their own. It still felt a bit weird to Noah that three of his siblings had kids now, though. It made him both happy and kind of sad, because he missed their childhood when everyone was living at home and had time for each other. Sometimes he really hated growing up and seeing things change.  
  
“Now we just need Isaac and Noah to make some babies,” Eden spoke, giggling a bit as she looked at them.  
  
Noah blushed furiously and stepped a little closer to Jayden, who spread his wing out a bit to blanket Noah’s behind his back. Jayden chuckled at Noah’s embarrassment about the subject, finding it cute.  
  
Kaylen too blushed a little at the hint of him and Isaac having kids one day, though he wasn’t nearly as shy or embarrassed as Noah.  
  
“And you say that _I_ am embarrassing!” Isaac spoke, scowling at Eden and trying not to blush.  
  
Adrian laughed. “Well, they first need to mate and all that stuff first,” he pointed out.  
  
Dean’s lips curled into a smug smirk. “Well, that’s already kinda happened…” He looked over at Noah and Jayden, and the others followed his gaze.  
  
Eden gasped loudly. “No way! You’ve mated?!” she blurted, her jaw dropping in disbelief.  
  
Everyone’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, since it was only Dean and Castiel who had known about Jayden and Noah accidentally bonding with each other. Noah hadn’t told them about it yet. He wanted to wait until they were face-to-face, and he hadn’t seen either of his siblings since before he and Jayden got mated.  
  
“No way! Really?” Lily gasped, staring between them with wide eyes.  
  
Noah blushed and stared at his feet, and Jayden rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.  
  
“Um, yeah, it kind of happened by accident,” Jayden admitted, still feeling a bit ashamed about it, especially now that Noah’s whole family was staring at him.  
  
Noah reached out and grabbed a hold of Jayden’s hand, squeezing it.  
  
“You touched my little brother’s oil glands by accident?!” Isaac blurted.  
  
Noah looked up when he heard the accusing tone in Isaac’s voice. “I’m not mad about it,” he quickly said, coming to Jayden’s defense. “I’m happy with Jayden, and I don’t regret that we are mates now, even if it was a bit early and unplanned.” He smiled up at Jayden, grinning when the alpha was the one that blushed a bit for once.  
  
Lily smiled widely at them. “Aww, I’m so happy for you! I always knew you’d be together and mate someday.”  
  
“Yeah, me too. It’s great news,” Eden beamed.  
  
“I should have seen it coming,” Natalie grinned.  
  
Adrian too was beaming. He walked over and gave Jayden a brotherly pat on the arm. “Accident or not, Noah seems happy about it, so I’m happy for you guys too. And I’m glad it’s you who ended up being his mate. I guess I’m still a little protective of Noah, and I don’t want him to be mated to just anyone.”  
  
Jayden grinned, curling his tail happily at the approval that Adrian was giving him. He knew that he had gotten Adrian’s approval for dating Noah a long time ago, but mating was more permanent and more special. Mates should be chosen with care. “Thanks,” he said, bumping tails with Adrian in a gesture of mutual acceptance.  
  
Kaylen was grinning at them as well, and Isaac had softened up a bit by now.  
  
The kids didn’t really understand what everyone was talking about, so they weren’t paying much attention. Daniel was busy playing with Bella anyway, trying to grab a tennis ball from her mouth and laughing when the dog resisted.  
  
“Wow, little Noah is mated now. It feels so weird,” Jason commented, holding Luna on his arm and rocking her while the girl stared around at everyone in the room.  
  
Lily handed Alec over to Tony, and she and Eden went over and hugged Noah tightly, congratulating him.  
  
“I’m so happy for you both. Damn, I miss you being the cute, little boy you once were. It’s difficult to understand that you have a mate now,” Lily grinned, hugging Noah tight.  
  
Noah smiled and returned the hug. “Thank you, Lily. And I think it’s harder to understand that you’re a mom now…”  
  
Lily laughed and pulled back from the hug, smiling at Noah and almost getting tears in her eyes from the happiness she felt. She nudged his arm teasingly. “It’ll be harder to understand when _you_ become a mom someday, though.” She grinned at how Noah blushed furiously at that.  
  
Meanwhile, Eden pulled back from her hug with Jayden, and smiled at Noah who was still blushing from Lily’s comment. “You’re so grown up!” she grinned and pulled her youngest sibling into an embrace. “I totally approve of your guy. You have a good taste.”  
  
Noah laughed against her. “Thanks.”  
  
Jayden grinned, relieved that Noah’s family was approving of their bond and their new status as mates. He had been a bit worried about how they’d receive the news because of the way it had happened. Isaac had been a bit accusing, but Jayden could tell he had softened up and accepted it already, so that really relieved him.  
  
“Dad must have approved of it too, since you’re still alive,” Eden joked, chuckling over at Jayden.  
  
Dean snorted. “Well, I can’t say it was the best way of mating, but I’m not one to talk. I like Jayden, and he makes Noah happy, so I’m not mad.”  
  
Castiel chuckled. “I don’t have a problem with it either. I was hoping that they would bond and become mates someday,” he stated. He smiled at Jayden, who looked kind of modest now with all the acceptance that he got.  
  
“Yeah, I’m okay with it too. It just gave me nasty images in my mind to know that they’re mates now,” Isaac murmured, a grimace scrunching up his face. “I hope you had your heat already, Noah, ‘cause I really don’t wanna be around when it starts…”  
  
“Isaac!” Lily scolded him, gasping in outrage.  
  
Noah’s face went crimson red and his eyes went wide. “I’ve already had it, so shut up!” he barked at Isaac, completely flustered. He groaned, and hated Isaac for always making such inappropriate comments in front of everyone.  
  
“Oh, you already had it? Should we expect more babies in the family then?” Isaac teased, grinning at Noah and quickly stepped back when Noah went forward to smack him on the arm.  
  
“No!” Noah growled, his face so red that he could feel his cheeks burning hot. “Not anytime soon, at least…”  
  
“Good, ‘cause dad and I would have to have a serious talk with Jayden if he knocks you up before you’ve finished college and all that,” Adrian murmured.  
  
“Yeah, we definitely would,” Dean agreed. He chuckled at the disapproving look Cas gave him.  
  
Noah blushed even further, and Jayden looked a bit nervous at Adrian’s threat. Adrian just laughed at them both.  
  
Kaylen glanced at Noah, looking very excited for both of them. “Did Jayden give you a proper pendant yet?” he asked, sounding genuinely curious.  
  
Noah snapped out of his embarrassment, and then reached up under his scarf to shyly pull the pendant into view. His sisters gasped when they saw the pretty, dark pink orchid on the pendant.  
  
“Ohh, it’s so pretty! It suits you very well,” Lily smiled.  
  
Noah smiled shyly, letting the others have a look too.  
  
Jayden felt a bit sheepish, but still very happy. He curled his tail tightly around Noah’s leg and let their wings touch, smiling as the others stared at the pendant in amazement. Jayden had picked it with great care, wanting to find something that really suited Noah and that his mate would love, and it made him glad that the others approved of it as well.  
  
Castiel looked very pleased with the choice of flower and color for the pendant. “I think Jayden picked it well. It’s a good flower for you, Noah,” he smiled.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah smiled, still blushing sheepishly as everyone’s attention was on him and Jayden.  
  
“I want pretty necklace too!” Luna exclaimed, turning her face to pout at Jason as she sat on his arm.  
  
“Me too!” Maya cheered.  
  
The others laughed at the children’s comments.  
  
“I think you’ll have to wait many years for that,” Eden chuckled. “It’s a special kind of pendant that a boy gives a girl or a submissive when they become mates.”  
  
“Oh,” the girls said, blinking in confusion. They didn’t quite understand what it meant to be mates yet, but they knew it was something romantic, like they saw on cartoons sometimes.  
  
Castiel chuckled fondly at his granddaughters. “But you can have cookies and pie instead, if you like?”  
  
“Yay!” the girls cheered, jumping excitedly. Jason had to put Luna down since she was so excited, and the girls ran over to Castiel to go with him over to the kitchen. Natalie and Eden joined to help Castiel carry plates and stuff outside, and Bella barked and wagged her tail as she followed after them and ran in front of them.  
  
Daniel grinned at the prospect of eating cookies, pie, and drinking cocoa and stuff. “I love grandma’s pies!”  
  
Dean chuckled and ruffled Daniel’s hair. “Yeah, he makes good pies, doesn’t he?”  
  
“Better than mom’s!”  
  
“Hey!” Eden pouted, looking insulted as she crossed her arms sulkily.  
  
Isaac cracked up, as did some of the others.  
  
“Don’t say such stuff to your mom. It hurts her feelings,” Jason told his son. He was trying not to laugh at Eden’s pouty face, but it was hard not to.  
  
“Oh. Sorry, mommy,” Daniel said, looking kind of ashamed.  
  
Adrian chuckled at them before looking over at Noah and Jayden. “And I bet Jayden knows his way around pies too. You’re lucky you found a guy who can cook, Noah.”  
  
“Yeah, especially since Noah cooking is worse than my own!” Isaac blurted.  
  
“Shut up! I’m not _that_ bad!” Noah snapped at Isaac, feeling a bit offended. Isaac was right, though. Noah’s cooking skills were really bad, but he pretty sure that Isaac’s were even worse.  
  
Jayden just laughed and wrapped his arm around Noah’s waist. “Yeah, it’s good you have me.” He smiled down at Noah, who was still glaring at Isaac, and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. It caused Noah to blush and lean into his touch.  
  
Lily snickered at them. “Yeah, Noah is lucky to have you, Jayden. And Isaac’s cooking isn’t good either. I hope Kaylen has some skills with it.”  
  
Kaylen chuckled. “I’m not the best, but I can cook better than Isaac can. Thank god, otherwise it would get expensive because Isaac always wants to go out to eat or order take-out, and that’s way too expensive in the long-run, so I sometimes cook us something when we’re spending a night together.”  
  
“Stop cooking beans for me, though. They’re not my favorite anyway, and they give me gas like whoa,” Isaac muttered. Adrian laughed out loud next to him.  
  
“Yes, I noticed that. I’m never letting you eat beans ever again when I’m around,” Kaylen groaned, scowling at his boyfriend and scrunching his nose in disgust.  
  
Isaac just barked out a laugh, and the others laughed too.  
  
“That’s nasty,” Lily chuckled, shaking her head at them. She went over to Tony, who was struggling to calm down the crying baby now. Alec was a bit fussy sometimes, so they always had to attend to him and see what was wrong.  
  
Dean laughed. “Yeah, let’s keep Isaac far away from the rough, gassy vegetables. And I hope you wash your own underwear, son.”  
  
“I’m 24, dad; of course I do. Wouldn’t want anyone to get gassed to death if they try to wash them for me, after all,” Isaac snickered.  
  
“Ugh, Isaac!” Lily scolded, grimacing in disgust. Daniel laughed and found it all very amusing.  
  
Noah giggled at the scene, enjoying how everyone was in a good mood and laughing because of Isaac’s silliness. He liked family moments like these, even if Isaac could go overboard with his comments sometimes. He smiled when he felt Jayden’s tail rub his leg gently, and he could feel through their bond that Jayden was happy too.  


 

***

  
  
They went outside in the garden to enjoy the beautiful weather and let the kids play in the fresh air.  
  
Maya and Luna settled down in the sandbox, playing with various toys, and the adults kept a watchful eye on them to make sure that they were alright. They had learned by now not to eat sand, but both Eden and Natalie were a little worried about their girls since they sometimes got into a bit of trouble.  
  
Daniel was on the lawn, playing soccer with Jason, Tony, Adrian, and Jayden. Bella was running around with them, getting in their way sometimes, but the dog seemed to enjoy herself. Isaac had played too, but he had gone up to the terrace to eat from the extra snacks that Castiel had just brought outside.  
  
They had spent three hours outside already, chatting, playing, and eating the stuff that Castiel had provided for them. The kids loved the pies and the cookies, and Jayden had been rather impressed with the delicious pie. It was Gabriel’s newest recipe, and Castiel promised Jayden that he would share it with him.  
  
“Shh, don’t be so grumpy,” Lily shushed Alec gently when her baby cried in her arms. She rocked and soothed him while pacing around on the terrace, where Castiel, Natalie, Eden, Dean, Isaac, Kaylen, and Noah were sitting right now. “You’re so much like your daddy. Always keeping me busy,” she groused in a fond voice, and smiled down at the little boy.  
  
Eden chuckled and came over to her. “How’s he sleeping at night? Does he keep you awake a lot?” she asked. She grinned down at Alec when he stared up at her. The baby paused his crying to look at Eden curiously when she suddenly came into his view, and Lily snorted at that.  
  
“Yeah, he’s so fussy and keeps waking up. It’s killing me.”  
  
“Damn. That’s one reason not to have kids…” Isaac muttered over by the table, leaning back in his chair. He gulfed down another cookie while glancing over at his sisters.  
  
Kaylen chuckled next to Isaac. “Why? Because you’re scared to have your beauty sleep ruined?”  
  
“Oh yeah. I hate getting woken up a hundred times during the night. Unless it’s by you…” Isaac smirked and leaned closer to Kaylen, brushing his fingertips over the skin under the submissive demon’s chin and over his cheek. Kaylen shuddered at the touch, and Isaac’s lips curled into a smug grin.  
  
Noah groaned from where he was sitting on Kaylen’s other side, not sure if he should appreciate the sight of Isaac being in love or be disgusted by how his brother had no problems displaying it in front of everyone.  
  
“And Isaac is always the one that complains the most when someone around him shows affection for their partner, but he’s just as bad as everyone else,” Dean commented, watching Isaac and Kaylen in amusement. Castiel chuckled next to him, smiling as he watched the scene, as did Natalie.  
  
“Shut up, dad. You’re ruining the moment,” Isaac muttered, nuzzling Kaylen’s cheek now. His boyfriend blushed and pushed him back a little, finding it a bit embarrassing since everyone was staring. Kaylen didn’t know everyone that well yet, so it felt awkward for him to have Isaac’s hands or mouth all over him in front of the others.  
  
“Gosh, get a room!” Eden told them, laughing.  
  
They all looked up when the boys returned from the garden, looking a bit sweaty from having played around in the sun. Daniel, however, looked really happy to have had four big guys to play soccer with, including his dad. They all went over to the table to get something to drink, since the warm weather and the exercise had made them all very thirsty. Castiel had poured up some water for Bella in her bowl inside, so the dog padded her way into the house to have something to drink too.  
  
Jayden grinned when he and Noah made eye contact and noticed the submissive staring at his sweaty appearance. Noah thought that Jayden looked really attractive after working out or returning from a run or something, and Jayden could feel the spark of sexual interest that went through their bond as Noah looked at him. Noah quickly averted his eyes though, pretending that he hadn’t been staring.  
  
“Still sitting here with all the girls, Isaac? You’re gonna grow girly parts soon,” Adrian teased, drinking eagerly from the glass of juice that Natalie had just poured up for him.  
  
Isaac growled at his brother. “Kiss the darkest part of my sweet—” The rest of his sentence came out as muffled groans when Kaylen quickly put his hand over his mouth, stopping him before he reached the word ‘ass’.  
  
“Isaac would just like to say that he’s already feeling like a girl, and that he really liked wearing my pink Hello Kitty nightgown that I made him sleep in a few weeks ago after he lost a bet with me,” Kaylen spoke, flashing Adrian a nonchalant smile. He kept his hand on Isaac’s mouth, completely ignoring that the beta was trying to speak, and whenever Isaac tried to take his hand away, Kaylen just put it back.  
  
The others burst out laughing, and Isaac finally managed to grab Kaylen’s arm and move his hand away from his mouth.  
  
“Hey! That’s _not_ what I wanted to say!” Isaac protested. “Why the hell are you telling them that?!” he demanded, looking utterly annoyed as he scowled at the others for laughing so hard at him. He turned to look at Kaylen, growling playfully at him. “You’ll pay for that.”  
  
Kaylen just laughed and grinned at his boyfriend. He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss on Isaac’s cheek, hoping it would make Isaac forgive him.  
  
Isaac grinned. “No, no, kiss me more! Come on!” He began playfully trying to yank Kaylen in for deep kiss, but his boyfriend resisted.  
  
“No! Not now!” Kaylen laughed, pushing Isaac away and blushing when the others laughed. He knew that if he let Isaac pull him in for a kiss, the beta wouldn’t let him go again until he had made an embarrassing scene in front of the others, so he resisted the best he could.  
  
Noah laughed next to them. He loved watching the way Kaylen and Isaac interacted. There was so much teasing, playfulness, but also tender looks and gestures between them.  
  
Dean laughed at them before turning a bit more serious and looking at Adrian. “Well, just for your information, it hasn’t been all that girly up here. _I’m_ here, after all.”  
  
“Right,” Adrian chuckled. “Lonely male amongst all the girls.”  
  
“I’m not a girl, damnit!” Isaac protested, making the others laugh again.  
  
“If you’re wearing a pink Hello Kitty nightgown, then you kind of are,” Dean grinned.  
  
“Shut up! Kaylen made me wear it! And it was just _once!_ ”  
  
“I bet you felt comfortable in it,” Eden teased, grinning like an idiot at her brother.  
  
Lily chuckled. “Kaylen is good for you, Isaac. Finally there’s someone who can make you embarrassed too.”  
  
Isaac just snorted and continued to look annoyed and offended. Kaylen chuckled and placed his hand on Isaac’s thigh to comfort him.  
  
Tony shook his head at them with an amused chuckle, before turning around to see how Alec was doing. The baby was squirming in Lily’s arms, and Tony tried to help her soothe him.  
  
“Argh! Alec! I just changed your diapers about an hour ago, and now you’ve pooped again?” Lily exclaimed, letting out an annoyed groan when she felt how heavy the diaper was.  
  
Eden laughed next to her. “Oh that sucks, doesn’t it?”  
  
“Eww,” Daniel grimaced.  
  
“Yeah, it’s very ew,” Jason chuckled, ruffling Daniel’s hair affectionately.  
  
“Guess we gotta change him,” Tony sighed. “You or me?” he asked Lily.  
  
Lily considered that for a bit, before her eyes suddenly landed on Jayden, who was drinking a glass of water in front of the table. She smirked. “How about we let Noah and Jayden do it for us? They need some practice.”  
  
Jayden almost choked on his water, and Noah stared over at his sister with wide eyes when he heard what she said.  
  
“Oh, I don’t wanna look at poop right now,” Jayden spoke, cringing. Isaac burst out laughing at that statement.  
  
“I also think that some practice will do you guys good,” Eden smiled. She looked over at Noah, who was still sitting next to Kaylen.  
  
Noah hesitated for a few seconds before getting up from the table. “Okay. I don’t mind trying…”  
  
“You’ve practiced a bit with Maya and Luna before, so I’m sure you still remember how it goes,” Natalie spoke, giving Noah a reassuring smile.  
  
“Yeah, somewhat…”  
  
“Glad it’s not me,” Isaac snickered as Noah passed by behind his chair on his way over to Lily and Tony.  
  
Lily smiled at Noah when he came over, and she carefully handed the crying baby to him.  
  
Noah shifted Alec carefully and shushed him gently as he cried. “I know, I know. You’ll get a new diaper on very soon, don’t worry.” He smiled at the baby and stroked his head gently. The gesture made the baby calm down a little bit before crying again.  
  
Noah began heading over to the door, rocking Alec to soothe the crying baby. He cast a look over his shoulder at Jayden who nodded quietly, letting him know that he was agreeing to help him out.  
  
“Good luck! The diapers are in the bathroom. Just come and get me if you need help,” Lily smiled, winking at Noah as he headed into the house with her little son.  
  
“Okay, thanks,” Noah spoke, shifting Alec a bit as he went inside and headed for the bathroom with him.  
  
Jayden followed him inside, and opened the bathroom door for Noah since he was busy holding the squirming baby. “You tried it before?” he asked, watching as Noah headed over to the changing equipment that Lily had already put on the bathroom counter earlier.  
  
“Yeah. I guess you probably weren’t around when Natalie guided me through how it works with Maya once. I’ve helped changing Luna once or twice too.” Noah rocked Alec gently, still shushing and soothing him softly, before carefully putting the baby onto the changing table. The baby wasn’t even two months old yet, so he was small and helpless, and his tiny white/grey wings twitched as he lay on his back. He didn’t have a tail, which made it so much easier to take the dirty diaper off him.  
  
Jayden chuckled at how the baby made noises of complaint when Noah starting pulling the pants off him to get to the diaper. “What are you complaining about, young man? You should be glad someone wants to clean up your poop,” he cooed at the baby, tickling Alec gently on the stomach.  
  
The baby squealed at the sensation, and he was calming down now that someone was finally getting the hint and was going to change him.  
  
Noah chuckled, fumbling to take the pants off Alec without hurting him, and then put them aside. He went to take off the diaper then, and Jayden continued to keep Alec entertained while Noah took it off.  
  
“Ew,” Noah groaned, grimacing in disgust when the foul smell hit his nose.  
  
Jayden laughed. “This is exactly why I didn’t wanna do it, but you wanted to do it anyway.”  
  
“Well, I’m sorry. I want to learn it properly before we have kids someday,” Noah argued. He blushed at what he had just said. Thinking of having his own baby with Jayden someday made him both very excited but also a bit shy.  
  
Jayden chuckled fondly and curled his tail around Noah’s leg. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on top of Noah’s head, closing his eyes as he breathed in his scent for a few seconds. “You’ll learn it soon enough. And I think you’ll be a good mom when the day comes.”  
  
Noah smiled shyly and leaned into his mate’s touch, still working on cleaning up the mess that Alec had made of himself. His wings flared happily behind him at what Jayden had said, and they bumped slightly into Jayden’s since they were standing so close.  
  
The alpha helped Noah out and got him the wet wipes that he needed to clean Alec up with. He then went over to get a new diaper from the pile, and turned the diaper in his hands with a confused frown. “Damn, how do you tell which side is the back and which is the front?”  
  
The diaper had animals pictured on it; cats, dogs, giraffes, and an elephant. It didn’t have any signs saying ‘front’ or ‘back’, though.  
  
Noah glanced over at the diaper in Jayden’s hands. “Uh… I think the side with the animals’ faces is the front, and the one with their butts is the back.”  
  
“Oh. Makes sense.”  
  
Jayden handed the diaper to Noah, who proceeded with putting it on the baby. Alec squirmed and kicked his little legs, making it hard for Noah to put the new diaper on him, and Noah groaned every time it failed. Jayden then distracted the boy by picking up a rattle from the table, dangling it above Alec’s head to make the boy focus on it and stop squirming. The alpha smirked when it worked, and Noah could easily wrap the diaper around Alec and pull the pants back on him.  
  
“Wow, that was pretty easy,” Jayden grinned once they were done.  
  
Noah rolled his eyes. “That’s easy for you to say. You didn’t do the dirty part of the job.”  
  
Alec kicked his legs and gurgled up at them happily, drawing their attention back to him.  
  
Noah grinned down at the baby and gently picked up him. “Weeee!” he exclaimed as he carefully lifted the baby up in the air, and Alec laughed and squealed in response.  
  
Jayden grinned at the scene. He watched Noah closely as the submissive smiled at the baby and looked so natural and content holding little Alec. He liked seeing the maternal side of Noah, and how gentle and yet playful he was around kids. It made Jayden want to start a family with him even more.  
  
There was a soft knocking on the door, and they turned their heads to see Tony peeking into the room.  
  
“Hey, guys. How’d it go? Was he being troublesome?” Tony asked, smiling at how Alec was laughing as Noah lifted him up.  
  
“Not much. It went pretty well,” Noah replied, smiling over at Tony.  
  
“Yeah, it wasn’t half bad, except for the smell.” Jayden picked up the dirty diaper, which he and Noah had put inside a plastic bag and tied up. He went over to Tony, throwing the bag into the other man’s arms. “Here. Present for you from your son,” he smirked.  
  
“Oh, I’m so honored,” Tony joked. Both he and Jayden laughed at that.  
  
Noah laughed too, shaking his head at them. He shifted Alec back into his arms, and smiled when the baby turned his large, blue eyes up at him.  
  
Tony left to get rid of the dirty diaper, and Jayden turned around to face Noah. He smiled at the image of Noah and Alec staring at each other, and he came over to wrap his arm around Noah’s waist and press another soft kiss to the top of his head.  
  
“I think the boy is starting to like you.”  
  
Noah chuckled and continued to stare down at Alec who was cooing softly now, their eyes still locked. “Maybe.” He caressed Alec’s small hand and grinned when the baby wrapped his hand around Noah’s index finger, holding on to it.  
  
Jayden smiled and curled his tail around Noah’s leg.  
  
They went outside again, and Lily lit up when she saw how content and calm Alec was in Noah’s arms now.  
  
“Oh, there you are again. Did it go well?” she asked, gently taking Alec back into her own arms.  
  
“Yeah, it went well. He was a bit fussy, but not too bad,” Noah replied, smiling at Alec who looked happy to be back in his mother’s arms now. Mom’s arms were always best.  
  
“That’s good. He’s such a little fussy-head sometimes,” Lily spoke, grinning down at her son.  
  
“He’s fussy like his mom,” Tony commented from behind her.  
  
“Shut up!” Lily growled, glaring over her shoulder at him.  
  
Isaac cracked. “Oh, you better be careful she doesn’t kill you with her glares, Tony-boy.”  
  
Tony laughed. “Yeah, I should be careful.”  
  
“And you two should keep your mouths shut,” Lily muttered.  
  
Jayden laughed at them, as did the others.  
  
Lily continued to rock Alec in her arms, cooing softly at him. She went over to Castiel and Dean then, gently shifting the baby into Cas’ arms.  
  
Castiel beamed when he got to hold Alec again, and Dean leaned over towards him so that they could both stare down at their youngest grandchild and touch his little hands. The baby gurgled and stared up at them with interest, laughing when Dean made a funny face.  
  
Daniel came running up to the terrace, begging the boys to play soccer with him again. The boys complied, and this time Dean joined them too, as did Natalie who also enjoyed playing soccer. The others went down into the garden to cheer on them, and Eden and Castiel looked after Luna, Maya, and little Alec, until Alec was sleepy enough for a nap.  
  
Kaylen and Noah sat down together on the lawn, cheering for Isaac and Jayden who were on the same team in the game. Isaac played dirty sometimes though, making Kaylen roll his eyes, but Noah thought it was kind of amusing. Noah enjoyed getting to know Kaylen a bit better and bond more with him as they sat there together and cheered for their partners, and Kaylen seemed to enjoy their interaction as well.  


 

***

  
  
In the evening the kids were put to bed at around 8pm. Luna and Maya got tired at 7:30, and Daniel was put to bed at 8:10. They slept in Eden and Adrian’s old rooms during the stay, while Alec was asleep in Lily’s old room with the baby monitor in the crib.  
  
They played some games together in the evening, and Castiel, Lily, and Eden kept scolding Isaac for being too loud sometimes, especially when he won. They didn’t want him waking up the kids upstairs, and he was annoying to listen to when he won the game.  
  
At 10:20pm some of them were getting a bit tired, but not sleepy enough for bed yet.  
  
Kaylen took the opportunity during one of the game breaks to go outside on the terrace to catch some fresh air, and Noah followed him.  
  
It was dark outside, and only the light shining through the terrace door and light from some small garden lamps illuminated the area for them. The air was cooler now, but still warm and pleasant, and various sounds from the neighborhood could faintly be heard from the terrace.  
  
“I’m guessing Isaac has always been such a loudmouth when he wins, hasn’t he?” Kaylen chuckled, glancing over his shoulder at Noah who approached him from behind. He was standing in front of the small steps leading into the garden, just enjoying the fresh air and the quietness.  
  
Noah chuckled and went over to stand next to Kaylen. “Yeah. Everyone hates it when he wins because he won’t shut up about it for hours.”  
  
Kaylen leaned his head back and laughed. “I can imagine. That’s just like him. I like winning too, but I’m not _that_ boastful.”  
  
“I think he does it just to appear funny and to piss us off. He particularly likes to make Eden and Lily annoyed with him.”  
  
Kaylen chuckled and stared at Noah. Kaylen was a bit taller than Noah and slightly more tanned, and their personalities were kind of different. They still had a strong friendship blossoming between them, though.  
  
There was a comfortable silence between for a few seconds while they smiled friendly at each other.  
  
“Um.” Noah shifted a bit. “What did you mean earlier when you said that your alpha ex-boyfriend was an asshole?” He glanced at Kaylen cautiously, not sure if it was okay that he asked about this or not.  
  
Kaylen looked a bit surprised by the question, and he blinked his eyes a few times before sighing. “Just… When I met him he was really charming and sweet, and I fell for him pretty fast. We went to the same school and he was in the grade above me, and he was always helping me out when other boys harassed me. We started dating after just one month, and after only two weeks of dating I agreed to sleep with him. It was my first time and I felt like he was worth sharing it with. But I was so wrong… After we did it, he stopped paying that much attention to me, and suddenly he told me that he was breaking up with me. I didn’t understand why and I was so hurt, but he didn’t seem to care about how distraught and confused I was. He just told me he was sorry with a fake smile on his face, and said that if I ever got horny I should just call him. The bastard just wanted to take my virginity, and then he broke up with me so that he could start fucking others too and be independent again. I was just a sex toy to him, and he bragged to his friends about how he had taken a sub’s virginity and turned him into a ‘good slut’. That slimy bastard.” Kaylen growled and clenched his fists, his wings trembling with anger.  
  
Noah was speechless. He couldn’t believe that someone would treat Kaylen like that. “I’m sorry to hear that…”  
  
“Thanks,” Kaylen murmured, taking a breath to calm down again. “I got my revenge, though. I threw pink paint all over his car at school and posted a sign on it, saying that he was gay and wanted to get fucked in the ass, and any guy willing to fuck him should just give him a call. His phone buzzed non-stop after that during class ‘cause every alpha at school was trying to make fun of him – and a few gays took it serious too – and eventually he had to change his phone number. He was a homophobe, so he really didn’t like being propositioned by others who wanted to fuck him.” His lips curled into a sly, smug grin.  
  
Noah’s jaw dropped before he burst out laughing. “Oh my god, that was genius!”  
  
“I know,” Kaylen grinned, his tail moving back and forth behind him. “He had it coming.”  
  
“Yeah,” Noah laughed. He was still amazed by how similar Kaylen’s personality was to Isaac’s when it came to pranks, and he admired Kaylen for getting revenge like that instead of just being depressed by what had happened.  
  
When their laughter had died down, Kaylen regarded Noah next to him with a smile, and nudged him playfully with his elbow. “And how’s life being a mated submissive now? Is it nice feeling your bond with Jayden?”  
  
Noah blushed sheepishly. “Yeah, I quite enjoy it. It’s so intimate and nice to be connected to him like that. It’s odd to feel love pulse it when I know it’s not coming from me.”  
  
Kaylen smiled at that before asking, “Do you feel it when he’s horny too?”  
  
Noah stared at Kaylen in slight shock because of the bold question. “Um, yeah, kind of. I can sense it, but it doesn’t really feel like it’s my own, um, arousal.”  
  
“But it can _make_ you aroused too, right?” Kaylen asked, chuckling when he sensed how uncomfortable Noah was now.  
  
Noah groaned. “Yeah, if it’s very intense. But I can only sense his emotions if he lets me… And why are we talking about this stuff?!” he suddenly exclaimed, feeling so awkward and embarrassed now.  
  
Kaylen laughed loudly and moved his tail around in amusement. “Sorry, I was just curious. My parents never really explained to me how the bonding thing works. And you get way too easily embarrassed sometimes, Noah,” he giggled.  
  
“I can’t help it. And this _is_ embarrassing,” Noah muttered.  
  
Kaylen just grinned and brushed their wings together.  
  
The terrace door suddenly opened, and they both looked over their shoulders at Isaac who appeared in the door.  
  
“Yo! What are you girls doing out here?” Isaac asked, approaching them with a teasing smirk on his face.  
  
Kaylen glared at him. “We aren’t exactly girls. The term is not wrong, but you make it sound so insulting, you jackass.”  
  
“Oh, I love it when you talk dirty to me, baby,” Isaac grinned, wrapping his arms around Kaylen’s body and pulled him in for a kiss.  
  
Kaylen chuckled against Isaac’s lips, returning the kiss and wrapped his arms around the beta’s neck. He flinched a bit when Isaac’s hands wandered over his ass and touched his feathers, but he soon let out a pleased sigh into Isaac’s mouth.  
  
Noah blushed when he found himself witnessing his own brother groping another submissive’s ass right in front of him. He couldn’t help but grimace a little, but at the same time he kind of liked seeing Isaac all loving and possessive around Kaylen.  
  
Kaylen swatted Isaac’s hand away from his ass with his tail when Isaac’s touches got too exaggerated and were getting too sexual. “Don’t touch me like that in front of Noah. It’s awkward,” he muttered, giving Isaac a small glare when they pulled away to look at each other.  
  
“With all the times I had to witness Jayden kissing him and discretely touching his butt in front of me, I can’t really bring myself to care,” Isaac argued, his hands still placed on Kaylen’s body.  
  
Noah groaned. “It wasn’t as bad as this! And I’m leaving,” he muttered, turning to head back into the house.  
  
Isaac laughed out loud. “You should be glad I’m not a porn actor! Then your eyes would really fall out when seeing my amazingness, little bro!”  
  
Noah groaned and covered his ears as he walked into the house, making Isaac laugh even more.  
  
Jayden gave Noah an odd look when he saw his mate entering the house with his hands covering his ears and a strange expression covering his face. “What’s up?” he asked, looking at Noah in slight worry as the submissive walked over to him in the living room.  
  
“Nothing… Just Isaac,” Noah replied.  
  
Adrian laughed. “Figures.”  
  
“What did he say now?” Castiel asked, sighing in frustration.  
  
“Just something I don’t want to recite,” Noah murmured.  
  
Jayden laughed and wrapped his arms around Noah so that his hands were on Noah’s back while they were facing each other. Noah leaned into his touch with a content sigh, and smiled when Jayden’s tail caressed his leg tenderly.  
  
Dean laughed at the face Castiel was making when he heard that Isaac was saying inappropriate things that made Noah cover his ears. “Oh c’mon, Cas. You know that boy is not going to change anymore.”  
  
“I know that, Dean. Sometimes I just feel so helpless when it comes to him…” Castiel murmured.  
  
Eden chuckled and went over to put her hand on Castiel’s arm. “Don’t worry, papa. As silly as he is, Isaac is not a bad person, so you didn’t go entirely wrong when raising him.”  
  
“I find him pretty entertaining, actually,” Natalie grinned.  
  
The others laughed, and Isaac and Kaylen chose that moment to re-enter the house.  
  
Isaac stared between them with a small frown when he saw them laughing, but quickly shrugged it off. “Are you guys ready to lose another game to me?” he asked cheerfully, grinning at everyone.  
  
“You’ll be the loser this time, Isaac!” Lily spoke, her voice almost like a promise.  
  
“Yeah, we’ll kick his ass,” Jason smirked.  
  
“Hah! You try!” Isaac challenged them.  
  
They all laughed and headed over to the couch to play another game of cards, hoping that Isaac wouldn’t be the one to win again this time.  


 

***

  
  
It was 11:30pm when Noah and Jayden went into Noah’s room upstairs and got ready for bed.  
  
Noah drew the curtains, and then went over to pull the package of heat suppressants out from his drawer and picked up the bottle of water he placed on his desk earlier. He didn’t want to take his suppressants in front of everyone, so he preferred to do it in his room where only Jayden could see it. He quickly popped a pill into his mouth and swallowed it with some water.  
  
“Getting used to remembering to take your suppressants?” Jayden asked, coming over to stand behind Noah and wrap his arms around him.  
  
“Yeah. I forgot it one night about a week ago, but then I woke up at 2am and remembered it, so I quickly took it then.”  
  
“Silly. You shouldn’t forget to take them. It can make you go into heat again, you know,” Jayden said, soft scolding in his voice.  
  
“Yeah, I know. It was an accident…”  
  
Jayden just hummed and ran gentle hands down Noah’s wings as he stood behind him. Noah smiled at that, leaning into the touch.  
  
“You really need to be groomed. Your feathers are quite a mess,” Jayden spoke softly, staring at the light grey wings as he moved his fingers through them and assessed how bad their condition was.  
  
“Oh. I hadn’t really thought about that…”  
  
“Do you want me to take care of it now? Or at least just the worst parts?” Jayden moved his hand over Noah’s right wing bone, smiling when the submissive shuddered lightly at the gentle touch.  
  
“Okay, but just the worst parts for now. I’m too sleepy for a full grooming…” Noah spoke, closing his eyes as he leaned back into Jayden.  
  
Jayden grinned in victory. He loved grooming Noah’s feathers and getting to feel them properly. The best part was how responsive Noah always was, and hearing the soft moans and shudders coming from him when Jayden touched his wings. “Can I use some of your wing oil?” he asked cautiously, pressing his lips to the top of Noah’s head. He hadn’t tried grooming Noah with his wing oil yet, but Noah had allowed him to touch his oil glands a few times, so the submissive was getting more used to having Jayden touch them.  
  
Noah blushed a bit, but Jayden couldn’t see that. “Okay.”  
  
Grinning, Jayden began to remove the scarf from Noah’s neck and gently threw it to the floor. He smiled when he saw the mating pendant hanging around Noah’s neck underneath, and he decided to leave it there since it wouldn’t get in the way of the grooming. He then slowly began to unbutton Noah’s shirt to get the clothing out of the way, and pulled it off him. Jayden hummed in appreciation when he was met by Noah’s scrawny, naked back. He stared at it, letting his eyes linger on the shoulder blades where the wings sprouted from, and stared at how Noah’s pants clung to his wide, feminine hips.  
  
The alpha moved his hands up and down Noah’s back a few times, trying to relax him. When his mate’s posture was more relaxed, Jayden moved his fingers up to the oil glands and began gently rubbing the tips of his fingers over them.  
  
Noah let out a deep moan and shuddered, his wings spreading in invitation. Jayden leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on the back of Noah’s neck, before continuing to stimulate the glands to produce the precious oil. It didn’t take long, and soon the honey-like oil began to leak from them and coat Jayden’s fingers.  
  
The submissive made a soft, needy noise, and his wings twitched. Jayden could tell that Noah was enjoying it and that it felt good for him, and he couldn’t help but grin. Before getting started with the grooming he leaned down and gave both oil glands an experimental lick, eager to taste the oil that was flowing from them.  
  
Noah flinched at the unexpected touch and gasped as Jayden’s tongue teased his glands. “Jayden!” he yelped.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Sorry, I just wanted to have a small taste first.” He licked his tongue over them again, trying to be gentle. The taste of sweet honey hit his tongue and he hummed at the deliciousness. The taste alone was enough to make Jayden starting to get hard in his pants already.  
  
“Please stop with that and groom me already. I’m getting worked up enough as it is,” Noah groused in annoyance.  
  
“Mm, getting turned on?” Jayden teased, grinning against Noah’s back before straightening up and getting back to business.  
  
Noah didn’t answer. He just continued to smolder for a bit because he didn’t want Jayden to make him get too aroused just yet.  
  
Jayden finally began with the grooming. He collected generous amounts of oil on his fingers before rubbing it into the feathers. He picked the most askew feathers that really needed to be groomed and tamed, and he smiled smugly when he felt Noah’s wing bone tremble and soft moans coming from Noah’s mouth in response. He was pleased that Noah liked his ministrations.  
  
Noah shifted a bit on his feet every now and then. He wasn’t even entirely aware of the noises coming from his throat. He purred, moaned, and hummed at Jayden’s touch, and he was getting increasingly aroused by the grooming. It felt so nice, and his wings and oil glands were sensitive erogenous zones, so he just couldn’t help but get worked up over it.  
  
Their bond was flaring with trust and love during the intimate session. Jayden was grateful that Noah had allowed him to touch this sensitive place, which was strictly reserved for mates – a mate that was trusted and loved to the fullest. Every time Jayden touched the glands to collect more oil, he did it with respect and with care, and the noises coming from Noah were great awards for him.  
  
Jayden was almost done when they heard voices from the hallway outside the room, and then suddenly someone was knocking on the door.  
  
Noah let out a frustrated growl when they heard Isaac’s voice on the other side of the door.  
  
“Noah! Open up, man! Don’t tell me you two are sleeping yet?” Isaac spoke, his voice slightly muffled by the door.  
  
Jayden was a bit annoyed to get interrupted, but the utter look of annoyance on Noah’s face when he turned to answer the door made him laugh.  
  
Noah opened the door, shielding his naked torso by wrapping his wings around himself. He glared at Isaac when their eyes met. “What?”  
  
Isaac gave him an odd look. “Don’t look so grumpy! It’s not like I cock-blocked you guys, is it?” His eyes then landed on Noah’s wings and saw them glister a bit as the ceiling light shone on them, and he could smell a sweet scent of honey. He finally realized what Noah and Jayden had been up to, and his lips curled into a smug smirk at the realization. “Aaah, I see. You guys were getting dirty and naughty with wing grooming!”  
  
“Be nice,” came Kaylen’s voice from the hallway, before he appeared slightly behind Isaac.  
  
Noah blushed and shifted a bit before asking, “Why were you knocking on my door?”  
  
“Right. Uh, do you know the Wi-Fi password? Dad changed it since last time I was home.”  
  
Noah frowned at him. “Why don’t you ask dad or papa about it?” He was a bit grumpy with Isaac right now. He had just been interrupted during a very nice grooming session, and his panties were wet with slick and his abdomen was hot with arousal. Speaking to Isaac was the last thing he was in the mood for at the moment.  
  
“Because dad is on the phone with someone right now and papa is in the shower, and I can’t disturb the others since they all have small kids sleeping in their rooms. So… What’s the password? Just tell me already.”  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes at him. “You just disturbed them both, at least say the word ‘please’ instead of just being rude and demanding.”  
  
“Alright, fine!” Isaac groaned, turning to look at Noah again. “Pretty please?” he begged, batting his eyelashes at his little brother in order to appear cute and persuasive.  
  
Jayden laughed when he saw it, and Noah pulled a face because it didn’t suit Isaac at all to try to look cute.  
  
“Um, I think it was ‘iloveapplepie10’ without spaces,” Noah finally answered.  
  
Isaac snorted. “Typical dad. And thanks, little bro. Now Kaylen and I can finally stream some porn online,” he smirked.  
  
Noah gave him a horrified look while Jayden burst out laughing inside the room.  
  
Kaylen shot Isaac an annoyed look. “I thought you said we were gonna watch a horror movie?”  
  
Isaac laughed and went over to sling his arm around Kaylen’s shoulders. “We are, but I wanted to traumatize Noah and Jayden a bit.”  
  
“Yeah, I think we’re both scarred for life,” Jayden spoke, still laughing at what Isaac had said.  
  
Isaac just grinned and flashed them a cocky look over his shoulder before retreating back into his room with Kaylen.  
  
Noah quietly closed and locked the door again, shaking his head at Isaac’s silliness.  
  
“Now, where were we?” Jayden grinned, stepped forward to move his hands behind Noah’s back and collect more oil from his oil glands, since his hands were dry already.  
  
Noah gasped, bucking into Jayden at the sudden touch. He groaned impatiently as the alpha started taking care of his feathers at the front now, after having finished in the back. “Please hurry up. This teasing is killing me.”  
  
Jayden smirked, knowing that Noah was all wet and hard now and wanted to have sex. Jayden wanted that too. His cock was already hardening again, after having gone a little soft during Isaac’s interruption. “Patience. I’ll fuck you soon enough,” he purred, placing a kiss on Noah’s bared neck while he moved oil-stained fingers through the delicate feathers.  
  
Noah moaned and bared his neck more. “Tease.”  
  
Jayden just grinned and continued with the grooming.  
  
When it was done, Noah’s feathers looked much prettier again, and Jayden felt rather proud of it even though he hadn’t been entirely thorough. He would make up for that another day.  
  
They were both very worked up and aroused now, and they quickly stripped down and got onto the bed, eager to satisfy their needs together and be intimate in a different way.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels like it’s been so long since I last wrote a big family chapter! They do take a while to write. Still getting used to writing Kaylen’s character, but I hope you’ve enjoyed his presence in the chapter :) A few more chapters (2-4 or so) left of college and then I’ll move on to them getting an apartment and talking about having kids.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**January 2046 (Noah is 19, Jayden is 21, Lucas is 17 (almost 18), Caleb is 16).**  
  
It was a chilly Friday afternoon in January. The sun was shining through the clouds every now and then, blinding Noah as he sat on the city bus and was staring out the window. He was headed for Lucas’ house in the eastern part of town, and was looking forward to seeing his friend again. It had been about two months since they last saw each other – back in November when they had gone Christmas shopping together. It had been fun. It had been just the two of them shopping for presents for their families and friends, and eating sandwiches in a café. It had really relaxed Noah and helped him forget about the exams he had that month.  
  
Lucas had texted him yesterday, asking Noah if he could come visit him today since he really needed to talk to him. Noah was a little worried that something was wrong, but Lucas hadn’t wanted to talk about through text, phone, or Skype; he just wanted Noah to come over. Noah figured that something had happened at school that had upset Lucas, and he couldn’t wait to arrive at his friend’s house and see what was wrong.  
  
The bus was a bit noisy as he rode on it on his way there. The engine roared, the tires screeched sometimes, and a group of high school students were making noise in the back.  
  
Noah was seated on the fourth row at the front, sitting closest to the window and was trying to ignore the noise from the back while staring out the window at the people and scenery outside. His stop was in eight minutes, and he was kind of anxious to get out of the bus already.  
  
“Come on! You should suck my dick, you little freak!” came a male voice from the back of the bus, followed by laughter.  
  
Noah tensed, thinking that the guy was talking to him, but then he realized that the sentence had been aimed at someone else. He cast a wary glance over his shoulder, seeing the three high school boys in the back gathered around a young girl, who was curling up and looking pretty scared as the angel boys surrounded her. She seemed to be around 14 years old with long, dark hair, and white and pinkish wings. Noah couldn’t tell if she was an angel or an angel/human hybrid, but he could see that her right wing looked kind of abnormal. It was missing a lot of feathers along the wing bone, and the skin beneath looked scarred and slightly burned. Noah cringed at the painful sight, even though the skin looked healed by now.  
  
“P-Please leave me alone,” the girl whimpered, looking like she was about to cry. She leaned as far into the corner of her seat as she could, trying to shield herself with her wings.  
  
The guys laughed at her.  
  
“You should be glad that I even _want_ you to suck me off,” the alpha angel from earlier spat at her.  
  
Noah glared at them, outraged by what he was witnessing. He couldn’t believe that the boy would tell the poor girl such a thing, and he immediately felt sorry for her. Everything inside him told him to intervene and stand up for the girl, but his heart was pounding in fear. As a submissive, his interference probably wouldn’t help much and he could risk them turning on _him_ instead.   
  
He glanced around at the other passengers. There was an old demon couple who just seemed to try to ignore the incident, probably because the boys and the girl were angels, and the older generations of angels and demons didn’t want to intervene with the other species’ problems. And then there was a big, muscular human guy sitting two seats in front of Noah. The guy didn’t seem to want to do anything about it either; he was just minding his own business.  
  
“I hear that your boobs got burned too, just like your wing. Is that true?” one of the other teenagers asked the girl, obviously poking fun at her and mocking her for her injuries.  
  
The girl was so close to crying now, and Noah couldn’t ignore it anymore.  
  
“Shut up and leave her alone, you losers,” Noah growled at the boys, twisting around in his seat to glare at them.  
  
The boys immediately turned their attention to Noah, and the girl’s eyes widened in surprise.  
  
“What was that?!” one of the alphas demanded, getting up to approach Noah. “No sub tells _me_ what to do! And _she’s_ the loser here!” He pointed over at the girl, keeping his sharp eyes on Noah as he spoke.  
  
Noah glared firmly up at the guy, refusing to back down even though he was nervous as hell. “I don’t see _her_ behaving like a childish, arrogant jerk, though.”  
  
The guy growled and took a threatening step forward, and that was when the bus driver finally stopped the bus, got out of his seat, and approached the guys. The bus driver was a large human male in his forties, and although most of his size was from overweight, he did look pretty intimidating as he approached.  
  
“Alright, that’s enough. Get off my bus or sit down and leave the other passengers alone,” the bus driver ordered, glaring at the teenage boys.  
  
“Or what?” the alpha dared. One of his friends grabbed his arm and tried to make him back down, but the guy was so agitated now that he just growled at his friend and glared back at the bus driver.  
  
“Or I will call the cops and have _them_ settle the argument for us,” the bus driver threatened, his voice calm but firm.  
  
The alpha seemed to finally back down a bit, and his two friends swallowed nervously at the bus driver’s words. They retreated and turned to go back to their seats. The alpha shot Noah a sharp, threatening glare before going with his friends down into the back of the bus.  
  
“You okay, miss?” the bus driver asked the girl after the boys had sat down in the back.  
  
The girl nodded, still looking rather surprised that people had stood up for her. She then glanced over at Noah, who gave her a small smile when their eyes met. She blushed at that but returned his smile.  
  
The bus moved on, and the guys in the back were quieter now. They kept sending glares in the girl’s and Noah’s directions, but Noah ignored him. He felt satisfied with himself that he had been the first one to stand up to those guys to make them stop. He couldn’t really believe he had actually called them losers like that; it just came out of his mouth before he could think. The look on the guys’ faces had been worth it, though.  
  
Noah got off the bus eight minutes later, giving the girl a reassuring smile, and chuckled when she lit up at the kind attention.  
  
He stepped out on the sidewalk and was immediately met by a shivering cold. He wrapped his wings around himself, and was glad that he was wearing a nice, warm jacket and a scarf to keep himself warm with. California wasn’t that cold compared to a lot of other places, but Noah still found that day to be colder than most.  
  
Lucas’ house was a ten minute walk away from there, so Noah began heading there as fast he could, eager to get out of cold and into a nice, warm house.  
  
  


***

  
  
It was 3:30pm when Noah arrived at Lucas’ house. The house was white with a small wooden porch at the front and had just one floor. It was located in a quiet neighborhood, much like the neighborhood that Dean and Castiel lived in.  
  
Noah walked up to the door and rang the doorbell, and soon afterwards Lucas’ adoptive mother opened the door for him. Lucas’ foster parents had adopted him about two years ago, and Lucas referred to them as ‘mom and dad’ now. They were both demons and originally from India, so they had darker skin and dark hair, but they had lived in America for almost all their lives and spoke perfect American English.  
  
“Hello, Noah,” Lucas’ adoptive mother smiled when she opened the door.  
  
“Hello, Mrs. Samal,” Noah replied with a polite smile.  
  
She chuckled at that. “Call me Shae, please. And please come inside. Lucas has been waiting all afternoon for you, but I must warn you that he’s not doing so well…”   
  
Noah brows furrowed in worry as Shae gently guided him into the house. “What’s wrong?”  
  
Shae sighed. “I think he wants to tell you so himself. He’s in his room. He’s doing better now but he’s still quite a mess…”  
  
Noah nodded and took off his shoes. He greeted Mr. Samal and the couple’s young son Jeremy as he passed by the living room where the two of them were sitting, and then walked down the hallway towards Lucas’ room.  
  
He knocked gently on the door. “Lucas? It’s me; Noah.”  
  
“Come in,” he heard Lucas’ voice saying on the other side, and Noah then carefully opened the door and entered the room.  
  
Lucas was curled up in the corner of his bed, sniffling after having cried, and his body was trembling. As soon as he spotted Noah, new tears prickled in his eyes, and he immediately got up and ran over to hug Noah tightly.  
  
Noah was slightly confused, not understanding what was going on, but he returned the hug and tried to calm his upset friend down. “What’s wrong?”   
  
Lucas sobbed into Noah’s shoulder, still trembling all over. “They released him.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“My father. They released him from prison. H-He’s free again.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in realization and horror. Lucas’ father had been locked up since Lucas was 12, charged with child abuse and incest. Noah couldn’t believe that the guy was out already. “B-But he’s only been locked up for like 5 years?”  
  
Lucas sniffled and pulled away, wiping the tears from his face with his sleeve. “They don’t give very harsh penalties for what he did, and he’s out on parole now.” He broke down crying again. “I-I’m so scared that he’ll come after me again.”  
  
“Hey, shh.” Noah shushed him gently and rubbed soothing circles into Lucas’ shoulder with his thumb. “He won’t come after you. You’ve moved to a different county, and you’ve gotten a new last name and a new family. And I’m pretty sure your adoptive dad won’t let your father anywhere near you.”  
  
Lucas sniffled and hiccupped slightly between the broken sobs. “Yeah, I know… I’m just so scared.”  
  
“I know. But no one is going to let him take you. He’d be stupid if he tried; that would only send him right back to prison, and I doubt he wants that.” Noah continued to rub circles into Lucas’ shoulder and tried to make eye contact with him.  
  
After a few minutes of sobbing, Lucas finally lifted his gaze and stared back at Noah. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess. I knew he’d be out soon, but I was still so shocked when the police came here and informed us about it. I was so upset and I just needed to share it with someone. You’re the best friend I have and you always make me feel better, that’s why I asked you to come over…”  
  
Noah smiled, feeling both humbled and happy with Lucas’ words. “That’s okay. You just had me really worried when you asked me to come here and wouldn’t tell me what was wrong.”  
  
“Sorry…”  
  
“Don’t be. I’m here for you if you need me.”  
  
Lucas’ face lit up a bit, his tail curling slightly next to his leg. “You really don’t think he’ll come after me? The police said he probably won’t too, but still…”  
  
“I don’t think so, but I don’t know. If he does, you have a lot of people in your life who care about you and who will do anything to keep you safe.”  
  
“Yeah, you’re right,” Lucas spoke, smiling a bit.   
  
Lucas wiped more tears away, and Noah gently led him over to the bed to sit down. It took a few minutes for Lucas to calm down completely since he was still so frightened, and Noah slung his arm around his shoulder to hold him tight and comfort him.  
  
When Lucas had calmed down he seemed to feel much better, although he was still a bit shaken up by the news about his father being free again. He glanced at Noah before quietly asking, “How is it going with you and Jayden?”  
  
Noah was a bit surprised by the off-topic question, but he still smiled. “It’s going well. We see each other at least once a week – sometimes more, sometimes less.”  
  
Lucas smiled at that. “I kind of envy you… That you have someone who loves you so much.”  
  
“I’m sure you will find someone too who treasures you a lot,” Noah said, sincerely. “What about Caleb? You said that he confessed to you that he really likes you.”  
  
Lucas blushed furiously at that. In November he had told Noah about an incident at the high school library. Lucas had been doing homework when some guys decided to bother him, but then Caleb had once again stepped in and defended him. People at school joked that they were lovers, though it wasn’t true. Confused and curious about why Caleb kept standing up for him when the beta seemed a bit annoyed with the rumors and jokes about them, Lucas had finally asked Caleb why he was still helping him. He had asked Caleb before why he helped, but the beta had never really given him a proper answer. This time, Caleb had then just blushed really hard and told Lucas that he liked him and didn’t want to see him being upset or get harassed by the others. Lucas had been pretty stunned, since no one had ever told him so before.  
  
“I don’t know…” Lucas murmured, staring into his lap sheepishly. “He seems sweet, and I do think he’s kind of cute, but still… I don’t think I’m good relationship material. I’m too pathetic.”  
  
“You are not pathetic, stop saying that,” Noah told him, his voice firm but kind. “You’re an awesome person, and I think Caleb sees that too.”  
  
“But I’m not ready for a relationship, and having sex with someone really scares me. I don’t like sex…”  
  
“Maybe you’ll like it if you really love that person?”  
  
“Maybe…”  
  
“And you don’t _have_ to have sex just because you’re in a relationship with someone, you know…”  
  
Lucas glanced at Noah, frowning a bit. “But… isn’t that expected?”  
  
“Jayden didn’t expect it from me. He only wanted to do it if that’s what _I_ wanted, and he’s never pressured me. You’re not entitled to have sex with anyone unless you want to, you know.”  
  
“…Do you still only have sex with Jayden if _you_ want to, and not because _he_ wants it?”  
  
Noah blushed a bit. “I… kind of always want it, and so does he. It’s rare that I’m not in the mood, and in that case he doesn’t touch me if I say I don’t want him to.”  
  
“Oh.” Lucas blinked, letting the information sink in. “But maybe Caleb would expect it…”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but chuckle at the way Lucas looked like he was imagining a theory in which he and Caleb were together and didn’t seem that disgusted by the idea. Noah had always known that Lucas liked Caleb back, even though the submissive demon had not realized so himself at first. “I guess you can only find out if you get together and talk about it. But he strikes me as being a patient type… So I don’t think he would expect it.”  
  
Lucas suddenly blushed really hard and gave Noah a gentle shove. “Why are we even talking about this stuff? It’s so embarrassing!”  
  
Noah laughed. “I know.”  
  
“But I just feel like I can talk to you about anything,” Lucas said, turning his head to smile at Noah. “And thanks… for being a good friend.”  
  
Noah grinned. “You too.” He brushed their wings together, making Lucas grin back at him. “So…” he said then. “Do you maybe want to go somewhere together? You look like you could need to have some fun and think about something else.”  
  
Lucas blinked at him. “Where would we go?”  
  
Noah shrugged. “I don’t know. We could go watch a movie at the mall? We’ve talked about going for a while, but we never did…”  
  
Lucas beamed. “I’d like that.”  
  
Noah grinned, already looking forward to it.  
  
“But…” Lucas trailed off, looking away as if he was embarrassed. “N-Nothing.”  
  
Noah frowned. “What? What is it?” he prompted.  
  
Lucas shifted on the bed, averting Noah’s eyes. “W-What if my father shows up there? I know it sounds silly, but I’m just so scared…”  
  
Noah’s face softened. He gently reached out and grabbed Lucas’ hand, squeezing it for reassurance. “He won’t be there. And if he is, I won’t let him near you. We can always just scream really loud if he shows up, and then security will grab him. You’ve got some kind of restraining order against him, right? So he lawfully can’t go near you.”  
  
“Yeah…” Lucas considered that for a bit. “Okay. Let’s go. But please don’t leave me alone there.”  
  
“I won’t,” Noah promised, smiling.  
  
  


***

  
  
Lucas’ adoptive dad drove them both to the mall and dropped them off. He told them to be careful and have fun before driving off again, promising to pick them up later.  
  
Lucas was in a much better mood now. He was smiling and giggling as he and Noah hung out and chatted about things as they walked through the mall, and Noah could tell that Lucas had really needed to hang out with a friend and be distracted from his worries. Lucas was still a bit skittish and was looking over his shoulder a lot though, but Noah couldn’t blame him.  
  
They decided to watch a new animation movie from Dreamworks, but they had to wait another hour until it started. They spent the time walking around, and eventually found a nice place to eat. They ordered some pizza and ate it inside the restaurant.  
  
“Do you know yet what you want to study after you graduate this summer?” Noah asked curiously as they sat opposite each other and ate their pizzas. There were other people in the small restaurant as well, but everyone was talking quietly and no loud noises were made except for a couple of kids by the table in the back.  
  
Lucas considered that for a few seconds. “Hmm. Maybe the same as you? I like kids, and I don’t think I’ll be good in jobs where I have to interact too much with adults…” He warily glanced up as a couple of beta demons passed them, but relaxed when the saw the guys holding hands and realized they were gay. Most gays didn’t have an interest in submissives, so it was rare that a submissive got sexually harassed by them.  
  
Noah smiled. “That sounds good. I like my classes, but the studying is hard…”  
  
Lucas chuckled. “Doesn’t Jayden just have one more year of studying left before he graduates?” he asked then.  
  
“Yeah, he graduates next year in the summer. He wants to find some apartment in town and move in when he finds a full time job. And then I’ll move in too when I’m done studying.” Noah was pretty excited about that. It would be just him and Jayden living together in their own little apartment, where they could start a family and a new life together. He really looked forward to that.  
  
“Do you, um, plan to start a family with him?” Lucas asked, his voice a bit cautious since he didn’t know if it was appropriate to ask or not.  
  
Noah blushed and almost choked on his pizza. “Um, yes. We have talked about it, but it’ll be when we’ve both graduated and gotten jobs.”  
  
Lucas grinned at him. “That sounds nice. I’m sure you’ll have the cutest babies together, and that you’ll both make good parents.”  
  
“Thanks…” Noah smiled, blushing more.  
  
Lucas just smiled at him before glancing out the restaurant’s window into the hallway with shops outside. His eyes suddenly went wide, and Noah frowned in confusion when he saw Lucas shrink into his seat.  
  
“What is it?” Noah asked, glancing out the window to see what had Lucas looking so distraught. For a moment he was worried that Lucas had seen his father out there, but when Noah looked out the window he suddenly spotted Caleb walking just outside. The beta demon was walking with his two best friends – another beta demon and an angel/human hybrid – and he hadn’t spotted Lucas and Noah inside the restaurant yet. He was laughing along with his friends, just hanging out with them, and they were headed in the direction of the cinema.  
  
Lucas used his wing in a silly attempt to hide from Caleb, not wanting the beta to see him inside the restaurant, and when Caleb was out of sight, Lucas let out a small sigh and relaxed again.  
  
Noah chuckled at him. “What are you hiding for? It’s just Caleb.”  
  
“I don’t want him to see me here… I feel so weird whenever he stares at me,” Lucas murmured, a pink blush painting his cheeks.  
  
Noah chuckled in amusement. He had seen the way Caleb would stop and stare at Lucas sometimes when they ran into each other. It was like the beta couldn’t tear his eyes away, and Lucas always seemed a bit uncomfortable and shy about it.  
  
“I hope he’s not going to watch the same movie as us…” Lucas murmured, cringing a bit.  
  
“I don’t know. I think it’s more likely that he and his friends are gonna watch some action movie instead,” Noah spoke, still chuckling at Lucas’ nervousness.  
  
Lucas nodded and proceeded with eating his pizza. Noah did the same.  
  
After finishing their meal they headed over to the cinema. They had already bought their tickets and just needed to buy some coke and candy before going in to see the movie.  
  
It was a little crowded with people in the candy shop area, and Lucas stayed close to Noah as people pushed into them sometimes. They both folded their wings behind them and kept them as close to their backs as they could, and Noah tried to avoid having people bump into them. Noah himself didn’t like bumping into males and make physical contact with them, but Lucas’ traumatic past made him even more afraid of it than Noah.  
  
They decided to share a bag of candy, since they both liked the same stuff. They got separate cokes and were headed up towards the register to pay for the items when they suddenly ran into Caleb, who was there with his friends.  
  
Lucas stopped, his eyes wide when he saw Caleb in front of him and realized that the beta had spotted him too.  
  
Caleb stared back at Lucas in equal shock, since he obviously hadn’t expected to run into Lucas and Noah in the cinema.  
  
“Oh. Um, hi,” Caleb spoke, somewhat awkwardly, and looked between Lucas and Noah. His friends were busy picking candy and hadn’t noticed that Caleb wasn’t with them anymore.  
  
“Hi,” Noah replied, smiling politely at the beta demon.  
  
Lucas shifted and tried to hide a bit behind Noah’s wing. “Hi,” he murmured, the word almost lost among the noise that people were making around them.  
  
“Are you guys going to watch the animation movie too?” Caleb asked, holding up his ticket to show them which movie he meant since he couldn’t pronounce the title.  
  
“Yeah. You too?” Noah asked, blinking in surprise.  
  
Caleb nodded. “Yep, I love Dreamworks movies, and I persuaded my friends to come and watch it with me. Sue me for being childish,” he said, sarcastically, and chuckled. His eyes landed on Lucas again, smiling at the submissive. He seemed a bit confused and hurt when Lucas took a small step back and averted his eyes in response.  
  
Noah tried to discretely push Lucas forward to make him stop hiding behind him, earning him a small noise of complaint from his friend.   
  
“It’s not childish. Jayden likes those movies too, and most of them are not necessarily for kids only,” Noah spoke.  
  
“Ah okay. If an alpha older than me likes them too then I guess I’m not that childish after all,” Caleb grinned, curling his tail. He rubbed the back of his neck a bit. “So, uh, where are you guys seated?”  
  
“Row 24, seats 7 and 8,” Noah replied. He ignored the sharp look that Lucas gave him for telling Caleb where they were sitting.  
  
“Oh, that’s close to me. I’m on row 22, seat 10.”  
  
Lucas shifted uneasily. “Maybe we should go pay for our candy…? The movie begins soon.”  
  
“Right. Almost forgot,” Caleb said. He turned to walk over to his friends, but then stopped awkwardly as if he wanted to say something else but couldn’t find the courage to spit it out. Noah suppressed a giggle as he watched Caleb being all conflicted until the beta just decided to walk over to his friends quickly and not make a fool of himself anymore.  
  
After paying their candy and cokes, they headed into the cinema. The cinema wasn’t overcrowded with people; a lot of seats were still available, and only a little more than half of them were occupied.  
  
They got into their seats, and Noah and Lucas watched as Caleb chatted with his friends, who were sitting two rows in front of them. Commercials were running on the large screen, and people were talking and changing seats in the meantime.   
  
Noah noticed Lucas staring over at the back of Caleb’s head all the time, but whenever the beta turned his head to stare back, Lucas would look away with a blush and pretend that he hadn’t been looking. Noah thought it was kind of cute, but he was also a little frustrated that none of them ever made a move that led to something more than just staring.  
  
Suddenly a mother and her four noisy kids seated themselves right next to Caleb and his friends. The teenage boys immediately looked pretty annoyed with the kids who seemed sort of out of control and kept screaming and bickering, and the mother was struggling to make them quiet down. Eventually Caleb’s friends got up from their seats and talked about finding another place to sit at since there were plenty of available seats to pick from. Caleb got up too, and he took a look around before glancing over at Noah and Lucas, his eyes landing on the free seat next to Lucas. There were four available seats on Lucas’ right side, and one on Noah’s left side.  
  
Noah noticed the way Caleb was staring at the free seats, and he could almost see how Caleb was trying to find confidence to ask them if he could sit there. His friends were moving towards the front, and just before Caleb was about to reluctantly join them, Noah spoke.  
  
“You can sit with us, if you want?” Noah offered, giving a Caleb a polite smile.  
  
Lucas snapped his head to the side to stare at Noah in mortification. “What?!” he blurted, trying to keep his voice down.  
  
Noah just ignored him and continued to smile at Caleb, whose face lit up.  
  
“Really? Cool,” Caleb grinned. He explained to his friends that he was going to sit with Noah and Lucas, and his friends looked over at the available seats before going with him.   
  
“I hate you,” Lucas muttered at Noah, so quiet that only Noah could hear him, and glared at him a bit. He blushed and shifted awkwardly as Caleb sat down right next to him with his friends.  
  
Noah snickered. “You’re welcome.”  
  
“Hi,” Caleb grinned at Lucas after he sat down, flashing him a wide smile while he got settled with his coke and his candy.  
  
“Hi,” Lucas replied, blushing further and staring into his lap. He glanced at Caleb every now and then, looking away quickly whenever they eyes met.  
  
“No candy?” Caleb frowned when he saw that it was only Noah who was holding a bag of candy in his hand, though they both had cokes.  
  
“Um, Noah and I are sharing.”  
  
“Oh. You can take some from my bag too, if you like?” Caleb offered, showing Lucas the see-through candy bag with various sweets inside.  
  
Lucas blushed and smiled shyly. “Thanks, but I don’t want to steal from you…”  
  
Caleb chuckled. “You’re not stealing; I’m offering. I bought way more than I can eat anyway.”  
  
Caleb’s angel/human hybrid friend suddenly leaned over. “Aww, Caleb is hopelessly in love.” He grinned teasingly at Caleb, who hit him in the side with his elbow and shot his friend a deadly glare.  
  
Lucas’ eyes widened a bit at that comment, and he was a bit surprised by how shy Caleb looked all of sudden and how the beta was averting his eyes in embarrassment.  
  
The other beta demon cracked up. “Oh yeah, he has it bad.”  
  
“Shut up!” Caleb hissed at them, his face completely red now. When he dared a glance at Lucas, the submissive was blinking at him in bewilderment before blushing too.  
  
Noah grinned as he watched the scene quietly, and he totally agreed with what Caleb’s friends had said.  
  
The movie started and the lights dimmed, making the room completely dark. Noah felt Lucas reach for his hand to hold onto it since he wasn’t fond of the darkness, but when the screen lit up he seemed to relax a bit.  
  
The movie was very interesting, and Noah kept his eyes on the screen most of the time. The noisy kids two rows in front of them had quieted down, but still made some noise sometimes which annoyed all the other guests around them.  
  
About thirty minutes into the movie, Noah noticed Lucas and Caleb whispering together. Lucas had been confused about something in the movie, and Caleb had picked up on this and had started to explain it to him. Noah watched as Lucas nodded as Caleb explained the situation to him, and saw the younger submissive smile and giggle at something the beta had said. It made Noah smile and feel happy that the two of them seemed to finally be talking. Lucas and Caleb rarely ever exchanged words, even though Caleb had defended Lucas multiple times at school for three years already. Lucas had just always been too scared and too wary to let Caleb close to him, so he had a habit of avoiding longer conversations with him. Now they were talking though, and Noah had never felt so happy for Lucas before as when he watched his friend smile and seem genuinely comfortable talking to Caleb.  
  
Noah leaned back into his chair, sipping from his coke and feeling satisfied that he had nudged Lucas and Caleb a bit in the right direction. The rest was up to them now.  
  
  


***

  
  
When the movie ended they walked out together. Lucas was still staying close to Noah, but he was chatting a bit with Caleb about the movie and was smiling and grinning as Caleb spoke.  
  
“Well, I gotta go now. We’re going home to Mike’s to play some video games,” Caleb explained as they stood just outside the cinema, and gestured at his beta friend who was called Mike. People were passing by all the time since another movie had just ended as well, so a lot of people were exiting the cinema. Caleb and his friends were sort of shielding Noah and Lucas from the crowd so that they wouldn’t be the ones that people would bump into when exiting the place.  
  
“Okay. Um, see you on Monday?” Lucas said, glancing at Caleb from under his lashes.  
  
Caleb grinned and curled his tail. “Yeah, see you.” He turned to leave with his friends, who were snickering at his interaction with Lucas and how in love he looked, and he gave Noah a quick wave to say goodbye to him too.  
  
Noah waved back, smiling as he watched the guys leave. When they were out of their sight, he turned to look at Lucas who was still smiling and seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Noah grinned. “You two got along well today.”  
  
Lucas blushed and shoved Noah’s wing a bit with his own. “Well, I admit that he’s nice to talk to…”  
  
“Maybe you should talk more to him? I think he could be a good friend for you.”  
  
“I-I’ve never had a male friend before.” A hint of panic flashed across Lucas’ face, and he swallowed nervously.  
  
“Jayden was my first male friend, actually. I don’t regret that I let myself become friends with him.”  
  
Lucas considered that for a bit, but didn’t say anything.  
  
It was time to leave, so Lucas called his adoptive dad to pick them up at the mall. They headed outside to wait for him in the parking lot area, and when he arrived they drove back to Lucas’ house. Noah was invited to stay the night there, and Lucas beamed when Noah agreed to it.  
  
  


***

  
  
When they came home they had a late snack with Lucas’ adoptive family and watched some TV with them. Shae seemed very happy that Lucas was in a better mood now, and she discretely pulled Noah aside to thank him for making Lucas feel better. Lucas was very close to his new family, and his adoptive parents cared for him like he was their own child. Noah was happy for Lucas that he had ended up in such a nice family, since not all foster homes were nice to end up in.  
  
Lucas and Noah spent the night chatting and watching a movie together in Lucas’ room, before finally heading to bed.  
  
Noah lay on his back on the mattress on the floor, texting with Jayden while Lucas was in the bathroom to brush his teeth. He had borrowed one of Lucas’ pajamas, which fit pretty well since Lucas was only a tiny bit taller than him. There was a tail hole in the pants though, but the pajama shirt covered his butt, so the hole couldn’t be seen.  
  
Jayden had texted Noah about two hours ago, asking him how he was doing, but Noah hadn’t had the time to reply yet. He felt a bit bad for ignoring his mate for two whole hours, so he used the opportunity to finally write a reply.  
  
 _ **Noah** : Hi. Sorry I didn’t reply to your message earlier. I’m at Lucas’ place and we were kind of busy…_  
  
He waited for about two minutes until he got a reply.  
  
 _ **Jayden** : No prob :) did you guys have fun?_  
  
 _ **Noah** : Of course. We watched movies and stuff, it was lots of fun :) What are you doing right now?_  
  
 _ **Jayden** : Lying in my bed, thinking of you ;)_  
  
Noah blushed and stared at his phone, which he held up in front of him while lying on his back. Only the lamp on the nightstand by Lucas’ bed was on, so the room was only slightly lit up.  
  
 _ **Noah** : If you are trying to make me text dirty stuff then you know I’m bad at it…_  
  
 _ **Jayden** : XD you’re just too embarrassed and shy tho you shouldn’t be. besides I really WAS lying in my bed thinking of you when you wrote me._  
  
Noah blushed harder. A lot of images popped into his mind as he tried to imagine how exactly Jayden had been thinking of him while lying on the bed. Had he touched himself? Or just let his thoughts wander towards him randomly? He hesitated a few seconds before writing a reply, blushing as he typed the words into his phone.  
  
 _ **Noah** : …And what are you doing on the bed?_  
  
 _ **Jayden** : Getting curious now, huh? XD I was stroking myself, imagining that you were here with me._  
  
Noah shifted. He squeezed his legs together, trying so hard not to get aroused by Jayden’s text. He could imagine it so well; Jayden lying on his bed, stroking his cock and moaning while he imagined that they were having sex. He liked to watch Jayden stroke himself to orgasm. The alpha rarely did that in front of Noah since it was usually Noah who brought him to orgasm, but sometimes Jayden would pull out of him and stroke himself to climax after Noah had come. He liked watching Jayden stroke himself to climax because he knew that it was _him_ that Jayden was thinking and fantasizing about, and that this was what brought him over the edge. He also liked to watch Jayden’s face fill with bliss when he came, and listen to his deep grunts and moans; sounds that always went straight to Noah’s groin when he heard them.  
  
Noah groaned when he felt his dick twitch and his ass starting to slick up a bit from arousal. It wasn’t a good time or place to get excited, especially not since Lucas would return to the room any second now. He could hear his friend talking to his adoptive brother and mom in the hallway outside, so he knew that Lucas would come into the room again soon.   
  
Before Noah could type a reply, Jayden wrote him again and added:  
  
 _ **Jayden** : And I didn’t come yet, in case you were wondering XD_  
  
Noah let a loud groan, shifting restlessly on the bed as he willed his body not to respond with arousal. He longed for Jayden; body and soul. The bond was tugging inside him, most likely because Jayden was very aroused right now and he was trying to let Noah feel that.  
  
 _ **Noah** : I’m in Lucas’ room! You can’t text me such stuff, it’s not appropriate._  
  
 _ **Jayden** : You were the one who asked what I was doing xD why? is this making you wet?_  
  
Noah could almost hear Jayden’s teasing voice as he read the message, and it made him hate Jayden for doing this to him.  
  
 _ **Noah** : Yes, and please stop. Lucas is going to be back soon. You will have to take care of your little problem yourself…_  
  
 _ **Jayden** : I know. but when I think of you it’s not that difficult to do it myself :) I’ll leave you alone now. texting is making my dick feel neglected anyway. talk to you soon :)_  
  
 _ **Noah** : Should I feel sorry for it? XD_  
  
 _ **Jayden** : Yeah you should :p Bye now. hugs and kisses._  
  
Noah snickered and typed a reply.  
  
 _ **Noah** : Okay, bye :) hugs and kisses back._  
  
Lucas entered the room right after Noah had sent the last message. Noah quickly put his phone away and smiled as Lucas tiptoed over to his bed and tried not to step on Noah, who was lying on the mattress on the floor.  
  
“Sorry it took so long. My mom was complaining because someone broke one of her old favorite DVDs, and she wanted to know who it was. It turned out it was my dad,” Lucas spoke, chuckling a bit as he got onto the bed and settled under the covers. He turned on his side so that he could face Noah.  
  
Noah rolled over on his side too, chuckling at Lucas’ words and looked up at him. “That’s okay.”  
  
They stared at each other for a few moments until Lucas finally spoke. “And, um, thank you. For making my day so much better. I was scared because of everything with my father, and I’m still a bit scared actually, but talking to you about it really helped me… So, um, thanks.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Noah smiled. “I think we had lots of fun at the mall.”  
  
Lucas smiled and shifted shyly. “Yeah, we did.” He blushed a bit as he added, “Um, do you really think that Caleb, um, likes me?”  
  
“Yeah, I think so. He told you so himself, remember?”  
  
“But… maybe he just meant that he generally likes me, as in likes me as a friend or as a person…”  
  
“I don’t think so. He’s been staring at you and has protected you for three years. I think he definitely has a crush on you.”  
  
Lucas blushed bright red and pulled his blanket up so that only his eyes and some of his nose were visible. “What do you think I should do?”  
  
Noah smiled. “Talk to him like you did today. Get to know him. Maybe thank him for being there for you when the bullies harass you? I think he would appreciate that.”  
  
“Do you think he’ll like it if I, um, bake something for him as a thank you?” Lucas squirmed shyly, hiding his face even further in his blanket.  
  
Noah chuckled. “Yes, I think he’d like that.”  
  
Lucas grinned, looking pretty excited now.  
  
They chatted for a few more minutes until they said good night and settled down to sleep.  
  
It had been a stressful time for Lucas, but Noah was glad that he had helped bring his friend in a better mood and stop worrying too much.  
  
Now Noah was just curious about how things would develop between Lucas and Caleb. He hoped that Caleb was as kind as he appeared to be and would treat Lucas right, even after he learned about his dark past.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned out to be a very Noah-oriented chapter, but no worries; I will make up for it and write more about Jayden’s life in the next chapter :)
> 
> And I finally found a nice spot to bring Lucas back into the story. He and Noah still have a strong friendship so I thought it was important to have a chapter with him. And I should probably mention that I have no idea what the penalties for child abuse are in America, but in my country (which is actually one of the least corrupt ones in the world) people who do those things to their children like Lucas’ father did only get like 1-5 years in jail, from what I’ve read about in the news… Which is far, _far_ too little if you ask me. And I hope Lucas’ story didn’t cause any triggers with my readers – I have added a warning in the tags about it now.
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and I love the support I’ve gotten so far :) Thank you for that! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please comment :)


	8. Chapter 8

**April 2046 (Noah is 19 (almost 20), Jayden is 21 (almost 22), Leila is 47, Micah is 49, Laura is 10 years old).**  
  
Jayden was woken up when there was a series of loud knocking on his door, followed by Laura’s panicked voice.  
  
“Jaydeeen! Help! There’s a huge, nasty spider in my room! Please come get rid of it for me,” Laura yelled in distress on the other side of the door, slamming her hands into the wood to wake Jayden up.  
  
Jayden groaned and rolled over on his stomach, his feathers and hair sticking out in all directions from sleep. “Why don’t you go ask mom and dad to help?” he yelled back in a hoarse voice, too tired to open his eyes or get up. It was 6:28am, and he hated being woken up before his alarm clock went off at 6:40. Laura, however, was always up earlier because she was more of a morning person, as were their parents.  
  
“Mom is too scared to grab it, and dad just went out for a morning run!”  
  
The alpha grunted in frustration, slowly forcing himself up from the bed to go help his sister. He wobbled a bit on his feet and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, before padding over to the door to unlock it. He opened it and stared down at his sister, who was staring back up at him with a pleading face.  
  
“Why don’t you just stay away from your room, then?” Jayden asked, rubbing his naked stomach to get rid of the itching feeling on it. He was wearing just his boxers, but they were loose and not very revealing, so he didn’t have a problem letting Laura see him in just that. She had seen him in swimming trunks anyway, and they weren’t much different. He had made his feathers go into their half-sharp state though, since he usually only let Noah see and touch them in their soft state. Laura was old enough not to touch his feathers out of curiosity anymore, though when she had been younger he had had to soften them around her.  
  
“Because my school bag and stuff are in there! And if the spider gets away then I don’t wanna sleep in there anymore! What if it suddenly crawls across my face while I’m asleep?” Laura argued, shuddering in disgust.  
  
“Okay, okay, I’ll go kill it for you then.” Jayden rolled his eyes and reached out his hand to fondly ruffle his sister’s dark blonde hair, before pushing his way past her to head to her room.  
  
“Nooo don’t kill it! That’s mean! Just make it go outside.”  
  
“Jeez, aren’t you troublesome,” Jayden chuckled in a fond tone, padding through the hallway towards Laura’s room. His feathers rustled as he walked and his tail swung back and forth lazily.  
  
Laura followed him, but stopped in the doorway when Jayden entered the room. She didn’t want to go inside the room as long as the spider was there, but she wanted to make sure that Jayden found it and got rid of it.  
  
Jayden glanced around the room, which was pretty tidy except for the ruffled bed sheets. “Where did you see it?”  
  
“On the wall over my pillow,” Laura spoke as she took a cautious peek into the room to see if she could see the spider from the doorway. She let out a loud, high-pitched shriek when she saw the dark spot on the wall where the spider was sitting.  
  
“Ah. There it is.” Jayden walked over to the desk and grabbed one of Laura’s penholders, emptying it from pens and pencils so that he could use it to trap the spider inside. He then grabbed a piece of paper to help him trap it with, and slowly approached the bed where the spider was.  
  
“Not my penholder! Then I can never use it again!” Laura exclaimed in horror when she noticed his intentions.  
  
“I’ll clean it afterwards and then it’ll be as good as new,” Jayden said, keeping his eyes on the big, black spider on the wall, and approached it with caution to avoid it running away.  
  
“Ugh,” Laura groused, grimacing in disgust. She did not think that just washing the penholder could ever make it less disgusting now.  
  
Jayden slowly leaned in, holding still when the spider moved and seemed to sense his presence. He waited a few seconds before finally slamming the penholder on top of the spider, trapping it inside. He used the sheet of paper to push in between the wall and the penholder, so that he spider couldn’t crawl out when he removed the penholder from the wall. He grinned in victory as he turned to face Laura. “Got it!”  
  
“Eww! Get it outside – far away from the house, please!”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Maybe it’ll just crawl right back in. I think it likes you.” He grinned and ran over to Laura while holding the penholder out towards her. His sister screamed and ran away from him like a pig did from a slaughterhouse, and Jayden laughed so hard when he saw her run into the bathroom down the hall and slam the door shut after her.  
  
“I hate you!” Laura yelled from the bathroom, clear irritation in her voice.  
  
“I know,” Jayden yelled back, still laughing his head off. He walked down the hallway and down the stairs, but realized that he couldn’t take the spider outside when he was wearing just his boxers. He went into the dining room and placed the penholder on the table, making sure that the spider couldn’t escape.  
  
Leila exited the kitchen and stared at Jayden in surprise when she saw her son walking around the house half naked. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you dressed?”  
  
“I had to remove the spider from Laura’s room, so I didn’t have time to put on clothes. It’s inside the penholder now. Please keep an eye on it while I go get dressed, and make sure that the damn cat doesn’t knock it over,” Jayden spoke, heading into the entrance hall towards the stairs.  
  
Leila shrieked. “ _Oh my god!_ You put the spider on my _dining table?! CONNOR!!_ ” she yelled after him when he just left.  
  
Jayden laughed at her all the way up the stairs and went back to his room to get dressed.  
  
Jayden always went out for a 15-20 minute run in the morning before school – sometimes with his dad, sometimes not, depending on how late his dad was out for a run, because he left earlier than everyone else. Jayden pulled on some suitable clothes for that before heading downstairs again, trying not to laugh too hard at his mothers’ disapproving posture as she stood there with her arms crossed. She was clearly not happy about him putting the spider on the table, even if it wasn’t touching the table directly. He grabbed the penholder and went outside with it, making sure to release the nasty fellow inside it a few houses away in the bushes, so that the chances of it crawling back to the house were minimum.  
  
After getting rid of the spider, Jayden went back to the house with the penholder and threw the sheet of paper away, before going outside again for a run. The weather was nice with a clear sky, and the sun was rising in the east. Jayden liked to go for a run sometimes; it was refreshing and it gave him good exercise, which helped him stay in shape. He ran into his dad along the way and the two of them ran around the neighborhood for a big longer before turning to the house. They had a nice talk as they ran, and greeted a few neighbors who were heading to work.  
  
Micah went into the downstairs shower to rinse the sweat off himself before work, and Jayden went upstairs to shower. It was good to have two bathrooms in the house so they didn’t have to wait for the other to finish.  
  
Jayden closed and locked the door behind him in the bathroom, making sure that the door was properly locked before he stripped off his clothes. The lock tended to cause trouble sometimes, and he didn’t want Laura to accidentally walk in on him while he was naked. It wasn’t something for her to see.  
  
Jayden stepped into the shower stall and turned on the hot water, sighing in content when it washed over him so nicely. He closed his eyes, letting the water run down his face and make his hair stick his forehead, before spreading his wings and letting them get cleaned next. The feel of the hot water flowing through his feathers and down his back felt nice. So nice that his dick was starting to wake up at the sensation. He wasn’t surprised by that, though. Alphas got horny so easily – some more than others. Jayden was among those that needed to get off daily, or at least every three days, if he didn’t want to go crazy from it. He hadn’t gotten off for two days now, and it had been eleven days since he and Noah were last together, sexually. They would get to be together tonight though, since Leila and Micah were going somewhere for a friend’s birthday party, and Noah had agreed to help Jayden babysit Laura and stay over at the house. Jayden couldn’t wait to see his mate again, and not just because he missed sex. Everything about Noah made Jayden want to be with him all the time.  
  
Thinking of Noah only made Jayden’s erection even more persistent. Jayden sighed and let the water hit his shoulder blades and stimulate the base of his wings, while he moved his right hand down to grab a hold of his hardened cock. He suppressed a moan at the feeling of relief when he touched himself, and he tried to be as soundless as possible as he started to slowly stroke his hand over his dick, squeezing in the right places. He had to hurry up a bit since it wouldn’t be long before they had to leave the house, and he wanted to grab a quick breakfast too.  
  
Jayden stroked himself faster, swirling his thumb over the head of his dick and teasing the slit with his nails. The sensitive foreskin got stimulated with every stroke, making him moan at the sensation.  
  
He closed his eyes and imagined Noah. He fantasized that the submissive was on his knees in front of him, staring up at him with innocent, bright blue eyes while licking and sucking his dick. He loved when Noah did that, especially because Noah seemed to like it very much. He shuddered as he imagined Noah moaning and purring around his cock, and how beautiful he always looked after Jayden had spurted his come all over his face. Noah rarely let him do that since he thought it was uncomfortable to get so much of Jayden’s release on his face, but Jayden really liked it when he finally managed to do it. Noah’s grey feathers looked beautiful too when they were covered in Jayden’s come, as did his creamy skin. All the images of that made Jayden shudder in arousal, and he could feel his orgasm tugging in his abdomen now. He was _so close._ He panted heavily as he stroked his hand even faster over his cock, and he used his tail to tease his balls and press against them just slightly between his legs, giving him the final push over the edge. Jayden grunted through his climax, squeezing his eyes shut as he came in waves over his own hand and across the tiles in front of him. His hips bucked forward helplessly, and his wings twitched and flared under the stream of hot water until every single drop of semen he had in him was squeezed out.  
  
Jayden panted, supporting himself against the shower wall as he calmed down from his high. The water running over his body felt warm and soothing, and it reminded him of Noah’s hands when the submissive ran them across Jayden’s back to help him through his climax or soothe him afterwards. Gosh, he wanted so badly for Noah to be there with him right now and to feel his warm body against his own. He couldn’t wait to cuddle and snuggle with him in bed tonight, and touch those pretty feathers until Noah was fast asleep in his arms.  
  
He startled out of his mind when Leila suddenly knocked harshly on the door while yelling, “What are you doing in there, Jayden? Hurry up, or you won’t be able to eat breakfast before we leave!”  
  
Jayden groaned, annoyed to be disturbed during his post-orgasmic bliss. “Yeah, yeah, I’m almost done, mom!” he yelled back, snapping slightly but not too rudely.  
  
He heard his mom move away from the door again, and Jayden let out a deep sigh. He used some soap to wash off the scent of alpha sex hormones from him before he turned off the water and got out to get dressed. He was feeling much better now after getting some sexual release. Not getting the release he needed couldn’t damage him in any medical way or anything, and it wasn’t dangerous for an alpha not to come for a while, but it could make them pretty grumpy and aggressive because of the mood swings and frustration it caused – especially with mated alphas. The bond formed an almost biological dependency between the mates, making them feel best when they were together, and sex and intimacy had a positive and strengthening effect on their bodies, moods, and the bond. Jayden had noticed that his libido had increased a bit since he and Noah got mated, and that Noah too was a lot more responsive to his touch now. Needless to say that Jayden liked that a lot.  
  
After pulling on some fresh clothes and brushing his wings and hair, Jayden left the bathroom and headed downstairs to get something to eat. It was 7:26, so he had about 14 minutes to eat and get ready for school before leaving.  
  
Micah had already left for work; he worked in the opposite side of town, so he and Leila always drove separately. His work started at 7:45am and Leila’s started at 8. Jayden’s classes first began at 8:30, but because the school was rather close to his mother’s workplace he always drove with her to save money for the two city busses he would need to take otherwise. It meant he had about 35 minutes of free time before classes, which he often spent either taking a walk or hanging out with his classmates until the lessons started. Laura’s school bus arrived at around 7:39, so she always left the house with them and waited outside for the bus, which arrived around the same time as Leila and Jayden left.  
  
Laura was sitting at the dining table when Jayden entered the room, eating another bowl of cereal before school and made humming noises while she ate. Jayden chuckled at that as he went over and sat down opposite her by the table, pouring up some oats for himself and mixed it with milk and some sugar.  
  
Mr. Giggles was in the kitchen now, meowing loudly as Leila poured up some food and milk for him, and they could hear it in the dining room. Jayden chuckled a bit at the ever hungry cat.  
  
“Your wings are dripping,” Laura commented as they ate, giggling softly as she stared at Jayden.  
  
“I know. I didn’t have time to dry them for very long,” Jayden replied, eating his food as fast as he could.  
  
Laura eyed Jayden’s wet, dark red wings curiously, which were in their half-sharp state now. “Your wings look prettier now than they did before you met Noah. He grooms them for you, doesn’t he?”   
  
Jayden smirked around his spoonful of food. “Yep, he does. And I groom him too.”  
  
“That’s so romantic!” Laura grinned, flaring her wings.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, I guess it is.”  
  
“He’s coming over tonight, right?” There was a hopeful beam on Laura’s face as she asked him that.  
  
“Yeah, he is. Why? Are you excited?”  
  
“Of course! I love Noah,” Laura grinned, her wings flaring happily behind her.  
  
Jayden laughed warmly at her.  
  
They finished their breakfast and quickly got ready to leave.   
  
Leila and Jayden kissed Laura goodbye as she went into the school bus, and then took Leila’s white Toyota to drive off to school and work.  
  
  


***

  
  
Jayden’s classes that day were mixed between ‘kitchen classes’ where he and his classmates got to cook and experiment in the kitchen, and theory classes where they learned more about food chemistry, food decoration, hygiene, and so on.  
  
Jayden avoided his classmate Janine as much as he could lately. In the past year she had mostly left Jayden alone after he had told her that he was in a relationship, probably because she had gotten a boyfriend not long afterwards, but now she was single again and was once more trying her luck with Jayden, even though she knew he was taken. Jayden didn’t like being around her because of the interested looks she gave him, and she had attempted to flirt with him a few times recently. He wasn’t interested in her at all, and he had expressed that, but she was stubborn. Janine didn’t know yet that Jayden and Noah had mated last year. Jayden hadn’t really advertised to anyone at his school that he had a mate now – he had only told his closest friends in the class, and they hadn’t really told it to others. There were several racists at the school and Jayden didn’t want to be bothered by them or have them insult Noah for being an angel/demon hybrid, so he had kept quiet about it. It was no one’s business who he was mated to anyway.  
  
That day Janine was in a flirtatious mood again. She had practically run over towards Jayden to be able to stand next to him while they were cooking under the teacher’s instructions, and she kept smiling at him and trying to ‘accidentally’ let their wings or tails touch. Jayden quickly got annoyed with her and did his best to put distance between them.  
  
“I like the way you’ve cooked this sauce. It’s very tasty,” Janine said as she licked the spoon clean, which she had just used to taste Jayden’s whiskey sauce with. They were all training to make whiskey sauce, and the students tasted each other’s work to see how it had turned out.  
  
“Thanks,” Jayden replied, somewhat tightly because of his annoyance with her. Janine was standing a bit too close to him for his comfort – a lot closer than would be appropriate unless they were close friends, which they weren’t. “And, um, do you mind backing off a bit? You’re standing a bit close and I almost can’t move,” he told her, forcing a polite smile. His mother had taught him to be polite even if someone was pissing him off, and Jayden generally didn’t like being rude towards girls or submissives, so he tried to hide his annoyance as he looked at her.  
  
Janine blinked at him, the spoon still in her mouth as though she was trying to look seductive. She had no idea how it had the complete opposite effect on Jayden.  
  
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize,” Janine said, giggling and stepping back a little. She was lying, of course, and she continued to eye Jayden with interest and keep the spoon in her mouth while smiling at him.  
  
Jayden’s good friend and classmate, Matt, watched the scene from the other side of the kitchen counter. Matt – who was an alpha demon like Jayden – made a small grimace at Janine as he watched how persistent she was around Jayden, and he could tell that Jayden was getting increasingly annoyed with her.   
  
Finally the teacher told them it was time for a break, and most of the students left the kitchen to go to the bathroom or go outside to catch some fresh air.  
  
Jayden was relieved when Janine turned and left the kitchen, finally leaving him alone.  
  
“Dude, you should tell her to fuck the hell off,” Matt said as he went around the kitchen counter to stand next to Jayden.  
  
“Yeah, I know. I might just do that very soon. She’s getting on my nerves,” Jayden muttered, gritting his teeth a bit.  
  
“Can’t believe how she keeps hitting on you. She knows that you are in a relationship, and even though she doesn’t know that you and Noah are mates now, she should still back the hell off.”  
  
“Well, some people just have no shame,” Jayden muttered, his tail swishing in agitation behind him.  
  
They talked a bit back and forth, and their other classmates were also chatting and laughing during the break. Most of them returned to the kitchen rather quick, not wanting to be late when the teacher came back.  
  
Suddenly Janine burst back into the room and stormed over to Jayden.  
  
“Is it true what Martha just told me?” she demanded, stopping in front of Jayden. The expression on her face was dead serious, and she looked rather angry too.  
  
Jayden’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed that Janine was talking to him like that. “Is what true?” he asked, his tail swishing in annoyance.  
  
“That you’ve mated with some angel/demon hybrid?”  
  
Jayden was a little surprised that she asked him that so bluntly, and that she had finally found out about it. She had never seen Noah because she always left school from the other side of the building and didn’t get to run into Noah when he was waiting on the east side for Jayden, and she seemed to always have had the idea that Noah was a demon, since Jayden was a demon and to her it made sense that he would date a demon like himself. Only a few of their classmates had seen Noah when he came by the school to walk with Jayden into town, and among those only _one_ person knew that he and Jayden were mates now, and that was a demon girl named Martha. She had overheard a conversation between Jayden and Matt and had learned that Jayden was mated to Noah now, though she had thankfully never seemed bothered by it or told anyone else about it either. Until now, apparently.  
  
Jayden cast a look over Janine’s shoulder at Martha, who swallowed nervously when Jayden stared at her. She had obviously let that information slip by accident or something when talking to Janine in the other room just now.  
  
“Yeah, so?” Jayden retorted at Janine, staring at her with disinterest.   
  
Their other classmates were staring intensely at them, whispering a bit, but Jayden could hear that they were mostly outraged by Janine’s bitchy behavior and not by the fact that Jayden was mated to an angel/demon hybrid.  
  
“You never said you had a mate! Much less such an _abomination,_ ” Janine spoke, her face scrunching up in disgust.  
  
“It’s not your business who I’m mated to, and don’t you _dare_ say that word about him again,” Jayden growled, his fists clenching and his feathers sharpening in anger. He was so annoyed with her that he wanted to punch her, but he held himself back. He didn’t want to get in trouble because of her, and he didn’t like punching girls.  
  
“Yeah, it really isn’t your business, Janine,” said one of the other girls, crossing her arms in disapproval.  
  
Janine growled at the girl before glaring at Jayden again. “He’s a freak hybrid, you know! Demons aren’t supposed to mate or have babies with angels! It against nature! And for you to mate with such an unnatural thing like him is not good for the society’s gene pool either.”  
  
“I see plenty of angels and demons having offspring with humans, though,” Jayden pointed out, sassily.  
  
“That’s different – we have much more DNA in common with humans than we do with angels. Why couldn’t you just pick a demon mate instead and keep the bloodlines pure? You have no idea how messed up your offspring with that freak will be.” Janine spat the words in disgust, and was mostly unware of the way their other classmates were shaking their heads at her in outrage.  
  
Jayden growled and took a step forward, towering over the girl that got so much on his nerves that he had to hold himself back to not punch her right in the face. “I’ve seen angel/demon hybrids having kids of their own, and there’s nothing wrong with those kids; they’re perfectly healthy. I think if we weren’t meant to breed with angels or with hybrids, then the offspring would be infertile – like with mules – but that’s not the case. So shove your arguments up your racist ass or I’ll do it for you,” he growled, staring her straight into the face and raising his wings as a warning that she should back off.  
  
Janine stared back at him in almost shock, not having expected such a threat from him at all.  
  
Jayden was usually polite and controlled, but when his mate was threatened or offended, he could get pretty aggressive and scary.  
  
“Yeah, shut up and mind your own business,” Matt sneered at her.  
  
“Unless you have actual proof that angel/demon hybrids have bad genes, I think you should shut up. It’s not your business whom Jayden is mated to anyway,” said one of the other girls, and got back-up from the others.  
  
Janine stared at them all in offense, seemingly unable to understand how they could all support such an ‘unnatural’ thing. “I guess you guys will know that I’m right the day people like Jayden’s mate fuck up our society’s health and genes,” she snapped, before turning and stalking out of the room in anger.  
  
Jayden let out a deep sigh of relief when Janine and the tension were finally gone, and his wings lowered themselves behind his back once more.  
  
“Wow, I’ve never seen Janine be such a bitch before,” one of the human girls muttered. “She has always been a bit stuck up, but that was just out of line.”  
  
“And the way she’s been hitting on Jayden lately, even though she knew he’s seeing someone, is just messed up…” said one of the other girls.  
  
Jayden grunted, still agitated that Janine had said those things and behaved like that. Mostly he was angry that she seemed to think that she had some sort of claim on him, and that she dared be insulted when she had finally found out that he had had a mate for a whole year without telling her, and had gone as far as criticizing him because Noah was an angel/demon hybrid. Jayden didn’t tolerate anyone insulting his mate for his heritage, or bashing angel/demon couples like that. It pissed him off to no end.  
  
A demon girl named Lindsay came over and patted Jayden friendly on the shoulder, smiling at him. “Don’t worry about her. I think all of us are on your side in this.”  
  
“Fuck yeah! To hell with Janine’s racist comments!” one of the guys cheered, making the others cheer loudly in agreement too.  
  
Jayden smiled, happy that he had the support of his classmates. “Thanks, guys.”  
  
“You could have told us you had a mate, though,” Lindsay said, smirking at him.  
  
Jayden gave her an apologetic smile. “Yeah, I guess I could have. I just didn’t want too many people knowing about Noah, since there are a lot of racists around…”  
  
“But not in this class. Except for Janine, obviously,” Lindsay chuckled.  
  
“I didn’t even know she was such a racist…”one of the guys spoke.  
  
Matt shrugged. “She’s always been weird, but I didn’t expect her to be that hardcore racist either.”  
  
Martha stood a bit behind the others and watched them talking to Jayden. She fidgeted a bit before coming over to him. “Sorry I ended up telling Janine that… I was just trying to politely make her back off since I’ve seen how she’s been bothering you today, and I thought it would help to tell her that you have a mate. I shouldn’t have interfered in your business, I’m sorry.” She stared up at Jayden and lowered her tail and wings in shame.  
  
“It’s okay. I’m not mad about it,” Jayden told her, offering her a small smile.  
  
“I would like to meet this Noah person someday, though. I bet he’s all cute and kind,” the class’ only angel girl said, smirking at Jayden.  
  
“Oh yeah. Please introduce us someday,” Lindsay grinned, and some of the others agreed with that.  
  
“Maybe I will,” Jayden smirked, curling his tail somewhat sheepishly next to his leg.  
  
“I bet he’s hot,” one of the guys – a beta angel – said, grinning teasingly at Jayden. The others guys grinned in agreement and snickered as Jayden turned to look at the beta with a dark scowl.  
  
“Oi. Don’t even _think_ about being inappropriate around him. He’s _mine,_ ” Jayden warned them all, a small growl rumbling in his chest.  
  
They all laughed out loud at Jayden’s small threat. The beta had just been joking around and they all knew that, but they still thought that Jayden’s reaction was pretty funny.  
  
The teacher returned to the kitchen after the break was over, but Janine didn’t return for classes that day. Jayden guessed she was offended and maybe embarrassed that everyone had taken his side, but he didn’t feel sorry for her. He just hoped she wouldn’t bother him again in the future, and that she would grow up more.  
  
  


***

  
  
The incident with Janine kept annoying Jayden for a while, even after his classes ended that day. He was still glad that he had support from his classmates, but it always annoyed him and made him angry to have people insult Noah like that.  
  
His classes ended at 2pm that day, after which he headed off to work. Jayden had gotten a small part-time job as a sales assistant in a men’s clothing store in the nearby mall, and he worked there five days a week for 3-6 hours a day. He had had the job for eight months now, and the pay was pretty good. His work tasks consisted mostly of helping customers and selling them the high quality men’s clothes in the shop. Jayden got along well with his coworkers, and the boss was nice, so he liked his job a lot and had lots of fun there sometimes.  
  
Jayden was assisting a 20-something-year-old demon female finding a nice shirt for her brother, when he suddenly spotted Noah entering the shop. They had agreed that Jayden and his parents would pick him up from college later, so Jayden was quite surprised to see his mate entering the shop where he worked, just half an hour before he was off work. He blinked at Noah in bewilderment, momentarily forgetting his customer, and saw Noah’s face light up when the submissive finally spotted him in the back of the store. Jayden smiled at him, before quickly snapping out of it and turning his attention back to the customer.  
  
“So you think the green shirt here is best, with my brother being slightly chubby and all that?” the female demon asked, holding up the two shirts that she had asked for Jayden’s advice to choose from.  
  
“Yeah, the other one is sewed differently, so it may not look that good on a person with his body type,” Jayden told her.  
  
The female nodded and handed the other shirt back to Jayden, keeping the green one. “Alright, the green one it is. Thank you,” she said, flashing him a bright smile.  
  
Jayden smiled back, folding the other shirt and putting it into place. “You’re welcome. Would you like to pay now or look for more items?”  
  
The female considered that for a few seconds. “Hmm, I think I’ll look around some more. Thanks.” She turned around to continue with her shopping, but let her eyes linger a bit on Jayden before going.  
  
Noah slowly moved over towards Jayden after the girl left, approaching him with a shy smile and clutching the strap of his shoulder bag, in which he had some clothes and stuff for his stay at Jayden’s place. “Hi,” he said when he came over and smiled up at him.  
  
“Hi,” Jayden grinned, curling his tail around Noah’s leg when the submissive was close enough for that. “What are you doing here?”  
  
“My classes ended at 1:15 and I was bored this afternoon after I finished my homework, so I decided to come here and surprise you. Then your parents won’t have to drive all the way to the college to pick me up,” Noah explained, smiling as he felt Jayden’s tail rub his leg a bit.  
  
“It wouldn’t have been a problem to drive there to pick you up, though,” Jayden argued softly, still smiling down at Noah. There weren’t many customers in the store at the moment, and two other colleagues were there as well, so it was okay for Jayden to talk with Noah for a few minutes.  
  
“I know, but I wanted to come to the mall anyway,” Noah murmured, glancing to his side before looking up at Jayden again. “And she’s staring at you… That girl.” He made a discrete gesture in the direction of the female demon from earlier, glaring at her out of the corner of his eyes when he saw her looking over at Jayden and checking him out.  
  
Jayden glanced over at the girl in question, seeing her look away quickly when she was caught staring. Jayden frowned a bit. “Oh. I hadn’t noticed.”  
  
“How can you not notice that? She’s been staring at your crotch and your wings the whole time, even when you talked to her,” Noah muttered, a soft growl coming from him.  
  
Jayden blinked at him before laughing. “Are you jealous?” he teased, grinning at his mate in amusement.  
  
Noah blushed and gave Jayden a light shove. “No! Well, yes… You’re _my_ mate, after all.”  
  
“Yeah, I am, and I’m not interested in anyone else but you. I don’t care about her staring at me, and it certainly won’t make me pay her much attention in return. You should know that, silly.” Jayden put his hand under Noah’s chin, gently lifting the submissive’s head to make him look at him. He smiled warmly at Noah and saw him blush a bit.  
  
“I know. I just don’t like it when girls or other submissives stare at you like that…” Noah murmured, averting Jayden’s eyes as his face flushed a bit brighter.  
  
Jayden chuckled fondly at him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. “Well, know this; I’m not staring back at them, so it doesn’t matter that they are staring at me. They can stare at my crotch all they want, but what’s inside my pants only reacts to you.”  
  
Noah blushed heavily at that, paranoid that someone else had heard Jayden say those things, but it didn’t seem to be the case. Noah knew that Jayden was faithful to him and wouldn’t touch anyone else, but he couldn’t help but feel insecure sometimes when he caught others staring at his mate, especially if the person was attractive too. Some part deep inside him was scared that someone would catch’s Jayden’s eye, and he couldn’t bear having Jayden look at someone else the way he always looked at Noah.  
  
“Hey, Jay!” Jayden’s human female colleague called from the register. “New customers,” she said, gesturing towards the entrance to the shop where three guys had just entered the store and looked like they needed some assistance.  
  
Jayden gestured at her that he had heard her, and then turned to look at Noah again. “Sorry, I gotta get back to work.”  
  
“Okay,” Noah smiled. “I’ll go around the mall and maybe shop a bit. I’ll come back when you’re off work.”  
  
“Alright, see you in half an hour,” Jayden grinned, pressing a quick kiss to Noah’s lips before the submissive left.  
  
Noah turned to leave and smiled over his shoulder at Jayden. He spotted the demon girl from earlier staring at him as he left the store, and Noah couldn’t help but feel a bit of satisfaction when he could see her back down a bit. She knew now that Jayden was taken, so hopefully she wouldn’t eye him like that anymore.  
  
  


***

  
  
Micah picked them up at 5:45pm and drove them home. He and Leila had been home since 4:30, though Micah had driven alone to the mall to pick them up. Laura had stayed at a friend’s house that afternoon and they picked her up on the way. The girl was excited about being home alone with Noah and Jayden that night, especially since Micah and Leila had allowed them to order pizza and watch movies for as long as they wanted.  
  
It was 6:12pm when they arrived at the house, and Micah quickly began getting ready to go out. Leila was already dressed, but she needed to fix a few things about her hair before going out. They were attending a friend’s birthday party that night, so they had to be properly dressed and get the presents ready before leaving.  
  
Jayden chuckled as he heard his mother shriek and giggle as his father chased her up to the master bedroom in a playful manner, as the two got ready to leave.  
  
Laura giggled at her parents before jumping into the dining room, calling for Mr. Giggles who was usually lying inside his ‘cat castle’ in the corner of the dining room.  
  
Jayden smiled as he watched his sister go, and stepped closer to Noah who had just gotten out of his shoes and put his bag away in the corner of the entrance hall. Jayden put his hands on the submissive’s hips and leaned down to kiss him, humming in approval when the kiss was returned with eager.   
  
It had been over a week since they had last seen each other, so they had a lot of kissing to make up for. With Jayden working now, they couldn’t meet up that often in the afternoons anymore, so when they met it was usually in the evening or on the weekends. It had put a bit of strain on their relationship since they saw each other less, but it was still working out between them. It just made them even happier to see each other when they met up after such a long time of not being together.  
  
Their kiss was slow and passionate, and Noah’s hands pulled absently at Jayden’s shirt as their mouths and tongues connected and played together. Tasting each other again after such a long time felt good, and the bond pulsed happily inside them.  
  
Jayden was still a bit upset about the incident with Janine earlier that day, but holding Noah close and kissing him made him feel better. He ran his hand through the submissive’s slightly rough feathers, feeling Noah moan into his mouth and buck his hips forward a bit. The alpha grinned, still teasing Noah’s lips with his own lips, his teeth, and his tongue, and didn’t let go of those feathers.  
  
“Ah, stop. I can’t…” Noah gasped, pulling away from Jayden’s lips to catch his breath. He was starting to get aroused from Jayden’s touches and their passionate kisses, which was very inappropriate considering that Jayden’s parents or sister could walk in on them at any time.  
  
Jayden chuckled and pressed his forehead against Noah’s, having to lean down to reach him. “That’s a pity. You’re starting to smell real good.” He inhaled Noah’s scent through his nose, smelling the hints of honey and cinnamon which always indicated that Noah was aroused.  
  
“You’re a jerk. You did that on purpose,” Noah grumbled, pushing Jayden back and got out of his hold.  
  
The alpha leaned his head back, laughing. “Sorry. I’ve just really missed that scent. I’ve missed _you._ ”  
  
Noah’s face softened. “I’ve missed you too.”  
  
Jayden grinned and curled his tail next to his leg. “So, how was your week?”  
  
Noah shrugged. “It was okay. Finals are in May and June, and I really hate studying for them. Oh, and Adrian and Natalie were there at my parents’ house last weekend. They are gonna have a baby,” he grinned.  
  
Jayden’s eyes widened. “Wow, really? That’s great for them.” He grinned at the good news, his tail curling happily next to him.  
  
Noah smiled widely, feeling happy for his brother that he was going to be a father again. “Yeah, it’s really great. Adrian is very excited.”  
  
“I can imagine. He did tell me a few months ago that they were planning to have another baby.”  
  
“Oh? I didn’t know, but I had kind of expected it. And Maya was very excited and happy about being a big sister soon.” Noah grinned and flared his wings happily behind him.  
  
“Until the baby starts to steal her toys, at least,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Noah laughed, though he didn’t know what it was like to have a younger sibling; he only had older ones.  
  
“Which reminds me; how is Lucas doing? Is anything happening between him and Caleb yet?” Jayden asked. He hadn’t heard any news about Lucas since January, where Noah had told him about what had happened in the cinema and that Caleb and Lucas had started talking more in school since then.  
  
“I’m not sure. I think that for now they’re just really good friends. Lucas is starting to open up to Caleb more, and he’s been quite happy since the two of them started talking…” Noah smiled when he remembered the last time he had seen Lucas, which was a few weeks ago, and where the other submissive kept telling him about the things he and Caleb had done together. They had been to the park and stuff, which was really nice progress for Lucas who had a hard time trusting others.  
  
“It was about time,” Jayden grinned.  
  
Noah chuckled in agreement.  
  
They heard a loud noise from the dining room, and Jayden was immediately on alert. They quickly went into the dining room to see what Laura was doing and if she was okay, and found her playing with Mr. Giggles. She was using a long stick with a toy attached to it on a line to make the cat jump around like crazy.  
  
“What was that noise?” Jayden demanded, looking around the room to see if anything was broken.  
  
Laura glanced over at him and Noah, lowering her gaze a bit in shame. “Um, I just bumped pretty hard into one of the chairs while I was busy playing with Mr. Giggles… It probably looked really stupid.”  
  
Jayden’s wings slumped in relief, and Noah chuckled a bit at Laura’s words.  
  
“Jeez. Be careful, you little dummy,” Jayden said, fondness in his voice.  
  
“ _You’re_ the dummy!” Laura retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.  
  
Noah giggled at them, and watched as Mr. Giggles caught the bait with his paws. The cat chewed on the fluffy toy for a few seconds before getting bored. He yawned and walked back over to his little castle, disappearing into it.  
  
“Nooo! Why are going back into your castle? I’m trying to play with you,” Laura whined, getting down on all fours to peek into the cat’s hiding place, but the cat refused to come out. He was just lying in there and licking his paws nonchalantly.  
  
Jayden laughed. “’Cause he’s a lazy, fat cat, that’s why.”  
  
Noah frowned. “He’s not that fat.”  
  
“He is, a bit. Dad says it’s ‘cause he has no balls anymore, so he eats to feel more manly,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Laura got up and frowned at her brother in confusion. “What were his balls for anyway?”  
  
“To help make kittens with, but he won’t need to do that.” Jayden reached out ruffled Laura’s hair a bit, while Noah blushed somewhat next to him.  
  
Laura swatted his hand away, continuing to stare at Jayden in confusion and curiosity. “How does that work?” She squinted her eyes and titled her head a bit, the frown on her forehead deepening as she tried to figure it out.  
  
Jayden shifted awkwardly and coughed once. “That’s… Go ask mom and dad. I don’t wanna explain that.”  
  
Laura turned to look at Noah then. “Do _you_ know?”  
  
Noah blushed, looking away in embarrassment. “I… Yes, but your parents should explain that, not me.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Jeez, Laura, you’re such a little brat,” Jayden groaned, and gave her a small slap on the leg with his tail. His voice was fond as he spoke, and he tried not to let his face flush from the sudden awkwardness.  
  
“ _You’re_ the brat! Why won’t you tell me?” Laura complained, and pushed her body into Jayden to try to knock him back. Her brother just laughed and refused to tell her.  
  
That was when Leila and Micah entered the room, all dressed up for going out.  
  
Micah adjusted the collar of his shirt while glancing over at them curiously. “Jayden won’t tell you what?” he asked, having only heard Laura’s last sentence when he entered the room.  
  
“He won’t tell me how kittens and babies are made!” Laura blurted, pointing at Jayden in accusation. “And neither will Noah.”  
  
Micah looked a bit stunned that they were talking about such things, and Leila laughed in amusement next to him.  
  
“Well, they’ll have plenty of time to explain that while your father and I are gone,” Leila spoke, sending a smug smirk in Jayden and Noah’s direction.  
  
Jayden’s eyes widened in horror. “What?! No way; _you’re_ her parents – _you_ tell her!”  
  
“Oh c’mon, Connor. You and Noah are more than qualified to explain that, and your father and I are in a hurry now. We’re gonna be late.”  
  
Noah stared at them in mortification at the prospect of having to explain the birds and the bees to Jayden’s 10-year-old sister.  
  
“She’s too young to know anyway,” Jayden argued.  
  
“I’m 10!” Laura groused, crossing her arms in offense.  
  
Micah laughed. “She’s old enough. You were also 9 or 10 when we explained it to you.” He adjusted the rest of his clothes and then went over to hug them all goodbye. “We’re going now. See you guys tomorrow, as we’ll be sleeping over at Charles’ place.”  
  
“Bye, daddy!” Laura cheered as she hugged him tight.  
  
Leila too came over to hug them, and she smiled fondly at Noah after pulling back. “Make sure that the two of them behave, yeah?”  
  
Noah chuckled. “Of course.”  
  
Leila then turned to look at Jayden, her expression becoming firmer. “And be sure to explain things to Laura in a nice way. She’s only 10.”  
  
Jayden groaned and slowly followed his parents into the entrance hall, where they started putting on their shoes. “I still don’t see why Noah and I need to be the ones to explain it to her.” He scowled down at Laura when she looked all smug about it.  
  
“Don’t be like that. You two will do great with making her understand it. Besides, I doubt she’ll leave you alone for the rest of the night anyway unless you tell her.” Leila glanced down at Laura to show her point, since Laura was already looking all stubborn and eager to finally know what everything was about. There was no way the girl was going to let the subject go now.  
  
Jayden let out another loud groan, and Noah too wasn’t very impressed with the embarrassing task they had gotten.  
  
Micah and Leila waved goodbye at them before leaving the house, shutting and locking the door after themselves, and leaving Noah and Jayden alone with a very hyped Laura.  
  
“Tell me, tell me, tell me!” Laura cheered, jumping up and down in front of the door.  
  
“Don’t be so eager about it, you’re just gonna think it’s gross anyway,” Jayden told her.  
  
“Why? Why is it gross?” Laura asked, frowning at them both.  
  
Jayden and Noah shared a helpless look, not knowing what to say or where to start.  
  
“Don’t look at _me;_ she’s _your_ sister,” Noah murmured.  
  
Jayden groaned and ran a hand down his face, not knowing what to say.  
  
“Why did the vet take Mr. Giggles’ balls to stop him from having kittens?” Laura asked, helping them along a bit.  
  
Jayden ran an awkward hand through his hair. “Well, that’s because, uh, male species have their sperm in there, and without the sperm they can’t make kids.”  
  
Laura stared at him with squinted eyes. She glanced at Noah before looking at her brother again. “You said ‘male’. Noah is not a male, is he? So he doesn’t have it? But he has balls, no?” She giggled awkwardly, and Noah’s face flushed bright red when she said that.  
  
“Yeah, he has balls, but there’s nothing in them. Only males – meaning alphas, betas, and male humans and hybrids, and male animals – produce sperm. Submissives don’t.”  
  
“Do girls and submissives not need that sporm-sprem-sperm-whatever stuff to make babies?” Laura asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar word. She knew a bit about what it was, but not much.  
  
“No, girls and submissives have, um, eggs instead.”  
  
“Eggs?” Laura repeated, frowning in total confusion because she immediately thought about chicken eggs.  
  
“Not like chicken eggs,” Jayden said when he could see what she was thinking. He groaned and sighed deeply before moving on. “Okay, so you know that girls and boys look different between the legs, right?”  
  
Laura nodded.  
  
“Well, when they want to have a baby together, the boy and girl parts must connect – meaning that, um, the boy will put his penis inside the girl or the submissive and release his sperm into them, which then reaches the eggs inside and fertilizes one or more of them.” Jayden made a face, feeling more awkward than ever having to explain these things to his little sister. Noah was standing next to him, staring at the floor and his feet in embarrassment.  
  
Laura’s jaw dropped. “You mean the boy puts his penis into a girl’s vagina?!” she blurted in disbelief. “How does that even _fit?_ ”  
  
Jayden wanted to laugh at her confused face if not for the awkward situation. “Well, a girl is pretty stretchy down there. Remember that it’s where the baby comes out too,” he said, chuckling a bit.  
  
Laura grimaced. “Ew! And what about with Noah? He doesn’t have a vagina. Or does he?”  
  
Noah’s cheeks flushed even brighter with embarrassment when they both turned to look at him.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “No, he doesn’t, that’s why it goes into a submissive’s butt instead.”  
  
Laura gasped. “What?!”  
  
“Their butts are different than ours. They are a bit like vaginas, actually,” Jayden explained, and couldn’t help but snicker at Laura’s shocked face and Noah’s embarrassed one.  
  
The look on Laura’s face was almost comical. “I hope for Noah that you’ll never make a baby then.”  
  
Jayden laughed out loud, feeling some of the awkwardness he felt earlier be replaced a bit with amusement instead. “You don’t do that only when you want to make a baby, Laura. Couples do it all the time. A baby is only made if a girl or a sub is in the right part of their mating cycle or if they don’t use protection, and both girls and subs can take medication to stop their bodies from having a baby so that they can have sex anyways. And then you can use condoms, of course.”  
  
“You mean you’ve actually _done_ that with each other?!” Laura exclaimed, staring at them in horror. “Ew!”  
  
“I told you that you’d find it gross,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Noah felt so embarrassed, especially with the way Laura was staring at him now. He wrapped his wings a bit around himself, trying hide behind them, and wished that the floor would just swallow him whole. Talking about sex had always been embarrassing to Noah, and especially if it involved himself.  
  
“Doesn’t it hurt?” Laura asked Noah, cringing.  
  
Noah stared back at her in surprise before slowly shaking his head, his cheeks still red. “No… It, um, feels nice, actually.”  
  
“Oh. How can that feel _nice?_ ”  
  
“Because genitals are very sensitive, and we are made to enjoy sex,” Jayden explained, feeling a bit awkward again. “If it was hurting us to have sex, we wouldn’t be doing it. Pretty much every couple has sex multiple times a week or every month; it’s completely normal.”  
  
“Oh.” Laura considered that for a bit and glanced between them with a calculating look on her face. She suddenly started giggling like mad. “So that’s what you’re doing in your room sometimes? You put your penis into Noah?”  
  
Now it was Jayden’s turn to blush. “Um, yeah, sometimes. And jeez, Laura, you can’t just say things like that!”  
  
Laura just giggled a bit, looking like she didn’t know if she should still be disgusted or find it funny. “I still find it a bit gross. But how exactly do babies come out of _that?_ It’s so confusing.”  
  
“Um, well, when the sperm and egg connect they just melt together and mix the DNA of the boy and the girl or sub. And then the cells begin to grow into a baby, which gets bigger and bigger inside its mother’s stomach. That’s basically it,” Jayden spoke. “Mr. Giggles just can’t make kittens anymore because the vet clipped his balls, so his body doesn’t produce sperm. It’s also what makes him so lazy too.”  
  
“Poor Mr. Giggles…” Laura said, feeling a bit sorry for the cat.  
  
“Yeah, poor Mr. Giggles. I’m glad I’m not him,” Jayden chuckled, and reached out to ruffle Laura’s hair fondly. “Just remember that you can’t have sex with anyone until you’re at least 15 years old. And in that case, make the guy use a condom, or you can get diseases or babies from it.”  
  
Laura glared at him as she shied away from his hand. “You can get diseases from that?”  
  
“If the other person has a disease, then yes. But neither Noah or I have them,” he added when he could see that Laura was about to ask. “And if you ever get a boyfriend, don’t sleep with him unless dad and I approve of the guy. Or girlfriend, if you happen to like girls instead.”  
  
Noah chuckled as Jayden suddenly got protective of his sister. He had always known that Jayden would want to approve of Laura’s future boyfriend before he would allow the guy to sleep with his sister. Laura was 10 already, so there weren’t many years left until that time would come.  
  
“Hmm, I think I like boys. But doing that with them is just kinda gross to me,” Laura spoke, scrunching her nose in a grimace.  
  
Noah chuckled softly at her. “You’re still too young anyway.”  
  
Jayden nodded in agreement. “And if you have more questions, go ask mom and dad. I’m done explaining this,” he said, leaving the entrance hall to go to the kitchen and get something to drink. He just needed to get away from the awkwardness already, and it was making him thirsty as hell too.  
  
Noah moved to follow him, and Laura just giggled and jumped after them.  
  
“Can we order pizza now, please? I’m hungry, and I wanna watch movies,” Laura begged, following them both into the kitchen and watched as Jayden grabbed three glasses so they could all have something to drink.  
  
“Sure. I’m hungry too,” Jayden said, grinning. He looked over at Noah who seemed just as relieved as him that the subject had been switched to food now.  
  
They drank some juice together until Laura went into the living room to watch TV while Jayden called to order pizza. They all wanted different kinds, so he ordered three and hoped that Laura would be able to eat most of hers. If not, they could just save it in the fridge for later.  
  
After Jayden had made the call, he turned around and smiled at Noah, who was looking at some newspaper lying on the kitchen counter. Jayden went over to him, startling him a bit when he ran his hand through the submissive’s delicate feathers.  
  
“That was really awkward,” Noah murmured, referring to earlier. He hummed as Jayden played a bit with his feathers, and bared his neck when the alpha leaned down to kiss him there and nibble his ear playfully.  
  
“Yeah, it really was. Still annoyed that we had to be the ones to explain it to her, though,” Jayden spoke, nuzzling Noah with affection.  
  
Noah smiled. “I think it went pretty well. I just hope that we, um, won’t ever have to explain that again.”  
  
Jayden chuckled against Noah’s neck, which was still bared to him. “If we have kids, then we’ll have to explain it to them too someday.”  
  
Noah gave a disgruntled groan, which made Jayden laugh and pull back from him. The alpha stared down at his mate with a loving smile, and moved gentle hands down his feathers, arms, and then his stomach. Noah shivered, and he shied away when Jayden’s fingers slipped in under his shirt to touch the skin on his belly.  
  
“It tickles,” Noah complained, staring up at Jayden with an annoyed scowl.  
  
The alpha laughed. “Sorry. I just like touching you. You’re so soft.”  
  
Noah blushed and stared up at him from under his lashes. “Wait until we go to your room, then.”  
  
“Mm, yes, then I’ll touch you all over,” Jayden purred, leaning down to nuzzle Noah’s cheek and jaw.  
  
“I hope you’ll do more than just touch me,” Noah murmured back, giggling as Jayden’s nose tickled him a bit.  
  
The alpha laughed and grinned down at Noah challengingly. “Oh, you bet I will.”  
  
Noah grinned back, his wings flaring a bit in excitement.  
  
They suddenly heard a small giggle over by the kitchen door, and looked over to see Laura peeking into the room at them. “I also think Jayden will do more than just touching.”  
  
Noah blushed furiously.  
  
“Laura!” Jayden growled, stepping away from Noah and blushing because his sister had heard what they had been talking about. “What did I tell you about listening to other people’s conversations? Mom and dad are gonna be mad when they hear about it!”  
  
“But you won’t tell them ‘cause you’re embarrassed!” Laura retorted, sticking at her tongue at him before shrieking and running into the living room when he growled.  
  
Jayden growled at his sister but didn’t pursue her. His tail moved back and forth in agitation, and Noah couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at him.  
  
“Sometimes I think she wants to annoy me on purpose,” Jayden spoke, sighing in frustration.  
  
Noah snickered. “Yeah, I think so too. It’s a good way to get your attention.”  
  
Jayde just sighed at that. Noah smiled, grabbing his hand and squeezing it before going into the living room with him to join Laura by the TV. It was time for them to find a nice movie to watch on Netflix, since the pizza would be there soon.  
  
Noah felt a little awkward around Laura now after she had heard their private conversation, but the girl just snickered at them and didn’t make any further comments about it.  
  
  


***

  
  
They ended up watching a fantasy movie with dragons. It was a real life movie, and the special effects were good. Jayden had been skeptic at first about the quality of the special effects, but Laura really wanted to see it and Noah too thought it sounded interesting, so they had watched it anyway. Luckily Jayden was positively surprised by it.  
  
After the movie ended they watched another one – this time an animation movie from Disney. It was pretty good as well, and Noah and Laura both liked it a lot. Jayden thought the plot was a bit thin, but didn’t think it was bad either. He mostly enjoyed watching Laura and Noah poke each other teasingly during the movie, and chuckled at how childish they were being. He liked to watch them interact, and Laura really liked Noah a lot.  
  
“Man, that was a good movie!” Laura cheered after the second movie had ended. It was 10:45pm already, and Laura was up way past her usual bedtime. She had been sitting between Jayden and Noah for the past hour because she got tired of watching them hold hands and kiss in front of her sometimes.  
  
Noah chuckled at her cheery mood. “Yeah, it was pretty good. Both movies were.”  
  
“Well, they weren’t bad,” Jayden said, pushing Laura away when she tried to sit on his tail. “And I think it’s time for you to go to bed, young lady.”  
  
“Not before I tickle your feet!” Laura grinned, moving off the couch to sit down on the floor so she could reach Jayden’s feet. Her brother jerked and tried to shake her hands off when she grabbed his right foot, trying to tickle him.  
  
“Hey! Stop that, you little brat,” Jayden growled playfully, kicking his legs back and forth to make it harder for her to tickle him. Laura just laughed and tried to latch on to his leg, which only made him try harder to shake her off.  
  
Noah laughed as he watched them. “You two are so childish.”  
  
Jayden just grunted, busy trying to shake his sister off, but she was stubborn.  
  
“Noah, help!” Laura called, laughing so hard as she battled with Jayden and tried to get to his feet.  
  
Noah grinned wickedly and moved over to sit on top of Jayden’s thighs with his back to him, and at the same time pressed his hands against the alpha’s knees to make it harder for him to kick his legs.  
  
“Hey!” Jayden complained. He quickly swallowed his protest when he realized that Noah’s position gave him a nice view of the submissive’s spread out wings and his back. He could almost see the crack of Noah’s butt because his pants were hanging low and his shirt rode up a bit as he leaned forward, revealing some of his skin to Jayden. Jayden groaned when he felt his dick twitch at the sight, and he had to force himself not to get hard.  
  
Laura then finally got better access to Jayden’s feet and started tickling, making Jayden jump and yelp in surprise. The embarrassing noise that came from him made Noah laugh, and Jayden squirmed like mad when his sister continued to tickle his feet, which was one of the only places on his body where he was ticklish.  
  
“I’ll show you what’s funny,” Jayden threatened in a playful manner. He reached out and wrapped his arms around Noah’s body, and then pulled back so that he was leaning back into the couch, dragging Noah with him. His mate shrieked as Jayden then started tickling him all over his stomach while he had him trapped, and Noah’s wings thrashed and hit Jayden’s own in the confined space.  
  
“Nooo! Stop it! Let go!” Noah shrieked, laughing and kicking violently.  
  
Jayden just grinned. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Noah’s neck before finally letting him go.  
  
Noah rolled away fast to avoid getting tickled again, and Laura – who had been laughing her ass off during the whole scene – now had to run because Jayden got up and tried to grab her next. Jayden quickly caught her though, and lifted her up. The girl shrieked, laughed, and kicked her feet, and her shrieking got louder when Jayden started tickling her while he was holding her against his chest.  
  
“Nooo! Please stop! I’ll never tickle you again! I swear!” Laura laughed, tears rolling down her cheeks from laughing so much. Her wings thrashed against Jayden, who had to watch out that her feathers didn’t poke him in the eye.  
  
“You promise?” Jayden asked, still tickling her with all his might.  
  
“Yes!” she shrieked loudly, struggling to get free.  
  
Jayden finally stopped and put her back down on the floor. Laura panted to catch her breath, but was grinning like mad after the fun they had had. Jayden just chuckled and touched tails with her.  
  
“I think we scared the living crap outta Mr. Giggles,” Laura giggled then, glancing over at the cat castle which the cat had once more disappeared into. He had been lying on the couch with them earlier and had let Noah pet him, but had taken shelter when all the tickling began.  
  
“Yeah, he’s probably wondering why he has to share houses with such weirdos,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Noah laughed behind them. “I think he has gotten used to it by now.”  
  
“Oi,” Jayden warned him playfully, grinning over his shoulder at him.  
  
Laura just giggled.  
  
Jayden left the room to use the bathroom and told Laura to start getting ready for bed. She was less pleased about that because she was so hyped up, but her hyperness was slowly beginning to turn into sleepiness instead.  
  
Noah and Laura carried their empty coke cans into the kitchen to get rid of them. Jayden had thrown the pizza packages out earlier to avoid having them make the living room smell like pizza all night.  
  
“Isn’t it awkward? To be naked in bed with someone?” Laura asked all of sudden while she and Noah were getting rid of the cans in the kitchen.  
  
Noah blinked down at her in surprise. “Um, I thought it was pretty embarrassing and awkward at first, and it sometimes still is, but I’ve gotten used to it now.”  
  
“I never wanna see Jayden naked,” Laura murmured, her face scrunching up in disgust.  
  
Noah laughed at her. “He’s your brother; you’re not meant to see him without clothes on. I don’t wanna see my brothers naked either. _Ever._ ”  
  
Laura snickered at that. “Does it really not hurt when you and Jayden do… _that?_ ” she asked, caution in her voice as though she wasn’t sure if she could ask Noah this or not.  
  
Noah suppressed a blush. “No, it doesn’t. It hurt a bit the first time, and sometimes it still does if we’re not careful, but it’s a, um, good kind of hurt. You shouldn’t be too scared to try it when you grow up.”  
  
“If I ever wanna try it! I heard that guys shoot nasty fluid from their penises! That’s gross!”  
  
Noah laughed. “It’s not that gross,” he argued.  
  
Laura was about to say something else when they heard Jayden exit the bathroom and walk over to the kitchen. She closed her mouth again, not wanting to get caught talking about this stuff with Noah.  
  
Jayden appeared in the doorway, raising an eyebrow at his sister who was still not ready for bed. “Are you still not in bed?”  
  
“Mommy and daddy said I could stay up late!” Laura argued.  
  
“Well, it _is_ late. It’s almost 11. You’re gonna become a zombie soon if you don’t find your bed.”  
  
“You don’t become a zombie from that! You die and _then_ you become a zombie.”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Okay, smart-ass. Just go brush your teeth.”  
  
Laura snorted and walked past him to head for the bathroom. Jayden swatted her leg with his tail playfully as she passed him, making her gasp and gave him a harsh shove before walking out of the room with her chin held high.  
  
Noah snickered at the scene, and smiled when Jayden came over to him.  
  
“Wanna head up to bed too?” Jayden asked, crowding Noah against the kitchen counter and put his hands on those gorgeous hips. He leaned down and pressed their foreheads together, staring into the depths of Noah’s blue eyes.  
  
Noah’s lips curled into a smile, and he nodded a bit against Jayden. “Yes,” he agreed, knowing full well what Jayden was suggesting.  
  
The alpha grinned and rubbed their noses together before pulling back.  
  
They headed upstairs and went into Laura’s room to tuck her in when she was finally in bed. Jayden checked her room for spiders, as she was a bit paranoid about them after the incident that morning, but the room turned out to be spider-free.  
  
  


***

  
  
After Laura was in bed and they had gone downstairs to lock everything up, they finally went to Jayden’s room to have some privacy.  
  
Noah quickly put his bag on the floor, and turned on his heels to walk over to Jayden and pull him down for a kiss. He wrapped his arms around the alpha’s neck, moaning in approval when Jayden returned the kiss hungrily and began touching his body and feathers.  
  
“Fuck, I’ve missed you so much,” Jayden breathed between kisses, unable to stop touching his mate’s gorgeous body all over. He ran his hands through the feathers, across his back, ass, and stomach, and desperately pulled him closer to himself.  
  
Noah mewled into his mouth, giving off a sweet scent of honey as he started getting aroused. He shifted impatiently, and finally moved one hand away from around Jayden’s neck to move it down towards the alpha’s pants instead. He fumbled to unbutton the pants and pull the zipper down, and Jayden let out a groan of relief when pressure against his hardened cock disappeared as Noah unzipped his pants for him.  
  
They mouths were still connected in a hungry kiss as they began undressing each other, only pulling away to throw off their clothes. Noah moaned and shuddered when Jayden’s hands played a bit with his oil glands as he unbuttoned his shirt, but the alpha didn’t waste much time before pulling the shirt off him.  
  
Underwear was next, and once they were both fully naked, Jayden pulled Noah into another deep kiss and pressed their bodies together. His erection poked against Noah’s abdomen and stomach, while Noah’s own erection was bumping into Jayden’s thighs all the time. The submissive began rubbing himself against Jayden, trying to get some friction for them both, and Jayden thought it was fucking hot.  
  
Suddenly Jayden pulled away from the kiss and gently pushed Noah onto the bed.  
  
Noah was about to settle on his usual position on his back with his legs and wings spread, but Jayden gently nudged him and urged him to roll over instead. Noah obeyed and rolled over on his stomach, moaning as his dick got pressed into the soft sheets under him. He barely had time to think before Jayden was on the bed behind him, grabbed a hold of his buttocks and pried them apart, before burying his tongue deep inside him.  
  
Noah jolted at the unexpected pleasure, a loud gasp escaping from his lips as he felt Jayden’s tongue enter him in one quick move. “ _Ah!_ C-Connor! Oh!” He moaned and buried his face in the bed, his hands desperately grasping at the sheets as Jayden pleasured his leaking hole.  
  
Jayden wasted no time and began eating Noah out like never before. He sucked on his hole, licked it, and thrust his tongue inside, and he was rewarded as more and more of Noah’s natural lubricant began leaking out. It wasted nice on Jayden’s tongue, and he couldn’t help but moan and purr while he pleasured his mate. Noah was trying to push back into his face, but Jayden used the hands on Noah’s ass to keep him still. His fingers were digging into the creamy skin, leaving pretty bruises on that perfect ass.  
  
Noah was moaning and mewling uncontrollably, and the loudest noises came when Jayden sucked on his hole and tickled it with his tongue. His wings were flapping helplessly against the bed, and he tried to keep his noises down by biting into the sheets, afraid that he was so loud that Laura could hear him.  
  
“C-Connor, _please._ ”  
  
Jayden grinned as he lay between Noah’s trembling legs, feeling pretty smug that he was causing all those noises and tremors. He knew what Noah was asking for, so he pulled his face away from the pink hole, which was fluttering and twitching so prettily now. He finally moved a finger into Noah, starting to stretch him for his cock. He tried to hurry up a bit since his cock was so hard and aching from neglect now that it was almost unbearable.  
  
One finger turned to two and three, and when Noah’s body was ready Jayden finally pulled his fingers out and got up to sit on his knees. He patted Noah’s ass a few times to get his attention. “Up. All fours,” he ordered gently, smirking as he watched Noah scramble to comply.  
  
Noah’s limbs were trembling in arousal as he got up on his hands and knees, and his wings lowered and spread out in submission as he presented his ass to his mate. He was blushing madly, since this was the position that made him most self-conscious about his body, because Jayden could see _all_ of him now.  
  
The alpha hummed in appreciation, running one hand over the globe of Noah’s butt. He used his thumb to pull the buttock back a little, revealing the small, pink hole to him. It was a gorgeous sight, and he loved seeing all the slick running out of it, coating Noah’s thighs and his small balls in a shining, slick layer. The more slick, the more aroused Noah was, and Jayden was pleased to see a rather large amount of slick coming from him today.  
  
The submissive groaned and wriggled his ass impatiently. “Stop staring at me like that; it’s embarrassing.”  
  
Jayden laughed fondly and gave Noah’s butt a few gentle pats. “But you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed.”  
  
“Stop it,” Noah whined, shooting Jayden a small glare over his shoulder because the alpha only made him even more embarrassed by saying that.  
  
Jayden just laughed fondly at him before moving into position. Noah lowered his upper body a bit and lifted his ass up higher, a gesture that was very much appreciated by Jayden. The alpha grabbed a hold of his already leaking cock, and began teasing the head against Noah’s hole. The precome got smeared off onto Noah’s skin and against his hole, making Jayden hum in approval. The small hole fluttered and twitched every time the head of Jayden’s cock nudged it, and he knew that if he pressed just a bit of his dick inside, the hole would try to swallow all of him. The knowledge only increased Jayden’s arousal, and he grunted at the painful twitch his cock gave.  
  
Not wanting to waste more time and feel his dick and balls ache with need, Jayden quickly pressed his cock into Noah’s waiting hole and bottomed out in one thrust.  
  
Noah screamed into the sheets, surprised by the sudden intrusion since Jayden had been teasing him for several moments already. His surprise quickly turned into pleased moans, grunts, and mewls as Jayden set a hard pace and plunged into him over and over.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted as he stared down at where his cock was disappearing into Noah with every thrust. He could see the skin on Noah’s ass vibrate every time Jayden’s hips slammed into it, and the small hole was stretched obscenely wide to accommodate the alpha’s large cock. Sometimes Jayden couldn’t believe how Noah could just _take it_ like that.  
  
The alpha dug his fingers into Noah’s hips as he had his hands there to keep Noah steady and stopping him from thrusting back into him. He panted with effort as he fucked into him, and stared at how the sweat was pearling on Noah’s skin now. The sweat got mixed with wing oil as Noah’s oil glands began leaking profusely, and Jayden lifted his gaze to look at the glands. Noah’s wings were trembling and flapping as he moaned, but Jayden’s interest was just with the oil glands right now. He moved one hand away from Noah’s hips to touch the glands instead, gently pinching one of the buds between his fingers.  
  
Noah made a sudden, high-pitched yelp at the unexpected touch, and flinched slightly. “ _Ah!_ Not there, that’s… Oh god,” he moaned, dropping his head and opening his mouth in a silent gasp as Jayden continued to tease and pinch his oil glands.  
  
The alpha grinned, never stopping the brutal thrusts he was doing. “You like that?” he asked, rubbing his fingers against the sensitive oil gland, and watched as more oil flowed out.  
  
“Yes,” Noah moaned, shuddering when Jayden’s hand moved over to the other oil gland. “Jayden, _please._ I’m so close.”  
  
“I’m close too. You’re so fucking _tight_ and all wet,” Jayden grunted back, returning his hand to Noah’s hip so he could thrust into him even harder.   
  
Noah almost lost his balance as the hardness increased and sent him flying forward. He quickly regained his balance though, but struggled not to get pushed forward too much every time Jayden’s hips slammed into his own.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden cursed, feeling Noah’s inner muscles begin to tighten as the submissive was getting closer to his climax. “Don’t touch yourself. I want you to come from this,” he ordered when he could tell that Noah was about to move one hand off the bed to touch his neglected member.  
  
Noah whined, but obeyed. He lowered his upper body further and titled his head to the side in submission and in invitation for Jayden to mark him there.  
  
The alpha couldn’t deny that invitation. He leaned down over Noah’s back, using one hand to steady himself with on the bed, and kept thrusting ruthlessly into Noah as he closed his mouth around the delicate skin on his mate’s neck. He sucked small bruises into the skin and nibbled it playfully with his teeth. A small, dominant growl rumbled in his chest when Noah smiled and bared his neck further, and even started fucking _purring_ under him.  
  
Their orgasms were heavily on approach now, and it was Jayden who came first when he was no longer able to hold back. He growled his release into Noah’s neck as his dick twitched and pulsated inside Noah’s ass, flooding it with generous amounts and waves of his come.   
  
The sensation of Jayden’s coming inside him tipped Noah over the final edge. He cried out as he came, struggling to stay on his hands and knees as his dick twitched and spurted his release over the sheets under them. His body trembled through it, and when his pleasure was over he had to wait a few seconds until Jayden was done with his. He didn’t mind it, though. He could feel Jayden’s body pressing against his back and feel it tremble as the alpha emptied himself inside him. Jayden’s panted heavily through it, and he went limp on top of Noah when it was over.  
  
Noah fell down into the sheets then, unable to keep himself up anymore. He panted and tried to catch his breath again, and Jayden’s cock slipped free as Noah fell onto the bed.  
  
Jayden pulled away and sat back on his knees, staring at Noah’s boneless body and at the white come slowly leaking from his ass. “We made a mess of my sheets,” he murmured.  
  
Noah snorted into the bed, too lazy to move. “I know. You forgot towels.”  
  
“Well, I always have some in my room for these occasions, but I forgot to put some on the bed,” the alpha explained, chuckling. He took a deep breath and forced himself off from the bed to get the towels.  
  
When he returned, Jayden stared wiping them clean from sweat, come, and oil, though Noah wasn’t really moving on the bed at all.  
  
Jayden gave Noah a playful slap on the butt, watching him flinch. “Come on; get your sweet butt up from the bed. I need to change the sheets.”  
  
Noah groaned and reluctantly sat up. Jayden chuckled and grabbed his arm to help him up, and could then finally start changing the sheets. Noah helped him out a bit, though it was clear that the submissive was exhausted after the fucking Jayden had just given him.  
  
When the bed was clean they settled down onto it. Noah lay down so that his head was resting on Jayden’s broad shoulder with the alpha’s arm wrapped around his waist. They snuggled into each other and petted the other’s feathers lazily.  
  
Jayden stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes before suddenly asking, “How old were you when your parents gave you the sex-talk?”  
  
Noah opened his eyes, blinking them in surprise at the sudden question. “Um, I was 11, I think. I woke up one morning and felt my oil glands leaking, so I ran into my parents’ bedroom to ask what was happening.”  
  
Jayden chuckled, and Noah could feel the vibrations of it since he was snuggled up against him. “That must have frightened you a bit. They hadn’t leaked before?”  
  
“No, they first started leaking when my body, um, matured.” Noah squirmed and pressed his cheek into Jayden’s shoulder, quietly enjoying how Jayden’s fingers were playing absently with some of his feathers.  
  
“Ah, I see. You were pretty young when that happened, then.”  
  
“I guess, but my papa said that it happens to most submissives at that age.”  
  
“So it was Castiel who gave you the sex-talk, then?” Jayden asked, smirking.  
  
Noah blushed and nodded against him. “Yeah, it was. It was kind of awkward, really…”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, I can imagine. It was mostly my dad who explained it to me. I think was 10 or something. I already knew a bit about it since the kids at my school were talking about it when the teachers weren’t around. It was still awkward to have my dad explain such things to me, and I think he felt a bit weird about it too. Mom intervened a bit; she was actually better at explaining it than he was.”  
  
Noah chuckled. He slowly turned his head so that he could look at Jayden’s face. “And how old were you when your body, um, matured?” He blushed at the question and immediately felt awkward for asking it.  
  
The demon just chuckled and looked back down at him. “I was 12 when it happened, so it was bit later than you, age-wise. My feathers starting molding like mad when I began getting my sharp feathers, and it kind of freaked me out at first. And I had my first wet dream around that time too…”  
  
“Oh. I didn’t really have any wet dreams…”  
  
“I think they are most common with males,” Jayden chuckled, caressing Noah’s feathers fondly. “When _did_ you start having them?” he then asked, curiously.  
  
Noah blushed and tried to wrap his wing around himself. “Um, since soon after I met you again in high school…”  
  
Jayden grinned like idiot, his arm tightening around Noah’s waist. “Oh look at that. I’ve turned you on for longer than I knew.”  
  
“Shut up,” Noah muttered, hitting him on the chest to make him stop being so smug.  
  
Jayden just laughed and held Noah close. “Don’t worry. I had lots of wet dreams about you too at that time.”  
  
A pleased smile tugged on Noah’s lips, and he snuggled further into Jayden, feeling the alpha welcome the gesture.  
  
Jayden smiled. He pressed a kiss to the top of Noah’s head and started shifting and getting comfortable to go to sleep. He held Noah close and felt him smile as Jayden continued to pet his wing lovingly.  
  
They fell asleep soon afterwards, feeling their bond flare happily inside them and guide them into their slumber together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for the long wait! My beta was busy, so I couldn’t help it. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the more Jayden-oriented chapter since last chapter was mostly about Noah :) There’s going to be a small time jump in the next chapter, so Noah’s college years are soon coming to an end. I feel like I’m going at such a slow pace, and I’m starting to wonder exactly how long this story will be… XD;
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading :) I hope to be able to update a little faster next time.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To see the layout of Jayden's apartment, go [here](http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/b534/Luciel89/NoahandJaydensApartment_zps090f3d1e.png~original). You can also see other layouts and physical descriptions of the OCs on my [Fanfiction.net profile](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/672874/).

**September 2047 (Noah is 21, Jayden is 23, Christie is 21, Brandon is 21 (almost 22), Lucas is 19, Caleb is 18 years old).**  
  
“Don’t open your eyes yet,” Jayden spoke as he led Noah into his new apartment, walking behind him whilst keeping his hands over Noah’s eyes.  
  
Jayden had graduated from his culinary school in June and had gotten a job rather quickly. He had been fortunate that the restaurant which he had interned at for two months while he was a student had wanted to hire him. Not all students were hired by the place they interned at, so Jayden considered himself very lucky. The steakhouse restaurant was located in the city center’s large mall, which wasn’t too far from his new apartment.  
  
Jayden had been looking for an apartment in town for the past year and half. He had started early with looking for one since it could take a while to find an available apartment, and in early September he had finally found a nice place. The apartment had two bedrooms, a bathroom, living room, and a kitchen with a small balcony, and it was on the sixth floor of an apartment building, located near a nice park. Noah had been at the apartment to see it once before, because Jayden wanted him to approve of the place as well since they were planning to live in it together once Noah graduated. Jayden had spent the past two weeks painting the place and putting in some furniture, and his parents and grandparents had helped out, so it was the first time that Noah would see the apartment after all the change.  
  
“I can’t see anything because of your sweaty hands anyway,” Noah pointed out, chuckling. He spread his arms to orientate himself and make sure he didn’t bump into anything as Jayden guided him around while he was blind.  
  
“They’re not sweaty,” Jayden protested, chortling at him.  
  
Noah just smiled and let himself be guided into another room, almost bumping his wing into the doorframe, had it not been for Jayden using his own wing to protect Noah’s.   
  
Once they were in the room, Jayden’s slowly removed his hands from Noah’s eyes. “Okay, you may look now.”  
  
Noah finally opened his eyes, blinking a few times when the light hit his retina. He gasped when he found himself standing in the living room, which no longer looked big, empty, and in desperate need of a paintjob like it did last time Noah was there. It really nice now. The walls were painted in a creamy color, giving the room a light atmosphere but without making it look too clinical, and the wooden floor had been scrubbed and cleaned and was shining with freshness. There was furniture in the room too now – a nice 5-person couch, a couch table, two armchairs, a new and big flat-screen TV, and a large cabinet in the back for books, movies, etc. There were a few plants to give the room more life, and Noah guessed that it was Leila who had provided them. The right side of the room still looked incredibly empty, but Jayden had only just begun furnishing the place.  
  
“Do you like it?” Jayden asked, watching Noah in anticipation and curled his tail restlessly.  
  
Noah turned his head to look up at Jayden, a wide grin on his lips. “I love it.”  
  
Grinning, Jayden went forward and wrapped his arms around Noah’s body from behind. Noah’s wings spread out to give him more space, and Jayden crossed his arms over Noah’s chest, holding him tight against himself. “It still needs some more furniture, but that will come. Need to get some more money first…” He had been saving up for a long time, and the money he had gotten from his previous job in the clothing store had helped pay for a lot of the furniture. He almost hadn’t used any of that money since he had lived at his parents’ place until a few days ago, so he hadn’t had to pay rent or food.  
  
“Sorry that I can’t really help pay much of the stuff… I don’t have a job,” Noah murmured, feeling a bit ashamed that it was Jayden who had paid for everything when it was them both who’d be living there by next year.  
  
“Don’t worry about it. When you graduate and get a job, you can help me pay the rent, food, and other furniture that we might need. I bet you wanna add some more book shelves, pictures to hang on the walls, and silly stuff like that.”  
  
“It’s not ‘silly stuff’, you dumb cork-head. It helps give a home a nice atmosphere,” Noah argued, smoldering a bit in Jayden’s hold.  
  
Jayden laughed behind him. “Did I ever tell you that you suck at calling people names?”  
  
“That’s why I rarely do it,” Noah mumbled.  
  
The alpha just grinned and pressed a loving kiss to Noah’s cheek, while he enveloped Noah’s spread wings with his own.   
  
Jayden pulled away after a few moments. “Do you wanna see the other rooms as well?”  
  
“Of course,” Noah said, eagerly following Jayden into the hallway.  
  
They went to see the master bedroom, and Noah couldn’t help but blush when he saw the large, king-sized bed in there. He thought about how the bed was where he and Jayden would be having sex most often in the apartment, and that one day they would fall asleep in it side-by-side each night. It was probably also where they would conceive their future children. That thought especially made Noah’s cheeks flush bright pink.  
  
The bedroom also had Jayden’s desk from his room at his parents’ house, Jayden’s old flat-screen TV which he had had for about four years now, and a nice big wardrobe.  
  
“I hope you like the bed. I tested it before I bought it and it’s really good. It also has memory foam,” Jayden smirked.  
  
“I’m sure I’ll like it; it looks comfortable.”   
  
Noah glanced around the room, taking in the atmosphere and how it looked, and found that he quite liked it. The walls were painted in white, and the floor was made of light-colored wood. The window was large and you could see the nearby park from there, but Jayden had already put up dark curtains so that no one else could peek into the room at night. On the ceiling there was a fan installed, like in almost every other room in the apartment, since it could get pretty hot in the Californian summers.  
  
They then moved over to see the bathroom, which had both a bathtub and a shower. The tiles were a light color with some lines on them which formed flowers, but the lines were thin and didn’t make the room look darker because the tiles were a bit decorated. There was no window in there, but it had a high quality ventilation system to get rid of the moisture in the room.  
  
At the end of the hallway there was a small room in which there was a washing machine and a tumble dryer installed. The room was also used to deposit things such as brooms, cleaning articles, etc.  
  
Next, they moved into the kitchen, and Noah could see that Jayden had already put all the kitchen gear into the drawers. The kitchen cupboards were white and the counters were black, the walls and the tiles in the kitchen area were also white, and the floor was a light grey linoleum floor. Jayden had also a bought a nice table and chairs to eat at, and the design fit well into the room. At the end of the kitchen there was a door leading onto the balcony outside, which was rather spacious and very nice to sit on during the evening when the sun hit it.  
  
“I think the kitchen will mostly be my domain, though. I’ve tasted your cooking once and it wasn’t something to celebrate,” Jayden remarked, his lips curling into a teasing smirk as he looked at Noah.  
  
Noah immediately took offense at those words, and lashed out at Jayden to hit him on the arm. “Shut up! Why do you and my family always have to make fun of me? I can’t help it that I’m really bad at cooking,” he growled, smoldering at Jayden.  
  
Jayden laughed and rubbed Noah’s leg with his tail to calm him down. “I was only teasing you a bit; I didn’t mean anything by it.”  
  
“I know, but it makes me annoyed,” Noah muttered.  
  
“Sorry,” Jayden chuckled, slowly reaching out to rub Noah’s arm to calm him down and apologize. It helped, and it didn’t take long before Jayden could feel him relaxing.  
  
Noah looked around the kitchen a bit more before moving into the last room. It was a bedroom and it was mostly empty for now. The only things in the room at the moment were several boxes with unpacked stuff. Jayden was using the room to storage stuff in so far, since he wasn’t done putting everything into place yet. The boxes mostly contained clothes, shoes, movies, a few books, and lots of towels and cleaning rugs which his grandmother had given him and which he hadn’t put into place yet.  
  
Jayden leaned against the doorframe a bit and watched as Noah looked around the room. “Nothing much in here yet, but it should make a nice nursery someday.” He smiled softly and chuckled a little when he saw Noah’s face blush.  
  
“Yes. Someday,” Noah said, smiling sheepishly and glancing around the room once more.  
  
Jayden watched him until Noah turned around and slowly walked over to the door to him. Jayden pulled away from the doorframe and instead put his hands on Noah’s hips, smirking down at him. “So… You wanna help me christen the place after you’ve seen it now?”  
  
Noah blushed furiously, knowing what Jayden meant. He looked back up at Jayden’s face and decided he didn’t want his mate looking so smug and lecherous, so he put his hand on the back of Jayden’s neck and pulled him down for a deep kiss to wipe that smirk off his face.  
  
The alpha let out a pleased growl and kissed Noah back hungrily, immediately running possessive hands over his mate’s smaller body.  
  
Noah moaned into Jayden’s mouth, enjoying his mate touching him all over. Jayden knew exactly where to touch him to get the best reactions – on his wing bone, his ass, crotch, inner thighs, nipples, neck and jugular, and his stomach. Mostly the alpha was groping and grabbing his ass, giving it tight squeezes which made Noah’s head feel a little dizzy from arousal.  
  
Jayden slowly backed into the kitchen, dragging Noah with him. They were so caught up in kissing and groping each other that Noah barely noticed that they were near the kitchen counter by now. Jayden suddenly swirled them around so that it was Noah who was facing the counter with his back, and then lifted the submissive up and placed him on it.  
  
Noah whined at the loss when Jayden pulled away from the kiss, but his pupils dilated with interest when the alpha pried his legs apart and started taking off his pants. Noah helped him undo his pants, and lifted his butt up a little so that Jayden could get his pants and panties off him.  
  
Now Noah was sitting on the kitchen counter, naked from the waist down, and the surface of the counter felt cold against his bare ass. He shivered a bit at it, but the coldness and the feeling of being exposed were quickly forgotten when Jayden kneeled between his legs and glanced up at him with a smug smirk.  
  
The alpha ran his hands up and down Noah’s inner thighs, listening to his mate moan at the touch. Noah’s dick was hard, and it looked flushed and pretty as it curled up towards his stomach. Jayden could also smell the sweet scent of Noah’s slick, which was without doubt about to make a big mess of the counter, but they could clean that up afterwards.  
  
Jayden ran his hands over the milky, soft skin of Noah’s inner thighs a few more times, before leaning in and flicking his tongue teasingly over the head of Noah’s dick.  
  
Noah whined. “Fuck,” he gasped, so quietly that Jayden almost didn’t hear him.  
  
“Well, just a blowjob for now,” Jayden sassed with a cheeky grin, before finally taking the head of Noah’s member into his mouth.  
  
Noah gasped and put his hands on each side of him on the counter to steady himself, moaning as he felt Jayden’s mouth close around his dick and take all of him inside. His dick wasn’t big, which was actually a bonus for him because then Jayden could take it all the way in and suck it very pleasurably. “J-Jayden,” he moaned, letting his head roll back. His wings were spread out as well as they could be with the counter in the way, and they twitched every time Jayden’s tongue swirled over the head of his dick.  
  
Jayden just smirked up at him, sucking him harder. He kept running his hands over Noah’s inner thighs, which he knew the submissive liked a lot, and he moaned at the delicious taste of Noah inside his mouth. He was determined to make his mate come fast, so he moved one hand up and put it on Noah’s stomach under his shirt. He caressed the skin there, feeling Noah tremble at the touch. He then moved his hand up further, eventually reaching Noah’s left nipple. He gave it a small pinch, which made Noah jerk in surprise.  
  
“Ah!”  
  
Once more Jayden was feeling pretty smug about the reaction he got, and he continued teasing, pinching, and rubbing the nipple while he sucked and licked Noah’s member. It didn’t take long before the submissive’s body seized up and Noah came with a small cry. Jayden swallowed his release, humming at the salty and nice taste, and didn’t pull off until Noah went limp on the counter. He sat back with a satisfied smirk, wiping and licking his mouth clean.  
  
Noah panted, still engulfed in post-orgasmic bliss, before slowly turning to stare down at Jayden. He blushed a bit when he saw his mate licking his mouth as if he had just had a nice meal.  
  
“Well, that was pretty quick. You come so easily sometimes, even when I don’t touch your ass,” Jayden smirked, getting up from the floor.  
  
Noah blushed harder. “Well, you know how to make me come so easily, so…”  
  
Jayden grinned. “Damn right I do.” He settled himself between Noah’s spread legs, still fully clothed where Noah was sitting half-naked on the counter. He rubbed soothing circles into Noah’s thighs with his hands while Noah was still catching his breath.  
  
Noah finally glanced down, seeing the heavy bulge in Jayden’s pants, just inches from his own naked crotch. He reached out, staring up into Jayden’s face the whole time, and rubbed his palm against the bulge. Jayden moaned in response and bucked his hips forward to meet Noah’s touch. Noah smirked at him before pushing him back a little so he could jump off the counter. He was a little embarrassed that he had made a mess of the kitchen with his slick flowing out across the counter, but Jayden didn’t seem to mind.  
  
Noah made Jayden turn around and gently pushed him against the counter, while he slowly went down on his knees in front of the alpha and began unzipping his pants.  
  
“Fuck.” Jayden bit his lower lip as he watched Noah on his knees in front of him, undoing Jayden’s pants to take out his cock. He moaned when his member was free, and Noah wasted no time with taking him into his mouth. “Ah! Shit,” Jayden cursed, letting out a load groan of appreciation when he felt his cock be enveloped by warm wetness of Noah’s mouth. He staggered back a little into the counter, feeling it press against his ass and tail, and reached his right hand down to grasp Noah’s hair tightly.  
  
Noah had gotten pretty good at pleasuring Jayden like this, and he smiled as he pulled off and licked his tongue over the throbbing member. He fondled the alpha’s balls in his hand, and could tell that they were heavy and tight with the need to release their contents. He stared up at Jayden, feeling a spark of confidence when their eyes met and he could see Jayden’s pleasure in them. Their bond was pulsing inside them, encouraging Noah to work harder. He took Jayden into his mouth again, but not so far that he would choke on it, since he didn’t like that, and hollowed his cheeks to improve Jayden’s pleasure.  
  
“Ah, fuck. That’s it, baby. You’re so good,” Jayden babbled, moaning and grunting under Noah’s ministrations. The hand in Noah’s hair kept the submissive in place, but Jayden also used it to caress his mate and praise him for the gift he was giving him.  
  
Noah moaned, feeling himself get a bit aroused again when he saw much Jayden was enjoying this and how he praised him. The hand in his hair was praising and encouraging to him, but yet still letting him know that Jayden was the dominant one. It made Noah’s ass twitch and slicken up a little.  
  
Jayden’s wings flared behind him, the feathers hitting the counter. “Fuck, I’m gonna come soon,” he warned, tightening his hand in Noah’s hair.  
  
Noah smirked around Jayden’s cock, still bobbing his head up and down on it. He sucked a little harder and squeezed Jayden’s sensitive balls to get him to come.  
  
The alpha came with a long moan, shooting his come right into Noah’s mouth, who struggled to swallow it all. Noah gagged a bit and had to pull off after a few moments. He put his hand around the base of Jayden’s dick as he pulled away, immediately trying to lean back to avoid getting any of the come on him, but he was too slow. A stripe of come hit his nose and cheek, and he gasped as he felt the warm liquid on his skin. He continued to stroke Jayden through the rest, and the come hit the floor and made a small mess of it.  
  
When it was over, Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at Noah’s disgruntled face when the submissive slowly got to his feet again. “It looks good on you. Why don’t you like it when I come on your face?” he asked in slight amusement, quickly tucking himself back into his pants and went forward to check on Noah.  
  
Noah lifted his gaze and gave him a half-hearted glare. “Because I don’t like it getting into my hair or in my eyes.”  
  
“You didn’t get any in your hair or eyes this time, though,” Jayden chuckled, and leaned in to lick the come off Noah’s pretty face.  
  
Noah let him lick him clean, feeling a bit like a cat that got groomed and cleaned by its mate. He giggled a bit when Jayden’s tongue tickled his jaw, and had mixed feelings about his face now being covered in Jayden’s saliva instead of in his come.  
  
“I guess we better clean the kitchen a bit,” Jayden spoke as he pulled away. “You sure you can’t stay here all day with me?” he asked, looking a bit hurt as he stared at Noah.  
  
Noah shifted a bit, aware that he was still not wearing any pants and that his slick was still covering his ass and thighs. “I can’t. I have classes today, starting at 1:20.”  
  
It was 11:50am on a Friday. Jayden had the day off, since he worked at a restaurant with different shifts. The restaurant was open from 11am to 11pm all days a week, so sometimes he had to work late. He typically worked 7-10 hours a day, five days a week, so mostly they saw each other on the weekends or when Jayden had a free day during the week.  
  
“Damn, I would have loved for you to stay…” Jayden sighed, gently bumping their foreheads together and let himself stay in that position.  
  
Noah chuckled and stared at Jayden’s sulky face. “I can stay over in the weekend, if you want?”  
  
“Yeah, but I have work then. 2-11pm both Saturday and Sunday…”  
  
“Oh…”  
  
“But I don’t mind you staying over. You’re better at room decoration than I am, I think, so you can help me find out where all the furniture should go,” Jayden added, looking into Noah’s eyes with a smile.  
  
Noah grinned. “Okay.”  
  
They pulled apart and started cleaning up the mess they had made of the kitchen. Noah was so embarrassed when he saw exactly much he had leaked over the kitchen counter, but Jayden thought it was hot as hell and didn’t mind the pretty mess he had made. They cleaned the counter and the floor thoroughly with cleaning products before grabbing a quick bite to eat together.  
  
  


***

  
  
Jayden drove Noah back to college afterwards so that Noah could be there for his afternoon classes.   
  
Jayden had been wanting to buy a car for quite a while, but he would had to take a loan for it since most of his saved money was used on furniture for the apartment. However, his parents hadn’t wanted him to take too many loans that early in life, so they had paid the money for the car that Jayden did not have as a birthday present. The car he had bought was a silver Hyundai with five seats. It was a used car, but it still looked like new, and he hadn’t had any problems with it so far.  
  
They arrived at college at 1:02pm, so Noah still had some time to go get his laptop from his room and then head to class.  
  
“Thanks for driving me,” Noah smiled as Jayden pulled into a parking spot.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Jayden smiled back.  
  
Noah’s smile widened a bit, and he leaned across his seat to kiss Jayden on the mouth, letting their lips linger a bit on each other. Jayden gave him a fond smile and caressed his cheek before Noah pulled away.  
  
“Should I pick you up again later? You said you wanted to come over for the weekend,” Jayden asked.  
  
“Um, I’m going out tonight, so maybe if you can pick me up tomorrow morning instead…?”  
  
Jayden’s eyebrows furrowed. “Going out? Going out where?”  
  
“I’m going to some party with Christie tonight. She’s been begging me to go, and I finally agreed,” Noah spoke, matter-of-factly.  
  
“You’re going to a _college party?_ ” Jayden repeated, his tone getting a bit sharper. “You _do_ know what happens at college parties, right? People drink, they find one-night stands, and every girl and sub is just free meat for the guys. Many guys only go there to drink and get laid.”  
  
Noah’s jaw tightened a bit, his expression becoming one of light annoyance. He had known that Jayden probably might not like the idea, but he was still angry that his mate immediately wanted to talk him out of it. “It’s at someone’s parents’ house. The guy is close friends with Christie, so Christie asked me and a few others to join because she doesn’t wanna go alone, seeing as she barely knows anyone there. It’s not like I love parties – I usually hate them – but Alfie and Niko are also coming, and I want to hang out with my friends.”  
  
“I’m not sure I like the idea…”  
  
“What is so wrong about me going to a party?” Noah snapped, his fists clenching a bit as he got increasingly annoyed with Jayden being against his plans. “I’m not going there to find some guy – I’m not interested in anyone but you, and you _know_ that. You’re my _mate._ ”  
  
“Yes, exactly, that’s why I don’t like you going!” Jayden snapped back, trying to control his voice as he spoke. “I don’t like others looking at you with lecherous smirks and trying to get into the pants of _my_ mate. I don’t like you going there without me and not knowing if some guy is trying to grope you or rape you when I’m not there to protect you, and I don’t like you not being safe.”  
  
Noah stared back at him for a few seconds before saying, “Well, you can’t be around me all the time. I’m glad you worry, but I also want to be able to go out with my friends sometimes. I can take care of myself, and I won’t let anyone touch me at the party.”  
  
“Well, you can’t do much if you get drugged…” Jayden muttered.  
  
Their bond was pulsing with negative energy now; anger, frustration, and annoyance. It pulsed through them in waves, only agitating them further as their bond was polluted by it.  
  
Noah grit his teeth. “I know how to look out for my drink. I’m not stupid. Stop being so childish,” he growled.  
  
“I’m trying to protect you!” Jayden snapped at him, a growl in his voice.  
  
 _“But you don’t get to tell me what to do!”_ Noah snapped back, practically shouting the words into Jayden’s face.  
  
Jayden was a bit shocked by the way Noah spat and shouted the words at him, and it was evident on his face when Noah looked at him.  
  
For a moment, Noah felt bad for yelling like that. It wasn’t something he had done before and he never thought he would do it. He stared back at Jayden for a few moments before reaching for the door handle to open the car door. “Well, I’m going, whether you like it or not. I can take care of myself,” he muttered as he got out of the car.  
  
 _“Fine,”_ Jayden growled.  
  
 _“Fine!”_ Noah retorted with a growl and slammed the car door behind him after he got out. He stalked away from the car in anger, his wings flaring in agitation as he hurried away from Jayden and didn’t look back at him.  
  
Inside the car, Jayden let out a deep, frustrated sigh. He crossed his arms on the car’s steering wheel and buried his face in his arms, his wings slumping heavily behind him. His instincts to protect his mate and try to keep him safe had taken over too much, leading to a silly fight that left Jayden feeling like someone had just slammed a hard object into his chest.  
  
  


***

  
  
Noah had stormed up to his dorm room to retrieve his laptop, only to spend the classes he had that afternoon feeling miserable, angry, frustrated, and somewhat ashamed. He was so angry with Jayden for trying to keep him on a leash – or at least that was what it felt like. He knew that his mate only wanted to keep him safe, and he appreciated that, but Jayden needed to trust him to be on his own and take of himself sometimes. He had actually started looking forward to that party that Christie had asked him to go to – he looked forward to hanging out with his friends under different conditions than normally, and he didn’t want Jayden taking that away from him.  
  
Christie picked up on his foul mood when Noah had his last class of the day with her.  
  
“What’s wrong?” Christie asked as she sat down in the seat next to Noah in the auditorium, where they had their psychology class. “Why do you look like someone kicked your puppy and threw it out the window?”  
  
The other students were finding their seats before lessons began, and the teacher was getting her laptop ready. There was still another five minutes left until class started.  
  
Noah groaned and continued to stare down on his laptop, which was closed in front of him on the table. “Jayden and I had a fight…” he finally murmured.  
  
“Oh.” Christie shifted a bit in her seat and looked at Noah with a worried frown. “Was it something about the apartment…?”  
  
“No.” Noah let out a deep sigh and leaned back a little. “I told him about the party tonight, and he didn’t like the idea at all.”  
  
“Ah. He got protective?” Christie chuckled a bit, since she had kind of expected that Jayden wouldn’t like the news that much.  
  
“He got annoying. It was clear he didn’t want me to go. He’s worried that I’m going to get molested and stuff.”  
  
“Well, his worries are pretty understandable. Guys get drunk at such parties and then they sometimes get stupid and pushy. You’re his mate; Jayden just wants to keep you safe. He sees it as his job to protect you, and he doesn’t like it when he’s not able to do that – for example like when you go to parties and he won’t be there.”  
  
“I know,” Noah grunted, sighing. “But he can’t control me. If I wanna go, then I’ll go.”  
  
“I didn’t say you should do as he says, I just said that I understand his worries,” Christie spoke, her voice calm and soothing. “I think you both need some time to calm down, and then you’ll get along again very soon. You’ll see,” she smiled.  
  
“I know, it’s just… I kind of ended up yelling at him, and I’ve never done that before,” Noah murmured, fumbling with his hands on top of his laptop. “I really don’t like fighting… But he really annoyed me with being so protective and not trusting me to care of myself, so I guess I just kinda snapped.”  
  
Christie gave him a sympathetic smile and put a hand on his shoulder for reassurance. “We all get angry like that sometimes. You can apologize to him later for shouting, if you feel bad about it.”  
  
Noah snorted softly. “I’m still angry at him, though.”  
  
“I know. It’ll go away,” Christie spoke and rubbed his shoulder gently.  
  
  


***

  
  
Their class ended at 4:30pm, after which Noah and Christie started heading back to their dorm. Noah’s mood was still pretty bad from before, but Christie’s presence helped him feel better. He had no idea when he’d be ready to face Jayden again after what had happened in the car earlier.  
  
As they passed by the cafeteria, they suddenly ran into Lucas and Caleb.   
  
Lucas was studying to be a kindergarten teacher like Noah, but was two years behind him. Noah was in his fourth and last year now, and Lucas was in his second year. Caleb had just started at the college a month ago as a technician major. He was a year younger than Lucas and had only just finished high school, which was why he had first started at the college now. They had barely seen each other since Lucas had left high school to start at college, but since Caleb had started there as well they hung out almost every day again, and Caleb barely ever left Lucas’ side. They were not dating yet, but they were close friends.  
  
Lucas beamed when he saw them. “Hi, Noah and Christie.”  
  
Noah smiled, coming over to them along with Christie. “Hi, Lucas. And hi, Caleb.”  
  
“Hi, guys,” Caleb smiled.  
  
“Hi,” Christie grinned. “Oh, I see you two are still hanging out a lot. Lucas has really missed you in the past year,” she told Caleb.  
  
Lucas had made friends with some girls and another demon submissive, but he had a hard time at the college because of the sexist alphas. He never went anywhere without having someone he knew by his side, so Noah often walked him to class when their time schedules matched. Lucas had spent a lot of time in Noah and Christie’s dorm room in the past year, and the three of them were closer than ever as friends.  
  
Lucas blushed and shifted in embarrassment at Christie’s words.  
  
Caleb chuckled. “Well, he’s told me that. I’ve also missed him a lot.” He glanced at Lucas, blushing a bit too.  
  
Noah smiled at them. Lucas had been really thrilled since Caleb started at college as well, and Noah was glad that the two of them had gotten closer as friends. They both still had a crush on the other, but since they hadn’t been much around each other for a whole year, their relationship had not been able to develop properly.  
  
“It’s too bad you can’t join us for that party tonight. Would have been cool if you could have joined,” Christie said. The party was just for people that Justin (the guy who held the party) knew and friends that those people brought over, so neither Lucas nor Caleb could attend since Christie had already invited three others to come with her. She couldn’t invite more than three, unfortunately.  
  
“Well, I’m not that much of a party person anyway,” Caleb murmured.  
  
Lucas stared at Noah in surprise. “Are _you_ going to that party?”  
  
“Yeah, Christie persuaded me…” Noah answered, shifting. “And Niko and Alfie are coming too, so I feel pretty comfortable about going.”  
  
“Oh. Just… be careful there,” Lucas told him, eyeing him in worry. Lucas hated parties more than anything and he would never go to one. Parties were full of noise, drunk people, and horny males looking to get laid, and Lucas wasn’t interested in that at all. He knew that Noah didn’t like parties much either, so he was surprised to hear that Noah was going.  
  
Noah nodded, promising to do so.  
  
They walked back to their dorm together. Lucas lived in the same dorm as them, but was on the second floor, and Caleb was in another dorm.  
  
Noah and Christie began getting ready for the party, and Lucas hung out with them in their room for a while since he didn’t want to be alone. He got along well with his female roommate, but he preferred the company of his old friends.  
  
  


***

  
  
The party took place in a big house about 25 minutes’ drive away from the college. About one hundred students were coming over, which was more than Noah had first thought. It freaked him out a bit that so many people were going to be there, but he still wanted to go.  
  
Neither Noah, Christie, Niko, or Alfie had a car, so Christie had ended up asking Brandon if he could drive them, since she knew that he had a car. Brandon was also attending the party since he knew the host, Justin, like Christie did.  
  
Brandon had agreed to drive them there, and they arrived at 7:33pm, just a few minutes after the party had officially begun. The house was already swarming with people, and loud music was coming from within.  
  
“Changed your mind?” Christie asked Noah when she saw the somewhat scared look on his face when they got out of the car and looked at the house. She chuckled a bit at him.  
  
“No… I’m just a bit nervous. I’m not used to parties, and I generally don’t find them that interesting,” Noah murmured.  
  
“Well, we’ll find something nice to do,” Christie promised him.  
  
They all walked up the house and were greeted by Justin, who welcomed them with open arms. He was an alpha angel with large golden wings with some grey in them, and had light brown hair.  
  
“Hey, guys!” Justin cheered when he saw them on his doorstep. “Nice that some submissives are joining the party – I like to see all genders and sexualities at my parties when I throw one. I think there are two others inside now as well, so that’s a lot of subs in one place. Hope you guys will get along and try having fun at a party for once,” he grinned.  
  
Alfie beamed at him. “Well, _I_ for one am rather excited to be here.”  
  
“That’s what I like to hear! Come in!” Justin grinned, stepping aside to let them into the music-filled house, where people were already crowding the place.  
  
They stepped inside, and Brandon put a good distance between himself and Noah, who was walking right in front of him. Jayden would kill him if he accidentally touched Noah’s wings somehow.  
  
When Christie passed Justin, he playfully grabbed her arm and grinned at her. “Nice to see you again, pretty-legs,” he slurred, obviously having had a few drinks already.  
  
Christie laughed, but didn’t try to get away from him. “You reek of alcohol, Justie. And I have boyfriend.” Christie and the beta angel Tyler, whom she had had a few one-night stands with at the beginning of college, had finally started dating about one and half years ago. He went to a different college, but they saw each other whenever possible.  
  
“Well, let me know if you’re ever single again,” Justin smirked, a hint of joking in his voice.  
  
“Right. ‘Cause the first thing I would think of then is your ugly face,” Christie retorted with a teasing smirk.  
  
Justin just laughed and let her go again. He knew she was joking about the ‘ugly face’ comment, so he didn’t protest at it.  
  
Noah gaped at Christie, not having expected her to get along that well with Justin, or flirt with him like that.  
  
Christie noticed the way he looked at him after Justin had left to attend to his guests. “What?” she asked. “There’s nothing going on between us, and he’s not a perverted person. He just likes to joke around. I swear he’s not as perverted as he might seem.”  
  
“I can vouch for that,” Brandon spoke. “He treats girls and subs with more respect than most – at least when he’s acting seriously.” He took a glance around the place at all the people dancing, chatting, and shouting while the music played, and tried to spot some of his friends in the crowd.  
  
“Oh,” Noah said, letting the information sink in.  
  
People were partying all over the house, dressed nicely but not formally. The girls wore skirts and dresses, and the guys wore more casual clothes – usually from respected brands to attract some attention from the females and subs. There were a lot of different drinks, and especially the guys were downing one drink after the other. There was a lot of groping going on as people found interesting hook-ups; both hetero and homosexual.  
  
“Gosh, it’s so loud in here,” murmured Niko, who wrapped his light grey – almost white – wings a bit around himself.  
  
“Yeah. I wonder if there is a more quiet spot somewhere…” Alfie said, glancing around to see if there was a more quiet area nearby.  
  
“I think the garden is a quieter place, if you prefer that,” Brandon spoke.  
  
“Alright! Garden it is. But I’m getting a drink first,” Christie said, already making her way into the kitchen where the drinks were served.  
  
The others followed her, and Noah was slightly surprised that people around him could have such casual conversations despite the loud noise in the house. He went with the others into the kitchen and got a drink – something red and sweet, but he wasn’t sure what – and then followed Christie, Alfie, and Niko outside. Brandon said he was going to hang out with some male friends of his and went off. They were planning to take a taxi back to the college later if none of them proved able to drive the car, and Brandon didn’t mind leaving his car on the street for a single night.  
  
The house was huge, seeing as Justin’s parents were pretty wealthy. The garden was equally huge, and it had a nice pond with goldfish in it. There was a garden table in the garden and several chairs and benches where they could sit.  
  
Noah entered the garden along with his friends, except for Brandon who had stayed inside the house.  
  
It was much quieter out there, and the two other subs that Justin had talked about were also there. They were demons, whereas Alfie and Niko were angels, but they got along pretty well. Noah was half of both species, but the demon submissives didn’t seem to mind that either. They were a grade under Noah so he had never spoken to them before, though he remembered seeing one of them in the cafeteria once. It was nice to make new acquaintances – especially other submissives.   
  
Snacks and drinks were served, and after two drinks Noah was beginning to feel the effects a bit. He usually never had alcohol, and when he did it was in small amounts. He hadn’t been drunk before, only slightly tipsy, and he certainly didn’t want tonight to be the first time he got drunk. He laid off the drinks a bit when he started feeling the effects, since he didn’t want to be drunk and let his guard down around the all the alphas at the party. He had already seen several alphas and betas eye him and the other subs with lustful stares.  
  
They spent most of the time talking and getting to know their new acquaintances. A few girls, who also preferred the more quiet end of the party, joined in too, and they started playing a few games outside by the garden table.  
  
Noah was having fun. They were laughing, playing games, listening to the music, eating the delicious snacks and having a few drinks, and he got to know new people. Still, he kept feeling a dark pit in his stomach all the time after his fight with Jayden earlier, and the bond was still rather upset about it as well. Both and he and Jayden had sort of locked the other out so they didn’t share any emotions through the bond, and it hurt to have their connection closed like this. Noah tried not to think about it and ignore the feeling, but it was nearly impossible to do so completely.  
  
At around 9pm when it was almost completely dark, Noah noticed Alfie chatting with a handsome beta angel in the doorway to the garden. Alfie had just gone inside to use the bathroom, but when he returned the beta suddenly approached him and started talking to him. The others were talking and laughing around Noah, but he kept his attention on Alfie up by the house to see how he was doing. When he saw Alfie giggling and laughing at something the beta had said, Noah felt relaxed. It didn’t seem like the beta was acting inappropriately around him.  
  
Noah got up from his seat, excusing himself because he felt the need to go use the bathroom as well. He walked up the house, smiling at Alfie who blushed a bit when he was caught having a pleasant conversation with the handsome beta, and then moved through the house towards the bathroom.  
  
People were getting drunk now. They were noisier than earlier, and the music was pounding in Noah’s ears. He cringed at the unpleasant feeling when he could practically feel the bass vibrate through all his organs and his bones, and he hurried over to find the bathroom to get away from the speakers.  
  
Suddenly a large, sweaty hand grabbed Noah’s arm, and Noah turned to look at a drunk alpha angel, who was eyeing him with a lewd smirk. “Hey there, pretty-face. Wanna go upstairs and have some fun?”  
  
Noah tensed, annoyed that he couldn’t even go to the bathroom without being hit on on his way there. “No thanks. I have a mate,” he told the guy dismissively, trying to yank his arm free, but the guy held on to him.  
  
“You have a mate, huh? Damn waste of good ass,” the alpha muttered before finally letting him go.  
  
Noah shivered in disgust at having been touched by that stranger. He ignored the guy and headed into the bathroom, which was thankfully not occupied. He locked the door behind him, sighing deeply in relief once he was alone.   
  
The bathroom was small but neat, and Noah scrambled to get over to the sink to turn on the water and wash the scent of that alpha off him. Even though he and Jayden had had a fight and Noah was angry at him, he was still not willing to smell like anyone else but Jayden. Jayden was his mate, his one true love, and Noah never wanted anyone else.  
  
He washed his arm good and then splashed some water in his face before doing what he came into the bathroom to do.  
  
Afterwards, Noah got out of the bathroom and squeezed his way through people to head outside again. He met Alfie in the doorway to the garden once more, but the beta that Alfie had talked to had just left.  
  
“Hi,” Alfie grinned when he spotted Noah.  
  
“Hi,” Noah smiled, moving to stand in front of Alfie right in the doorway to avoid any dancing people bumping into him. “Did you make a new friend?” They both had to raise their voices a little to be heard through the loudness.  
  
“Yeah, I guess I did. His name is Danny and he seems pretty nice. But he’s gay, so there won’t be anything more than friendship between us, I guess. We just started talking after he helped me shake off some creepy alpha who tried to grab me.”  
  
“Oh. It was nice of him to help,” Noah smiled. “I also just had some alpha grab my arm…” he muttered, absently rubbing his hand over the spot on his arm, which still felt a bit sore after having the alpha grab him so hard.  
  
Alfie growled a little. “Goddamn perverts. Why can’t they keep their hands to themselves? I understand they wanna get laid with a sub, but grabbing us or treating us like objects or toys is not the way to get our interest; it has quite the opposite effect, really.”  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
“And I think we should go outside. I see at least five alphas staring at us in a highly inappropriate way right now, and I refuse to be gawked at like that,” Alfie muttered, glaring over at the guys before gently grabbing Noah’s hand to go with him outside.  
  
Noah glanced over at the crowd of people in the living room, seeing that Alfie was right. He saw several drunk alphas staring at them and smirking lewdly as they stared at Noah and Alfie’s asses and their wings. He grimaced in disgust and followed Alfie back outside where it was more quiet.  
  
Other people had gone outside as well, but they were in the other end of the garden and mostly minding their own business. An alpha angel and a human girl were making out by the pond, which made some of their friends at the party cheer lewdly at them. Several people were kissing in the house, and Noah wouldn’t be surprised if some of them were having sex in the rooms upstairs or further down the street in the darkness.  
  
  


***

  
  
The next hour and a half went by with them playing card games and drinking games, though Noah used coke for the drinking game to avoid getting drunk. Christie had had a few drinks, but she wasn’t too drunk; she could still think pretty clearly.  
  
At some point a few guys came over and joined the game for a bit. They were kind of drunk, but not rude or sexist, so Noah wasn’t too wary about them being so close to him. He still kept a watchful eye on his drink though, just like Dean had taught him. The guys (an alpha angel and two humans) got along well with the girls who had joined them earlier, and one of the submissive demons kept staring at one of the human guys, who was pretty attractive.  
  
After their game, some of the other people in the garden suddenly started dancing to the music, which was quite audible from inside the house. They were drunk and just wanted to have fun, and it was mixed how good their dancing skills were at this state. They tripped a bit over each other’s or their own feet, laughing about it, and the guys were very respectful and yet playful towards the girls as they danced around with them.  
  
Noah chuckled as he watched Christie dance around with the others, and even let one of the guys swirl her around. Christie seemed to be having a good time, and Noah smiled as he watched her.  
  
“Come on, Noah. Don’t you wanna shake your hips a bit too?” Christie asked, coming over and grinning down at him as he still sat in his chair.  
  
Noah shook his head. “No thanks. I’m not that drunk, and I don’t like dancing in front of others,” he murmured.  
  
“I’ll join,” grinned Alfie and got up to join the others.  
  
“Us too,” the two demon submissives said, eagerly jumping up from their chairs. The others grinned and welcomed the subs into their dance.   
  
Niko and Noah were the only ones still sitting as the others started dancing around on the lawn and having fun.  
  
“I suck at dancing, so I’d rather not make a fool of myself,” Niko murmured.  
  
“Yeah. And dancing is embarrassing,” Noah said.  
  
Niko chuckled before getting up from his seat. “I’ll go inside to the use the bathroom. Be right back.”  
  
Noah nodded and watched Niko go, keeping an eye on him until he disappeared into the crowds inside the house. Noah stayed, and he chuckled when he watched the others trip a bit over each other’s feet. Christie came over and tried to pull him up to join them, but he stubbornly resisted and refused to move from his chair. Dancing wasn’t his element, and since he was an introvert he didn’t feel like getting up to dance right now; he was content sitting there alone for a bit after having been social all day.  
  
As he waited for Niko to return, Noah pulled out his phone from his pants pocket to see if he had received any messages or calls. Some part of him was hoping that Jayden had texted him so that they could finally make up after their fight, and he was felt both relieved and disappointed when his phone was blank, showing no new messages. He bit his lip, feeling his stomach twist inside him. Fighting with someone he loved made him feel horrible inside, and he couldn’t shake the feeling off, no matter how much fun he had at the party.  
  
His thoughts were interrupted when Niko’s distraught voice sounded up by the small wooden porch leading from the house into the garden.  
  
Niko’s path was suddenly blocked on the terrace on his way back from the bathroom by a rather drunk alpha angel, who seemed to take an interest in him. The alpha was grabbing at his clothes, trying to pull up his shirt a bit to see his skin, and he seemed to be so drunk that he didn’t even understand what ‘no’ meant anymore.  
  
“Let me go! Stop it,” Niko stammered, swatting the alpha’s hands away. The alpha had grabbed his arm to stop from him leaving, and Niko – who had always been rather skittish – looked very panicked and distraught when he was unable to shake the unwanted hands off him.  
  
“Come on,” the drunk alpha said, holding onto Niko’s arm. “I just wanna see some skin. Always wanted to see what a sub looks like under all those clothes… And see if you’re as soft and frail as they say you guys are.” A lewd smirk covered his lips, and Niko could smell the alcohol on him.  
  
“No! Let go.”  
  
A couple of other guys laughed at them from inside the house, where most of the other people at the party hadn’t noticed a thing yet. They were all busy partying to the loud music.  
  
Noah shot up from his chair to go help Niko, and Christie and the others joined.  
  
“Hey, leave him alone!” Christie bellowed, storming up to the guy in anger.  
  
“Why? He wants it; he just doesn’t know it yet,” the alpha spoke, not letting Niko go.  
  
Alfie got between them and slapped the alpha’s hand off of Niko’s arm, spreading his wing to shield Niko as he stepped away from the alpha with him.  
  
“Mind your own business!” the alpha sneered, angry to have people intervene.  
  
Noah came up on the porch to see if Niko was alright. The other submissive was trembling a bit, but he looked more relieved now that he had gotten back-up.  
  
“There’s something seriously wrong with your brain. I think you should go lie down and get sober again,” Christie told the alpha, crossing her arms.  
  
The alpha just growled in defiance and looked over at the three submissives. Both Noah and Alfie were shielding the frightened Niko, and the alpha eyed them both with a calculating look. “Well, I could just have all three of you, but I think I’ll go with the one I had my eyes on earlier.” He stepped forward to get to Niko, only to have Alfie and Noah growl and push him back.   
  
Christie grabbed the guy’s arm to help out and keep him away from Niko, where the other girls and the two demon subs didn’t really know how to help. The two human guys from their drinking game went to help Christie hold the alpha back, and the alpha angel from their game went inside to find Justin and let him know what was happening. The guys who had been laughing earlier when they saw the alpha go for Niko were still laughing, only making everyone even more frustrated.  
  
“Just leave him alone!” Noah snapped, hoping to talk some sense into the drunk alpha, who was obviously so horny and drunk that he couldn’t think clearly. The guy was even getting a bit aggressive now.  
  
One of the girls came over and tried to help Christie grab the alpha’s arm, while the human guys were grabbing his other arm. The sudden crowd around him caused the drunk alpha to snap, and all of sudden he spread out his large, brown and black wings and knocked them all back.  
  
Christie got hit by one of the wings and was thrown back into Noah, who was already standing dangerously close to the two small steps leading from the porch into the garden. When Christie was thrown into him, Noah instinctively stepped back to try to balance himself, only to have his right foot go down further than his mind had predicted because of the steps. In the process, his ankle got twisted so bad that it caused him to cry out in pain and fall backwards down the final step and onto the grass below. Christie tumbled down with him, landing on top of him and knocking the air out of Noah.  
  
Everyone gasped in horror, and Christie quickly rolled off of Noah and swirled around in panic.  
  
“Oh my god! Noah!” she gasped, kneeling down over him.  
  
Noah’s right foot hurt like never before, and he gasped and writhed in pain. His chest and ribs hurt too since Christie had landed on him, but his foot hurt far more. He thrashed his wings in pain and rolled over on his side, curling up in agony.  
  
“Oh god, is he okay?” Alfie asked, immediately appearing by Noah’s side along with Niko and the others.  
  
The drunk alpha just stared at the scene, not sure what had just happened. The commotion caused a few other students to peek out into the garden too to see what was going on.  
  
Brandon quickly pushed his way through the crowds. He had seen some of the commotion through the window, but hadn’t managed to butt in sooner to help out. He made a beeline for the drunk alpha angel on the porch and growled as he grabbed him by the front of the shirt. “Get your fucking drunk ass outta here,” he told him, his dark red wings spreading and sharpening in anger.  
  
Justin appeared on the porch as well, looking between Noah writing in pain on the ground and the alpha being cornered by Brandon. “Yeah, get that shithead outta here,” he said, gesturing at his friends to help Brandon carry the alpha angel out, seeing as he had caused all this trouble. Justin hurried down to Noah then, cringing when he saw how much pain he was in. “Damn. Should I call an ambulance or something?”  
  
“N-No, I’m okay,” Noah croaked, gritting his teeth to keep his pained cries in. His ankle hurt like hell, but he didn’t think it was broken; just sprained pretty bad.  
  
“Yeah, it’s probably just sprained. But it looks pretty painful,” Christie said, cringing as she was sill kneeling by Noah’s side. “Are you sure you don’t wanna go to the hospital?”  
  
“Y-Yeah, I’m sure,” Noah groaned.  
  
People around him were relieved when they learned that Noah was pretty much alright, and Justin ushered the other people back inside the house to give Noah some space. It was 10:37pm already, so some guests had already left to go into town to continue partying at the clubs.  
  
“Can you sit up?” Christie asked.  
  
“I-I don’t know. I think so.” Noah let his friend help him sit up, grimacing are the soreness in his ribs, but it could have been worse. He glanced down at his foot, but couldn’t see anything because of his shoes and pants.  
  
“I’ll help you out of your shoe, okay?” Christie offered, already reaching for it to gently pry it off.  
  
Noah nodded and winced in pain when Christie and Alfie helped each other take it off and then his sock next. His ankle was already a little swollen, and Noah suspected it would swell up even worse soon.  
  
Brandon came outside then, going over to see how Noah was doing. “Is everything okay? What happened?”  
  
“That prick pushed his wing into us and made me fall back into Noah. We tumbled down from the porch together, and Noah’s ankle got twisted,” Christie explained, bitterness in her voice. She turned to look at Noah in apology. “I’m sorry I landed on you like that…”  
  
“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault,” Noah said, forcing a smile at her, but his pain made it look very awkward.  
  
“The alpha was harassing Niko and wouldn’t back down,” Alfie added, glancing at Niko who was staring at Noah in worry.  
  
“Fuck, what an asshole,” Brandon growled.  
  
“Yeah,” Christie agreed. She reached out and rubbed Noah’s arm for comfort, hating to see him in pain like this. “Well, I think Brandon has had too much to drink to drive us home and so have I, and Alfie and Niko don’t have licenses, and your foot is hurting too much for you to drive, so… We have to get a taxi. But I think it’s gonna be troublesome for you to get into a taxi without help, and there wouldn’t be much space in there for you to rest your foot… Do you want me to call Jayden to pick you up?”  
  
Panic flickered across Noah’s face. “What? N-No, I…”  
  
“I know you guys had a fight, but you can’t walk on your own right now. And if someone has to carry you, they’re gonna end up touching your wings. I think it’s best if it’s Jayden who does that, don’t you agree?”  
  
Noah bit his lip, hating his life right now. His ankle pounded with pain, his whole body was sore from being crushed by Christie, and now he had to face Jayden again after the fight he had had with him – and even have Jayden pick him up from the party that the alpha hadn’t wanted him to attend in the first place. He chewed on his lip for a few moments before reluctantly nodding his head. Christie was right; he didn’t want anyone but Jayden picking him up and carrying him, and he probably couldn’t sit properly in a taxi with the others anyway.  
  
Christie nodded back and got up to call Jayden.  
  
Brandon stood a bit behind Alfie and Niko, looking down at Noah in worry. “Well, let’s hope that dude from earlier gets off the property before Jayden shows up, otherwise he’s gonna have his ass kicked pretty bad.”  
  
“The guy deserves it,” Niko muttered.  
  
Noah agreed, but he still didn’t want his mate getting into a fight over this. And he wasn’t sure if he was ready to see Jayden again yet either. They hadn’t snapped at each other like that for a long time, and it was first time that Noah had raised his voice like that during a fight. He wasn’t that angry at Jayden anymore though, but he hoped that the remaining tension between them wouldn’t make them snap at each other again when Jayden arrived.  
  
Noah looked up when Christie came back over to him.  
  
“I called Jayden; he’s on his way. He sounded pretty freaked out and worried,” Christie told him.  
  
Noah nodded and thanked her. His friends sat down with him to wait for Jayden’s arrival, and the other guests from the party mostly let them have their space. Christie went inside and got Noah a bag of frozen peas to put on his foot for a bit to help with the pain and the swelling, and Brandon kept the curious, drunk people away.  
  
About twenty minutes later, Jayden finally arrived.  
  
Jayden pushed his way through the crowds inside the house, and Brandon met him by the door and guided him out into the garden where Noah was still sitting on the lawn, explaining to him what had happened on the way.  
  
Jayden stopped on the porch as soon as he spotted Noah. He saw Noah grimace in pain as he sat there on the grass, not having realized yet that Jayden was there. He then quickly ran into the garden to be by Noah’s side.  
  
Noah blinked up at his mate when he saw him rushing over to him. “Jayden,” he spoke, barely audible.  
  
“Hey, are you okay?” Jayden asked as soon as he was by Noah’s side, kneeling down next to him. Christie and the others backed away to give them space, and Jayden cringed when he saw Noah’s heavily swollen ankle (the bag of peas had been put aside for a bit to give Noah’s skin some rest from the cold). “Shit, that looks bad.”  
  
“It hurts a lot, but I’m okay,” Noah murmured. He tried to move his foot a little, but it hurt so much that he had to stop.  
  
Justin had been so nice to give Noah a pillow to put under his foot, and the softness really helped making his ankle feel better. He had also been given Noah some Tylenol to help with the pain, and had provided a few towels to put between his skin and the frozen peas (having something so cold pressed directly against the skin was not healthy, after all).  
  
Jayden continued to stare at Noah’s ankle in worry, cringing at the sight. It was swollen pretty bad, so there was no doubt that Noah was hurting. “Should I drive you to the ER or something?”  
  
“What? No. I don’t think it’s broken. I think I just need to rest it,” Noah murmured. He glanced at Jayden, who was staring at his foot and everywhere else instead of at his face. Noah chewed a bit on his bottom lip. “Jayden, about earlier, I—”  
  
“Let’s not talk about that now. I just wanna get you home,” Jayden cut him off gently, moving to grab Noah under the knees and slide his other arm behind Noah’s back to lift him up.  
  
Noah nodded and let Jayden lift him up, wrapping his arms around the alpha’s neck to support himself. His ankle throbbed in pain when he was moved, making him wince, and Jayden immediately slowed down his movements.   
  
Noah couldn’t help but blush a bit when he was in the arms of his mate, with everyone staring at them. He couldn’t help but admire how easily Jayden could pick him and hold him, as if Noah weighted nothing at all.  
  
“Take care of your foot,” Christie told him, going over to give Noah his shoe and sock which they had pulled off him earlier. “And go to the doctor if the pain won’t go away. It could be fractured, you know.”  
  
“Yeah, I will,” Noah smiled, holding on to Jayden with one arm around his neck and his other hand holding his shoe and sock. Jayden’s hand was on his back right under his wings, and the feathers touched the alpha’s arm as he held him. Noah was glad that it was Jayden who was holding him and not someone else.  
  
Noah said goodbye to his friends, who wished him a good recovery. Jayden said goodbye as well, thanking them for taking care of Noah, and he nodded at Brandon in gratitude for helping Noah and for explaining things to him earlier.  
  
Jayden then started carrying Noah up to the house so they could get to his car outside. He growled at anyone who didn’t move or stared too much at Noah, and Noah couldn’t help the small smile on his lips.  
  
Noah was relieved that he had Jayden to carry him so he wouldn’t have to hump around on one foot. He felt a bit like a princess though, being carried around like that. But he didn’t care. It actually felt kind of nice to be carried, and he felt safe in Jayden’s arms, despite the tension between them. He didn’t feel angry with Jayden anymore, but they had yet to make up. The tension was still there because of that, and he wondered if Jayden was still angry with him about the whole party thing.  
  
Jayden carried him out to his car, which was parked on the side of the street, and carefully put Noah down. The submissive winced and supported himself on his left foot, spreading his wings to help him balance himself. Jayden opened the door and helped Noah into the backseat.  
  
“I think it’s best you sit here. Then you can have your foot up and rest it,” Jayden spoke, helping Noah get settled. “I don’t have a pillow in the car, though. Damn. I was in such a hurry to get here that I didn’t think that far.” He cursed at himself for not having brought a pillow with him, since now Noah’s poor foot had to rest on the backseat, which was not that soft.  
  
“It’s okay. I can lean it a bit over the side of the seat so it’s not touching anything,” Noah said, grabbing his leg to gently position it so that his foot was sticking out over the side of the seat.  
  
“Yeah, that’s good,” Jayden smiled. He made sure Noah was all settled before closing the door and going around to get into the driver’s seat.  
  
  


***

  
  
The ride back to Jayden’s apartment had mostly been quiet. Jayden had asked a few times how Noah was doing with his foot, and Noah had said it went okay. The foot still hurt, as did Noah’s ribs and body, but the painkillers from earlier helped a bit.  
  
When they arrived at the apartment, Jayden picked Noah up once again, carrying him into the building and into the elevator.  
  
“Press the button for me, please,” Jayden said as they got into the elevator. He shifted Noah a bit in his arms to get a better grip on him.  
  
Noah reached out and pressed the button for the sixth floor. “I thought you had a tail,” he said, slightly amused.  
  
“I do, but I don’t wanna accidentally hit the wrong button. My aim is not always that good with it.”  
  
“I think your aim is perfect, though,” Noah murmured, the words leaving his mouth before he could think. He blushed heavily, knowing that Jayden knew full well that Noah was talking about the times when Jayden had pleasured him with his tail. Jayden always found the right spots inside him with his tail, and he would rub and pound it into his prostate and cervix over and over until he came. Noah hadn’t meant to say that out loud though, especially since they hadn’t recovered from their fight yet.  
  
Jayden just grinned, taking pride in Noah’s comment.  
  
Some of the tension disappeared, and after a few seconds the elevator was finally on the sixth floor. Jayden carefully guided Noah out of the elevator and made sure he didn’t accidentally make Noah’s feet hit the wall on the way out. He carried him over to his door and fumbled with his tail to try to catch the key in his pocket. Noah chuckled a bit at him and had to help out.  
  
They got into the apartment, and Jayden quickly carried Noah into the dark bedroom and carefully put him on the bed. He then pulled away to turn on some lights and close and lock the front door, before finally returning to Noah’s side.  
  
“Here, let me help.” Jayden reached for one of the decoration pillows and carefully slid it under Noah’s foot.  
  
Noah sat back against the headboard, saying a small ‘thanks’ to Jayden when he put a pillow behind his back as well to make sure he was comfortable. Noah shifted a bit, wincing when his body hurt at every move he made, and felt a bit awkward about the silence between him and Jayden. They had barely exchanged any words, and Jayden hadn’t really looked him in the eye much. Noah wasn’t sure if it was because he was angry with him, or if it was because of guilt from their fight.  
  
After Noah was comfortable, Jayden sat down on bed near Noah’s feet, pulling the other shoe and sock off him and put them down on the floor to the other parts of the pairs. He stared at Noah’s bare feet then. He had always liked his mate’s feet a lot; they were small and pretty, and Noah was incredibly ticklish under them. Jayden slowly reached out and began massaging Noah’s good foot a bit, hoping it would make him forget the pain in the other foot.  
  
There was silence between them, but Noah made a pleased hum as Jayden gently massaged his left foot to make him feel better. The silence was deafening though, and kind of awkward to them both.  
  
After a few minutes, Noah finally spoke. “Are you mad at me for going to the party?” His voice was small, and he glanced over at Jayden warily, hoping that his question wouldn’t start another fight.  
  
Jayden stopped his ministrations. “No.” He pulled away and sighed heavily, not looking at Noah. “No, I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at myself. I shouldn’t have gotten so upset about you wanting to attend that party with your friends.”  
  
Noah didn’t say anything; he just watched as Jayden shook off his own shoes and then crawled up on the bed to sit next to him. The alpha sat down Noah’s left side and leaned back against the headboard. Their bodies were close but didn’t touch.  
  
“I’m sorry I acted like that. I don’t own you or anything, so I can’t forbid you to go somewhere if you want. I’m not the creepy kind of guy that wants to know and control everything his partner does and who they see, but I just got really worried when I learned that you wanted to go to a place like that.” Jayden’s voice was calm and controlled, and he fidgeted a bit with his hands and tail as he spoke. “I just keep worrying that something is going to happen to you. That someone is gonna hurt you. I have on my previous schools heard of subs getting raped or molested by ruthless, perverted alphas at parties, and even today there are so many freaks out there who think they can do whatever they want with people like you. And college parties are where young alphas get laid and drunk, and some guys just don’t understand a ‘no’. I don’t like it when I can’t protect you from them, and I got so scared when you told me you wanted to go to a party. I spent the whole damn night worrying.” Jayden took a deep breath, his voice almost cracking before, and he had to take a break. He pulled his left knee up towards his chest and rested his arm on it, running his hand down his face to get a grip of himself.  
  
Noah watched him, his heart clenching when he realized that Jayden had been genuinely worried and freaked out about him. He didn’t think that Jayden was only looking this upset because of that; he also suspected it was because of their fight earlier. It had really upset them both.  
  
Noah reached out and put a hand on Jayden’s arm. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have raised my voice like that when we fought…”  
  
Jayden let out a broken laugh and looked at him with a small smirk. “Yeah, that was a bit of a shocker.”  
  
“Sorry…”  
  
“It’s fine. I kind of deserved it. I was being stupid, like you said.”  
  
“You were just worried about me, but you don’t need to be,” Noah said softly. “Christie, Niko, Alfie, and Brandon were there – they were looking out for me. If some guy would have tried anything with me, they would have helped me out. And they would have realized it if I was missing for too long if some guy had dragged me somewhere to have his way with me.”  
  
Jayden growled a bit at the idea alone. He couldn’t stand the thought of someone else touching his mate. “Yeah, you’re right… I just overreacted. I’ll try not to freak out like that again. Of course you can go out with your friends and party if you want, but just promise me you’ll take care of yourself. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt.” He looked at Noah and reached out his hand to caress the submissive’s cheek gently, seeing him smile at that.  
  
“I promise. But parties aren’t that much fun anyway. It was fun tonight, but I think I still prefer smaller parties with only people around whom I know and trust.”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Yeah, those parties are better.”  
  
“And you can go party too, if you want. I won’t hold you back. As long as you don’t touch anyone else.”  
  
“Hey, I would never do that,” Jayden quickly protested.  
  
Noah laughed. “I know.”  
  
Jayden grinned, bumping their wings together by the headboard and let his wing stay in a position where it could touch Noah’s.   
  
“So… Are we good then?”  
  
“Yeah,” Noah smiled. “Even though I got so angry at you for wanting me to abandon my plans of going. You’re so annoying when you get overprotective like that, you know?”  
  
Jayden cringed. “I know, I’m sorry. I just really can’t help it. I love you so much, and I don’t want anything bad happening to you. And Christie really freaked me out when she called me and said you were hurt, by the way. At first I thought my worst nightmare had come true and some guy had touched you, so I was kind of relieved when she told me you had just hurt your foot. Not that that isn’t bad,” he quickly added when he saw Noah scowl at him. “Believe me, I wanna punch that angel prick so hard for pushing you and Christie down from the porch like that, and for groping Niko.”  
  
“I know. He was a real asshole. I wanted to punch him too,” Noah muttered.  
  
Jayden chuckled. He leaned towards Noah and pressed his forehead to Noah’s temple, letting his eyes flutter closed. “And I hate fighting with you…” he sighed.  
  
“Me too,” Noah answered. He closed his eyes and sighed in content when their bond opened up again, letting positive emotions run through them and soothe them.   
  
They sat like that for a bit, dwelling in the nice feeling of their bond connecting them once more.  
  
Jayden suddenly sat up abruptly, startling Noah.  
  
“Ah shit, I forgot to provide something to cool your foot down with. Fuck, I’m such a bad mate,” Jayden cursed, shooting up from the bed to go get Noah a bag of frozen food to put on his foot.  
  
Noah blinked at him before laughing a bit. “Yeah, you really suck,” he grinned, jokingly.  
  
Jayden just chuckled and sent him an apologetic look over his shoulder as he rushed out of the room and hurried into the kitchen to get that bag from the freezer.  
  
Noah smiled to himself while he waited for Jayden. He was so relieved that they had made up, and he no longer felt angry with his mate about earlier. He hated fights and conflicts, so he was just glad that it was over now. He knew there would be more fights to come, but he would try his best not to yell like that at Jayden again. Snapping was more okay and normal during fights, but yelling made Noah feel pretty ashamed of himself. It wasn’t a very controlled way of handling a fight, and he hated being rude.  
  
When Jayden returned, he wrapped a towel around Noah’s foot and put a bag of frozen vegetables on top of it, being as gentle as he could. He could tell that Noah was in pain, so he gently started rubbing his hand up and down Noah’s smooth leg to comfort him.  
  
“I think maybe you should go see a doctor with this. It’s pretty swollen…”  
  
Noah groaned. “Fine, I’ll go there soon.”  
  
Jayden smiled, glad that Noah agreed. He was sitting on the bed by Noah’s feet, still caressing his leg until he suddenly leaned down and pressed a few kisses to some of Noah’s toes.  
  
Noah blushed furiously. “W-What are you doing?”  
  
“Worshipping you,” Jayden purred, glancing up at his face with a small smirk and continued pressing small kisses to his mate’s toes and caressed his good foot in a loving gesture. “I have to make it up to you that I started a fight with you earlier.”  
  
“Well, don’t do it like that. It tickles a bit,” Noah murmured, grabbing one of the other decoration pillows and pressed it against his chest, his cheeks flushing a bright pink. He hated admitting it, but he really liked it when Jayden touched his feet. They were very sensitive, and the way the alpha was touching and kissing his feet and toes right now made something flare inside Noah. It was such a loving and worshipping gesture – one that not many alphas would perform.  
  
Jayden just grinned at his comment, loving how Noah’s toes curled shyly whenever he touched his feet. He crawled back up to the head of the bed, hovering over Noah and staring down at his face for a few moments.   
  
They stared into each other eyes in silence until Jayden captured Noah’s lips in a gentle kiss.  
  
Noah hummed, running his hand lightly through Jayden’s hair as their lips touched.  
  
Jayden pulled back from the kiss a few moments later, staring into Noah’s blue orbs. “I hope your foot heals in time before your internship.”  
  
As part of his education, Noah had to spend the last three months as an intern in a kindergarten, pre-school, or in an elementary school class. He was looking forward to trying out his future job like that, though he also had to write his final thesis while he interned.  
  
“That’s first in the spring. It’s a long time from now,” Noah reminded him.  
  
“Oh? I thought it was soon.”  
  
Noah shook his head.  
  
“Well then, just don’t go to any classes before your foot feels better, alright? Don’t want it getting worse if it doesn’t get the rest it needs.”  
  
“I promise I won’t push myself,” Noah said, chortling at Jayden’s protectiveness – though this time Noah wasn’t bothered by it.  
  
“I’ll provide you with a luxury stay here for the next two days, but I have work… Maybe I can get my mom to come over and help you out during the day? You shouldn’t move around too much.”  
  
Noah frowned in offense. “I’m not a child.”  
  
“No, but you are injured and you’re my mate, so you don’t get to jump around for a while,” Jayden chuckled, sitting back on his knees and looking down at Noah with a fond smile.  
  
Noah rolled his eyes, groaning. “ _Fine._ But give me some crutches so I can move around on my own, at least.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “I think my mom still has my old crutches somewhere from when I broke my leg when I was 13. I wasn’t so tall back then, so maybe they’ll fit you. I’ll ask her to bring them over.”  
  
“You broke your leg when you were 13?” Noah asked, blinking at him. “You seem to break your limbs a lot…”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve had my share of accidents; the car crash when I was 11 being the worst. But like I said, I wasn’t so tall yet when I had just turned 13 – maybe only a bit taller than you are now – so the crutches should hopefully fit you.”  
  
“Okay. I guess it’s good that I’m short…” Noah mumbled, playing a bit with one of his own feathers.  
  
Jayden grinned. “Trust me; you being short is perfect and hot.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Noah’s lips before he could speak, and then moved off the bed to go to the bathroom to get Noah some painkillers.  
  
They spent the next half hour talking and watching TV on the bed while sharing loving touches and kisses.  
  
Jayden was being as gentle as he could when he helped Noah out of his clothes before bed, and he took the bag of vegetables back to the freezer to cool it down for re-use the next day.  
  
Noah’s ankle would take a while to heal, but he had Jayden and Christie around to help him out until then.  
  
Their bond was strengthening once more after the strain their fight had put on it. Many more fights were to come in the future, but neither of them could stay mad at the other for too long. Their love was too strong for that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s kind of hard to write about Noah and Jayden arguing – they always get along so well! It’s difficult to make them fight XD; I do hope you liked the little drama in the chapter, and I promise that Noah’s foot will be alright. A friend of mine suffered a similar injury, so I got inspired to let the same happen to Noah, even if it’s painful.
> 
> Also, I’ll be updating a little slower now. I’m starting on a course next week and it lasts for 6 weeks, and after that I plan to take some vacation and travel abroad. That means I have only about 4-5 hours of free time a day in the next 6 weeks, so I’ll have less time to write (I’ll try to write more on the weekends). Sorry about this, but please know that I will always do my best to update as soon as I can.
> 
> The next chapter will be somewhat of a filler. I want to explore a bit more about Lucas and Caleb, and something with Eden and Lily too. And soon after that Noah will graduate, which means it won’t be long until he and Jayden have babies! :D
> 
> Thank you very much for reading :)


	10. Chapter 10

**December 2047 (Noah is 21, Jayden is 23, Christie is 21, Lucas is 19, Caleb is 18, Brandon is 22, Eden is 34, Lily is 27 years old).**  
  
December had just arrived and Christmas was almost upon them.  
  
Noah couldn’t wait to have his holidays just a week from now, and get to spend it with his family and with Jayden’s family as well. This year it would just be Lily, Tony, little Alec, Isaac, and Kaylen coming home to Dean and Cas’ house on Christmas Eve. The others were spending Christmas alone with their own families, but they’d be visiting during the holidays. Noah was spending the Christmas with Jayden and his family, since they took turns each year with whose family they spent Christmas Eve. They would be going home to Noah’s family on the evening of the 25th though, to spend a few days there.  
  
Noah was sitting in his dorm room after his classes had just ended. It was a Tuesday, and he was getting ready for a small test on Friday. He was already prepared for it and didn’t think he’d have much trouble, but he decided to study a bit more for it anyway.  
  
He shifted his feet a little under the desk, glad that his right ankle was feeling much better now. He had gone to the doctor with it a few days after he had sprained it back in late September, but luckily nothing had been broken. It had been sprained pretty bad though, and it hurt for weeks. He still felt a bit of pain in his foot when he walked too much or put too much strain on it, but it wasn’t too bad. He could finally walk again without limping all the time – which he had been doing a lot for the first four weeks after the incident. He was going out with Eden and Lily later that afternoon to do some Christmas shopping with them, so Noah hoped that his foot wouldn’t cause too much trouble since they had to walk around a lot.  
  
Noah was pulled out of his concentration when he heard someone knock on his door.  
  
Frowning, Noah got up and walked over to the door, unlocking and slowly opening it to see who it was. He wasn’t too surprised to see Lucas’ face on the other side. “Oh. Hi, Lucas.”  
  
“Hi, Noah,” Lucas smiled, peeking into the room a bit to assess if Noah had other guests. He seemed pleased when that wasn’t the case. “Um, can I come in?”  
  
“Sure.” Noah smiled and opened the door wide and let his friend in. He closed and locked it again afterwards, knowing that they both felt safer if the door was locked. It was not uncommon for guys who had ventured into the girls’ dorm floors to suddenly burst into some random person’s room either as a prank or a foolish challenge by their friends. They were mostly just doing it for fun, but Noah thought it was really annoying, so he and Christie always kept the door locked.  
  
Lucas came into the room, fumbling a bit with his hands and curling and uncurling his tail. There was a nervous look to him, but at the same time a small, barely-there smile was tugging at his lips every now and then.  
  
“What is it? You look kind of… anxious,” Noah asked, watching his friend with a small frown.  
  
Lucas turned to look at him, a small blush painting his cheeks. “I, um…” He fumbled with his hands, glancing between them and Noah’s face. “Caleb and I went out on a date last night,” he finally blurted, blushing harder.  
  
Noah’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What? Really?” he grinned.  
  
Lucas nodded. “He, um, asked me on Sunday if I wanted to go with him to the cinema on Monday to watch a movie. I agreed and we went, just the two of us. It was kind of awkward for me, but we ended up having a lot of fun. We went out to eat afterwards in one of the restaurants, and then he…” He trailed off, blushing even harder and going over to sit down on Noah’s bed.  
  
Noah went over and sat down next to him, staring at him in anticipation. “He what?” he prompted.  
  
Lucas stared into his lap, his wings wrapping a bit around himself in a shy gesture. “H-He asked me to be his boyfriend,” he finally murmured, his face redder than ever.  
  
Noah almost dropped his jaw. He almost believe that Caleb had finally asked the big question, which Noah knew he had been dying to ask Lucas for years now. Noah grinned at Lucas in excitement and inched a bit closer to him. “And? What did you say?”  
  
Lucas glanced at him from under his lashes, shifting a bit. “Um, I said yes…”  
  
Noah grinned at his friend, thrilled to hear the good news. “That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you.” He leaned forward to hug Lucas, who hugged him back with a sheepish grin.  
  
“Thanks,” the other submissive said before they pulled apart. “I, um, am kind of nervous about it now, though. I told him that I’m not ready to be physical with him yet, and he seemed very understanding about that. I’m just really nervous about how he’ll react when he knows about my past… What if he thinks I’m disgusting, after what my father did to me?” He glanced at Noah with glassy, bluish grey eyes, looking genuinely upset about having to tell Caleb about himself. Lucas felt a lot of shame about his past, and it had taken him quite some time to open up to Noah and tell him about it when they became friends. He wasn’t comfortable talking to many people about it, and only Noah and Christie knew about it at the college.  
  
Noah reached out and put a comforting hand on Lucas’ shoulder. “Don’t be nervous. I don’t think Caleb will think you’re disgusting at all. I think he will be very upset about what happened to you, but only because what your father did was wrong, and Caleb would be pretty mad at him, I think. I’d be very surprised if he would turn on _you_ for it.”  
  
“So you don’t think he’d be disgusted?” Lucas asked, his voice small and insecure.  
  
“No, not by you at least,” Noah told him, giving him a reassuring smile. “But it’s up to you to tell him. You don’t have to tell him right away if you don’t want to.”  
  
“I-I want him to know,” Lucas spoke. “I don’t want him thinking that I find him disgusting or anything for not being eager to touch him or have him touch me just yet. Besides, I think I trust him with it.”  
  
Noah nodded. “That’s good. I’m glad you two finally found each other,” he grinned.  
  
Lucas blushed again. “What do you mean ‘finally’? I haven’t crushed on him for that long.”  
  
“Yeah, you have,” Noah chuckled.  
  
Lucas smoldered a bit and bumped his wing into Noah’s, making Noah laugh.  
  
Folding his hands in his lap, Lucas smiled a bit as a shy blush spread across his cheeks. “I still can’t quite believe that I have a boyfriend now, though. I never thought I would have one.”  
  
“I think you and Caleb make a nice couple. He’s lucky to have you,” Noah smiled.  
  
“No, _I’m_ lucky to have _him_. He’s so patient, kind, and good-hearted, and he makes me have all these small butterflies in my stomach all the time.”  
  
Noah smiled at that. It was exactly how he felt about Jayden. Even though they had been together for over five years now, the alpha could still make Noah feel those butterflies in his stomach when their eyes met or when their skin touched. It was the best feeling ever.  
  
As they sat there, Lucas stared at Noah for a bit before looking down at Noah’s right foot. “How’s your foot lately?” he asked, eyeing him in worry.  
  
Noah followed his friend’s gaze down to his foot, wriggling his toes a bit in a self-conscious gesture as they both stared at it. “Um, it’s a lot better now. I still can’t run properly on it, and it sometimes gets a bit sore when I strain it too much. I went out for a swim in the college’s pool last night, for the first time in weeks, and my foot barely got sore at all, so I do think it’s almost over.”  
  
“You went there alone?” Lucas asked, his eyes wide in horror because he didn’t want Noah being an easy target for alphas if he went to swim alone in the pool.  
  
“No, I never go there alone. Christie, Alfie, or Niko are always with me. I’m too scared to go there on my own.”  
  
Lucas nodded quietly. “I wouldn’t want to go there alone either. And I’m sorry I can’t go swimming with you… I’m scared of the water and I don’t like wearing a swim outfit in front of others.”  
  
“That’s okay,” Noah smiled. “I wear a swimsuit now instead of swim briefs, because the alphas won’t stop staring at my chest and stomach otherwise, and it makes me feel naked. Jayden doesn’t like me showing too much skin in the pool either…”  
  
“It’s too bad Jayden doesn’t go to this college. He was nice to have around in high school…”  
  
Noah chuckled softly. “Yeah. But Brandon helps out sometimes. I think he’s quite nice now.”  
  
“He’s looked out for me a bit as well, but Caleb doesn’t like that. He doesn’t trust alphas around me, I think.” Lucas giggled a bit, being all shy and happy about having Caleb be protective of him.  
  
Noah just grinned.  
  
The sound of a key going into the door’s lock interrupted them, and they both looked over to see Christie entering the room. She was wearing a thick scarf around her neck and her nose was all red from blowing her nose too much lately. She looked over at them and didn’t seem surprised to see Lucas in the room. “Hi, guys,” she greeted them with a smile, and locked the door behind her again. She sneezed into her hand and pulled out a fresh tissue from her pocket to blow her nose with.  
  
Noah eyed her in sympathy. “Hi, Christie. Is it still that bad with your cold?”  
  
“Ugh, yeah. Worst cold I’ve had in _years,_ ” Christie groused, dropping her laptop bag onto her bed and throwing the used tissue in the trash bin.  
  
Lucas frowned at her in worry. “You don’t look so good either…”  
  
“Ugh, well, my head feels clogged and it hurts all over, and snot is running from me like I’m the Niagara Falls, so I’m not surprised…”  
  
“I think you should lie down in bed and rest for the rest of the day. I can bring you some hot chocolate from the cafeteria, if you like?” Noah offered, worrying that Christie could end up feeling even worse if she stressed herself out too much. Classes and their semester finals were stressing enough as it was.  
  
“What? No, no, I’m fine, I—” Christie trailed off as she sneezed once more, looking so pathetic afterwards as she once more blew her nose, which was all red and irritated from it. She breathed heavily through her mouth, unable to get any air through her nose at all.  
  
Noah got up and started ushering her to lie down under the covers on the bed, and Lucas helped him persuade Christie to do so. She didn’t seem particularly happy since it was only 3:36pm and she didn’t want to lie in her bed just yet, but when Noah set up her laptop so she could watch a movie, she stopped protesting.  
  
Noah and Lucas then went to the cafeteria together to get Christie that hot chocolate, and they enjoyed each other’s company on the way.  
  
When they returned to the room they handed the hot chocolate over to Christie, who beamed as she took it from Noah.  
  
“Jeez, you two are such moms to me,” Christie chuckled, blowing a bit on the hot drink to cool it down a little.  
  
“Noah is the mom here. He takes care of everyone,” Lucas said, smiling at Noah.  
  
A sheepish blush covered Noah’s cheeks and he shifted a bit on his feet.  
  
“Yeah, he really is such a mom,” Christie chuckled.  
  
“I’m not…” Noah murmured, feeling almost embarrassingly humbled now.  
  
His friends chuckled at him, and Christie took a few sips from the hot chocolate, feeling it warm her throat on its way down and make it ache less. She eyed them both before looking at Noah. “Aren’t you going out with your sisters today?” she asked, coughing a bit.  
  
“Oh right.” Noah looked over at his alarm clock to see what the time was. “I still have another twenty minutes until Eden comes to pick me up.”  
  
“Well, have fun. I hope you’ll buy some presents for me and Lucas as well,” Christie said, smirking a bit.  
  
“Of course I will.”  
  
Lucas stared at Noah, a deep frown on his face. “You’re going out with Eden and Lily? Isn’t Eden like nine months pregnant now…?”  
  
“She’s almost eight months pregnant,” Noah corrected him, smiling. “She’s having a little girl on the twenty-second January.”  
  
“Holy crap! Is she that far along already?” Christie blurted. Her outburst made her cough like mad, and she groaned at the soreness in her throat.  
  
Noah laughed at her. “Yeah, she is.”  
  
“I hope she can still drive a car in her condition.”  
  
“So do I,” Noah chuckled.  
  


 

***

  
  
At 4:23pm it was almost dark outside, and Noah shivered in the slight cold as he waited for Eden to pick him up on the street just outside the college. Eden would pick Lily up as well before coming to the college, and Noah couldn’t wait to see his sisters again. It had been weeks since he had last seen them.  
  
Eden was supposed to have arrived at 4:10 to pick him up, but she seemed to be delayed a bit. Noah checked his phone every now and then to see what time it was and if Eden or Lily had texted him to explain what was going on. He was just about to call Lily (since Eden would be driving and he didn’t want her picking up her phone while driving) to ask her what was going on, when Eden’s dark blue station car finally appeared.  
  
The car stopped in front of Noah on the street, and Noah hurried over to get into the warm car.  
  
“Hey, little brother,” Eden grinned as Noah got into the backseat.  
  
“Hi, Noah,” Lily smiled from the front seat, looking back over her shoulder at him.  
  
Noah noted that Lily was as usual dressed in very stylish and neat clothing, which looked very good on her. Eden cared a bit less about her clothes and hairstyle, but she never looked bad. He smiled when he saw Eden rub her pregnant belly before putting the car into gear.  
  
“Hi,” Noah greeted them back, getting settled and buckled up before Eden drove off in the direction of the mall.  
  
“Sorry I’m a bit late. Lily was being such a slow-ass,” Eden murmured as they drove, sending her sister a small glare out of the corner of her eye.  
  
“I was not!” Lily protested. “It was Tony who was too slow to come home. I couldn’t leave Alec alone in the apartment until Tony arrived, and he was being held up by the traffic on his way back from work.”  
  
“But you didn’t pick up your phone when I called you either.”  
  
“I couldn’t; Alec was being troublesome, so I couldn’t talk on the phone,” Lily murmured.  
  
Noah chuckled at his sisters in the back, enjoying being with them even if they were bickering a bit. “How is Alec, by the way?”  
  
Lily turned her head, trying to see him behind her, and grinned. “He’s doing well. He’s so full of energy he’s tiring me out, though. He never shuts up and he never sits still.”  
  
Eden giggled. “Kinda like Isaac.”  
  
Lily laughed out loud at that, agreeing.  
  
Noah chuckled. He hadn’t seen Alec for about three months now. The boy was turning three years old in February, and Lily was right that the boy was pretty restless, but he was also pretty cute when he wanted to be (which was mostly when he was begging for sweets etc.).  
  
“And how are you, Noah? You sure you can survive a shopping trip with Eden and me with your ankle being all messed up?” Lily asked then.  
  
“I think I’ll be okay,” Noah answered. “My ankle is doing a lot better, and it’s been over two months since I twisted it. It still gets sore when I strain it too much, but hopefully it won’t cause too much trouble today.”  
  
“Yeah, let’s hope not. It’s so awful what happened to you,” Lily said, cringing.  
  
Eden nodded in agreement, keeping her eyes on the road and glancing at Noah in the rearview mirror every now and then. “And how are things with Jayden? Are you two still seeing each other a lot after he’s moved into the apartment? I’ve barely heard about how you guys are doing lately.”  
  
“It’s going well,” Noah smiled. “We see each other about twice week or so, and I often sleep over in the apartment on the weekends. It’s not that far from the college, anyway.”  
  
“That’s good,” Eden smiled. “And maybe we should go see him at the mall? He works there, right?” she asked then, grinning at Noah in the mirror.  
  
“Oh, I like that idea!” Lily exclaimed. “Then he can cook food for us if we eat in the restaurant. Wanna see how great of a cook your man is, Noah.”  
  
Noah blushed a bit, but felt rather excited about eating at the restaurant where Jayden worked. He had eaten there once or twice before and he really liked the food they cooked. He had also met a few of Jayden’s colleagues and they seemed nice. None of them were racist, so Noah had felt quite welcome.  
  
“Is he at work today?” Eden asked, realizing that she had no idea what Jayden’s work schedule was, so he may not even be at work.  
  
“Um, I’m pretty sure he told me he’s working from 2-11pm Tuesday and Wednesday, so he should be there,” Noah answered.  
  
“Awesome. Can’t wait to see him again,” Eden grinned behind the steering wheel.  
  
“I bet Noah is even more impatient to see him,” Lily smirked, glancing back at her brother.  
  
Noah blushed and reached out to give Lily’s a wing a small shove with his hand. His sister just laughed at that, before suddenly changing the topics.  
  
“Oh, and have you guys heard anything new from Adrian? Did Aaron recover from that nasty ear infection yet?”  
  
Aaron was Adrian and Natalie’s alpha son, who was born on the 30th October last year. They had seen Adrian for his birthday in October, where he had told them how they had gone back and forth between the doctor’s office and the hospital because of Aaron’s condition.  
  
“I spoke to him last week when he called me to ask how I was doing. He told me that Aaron is doing better,” Eden said.  
  
“Oh, that’s good,” Noah said, sighing in relief.  
  
“Yeah, that poor little guy… He didn’t look so well back in October…” Lily spoke, cringing a bit. “Luckily, Alec hasn’t had that problem yet, and I hope he won’t ever have it.”  
  
“Daniel had some, though not as bad as Aaron has it,” Eden said. “I hope this baby will go free of it like Luna did.” She glanced down at her pregnant belly with a small, worried frown.  
  
“I’m sure she will,” Lily told her, smiling at her older sister.  
  
Noah cringed, feeling sorry for his nephews that they had to go through that. Noah and Adrian were the only ones of his siblings who had not had any ear infections, but Noah had had a tonsil infection once and the memory of it all made Noah shiver a bit. It hadn’t been comfortable at all.  
  
They continued to chat back and forth the rest of the way, though the mall was just fifteen minutes away through the rush hour traffic.  
  


 

***

  
  
The mall was full of people when they arrived. It was the 3rd December, so it was the high season for Christmas shopping. The mall was decorated with Christmas stuff all over – Santa Claus and elf figures in the windows, lights on the ceiling, fake reindeers, Christmas balls hanging from the plants and from the large Christmas tree in the center of the building, and there was Christmas music playing all over on the radio. The children looked happy and excited, and the parents looked stressed because of the all presents they had to buy and afford. Everything looked so fancy in there, and Noah really liked coming to the mall at this time of the year. It was beautiful, cozy, and the atmosphere always put him in a good mood. He could smell the food from the restaurants, which always made him feel a little hungry when the smell teased his nose and senses, making him want to eat even though he had eaten only two hours earlier.  
  
The three siblings went around the mall to buy presents for the rest of the family and for their friends. As usual, some people stared when three angel/demon hybrids came walking through the mall, but the three of them had learned to ignore the staring and the whispers.  
  
They walked from store to store, trying to find presents for their loved ones, and they chatted and enjoyed each other’s company while they shopped. Eden was walking a bit slow due to her pregnancy, but Lily and Noah didn’t mind. They had the rest of the afternoon and the whole evening to shop, after all.  
  
Eventually they went to a shoe store to buy new shoes for their mates. Both Jason and Tony had wanted new shoes, and Noah tagged along with his sisters even though he wasn’t going to buy Jayden any shoes. His mate didn’t really need any new ones.  
  
“Damn, I need to buy new shoes for Daniel as well, but I forgot what his last shoe size was. He grows so damn fast,” Eden groused as they stood in the section for men’s shoes. “But at least I remember Luna’s size…”  
  
Lily chuckled. “That’s why I always write down Tony’s and Alec’s current size to remember. I always forget it otherwise.”  
  
“I should really do that too,” Eden murmured contemplatively. She glanced at Noah, who was busy staring at all the shoe models while he was absently listening to their conversation. She nudged him gently with her wing. “Remember that advice too when you have kids someday, Noah,” she smirked.  
  
Noah turned to look at her, blushing a bit as he nodded.  
  
Lily grinned as she reached out her hand and put it on Noah’s flat stomach, rubbing it a bit. “No baby bulge yet? Isn’t it time you and Jayden make a baby soon?” Her voice was teasing but also loving and excited, and she watched as Noah’s face turned even redder.  
  
“I’m still in college! I can’t have a baby yet,” Noah argued.  
  
Eden laughed warmly at him. “You’ll be done in six months, though. I really can’t wait for the day you tell us that you and Jayden are having a baby, but don’t take that step until you’re both ready for it.” She gave her brother a gentle caress on the leg with her tail, which was all she could do when he didn’t have a tail she could entwine her own with.  
  
“Yeah, Eden’s right; wait until you’re ready. I didn’t mean to pressure you at all; I’m just so excited to see my baby submissive brother become a mother,” Lily spoke, almost jumping in excitement.  
  
Noah shifted sheepishly on his feet, being both embarrassed and glad about what his sisters said. “Thanks. It’ll probably first be in a year or two… I want to find a job first.”  
  
Eden smiled at that before she suddenly seemed to remember something. “Oh! Talking about jobs, when are you going to invite us to see the newest musical you’re playing at, Lily? You mentioned you had a violin solo in it.”  
  
“Oh right,” Lily spoke. “I, uh, was thinking of inviting dad, papa, Adrian, Isaac, and you guys over to see it here in December, but I forgot again. Good you reminded me of it.”  
  
Noah beamed. “I’d be glad to see another one of the musicals you’re playing at; especially since you have your own solo now during one of the scenes.”  
  
They had attended a few of the musicals before, where Lily played the violin during the plays. They had also gone to L.A. to see Isaac perform as an actor in some of the musicals there, and Noah always watched the new episodes of the shows that Isaac was on.  
  
Lily grinned, her tail curling happily next to her. “Thanks. I’ll provide you with cheap tickets soon. And the play itself is quite good.”  
  
“Didn’t you say it was a musical of The Little Match Girl?” Eden asked, cringing a bit. “That story has always made me cry so horribly…” She rubbed her pregnant bump absently as they stood there, and a few other customers stared at her large bump, which she ignored.  
  
“Yeah, it is, and my solo is at the end, during the sad part.”  
  
“Ugh, now I’m not sure I wanna go anymore…”  
  
Lily laughed at her older sister and ran her tail along Eden’s for reassurance. “I know the story is sad, but the play is really good… I really want you guys to come and see it.”  
  
“I’d love to come see it. I’ll have to bring a lot of tissues, though…” Noah said.  
  
“I’ll provide the tissues as long as you come,” Lily promised.  
  
Eden groaned. “Okay fine, I’ll come. Now, can we please talk about something more cheerful? The mere mention of that story depresses me, and I don’t think that’s good for the baby either.” She looked down at her stomach to state her point.  
  
Lily laughed before reaching out to put a gentle hand on Eden’s belly, trying to feel the baby inside. “Does she kick a lot?”  
  
“Yeah. She’d make a good marathon runner with those strong legs,” Eden joked, a fond smile on her lips as she rubbed her stomach gently. She glanced over at Noah, who was watching her stomach quietly. “Wanna feel it too?” she asked, smiling.  
  
Noah blinked at her, but smiled as he stepped closer to touch the bump. Lily removed her hand, giving him space, and he smiled as he moved his hand over his sister’s extended belly. After a few seconds he felt a small kick from within, which made him grin widely. “I can’t wait to meet her.”  
  
Eden grinned, rubbing her stomach as well. “Me too. Gotta wait one and a half more months, though.”  
  
“It’ll be good when you no longer have that constant pressure against your bladder, right?” Lily snickered.  
  
Eden laughed and Noah chuckled a bit.  
  
The three of them continued with shopping for shoes in the store, before moving on afterwards. They headed towards a video store to buy some presents for their father, Isaac, and Adrian.  
  
‘Last Christmas’ was playing on the mall radio, like it did every year, and both Lily and Eden quietly hummed along as they walked through the crowds. Noah just chuckled at them, and smiled when he watched them giggle together and nudge him as they tried to make him join. He was too shy to hum along in full public though, but neither Eden nor Lily seemed to be embarrassed to do so.  
  
As they walked down one of the corridors on the second floor, headed towards the mall’s best video store, Noah suddenly noticed a familiar face ahead of them in the crowds. It was Brandon, and there was a little girl walking next to him, pulling at his arm and grinning up at him.  
  
Brandon stopped in his tracks when he was in front of Noah, and Noah stopped too.  
  
“Oh,” Brandon said dumbly, blinking at him. “Hi, Noah. What are you doing here?”  
  
“Hi,” Noah replied, smiling at him. “Um, I’m doing some Christmas shopping with my sisters.” He glanced over at Lily and Eden, who had walked a bit ahead until they stopped when they noticed they had lost Noah. They came back over to him, confused about who the strange alpha demon and little demon girl in front of him were.  
  
The demon girl – who was Brandon’s little sister, Mia – beamed when she saw Noah. “Noah!” she cheered, coming forward to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug.  
  
Noah was slightly taken aback to be greeted with such a tight hug and such excitement by Brandon’s sister. He had only ever met Mia twice – the first time when he and Castiel found her lost in the mall once, and then one time at college when he had seen Brandon get picked up by his parents on a weekend, but he had only caught a small glimpse of Mia then. He hugged her back though, unable to suppress the smile on his face. “Hi, Mia. You’ve grown so big.”  
  
Mia grinned and pulled away, staring up at him happily. “I’m nine years old now, so of course I’m big!”  
  
Noah laughed, and saw Brandon roll his eyes a bit at Mia’s comment. Eden and Lily still looked a bit confused, but they watched the scene with a smile and waited patiently for Noah to finish speaking with the strangers.  
  
“I wanted to thank you,” Mia spoke, smiling up at him. “You made my big brother such a nice person again; he hasn’t bullied anyone since he got to know you better.”  
  
Noah’s eyebrows rose in surprise over that comment, while Brandon shifted a bit in the background.  
  
“Jeez, Mia,” Brandon groaned.  
  
Noah blinked at the girl before saying, “You don’t need to thank _me._ I didn’t change him. It was because of you that he wanted to change, so you should thank yourself.”  
  
Brandon had stopped calling Noah names and joining their classmates in harassing him in high school when he had seen how disappointed Mia had been when she learned what her brother had been doing to Noah. So it was mostly Mia’s fault that Brandon had changed, in Noah’s opinion.  
  
“But if I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t have known that he was harassing you at school! And you helped him see everyone as people who are equal to himself,” Mia argued. “So it’s also thanks to you that Brandon is nice now.”  
  
Noah didn’t know what to say to that. He knew that him having helped Mia back then when she was lost had made Brandon see him more like a person than just the school’s little hybrid freak, and that this was part of the reason why Brandon had changed and had stopped giving others such a hard time, but Noah found it hard to take credit for. Nonetheless, he was glad that Mia had thanked him and that he had played a small part in making her feel proud of her brother again.  
  
Eden’s eyes lit up at the mention of Brandon’s name. “Oh! So _you’re_ Brandon,” she said, blinking at him in surprise. Lily looked equally surprised.  
  
“Um, yeah,” Brandon said, looking uncomfortable ever since Mia mentioned him being somewhat of a bully in the past. He wasn’t proud of that.  
  
“Noah has mentioned you a few times,” Lily chuckled. “He says you keep an eye out for him at college sometimes.”  
  
“Well, the alphas like to target him with their sexism, so I mostly just make them back off,” Brandon spoke modestly.  
  
“Well, thanks for looking out for our little brother,” Eden told him, smiling. “Though, Jayden doesn’t seem to like it much when your name is mentioned.” She giggled a bit.  
  
“Well, he’s Noah’s mate and he’s quite protective of him, so I can’t blame him. I do feel like he’s softened up around me, though,” Brandon spoke, chuckling a bit.  
  
“Well, that’s because you haven’t laid a hand on Noah, and you better not. Jayden will kick the living crap out of you, and so will we if you ever touch him,” Eden warned. Her voice was somewhat playful, but the look in her eyes was dead serious. Both she and Lily spread their wings just a little to state their point.  
  
Noah blushed a bit at his sisters’ protectiveness, but he was also rather touched by it.  
  
Brandon took a small step back, startled. “Whoa, I wouldn’t! He’s not really my type anyway – I prefer females.”  
  
Eden and Lily backed down a bit.  
  
“Good,” Lily grinned, nonchalantly. “I don’t think Noah is interested in your either.”  
  
Noah shook his head. “No, I have a mate. Brandon is just a, um, friend, I guess.” He noticed Brandon looking rather humbled and glad to hear that, since they had never identified themselves as friends. Heck, Noah wasn’t even sure if they _were_ friends. They knew each other, talked sometimes, and Brandon helped him out if he was being bothered, but that was about it. In a way they were friends, he supposed, but not tight friends.  
  
Mia grinned, her tail curling happily when Noah said that he and her brother were friends.  
  
“Um, well, we gotta get going now. Our parents are waiting,” Brandon spoke, rubbing the back of his neck a bit while glancing down at Mia.  
  
“Well, it was nice meeting you,” Eden smiled. “Just don’t give Jayden or any of us a reason to want to kick your ass.”  
  
“Yes, ma’am,” Brandon chuckled, ushering Mia ahead when she refused to move. “Bye. And, uh, see you again at some point soon, Noah.”  
  
Noah smiled and nodded. “Yeah, see you.” He waved at Mia when the demon girl grinned and waved at him as she and Brandon left, smiling at her as she and Brandon disappeared into the crowds.  
  
Eden and Lily said goodbye too, and turned to smile at Noah after Brandon and Mia were gone. Lily wrapped her arm around Noah’s shoulders and pulled him close as they continued walking towards the video store. “Well, he seemed pretty nice. Though, I admit that Jayden is a much better match for you.”  
  
Noah shoved her a little. “I’m not interested in Brandon! I never was and never will be. We just know each other and he’s promised to keep the perverted guys away from me.”  
  
“But Jayden doesn’t like him,” Lily pointed out, chuckling.  
  
“Of course he doesn’t. Alphas see competition in all other males, and Jayden adores Noah; he doesn’t want him being taken away from him,” Eden argued, sending Noah a small smirk as they walked.  
  
Noah groaned and wriggled out of Lily’s hold. “I won’t be taken away from him, stop saying that!”  
  
Lily laughed. “We know. We’re messing around. I think everyone in the family knows that you and Jayden are inseparable and won’t ever be interested in anyone else. Just like with dad and papa.”  
  
“Hey, the same counts for the rest of us,” Eden argued. “I wouldn’t leave Jason for anyone, and I don’t think you’d leave Tony. Adrian and Natalie would never leave each other either, I think. But it’s hard to say with Isaac and Kaylen; they’ve only been together for three years and haven’t mated yet…”  
  
Lily chuckled and avoided bumping into a beta angel as they walked. “That’s true. But I don’t think Isaac could live without Kaylen now.”  
  
Noah giggled. “Yeah.”  
  
They walked towards the video store, talking about more serious stuff now as they discussed what to buy.  
  


 

***

  
  
At around 7pm they decided it was time to get something to eat.  
  
Lily and Eden were excited to taste the food from the restaurant that Jayden worked at for the first time, and Noah was just looking forward to get some nice food into his empty stomach.  
  
The restaurant was neat, painted mostly in dark and red-shaded colors and with black wooden tables. There were some Christmas decorations on the walls and on the tables, but not excessively much. The place was almost full and with various species of customers.  
  
They picked a seat by a small table in the corner in the back, and Noah and Lily grouped together while Eden sat on the other side of the 4-person table. Eden felt like she needed some space because of her belly, so she didn’t mind sitting alone on her side of the table.  
  
A waitress came over to hand them their menus, and she smiled when she saw Eden rubbing her stomach lovingly. As she handed Noah his menu, she suddenly froze and stared at him in recognition. “Oh! You’re Noah, aren’t you? Jayden’s mate?”  
  
Noah looked up at her, recognizing her from the first time Jayden had taken him to the restaurant where he had briefly introduced him to his new colleagues. He smiled up at the young angel waitress. “Yes, that’s me.”  
  
The waitress – whose name was Joanne – beamed. “It’s nice to meet you again. And nice to see you’re bringing more customers over,” she grinned, glancing briefly at Eden and Lily. “Would you like me to tell Jayden that you’re here, and have him prepare your food personally?”  
  
“Oh, please do!” Eden grinned. “I’m dying to taste his cooking.”  
  
“Same here,” Lily grinned.  
  
Noah chuckled and nodded at the waitress. “Yes, that would be fine. Thank you.”  
  
“Alright. I’ll come back to collect your orders in five minutes, and then I’ll let Jayden know you’re here,” Joanne said, winking at Noah before turning her heels to leave for now.  
  
After the waitress left, they looked through the menu to pick something they wanted to order.  
  
“I half expected you to act jealous around Jayden’s female coworkers,” Lily said, giggling at Noah.  
  
“I’m not jealous because of Joanne. She likes girls,” Noah explained. “Besides, I know Jayden is nothing but a colleague to everyone here…”  
  
Lily’s eyes widened. “Oh, she’s lesbian? I _knew_ that nice ass could only belong to a lesbian.”  
  
Eden rolled her eyes at her sister. “Jeez. Now _your_ lesbian side is showing.”  
  
Lily looked at her sister with a small scowl. “I’m not lesbian; I’m bi. That’s different. And I’m allowed to appreciate another woman’s butt if I like. Tony doesn’t mind, as long as I don’t touch it without letting him know about it first.”  
  
Eden snickered. “Do you let him touch another guy’s butt too then?”  
  
Lily let an amused chuckle at that. “He’s not as much bi as I am, but yeah; if he wants to touch some man-butt, then I’d probably let him. Though, ever since Alec was born it has just been the two of us and no one else in our bedroom.”  
  
Eden smiled, still running a slow hand over her extended belly. “Having a child changes a lot. But maybe you’ll be ready to go back to your previous habits again soon.”  
  
“Maybe… But I don’t really feel the need to do that anytime soon.”  
  
Noah smiled as he quietly listened to them, keeping his eyes on the menu and trying to pick something from it.  
  
Joanne came back to take their orders soon afterwards, and she then headed into the kitchen in the back to let Jayden know that his mate and sisters-in-law were there in the restaurant.  
  
In the kitchen, Jayden was having a busy night along with the two other chefs, since there were a lot of customers in the restaurant around Christmas. He worked on several meals at the time, using post-its to keep track of who wanted what and how they wanted their meat cooked, etc. The kitchen smelled heavily of food, despite the ventilation working on full power, and he stressed to not let his customers wait too long.  
  
He was working on preparing spareribs and beef when Joanne suddenly came over to him and placed her post-its with the newest orders on the kitchen cupboard next to him.  
  
“Here; three new others,” Joanne said. “They’re from your mate and your two sisters-in-law,” she added, smirking at him.  
  
Jayden turned his head to look at her, surprise in his eyes. “Noah is here?”  
  
“Yup. I promised I’d let you prepare their food, since Noah’s sisters seemed quite curious about tasting your cooking.”  
  
Jayden glanced at the orders, seeing that there were two orders of steak with fried potatoes, and one order of spareribs with fries. He guessed right away that the spareribs order was Noah’s, since he knew how much his mate loved that dish.  
  
“Alright, I’ll do my best then,” Jayden grinned at her, still working on the meat on the pan in front of him. “Tell them I’ll come out and say hi soon. I’ve been working in here for over three hours straight and I seriously need a small break.”  
  
“Will do,” Joanne grinned, winking at him before hurrying back into the restaurant to serve the next customers.  
  
Jayden suddenly felt new energy come to him as he worked. He grinned to himself at the prospect of seeing Noah in a few minutes, and he hurried to get the previous orders done before working on Noah, Eden, and Lily’s food.  
  
Another twenty-five minutes later the food was finally done, and Jayden balanced the three plates on his hands and forearm and went into the restaurant to serve the food to them himself. His two colleagues in the kitchen would take over while he was gone for 5-10 minutes, and they didn’t mind; they often took over for the other when one of them needed a small break from the stress in the kitchen.  
  
The restaurant was just as crowded as Jayden had predicted, and he was careful not to drop the plates as he pushed open the swing doors on his way into the restaurant. He asked Joanne where Noah and the others were sitting, and she pointed towards the back. He made his way there, trying not to trip or bump into people somehow.  
  
Noah, Lily, and Eden were sitting in the far corner, laughing and chatting, and Jayden smiled at them as he approached. They all looked up when he appeared by their table. “Hey, guys. Ready for your orders?”  
  
Eden grinned widely. “Bring it on!”  
  
Jayden laughed and carefully put their plates down in front of them, trying not to knock over their cokes. “And I’m guessing the spareribs are for Noah. I know you too well,” he smirked as he put the last plate down in front of his mate.  
  
Noah smiled sheepishly. “Thanks.”  
  
Jayden grinned and leaned down to capture Noah’s lips in a kiss, humming when he felt Noah reciprocate it and tease him back with his tongue. He pulled back after a few seconds, not wanting to be inappropriate at his workplace, even though he wanted to kiss Noah a lot harder than that.  
  
Lily giggled at them next to Noah, seeing how hard it was for them not to kiss each other more. “And this looks really great, Jayden,” she said, pointing at their food.  
  
Jayden grinned. “I’m glad to hear that. I did work pretty hard on it.”  
  
A few of the other guests around them were staring because it was a little unusual to see one of the kitchen chefs serving the food directly to the customers. Jayden was fully dressed in his chef uniform, with hat and everything, so he certainly didn’t look like one of the waiters.  
  
Eden cut out a piece from her steak and put it into her mouth. As soon as it landed on her tongue, she closed her eyes and hummed. “This is delicious! One of the best steaks ever,” she said with her mouth full.  
  
Jayden grinned proudly and sat down on the available chair next to Eden, right opposite Noah. He took off his hat and corrected his hair a bit. “We _are_ pretty famous for our steaks here. And I’m glad that the steak satisfies your cravings,” he smirked.  
  
Eden bumped her wing into Jayden’s, acting offended. “Don’t blame everything on my pregnancy. I like steaks even when I’m not pregnant.”  
  
Jayden laughed.  
  
“Don’t you have other orders?” Noah asked, frowning at Jayden in wonder. He hadn’t expected Jayden to sit down with them, since he knew that Christmas time was a busy time at the restaurant. Jayden had complained since mid-November that things were more busy than usual because of all the people going to the mall to do shopping for Christmas.  
  
“Yeah, but I’m taking a few minutes’ break. I haven’t sat down for three hours,” Jayden spoke, feeling that his legs were a bit stiff because of that. He watched as they ate and wrapped his tail lovingly around Noah’s lower leg under the table. He was making sure that there was a good distance between his and Eden’s wings, since he didn’t want to freak her out. It wasn’t wrong of them to brush wings since they were family now, but to let their wings linger on each other for too long was not something that was appropriate.  
  
“Well, you deserve a break,” Eden told him, smiling.  
  
Jayden smiled back and glanced between the three of them. “Were you guys Christmas shopping here today?”  
  
Noah nodded, chewing the flesh off his spareribs in his hands. “Yes, we’ve planned it for a while.”  
  
“We ran into Brandon too,” Lily added, holding back a giggle when she watched Jayden’s smile fade a bit.  
  
“Oh. Is he stalking you now?” Jayden asked, immediately looking at Noah.  
  
“No!” Noah denied, groaning. “It was a coincidence. He was here with his little sister.”  
  
“Oh, I see…”  
  
“Jayden, your jealous is showing,” Lily giggled.  
  
Jayden pulled a face. “I’m not _jealous._ I don’t mind Brandon – I know he’s not interested in Noah. I just find it funny how Noah always runs into him.”  
  
“I don’t _always_ run into him. I don’t even see him every day at the college,” Noah murmured, chewing off more meat. He could feel Jayden’s tail curled around his leg and he welcomed it. It was warm and soothing to have there, and every now and then it was move just a little to caress him, sending warm waves of happiness through their mating bond.  
  
Jayden chuckled shortly, ignoring the dissatisfied screams of some kid at one of the tables behind them. “And how’s your foot? I bet you guys have been shopping for hours now, after all.”  
  
“It’s good. It’s starting to feel a bit sore, but it’s not that bad. I’m sitting down now, so it’s fine,” Noah replied, wiping his mouth in the napkin before grabbing some of the fries on his plate.  
  
Jayden reached out and grabbed two fries from him, quickly dipping them in the béarnaise sauce before putting them into his mouth.  
  
Noah gasped. “You thief!” he groused, growling softly as he discretely (and carefully) gave Jayden’s shin a small kick with his foot.  
  
Jayden laughed out loud at him. “Sorry. They were too tempting. Besides, I’m the one that made them, so I have the right to steal a few from you.”  
  
Eden laughed at them. “Gosh, you two are such kids.”  
  
Lily grinned. “I think they’re sweet.” She reached out and pinched Noah’s cheek gently, making him shy away from her with a small scowl. She laughed at that.  
  
Jayden laughed before glancing over his shoulder at the clock on the wall. He put his hat back on and got up from the table. “Well, I have to go. I’ve been gone for ten minutes, and I see that even more people just poured into the restaurant.” He corrected his hat before leaning down towards Noah, pressing a small kiss to his mate’s cheek, seeing as he was busy chewing on his food right now. “Enjoy your meals, and see you around.”  
  
“Yeah, see you,” Noah smiled.  
  
Eden smiled up at Jayden. “See you for Christmas, Jayden.”  
  
“And thanks for cooking this for us,” Lily added, grinning.  
  
Jayden laughed at that. “You’re welcome. Now I better go before I take away too much of Joanne’s opportunity to earn a nice tip from you.”  
  
Eden chuckled. “Don’t worry; we’ll pay her good.”  
  
Jayden grinned and gave Noah one final smile before rushing back into the kitchen, greeting one of the waiters on his way out.  
  


 

***

  
  
It was 8:37pm when Noah was back at the college. They had shopped a bit more before leaving the mall, and Eden and Lily had dropped him off in front of the college afterwards, saying goodbye to him before they left.  
  
It had been a nice day out with his sisters, and Noah was in a very good mood. He rarely got to spend time with them outside Dean and Castiel’s house when he met them there, since he rarely ever had time to visit them at their place. It had been over six months since he had last visited Eden and Lily in their apartments. Eden and Jason were about to move into a house soon though, so Noah would get to spend some time with them as he, Jayden, Dean, and Castiel would help them move. He looked forward to that a lot.  
  
On his way over to the dormitory, Noah spotted Lucas and Caleb by the front door to the building. He could see them chatting there in the dark, only illuminated by a lamppost and from light on the other side of the glass door. He watched as the two smiled at each other and even saw them touch tails. Noah slowed down his pace, not wanting to approach them too soon and interrupt before they could finish their conversation.  
  
By the building, Caleb gently entwined his tail with Lucas as they stood there, being very careful not to press Lucas’ boundaries. They were standing close but not quite touching, since Lucas was still not entirely comfortable or ready to share touches with Caleb just yet.  
  
“Thanks for telling me that stuff about yourself tonight. I really wish that it hadn’t happened to you…” Caleb spoke.  
  
Lucas gave him a small smile, still unaware of Noah’s slow approach. He let Caleb entwine their tails, though it was somewhat unfamiliar to him to do so with a male who was not a parent or brother to him. “Thanks. I wish that too… But I just, um, wanted you to know about it.”  
  
Caleb reached out and brushed his hand over Lucas’, not letting his gaze wander off the submissive demon’s face. “I’m glad you trusted me with it,” he spoke, smiling softly.  
  
Lucas smiled back, shyly. They stood like that for a few seconds until Lucas looked to his side when he felt someone approach them. His eyes lit up in surprise and joy when he spotted Noah. “Noah!” he grinned, his tail and wings flaring happily.  
  
Caleb too turned to look at Noah, looking quite surprised that they would meet each other there. “Oh. Hi, Noah.”  
  
“Hi, guys,” Noah smiled, coming over to them. He was carrying three shopping bags in his hands, and he could see Lucas and Caleb glancing towards them. “How are you guys doing? Did you spend the evening together?” he asked, hoping it wasn’t too personal to ask.  
  
“Yeah, we were in Caleb’s dorm room. He walked me back here,” Lucas smiled.  
  
“Of course I did. I want to make sure you reach your room safely…” Caleb argued softly, moving his tail a bit further up Lucas’ while they were entwined.  
  
Lucas gave him a sheepish smile, a pink color covering his cheeks. “I know. Thank you.”  
  
Caleb smiled. “Well, I guess Noah can walk you back to your room now. Then I’ll head back to my own and play some games with my roommate before going to sleep.” His roommate had been out while Lucas was in Caleb’s room that evening, but when the roommate returned Caleb had walked Lucas back to his own dorm.  
  
Lucas nodded and smiled at him. “Okay. See you.”  
  
“See you,” Caleb grinned. He turned to leave, and nodded goodbye at Noah before walking back to his own dorm, which was next to the one that Noah and Lucas lived in.  
  
Noah watched Lucas’ face, seeing him smile at Caleb until the beta demon was out of sight. Noah smiled knowingly at him. “Did you guys have a nice evening together?”  
  
“Yeah, we did,” Lucas smiled. “And, um, will you go back to my room with me? My roommate is out tonight, and I want to talk to you for a bit before you go back to your own room,” he asked, shifting a bit on his feet.  
  
Noah was a bit surprised by that, but didn’t mind Lucas’ request. “Sure.”  
  
They headed into the building, sneaking their way over to the staircase when there was a group of half-naked alphas gathered in the first floor corridor near the elevator. They seemed to have just come from the showers, and their hair and wings were wet and dripping. They were laughing and fooling around, and Noah cringed when their sharp laughter went right into his ear and brain.  
  
They hurried up to the second floor and then into Lucas’ room. It was the same size as Noah and Christie’s, and the walls were colored in a very light purple.  
  
Noah put his bags away for now before joining Lucas in sitting on the bed after they had locked the door. The bed was made and neat, as was the other one, but Lucas’ part of the room still seemed tidier than that of his roommate.  
  
“So, um, I told Caleb about myself today. You know… about _that,_ ” Lucas spoke, fidgeting uncomfortably.  
  
Noah was mildly surprised by that. “Oh. I hadn’t expected you to tell him about that so soon.”  
  
“Me neither, but when we sat there in his room and chatted about stuff, it just seemed like the right time for it.”  
  
Noah nodded quietly. He stared at Lucas for a bit, seeing him avert his eyes somewhat. He knew that talking about this stuff was not easy for Lucas, and when he had told Noah about it back then he had been a crying mess for almost an hour.  
  
“How did he take it?” Noah asked softly.  
  
“The way you predicted,” Lucas murmured. “He got upset. He started saying that he would kill my father if he ever saw him, and then he tried to comfort me when I cried. It was a bit awkward since he wanted to hug me and hold me close, but he wasn’t sure if he could, so I ended up hugging him instead. It was… rather pleasant. It made me feel better.” He smiled a bit and gathered his hands in his lap. “I ended up crying so much, though. It was almost embarrassing…”  
  
Noah smiled and put a comforting hand on Lucas’ arm. “There’s nothing wrong with crying,” he told him softly. “It’s good you told him. Do you feel better now?”  
  
Lucas nodded. “Very much. I’m just a bit worried that he’ll be too afraid to touch me now. I do want to hug and hold hands and stuff, but I just need a little time to get used to it with him. I don’t want him seeing me as something completely fragile either.”  
  
“Well, then you should tell him that and let him know what you want.”  
  
“Yeah, I suppose I should…”  
  
Noah smiled before taking a glance at the alarm clock by Lucas’ bed. It was 9pm so he had to get back to his room soon.  
  
“Oh, and, um, do you mind taking a shower with me?” Lucas asked shyly. “I really need to shower before tomorrow, but I didn’t have time earlier, and I don’t want to go there alone…”  
  
“Sure,” Noah grinned. “I wasn’t planning to do so until tomorrow, but I can do it tonight as well. I just have to go get some towels and fresh clothes.”  
  
Lucas beamed when Noah agreed to join him, and they got up to head to Noah’s room so he could get the stuff they needed.  
  
They often showered together in the college’s communal showers, and after 9pm there weren’t many people in the showers anymore. Lucas preferred that since he was very shy about his modesty, even in the presence of girls or other subs. With Noah and Christie he felt comfortable, though.  
  
Lucas was in a good mood now after having told Caleb about his past, and having gotten support and understanding from him. Hanging out with Noah always lightened up his mood as well, and the two friends headed to shower together, along with Christie who was in need of a hot shower to help her cold.  
  
They laughed and splashed at each other in the showers, having fun together until it time to head to back to their rooms and get some sleep before classes the next day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit more of Caleb and Lucas’ developing relationship :D And some sibling fluff with Noah, Eden, and Lily. Hope you enjoyed, even if it was filler-ish. Now Noah will graduate soon, and then comes the babies! :)
> 
> Thanks for reading the chapter :)


	11. Chapter 11

**June 2048 (Noah is 22, Jayden is 23 (almost 24), Castiel is 58 (almost 59), Dean is 60, Adrian is 31 (almost 32), Isaac is 27, Natalie is 30, Maya is 5 (almost 6), Aaron is 1 (almost 2), Kaylen is 23, Gabriel is 63, Christie is 22, Lucas is 20, Caleb is 19 years old).**  
  
After four years of studying in college, it was time for Noah to graduate.  
  
The graduation took place in the college’s sports stadium, and each graduate could bring three people with them to graduation. It was limited due to lack of seats for everyone, since hundreds of students were graduating. Noah had invited his parents and Jayden to come.  
  
It was hot and sunny on that day, and Jayden pushed his way through the occupied seats on the bleachers along with Dean and Castiel to reach a spot with three available seats in the middle of the row.  
  
“Jesus, why don’t people just sit in the middle to begin with, instead of the rest of us having to push our way through to find the available seats?” Dean groused as they squeezed their way through, careful not to step on anyone’s feet or bump their wings into them. Luckily there was a good distance between each row and the seats so that everyone with wings could feel more comfortable.  
  
“Please stop complaining, Dean. You are making people glare at us,” Castiel murmured, aware that some of the people they passed glared at Dean for making that comment.  
  
“Then let them glare,” Dean said, a small growl in his voice.  
  
Jayden chuckled at them, continuing to push towards the free spot. When they arrived there, they sat down and waited for the ceremony to begin. Castiel was sitting between Dean and Jayden, shielded from having to sit next to a stranger who could be a potential pervert. Despite him being almost 59 years old, he still got sexually harassed sometimes.  
  
There was noise all around them, since everyone was talking and chatting until the ceremony began. With hundreds of people there the noise was almost deafening, but at least they were outside and not inside a closed room where sound could only travel limitedly.  
  
“Are you sure it’s alright for you to take today off?” Castiel asked Jayden, frowning at him in concern. “You normally work on Fridays, no?” Their feathers were brushing a bit as they sat there, even though they both tried to respect each other’s space, but Castiel wasn’t particularly bothered. It wasn’t like their feathers touched that much or all the time, and Jayden was family.  
  
“My schedule actually changes all the time,” Jayden explained, smiling. “And it’s not a problem. I took two weeks off, so I have summer holidays now.”  
  
“In June already?” Dean asked, surprised.  
  
“Well, many of my colleagues have children, so they prefer having their holidays in July or August to be with them when the kids have summer break from school, therefore I decided to take my holidays now so they can have theirs later.”  
  
“That is very considerate of you,” Castiel smiled.  
  
Jayden smiled back, and their attention was caught when the college president finally began speaking on the microphone.  
  
Like any other graduation speech it was long, somewhat boring, and was about the future of the graduated students. It made Dean shift impatiently after ten minutes, whereas Castiel and Jayden were more patient.  
  
The students were all sitting on rows of seats placed on the field, divided by their major. They were all wearing their graduation uniforms and hats, which made it hard for their families to recognize them in the crowd. Noah was sitting with the other kindergarten teacher graduates, but unfortunately he was not sitting next to someone he got along with. He sat next to a girl he barely knew and a beta angel, who kept glancing at his wings a bit too often for Noah’s comfort.  
  
Jayden tried to spot Noah among the other students, but was unable to locate him among all the similar uniforms he could see. Dean and Castiel glanced around as well, but didn’t have much luck either. They would have to wait until all the kindergarten teacher majors were called up to receive their diplomas.  
  
One by one, the different majors were called into the field so that each student could get their diploma, and Jayden, Castiel, and Dean waited impatiently for it to be Noah’s turn.  
  
Castiel shifted a bit, squinting his eyes as the sun shined right into his face. The noise had quieted down since everyone was busy listening to the names being called, but some people were whispering and chatting here and there. There was clapping every time a student received their diploma, but it generally quieter now than earlier. Castiel felt Dean’s tail curled around his leg, and he appreciated the comfort it gave him as they sat there surrounded by strangers.  
  
As they waited for Noah’s turn, Castiel suddenly sensed someone staring at him from somewhere behind him. He carefully turned his head to look at the people in the seats behind him, and his eyes quickly locked with an alpha angel’s. The guy was about Castiel’s age, and he smirked lewdly when he saw Castiel looking back at him.  
  
Dean growled when he noticed what was going on. He wrapped his wing around Cas and shot the alpha a threatening look before turning his attention back to the ceremony. Castiel did the same, sighing in relief when he felt Dean’s wing blanket his own.  
  
Jayden too noticed Castiel’s sudden discomfort, and he didn’t have to make many guesses about what the cause was. He glanced back over his shoulder at the alpha angel, seeing the guy continue to stare at Castiel, even though Dean’s wing was shielding him. The female angel sitting next to the guy shoved him harshly with her elbow in his side, finally making the guy look away. Jayden smirked as he listened to the female scolding her mate in outrage when she had caught him staring at someone else. Dean too noticed this, and he couldn’t wipe the smug smirk off his face either.  
  
Christie was given her diploma before Noah, and they clapped as she took it. After several minutes of waiting it was finally Noah’s turn, and they clapped loudly as they watched him take his diploma from the college president.  
  
Castiel got a few tears in his eyes and had to wipe them away, while Dean just grinned proudly at his son before wrapping his arm around Cas’ waist to comfort him.  
  
“Our kid is all grown up,” Dean smiled, caressing Castiel with the hand he had wrapped around him.  
  
Castiel nodded. “Yes. Time passes so fast.”  
  
Dean smiled and pressed a loving kiss to Castiel’s temple, closing his eyes and breathing in the scent of his angel mate. Castiel too closed his eyes, purring softly as they shared a moment together.  
  
Jayden watched them silently, smiling at the scene.

  

***

  
  
After the ceremony was over they headed towards Noah’s dorm room, where they would meet up with him and take his personal belongings with them in the car. It was nearly impossible to locate each other among all the people in the stadium, so that was why they were meeting up in Noah’s room. Noah was moving into Jayden’s apartment now that college was over, but they were both going to spend the rest of the day and Saturday at Dean and Castiel’s house, so they would first move his stuff into the apartment on Sunday.  
  
Noah quickly located Christie among his peers after the graduation, and together they headed back to their dorm room to meet with their families.  
  
“How do you feel, Noah? Isn’t it great to have graduated?” Christie asked, slinging her arm over Noah’s shoulder as they walked back to their dorm. They were both in their graduation uniforms with their hats on, and they held on to their much valued diplomas as they walked from the stadium back to the dorms.  
  
People were making noise around them as they too were headed to their dorms. Some people had already collected their personal belongings and were headed straight home to their parents or new apartments after graduation, but most were headed towards the dorms or to the parking lot to meet with their families.  
  
“I suppose it is,” Noah answered, walking along with Christie and feelings their wings touch. “But I’m going to miss it too – especially sharing a room with you.” He turned his head to look at her, his expression sad and conflicted.  
  
Christie gave him a rueful smile, pulling him a bit closer. “I’ll miss that too. We’ll still see each other, right? Promise me that…?”  
  
“Of course. I would never lose contact with you.”  
  
Christie grinned happily before letting him go, and she brushed their wings together in a friendly gesture, unable to stop smiling.  
  
They were almost at the dorm when they ran into Brandon, who was hanging out with a few of his friends. He seemed mildly surprised to see Noah and Christie all of sudden.  
  
“Hey, Brandon. Happy you finally graduated?” Christie asked, stopping along with Noah to talk to him.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Brandon greeted them back, smiling. “Yeah, I’m pretty relieved all the studying is over. Can’t wait to get a job.”  
  
“What kind of job do you want to have?” Noah asked curiously, stepping a little closer to Christie as people pushed their way past them. They were standing somewhere in the college’s outdoor facilities, not far from the dorms.  
  
“Well, I’m a software major, so I’d like a job within that industry. I’ll take whatever I can find,” Brandon replied, smiling and shrugging a bit.  
  
As they talked, a group of alpha demons passed by and snickered at the scene. They were living on the same dorm floor as Brandon, but they didn’t really get along with him. Noah had seen Brandon glare at those guys multiple times before, but he wasn’t really sure why they didn’t get along. Though, he suspected it was because those alphas were some of the most sexist guys in their dorm.  
  
“Hey, Brandon,” one of the guys called as he passed them. “Why don’t you share that fine sub ass with us? You always defend him, so I bet he must pay you back real nice for that!” he slurred, making his friends and some of the others around them crack up.  
  
Noah felt his face flush, and Christie glared daggers at the guy for making such a childish comment.  
  
Brandon just regarded the other alpha with a dark glare, his feathers sharpening a bit. “You know, sometimes I’m really not surprised that you’ve never had a girlfriend before, Nick.”  
  
The guy froze before he suddenly growled loudly and took a threatening step towards Brandon. “What was that?!”  
  
“You heard me,” Brandon growled, glaring the other alpha down.  
  
The sudden tension made Noah swallow nervously, but luckily Nick backed down when Brandon’s friends intervened. The alphas all growled at each other before parting ways, sending each other deathly glares.  
  
Brandon followed Nick with his eyes until the other alpha was out of sight. He then turned to look at Noah and Christie again. “Sorry about that. I really hate that guy…”  
  
“Yeah, he’s an ass,” Christie murmured, staring in the direction that Nick and his friends had disappeared to. “That’s one thing neither Noah nor I will miss about college.”  
  
“Yeah…” Noah agreed. Though he suspected he would be faced with sexist perverts for the rest of his life whenever he showed himself in public. He was just glad that not all males were like that.  
  
“I can imagine,” Brandon murmured. “Anyway, I guess we’ll maybe see each other someday? Even if it’s by coincidence or something. Maybe if I ever have kids someday they will end up in the care of one of you,” he joked, a smirk tilting his lips.  
  
Noah chuckled. “That’s possible. And, um, thanks… for having helped me through college.” He gave Brandon a sincere smile, which the alpha returned.  
  
“You’re welcome. Glad I could help when Jayden wasn’t able to be here.”  
  
Noah smiled at him one more time before they parted ways. Noah and Christie went over to their dorm building while Brandon and his friends headed somewhere else.  
  
The dorm was a mess when they entered it. The graduated students were packing their stuff and leaving, and the other students were running back and forth too, since it was time for their summer holidays now. The crowds were noisy and pushy, and Noah and Christie decided to take the stairs because the elevator was too busy.  
  
When they arrived at the fourth floor, Noah saw his parents and Jayden waiting outside his dorm room, talking. He beamed when he saw them and quickly made his way over to them.  
  
Jayden was the first to notice Noah’s approach, and he grinned widely when he spotted his mate. “Noah!” he exclaimed and went forward to meet him, pulling him into a tight hug. “Congratulations on graduating.”  
  
“Thanks,” Noah smiled, hugging his mate back and felt Jayden’s tail curl around his leg. He sighed contently as he felt Jayden’s strong arms around him, and he inhaled the masculine scent of his mate as his cheek was pressed against Jayden’s chest. The graduation hat was a bit in the way, but they managed.  
  
When they pulled back, Castiel came forward to hug Noah next. The angel smiled at his son and cupped his cheeks lovingly. “You did well. Congratulations.” He pulled Noah into a tight embrace, which the younger submissive returned.  
  
“Thanks, papa,” Noah smiled, careful not to drop his diploma during the hug. He was happy that college was over now and that he had managed to score some nice grades for his diploma. The lowest grade he had was a C, because his psychology teacher didn’t like him much, but the rest were A’s.  
  
Dean then finally came forward and hugged Noah next, squeezing him tightly. “Congratulations, kiddo. You’re my kid after all,” he grinned, patting Noah’s back as they hugged. Castiel rolled his eyes at the last comment.  
  
Noah groaned, having difficulties breathing because of Dean’s tight hug. “Thanks. And of course I’m your kid, daddy…”  
  
Dean laughed and pulled back, smiling proudly at his submissive son.  
  
“And congratulations to you as well, Christie,” Castiel spoke, smiling over at Christie who had been watching the scene with a small smile.  
  
Christie beamed. “Thank you.”  
  
“Perhaps you should let us in? It’s swarming with girls out here,” Dean said, glancing around the corridor which was indeed full of noisy girls who were laughing and grinning, and being all excited about graduating or having their holidays now.  
  
“Right. Of course.” Christie went over and unlocked the door, since she found her keys faster than Noah did.  
  
Jayden smiled at Noah and grabbed his hand as they entered the room together. Their bond flared with joy, and as soon as they were inside the room and the door had been closed, Jayden leaned down to kiss Noah. Noah kissed him back, purring softly in the back of his throat at the feeling of Jayden’s lips pressed against his own. Jayden’s tail was curled possessively around his leg, and his hand was cupping Noah’s cheek lovingly. Their kiss was slow and loving, just lips touching lips and exploring.  
  
Dean coughed, making the two young mates snap out of it. “When you two are done eating each other’s skulls, we can proceed with carrying Noah’s stuff outside.”  
  
“Dean,” Castiel chastised him softly for interrupting Noah and Jayden’s intimate moment.  
  
Christie snickered and giggled in the background.  
  
Noah blushed furiously when he realized that he had almost forgotten about the others while kissing Jayden, and Jayden just laughed a bit.  
  
“We’re done now,” Jayden said, chuckling and pulling away from Noah.  
  
Dean chuckled back and moved to collect the bags that Noah had already packed his stuff into.  
  
Meanwhile, Castiel stepped over to Noah, smiling as he touched his son’s graduation uniform. “It looks quite good on you.”  
  
Noah blushed a bit. “Thanks. I feel a bit ridiculous in it, though.”  
  
“Are you kidding? I love mine,” Christie grinned, staring down at her own uniform.  
  
Castiel chuckled. “It looks good on you as well, Christie.”  
  
Christie beamed. “Thanks. I’m quite proud of it, though it’s such a bitch to do all the buttons on the back under my wings since uniform is so long… Noah helped me do it, and I helped him as well.” Castiel smiled at that.  
  
“What about that boyfriend of yours? Still seeing him?” Dean asked, genuinely curious since he hadn’t seen Christie for a while, and Noah hadn’t told them much news about her recently.  
  
“You mean Tyler? We broke up a few months ago… It just didn’t work out between us anymore. Our feelings for each other had changed…”  
  
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Castiel told her, looking at her in sympathy.  
  
“Thanks…”  
  
Noah reached out and touched Christie’s arm. “You’ll find another guy soon,” he said, trying to reassure her.  
  
Christie smiled at him in gratitude.  
  
“Sorry to hear that…” Dean said, and starting picking up Noah’s bags. Jayden went to help him, taking the bags that Dean couldn’t carry. “And aren’t your parents coming to pick up your stuff as well?”  
  
“They are. They should actually be here by now…” Christie replied, frowning and taking a look at her phone to see what time it was.  
  
That was when there was a knock on the door and Christie’s parents finally entered the room. Her mother was an angel/human hybrid and her father as a full blood beta angel. They smiled when they saw Noah, Dean, and Castiel in there, and greeted them before hugging their daughter and congratulating her.  
  
Noah had met Christie’s parents several times before, and he thought they were very nice people. Christie’s mother had always liked him a lot, and she always smiled warmly at him and was a good host the times he had visited Christie’s home. Jayden hadn’t really met Christie’s parents before, so he stood a little in the background and brushed his tail against Noah’s leg as he waited for everyone to be ready to leave.  
  
Castiel and Christie’s mother fell into a conversation, and Dean felt a little impatient. He put Noah’s bags down when he realized this could take a while. Meanwhile Christie and her father started collecting her bags so they could leave the room soon.  
  
Noah looked up when Christie came over to him and looked at him with a somewhat sad smile. “I’m gonna miss you, roomie,” she said, grinning half-heartedly. “Let’s see each other during the summer, yeah? Been a while since we last went swimming and shopping together.”  
  
Noah grinned. “Sure. I look forward to that.”  
  
Christie beamed and pulled him into a hug. It was a long, tight hug, and the two friends clung to each other and didn’t really want to let go again. They had known each other since elementary school, and now they would no longer go to school together. They had to find jobs, live on their own, and begin a new life. It was scary and sad, but at the same time they both felt excited about what the future would bring them.  
  
When they pulled back, Christie’s eyes were glassy. Noah smiled a bit at that, and realized that his own eyes probably looked the same.  
  
Christie gave him a warm smile before going over to hug Jayden goodbye, being careful not to hug him too tight, since Noah didn’t really like seeing others hugging his mate too intimately. Noah knew it was foolish to be jealous of that, but he couldn’t help it.  
  
The families finally left, and Noah and Christie glanced into their now empty room one more time, feeling so much nostalgia before they had to close the door for the final time.  
  
They headed outside together, their parents talking on the way and helping them carry their stuff, and Christie bumped her wings playfully into Noah and Jayden’s as they walked, making them shove theirs back into hers. They all laughed, which they really needed considering the sadness they felt about leaving.  
  
Just when they had exited the building, they ran into Lucas and Caleb outside.  
  
Lucas grinned when he spotted his friends and ran over to them. “Hi, guys. I knew you would be leaving soon, so I waited out here to say goodbye.”  
  
“Aww, that’s sweet of you,” Christie grinned.  
  
Noah smiled at Lucas, and his smile widened a bit when he saw Caleb’s tail wrapped possessively around Lucas’ leg. “I hope you’ll be alright here when Christie and I are gone.”  
  
“Me too… I’m going to miss you a lot, but I still have Caleb and my roommate,” Lucas spoke, glancing shyly up at Caleb.  
  
“Yup, he still has me,” Caleb smirked, wrapping an arm around Lucas’ waist. The two of them had gotten more physical with each other during the six months they had been dating so far, and in May Lucas had told Noah that he and Caleb had had sex for the first time together. It had taken Lucas over five months to be ready, but Caleb had been patient. Noah could tell that it had really strengthened their relationship that they had waited and gained trust in each other first. He had been a little surprised when Lucas told him that it had been Caleb’s first time with anyone, though.  
  
“You better not let him go then,” Jayden said, looking at Caleb with a small smirk.  
  
“Never.” Caleb tightened his hold around Lucas with a determined growl.  
  
Castiel, Dean, and Christie’s parents watched the scene patiently, and Castiel chuckled at their interaction.  
  
“It’s good to see you again, Lucas. Hope all is well,” Castiel spoke.  
  
Lucas turned to look at him, beaming. “Thank you. It’s going very well, but I’m going to miss Noah and Christie a lot…”  
  
“We’ll miss you too,” Noah told him, smiling softly.  
  
Noah and Christie hugged Lucas goodbye, as it was time to leave now. Jayden didn’t hug Lucas since it wasn’t something they had ever really done before, but he wished them both good luck with college and made Caleb promise to keep Lucas safe.  
  
They went over to their cars, and Noah and Christie gave each other one final hug before going in separate directions. The cars were parked in opposite ends of the parking lot, so they had to part ways.  
  
Noah watched as Christie went with her parents towards their car, feeling sad to see her go. For the first time, he didn’t know when he’d see her again.  
  
Jayden used his free hand to wrap around Noah’s waist for comfort and gently guided him over to where Dean had parked the car. He sensed his mate’s sadness and tried to reassure him with gentle touches and a wave of comfort through their bond.  
  
The parking lot was less chaotic now that most people had left, but it was still crowded. They had to look out for cars and be careful not to get in anyone’s way.  
  
When they were almost at the car, Castiel stopped in his tracks and stared wide-eyed at the person who was leaning casually against the Tahoe, waiting for them to appear. “G-Gabriel?” he stuttered, speechless to see his brother there.  
  
Dean’s eyebrows shot up in surprise when he too spotted Gabriel hanging out by the car, and Noah and Jayden were equally surprised.  
  
“Hey there, guys,” Gabriel smirked at them, leaning off the car. “And hey, Noah! Congrats about graduating! And damn, that uniform looks nice on you,” he grinned. He quickly came over and pulled Noah into one of his tight hugs, making the submissive squeak a bit.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah croaked, hugging his uncle back. He sighed in relief when Gabriel let him go and he was able to breathe again.  
  
“What are you doing here, Gabe? How’d you find us?” Dean asked, eyeing Gabriel suspiciously before moving over to open the trunk to put Noah’s stuff inside. Jayden joined him and got rid of the bags he was carrying, and then went over to get the bags that Cas and Noah had been carrying to put them into the trunk as well. Jayden had been picked up by Dean and Castiel earlier and had not been driving to the college in his own car. Driving with Dean and Cas saved him gas and trouble with finding a parking spot in the already overcrowded parking lot of the college.  
  
“Cassie told me that today was Noah’s graduation, and it’s been a while since I last saw you guys, so I thought I’d drop by. Took me _ages_ to find your car though, but I managed,” Gabriel smirked, looking almost smug about having surprised them like that.  
  
“You could have told us you were coming,” Castiel groused softly.  
  
“Why? Am I not welcome?” Gabriel’s lips pushed forward in a small pout, and his arms were crossed as he stared between them.  
  
“Of course you are!” Castiel argued. “It was just… unexpected. I assume you will be joining us at home this afternoon?”  
  
“That’s the plan,” Gabriel simpered. “It’s just me, though. Katie is busy with work and the kids don’t live at home anymore…” He left out a deep sigh and slumped his shoulders and wings dramatically. “It’s so lonely at home now…”  
  
Dean chuckled and slammed the trunk closed when he and Jayden were done loading it. “Yeah, we know all about that.”  
  
“I know you do. All your little birdies already left your nest,” Gabriel remarked. He once more turned his attention to Noah. “So what about you, Noah? Did you get good grades? Ah, wait, don’t answer that – of course you did; you’re my nephew, so how could you not,” he grinned.  
  
Noah chuckled at the last comment. “I did, yes. But not from my psychology teacher. She’s never liked me much…”  
  
Gabriel snorted loudly. “Well, screw her with a truck. Life’s too short to care about such narrow-minded, racist bitches. Don’t let it get to you, kiddo.” He reached out and patted Noah’s shoulder. He wanted to ruffle his hair, but the hat on Noah’s head was in the way.  
  
“I’m not,” Noah smiled.  
  
“But now that you’ve graduated, it’s time to make some babies with Jayden!” Gabriel suddenly blurted, raising his arms and cheering. “When are you gonna start?” he asked eagerly, glancing between Noah and Jayden with an excited grin on his face.  
  
Noah’s face was frozen in mortification and embarrassment, his eyes wide and shocked.  
  
Jayden almost chocked on his own spit, causing him to cough a little. “That’s… Wow, you really have no filter at all.”  
  
Gabriel barked out a laugh at that. “You first noticed that _now?_ ”  
  
Jayden pulled a small face. “No…”  
  
Castiel groaned, shaking his head helplessly at his brother. “Gabriel, you are so… Ugh.”  
  
Dean just laughed, mostly because of Cas’ reaction.  
  
“C’mon, Cassie,” Gabriel drawled, walking over to his brother and slung his arm over Cas’ shoulders. “You should know me by now. And everyone still loves me – especially the ladies.” He smirked cockily and wriggled his eyebrows in a way that made Cas groan even louder.  
  
“You have a mate, for god’s sake…” Castiel mumbled.  
  
“I know, but my fangirls still like me, even though I’m getting old. I’m still looking good.” Gabriel grinned and released Castiel, giving his brother a few loving pats on the shoulder.  
  
Gabriel was starting to get more grey hairs. He had for a while. He was still somewhat brown-haired, but the grey shade had taken over more and more, so in a few years there wouldn’t be any brown left. His feathers were still brown though, since angel and demon feathers never lost their color. His face still looked young too, but with a few signs of small wrinkles here and there.  
  
“Don’t get too cocky, Gabe. It’s gonna come back and bite you in the ass,” Dean smirked.  
  
Gabriel considered that for a second. “Hmm, just like Katie.”  
  
“Oh my god! Will you _stop it,_ Gabriel!” Castiel exclaimed, embarrassed by his brother’s behavior.  
  
Jayden and Dean cracked up, and Noah couldn’t stop snickering either.  
  
“Sorry, bro. But you’re gonna miss my comments the day I’m dead, ya know,” Gabriel laughed.  
  
Castiel knew he was right, though he would rather not think about it.  
  
“Now, let’s head home before the guests arrive,” Dean said, ushering them to get into the car.  
  
Noah grinned, excited to see Adrian and Isaac later. Eden and Lily were first coming over tomorrow though, but Noah was okay with that, as long as they were coming.  
  
They got into the car, and Gabriel went over to his own car to follow them home.

  

***

  
  
When they arrived at the house, Noah could see Adrian’s car parked up in the driveway by the garage, and Adrian, Natalie, Maya, and little Aaron were standing outside, waiting for Dean and Cas to come home and unlock the door for them. Noah beamed when he spotted them, unable to suppress the happiness he felt at seeing his big brother and his family again.  
  
Dean pulled the car up behind Adrian’s and rolled down the window to say, “Hey. You guys are early. Sorry to let you wait.”  
  
“You better be sorry, dad. We’ve waited for five whole minutes,” Adrian joked, grinning as he walked over to the car and greeted the others inside the car.  
  
“And Aaron pooped!” Maya added from where she was standing with Natalie by their car. Aaron was sitting on Natalie’s arm, looking very grumpy because of his dirty diaper.  
  
Dean laughed, and Castiel got out of the car to go up and open the front door for them so they could go inside and change Aaron’s diapers. The angel greeted Adrian first and hugged him, before doing the same with Natalie and Maya.  
  
Noah and Jayden got out as well, and Adrian grinned widely when he saw his little brother wearing his graduation uniform.  
  
“You look good in that, Noah,” Adrian smiled, pulling him into a hug. “Congrats on graduating. Can’t believe you’re finally done with college.”  
  
“Thank you,” Noah grinned, hugging his big brother back tightly. He felt Adrian touch his leg with his tail and Noah appreciated the gesture. Once again he was sad that he had no tail to return the affectionate tail gestures with.  
  
When they pulled apart, Adrian and Jayden greeted each other with a more ‘manly’ hug than the one Adrian and Noah had shared. The brothers-in-law grinned at each other and were glad to see the other again.  
  
“I’m guessing Noah will be moving in with you now, huh?” Adrian asked after he and Jayden pulled apart.  
  
Jayden smirked and wrapped his arm around Noah’s waist, pulling him close while he kept his eyes on Adrian. “Yeah, that was the plan.”  
  
Adrian smiled. “I hope you guys will still get along when you have to be around each other every day.”  
  
“Of course we will,” Noah insisted, giving Adrian a look as if he was mad for thinking that they wouldn’t.  
  
Adrian just laughed.  
  
“Hey,” Dean called from the car. “Mind backing that car of yours out so I can access the garage, Adrian? The rear of your car takes up more space than Mrs. Tran’s skinny ass.”  
  
“Oi, don’t insult my car, dad,” Adrian warned playfully, but was already making his way over to move his car to allow Dean more space to pull the Tahoe into the garage.  
  
Jayden and Noah chuckled at them, and that was when Noah noticed that Gabriel hadn’t arrived yet.  
  
“Where’s uncle Gabe?” Noah asked, glancing around.  
  
“I think he fell behind,” Jayden said, giving a short chuckle.  
  
That was when they heard the loud noise of a car engine, and they looked at the street to see Gabriel parking his car smoothly in the side of the street, outside the house. Gabriel stepped out of the car, and Noah watched as his uncle pulled out a bag of sweets from his pocket and began eating the contents after closing the car door.  
  
“Hey there, guys,” Gabriel cheered, coming over to them. “Sorry I fell behind. Couldn’t find my candy, so I had to stop the car and search for them.”  
  
“In the middle of the street?” Jayden asked, laughing.  
  
“No, you dummy. I pulled over, of course. But it was an emergency nonetheless.”  
  
Noah chuckled and shook his head helplessly at his uncle.  
  
Meanwhile Dean had parked the car inside the garage, and Adrian had parked his just outside it. They both came over when they noticed that Gabriel was there.  
  
“Adrian!” Gabriel exclaimed with a happy grin, making his way over to hug his oldest nephew.  
  
“Hey, uncle Gabe,” Adrian grinned, letting his uncle hug him.  
  
Gabriel squeezed Adrian really tight, making the alpha groan, before he finally pulled away. “Goddamn, sometimes I forget how tall you are. I used to be able to fit you in my arms once.”  
  
Adrian chuckled at that.  
  
“Noah always fit better,” Dean added, smirking over at his youngest kid.  
  
Gabriel barked out a laugh. “True. He’s always been so tiny and hard to find.”  
  
Noah scowled at them for teasing him, although he wasn’t really bothered by his height or small frame; he just hated when others tried to tease him about it.  
  
Jayden, however, was pretty amused by the cute scowl that Noah gave Dean and Gabriel for teasing him. He laughed and pulled Noah closer with an arm around his waist, smiling down at him lovingly. He too didn’t mind Noah’s height; it was part of what turned him on about Noah’s body.  
  
They headed into the house, where Natalie and Castiel had just helped each other change Aaron’s diapers. The one and a half year old was much happier now, and he grinned as he ran over to Adrian on unsteady legs when he saw his father enter the living room. Adrian grinned and pulled Aaron up onto his arm, placing a quick kiss to his son’s cheek.  
  
Noah smiled at the scene. He still thought it was a bit weird to see Adrian be a father, even though Adrian had been a father for almost six years now.  
  
“Oh, the miniatures are here too! Gosh, you guys are huge now!” Gabriel exclaimed when he saw Maya and Aaron.  
  
Maya laughed at him. “I’m not huge! I’ll still get a lot bigger than this!”  
  
“Are you sure about that, young lady?”  
  
“Yeah!”  
  
“How does that work? Do your mommy and daddy pull your limbs each night before bed?”  
  
Maya looked horrified. “No, you dummy! I… I don’t know how it works.”  
  
The others laughed at her confused face when she realized she had no idea why or how she was growing and getting taller. Natalie chuckled at her daughter and ruffled her hair fondly.  
  
Aaron then started waving his arms at Castiel and making small noises, wanting his grandma to hold him next. Castiel smiled and came over to take Aaron from Adrian’s arms, and the boy smiled happily when he was with his grandmother. He stared at Cas’ pretty, white wings and grinned excitedly at him.  
  
“Grandma is better, huh?” Adrian asked Aaron, chuckling at how the boy had been so eager to get over to Castiel instead.  
  
Natalie chuckled. “Well, he gets to see _you_ every day, so sitting with grandma is different.”  
  
“Cas has just always been better,” Dean joked, coming over to Castiel and Aaron and giving them both a loving smile. He poked Aaron’s nose gently, making the baby laugh and wriggle happily in Castiel’s arms.  
  
Castiel swatted Dean discretely with his wing for making that comment, but kept his eyes on Aaron. He smiled at his grandson and let him pull at his shirt and run curious hands over his face.  
  
While Aaron was in Cas’ arms, Maya eyed Noah curiously and in confusion. “Why are you wearing that?” she asked, looking at his uniform. He had taken the hat off and was holding it in his hands now, but he still had the long uniform on. Maya hadn’t really seen such a thing before.  
  
Noah smiled. “It’s my graduation uniform, which I’m wearing because I just finished school. I should probably take it off, though…” He started shrugging out of it, and Jayden helped him unbutton the uniform under his wings.  
  
“But it looks good on you,” Natalie told him, smiling.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah said, blushing a bit. He put the uniform, hat, and his diploma on one of the armchairs for now so he wouldn’t have to hold on to them while they were talking.  
  
“Does that mean you don’t have school no more?” Maya asked, her eyes wide in surprise and admiration.  
  
“Yes, no more school for me,” Noah confirmed, smiling. “Now I have to find a job.”  
  
Maya stared at him, as if she had trouble believing that Noah was old enough to finish school at all. He was 22 years old, but Maya sometimes forgot how old he was since he was always playing with her and wasn’t afraid to be childish sometimes. She didn’t really perceive him that much as an adult.  
  
“Didn’t that kindergarten you were at write you nice a recommendation?” Dean asked Noah.  
  
“Yeah, they did,” Noah smiled. “I hope to find a job through that.” The place he had interned at didn’t have the resources to hire him, unfortunately, but they had written a nice recommendation letter for him which he could show to the places where he would seek a job. Networks meant everything in a job situation, so Noah was very happy that the leader of the kindergarten had written that letter.  
  
“I’m sure you will find something soon,” Natalie smiled encouragingly.  
  
“With his brains he can be hired anywhere. He has good genes from Cas’ side!” Gabriel blurted, sending a brief smirk in Dean’s direction.  
  
“Hey, my side has good genes too,” Dean protested, glaring back at Gabriel with a small growl.  
  
Castiel shook his head helplessly at them, although he was rather amused by the argument.  
  
Meanwhile, Maya started looking around the room, searching for something. She frowned when she didn’t spot what she was looking for. She went over to Dean and pulled at her grandfather’s shirt to get his attention. “Grandpa! Where is Bella?”  
  
Dean turned his attention to his granddaughter and smiled at her when their eyes met. He ran a loving hand through her sandy-colored hair. “She’s probably upstairs; she falls asleep up there sometimes. Go up and see if you can find her.”  
  
Maya grinned and immediately ran out into the entrance hall and up the stairs to find the dog, eager to play ball with her.  
  
“Of course the dog sleeps up there. She can probably smell your dirty underwear from the laundry room when she’s down here,” Gabriel remarked. He laughed out loud when Dean gave him a deadly glare.  
  
“Gabriel,” Castiel warned him, and Gabriel was now receiving deadly scowls from both Dean and Castiel.  
  
Natalie snickered at them, and she snickered more when she noticed Adrian being slightly embarrassed by his uncle’s comments.  
  
“Isn’t Bella getting a bit old?” Jayden asked, his eyebrows furrowed.  
  
“Yeah, she’s 12 years old now, but she’s still got another 3-5 years left in her,” Dean replied.  
  
Something inside Noah hurt when Dean said that. He knew that Bella was getting old and didn’t have many years left, and it saddened him every time he thought about it. It made him remember the time when they had had to put Molly down. He didn’t want to lose another pet, but was inevitable.  
  
Jayden sensed his sadness and rubbed his tail against Noah’s leg to offer some comfort, eyeing him in worry. It made Noah feel a bit better.  
  
“That’s so sad… I hate losing pets,” Natalie spoke, her wings slumping behind her. She looked at Aaron, who was gurgling and babbling happily in Castiel’s arms while staring at the angel’s white wings, and Natalie smiled fondly at her son.  
  
Adrian too looked a little uncomfortable. Like Noah, he had been sad when they had to put Molly down, and he was quite fond of Bella as well.  
  
Gabriel stared between them, sensing the sudden mood change in the room. “Dude. You guys sure know how to pop the happy air from the balloon…”  
  
Jayden laughed at that comment, but he understood everyone’s sadness about losing Bella one day. Jayden had lost a few pets too over the years; a dog and a cat. He missed them both a lot.  
  
The sad tension was finally removed when they heard a car honk repeatedly from outside as it pulled into the driveway. The honking made out a cheerful, but slightly annoying melody, and none of them had to guess too hard to know that it was Isaac who had arrived.  
  
Natalie laughed. “I think Isaac and Kaylen are here.”  
  
Adrian rolled his eyes. “Yes, that’s definitely Isaac.” He and Isaac no longer drove to the house together because there wasn’t enough space in their cars for four adults and two kids.  
  
Jayden laughed at Adrian’s eye-roll, and Dean and Castiel went out into the entrance hall to open the door and greet the new guests.  
  
“Hey, guys!” Isaac cheered as he stepped out of his car, waving up at his family when he saw them in the door. Kaylen got out of the passenger side and rolled his eyes fondly at Isaac as he watched how hyped up he was. They hurried up to the door to greet the others.  
  
“You guys came here pretty fast,” Dean remarked. He hadn’t expected them to arrive for another hour.  
  
“I thought it would be cruel to let you guys live without me for too long, so I hurried to come over, along with Kaylie here,” Isaac said, gesturing at Kaylen.  
  
“Stop calling me that,” Kaylen muttered, scowling at Isaac as he appeared by his side on the doorstep.  
  
Isaac just smirked at him before turning to look at Aaron, who was still sitting on Castiel’s arm. The boy was staring back at him now, suckling on his thumb while his eyes were fixed on Isaac. There was a somewhat firm and serious expression on his face, and Isaac tried to mimic it as he stared at the boy. “Why are you looking at me like that, huh? All disapproving and like some badass alpha that wants respect. You ain’t getting respect from me as long as your thumb is in your mouth.”  
  
“Isaac,” Castiel chastised him, but still couldn’t help but chuckle at Isaac’s comment.  
  
Aaron just continued to stare back at Isaac with the same expression, not understanding much of what he was saying.  
  
The others laughed, and Dean and Castiel finally stepped aside to let them in.  
  
“He’s just trying to make you behave,” Adrian smirked as Isaac entered the house.  
  
“Well, tell him it’s not working. I’m untamable,” Isaac responded, puffing out his chest a bit in a proud gesture. Adrian laughed at that.  
  
Kaylen went over to Aaron, grinning lovingly at the child and gave his stomach a little poke. It made Aaron squirm and giggle in response. “Well, I think he’s cute. Alpha or not.” He greeted Castiel properly and shared a small hug with him, and the angel closed the front door behind them.  
  
Noah moved up on the first step of the stairs to give the others more space as they all gathered in the entrance hall, and Jayden stayed in front of him. Jayden was still taller, despite Noah standing on the stairs. Upstairs, Maya was coming over to the top of the stairs to stare down at the others in the entrance hall. She slowly made her way down the steps to stand next to Noah while glancing between them. Noah smiled at her, and Maya leaned into him and pressed against his side as they observed the others. Bella had walked down the stairs too, and she barked and eagerly started greeting everyone and receiving pats from them.  
  
“Ohh! Look who it is! My famous nephew and his pretty boyfriend!” Gabriel exclaimed in excitement, grinning as he squeezed his way into the crowded entrance hall to greet Isaac and Kaylen, who had just taken off their shoes.  
  
“Hey, uncle Gabe,” Isaac grinned when he saw his uncle, although he was a bit surprised to see him at the house. “And he’s not really my ‘boyfriend’ anymore…” He pulled Kaylen close with an arm around his waist and curled his tail around the submissive demon’s leg. There was a smug, proud smirk on his face as he glanced between his family members.  
  
The suggestiveness in Isaac’s voice made everyone stare at him and Kaylen in confusion for a second, before they finally realized what he meant.  
  
Natalie gasped. “Oh god, have you mated?”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in surprise and a small gasp escaped from his lips.  
  
Dean’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What, really?”  
  
“Yup,” Isaac grinned. “His ass fully belongs to _me_ now.”  
  
Kaylen shoved Isaac harshly, snorting at him. “Maybe, but _your_ ass also belongs to _me,_ so don’t make me break it when I shove my foot into it to make you shut up,” he groused, embarrassed by Isaac’s comment even though he tried not to let it show.  
  
Isaac just laughed, though he looked a little alerted by the threat. “Just don’t make me shit sideways for days, please.”  
  
“Ugh, Isaac,” Noah groaned. Jayden laughed at his comment.  
  
The others laughed too, although Castiel didn’t seem too impressed by Isaac’s inappropriate comments, as usual.  
  
“Well, then you better do as your sub says and keep your mouth shut. He’s quite the bossy one,” Gabriel chuckled, looking at Kaylen in slight admiration.  
  
“Bossy, but still compliant,” Isaac smirked. Kaylen shoved him again.  
  
Adrian chortled and shook his head at Isaac. “Stop playing with the fire, Isaac; Kaylen looks a bit like he wants to smother you in your sleep. But anyway, I’m glad that you two took that step together.”  
  
“Yeah, it’s great that you’ve mated,” Natalie smiled.  
  
“I just hope that Kaylen can handle you and won’t regret it,” Dean smirked.  
  
Isaac was about to speak, but then he suddenly yelped and straightened up in a tense, painful manner as Kaylen closed his hand around the base of Isaac’s tail and gave it a painful tug to silence him. It looked almost comical, and everyone could see that Isaac struggled not to make an embarrassing, high-pitched noise of pain.  
  
“Don’t worry. I can handle him,” Kaylen smirked, holding onto Isaac’s tail for a second longer before letting go.  
  
Isaac’s whole body slumped in relief when the pressure was gone. “Fuck, what was that for?!” he demanded, glaring at his mate.  
  
Kaylen glared back at him. “Payback for last time you pulled _my_ tail.”  
  
“It’s different when it’s during sex!”  
  
“No, it’s not,” Kaylen bit out, glaring stubbornly at him. His cheeks were getting pink from embarrassment because Isaac had brought up their sex life in front of the family.  
  
“Oww, _owned!_ ” Gabriel laughed.  
  
Adrian chuckled at them. “I think Kaylen can definitely handle him.”  
  
Maya just giggled at them. She didn’t fully understand everything they were talking about, but she found it funny how Isaac tensed when Kaylen grabbed his tail like that. She didn’t have a tail of her own and didn’t know how much it could hurt.  
  
“Well, I’m very happy for you,” Castiel spoke, still holding the now squirming Aaron on his arm. “Isaac has been so full of joy since he got to know you, Kaylen. You are good for him.”  
  
Kaylen looked over his shoulder at Castiel and gave him a wide, happy smile when the angel told him that. “I’m glad to hear that.”  
  
Isaac shifted and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, feeling rather embarrassed by his papa’s comment.  
  
“Yeah, their love story is making me puke unicorns,” Gabriel remarked casually. “When’s dinner, Cassie?” he asked randomly, a hint of impatience in his voice.  
  
Castiel glared at his brother for only thinking about food. “Later. It’s only 3:30 now.”  
  
“Bleh. I’m starving!”  
  
“You just finished a whole bag of candy,” Dean pointed out.  
  
“But I could easily eat another!”  
  
Jayden chuckled as they bickered back and forth, and he glanced over his shoulder at Noah who was still standing on the stairs.  
  
Noah was watching the others and smiling, and when he looked at Isaac he saw his and Kaylen’s tails entwined in a loving manner. It made him smile wider.  
  
The family moved into the living room, where Castiel put Aaron back down on the floor to let him play with Maya and Bella. The dog was getting old, but she still liked to tumble around with the kids until she got exhausted. As soon as the dog would get too tired to play, Dean would always order the kids to give her a break so she wouldn’t get stressed out.  
  
Once they were inside the living room, Kaylen turned to look at Noah with a wide smile. “And congrats on graduating, Noah! I almost forgot to say that.” He went forward and hugged Noah, who gladly returned the embrace. “I hope you’ll find a job soon, like I did.” Kaylen had gotten a job as nurse at the hospital in the city where Noah and the others lived. It was the same hospital where he had also been a trainee during his studies, and he drove back and forth between the towns for work. He and Isaac lived together on the 20th floor in a nice apartment in L.A., and had been doing so for about six months now.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah smiled, pulling back from their hug after a few moments. “I hope so too, but I have a nice recommendation letter so that should be an advantage.”  
  
“That’s good. That should help you find a job faster,” Kaylen smiled.  
  
“Aww, my baby brother is all grown up,” Isaac cooed, coming over to Noah to pat his head and ruffle his hair.  
  
Noah groaned and swatted Isaac’s hand away when the gesture became annoying.  
  
“And so are you,” Gabriel remarked, smirking at Isaac. “The whole family knows that the day Isaac gets mated is the day he grows up, even just a little.”  
  
“Oi,” Isaac warned when he heard the teasing in Gabriel’s voice.  
  
Dean laughed at that. “Funny, ‘cause sometimes I still feel like Noah is more grown up than Isaac is, even if he’s almost six years younger.”  
  
Castiel chuckled. “Indeed.”  
  
“But I’m not as tiny as him!” Isaac pointed out in a desperate attempt to defend himself. When he looked at Noah his little brother was glaring back at him, and Isaac couldn’t help but laugh at the cute, smoldering expression on Noah’s face.  
  
“But you’re more immature,” Adrian chuckled.  
  
Isaac just looked offended while the others laughed, and Castiel moved into the kitchen to prepare an afternoon snack for everyone. Jayden and Natalie joined to help him out.  
 

  

***

  
  
They spent the afternoon catching up and enjoying each other’s company.  
  
Maya persuaded Noah to come play with her in the sandbox at some point, and Kaylen and little Aaron joined. Adrian, Natalie, Isaac, Jayden, and Dean played some ball in the meanwhile, while Castiel and Gabriel were helping each other prepare dinner and shared some brotherly time together in the kitchen. Bella was lying next to the sandbox, napping a bit after having played around with the kids and with the ball for a while.  
  
“No-no-no! Don’t eat the sand, Aaron. It doesn’t taste good,” Noah told Aaron as they sat in the sandbox. He quickly reached over and grabbed the boy’s hand, stopping him from eating the sand. The baby stared up at him and looked almost offended, but Noah stood his ground.  
  
Maya grimaced. She was sitting in the middle of the sandbox with Noah and Kaylen around her, and little Aaron was sitting next to Noah. “Eww, that’s gross.”  
  
Kaylen laughed. “Yeah, it is. But babies don’t know any better.” Both he and Noah were full of sand now. They had pulled off their socks and put on shorts, so their feet and legs were all dirty with wet and dry sand. Their butts were dirty too since they were sitting in the middle of the sand, and they tried their best not to get too much into their feathers (which was difficult since the feathers rested on the sand when they sat down). Maya, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered to be covered in sand. She just had fun and built sandcastles with them, not caring that she was dirty.  
  
“Yeah,” Noah agreed, trying to wipe some of the sand off Aaron’s hands so he wouldn’t get it in his eyes when he rubbed them. The baby’s clothes, hair, and wings were full of sand too, and Natalie had let out a deep sigh earlier when she realized she would have to bathe him later.  
  
Kaylen watched Noah with a small smirk, while Maya was busy playing with toys on the sandcastle. “So, do you and Jayden have any baby plans now?” he asked curiously.  
  
Noah blushed at the question, which he had gotten a lot lately. “Um, not for right now, but we have talked about having one after I get a job and when we feel ready for it.”  
  
“Ah, I see,” Kaylen smiled. “I hope for you that it works out.”  
  
Noah turned his head to look at Kaylen, who was sitting right next to him in the sand. Their wings were almost touching, and Kaylen’s curling tail bumped into Noah’s thigh sometimes. “What about you and Isaac?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t rude by asking that. He had no idea if Kaylen and Isaac even wanted to have kids. He had the feeling that Kaylen wanted it, but he wasn’t sure about Isaac.  
  
Now it was Kaylen’s turn to blush a bit. He stared down at the sand and used a small stick to draw random patterns in it. “Um, we’ve talked about trying for one very soon. Maybe some time in the autumn. I really want to have a kid, and Isaac does too, but he’s a bit insecure about his skills as a parent. I think it kinda freaks him out to be a father, since he’s scared he’ll fail somehow.” He glanced over at Isaac, who was playing soccer with the other guys and Natalie on the lawn, just feet away from the sandbox. Isaac was unaware that they were talking about him, and he was currently complaining about Adrian and Jayden winning too much, as it was him, Natalie, and Dean against the two of them.  
  
Maya was so caught up in her play that she wasn’t paying much attention to what they were saying, and Aaron was too young to understand what they were talking about.  
  
Noah smiled a bit at Kaylen’s words. He was a little surprised that Isaac felt so insecure about it, but somehow it didn’t surprise him too much either. Isaac liked to be carefree, have fun, and be free of obligations. Responsibilities could freak him out a bit sometimes, and being a parent was a very serious responsibility. “I think that both of you will do just fine,” he told Kaylen, giving him a reassuring smile.  
  
Kaylen beamed. “Thanks. So will you and Jayden. I can’t wait to see your babies.” He grinned and nudged Noah with his wing.  
  
Noah laughed and felt a bit sheepish. “Neither can I,” he said quietly, smiling to himself.  
  
The soccer ball was suddenly kicked over to them. It landed on the grass very close to the sandbox and then jumped up in the air. Kaylen quickly caught it with his hands before it could land on Maya’s head. Noah and Maya sat back in surprise since they hadn’t seen it coming, and Aaron just blinked and glanced around in slight confusion.  
  
“Damn! That was close. Sorry about that,” Adrian called from where he and others were standing, and then made his way over to get the ball from Kaylen. He caught it when the submissive demon threw it back at him.  
  
“Jesus, Adrian!” Natalie chastised when she saw that Adrian had almost hit Maya in the head with the ball.  
  
“Well, you only almost hit your daughter in the head,” Kaylen chuckled as he threw the ball back.  
  
Adrian cringed and looked at Maya. “Sorry, sweetie. Daddy didn’t do that on purpose.”  
  
Maya just blinked at him, nodding. “I know,” she said, smiling and continuing playing with her toys.  
  
“You suck, Adrian!” Isaac blurted, laughing his ass off that Adrian’s last kick had gone wrong.  
  
Adrian swatted Isaac’s head to make him stop laughing (though he didn’t hit him that hard), but it only made the beta laugh more.  
  
Dean and Jayden both laughed at them.  
  
“Maybe we should take a break,” Dean suggested. “This is getting really tiring.”  
  
“Aw, dad, are you getting old and rusty?” Isaac said in a teasing tone, only to receive a swat on his leg by Dean’s tail.  
  
“I can do much more heavy lifting than you can, young man, so shut that cake-hole of yours,” Dean growled in a playful warning.  
  
Jayden laughed at them before going over to the sandbox where the others were sitting. He grinned at Noah when the submissive glanced up at him, before squatting down to inspect Maya’s sandcastle. “Wow, what a nice castle. Did you make that?” he asked Maya, smiling at her.  
  
Maya grinned and nodded her head proudly. “Yep! Noah and Kaylen helped a little bit, though.”  
  
“Well, it’s very pretty,” Jayden told her, and once again Maya beamed like a Christmas light.  
  
Aaron began crawling across the sand towards Jayden now, and he stared mesmerized at the ‘Led Zeppelin’ writing on Jayden’s shirt. It was a shirt that Jayden had just pulled on, since the one he wore earlier was less comfortable in the hot weather. Jayden chuckled as Aaron got up on his feet while keeping his curious gaze on Jayden’s shirt, and he reached out to support the boy as Aaron started running curious hands over his shirt.  
  
Kaylen laughed. “I think we have ourselves as Led Zeppelin fan here.”  
  
Adrian chuckled as he walked over to them and saw his son staring at Jayden’s shirt. “He just gets fascinated by the simplest things sometimes; by the writing on someone’s shirt, or by the stubble I sometimes grow on my face.”  
  
“Being curious is a sign he’s healthy,” Natalie argued, watching Aaron with a fond smile.  
  
Noah grinned as he watched Jayden and Aaron interact. Jayden was holding a hand on Aaron’s side to make sure he didn’t fall over since the baby was still unsteady on his legs, and Aaron was busy staring at Jayden’s shirt before turning his attention to Jayden’s face. He moved a tiny hand up to touch his nose, and Jayden just let him, even when he squeezed it a bit.  
  
“Sorry about that,” Adrian said when he saw that his son was doing.  
  
“It’s fine,” Jayden said, chuckling at the kid. He gently grabbed Aaron’s hand and removed it from his face, before slowly getting up on his feet again. The squatting position was a bit uncomfortable.  
  
Aaron whined when the source of his attention was gone, but then Adrian came over and picked him up, making the boy feel content again.  
  
“First he’s all intimidating towards me, and now he’s whiny ‘cause Jayden pulled away. Gosh, that boy has mood swings,” Isaac remarked from behind them.  
  
Adrian chuckled and rocked Aaron on his arm. “Well, hopefully he gets less whiny when he grows up.”  
  
“He should. He’s an alpha, after all,” Dean said.  
  
When Dean spoke, Aaron started waving his arms out towards him and demanded that Adrian put him over to Dean instead. Adrian laughed and went over to shift his son into Dean’s arms. Dean was more than happy to hold his grandson, and he grinned at the boy as he got him settled on his arm.  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes at Dean’s comment. “Alphas are such machos,” he muttered. Noah snickered next to him.  
  
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with some masculinity,” Jayden pointed out, looking down at them in the sandbox.  
  
“Like I said: machos,” Kaylen murmured, scowling up at Jayden. “You’re always so obsessed with being ‘manly’.”  
  
“Uhhuh,” Natalie agreed, crossing her arms.  
  
“Well, that’s just in our nature,” Dean argued, rocking Aaron on his arm and letting him touch his face with his curious hands. “Can’t really imagine someone like Mike Tyson in pink panties or crying over a Barbie movie anyways.”  
  
“Oh god, the image!” Isaac cringed, shielding his eyes in horror.  
  
Adrian and Jayden laughed.  
  
“Yeah, you alphas are pretty masculine. But sometimes you get a little bit _too_ macho,” Natalie pointed out. “Especially when you refuse to cry at funerals and stuff because you’re afraid to show emotions.” She rolled her eyes at that.  
  
“Not all alphas are like that,” Adrian argued.  
  
“Well, some people like us being very masculine and find it attractive, so what’s wrong with it?” Dean murmured, trying to make Aaron stop attempting to get a hold of his half-sharp feathers.  
  
“Yeah. And I’m not sure if Noah would like it if I was _too_ girly,” Jayden pointed out, smirking down at Noah.  
  
Noah made a face. “True.” He liked Jayden for the alpha he was. Strong, masculine, protective. It made helped him feel safe since he knew that if something happened, Jayden would be there to deal with the threat. He was also very sexually attracted to those traits in Jayden; both the physical and the behavioral. If Jayden had been a beta, things would likely be different since Noah wasn’t very attracted to betas.  
  
“ _I_ wanna be girly, though,” Maya butted in, pretty much unaware of what they were talking about.  
  
The others laughed at her comment, and Maya almost looked offended by that.  
  
“I know, sweetie. But you _are_ a girl, after all,” Adrian chuckled.  
  
“I know. I like being a girl. And Noah and Kaylen are a bit like girls too, aren’t they?”  
  
“Yep, they are,” Isaac snickered.  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes, and Noah found himself blushing a bit. Noah had always mostly identified himself as more of a girl than a boy, where Kaylen was more in between.  
  
They all looked up when Gabriel appeared on the terrace. “If anyone wants dinner, they should get their butts inside now before I lock the door and let you stay out here until all the food is gone!”  
  
“Nooo, I want food!” Maya exclaimed, shooting up from the sandbox and barely had time to get the sand off her before she rushed up to the house.  
  
“Wait for me!” Isaac called and hurried inside too, not taking any chances with Gabriel. Maya shrieked happily when Isaac chased her inside, threatening to tickle her, and Kaylen chuckled at that from the sandbox.  
  
Gabriel laughed as they stormed past them, amused that his threat had worked.  
  
“Don’t you _dare_ lock us out,” Dean warned Gabriel when he saw him looking at the others with an impish smirk when he noticed that none of them had come up to the house yet.  
  
Noah and Kaylen get out of the sandbox and wiped the sand off themselves. Jayden chuckled at Noah when he saw him having trouble getting rid of the sand, and he came over to help him out. Noah’s cheeks reddened a bit as Jayden moved his hands over his butt and his feathers to get the sand off, and Adrian watched the scene with an amused smile.  
  
“You’ve got five seconds until I lock the door,” Gabriel sang, making the others hurry up to the house to get inside.  
  
Dean carried little Aaron, who seemed quite excited when he heard them mention food. It was a word that he definitely understood already.  
  
Gabriel smirked as they walked past him and into the house, and Bella too came running up to the terrace to head inside, her tail wagging happily behind her.

  

***

  
  
The dinner was great and the family had a nice time together. Castiel and Gabriel had made roast beef, potatoes, sauce, and some vegetables, and they all dug in. Aaron sat on Natalie’s lap and ate mostly only mashed potatoes and vegetables, since the meat was a bit difficult for him to chew.  
  
As they ate, Isaac told them about the filming of a new movie he was going to be in, in which he was playing one of the supportive characters. He was quite excited about it since he hadn’t really been in such a big movie before – only TV shows and lesser movies – and so far things had gone well. His colleagues all thought he was funny and easy to get along with, and there hadn’t been many racist encounters.  
  
“How come you’re always playing a demon on TV?” Maya asked Isaac while they ate at the table. She had seen some of the episodes he was in when Adrian and Natalie watched them at night, though her parents didn’t let her see the gory ones.  
  
“’Cause people don’t really like seeing angel/demon hybrids on TV,” Isaac explained, smiling at her. “Besides, I look a lot like a demon anyway. They just gotta paint my wings a bit and then I’m a demon.”  
  
Maya frowned, trying to let the words sink in. “Why don’t they like showing them on TV?”  
  
“That’s because there are many racists who don’t like angel/demon hybrids, sweetie,” Natalie explained to her patiently, and helped Maya pour up some more sauce for her potatoes.  
  
“Hmm, that’s weird,” Maya murmured, poking around in her food with her fork.  
  
“People are generally weird,” Gabriel butted in. “I think that most producers are wary about showing such characters in their movies or TV shows. They’re afraid it will give them bad ratings and reviews.”  
  
“Yeah, no shit,” Isaac muttered. “I almost got cast as an angel/demon hybrid on a show once, but they changed the character to a demon because they were scared of what the fans would think. It really sucked.”  
  
Castiel lowered his eyes a bit, feeling sad about what he was hearing. It always frustrated him when angel/demon hybrids got hated on or didn’t get the positive attention in the media which they needed.  
  
Kaylen elbowed Isaac. “Don’t curse in front of the kids,” he chastised him, staring at him with a firm glare.  
  
“Sorry…” Isaac murmured, glancing at Natalie who also didn’t like it when he cursed too much around her kids.  
  
Dean sighed. “Well, at this rate people are just gonna keep being racist, unless someone finally shows a proper angel/demon character on TV and lets people empathize with them.”  
  
“Well, most of the fans from the shows I’ve been on like me a lot, and many of them know that I’m an angel/demon hybrid. I actually got quite positive response on that from fans when I attended Comic Con,” Isaac pointed out. “It’s not like all of them are total racist assholes. I’m going again next month, this time for the new show that I’m on, and then I’ll make sure to make those fans like me too.”  
  
Adrian laughed. “Yeah, you do that, Isaac. Just don’t embarrass yourself again.”  
  
Isaac turned his head to scowl at his brother. “Are you referring to last year when I accidentally fell down the stage? I handled that like a boss, though.”  
  
Dean laughed. “Yeah, we saw that video. It’s on YouTube – it has over a million views.”  
  
The others laughed, and Isaac snorted and tried not to let his embarrassment show. The incident had been quite embarrassing after all, but he managed to save his pride by acting like a dork afterwards. Kaylen just chuckled at him and put a hand on his thigh under the table.  
  
After dinner, Noah, Jayden, Dean, Isaac, and Adrian helped each other clean the table and do the dishes. Meanwhile, Castiel, Gabriel, Kaylen, and Natalie sat down on the couch with Maya, who was quite hyper after eating. Aaron too was very active, but Gabriel kept him entertained with making funny faces at him and lifting him up and down in the air. Bella was with them, and she enjoyed the rubs that Kaylen and Natalie gave her.  
  
In the kitchen, the dishes were getting done pretty fast since they were so many to do it. Isaac had started swatting the others in the butt with the dishtowel in his hand, grinning in mischief every time he made them jump.  
  
“Goddamnit, Isaac!” Adrian growled after Isaac had hit him right on the buttock as he stood in front of the sink and cleaned the pots. It had made him jump in surprise. “I’m gonna grab that towel from you and whip you in the crotch,” he threatened.  
  
Isaac just burst out laughing, not taking his brother’s threat very seriously. “I’d like to see you try,” he mocked, grinning, before gently swatting Noah on the leg as the submissive passed him on the way over to one of the cupboards with a bowl. Noah yelped like a girl, making Isaac laugh even more.  
  
Dean growled in annoyance and slammed Isaac on the thigh with his own dishtowel. “Be nice your brothers.”  
  
“Ow,” Isaac complained, rubbing the spot and pouting at his dad, although it hadn’t hurt much. “I’m just having fun.”  
  
“A bit too much fun for my taste.”  
  
Jayden chuckled at Isaac’s pouty face and went over to dry the pots that Adrian had just cleaned.  
  
“You’re a jerk,” Noah growled at Isaac after having put the bowl into place. He regarded Isaac with a deep scowl of disapproval.  
  
“But you make such a funny, girly noise whenever I swat you,” Isaac grinned, swirling the dishtowel around in front of him, as if threatening to give Noah another whip with it. Noah backed away a bit.  
  
“I'll make _you_ make girly noises too when I’m done here,” Adrian muttered from the sink, sounding pretty annoyed. Jayden just snickered next to him.  
  
“Oh yeah?” Isaac dared him. “Well, actually Jayden is the only one I haven’t hit yet. You guys got in my way every time I tried.”  
  
“I’m not complaining,” Jayden said. He backed a bit into the corner of the kitchen counter when Isaac stepped a little closer.  
  
Isaac eyed Jayden with a predatory, impish grin, and had the dishtowel ready to whip Jayden. Dean tried to reach out and grab it from him, but Isaac was faster and dodged his attempt. He then made a quick move to hit Jayden, but when Jayden stepped aside to dodge it, Isaac ended up hitting Jayden right in the crotch instead of on the thigh.  
  
“Ah fuck!” Jayden cursed loudly, immediately grabbing his crotch and almost sinking to his knees in pain.  
  
“Oww! Sorry about that!” Isaac blurted, cringing and grimacing in sympathy. Guilt flickered across his face when he realized he had hit Jayden in the wrong place.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in horror, and he immediately went forward to help Jayden stand up again. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly, trying to support Jayden, but the alpha was rather heavy.  
  
“For fuck’s sake, Isaac!” Dean chided, and Adrian glared over his shoulder at Isaac.  
  
“I said I was sorry! I didn’t even hit him that hard,” Isaac said, still cringing. He stepped a little closer to Jayden and genuinely worried about his brother-in-law when he saw him being in pain. “Damn. You okay?”  
  
“Could have been worse,” Jayden croaked, still in pain and grabbing at his crotch. “That was such a girly whip, but damn it _hurts._ ”  
  
Adrian chortled, looking at Jayden in sympathy. “Well, you _did_ get it right in the balls…”  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden cursed in agony, trying to take a deep breath and get over the pain. Noah held his arm and tried to support him, and Jayden appreciated that. “I’m gonna hit you back,” he growled at Isaac, smirking when he saw horror flicker across the beta’s face.  
  
“Whoa! Just not in the balls!” Isaac exclaimed, throwing his hands up and backing away slowly.  
  
The commotion made the others by the couch aware that something had happened, but they weren’t really sure what.  
  
“What happened?” Castiel asked, walking over to them. His eyes fell on Jayden, who still looked in pain although he had gotten up on his feet again, and a worried frown formed on Castiel’s face.  
  
“Isaac whipped Jayden in the crotch with the dishtowel,” Adrian explained, shooting another glare at Isaac before starting to clean the last pot in the sink.  
  
Castiel’s eyes widened and he immediately looked at Isaac. “Why would you do that?” he demanded, sounding upset and disappointed.  
  
Isaac cringed. “Man. I said I was sorry. I didn’t mean to hit him there; I was aiming for his thigh.”  
  
Kaylen came over when he noticed that something was up in the kitchen, and he rolled his eyes at Isaac when he heard what had happened. Isaac gave his mate a pathetic, guilty look, but Kaylen just crossed his arms and stared at him in disapproval.  
  
Castiel sighed, once again feeling helpless about his beta son. He looked over at Jayden then. “Are you feeling alright?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m good. It could have been worse. Isaac didn’t hit me all that hard,” Jayden explained, forcing a smile.  
  
“You should sit down,” Noah told him, feeling worried about his mate. He didn’t like seeing Jayden in pain. Jayden rarely got hurt, and if he stubbed his toes on a doorframe he usually just cursed loudly and winced for a few seconds before acting cool again.  
  
“Maybe. But it’s getting better,” Jayden reassured him. The pain was subsiding, though it still stung a bit. He was incredibly sensitive down there, so it could hurt for a while. He let Noah help him over to the couch, although he could walk on his own despite him limping a bit.  
  
“Damn. Did it make the clockworks ring?” Gabriel asked as he watched Jayden sit down carefully on the couch. He couldn’t help but snicker about what had happened.  
  
“Yeah, almost,” Jayden chuckled, wincing as he sat down.  
  
Natalie cringed in sympathy, and the kids were too busy playing to realize that something had happened.  
  
Noah made sure that Jayden was comfortable before going back over to the kitchen to help the others finish up. Castiel and Kaylen returned to the couch.  
  
“Why must you always be such a brat, Isaac?” Adrian asked as he cleaned the last pot and handed it to Dean to be dried.  
  
“Sorry,” Isaac muttered, sulking a bit. “It was just for good fun.”  
  
Dean chortled and shook his head, looking slightly amused. “He just never changes. Stop asking him why, Adrian.”  
  
Isaac scowled at his father for saying that, and Noah couldn’t help but snicker.  
  
They finished up the dishes fast, and afterwards they all headed over to the couch area to hang out.  
  
Isaac ran over to the couch to get a nice spot before the others arrived, and he ended up sitting in the corner of the couch and threw his legs up on it, taking up extra space. Adrian rolled his eyes at him before sitting down on the left side of the couch near the armchairs, so that Jayden was sitting between him and Isaac now. Kaylen sat by Isaac’s feet, and Natalie and Castiel sat next to him, and Dean and Gabriel were seated in the armchairs. Aaron was crawling around on the floor along with Maya, and they were playing with toys and watching TV every now and then. Bella was on the floor with them, though she was mostly resting.  
  
When Noah came over, he noticed that there weren’t any available spots on the couch anymore. He stood between Adrian and Jayden’s legs, and he eyed Isaac with narrowed eyes when he saw his brother taking up so much space with his legs. “Move your legs, Isaac! You’re taking up my space.”  
  
“No way! I’m so comfortable here!” Isaac protested, refusing to move. Instead he spread himself out more, looking very relaxed and stubborn about not moving.  
  
Noah glared at him, and the others laughed.  
  
“Just sit down on his legs; that should make him move,” Gabriel told him.  
  
“I’ll kick his butt if he tries!” Isaac threatened.  
  
“Isaac, move your legs,” Castiel ordered.  
  
Isaac grunted, but seemed to finally be giving in.  
  
However, before Isaac moved his legs, Adrian spoke. “You can just sit on my lap, Noah. Then you don’t have to sit near that brat.” He smirked over at Isaac, teasingly.  
  
“Oi!” Isaac groused, insulted.  
  
Noah was a bit hesitant. He hadn’t sat on Adrian’s lap since he was a kid, and he eyed his brother to see if he was serious about the offer or not. When Adrian just smiled at him and patted his thigh in invitation, Noah knew he was serious. He looked at Jayden to see if his mate was okay with that, and Jayden just smiled at him and gave him a small nod. Adrian was his brother, after all, so Jayden had no reason to be jealous.  
  
“Yeah, you better not sit on Jayden right now, at least. His crotch hurts too much, I think,” Natalie snickered.  
  
“Yeah, I’d rather not risk it,” Jayden agreed, watching as Noah moved over to Adrian and slowly sat down on his brother’s leg.  
  
“I’m still sorry about that,” Isaac murmured, playing with one of his feathers in a guilty manner.  
  
“I’ll get my payback,” Jayden promised, feeling smug when he saw Isaac tense up nervously next to him.  
  
Meanwhile, Noah sat down on Adrian’s lap, careful not to hit his brother in the face with his wings as he tried to get comfortable with all his limbs. It felt odd to sit on Adrian’s lap when they were both adults, but at the same time it felt comfortable and nice. He smiled a bit when he felt Adrian put a hand on his knee and pat him there in a brotherly gesture.  
  
“Aww, look at that. They’re almost like little kids again,” Gabriel cooed, watching Noah and Adrian with a grin.  
  
Castiel chuckled and looked at Noah and Adrian. He smiled as he saw them sitting there together, and it made him happy to see them like that. It reminded him of when and they were kids and Adrian would let Noah sit on his lap sometimes while watching TV.  
  
Noah blushed a bit when the others looked at him and Adrian, but he didn’t move away. Adrian didn’t seem bothered either, even though he had always been ‘manly’ like Dean, and wasn’t into chick-flick stuff. He hadn’t even liked hugging that much when he was a teenager since he felt too cool for it, but with Noah he had never minded it. Mostly because Noah had been so young back then, and they had always had a strong sibling bond.  
  
Jayden grinned at them and reached out to touch some of Noah’s feathers. Noah turned to look at him with a shy smile, but didn’t pull away from Jayden’s touch. Adrian smiled at them, and some of Noah’s feathers were touching his arm as they sat there together. He didn’t pet them like Jayden did since that wouldn’t be appropriate.  
  
The rest of the evening was spent hanging out on the couch and playing games. Adrian and Isaac were both staying over for the night with their mates and family, so they had all evening together.  
  
On Sunday it was time for Noah and Jayden to finally move in together in Jayden’s apartment and try to live together for the first time. It would be a change in their lives to share an apartment, but hopefully a good one, and they couldn’t wait to start their new life together and have kids someday in the future.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another family chapter! Not long until there will be Noah/Jayden babies now :D And with Isaac and Kaylen being mated now, babies should soon be on the way for them as well :3 Dean and Cas will be flooded with grandkids, but I don’t think they would mind XD
> 
> As usual, thank you for reading the chapter :)


	12. Chapter 12

**November 2048 (Noah is 22, Jayden is 24, Eden is 35, Jason is 36, Daniel is 9, Luna is 6 years old, Lucy is 10 months old).**  
  
Things were going well for Noah and Jayden in their shared apartment. They had lived together since June and had quickly gotten used to sharing an apartment together and putting up with each other’s habits every day. They helped each other keep the place clean and had decorated it a bit further now that Noah had moved in as well, though it was still mostly Jayden who did the cooking. Noah helped sometimes, but mostly only did the simplest stuff since cooking was not one of his strengths.  
  
The first month and a half had been a little tough financially since Noah hadn’t gotten a job yet, so it was Jayden’s salary that paid for everything. But in early September, Noah had finally gotten a job as a kindergarten teacher in a local kindergarten. The kindergarten shared facilities with the pre-kindergarten, like the place Noah and Jayden had gone to as kids (which had also included the daycare facility), but it wasn’t the same one. It was a bit further away from their apartment than where Jayden’s workplace was, and due to Jayden’s ever changing work schedule they didn’t get to drive to work together every day. Jayden mostly let Noah take the car and drive, since he wasn’t comfortable letting Noah ride on the public transport by himself – Noah had gotten sexually harassed several times on the subway and the bus, so Jayden had had enough. Jayden took the subway when their work schedules didn’t match, even though Noah really didn’t like driving that much.  
  
It was Saturday morning and Noah and Jayden were asleep on the bed together. It had been a long week full of work and they looked forward to spending the weekend together. Jayden sometimes worked on the weekends, but this weekend he was free, and they planned to relax and spend time together.  
  
Noah lay curled up in fetal position on the bed with his back facing Jayden, and his wings were cocooning him as he lay there. Jayden was lying on his back with Noah on his right side. He always slept closest to the door; that way any intruder would have to go through him first before they could get to Noah.  
  
Jayden blinked his eyes open and could tell that the sun had risen already. There was light on the other side of the dark curtains, illuminating the room just a little, but not enough to bother their sleep. He stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, his right arm raised so that it was up over his head, and his left hand scratched idly at his naked stomach as he tried to wake up. He was naked after the sex he and Noah had had last night, and Noah wasn’t wearing any clothes under his blanket either. Jayden liked sleeping like this. He loved to cuddle naked with Noah, feeling their skin touch and provide nice physical contact.  
  
When he felt more awake, Jayden turned his head to look at his mate. He smiled softly when he saw his mate’s messy, black hair, but he couldn’t see much of Noah because of the blanket over his body. Jayden stretched before rolling over on his side, snuggling up behind Noah so he was pressed against his back. He carefully lifted their blankets so that there was skin-to-skin contact, before gently putting the blankets around Noah and himself again. He leaned in so that his nose was pressed to the back of Noah’s head, closing his eyes as he breathed in the scent of his mate. He purred at the comforting scent, and moved a little closer so that his chest was touching the base of Noah’s wings and his back.  
  
Jayden lay like that for a few minutes, just listening to Noah’s even breath as he slept. He gently petted Noah’s feathers, careful not to wake him. Noah always slept like a rock and he could be hard to wake up, which Jayden thought was both good and bad sometimes.  
  
Noah shifted a bit in his sleep and Jayden smiled fondly at him. He pressed a loving kiss to the back of Noah’s neck, letting his lips linger on the pale, soft skin.  
  
The submissive slowly began waking up now. He tensed for a second when he felt someone press against his body from behind, but quickly relaxed when his mind registered that it was just his mate. Noah let out a small sigh and shifted as he tried to get comfortable.  
  
“Morning, sleepy-head,” Jayden said in a soft voice, running an affectionate hand through Noah’s feathers.  
  
Noah made a small noise of protest since he didn’t really want to wake up yet, but he still leaned into Jayden’s touch. “Morning,” Noah murmured sleepily, yawning.  
  
Jayden chuckled and snaked his arm in between Noah’s left wing and his body so he could rest it over his waist and touch his stomach with his hand while they spooned. “It’s 10 already. We have to get up soon, before Eden and the others come over.”  
  
Noah gave a disgruntled groan, trying to go back to sleep, but Jayden wouldn’t let him. They had promised Eden and Jason to babysit Daniel and Luna until tonight, since they were going out with their friends Carter, Kyle, and Ariel day.  
  
“Can’t I sleep a bit longer?” Noah murmured, whining softly.  
  
“Nope, you can’t,” Jayden grinned, tickling Noah’s stomach gently.  
  
Noah shrieked and kicked in response, making Jayden laugh.   
  
“You bastard!” Noah growled. He hated it when Jayden tickled him in order to wake him up.  
  
Jayden just laughed harder before leaning in and pressing small, soft kisses to the back of Noah’s neck and shoulder. Noah shuddered at the display of affection, and closed his eyes as he purred and welcomed the touch. The alpha continued to lazily pet his wing and kiss him on the back of his shoulder. He slowly began making his way further down, and Noah felt a spark of arousal shoot through him when he noticed that Jayden was making his way down towards his oil glands.  
  
“Jayden,” Noah purred, humming as Jayden kissed him right on the left oil gland. He opened his mouth in a long moan as he felt Jayden’s thumb tease the gland and try to stimulate it. It made him more aroused. “Please,” he whined, not sure what he was begging for more or for Jayden to just let him sleep already.  
  
The alpha smirked smugly against Noah’s skin, licking his tongue gingerly over the gland which was starting to leak now. The taste of honey hit his tongue, making Jayden hum in appreciation. “You’re so gorgeous,” he whispered against Noah’s back, nuzzling him with his nose.  
  
Noah pushed his ass back into Jayden, trying to get some stimulation now that he was getting aroused. His dick was hard and his ass was slick, and he could feel his hole begging to be filled again. He was trying to nudge his ass against Jayden’s dick, but the height difference and Jayden lying a bit further down the bed to able to reach Noah’s oil glands with his mouth meant that his ass just bumped into the alpha’s stomach instead. Noah grunted in disappointment.  
  
Jayden chuckled at him, realizing what he was trying to do. “Getting a little desperate?”  
  
“Just stop teasing. I want you inside me,” Noah murmured, his wings twitching impatiently.  
  
“You got stuffed full last night and now you already want more?” Jayden murmured against Noah’s skin, not hiding the teasing in his voice.  
  
Noah blushed and shoved himself back into Jayden again, this time more demandingly. “Please just do it. I need it…”  
  
A smile of satisfaction tilted Jayden’s lips. He loved when Noah begged for his cock and to be filled up by him, and he was always more than happy to comply with his mate’s demands. He placed another kiss on Noah’s oil gland before finally removing his arm from Noah’s waist and moved it down towards the submissive’s ass. He was a bit clumsier with his left hand, but he easily found the entrance and pressed a finger inside, going slow. Noah was all tight again after last night, though still a bit looser than normal. The muscles clenched down nicely around Jayden’s finger, making the alpha hum in appreciation. He swirled his finger around in there to make Noah more wet, before pressing another one in and beginning to stretch him.  
  
Noah’s breath was becoming faster and he pushed back onto Jayden’s fingers impatiently. He was making small moans and gasps, and Jayden’s dick only got harder as he listened to them.  
  
When Noah’s body was ready, Jayden removed his fingers. He reached down and grabbed a hold of his aching cock, giving it a few strokes and slickening it up with Noah’s natural lubricant before finally guiding his cock into Noah, pressing in until he was fully sheathed inside him.   
  
They gasped as they joined, still lying on their sides with Jayden spooning behind Noah. The alpha nuzzled Noah’s neck with affection and hummed as he slid into him. He dwelled in the feeling Noah’s muscles clenching around his cock and feeling the warm wetness of his mate surrounding him. He felt like he could lie like that forever, buried inside Noah’s comforting heat and holding him close.  
  
Noah let out a needy whimper and pushed back into him, which finally made Jayden snap out of it.  
  
The alpha put his hand on Noah’s hip, holding him still as he began thrusting in and out of him, going slow at first. Their position made it a bit hard since Noah’s wings were slightly in the way, but Jayden did his best. He pressed in close to Noah – just like they both liked it – and snapped his hips forward hard with each thrust, drawing hitched breaths from the submissive.  
  
“Aaah! Right there,” Noah moaned, shuddering when Jayden’s cock stroke the bundle of nerves inside him.  
  
Jayden just grunted in response, busy thrusting into Noah and making it good for them both. He inhaled Noah’s scent with each thrust and sharp intake of breath, and the spicy sweetness of it made his head feel a bit dizzy. He loved smelling his mate in the morning and waking up next to him. Morning sex was good too, but sometimes he was content just cuddling with him until they had to get up.  
  
Sounds of panting and skin slapping against skin filled the room, along with a strong scent of sex spreading around the bedroom.  
  
Jayden nipped possessively at Noah’s earlobe while he fucked into him, knowing how getting his earlobe nipped was one of Noah’s weaknesses. The submissive shuddered and his body became more pliant in response, which pleased the alpha. He spread out his own wing on top of Noah’s, rubbing their feathers together and trying to rub their wing bones against each other too. Noah cried out when Jayden’s wing rubbed against his wing bone just right, and Jayden too moaned at the nice feeling.  
  
“Ahh god, I’m going to come soon,” Noah moaned, squeezing his eyes shut and focusing on the feeling of their wings rubbing together and Jayden’s cock filling him up completely. Every hard thrust knocked the air out of him, and he gasped for breath as they indulged in the pleasures of the flesh.  
  
The alpha let out a possessive growl, and moved his hand from Noah’s hip around his body to grab the submissive’s smaller cock. Noah cried out as he grabbed it and began stroking it, and Jayden could tell from the tightening muscles inside Noah that the submissive was about to come any second now.  
  
“Come on, baby. I wanna hear you come apart,” Jayden purred into Noah’s ear, teasing his nail over the slit on Noah’s dick while he thrust into him hard, over and over.  
  
Noah’s entire body shuddered as he finally came. A cry of pleasure came from his throat as his body jerked through his orgasm, and Jayden felt his hand get covered in wetness as he stroked it over his mate’s dick.  
  
Jayden growled and bit Noah’s neck gently but possessively, leaving marks. The dominant gesture forced another, smaller orgasm from Noah, which made his muscles clench down further around Jayden’s cock.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted, feeling his orgasm get ripped from him because of the tightness around his cock. He came inside Noah in thick robes, holding on to him and pressing as far into him as he could as he emptied himself inside his mate. Noah just took it, gasping softly at the sensation and even started _purring._ Jayden held on to him, shaking and grunting through his pleasure until it was finally over.  
  
They went limp on the bed together afterwards, exhausted and sated. They panted to catch their breaths, and Jayden felt too lazy to pull out of Noah. His cock was still hard inside him, but it was slowly beginning to soften up. He lay behind Noah for a bit longer, his arm over his waist, and his chest pressed against Noah’s back and base of his wings. They listened to each other breathing and hummed as they cuddled during the aftermath.  
  
When Jayden’s softened dick started getting uncomfortable inside Noah, he pulled out and rolled over onto his back, hearing Noah whimper softly at the loss. He chuckled fondly at him before staring down at his left hand, which Noah had made a pretty mess of with his release. Jayden licked the come off, smirking when he thought about how he had been the cause of Noah’s delicious orgasm just now.  
  
Noah turned his head to look back at Jayden, wondering what he was doing. He blushed when he saw his mate licking his come off his hand.  
  
Jayden met his eye and smirked at him before getting up. He grabbed one of the towels they always kept near the bed for situations like these and gave it to Noah so he could clean up.  
  
“Looking forward to play babysitter today?” Jayden asked as he pulled on a fresh pair of underwear. Noah was still on the bed, busy trying to clean up the mess Jayden had made of him.  
  
“Yes, I actually am,” Noah replied. He glanced up at Jayden, hesitating for a second. “Are you?” he asked, worried that maybe Jayden wasn’t in the mood for babysitting anyway.  
  
“Yeah, I am. Should be fun,” Jayden chuckled, and pulled on a pair of jeans next. “I wonder what we’re gonna do with them. They are gonna be here all day, after all. Maybe take them to the park? Daniel likes skating and stuff, doesn’t he?” He fumbled to get his tail through the hole in the back of his jeans, cursing softly when it bitched on him.  
  
“I think so, yeah. And the park sounds nice.” Noah smiled to himself and finished up with the towel, which was all dirty now. He got up to find some panties from the drawers next to the TV, brushing wings with Jayden who was standing in front of the TV and getting dressed. He let his eyes run over the nice sight of Jayden’s naked chest before bending forward to rummage through the drawers, looking for a specific pair of panties that he wanted to wear that day. His wings were spread out a bit, not hiding his nakedness from Jayden’s possessive gaze.  
  
Jayden smirked when he saw the way Noah’s flushed ass was poking out while the submissive went through the drawers. He couldn’t help himself as he slowly went over and gave his mate a playful slap right on the left buttock.  
  
Noah let out a girly yelp and straightened up in surprise. His wings spread out on reflex, almost hitting Jayden. With his jaw clenched in mild annoyance, he slowly turned his head to glare at Jayden when the alpha cracked up behind him.  
  
“Sorry, I couldn’t help it. Your ass was just too gorgeous for me to ignore,” Jayden grinned.  
  
Noah snorted and went back to searching for his panties. The way his body had reacted in surprise only made more of Jayden’s come deep inside him seep out, and he groaned when he realized he had to clean up with the towel again. “You’re a jerk.”  
  
Jayden smirked. “I know.”  
  
  


***

  
  
At noon, Eden and Jason arrived with Daniel and Luna. Eden and Jason’s 10-month-old daughter Lucy was with them too, but Eden’s friend Lina was going to babysit her so that Noah and Jayden wouldn’t have too many kids on their hands.  
  
Noah opened the door for them when they arrived, and Eden beamed when she saw her little brother. She immediately pulled him into a tight hug. “Hi, Noah. It’s so good to see you again!”  
  
Noah hugged her back, chuckling. “We saw each other like two weeks ago, for Isaac and Lily’s birthday,” he pointed out.  
  
Eden pulled back, brushing her tail lovingly against Noah’s leg and smiling at him. “I know, but I’ve still missed you, little brother. We don’t see each other that often anymore, you know.”  
  
“Mom is such a girl,” Daniel snickered. He laughed when Eden swatted his leg gently with her tail.  
  
“Be quiet, young man,” Eden warned him. Luna giggled next to her.  
  
Jason laughed. “Yeah, better not provoke your mom, son.” Lucy gurgled from where she was sitting on his arm, as if she was agreeing with him.  
  
Noah chuckled before inviting them inside, and Jayden met them in the hallway and hugged them while Noah closed the door.  
  
“That’s an awesome shirt you’re wearing, Danny,” Jayden grinned at Daniel, pointing at his shirt.  
  
Daniel beamed and puffed out his chest in a proud manner. “Yeah, isn’t it? It’s with my favorite superhero. He’s quite new, and he’s a badass demon who kicks butts!”   
  
“I can see that. Don’t wanna mess with him,” Jayden chuckled.   
  
Daniel grinned in response, his wings flaring behind him. He was standing there with a skateboard tucked under his arm. He was very much into skating recently, Eden had told them, and he had decided to bring his skateboard along in case they were going to the park or something. Luna didn’t have anything with her besides a rucksack which contained some of her favorite toys. They were only staying there until the evening, so they didn’t need to have so many things with them.  
  
Luna snorted. “He’s just all muscle… I like his girlfriend better in the movie. She’s so pretty.”  
  
“But she’s not the hero,” Daniel argued.  
  
“So what?” Luna retorted.  
  
“Kids… Easy now. We’re guests here, so don’t start fighting,” Jason told them. “You should take off your shoes instead.”  
  
Noah and Jayden chuckled at the kids, and Eden ran a loving hand through her children’s hairs before they did as their father told them and started removing their shoes and putting them into the small shoe shelf in the hallway.  
  
“I hope it’s not too much trouble for you to look after both Daniel and Luna today,” Eden spoke. “My friend Lina will babysit Lucy, since I think two kids will be enough for you, and dad and papa are busy this weekend. Luna and Daniel just really wanted to come here and hang out with you this time, since Lina or Ariel often babysit them. Lina has a small baby too, so it’s kind of ideal for her to take care of Lucy since she has diapers and stuff. Unless you guys really wanna babysit Lucy too…?”  
  
“And deal with dirty diapers? Nah, I’m good for now. Although she’s really cute and all,” Jayden chuckled. He smiled at Lucy who was staring back at him on Jason’s arm. She was too young to really understand what they were saying, and instead she sucked happily on her pacifier and held on to her father’s shirt.  
  
Jason laughed. “I know what you mean.”  
  
Luna giggled. “Yeah. Her poops stinks.”  
  
“Luna!” Eden chastised.  
  
Noah chuckled at Luna’s words. “So did yours when you were little. It probably still does.”  
  
Daniel laughed at Luna’s pouty face, and the girl leaned back into her mom when the others laughed too. Eden ran a fond hand through Luna’s sandy-colored hair, smiling down at her as Luna leaned into her touch. Luna was quite cuddly and she loved hugging her parents and sitting on their lap all the time, but since the baby had been born she had stopped doing it so often, seeing as her parents were now busy with the baby a lot.  
  
“So how’s work, Noah? Still like your job?” Eden asked him.  
  
Noah smiled, nodding. “Yes, it’s great. I really like it there, and my colleagues are nice.”  
  
Noah really did like his job. It had taken him a few weeks to get used to having a fulltime job and get to know everyone, but he quickly got along with his colleagues. Most of them were female, and there was one submissive angel in the pre-kindergarten department. Working with kids was a job that was very popular among submissives, so it was not unusual that there were many submissives working in kindergartens and daycares. At the kindergarten, there were also two human males employed as teachers, and the kids – especially the boys – loved to play rough with them. Noah had gotten especially close to two of his colleagues; an angel female named Kia and a human female named Clara, who were both a few years older than him. He was also close with many of the kids, and his workday consisted mostly of taking care of them, supervising them, teaching them the basics of how to read, write, and some math, and joining them when the kindergarten went on trips or walks around the neighborhood.  
  
“I can tell you do. You smile every time you talk about it,” Eden smiled. “But that’s good. I really like my job too – it makes it so much easier to go to work in the mornings.”  
  
“Yeah, mommy is an animal doctor,” Luna grinned, curling her tail behind her.  
  
Noah chuckled at his niece. “Yes, she is. And she’s very good, isn’t she?”  
  
“She’s the best!”  
  
Eden chuckled humbly and brushed her tail against Luna’s.  
  
“It’s called a ‘vet’,” Daniel murmured, rolling his eyes at his sister.  
  
“I know that!” Luna retorted, pouting.  
  
Jayden chuckled at the kids and their bickering, while Jason just sighed at them.  
  
“Oh, and have your heard any news from Isaac and Kaylen since last time we saw them?” Eden asked, mostly looking at Noah. “I hope everything is going well with Kaylen’s pregnancy…”  
  
Isaac and Kaylen had revealed to them when they had a family get-together two weeks ago that Kaylen was expecting their first baby. He had been seven weeks pregnant at that time, and not yet past the most dangerous stage of the first trimester where one could lose the baby more easily. Everyone had been both surprised and happy by the news, and Isaac had seemed pretty proud. He had kept touching Kaylen with his tail, smiling at him, and wrapping an arm around his waist. Noah had found himself feeling somewhat envious of Kaylen. The news had made him want to have a baby with Jayden even more.  
  
“I wrote Kaylen two days ago to ask how he was doing. He said everything was going fine and that he’s going to his first scan soon,” Noah said. He smiled, feeling happy for Isaac and Kaylen that they had a baby coming. Although he was a little jealous, Noah hadn’t felt so happy for Isaac in a long time. He was confident that Isaac would do alright as a father, and Kaylen seemed to have convinced him of that too, because Isaac had been proud and happy when he told the family the good news.  
  
“It’s still so weird for me that Isaac is going to be a dad,” Jason spoke. He rocked Lucy when she started making grunts of complaint on his arm. “I’ve known him since he was in diapers. You too, Noah.”  
  
Noah blushed a bit, and Luna giggled.  
  
“It’s weird for me too, and I haven’t even known him for that long,” Jayden chuckled. He wrapped his arm around Noah’s waist when he noticed his mate blushing, and the touch made Noah relax.  
  
“And you don’t think it’s weird for _me?_ ” Eden murmured. “This is my annoying little prankster brother we’re talking about.”  
  
The others laughed.  
  
“Well, we better get going,” Jason spoke, shifting Lucy a bit so he could look at his wristwatch. “We’re meeting up with Carter, Kyle, and Ariel soon, and we don’t wanna let them wait on us.”   
  
“Yeah, you’re right.” Eden glanced down at Daniel and Luna, touching their legs with her tail and brushing her wing against Luna’s smaller one. “Are you guys gonna be okay hanging out with auntie Noah and uncle Jayden today?”  
  
“Yeah!” Luna cheered at Eden’s words. “It’s gonna be fun!”  
  
“Yeah, we’ll be okay,” Daniel told his mom, giving her a reassuring smile.  
  
Eden grinned and ruffled her kids’ hair before hugging them goodbye. Jason leaned down so Luna could press a goodbye kiss to his cheek and Lucy’s as well, where Daniel just gave him a quick hug and promised to behave.  
  
“Call me if anything happens. My phone is open 24/7,” Eden said as she and Jason moved over to the door.  
  
“We will,” Noah promised and followed them outside. “And greet Carter and Kyle from us. And Ariel too.”  
  
“Will do,” Eden grinned. She and Jason waved goodbye at their kids, and Jason made Lucy wave too by moving her arm for her. Luna and Noah laughed at that before retreating back into the apartment with Daniel and Jayden.  
  
Jayden closed the door once they were back inside, and Luna ran into the living room with her rucksack to pull out her toys and play. Daniel followed her, but he didn’t have any toys with him like his sister did, just his skateboard which he left in the hallway for now.  
  
Jayden and Noah had followed the kids into the living room, where Luna was already making herself at home on the floor to play. She hummed contently, and her tail and small wings flared as she took out her My Little Pony toys and arranged them on the wooden floor.  
  
“Are you guys hungry?” Jayden asked.   
  
“Hmm, no, but I’m thirsty,” Daniel told him.  
  
“Me too!” Luna blurted.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Okay. I’ll make some cocoa for you.” He turned to head for the kitchen, brushing his tail along Noah’s leg as he passed him. “Want some too, Noah?”  
  
“No, I’m okay,” Noah declined with a smile.  
  
Jayden nodded and proceeded with heading to the kitchen to make some cocoa for the kids.  
  
Noah walked a little further in the living room, seeing Daniel shift a bit and glance towards the window. It was pretty clear that the boy kind of wanted to go outside, but was maybe too shy to ask. It always surprised Noah how fast Daniel was growing. He was a little taller than average for his age, and it felt strange to Noah that Daniel would be taller than him in just 2-3 years from now.  
  
“We’ll probably go to the park later so you can skate, Daniel,” Noah told him.  
  
Daniel’s face lit up as he turned to look at Noah. “Awesome! Does Jayden skate too? Do you think he can teach me some tricks? I really wanna try to be as good as my classmates…”  
  
“I think he knows a few things, yes,” Noah smiled. “And you don’t have to upset that you’re not as good as your classmates… It’ll come if you practice. And I’m sure you’re pretty good already.”  
  
Daniel smiled sheepishly, putting his hands into his jeans pockets and shifting his feet in a shy manner. “Well, I’m not that bad…”  
  
Noah chuckled, glad to see that Daniel seemed to look a bit more confident about himself now.  
  
“Noah, Noah! Please come play with me? I hate playing alone,” Luna begged, sitting cross-legged on the floor with her My Little Pony toys spread out in front of her.  
  
Daniel rolled his eyes at his little sister. “He’s not a little girl. My Little Pony toys are for little girls.”  
  
Chuckling, Noah went over to sit down next to Luna on the floor. “I don’t mind,” he said, mostly to Daniel. “It’s kinda fun to play with you anyway.” He smiled at Luna who grinned widely at his comment, excited to have him join her.  
  
Jayden returned with the cocoa and couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw Noah getting settled on the floor to play with My Little Pony toys. He went over handed one cup to Luna and then handed Daniel the other one. “Well, in that case the two of us can just play some video games for now. My Little Pony isn’t my category of toys either.”  
  
Daniel grinned and flared his wings in excitement. “Yeah! Video games are so much better!”  
  
“Are not!” Luna protested, but Daniel just smirked at her and joined Jayden on the couch to play some Super Mario.  
  
Noah liked video games too, but he didn’t mind playing with Luna either. It was nice bonding with her this way and she was always happy when he joined her in her play. They usually didn’t play for that long anyway, so Noah could easily survive it.  
  
  


***

  
  
Three hours went by. Jayden and Daniel played video games together, and Jayden found that Daniel was actually quite good at it. Meanwhile Noah and Luna had started drawing a bit before finally joining the boys with the video games, and they all tried to take it a bit easy on Luna who wasn’t that used to playing those games.  
  
In the afternoon they decided to go to the park.   
  
The weather was sunny and it was somewhat warm even though it was November. They still needed to wear their jackets though, and both Daniel and Luna were excited to go outside and spend time in the park.  
  
Noah and Jayden held hands while they walked through the park with Luna running around in front of them. Daniel was carrying his skateboard, eager to try it out in the park’s skating ground, and he and Luna raced each other to the next tree. Daniel won, and Luna complained when her brother was acting too smug about it.  
  
Noah and Jayden both chuckled at them, their fingers still entwined.  
  
Noah felt content walking like this with Jayden and feeling their wings touch all the time. It was kind of romantic to hold hands in public, and he couldn’t help but feel satisfied when he saw the passing females look a little disappointed that a hottie like Jayden had been taken. Meanwhile, Jayden felt the same whenever he saw an alpha or beta stare at Noah in the park. Many alphas would give a lot to be able to get into the pants of a rare submissive and dominate him, but they could only look at him and Noah in envy since Noah already had an alpha taking care of him. Sometimes guys would hit on Noah even though they knew he was already taken, but they wouldn’t dare try it while Jayden was around. If they did, Jayden would be sure to make them back off.  
  
“Jayden, you know how to skate, right?” Daniel asked when Noah and Jayden had caught up to him and Luna.  
  
“Yeah, I know how to skate. I used to do it a lot with my friends when I was teenager,” Jayden told him, chuckling slightly.  
  
“Cool! Can you teach me some stuff then?”  
  
“Sure,” Jayden grinned. He let go of Noah’s hand and ran his tail along the submissive’s leg before going over to the skating ground with Daniel, who was eager to hang out with the alpha and learn some new stuff.  
  
Noah watched them go, smiling softly to himself. He had the feeling that Daniel kind of saw Jayden as an older brother he had never had, so it was nice to see the two of them hang out.  
  
“I don’t wanna skate. I don’t wanna fall and get hurt,” Luna murmured, standing next to Noah and watching as Jayden started teaching Daniel some things in the skating ground. There were other kids skating around as well, mostly boys aged 8-16, and other kids and their families were walking in the park around them. There were a lot of dogs there too and you could hear their happy barking echo through the open areas.  
  
“Yeah, me neither. Let’s head over to the playground instead,” Noah suggested, gesturing at the playground which was located right next to the skating grounds.   
  
The playground was nice and big. There were slides, obstacle courses with robes and things you had to climb, and various other equipment for playing with. There were also some platforms which were about 5.5 feet tall (170cm), and which you couldn’t climb onto that easily without using your wings to help. Those were for the older kids (12+ years) and it helped strengthening their wings and balance skills by attempting to fly up on the platforms. Angels and demons couldn’t fly that well since they would need much bigger wings for that (three times their height), and their general anatomy made it hard, but they could levitate for a while, fly small distances, and their wings could help them reach higher places. It was also pretty fun to try flying, so the platforms were quite popular in parks and playgrounds, especially among teens.  
  
Luna happily ran over to the playground, mingling with the other kids in it. There were angels, demons, humans, and hybrids, though there were mostly humans in the playground at the moment. Luna was quite outgoing, so she didn’t have any problems playing with strangers.   
  
Luna had barely begun playing before she ran back over to Noah, tugging at his arm to drag him over to the slides. “C’mon! Join me, Noah!” she begged.  
  
Noah resisted a bit and eyed the playground warily. He ended up joining his niece though, and Luna was thrilled to ride down the slide with Noah. At least the slide was rather big and could be used by teens too, and Noah not being so big was really an advantage for him in this case.  
  
A few other parents were in the playground too, but only a few of them actively played with the kids on the slides, robe courses, and the other equipment. Most of the parents just sat on the benches and watched, making sure their kids were alright.  
  
After half an hour of playing, Noah needed a break.  
  
“I’ll go over to the benches for a bit. Just keep playing,” Noah told Luna, already heading for the benches.  
  
“Aww okay.” Luna turned and went back over to the slides to play.  
  
Noah smiled at her and was about to sit down on the bench when a new family arrived at the playground; a female angel and her beta angel mate, and their little, blonde-haired daughter.   
  
The little angel girl stared wide-eyed at Noah when she recognized him and quickly ran over to him. “Noah!”  
  
Noah looked up and was surprised to see a kid from his kindergarten at the playground. “Oh. Hello, Millie,” Noah smiled as she ran over to him. “What are you doing here?”  
  
“Mommy and daddy took me to the park,” Millie grinned, looking over at her parents who came over to them now.  
  
Millie’s mother seemed to recognize Noah right away. “Oh, you’re that submissive teacher from Millie’s kindergarten. Noah, right? Millie talks about you a lot.”  
  
Noah was a little stunned to hear that. “Oh?”  
  
Millie’s father laughed at Noah’s baffled face. “Yeah, she keeps talking about the things she’s learned in kindergarten, like how to do simple math, read, etc. Whenever we try to teach her something, she insists she only wants you to teach her, since you’re her favorite teacher and she likes your way better.” The beta angel father walked over to stand behind Millie, smiling down at his daughter and putting comforting hands on her shoulders as he stood behind her.  
  
“Your way is confusing!” Millie told her dad, scowling up at him. “And Noah is nice. All da kids like him very much.”  
  
Noah shifted modestly. He was both humbled and glad to hear that the kids in the kindergarten liked him. They told him that sometimes, but usually not in front of others. Some of Noah’s coworkers weren’t as good at giving each child individual attention and helping them properly if they had a problem either with the things they were learning or with their classmates, but Noah always tried to help each child with that. His two colleagues Kia and Clara were also rather good at it, where some of the older teachers just had different ways of treating and teaching the children.  
  
Before Noah could say anything, Luna suddenly came running over to them.  
  
“Hi, Noah! Who are they?” Luna came over to stand next to Noah, close enough that his wing was touching her, and she eyed Millie and her parents curiously.  
  
“Um, this is Millie. She’s one of the kids I teach in the kindergarten I work at. And those are her parents,” Noah told her, gesturing at them.  
  
“Ohhh.”  
  
Millie’s mother’s eyes widened, looking between Noah and Luna with a puzzled look. “Oh. Is that your daughter…?”  
  
“What? No,” Noah chuckled. “Luna’s my niece.”  
  
Millie’s parents visibly relaxed.  
  
“Oh, forgive me. For a second I got really confused, because you really don’t look old enough to be that girl’s mother. Then you would have had to have had her at a very young age,” Millie’s mother spoke, chuckling in embarrassment.  
  
Noah chuckled softly. “No problem. I don’t have any kids yet, though.”  
  
Luna and Millie stared at each other while the adults talked, and the two girls seemed to immediately have a connection. Luna started pulling at Noah’s shirt to get his attention. “Noah, can I go play with Millie?”  
  
“Yeah, can I go too?” Millie asked her parents.  
  
“Sure,” Noah smiled.  
  
Millie’s parents agreed too, and the two girls grinned and ran over to the playground to play together among the other kids. Noah watched them grin at each other like they had been best friends forever, and he kind of envied the way Luna was so outgoing. Noah had always been shy and had trouble finding close friends, and he had never been able to get along with someone so well on first sight. When he had met Christie in first grade it had taken him weeks to properly talk to her, but today they were best friends.  
  
After the girls left, Millie’s father turned to look at Noah. “So, uh, we never really get to properly ask, but how’s our daughter doing in the kindergarten with the math and reading and so on? It’s kind of hard for us to tell sometimes. Does she have any problems with anything…?”  
  
Noah blinked at him. He hadn’t been approached by a parent of one of the kids when he was off work before, but he could understand the father’s concern.   
  
“Millie is a good student. She does have a few problems with math, but most kids do,” Noah replied, smiling. They only taught the very basics of math in kindergarten (which Noah was relieved about, since math wasn’t one of his strengths), and to most kids subtraction and multiplication were most tricky. “Although, she does have some problems with a boy named Jeff…” he added.  
  
Noah talked with Millie’s parents for a few minutes about Millie’s problems with Jeff, and the parents seemed to appreciate to be able to hear more about their daughter’s welfare and troubles in kindergarten. They talked the matter through and tried to come up with a solution on how to make the two kids to get along. Millie’s parents were wary about confronting Jeff’s parents about him having harassed Millie sometimes, since they were demons and they didn’t seem to like it when angels talked badly about their kid. They were glad that Noah was willing to help.  
  
Meanwhile, Jayden was in the skating ground with Daniel. They had spent over half an hour there already with Jayden showing Daniel a few new things he could try out.   
  
Jayden let Daniel practice a bit on his own while he was watching him, and his eyes wandered in the direction of the playground, where he had seen Noah and Luna hang out earlier. Jayden tensed up in alert when he saw another male, whom he didn’t know, talking to his mate, but relaxed when he noticed the guy was a beta (Jayden wasn’t intimidated by betas) and that there was a female there too. The pair appeared to be mates, so that killed most of Jayden’s protective and possessive instincts when he saw the guy talking to Noah.  
  
Jayden continued to keep an eye on Noah while watching Daniel practice the stuff he had just taught him. Noah seemed to be fine and Jayden felt no signs of distress through their bond, so he wasn’t worried about him.  
  
While Daniel was skating around, Jayden’s attention was caught when another boy fell to the ground with a loud thud while he had been roller-skating on the skating platform. The human boy was about 10 years old, and two other human boys cracked up as he fell to ground and moaned in pain. Jayden hadn’t seen how it had happened, but judging from the two other boys’ laughter it looked like one of them had tripped the poor boy.  
  
“Watch what you’re doing, freak,” the taller of the boys slurred, giving the fallen boy an evil, mocking smirk.  
  
Jayden saw the boy on the ground tremble as he fought back the tears and tried to push himself back up on his feet without making eye contact with the other boys. He had just gotten up on his knees when the second boy kicked him back down, making his friend and a few others laugh.  
  
Jayden growled and approached the boys angrily. “Hey!”  
  
The boys looked up, startled to have an adult intervene. When they saw the muscled alpha demon approach them, both of the bullies shrunk a little and seemed downright frightened.  
  
“Stop that! You don’t treat others like that, even if you don’t like them. It’s childish and rude, and you really don’t come off as ‘cool’ by doing so, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Jayden told them, a small growl in his voice. He looked between the boys with a sharp, unwavering stare, spreading his half-sharp wings just a little to intimidate the boys further.  
  
The two boys swallowed nervously, and Jayden could tell that they hadn’t really been confronted by an alpha like this before. He couldn’t help but feel a bit satisfied when he saw how much he scared them.  
  
“O-Okay. Sorry,” the taller boy said, stammering a bit.  
  
“Don’t tell _me_ you’re sorry. Tell _him._ ” Jayden gestured at the bullied boy, who had gotten to his feet by now and was watching Jayden in silent awe, as if he hadn’t had a stranger help him like this before.  
  
The boys both looked quite unhappy about having to tell their victim that they were sorry, but with the alpha constantly staring at them, they felt like they had no choice. They slowly turned to apologize to their victim, who just nodded dumbfounded at them after they had said they were sorry. They stared at Jayden one more time before slowly retreating and getting out of there. A couple of young teenage demons snickered mockingly at the two smaller boys and at how frightened they looked, which only made the boys feel even more humiliated.  
  
“Thanks,” the bullied boy said, giving Jayden a bright but shy smile before rolling away on his roller-skates again. Jayden just smiled at him, pleased that the boy seemed happier now.  
  
After the boys were gone, Daniel skated back over to Jayden, grinning at him. “Wow, that was awesome. They looked so scared of you.”  
  
“Yeah well, they could just have behaved nicely, then I wouldn’t have to scare them like that,” Jayden murmured.  
  
“Yeah. I really hate bullies. Some of the other boys in my class think I’m weird when I don’t wanna join them in harassing the class’ nerdy kid. I just don’t find it cool at all…”  
  
“And you shouldn’t join them, no matter how ‘uncool’ they think that makes you,” Jayden told him. “I’m glad you haven’t given in so far. I think your parents would be quite pissed and disappointed if you ever did.”  
  
“Yeah, my mom would kill me,” Daniel chuckled. “And dad wouldn’t let me play video games for months.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Well, then you would have deserved it.”  
  
“But he bans me from gaming even when I do something as simple as taking an in ice cream from the freezer without permission…”  
  
Jayden laughed again. He could totally imagine Jason doing that, and Eden too.  
  
After skating around for a bit longer, they went over to Noah and Luna in the playground. Noah was still talking to Millie’s parents while Luna and Millie were playing around together, and Jayden and Daniel eyed the strangers in slight confusion as they came over. They had no idea who the couple was, but Jayden guessed that Noah probably knew them from his work.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden smiled, coming over to Noah and wrapping his arm around his waist.   
  
Meanwhile Daniel left his skateboard by Noah and Jayden and went into the playground to find his sister and play around her with her and Millie in the obstacle course. He didn’t really want to listen to the adults talking.  
  
Noah beamed when he stared up at Jayden. “Hi,” he grinned. “I, um, was just talking to one of my student’s parents.” He gestured at Millie’s parents, who were watching them with a small smile.  
  
“Oh.” Jayden turned to look at the angel couple, giving them a polite smile. “Hi.”  
  
“Hello,” Millie’s mother smiled. “I’m guessing you’re Noah’s mate?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m happy to say that I am,” Jayden smirked. Noah blushed at his words.  
  
Millie’s mother laughed warmly at Jayden’s comment. “You two make a nice couple.”  
  
“Thanks,” Jayden grinned, feeling Noah shift sheepishly next to him.  
  
“And it’s nice to see that not everyone is being racist around Noah. I heard one parent say some pretty harsh words to him at the kindergarten once, when I came to pick up Millie,” Millie’s father said. He looked at Noah in sympathy.  
  
Jayden growled a bit and tightened his arm around Noah’s waist. Noah had told him that not all of the kids’ parents were thrilled to find out that their kids were being taught and looked after by an angel/demon hybrid. Most of the parents didn’t know or didn’t really notice right away that Noah was a hybrid when they saw him, but some of those who had noticed it were not happy. There were only about two or three parents who had a problem with Noah, but it was enough to make him feel pretty upset about it when those parents called him racist names right in his face. Jayden had done his best to comfort Noah on the days he would come home and feel depressed because one of said parents had yelled at him in the kindergarten. But at least Noah’s colleagues stood up for him, and his boss refused to fire him just because a few of the parents were being racist and had a problem with Noah’s presence.  
  
“Well, we better get going,” Millie’s mother smiled. “Thank you for talking to us about how Millie is doing in kindergarten. You’re off work and all that, so it was nice of you to take your time to talk to us.”  
  
Noah smiled. “You’re welcome.”  
  
The angel pair called for Millie, who reluctantly said goodbye to Luna and Daniel before following her parents out of the park.  
  
Luna waved sadly at Millie as she watched her new friend leave. “Why’d she have to go?” she asked ruefully.  
  
“I guess her parents had plans for today,” Noah told her, giving her a small smile.  
  
“You don’t even know her,” Daniel murmured at his sister, rolling his eyes a bit.  
  
“And you don’t even know dat angel girl we met over by the slides, and you still kept staring at her!” Luna retorted at her brother, scowling at him in defiance.  
  
Daniel’s face flushed as Noah and Jayden turned to look at him in surprise.  
  
“Girl? What girl?” Jayden’s lips curled into a teasing smile. “Was she cute?”  
  
Daniel’s face went even redder. “N-No. I don’t know. Maybe. Why does it matter?” He looked away in embarrassment as they all stared at him.  
  
Noah chuckled at him. It was obvious that Daniel had gotten some sort of crush on that girl he had seen. He was almost a pre-teen, so it was natural that he would slowly begin to take interest in girls and maybe in boys too, depending on what his sexual orientation would be.  
  
“There’s no shame in thinking a girl is cute,” Jayden told him. “Maybe she likes you too?”  
  
Luna giggled. “She _did_ stare back…”  
  
“Shut up already!” Daniel barked at them, overwhelmed by embarrassment. “I don’t find girls or boys cute; that’s gross.”  
  
Jayden laughed at Daniel’s attempt to play cool, but neither he nor Noah were fooled by him.  
  
Daniel turned and went back over to the obstacle course, and Luna grinned as she followed him to join.  
  
Noah and Jayden settled down one of the benches in the meanwhile. They chatted a bit and enjoyed that they were both off work and had time to be together.  
  
  


***

  
  
The day went by, and Noah and Jayden had a lot of fun with Daniel and Luna. They played a few games together, and Jayden cooked them burgers and then pancakes for dessert. They were thrilled by that, and their stomachs hurt a bit once they were done eating all that delicious food.  
  
At 10pm, Eden and Jason hadn’t arrived yet to pick up Daniel and Luna.  
  
Noah had called his sister to hear what was up, and Eden promised to come over as soon as possible to pick up the kids. She and Jason had just gotten carried away while hanging out with their old friends, and they had completely forgotten to keep an eye on the time.  
  
Luna had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room, curled up next to where Noah was sitting. The others were watching TV, and Daniel was still awake, despite him beginning to look a bit sleepy as well.  
  
When the doorbell rang, Jayden headed out to answer the door and let Eden and Jason inside, and Daniel followed him so he could put on his shoes.  
  
Noah gently shook Luna, trying to wake her up so she could go home. “Luna? Wake up. Your parents are here.”  
  
Luna whined in protest and curled up even more, wrapping her wings around herself. “Don’t wanna get up… so sleepy…”  
  
Noah chuckled. “Do you want me to carry you or what?”  
  
“Yes, please,” Luna said, giggling into the couch.  
  
Noah snorted. “No way; you’re too heavy. Get up already, or I will tickle you.”  
  
“Nooo!” Luna exclaimed, scrambling to get off the couch when Noah reached out to tickle her.  
  
Noah laughed, amused that his threat had such a good effect on making Luna get up.  
  
Luna gave him a playful scowl before heading into the hallway with him, where they could hear the others talking.  
  
When Eden spotted her daughter and little brother entering the hallway, she smiled widely at them both. “Oh, there you are.” She gave her daughter a warm smile and ran a hand through Luna’s hair when the girl came over to hug her. “Did you have fun today?”  
  
“Yup,” Luna grinned, hugging her mom tightly before pulling back. “Noah played with me and we drew animals together. And he and Jayden took us to the park.”  
  
“Yeah, and Jayden taught me some new stuff with the skateboard,” Daniel grinned.  
  
Jason laughed fondly. “That’s nice. Hope it won’t make you fall and break something, though.”  
  
Daniel just chuckled before saying, “And Jayden also cooked us burgers and awesome pancakes. They’re better than yours and mom’s.”  
  
“Hey!” Eden protested, glaring at her son.  
  
Jayden laughed at them, and Daniel grinned impishly at his parents while they scowled at him for making that comment.  
  
“Well, he’s a professional chef, so what did you expect,” Jason murmured.  
  
Noah chuckled, and Daniel and Luna turned to say goodbye to him and Jayden.  
  
“High five!” Daniel cheered at Jayden, putting up his hand.  
  
Jayden laughed and high-fived him. “Yeah, high five. Take care of yourself and of Luna.”  
  
“I will,” Daniel grinned. He turned to say goodbye to Noah next, smiling up at him. “High five?” he asked, holding up his hand again.  
  
Noah blinked at him in slight surprise before grinning and giving him high five. Daniel beamed at that.   
  
“See you soon, Daniel,” Noah smiled.  
  
“Yeah,” Daniel grinned, picking up his skateboard to get ready to leave.  
  
Luna ran over to hug both Noah and Jayden goodbye then, clinging a bit to Noah before turning to leave with her parents. Lucy was staying the night at Lina’s place, since she was already asleep now and Eden didn’t want her getting fussy if they woke her up all of sudden. Eden’s friend didn’t mind it anyway.  
  
“Thanks for babysitting,” Eden smiled. “Maybe we can return the favor someday?”  
  
Noah blushed a bit at the suggestive smile Eden was giving him, and Jayden wrapped a possessive arm around his waist. “Someday,” Noah smiled.  
  
“Take care,” Jason told them, turning to leave with Eden and the kids, and Noah and Jayden followed them out the door and waved at them as they disappeared into the elevator. Luna eagerly waved back, and Noah smiled when he saw Daniel wrap his wing slightly around Luna as they walked into the elevator together. Daniel was a quite protective older brother; a quality that Noah valued a lot in boys.  
  
When the guests were gone, Noah and Jayden retreated back into their apartment. It seemed so quiet and empty now that the kids had left. The whole day had been full of smiles, laughter, and family time, and now it was dark outside and everything was quiet.  
  
Noah sighed and headed into the kitchen, wanting to eat a scoop of ice cream before it was bedtime. Jayden followed, deciding he wanted some as well. The pancakes earlier had left them both feeling full, but Noah just had a sudden craving for ice cream now that everything was silent and empty in the apartment again.  
  
They were quiet as they pulled out two bowls, spoons, and opened the freezer to get the ice cream, but the silence was comfortable. Jayden touched Noah’s leg with his tail whenever he could, and Noah returned the gesture with a brush of his wing.  
  
“Well, that went pretty well,” Jayden finally spoke as they scooped up some ice cream for themselves and began eating. They were standing by the kitchen counter, not bothering to go over and sit down at the table.  
  
“Yes, it did. It was quite fun,” Noah replied, smiling as he put a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. “Daniel seemed to enjoy your company today.” He smiled up at Jayden, who shifted modestly next to him.  
  
“He’s a good kid. Pretty mature for his age, but still a kid. And we had fun skating. Been years since I last did it, but it was good to refresh my memories and teach him what I know.”  
  
“I know. You guys get along well,” Noah smiled.  
  
Jayden smiled back, and they ate the rest of their ice cream in silence, touching wings while they ate. Their bond flared contently inside them, enjoying the contact between their wings and the pleasant mood they were both in.  
  
When they were done, Jayden took Noah’s plate and spoon and went over to the sink to wash them before putting them into the dishwasher.   
  
Noah walked around the counter in the middle of the kitchen to stand close to Jayden, watching him clean their dishes. He hesitated for a bit and shifted uneasily on his feet.  
  
“Um, Connor?” Noah asked in a quiet, soft voice, staring at the floor and continued to shift a bit.  
  
“Yeah?” Jayden turned his head to look at Noah as he put their plates into the dishwasher. He closed the machine and turned so that he was facing Noah directly. “What is it?” he prompted when he saw Noah hesitate and continue to stare at the floor.  
  
“Um…” Noah’s cheeks turned light pink, and he fumbled a bit with one of his own feathers while continuing to avoid Jayden’s eyes. He carefully glanced up at him every now and then, almost shyly. “Do you think we should, um, try to have a baby soon?” He slowly glanced up and met Jayden’s surprised gaze.  
  
The alpha blinked at him for a second, as if totally taken aback that Noah was the one to bring up the topic. Most of the time it was Jayden who made comments about them having kids someday, since he had been ready for it longer than Noah had.  
  
Jayden’s lips curled into a wide smile then. “Why? Do you feel ready for that yet?”  
  
Noah nodded. “Yes, I think I do. I really want to have a baby of my own with you, and have us raise it together. It’s something I’ve always wanted.”  
  
Jayden grinned, stepping closer to Noah and putting his hands on the submissive’s hips. He stared down into Noah’s blue eyes and curled his tail possessively around his mate’s leg. “I want that too. I was kind of just waiting for you to be ready.”  
  
“I’m ready,” Noah insisted. “Just… I want to wait until after Christmas with trying. Maybe in January or February… Right now there’s just so much stuff on my mind because of Christmas and work and all that.”  
  
“That’s okay. Let’s wait until then. Then we have more time to save up money for baby equipment and stuff.” Jayden leaned in so their foreheads were pressed together, looking him into the eyes with affection. “And it’s okay if you change your mind in the meantime,” he told him softly, gently rubbing the spike of his tail against Noah’s leg.  
  
Noah smiled. “I don’t think I will, though.”  
  
Jayden returned the smile and continued to hold Noah close and nuzzle him with possessive affection. Noah could feel the alpha’s fingers digging into his hips, and could sense that the prospect of them having a baby together made Jayden very possessive and protective of him right now. Alphas’ instincts to protect their mate were extra high when there was a pregnancy or a baby in the picture. They would kill to keep their family safe and were very territorial of them. Noah quite liked it when he could feel those instincts beginning to emerge inside Jayden now.  
  
“You’ll make a good mom,” Jayden smiled, leaning down to nuzzle his nose against Noah’s and looking him into the eyes. His expression was loving and gentle, making something inside Noah flare when he saw it.  
  
Noah blushed at his words and smiled shyly at his mate. “And you’ll be a good father.”  
  
Grinning, Jayden captured Noah’s lips in a deep, possessive kiss. Their moaned into each other’s mouths, their hands moving up to touch the other’s face and/or chest. Jayden buried his hand in Noah’s messy, black hair, using it to tilt his head back and deepen their kiss further. Noah whimpered, lowering his wings for his alpha and submitting to him, allowing Jayden to dominate the kiss. The alpha gave a pleased growl at that and continued kissing Noah like he was his life source, running possessive hands down Noah’s body in the meanwhile.  
  
Noah made a sound in the back of his throat and pulled away to catch air, and as soon as their lips were parted, Jayden picked him up and placed Noah on the counter in the middle of the kitchen. The alpha pressed their lips together again while getting comfortable between Noah’s parted legs. A hand ran down Noah’s wing bone, making him shudder and open his mouth more, and Jayden took full of advantage of that. Tongues and teeth collided, and Noah grasped at Jayden’s shirt as he felt himself get lost in the numerous sensations of pleasure and the hotness inside his aroused body. His body was tingling, and every cell in his body responded to his alpha’s possessive touch.  
  
When Jayden finally pulled back, both were panting for breath and resting their forehead against the other’s. Jayden ran a soothing hand up and down Noah’s thigh, humming in content.   
  
“Fuck, I can’t wait to be with you when you’re in heat. I bet you’re gonna smell divine,” Jayden purred, rubbing their noses together gently.  
  
Noah blushed at the mention of his heat, shifting his butt a bit on the counter and felt how soaked his panties were already. His dick was hard and aching as it was confined in his pants, and he could tell that Jayden’s was the same. “I’m a little nervous about that, though. It was no fun last time…”  
  
“I’ll be there to help you through it next time,” Jayden promised, his lips curling into a lewd smirk.  
  
Noah smacked him on the arm in embarrassment, and Jayden pulled away with a laugh.  
  
“No, but seriously; I’m glad that you feel ready to take that step with me,” Jayden spoke.  
  
Noah raised his gaze to look at him, seeing his alpha stare back at him with a happy smile. Noah smiled back. “I’ve always wanted to have kids,” he said shyly.  
  
Jayden grinned. “Me too.”  
  
“Let’s please stop talking now and go to the bedroom,” Noah said, cringing at the arousal he felt, which hadn’t died down at all. He felt like he was going to go _mad_ if Jayden didn’t fuck him soon. He cursed Jayden for being able to make him aroused so easily.  
  
The alpha grinned, and a lewd, cocky smirk formed on his lips. “Wow, you sure are desperate for my cock lately. I like that.”  
  
Noah groaned in embarrassment and pushed Jayden away with a hand to his chest. “Shut up. It isn’t funny.”  
  
“No, it’s hot as hell,” Jayden grinned. He then smirked, put an arm under Noah’s knees and one behind his back, and swept him off the counter to lift him up in bridal-style.  
  
Noah yelped at the unexpected manhandling, his wings flaring behind him. “Connor! What are you doing?!” he demanded, quickly wrapping his arms around Jayden’s neck to steady himself.  
  
Jayden grinned and started carrying him out of the room, using his tail to turn off the lights in the kitchen. “I’m leading my beautiful and absolutely horny mate to our bedroom so I can fuck him nice and hard for an hour before bed.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened at the mention of having sex for an entire hour. With Jayden’s alpha demon stamina and recovery time it was quite possible and they had done it before. It always left Noah exhausted after multiple orgasms and his ass feeling used and sore because Jayden liked to be rough sometimes. He felt almost ashamed by how wet and hard he got when just thinking about it.  
  
Jayden smirked at Noah’s face. He carried his mate to their bedroom and dropped him on the bed, where they would proceed with having sex and sharing their bodies with each other for an hour or more.   
  
They shared loving kisses and intimate touches before engaging in more profound activities. Nails scratched on skin, moans and pleasured cries filled the room, and a heavy scent of arousal and potent alpha musk spread around the room as they made love and got rough together.  
  
The prospect of having their own family soon made them happy and loving with each other, and it sent Jayden into a possessive overdrive as they had sex. Noah enjoyed every second of it, and he lost himself in pleasure his mate gave him.  
  
They couldn’t wait to take their relationship one step further and try to be parents for the first time. They were ready for it and hoped that everything would go well with making their own little baby together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t know why, but the chapter didn’t turn as good as I had planned… But I hope you still enjoyed :) And now it’s time for Noah and Jayden’s first time having heat sex and making a baby together :D Hope you’re excited for it! 
> 
> And Kaylen’s pregnancy was reveal off-screen to the family… Sorry about that to those who wanted to read it, but it’s stressing me out to write all the details of their lives XD; But you will see some pregnant!Kaylen and pregnant!Noah together, and reactions to Noah’s pregnancy :3
> 
> Thanks for reading! :)


	13. Chapter 13

**February 2049 (Noah is 22 (almost 23), Jayden is 24 years old).**  
  
In early February Noah stopped taking his heat suppressants. He and Jayden were ready to try having a baby now, so it was time for Noah’s body to get back into its heat cycle and become fertile once more.  
  
Almost right after Noah had stopped taking his suppressants, he noticed Jayden getting increasingly protective of him. The alpha refused to leave his side when they were together, and he been very wary about letting Noah go to work the first few days after he had stopped taking his pills, even though Noah’s heat would first appear 7-11 days later.  
  
Noah had taken one and half weeks off work because of his heat. Telling his boss that he needed time off because he was going into heat had been so embarrassing, but at least she had taken the news quite well. His boss was a 45-year-old human female, and she had smiled widely at him when hearing about his plans to have a baby soon. She allowed him to take as much time off as he needed.  
  
Their families didn’t know about their plans yet, but they would know as soon as Noah’s pregnancy was confirmed in a few weeks. They were both rather excited to tell everyone about the good news when Noah got pregnant.  
  
It was Saturday evening and Noah was sitting on the couch in the apartment, curled up in a blanket and eating a bowl of ice cream while watching TV, when he heard Jayden come home from work. Today had been Jayden’s last day at work before their time off together, and the alpha had texted Noah during the day to ask how he was doing. They didn’t know exactly when his heat would appear, but it should be within the next three days now, so Jayden worried all the time when he was not around Noah that the submissive would go into heat when he was not with him. Noah thought it was kind of cute that Jayden worried so much.  
  
The alpha quickly took off his shoes and jacket before practically rushing into the living room, where he found Noah by the TV. He sighed almost in relief when he saw him and made his way over to sit next to him. “Hey, gorgeous,” he smiled. “ _Finally_ I can be with you again. I’ve been dying to come home to you all damn day.” Jayden grinned and leaned in to place a loving kiss on Noah’s lips, settling down next to him.  
  
Noah returned the kiss and let Jayden sit close to him. “You had a short day today, though; only seven hours of work,” he pointed out, rolling his eyes a bit at Jayden’s need to constantly be by his side lately.  
  
“That’s a long time to be away from you, especially in your current condition…”  
  
“It’s not a _condition._ ”  
  
“Of course it is. And you smell so good…” Jayden leaned in and breathed the scent from Noah’s neck, humming at the sweet, intoxicating scent that filled his nose. “Fuck, you smell so delicious lately. I just wanna eat you up,” he purred.  
  
Noah chuckled softly, amused by Jayden’s obsession with his scent these days. He ate another spoonful of ice cream and let the alpha nuzzle his neck and dwell in his scent while Noah continued watching the show that was on the TV.  
  
“You didn’t go outside today, did you?” Jayden suddenly asked, pulling back a little to stare at Noah’s face.  
  
Noah groaned in light annoyance. “No, of course not.”  
  
“Good. ‘Cause I had a very hard time stopping you when you wanted to go shopping for groceries yesterday…”  
  
“I don’t like being kept in here,” Noah murmured, staring back at Jayden with defiance in his eyes.  
  
“I know that,” Jayden said, his tone getting a little snappy until he forced himself to calm down. “It’s just… You can’t go outside smelling the way you do. You can go into heat any moment now, and I’d rather _die_ than let another guy take you when you’re this vulnerable.” A low growl rumbled in Jayden’s chest, and he almost felt nauseous when thinking about another male touching Noah while he was in heat. It made him tremble in disgust just picturing it.  
  
“I know. But I didn’t go outside,” Noah told him softly, staring into Jayden’s blue/grey eyes with a small smile.  
  
Jayden visibly calmed down, and he leaned in to press an affectionate kiss to Noah’s neck. “Good. That makes me very relieved.”  
  
Noah smiled and bared his neck to the alpha, letting Jayden nip at his skin with his teeth and leave marks. Jayden had been doing that a lot lately, ever since Noah stopped taking his pills. The night before Noah’s last day of work before his little holiday, Jayden had sucked so many bruises into his skin that he had to wear a scarf to work. His colleague Kia had noticed the marks anyway when she saw Noah shift the scarf to rub the sore bruising, and Noah had been pretty embarrassed by the way she giggled knowingly at him. Many of the bruises were still visible on Noah’s skin, and it caused Jayden to get increasingly possessive and dominant whenever he saw them, since it was a reminder to him that Noah was his.  
  
“Connor, I’m trying to eat and watch TV here,” Noah complained when Jayden’s attention to his neck became too much and was starting to distract him. The alpha was sucking new bruises into his skin and running his fingers down his wing bone, which made his entire body shudder in arousal.  
  
“Mm, and I’m trying to mark you up nice and good here. I can tell you like it.”  
  
Noah blushed, knowing that Jayden meant that he could smell and sense that he was getting aroused from it. He pushed at the alpha to make him back off a bit. “My ice cream is melting,” he growled, giving Jayden a pointed glare.  
  
Jayden groaned and slumped his wings in disappointment before pulling back. “Fine, but at least let me touch you afterwards. Your scent is driving me crazy.”  
  
The large bulge in Jayden’s pants was a testimony to that, and Noah couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for him when he noticed how aroused Jayden was. He knew it took the alpha a lot of effort to pull back and stop when he was this horny, and Noah was grateful he had a mate who didn’t keep pushing him until he got what he wanted. If Noah wasn’t in the mood for sex, Jayden always backed off and respected that.  
  
“Sorry. I’ll be done with it soon,” Noah promised and proceeded with eating his ice cream.  
  
“It’s fine. It’s just insane how crazy your scent drives me. I’m almost scared to find out what it’s like when your full heat appears,” Jayden said, chuckling a bit.  
  
Noah chuckled back, his cheeks reddening a bit while he put another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.  
  
Jayden got up and headed into the kitchen to cook them some food. His erection died down after a few minutes, but he still felt horny as hell. It affected his mood a bit and he felt himself getting grumpy and agitated from the hormone build-up inside him. He tried to avoid Noah until he managed to get better control of himself, and cooking helped him do that.  
  
Jayden fixed them a homemade pizza from all the supplies he had bought in the supermarket yesterday. They had to be well stocked for Noah’s heat, as they wouldn’t really be able to leave the apartment for an entire week.  
  
They shared the food together on the couch afterwards, watching another episode of the TV show Noah had been watching.  
  
When they had eaten and the dishes had been taken care of, there was finally time to have sex.  
  
Noah yelped when Jayden spun him around in the kitchen after the dishes were done to kiss him. Noah was a bit startled by the sudden, possessive and hungry kiss, but his body soon relaxed and went pliant in Jayden’s hold as the alpha grabbed his hips.  
  
“Need you so bad,” Jayden rasped when he pulled away from Noah’s mouth to nibble at his jaw. He moved his hands further back, grabbing Noah’s ass firmly and pulled him flush against his body.  
  
Noah gasped, tilting his head to the side to allow Jayden to kiss and nibble his vulnerable neck. Arousal pumped through him, making his wings tingle and his ass slick up. His panties quickly got soaked in his juices, and he squirmed slightly at the wet feeling. “Need you too. Please.”  
  
The alpha let out a possessive growl and started to gently push Noah out of the kitchen, not letting their mouths disconnect as he kissed him again.  
  
They headed towards the bedroom together, but Jayden was so horny and impatient that he threw Noah up against the wall in the hallway to satisfy his needs to touch and taste his mate. Noah yelped softly at the manhandling, but Jayden’s lips quickly covered his own again, blocking his noises. The alpha’s possessive hands ran over Noah’s body, touching his chest, hips, crotch, and his ass, and all Noah could do was to submit to the hungry kiss and allow his mate to touch him. Arousal spiked up harder inside Noah, making his body feel hot and needy. He reached up and grasped Jayden’s hair in a tight grip, hearing a low growl of approval rumble in the alpha’s chest.  
  
They pushed against each other’s bodies, groping, touching, and kissing each other until they almost couldn’t breathe. All that mattered were each other, and they were unable to pull away from their mate’s body as arousal consumed them.  
  
Everything was perfect until they were suddenly interrupted.  
  
The doorbell rang, followed by three knocks on the door. Neither of them had ever felt so annoyed or frustrated before to be interrupted like that.  
  
Jayden let out an angry growl and spread his sharpened wings in frustration, while Noah groaned in disappointment when the alpha pulled away from his lips.  
  
“Goddamnit,” Jayden grumbled, going over to look through the door spy. There was an angel guy on the other side of the door, an alpha by the looks of it. Jayden frowned, having no idea who the guy was, but he didn’t look like a threat. The building was only accessible to people with keys for it, so not everyone could just go in. It was something that made them feel quite safe about living there.  
  
“Who is it?” asked Noah, still panting from their heated kiss.  
  
“No idea,” Jayden murmured. He began trying to fix his hair and clothes to look presentable, but the erection in his pants was too obvious. He couldn’t open the door like that.  
  
Noah noticed the problem, and when the doorbell rang again he quickly corrected his own clothes and hair before going over to answer the door. His erection was less obvious than Jayden’s since the alpha’s member was a lot bigger, and Noah’s sweatpants made it hard to see.  
  
“What? No, you can’t—” Jayden protested when Noah went to answer the door, but the submissive ignored him and opened the door anyway.  
  
Noah was half surprised to see an alpha angel at the door, whom he knew lived in the other end of their apartment building on one of the lower floors. The guy was about 30 years old, had brown and grey wings, and short, sandy-blonde hair.  
  
“Can I help you?” Noah asked, wrapping his wings around himself a little in a futile attempt to hide his scent. He stood as far into the apartment as he could while answering the door, hoping the other alpha wouldn’t pick up on his scent.  
  
“Hi,” the alpha smiled, quickly glancing back at Jayden who appeared behind Noah. He guy seemed mildly confused by the sharp look on Jayden’s face, but he shrugged it off fast. “I, uh… Have you guys seen my dog? She ran away and my girlfriend is desperate to find her, so I’m asking every tenant in the building if they’ve seen her. This is her.” He handed them a flyer with a picture of the dog, which Noah accepted. “Her name’s Kiki. She’s a beagle.”  
  
Noah stared at the picture. “No, I haven’t seen her…” Jayden grunted behind him to signal that he hadn’t seen the dog either.  
  
“Well, let me know if you do,” the alpha angel said, smiling and taking a step back as he was about to leave. He stopped then, freezing on the spot as if something had caught his attention.  
  
Noah tensed when he saw the alpha sniff the air carefully and glancing around until his eyes landed on Noah. He swallowed nervously when the alpha’s pupils dilated and his wings spread slightly; a clear indication that he had picked up on the scent of Noah’s fertility and was affected by it. The guy was not mated, so his body responded strongly to the scent of any female or sub in heat around him, whereas if he had had a mate his body wouldn’t really react to the scent of others in the same way.  
  
The alpha stared at Noah, his nostrils flaring and his wings spreading more to show his interest, and he couldn’t take his eyes off Noah.  
  
Jayden growled and stepped in front of Noah, gently pushing him back into the apartment. His eyes were boring into the threat in front of him, and his wings sharpened dangerously and spread out as he glared the other alpha down. “Back off,” he warned.  
  
The alpha angel finally snapped out of his trance and took a small step back. “Whoa, sorry. It’s just… He smells so nice. Is he in heat?” He tried to glance back at Noah, but Jayden quickly spread out his wing to shield his mate from the alpha’s view.  
  
“None of your business,” Jayden growled. “We’ll let you know if we see your dog. Just get outta here.”  
  
“Alright.” The alpha stood there for a second, his eyes glued to Noah, who was slightly visible behind Jayden’s wing, until he finally backed off and went over to staircase to go to another floor and ring someone else’s doorbell.  
  
Jayden followed the guy with his eyes until he disappeared into the staircase, before finally closing and locking the door.  
  
Once the door was closed Noah sighed in relief, glad that the other alpha was gone. He kind of regretted opening the door, but since Jayden was around he wasn’t really afraid to. Had he been alone he wouldn’t have opened the door for anyone.  
  
Jayden stood by the door for a moment, inhaling and exhaling deeply before turning to look at Noah. “Don’t ever answer the door like that when you’re almost in heat. If I hadn’t been here, that guy would have jumped you.”  
  
Noah swallowed and nodded weakly. “Yeah, I know. Sorry…”  
  
Jayden went over to him fast, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him tight against his body. Noah was a bit startled when Jayden buried his face in his neck and nuzzled him lovingly.  
  
“You’re _mine._ I won’t let anyone else have you, and I don’t want you getting hurt. Please be more careful, you dummy.”  
  
Noah blinked before carefully reaching up his arms, returning the hug. “I know. I’m sorry. But I wouldn’t have opened the door if you weren’t here…”  
  
Jayden let out a pleased sigh, holding his mate close for another minute before pulling back to look at him. He stared into Noah’s bright blue eyes and cupped his cheek. “Now, no more distractions. I really need to fuck you before I lose my mind.”  
  
Noah grinned, his cheeks becoming pink with arousal. “Agreed.”  
  
Jayden growled and dragged Noah with him into the bedroom, kicking the door shut after them. He all but threw himself on Noah once they were by the bed, forcing him to lie down on it while Jayden lay on top of him. Their lips connected in a fiery, hungry kiss, and they grabbed and grasped at each other’s hair. Noah mewled and bucked up into Jayden, who had begun grinding his clothed erection against him to get friction.  
  
“Ah, god,” Noah moaned, digging his nails into Jayden’s clothed back and held onto to him while he alpha once more buried his face in his neck and started marking him. “Jayden, please. It’s so… It’s so hot.”  
  
The comment made Jayden freeze for a second before he slowly lifted his head from Noah’s neck to look into his eyes. A smug smirk tilted his lips as he looked back at Noah’s debauched face. “You know, your heat can be induced faster if you’re very aroused. Are you getting there yet?”  
  
Noah blushed, squirming under Jayden’s body. “That’s… I don’t know. It just suddenly feels so warm in here. M-My insides feel so hot.”  
  
Noah’s body had felt unusually warm all evening, but it got worse after their intense making-out session in the hallway and when Jayden went all alpha from that guy earlier. Seeing Jayden all dominant like that in front of another alpha had triggered something inside Noah’s body. It was hot as hell when Jayden got like that, and it signaled to Noah that his mate was strong and capable of protecting him and their offspring. His biology was reacting to that, drawing him even closer to his pending heat.  
  
Jayden let out a possessive growl. His arousal only increased when he realized that Noah was just on the tip of going into a full-blown heat now. It had been eight days since Noah stopped taking his suppressants, and most didn’t get their heat until about ten days later. But Noah was young and at his most fertile age, so his body could more easily have its heat induced through arousal. The bond was fighting to make Noah’s body receptive as well, especially when his dominant mate was right there and touching him.  
  
Jayden began to tug at Noah’s clothes to get them off, eager to feel skin. Noah got the hint and helped him, lifting himself off the bed a bit to make it easier for Jayden to reach behind him and unbutton his shirt below his wings. Jayden’s hands were met by leaking oil glands when he reached for the buttons, which only confirmed his theory that Noah was very close to his heat now. He had never felt them leak so much oil before, and never oil this thick and full of scent. He growled as he pulled Noah’s shirt off him, and then hastily began pulling his pants, underwear, and socks off too.  
  
Once Noah was naked, Jayden got up and took his own clothes off in record time. His cock was achingly hard and precome was dripping down from the tip.  
  
Noah stared as Jayden undressed, and when he saw his alpha’s flushed, erect cock, all ready to get buried inside him and breed him for an entire week, a sharp spark of arousal flowed his body and made him shudder. Noah gasped softly, and his eyes widened a bit when he felt a large amount of slick leak its way out of him. He squirmed a bit, his wings tingling and flaring uncontrollably on the bed, and his skin turned pinker in his face, ears, and on his chest. His abdomen was burning hot, as was his ass, and he immediately recognized it as being signs of his heat. He could practically feel his body pumping out pheromones to let his mate know he was ready for him.  
  
Jayden picked up the scent right away. He froze and sniffed the air carefully, taking in the pheromones designed to drive him into a rut. His wings sharpened and spread out in a dominant manner when the scent of ripeness and fertility filled his nose and made his brain switch to its most primal instincts, which were to fuck and breed his mate up good.  
  
Panic flickered across Noah’s face when he felt the heat burning inside him. He wanted to get up and run out of there before he lost his mind completely to his instincts, but Jayden was on him before he could get off the bed. The alpha threw himself on top of him, covering him with his body and let out a dominant growl as he held him down. He wasn’t being too rough; everything about his actions was gentle but still dominant and possessive, and Noah’s body immediately went pliant and submissive under him.  
  
“Don’t leave. You told me I could have you this time,” Jayden said, purring into Noah’s ear and bit him there playfully. He kept Noah down with his body on top of his, grinding his cock into Noah’s thigh and trembled to control himself. All he wanted was to bury his cock inside Noah and fill his womb with his seed, but he wanted that final verbal permission first, even if it was agonizing to hold his instincts back.  
  
Noah shuddered, bringing his arms up and wrapped them around Jayden’s back, careful not to touch his sharpened wings. The high levels of testosterone in Jayden’s body made him unable to control his feathers right now, and he wouldn’t be able to soften them until he got the sexual release he needed so desperately.  
  
“You can have me. _Please,_ ” Noah spoke in a soft, controlled voice. He spread out his wings on the bed and tilted his head to the side in invitation and submission.  
  
That was the permission Jayden had been waiting for. He let out a deep, dominant growl and closed his mouth around the skin on Noah’s neck. The submissive cried out in pleasure, and Jayden began running possessive but desperate hands down his body. The scent coming from Noah was unlike anything he had ever smelled before, and it fogged his brain and let him be controlled by his most basic instincts. He quickly pried Noah’s legs apart and wasted no time in shoving a finger into him.  
  
Noah cried out, his body begging for his mate to please him and breed him, and his ass clenched down desperately when Jayden’s finger entered it.  
  
Noah was all hot and wet inside, and Jayden growled in approval. Slick was leaking from Noah in copious amounts, making it easier for Jayden to push his fingers inside and it made the stretching go faster. He impatiently twisted his fingers around inside there until Noah was ready to take him. The prep had only taken less than two minutes, but to Jayden it was like a lifetime of agony without being inside his mate. He yanked his fingers out and shoved his cock into Noah was fast as he could, too desperate to let Noah adjust before he began pounding into him mercilessly.  
  
“Aaaah! Jayden!” Noah cried out, gasping as the alpha thrust hard into him without warning and set a fast, hard pace, which showed him no mercy.  
  
Noah clung to his mate, his mouth open in awe at the amazing feeling of being fucked during his heat. His body tingled in satisfaction and still begged for more. Everything was hot inside him, and his ass was clenching down around the cock that was thrusting into him almost brutally. His back got rubbed into the sheets over and over with every thrust, as the force of Jayden moving into him made Noah ride up the bed just a little every time. The motion made his oil glands get stimulated heavily, and after less than a minute Noah could already feel himself on the edge of coming.  
  
Jayden was also brought the edge fast. All the sensations and delicious smells were too much for him, and his body was eager to release his seed and breed his mate already. “Fuck,” he grunted, slowing down his pace but thrust forward into his mate even harder until he finally came. He cried out into Noah’s neck, his body seizing up as his dick spurted wave after wave of fresh come deep into Noah. The orgasm was so intense that Jayden’s eyes flashed white for several seconds, and his wings jerked violently as they spread out.  
  
The feel of Jayden’s warm seed entering him was enough to send Noah over the edge. He clung to Jayden as he came with a loud cry, and his orgasm rippled through him in endless waves. His last heat had been agonizing and unbearable, but this time his body got exactly what it was asking for: Jayden’s seed. Noah was overwhelmed by the force of his climax, and when it was over his body had a moment where it felt more sated and satisfied than ever. It was the most beautiful, physical experience Noah had ever had.  
  
When it was over they both went limp and panted in exhaustion on the bed, overwhelmed by the amazing sex.  
  
Jayden almost couldn’t believe the mind-blowing sensations he had just experienced. The smell and feel of Noah was so different from usual, and it had made him come faster than he had since he was thirteen. He couldn’t complain, though; Noah was just too addictive to him – especially when he was in heat.  
  
Slowly, Jayden moved up on his elbows to look down at Noah, who was also still panting from his intense orgasm. The alpha gave Noah a derpy grin and absently ran his fingers through some of Noah’s feathers. “That was freaking amazing.”  
  
Noah grinned back, sheepishly. “Yes, it was.”  
  
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Jayden ran his hand through Noah’s feathers again, slow and gentle. “I think I got a bit rough with you…” He stared at Noah with a small, worried frown, afraid that his roughness had been uncomfortable for Noah.  
  
Noah smiled and shook his head. “No, you didn’t hurt me. It was… perfect.”  
  
Jayden grinned, flaring his wing behind him. “Good.” He was finally able to control his feathers again and he immediately softened them so that Noah wouldn’t accidentally get hurt.  
  
Noah looked up at him with a small, shy smile before he suddenly froze. His heat was flaring up again, making everything feel hot, and his ass clenched around Jayden’s cock which was still inside him, begging the alpha for another load of his come. Noah whimpered and squirmed slightly under Jayden, whose nostrils flared when the scent of heat increased once more.  
  
“I need you again…” Noah whined, desperation in his voice.  
  
Jayden let out a possessive growl and leaned down to bite Noah’s earlobe, before pulling his cock out of him and gave him a gentle nudge. “Roll over. On your stomach.”  
  
Noah scrambled to comply, eagerly rolling over so that his stomach and chest were pressed into the mattress and his head was resting on the pillow. He spread and lowered his wings in submission, wriggling his ass and tilting it up a bit to offer himself to his alpha. Come was leaking from his ass, mixed with his own slick, and his back was shiny with excessive amounts of wing oil and sweat.  
  
Jayden’s cock twitched painfully at the sight of his sweet, gentle mate being so full of his come and still begging for more. He quickly launched forward, sinking into Noah once more and heard him release a keen cry of approval.  
  
Jayden pushed all the way into Noah until his balls were resting against the submissive’s ass. The clench and heat inside Noah felt amazing, and it was like Noah’s fertile body was trying to suck him in further.  
  
Jayden dwelled in the warmness around himself before finally beginning to move, unable to hold back anymore. He pressed Noah into the mattress and snapped his hips forward in brutal thrusts, listening to Noah’s breath hitch every time. Noah was all trapped under him and completely at his mercy, and Jayden’s alpha instincts were pleased by that. He bent his back a little to reach Noah’s ear with his teeth, nibbling it gently while his hands made their way into Noah’s feathers and grasped them firmly. The action made Noah buck and gasp under him, and as Jayden kept touching his wing bone and rubbing in the right places, Noah started to moan and make small noises of need under him.  
  
“Fuck. Your smell. How can you smell so _good,_ ” Jayden grunted, still pounding into Noah in a steady, hard rhythm.  
  
Noah just whimpered, unable to form any words because of his heat and the numerous sensations he was overwhelmed by. His hands were grasping at the sheets, his toes curling, and he whined in need as the alpha touched his wings and let his chest rub against his oil glands on purpose.  
  
“Ah, god,” Noah moaned as he felt Jayden’s cock slide all the way into him with every sharp thrust. It was a bit uncomfortable getting pressed into the mattress like that, but Noah liked it. He liked when Jayden took him like that and dominated him. “Connor, _please._ Right there! _Oh!_ ” he babbled, moaning and gasping under the alpha.  
  
“I’ve got you,” Jayden soothed, shifting so he could drive into Noah even harder. The bed protested at that, creaking and getting shoved along the floor, but Jayden couldn’t care less, even if the neighbors might hear. _Heat, mate, and breed_ were all that was on his mind.  
  
Normally the bed creaking so loudly would embarrass Noah when Jayden fucked him that hard, but he too couldn’t care less. The creaking and the force of Jayden pounding into him only sent Noah faster towards the edge. His body was burning up and only Jayden could satisfy him.  
  
“Fuck. You’re just so eager to milk me dry again, aren’t you?” Jayden grunted out when Noah’s muscles clenched harder around him. He could tell Noah was already getting close, and god if that wasn’t a turn-on that the submissive wanted to drag Jayden with him over the edge so badly, hungry for another load of Jayden’s potent sperm.  
  
Noah whimpered, completely at the mercy of Jayden’s hard pounding. “I can’t help it. I need it so bad. Please.” He was half embarrassed to admit that, but it was the truth. All he could think about was having Jayden fill him up with more come, and his body was screaming for it even though there already was a load inside him.  
  
“Mm, then I better give you what you need,” Jayden smirked, nuzzling the back of Noah’s head. “Gonna breed you up nice and good,” he purred, before pressing his wings down on top of Noah’s and grabbing both of his wrists, holding him down. The submissive responded with an aroused gasp, but didn’t fight back. Noah’s submission drove Jayden over the final edge at last. He thrust forward a few more times and howled out his release, allowing the waves of overwhelming pleasure to take him over.  
  
Noah gasped and came when Jayden’s come entered him once more, and he felt his heat being temporarily satisfied by it. It felt so much better than his first heat where there was no real satisfaction, no matter how many toys he used or how much he came. This time he could slump down on the bed, feeling exhausted, sated, and happy.  
  
“Fuck, I think we’re gonna be at all night,” Jayden groaned after the second round was over. He stayed on top of Noah, careful not to crush him, and didn’t pull out just yet. His dick worked as a plug for now, keeping his come inside Noah where it could reach the right place inside him.  
  
Noah groaned into the pillow, twitching his wings which were slightly covered by Jayden’s. He almost couldn’t move with Jayden on top of him, but it didn’t bother him. He felt safe under him. Content.  
  
They lay there for a minute, listening to each other trying to catch their breaths, and reveling in the other’s scent and the touch of their bodies.  
  
When Noah’s heat flared up again just two minutes later, Jayden’s prediction of them having to be at it all night was confirmed.  
  
They shifted to the missionary position again, grasping hair and feathers this time when Jayden fucked into Noah like there was no tomorrow.  
  
It continued twice more after that until finally Noah’s heat had been temporarily sated. They were both a mess by then, as was the bed. Noah was covered and filled with come, and the sheets were wet and dirty.  
  
“Don’t move,” Jayden ordered after their last round for now, before getting up from the bed to get something.  
  
Noah gave an irritated grunt. He was lying on his stomach, feeling completely fucked out after five rounds in a row. His ass felt sore and used, but at least some of the heat in it had vanished for now. There was so much come inside him that he could almost feel his belly being extended because of it, and it was both a good and an odd feeling.  
  
“What are you doing?” Noah asked, trying to look over his shoulder at Jayden, but felt too lazy to make too much of an effort of it. He slumped his head back on the pillow and let his wings stay spread out on the bed. His feathers had a few stripes of come in them since Jayden had come on them during the fourth round, and Noah couldn’t help but feel a bit unhygienic now that he was regaining some of his senses again.  
  
Jayden didn’t reply. He just smirked and rummaged through the wardrobe where he kept his clothes, until he finally walked over to Noah on the bed.  
  
Noah glanced back at him, trying to figure out what his mate was up to, and that was when he saw a dark pink butt plug in Jayden’s hand. His eyes widened.  
  
“Gotta keep my come inside you,” Jayden explained, smirking at Noah before gently pushing the plug into him. Noah’s ass was all red from use and covered in Jayden’s come all over. It was flowing out since Noah couldn’t keep it in, but the plug helped push it back inside as Jayden put it into him.  
  
Noah made a soft noise of discomfort and squirmed at the unfamiliar feeling, but he quickly adjusted to it. The plug was nothing compared to Jayden’s dick anyway, but feeling all that come trapped inside him still felt odd.  
  
Jayden smirked in satisfaction and patted Noah’s buttock gently. “Now my come just has to do its job.”  
  
Noah groaned at that, and Jayden loved how he hid his face in the pillow and twitched his wings in embarrassment. It was so cute.  
  
The alpha got up to get them something to drink, as they were both thirsty after all that sex.  
  
Afterwards they settled down on the bed and got some rest until Noah’s heat flared up again one and half hours later. They spent most of the night satisfying it and only got a few hours of sleep, but it was definitely worth it.  
  


 

***

  
  
On the fourth day they were both exhausted and sore from all the sex they had had.  
  
Jayden had to take a break sometimes, as his dick was getting sore from overuse and too much friction. He used his tail, mouth, and hands instead, bringing Noah to orgasm whenever the heat flared up again. Jayden especially liked it when he could make Noah come by just putting two fingers inside him and pressing them against his cervix and prostate repeatedly until Noah couldn’t take it anymore. He could make Noah come so easily sometimes, and he found that the submissive was extra responsive and even more vocal during his heat, which turned Jayden on a lot. Most of Noah’s orgasms were dry though, as his body couldn’t keep up with the fluids, but they were still intense.  
  
“Fuck,” Noah grunted after yet another copulation, collapsing face-first onto the bed and his pillow. Panting and breathless he lay there, feeling his body recover from the recent heat flare and the sex just now. All the intercourse in the past few days was tiring Noah out, but his body still seemed to always be ready to take Jayden whenever needed.  
  
Jayden chuckled at him and sat back on his knees on the bed. “We only just got started after four hours of sleep and you’re already tired.”  
  
“Yes, ‘cause it’s all we’ve been doing for four days. I’m so exhausted.” Noah whined softly and glanced back at Jayden over his shoulder without lifting his head. His wings flapped tiredly on the bed to state his point.  
  
“Mm, but it’s been nice,” Jayden said, giving him a lewd smirk. He reached out and ran his fingers along Noah’s calf all the way down to his foot, but stopped before he reached any ticklish spots. “Or would you rather be alone during your heat?” he asked. He knew the answer already, but it was fun to tease Noah a bit.  
  
“No,” the submissive grunted, looking away from him. “Last time was horrible. It’s better when you’re with me…”  
  
Jayden chuckled fondly at him and continued to touch Noah’s leg.  
  
Noah shifted when the familiar, warm sensation coiled in his abdomen again and made his ass produce new slick. He clenched his muscles to let Jayden’s recent release stay inside him, but his body demanded more. He whined in frustration.  
  
Jayden hummed at the new wave of pheromones hitting his nose, and his dick jumped back to life quick. He moved over to Noah and nudged him. “Up. Hands and knees, pretty boy.”  
  
Noah groaned but complied. “Don’t call me that,” he grumbled, struggling to get up.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Why? You _are_ pretty.”  
  
Noah just sighed and didn’t bother arguing. He felt Jayden’s hands grab his hips and guide him into position, and Noah prepared himself to be penetrated again. When he was, he let out a deep, keen sigh and lowered his head and wings, expecting Jayden to fuck him through it nice and hard again. Except he didn’t.  
  
Instead, Jayden stilled inside Noah, pressing far into him before removing one hand from his hips to move it down to his entrance. He rubbed his thumb over the pink hole which was already stuffed full of his cock, stretched nice and wide around it.  
  
Noah growled in frustration when Jayden stilled, though the feeling of Jayden’s thumb rubbing his rim felt nice. But not nice enough. He needed more. “Connor, _please._ I need you to _move._ ”  
  
“Mm, not yet, baby. I want to get you ready first.”  
  
“Ready for what?” Noah asked, an irritated and impatient growl escaping his lips when his alpha didn’t just give him what he needed. He lowered himself down onto his elbows and pushed his ass back into Jayden, trying to make the alpha move, but his attempt was futile.  
  
“To take my tail,” Jayden said, a purr in his voice. “I wanna see if you can take both my tail _and_ my cock inside you. I bet you can.” He smirked and teased his thumb over the stretched rim for a bit more before finally pushing, attempting to shove a finger inside of Noah alongside his cock.  
  
Noah almost choked on his own spit. “What?!” He whipped his head to the side to look back over his shoulder at Jayden, staring at him like he was mad. “T-That’s not going to fit! I’m full enough as it is.”  
  
“But you can take more,” Jayden said with a confident smirk. He pressed his finger against the entrance a bit harder until it finally slipped inside. His release from earlier was slicking up the way, and Noah was so wet from his heat that it wasn’t that much trouble pushing a finger inside him.  
  
Noah gasped at the sensation. His wings shuddered and his body trembled at the unfamiliar but not unwelcome feeling. “Ahh, god, don’t. It’s not going to— _Fuck!_ ” He cursed and jerked violently when Jayden pushed one more finger into him.  
  
Jayden just let a small chuckle and continued stretching Noah further and getting him ready. He was fascinated by how dripping wet Noah was during his heat and how deliciously warm he was inside. It was so hot that it drove Jayden mad.  
  
“You _do_ know that your body is made to have an entire baby come out of it, right? So I think my tail and cock are definitely going to fit inside,” Jayden pointed out.  
  
Noah groaned, annoyed with Jayden’s smug tone. His face was already flushed because of his heat, so his blush wasn’t very visible on his face. “But it feels like too much.”  
  
Jayden stopped his ministrations, but didn’t pull out. “Do you want me to stop?”  
  
The question and the hint of worry in Jayden’s voice made Noah still and hesitate. He considered it for a few seconds before sighing. “No. G-Go on.” He spread out his wings further as a sign that he trusted Jayden and that he could proceed. “Just hurry. I’m so hot inside.”  
  
Jayden grinned and immediately went back to stretching Noah further with the two fingers inside him. “I’ll try. Let me know if it hurts and then I’ll stop.”  
  
The submissive nodded and braced himself when Jayden began pushing in a third finger. It felt unreal for him to be stretched this wide, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. He whimpered and pushed back into Jayden slowly, impatient to finally be fucked through his heat flare and get the satisfaction he needed so bad.  
  
Jayden carefully stretched Noah until he was prepared. When he deemed him ready, Jayden took a deep breath before pulling out his fingers, hearing Noah whimper at the loss, before moving his tail up and lined it up with Noah’s already filled hole. He grabbed Noah’s hips, giving a pleased hum as he felt their wideness. Noah had beautiful, childbearing hips, and Jayden loved to run his hands over them and admire that feminine trait in his mate. A trait that would help him birth healthy children.  
  
Noah pushed back into him in impatience, making Jayden snap out of his thoughts. He quickly tightened his grip on Noah’s hips to hold him still as he finally pushed his tail forwards, entering Noah as slowly and gently as possible.  
  
“Nrruuuughh! Jayden!” Noah cried out, clawing at the sheets while Jayden slowly filled him up more than ever. His mouth opened in silent awe, and he felt his body open up and allow Jayden’s tail inside him even though he was already so full.  
  
“Fuck, you’re tight,” Jayden grunted, moving his tail an inch further inside. He felt it slide along the underside of his dick inside Noah, and the submissive’s muscles clenched down tight around him. He stilled for a second, panting and trying to get a grip of himself. He almost couldn’t believe that he had managed to put his tail in there as well, and when he looked down, Noah’s pretty, little hole looked amazing being stretched like that. It twitched as Jayden slowly moved his tail a bit further inside and the sensations were overwhelming. “Shit. You’re just _taking it._ ”  
  
Noah simply whimpered in response, too overwhelmed to form any words. His ass was burning from the unbelievable stretch, and he could feel Jayden inside him so much that it made his vision blur for a second.  
  
“Nrruuggh…! Oh fuck! Please.”  
  
The sound of utter need and desperation in Noah’s voice made Jayden snap out of it. He gripped Noah’s hips tightly, holding him still as he pushed in until the tip of his tail was a bit further inside Noah than his cock, and then slowly began to thrust in and out of him with his dick and his tail. He was careful as he moved at first since Noah wasn’t used to being fucked like this, but the submissive let out a keen cry and clawed at the sheets in response, while pushing his ass back into Jayden for more. Jayden let out a possessive snarl before moving faster, fucking into Noah in earnest.  
  
“Ahh! Connor,” Noah moaned, struggling to stay on his elbows and knees as Jayden snapped his hips into him over and over. Jayden then started swirling his tail around inside him, making Noah moan and gasp and tighten up his muscles. It felt so good, and Noah wasn’t surprised that the subs in porn movies always seemed to go wild when their partner did that while filling them with both their tail and their dick. Those scenes had always fascinated him, but he had been too scared to try it until now, since he was afraid it would hurt. He had always felt satisfied with the girth of Jayden’s cock and he hadn’t thought that double-penetration would feel nice at all, but it actually turned out to feel very, very amazing. Noah was half surprised he hadn’t come yet.  
  
Jayden loved their new little experiment as well. Noah was like a vice around his tail and cock, giving him ultimate pleasure as he fucked into him and breathed in his incredible, fertile scent. He spread out his wings and sharpened his feathers in sexual dominance as he pounded into the submissive over and over, lost in his rut. Noah just took it, and Jayden almost couldn’t believe how his scrawny mate could handle being filled up like that. It was almost obscene how full he was.  
  
The alpha sped up a little and continued to twist his tail around inside Noah, even though it was difficult in the confined space. The many movements made Noah tremble and shudder in pleasure, and he mewled and clawed at the sheets in desperation.  
  
“Shhh,” Jayden soothed him gently, rubbing Noah’s hips a bit with his hands. “You’re so good. Taking me so well…”  
  
Noah just let out small noise and lowered his head so that his forehead was pressed against the mattress, getting shoved into it every time Jayden moved forward into him. The burn in his abdomen and ass was strong now, and his body begged for his mate to fill him up nice and good again with his sperm. It was almost too much for Noah to handle, and all he could do was to beg by mewling and moaning under Jayden’s ministrations.  
  
They were both on the edge of coming now. Jayden moved one hand from Noah’s hip up to his oil glands, running his hand over them and rubbing them for stimulation. The gesture drove Noah mad under him, and Jayden had to hold him down a bit as Noah jerked violently and cried out his name as he finally came.  
  
Noah’s orgasm was one of the most intense ones yet and seemed to last forever. Jayden soothed and fucked him through it, and when it was over the submissive went completely limp. Jayden had to quickly slide his arm under Noah so his forearm was touching his lower stomach while holding him up to avoid him collapsing.  
  
Jayden hadn’t come yet, and he continued thrusting into Noah with both his tail and dick, making the submissive gasp. It was almost too much for Noah’s oversensitive body to get fucked after his orgasm, but he stayed still and waited for Jayden to finish. His heat still craved that fresh load of potent come, and the tight, unpleasant feeling in his abdomen wouldn’t go away until he got it. So he waited and moaned as the alpha continued to move inside him.  
  
It didn’t take long before Jayden came as well. He drove into Noah’s pliant, exhausted body a few more times until he felt his balls tighten up. He growled out his release, holding Noah tight and shoved in as far as he could as he filled up the submissive with his seed. His come flooded into Noah, who let out a small gasp at the warm, pleasant sensation.  
  
Jayden’s hand was on Noah’s abdomen to hold him up, and he could almost feel it expanding from all the come that just got shot into him. Thinking about all the come he had filled Noah’s womb with in the past four days made Jayden’s dick twitch in arousal, and he groaned as his dick released one final gush of semen before it was over.  
  
Exhausted from coming for like the hundredth time in four days Jayden let go of Noah, who collapsed heavily on the bed when nothing was holding him up anymore. Jayden winced a bit when his tail and cock slipped free, and he could feel how sore the skin on his dick was from overuse. Heat sex was really hard on their bodies, but at least Jayden had a quick recovery time and his dick was better equipped for being used so often than a beta or human’s dick would be. The soreness would go away soon.  
  
Noah was dead exhausted as well, and Jayden could help but chuckle softly when he saw him lying boneless on the bed and panting. The submissive was covered in sweat and come. The come was running down his thighs, smudged all over his ass and leaking out of him, and his wings still had a bit of dried come in them from yesterday. Most people would think it was disgusting, but Jayden thought it was one of the hottest things ever. Hot because Noah was content being covered in Jayden’s release and had let him breed him like this.  
  
Jayden sat back on his knees and gathered strength for a few minutes before he finally got up. He patted Noah’s butt gently as he got up, hearing his mate make a small noise into the pillow. Jayden chuckled and went over to clean up a bit with a towel. His tail and dick were covered in his own come and Noah’s slick, so he quickly cleaned up before going over to Noah and cleaned the worst of the mess up on him as well. He considered plugging him up again, but they had done that so often in the past four days that Jayden didn’t think it was necessary right now. He was almost certain that his seed had found its way into Noah’s womb already, and Noah’s ass looked like it could need a small break anyway.  
  
Noah didn’t move when Jayden cleaned him up, but he hummed as if saying thank you. Jayden smiled at that before going to get rid of the towel in the laundry room.  
  
The alpha returned to the bed afterwards and settled down on his side beside Noah.  
  
Noah blinked his eyes open and stared back at Jayden, who smiled when their eyes met. He returned the smile shyly before shifting and rolling over onto his back instead. It was difficult to move when he was so tired, and he almost hit Jayden with his wing, but once he was on his back he felt better. He let out a deep sigh and stared up at the ceiling for a bit.  
  
Jayden watched Noah quietly. He took in Noah’s beauty and admired the soft and feminine features he had. His pale skin was flushed from his heat and from sex, his hair and feathers were a mess, and his nipples were turning soft again and looked pretty and pink even in the faint light of the bedroom.  
  
Inching closer to his mate, Jayden reached out and slowly put his hand on Noah’s naked abdomen, resting it there. Noah bent his wing to give him space, and Jayden nuzzled the feathers affectionately as he lay there next to him with his gaze fixed on Noah’s stomach.  
  
“Do you think we succeeded?” Jayden asked softly. He rubbed his thumb gently over the soft and slightly sweaty skin on Noah’s abdomen to state what he meant.  
  
Noah sighed contently and leaned into Jayden’s touch. “I don’t know. I hope so.”  
  
“Me too. I can’t wait to have a baby with you and see you get nice and round with pregnancy. I bet it’ll be a gorgeous look on you.” Jayden grinned and leaned in to place a soft, wet kiss on Noah’s cheek. He moved his leg closer so that their thighs were touching, and his tail snaked its way over to Noah’s leg and curled around it possessively.  
  
Noah blushed deeply, shifting a bit. “I’m excited about it too. But I don’t really want to be fat…”  
  
“You won’t be fat; you’ll be pregnant. Big difference,” Jayden told him, leaning up a bit to look down at Noah’s face.  
  
Noah turned his head and stared back up at Jayden, looking unconvinced. “But it won’t look good…”  
  
“Of course it will. You’ll look freaking _gorgeous._ Stop saying you won’t.”  
  
The alpha started nibbling playfully at Noah’s neck, making the submissive laugh and shy away from him. Jayden grinned at Noah’s cuteness and teased him a bit more until he stopped and pulled Noah close instead. The submissive sighed contently and shifted so that he was snuggled up against Jayden’s side with the alpha holding him close. He rested his head on Jayden’s muscled chest, hearing his steady heartbeat even though he wasn’t directly over his heart. The sound made Noah purr and close his eyes as he leaned into him.  
  
Jayden pressed a loving kiss to Noah’s head and held him close. He didn’t care that they were both dirty and needed a shower soon. That could wait.  
  
“I love you,” Jayden spoke, stroking his fingers through Noah’s feathers.  
  
Noah opened his eyes and curled his lips into a small smile. “I love you too.”  
  
The alpha’s chest rumbled with a possessive hum, and Noah chuckled as Jayden tried to hold him even closer, although they were already as close as they could get.  
  
“And we seriously need to try that again with my tail. It was fucking amazing,” Jayden added after a few moments, grinning.  
  
Noah blushed and ducked his head so Jayden couldn’t peek down at him. “My ass feels sore, though…”  
  
“Good sore or bad sore?”  
  
A second passed until Noah replied. “Good sore.”  
  
Jayden chuckled and felt relieved to hear that. “Does that mean I can do it again?”  
  
Noah blushed furiously and shifted against Jayden. “I… Maybe. I just don’t want to get sloppy…”  
  
“You’ve taken my dick so many times and you’ve never gotten sloppy before – and my dick is not exactly small, as you might know. You’re always nice and tight for me, so don’t worry about that.”  
  
Noah hit Jayden half-heartedly on the chest as his face turned so red he could feel his cheeks burn. “Shut up. I know that.”  
  
Jayden laughed, and Noah felt the vibrations as he rested his head on the alpha’s chest. “You silly dummy,” Jayden chuckled with fondness. “Let’s just catch a bit more sleep before it’s time to go again.”  
  
Noah agreed. He snuggled into Jayden and closed his eyes when the alpha held him tight in his strong, protective arms.  
  
They got some well-deserved rest before Noah’s heat would demand more satisfaction from Jayden.  
  
While they slept, Noah’s body was busy forming their little baby inside him. A baby which would hopefully turn out to be strong and healthy once it was born.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I’ve just been so busy lately and didn’t have time to update. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the heat sex chapter! Now Noah will finally be pregnant ^^ It’s going to be really strange to write, but I look forward to it, hope you do as well :)
> 
> Thanks for reading the chapter :)


	14. Chapter 14

**March 2049 (Noah is 22 (almost 23), Jayden is 24 (almost 25), Castiel is 59, Dean is 61, Leila is 50, Micah is 52, Laura is 13, Eden is 36, Adrian is 32, Isaac and Lily are 28, Tony is 29, Alec is 4, Kaylen is 23 (almost 24) years old).**  
  
“Hey, take it easy,” Jayden said with fond amusement as he and Noah entered their apartment after having gone grocery shopping together after work. Noah had practically stormed inside after they had unlocked the door and was immediately headed to towards the bathroom with two pregnancy tests in his hands. He stopped to take off his shoes first though, grunting in impatience as he hurriedly untied the shoelaces.  
  
“I’m impatient to see what the tests are showing,” Noah murmured, fumbling with the tests in his hand while trying to take off his shoes. He almost lost his balance standing on one leg, but his spread-out wings helped him regain his balance.  
  
Jayden chuckled and put the grocery bags on the floor while taking off his own shoes. “I know, but with the nausea you’ve felt lately I’m pretty sure what those tests are gonna show… And you haven’t had a heat since early February. That’s six weeks.”  
  
“But I want to be a hundred percent sure,” Noah argued, disappearing into the bathroom as soon as his shoes and jacket were off. He closed the door behind him, but didn’t lock it, and Jayden hear him fumbling with the packaging in there. They had bought two tests in the supermarket because Noah wanted to be absolutely sure that the results could be trusted.  
  
Jayden too was very excited about getting that final confirmation that Noah was indeed pregnant. He had kept a close eye on Noah in the past six weeks, watching out for signs like nausea, vomiting, oversensitive nipples, and a missing heat. All the signs had been there, except the vomiting part. Noah had complained about nausea for three days now, but had not yet been having any actual morning sickness. Jayden suspected it was only a matter of time before it started.  
  
Meanwhile Jayden headed to the kitchen with the groceries, letting Noah take care of his business in the bathroom in privacy. He felt kind of anxious as he started putting the groceries into place. He was excited and maybe a bit afraid. What if the tests were negative? The one Noah had taken last week had been negative, but they had heard that it could take a few weeks before a pregnancy would show as positive on the tests, so they had waited another week before buying more.  
  
Jayden’s tail moved back and forth in slow movements behind him because of his anticipation. It felt like ages that Noah had been in the bathroom, but he knew it hadn’t been more than three minutes.  
  
Finally Jayden could hear the bathroom door open. He could hear footsteps as Noah came running into the kitchen to find him with a big smile on his face.  
  
“It’s positive! It’s positive!” Noah cheered, hurrying over to Jayden to show him the test results.  
  
“What, really?” Jayden gasped, eagerly peeking down at the pregnancy tests which both showed two pink stripes, indicating that Noah was indeed pregnant. Although they both more or less already knew that Noah had been pregnant since his heat, it didn’t feel completely real until they saw those pink stripes on the pregnancy tests.  
  
Noah grinned and nodded eagerly. “Yes. I’m pregnant.” He looked up at the alpha with the happiest, wide grin on his face, and Jayden wasted no time before grabbing Noah’s sides and lifting him up. The alpha spun Noah around while grinning happily at him, and Noah laughed and let Jayden swing him around.  
  
“Fuck, that’s amazing!” Jayden grinned, flaring his wings in joy and happiness, before gently putting Noah down on the floor again. He smiled widely at his mate and cupped his cheek lovingly with his hand. “ _You’re_ amazing,” he added, gently sweeping some of Noah’s hair away from his forehead.  
  
Noah just smiled, overwhelmed by the happiness he felt and how it flowed through their bond. He could sense Jayden’s joy too and it made him even happier.  
  
Jayden continued to smile widely at him and curling his tail in utter joy, before he slowly removed his hand from Noah’s cheek and instead moved it down towards the submissive’s stomach. He gently put his hand over Noah’s abdomen and pushed it in under Noah’s shirt to feel skin. He couldn’t feel anything out of the ordinary there yet; no bump or other signs of the baby, but they both knew that it in was there, nestled warmly inside Noah’s womb.  
  
Noah smiled up at him and leaned into Jayden’s touch. Now that they both knew for sure that he was pregnant, it felt so intimate to have Jayden’s hand resting over the place where their baby was growing inside him. It almost felt like a dream to Noah; a dream of a perfect life with a wonderful mate and a baby coming. It only made him happier to know that this wasn’t a dream at all. It was real. And he was happy.  
  
“I almost can’t believe that we actually succeeded,” Jayden spoke, staring down at Noah’s stomach with an amazed smile. He rubbed the skin gently, feeling Noah shift a bit as he did so. “I’m gonna be so protective of you now. Have to make sure nothing happens to you or the baby…”  
  
Noah chuckled softly. “I know. Me too.” He slowly moved his free hand up to rest it on top of Jayden’s on his stomach, squeezing it. His other hand was still holding the pregnancy tests.  
  
Jayden let out a possessive growl before leaning down to capture Noah’s lips in a deep kiss. Noah moaned and parted his lips to allow Jayden’s tongue inside, and they hummed as they tasted each other.   
  
Noah pushed Jayden back a little so that he could put the used pregnancy tests on the kitchen counter, and then quickly turned his attention back to their kissing. The alpha just growled and kissed him harder, pulling him a little closer so that they were flush against each other, but with him bending down to reach the submissive. Jayden’s tail wrapped itself around Noah’s leg as he kissed him deep and possessively.  
  
Noah reached up to grasp Jayden’s hair with his free hand, moaning as the alpha teased his tongue. His wings were lowered in submission as he leaned into Jayden’s touch and dwelled in their intimate kiss.  
  
Their bond was pulsating with joy and Jayden’s possessiveness. Noah sighed at the feeling and knew that as long as Jayden was around, he and the baby would be safe. Neither he nor Jayden would let anything bad happen to it. Not ever.  
  
When Jayden finally pulled away, their lips were swollen and they were both panting for breath. They stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments before smiling.  
  
“Mm. Love you so much,” Jayden hummed, resting his forehead against Noah’s and closed his eyes.  
  
Noah smiled, watching Jayden’s face and his closed eyes. “I love you too.” Jayden smiled at that.  
  
“My mom is going to freak when she hears about the baby,” Jayden said then, chuckling. He opened his eyes to stare back into Noah’s blue ones. “And your dad is going to kill me…”  
  
Noah chuckled. “No, he won’t. He would have no reason to. I fully consented to this and he will know that.”  
  
“Well, he’s quite protective of you… Your whole family is.”  
  
Noah just smiled. “We take care of each other.”  
  
“Yeah. I know.”  
  
They stood like that for a bit longer, leaning into each other and Jayden’s tail moving gently over Noah’s leg to caress him. After a few moments, Noah suddenly pulled back with a strange, uncomfortable expression on his face.   
  
Jayden frowned at him in worry. “What is it?”  
  
Noah shifted and moved up his free hand to rub his throat a little, the frown of discomfort on his face deepening. “I… My throat doesn’t feel so good.”  
  
“Nausea?” the alpha asked. He reached out to rub Noah’s arm for comfort, eyeing him in worry.  
  
Noah gave a weak nod before suddenly tensing up. The next second he was bolting out of the room, and Jayden could hear him burst into the bathroom and throw up into the toilet. The alpha quickly headed to the bathroom to be with his mate and found him kneeling in front of the toilet, heaving and groaning miserably.  
  
“Hey. Shhh,” Jayden soothed, squatting down beside Noah and supported his head with a hand on his forehead as Noah was bent over in front of the toilet. The submissive heaved one more time before it seemed to be over. “Are you alright?” Jayden asked worriedly.  
  
Noah made a pathetic sound before sitting back a little, letting Jayden rub his forehead and correct his hair a bit. “Yeah… I’m okay.” He was a little embarrassed to have Jayden witness him throwing up, as it was a quite disgusting thing, but the alpha didn’t seem bothered by it besides from being worried.  
  
Jayden spread out his wing to cover Noah’s, offering him comfort. He removed his hand from Noah’s forehead and brought it down to touch his shoulder instead. “I guess the morning sickness started, huh?”  
  
Noah just groaned in response. There was an awful taste in his mouth and all he wanted was to drink some water and make the taste go away. He slowly got up from the floor to flush the toilet and go wash his hands. He hated throwing up, and there was still an uncomfortable feel of nausea in his throat. As excited as he was about the baby, he decided that being pregnant was no fun at that very moment.  
  
Jayden followed him over to the sink, his hand placed on the small of Noah’s back and rubbing soothing circles into it. “I think you’re gonna have this problem for a while…”  
  
“I know,” Noah groaned. He leaned down towards the running water and drank some of it to clean his mouth of the dreadful taste inside it. He spat out some of it before closing the tap and straightening up again. “This is already pretty unpleasant,” he muttered, sulking a bit.  
  
The alpha chuckled and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Noah’s head. “Hey, you’ll manage. It should stop in a few weeks anyway.”  
  
Noah just hummed and leaned into his mate for a moment, letting Jayden rub his back and leg with his hand and tail. Jayden held him close as they stood there, unwilling to let him go anytime soon.  
  
“Are you feeling better now?” Jayden asked after a few moments.  
  
Noah nodded against him. “Yeah, I feel better. The nausea is still kind of there, though.”  
  
Jayden chuckled in sympathy and moved his hand down to touch Noah’s stomach again, rubbing it with affection. “Our little baby is kinda hard on you, huh?”  
  
Noah let out a soft chuckle and leaned into Jayden’s touch. “Kind of. But I’m happy it’s there.”  
  
“Me too,” Jayden grinned, pulling back to look down at Noah. “And I just can’t keep my hands off you right now. The thought of you carrying our baby is just too much for me. I’m so happy.”  
  
Noah grinned, his wings flaring slightly at the alpha’s words.  
  
They stared at each other for a moment before Jayden leaned down to claim Noah’s lips again, humming into his mouth. Noah moaned, and his body shuddered when the alpha nibbled on his lower lip. Their bond flared with so many emotions, and Noah’s body tingled as Jayden touched him.  
  
As the kiss continued and grew deeper, Jayden suddenly grabbed Noah’s ass tightly and let out a small growl. He gently started pushing Noah towards the bedroom and the submissive eagerly followed. It was dark outside at 6:50pm already, so Jayden clumsily turned on the lights in the bedroom and pushed Noah inside before closing the door.  
  
Their lips were still connected in a loving, deep kiss, and they moaned and panted into each other’s mouths as they made their way further into the room.  
  
Once they were over by the bed, Jayden reached down behind Noah to unbutton his shirt below his wings. Noah mewled against his lips and let Jayden undress him, his clothes falling off piece by piece. In the meantime he reached out to unbuckle Jayden’s belt, fumbling impatiently with it to get it open, and then made quick work of zipping down the alpha’s jeans.  
  
They helped each other out of each piece of clothing, and when Noah was dressed just in his light pink panties, Jayden guided him over to the bed and pushed him onto it. The submissive moved up the bed so that his head was resting on the pillow and his body and wings were spread out in front of Jayden.  
  
The alpha hummed in appreciation as he took in his mate’s gorgeous figure. He trailed his hands down Noah’s chest towards his stomach, letting them linger over the place where the baby was growing inside him, before he moved down to grab the hem of Noah’s panties. Jayden’s wings spread out as he took in his mate’s cute underwear. He loved the fact that Noah always wore panties. They looked cute and hot on him, and the way Noah’s erection twitched inside the panties and made a wet spot as it leaked a bit was a very beautiful and hot sight.  
  
Jayden took in the sight for a few moments before finally pulling the panties off. His chest rumbled in appreciation when Noah’s erection sprung free and curled up towards his abdomen, all pink and pearly at the tip.  
  
Noah squirmed a bit after Jayden had pulled his panties off and thrown them to the floor. He was fully naked now with the alpha taking in the sight of him. His pregnancy was not yet visible, though. His stomach was still flat and smooth, but that would soon change.  
  
“So gorgeous,” Jayden hummed, running his hands over Noah’s milky thighs and up towards his hips. He stared intently at the submissive’s beautiful, wide hips and his still flat stomach, before moving his hands over Noah’s belly. Humming, he lay down so that he was settled between Noah’s parted legs with his face just in front of Noah’s stomach.  
  
Noah shuddered and gasped lightly when he felt Jayden’s breath against his abdomen, and he arched his back and leaned up into him as Jayden caressed the skin and placed a tender kiss there.  
  
Jayden stared at Noah’s stomach with fondness, unable to stop touching him there.   
  
“Hey there, little guy. Or girl,” Jayden spoke in a soft voice, smiling at Noah’s belly while he touched it. “Your daddy really can’t wait to see you someday.” He placed another soft kiss on the skin. “Just grow big and strong inside your mommy until then, yeah?”  
  
Noah chuckled softly at Jayden’s words, smiling at how his mate was talking to their unborn child.  
  
Jayden froze and raised his gaze to look at Noah. “Unless you wanna be called something else than ‘mommy’? Do you prefer another term?”  
  
They hadn’t talked about what Noah preferred to be called by their child. Castiel had preferred to be called ‘papa’ since he was tilting a bit towards feeling more male in many situations, but some submissives liked to be called ‘mom’ and ‘mommy’.  
  
“I don’t mind being called ‘mommy’,” Noah said, smiling down at him. “I’m not too comfortable being called a more masculine word by our child; I’m not male and I’m not its father.”  
  
“So being called ‘mom’ and ‘mommy’ is okay with you?”  
  
Noah nodded.  
  
Jayden smiled, his tail flicking happily behind him. “Okay. It’s just hard to know with you submissives. You all have different preferences, and you refer to Castiel as ‘papa’, so it’s all very confusing and different. But I kinda like it that you want to be called ‘mommy’. That’s very cute,” he grinned.  
  
Noah blushed a bit. “Well, I _am_ our baby’s mother, so I like to be preferred to as such. I don’t feel male enough to be called anything else.”  
  
“I know. I like that about you,” Jayden grinned, nuzzling Noah’s stomach while staring up at him.  
  
Noah giggled softly when Jayden’s ministrations tickled him a bit, and Jayden grinned when it made him squirm.  
  
“What do you think it is? A beta, alpha, or a girl? Or a maybe a sub like you?” Jayden asked, still nuzzling and caressing Noah’s lower stomach while keeping eye contact with him.  
  
“I don’t know,” Noah replied, frowning a bit as he thought about it. “But I don’t mind either one. I will love the baby no matter what its gender is.”  
  
“Yeah, me too. As long as it’s healthy then I’m happy.”  
  
Noah just hummed in reply, closing his eyes and dwelled in the nice feeling of Jayden’s love and his tender touches.  
  
Jayden continued to pay affectionate attention to Noah’s belly for a bit longer, until his touches grew a bit more sexual. He kissed his way down towards Noah’s now softened member and gave it a few licks.  
  
The action made Noah jerk in surprise, and a small gasp spilled from his lips as his dick began to harden at the attention.  
  
Jayden grinned smugly and continued to kiss and lick Noah’s dick until it was hard and twitching. He hummed as he took the tip into his mouth and sucked on it, but he didn’t suck too hard because he wanted to tease Noah so he would become even more aroused.  
  
Noah whined and arched his back off the bed, desperate to have Jayden suck him more. “Ugh. Jayden,” he complained irritably.  
  
The alpha just smirked around his dick, before moving his right hand away from Noah’s abdomen and down between his legs. He trailed two fingers over Noah’s wet hole, feeling it twitch and leak slick. It was like Noah’s hole was itching to have something inside it, and Jayden loved how freaking hot it was that it was so eager to swallow his fingers whenever he teased them over the place.  
  
Noah was bucking involuntarily, and his noises became more and more annoyed and desperate the longer Jayden didn’t give him what he needed.  
  
Jayden took pity on him and finally pushed his fingers inside Noah, feeling his muscles clench around the two fingers but still allow them access. He groaned at the warm tightness inside Noah and continued to lick and suck his member. As he started to move his fingers around inside Noah and rubbing them against his sweet spots, he took more of Noah’s dick into his mouth and sucked him harder.  
  
“Ah, god! Connor!” Noah wailed, writhing uncontrollably. His wings were flapping on the bed and his toes were curling under the assault of pleasure, and Jayden let out a pleased hum when he could taste how aroused his mate was.  
  
Licking and sucking like a pro, Jayden soon brought Noah close to his orgasm. He pushed his fingers in and out of Noah at a faster pace, rubbing them against the sensitive walls inside until Noah couldn’t take it anymore. With his body seizing up, Noah came into Jayden’s mouth with a loud cry of pleasure. Jayden swallowed every single drop of the precious liquid, humming at the sweet taste and how he had reduced Noah to a sweating, trembling mess.  
  
Noah went limp when the climax was over. He panted and gasped for breath, and his wings felt so heavy that he was too lazy to move them.  
  
Jayden pulled off and licked Noah’s dick clean, hearing his mate moan in light discomfort because he was so oversensitive now. Jayden went easy on him and was gentle when he pulled out his fingers from Noah’s body. They were covered in slick wetness, which Jayden quickly licked off.  
  
“Mmm, I love it when I can make you come so fast,” Jayden remarked with a smug smirk afterwards, sitting up to grin down at Noah.  
  
Noah’s cheeks flushed a little, and he shifted his gaze from the ceiling to look at Jayden instead. The alpha looked pleased with himself, which Noah snorted softly at before moving his gaze further down. Jayden’s cock was hard and flushed between his legs with precome pearling and leaking down from the tip. Noah stared hungrily at it for a few seconds before sitting up, groaning at the effort it cost him. He raised his gaze and kept his eyes on Jayden’s face as he slowly reached out and pushed at the alpha’s broad shoulders, trying to guide him around to lie down on the bed.   
  
Jayden followed his lead, but reached out to grab a gentle hold of Noah’s wrist as he turned around and pulled him in close. Noah gasped as he was pulled closer to Jayden, who pressed his lips against his own, still holding onto his wrist. It was always Jayden who was in charge in the bedroom, and the hand on Noah’s wrist was just to show his dominance as the submissive was the one to guide him into place for the next act. Noah shuddered at the arousal he felt at the gesture, but it wasn’t like he had been trying to be the dominant one by making Jayden lie down. Jayden knew that, of course, but he also knew how it turned Noah on when he grabbed his wrists like that.  
  
Once the alpha was lying down on his back on top of the sheets, Noah leaned down over him with his legs framing Jayden’s hips. Jayden’s hand was still around his wrist, and Noah hummed as they shared another kiss and as Jayden’s hand moved through his feathers like he owned them.  
  
When their lips parted, Noah gently wrestled his hand free from Jayden’s grasp and slowly moved down his body. He lay down and settled himself between the alpha’s legs so that his face was level with Jayden’s cock. He kept his eyes fixed on Jayden’s face, and the alpha watched him as Noah licked Jayden’s cock from the bottom to the tip a few times to tease him.  
  
“Fuck. You little tease,” Jayden grunted with a hint of fondness in his voice.  
  
Noah just grinned wickedly at him and closed his hand around Jayden’s dick. It was too big for him to fit his entire hand around, but he liked that. He gave a few firm strokes, still keeping his eyes locked with Jayden’s, and flicked his tongue over the head to lick the precome off. Jayden gave a pleased growl, and Noah could see his tail twitching on the bed. The way the tail moved told Noah that Jayden was enjoying this, and it strengthened his confidence.  
  
Finally Noah took Jayden into his mouth, humming as the taste of alpha musk hit his tongue. The cock felt big and warm inside his mouth, and he had to be careful not to gag on it. With him being pregnant now and having morning sickness, he really didn’t want to trigger his gag reflex too much and end up throwing up again.  
  
Noah almost immediately began sucking Jayden hard and firmly, giving it all he had. His hand on Jayden’s dick helped him give the alpha more pleasure as he stroked and twisted it over the shaft, which he could feel pulsing lightly under his palm.  
  
“Ah, fuck. That’s it, baby,” Jayden babbled, reaching down to grasp Noah’s hair with his right hand. The submissive moaned at the gesture and sucked harder, and Jayden held on to him and kept him in place as Noah pleasured him. He was careful not to thrust up too hard into Noah’s mouth, since he knew that his mate should avoid gagging right now, but it was hard when he was so aroused and being pleasured to greatly. His half-sharp wings twitched and flapped on the bed under Noah’s ministrations, and Jayden almost couldn’t believe how good his mate was at this. “Shit. When did you get so good at this? You almost have me coming already.”  
  
Noah just smirked around Jayden’s cock, looking pleased with that comment. He pulled off every now and then to take a quick, deep breath before going down on Jayden again, and it made the alpha groan in arousal every time.  
  
Jayden’s breathing increased as Noah had him coming closer to the edge. He panted and grunted as his orgasm approached, and Noah could feel it coming because of Jayden’s breathing and how the alpha’s balls were tightening up.  
  
When it hit, Jayden cried out his pleasure and came in waves down Noah’s throat. The submissive struggled to swallow and eventually he had to pull off. Jayden quickly grabbed a hold of his cock after Noah had pulled off, holding it steady and stroking himself as he shot the final few stripes of come onto Noah’s face.  
  
Noah gasped and squeezed his eyes shut as the come painted his face in stripes. He felt it hit his cheek, nose, and his forehead, until finally Jayden’s orgasm died down. He grunted softly and used his hand to wipe the come away from his forehead before it could leak down into his eyes, and he heard Jayden chuckle at him.  
  
“You look so hot with my come on you,” Jayden smirked.  
  
Noah groaned, disgruntled. “Why must you always aim for my eyes?”  
  
“I’m not aiming for your eyes. I didn’t even hit you there.”  
  
“But it was close enough.”  
  
Jayden laughed fondly at him and pulled gently at Noah’s arm to make him lie down on top of him. Noah complied and lay down so that he was on top of Jayden, and the alpha put his hand under his chin to tilt his face up. He then licked Noah’s face clean, feeling him shudder as he did so.  
  
“There. Better?” Jayden asked when he was done, smiling at Noah.  
  
Noah blinked at him, his face wet with Jayden’s saliva now. He made a small face at that. “Yeah. Kind of.”  
  
Jayden chortled at him and pressed a kiss to his cheek.  
  
They shifted around so that Noah was lying next to Jayden with his head resting on the alpha’s chest. Jayden wrapped a protective arm around him, holding him close.  
  
“We have to start buying baby equipment and stuff soon,” Jayden spoke after a few moments, staring up at the ceiling.  
  
Noah hummed in agreement. “Yeah… And tell our families.”  
  
“We’ll do that in the weekend. We’re visiting my parents on Saturday, so how about we visit yours on Sunday? Then we can tell them the news in person.”  
  
Noah smiled against him. “That sounds good.”  
  
Jayden pressed a kiss to the top of Noah’s head. “And in a few minutes I’ll go make you your favorite mac and cheese, and then we can cuddle on the couch all night. I think we both need a break after a long day at work. How does that sound?”  
  
“That sounds great,” Noah grinned, snuggling closer to his mate.  
  
Jayden grinned back and held Noah close as they continued to lie there for a bit longer until it was time for dinner.  
  
  


***

  
  
On Saturday Jayden and Noah went to visit Jayden’s family and spend the night there. The next day they would go to Dean and Castiel’s house, but wouldn’t spend the night there since they had work on Monday.  
  
They were both excited to tell their families the good news. They hadn’t shared the news with anyone yet, as they wanted to wait until they were sure that Noah was pregnant and until they saw their families in person. Their coworkers and friends didn’t know anything either, but they would tell them the news soon.  
  
They arrived at Jayden’s parents’ house at 1:30pm and Leila opened the door for them. The female demon beamed when she saw them and immediately pulled them both into tight hugs.  
  
“About time you two paid us a visit! You’ve become such strangers,” Leila said as she hugged Jayden after having hugged Noah first.  
  
“It’s only been like two months, mom. And you came to visit us four weeks ago,” Jayden commented as he hugged her back. He rolled his eyes a bit at his mother.  
  
“It’s still such a long time. And you barely ever call,” Leila groused after pulling away from him. She stepped aside to let them enter the house with their stuff. Micah and Laura were standing behind her and they smiled at Noah and Jayden as they came inside.  
  
“I’m sure Jayden would have called us if something important had happened,” Micah told Leila, rolling his eyes a bit.  
  
“Yeah, I would have,” Jayden murmured as he and Noah started taking off their shoes. He put their bag with extra clothes and toiletry away in the corner for now while Leila closed the door behind them.  
  
Noah just chuckled at their interaction before going over to greet Micah. The older alpha demon smiled and shared a brief hug with Noah, before Noah turned to face Laura. Lately he was always surprised when he saw her about how tall she had gotten since she became a teen. She was about an inch taller than him now, and she had started wearing a bit of make-up lately. It was pretty clear that she wasn’t a little kid anymore, though she still liked to act childish and teasing around Jayden sometimes when they were together.  
  
“Hi, Noah,” Laura smiled and came forward to hug him.  
  
“Hello, Laura.” Noah returned the hug, smiling. “How are you?”  
  
“I’m good, thanks,” Laura grinned as she pulled back.  
  
“No boyfriend yet?” Jayden asked, staring at Laura almost warningly. He didn’t like the thought of his sister dating at all, and he had been questioning her about a boyfriend ever since he noticed her starting to wear make-up. He had a pretty hard time coping with the fact that his little sister was a teenager now, and Noah couldn’t help but think it was kind of sweet.  
  
“No!” Laura grit out, glaring at her brother. “Even if I did it’s _my_ business, not yours. Jeez, Jayden.”  
  
“I kinda disagree with that,” Micah murmured, feeling just as protective of Laura as Jayden did.  
  
Leila laughed at how they were glaring at each other. “Take it easy, guys. Laura is not dating yet, and she has been taught to take care of herself around boys. No need to be so overprotective.”  
  
“Yeah, I can take care of myself,” Laura said stubbornly. “And it’s not like I want to date anyone right now, anyway. All the guys in my class are immature assholes.”  
  
“Oi, language,” Micah warned her.  
  
Noah chuckled at Laura’s comment. He knew what she meant. When he was thirteen, he had also thought that the boys in his class were immature and childish. It was easy to see in that age that boys matured slower than girls and submissives did.  
  
Jayden looked pretty pleased to hear that his sister had no plans of dating at the moment. He unconsciously stepped a little closer to Noah so that their wings were touching, and his tail moved over to Noah’s leg to curl around it. Ever since they had found out for sure that Noah was pregnant, Jayden felt a constant need to be near him. He would touch Noah whenever he could, brush wings with him all the time, and was generally just very affectionate and protective around him.   
  
Leila watched Noah and Jayden’s body language closely. She was used to her son always being near his mate, but something seemed different to her now. She just couldn’t put her finger on it.  
  
“Anyway, let’s head into the living room, shall we? We can’t stand here all day,” Micah grinned, gesturing at Noah and Jayden to follow him and the others further into the house. “Then we can hear more about what’s going on in your lives lately.”  
  
Noah smiled and moved to join Micah and the others as they approached the dining room.   
  
When they were almost at the door to the dining room Noah stopped abruptly, almost causing Jayden and Leila to bump into him.  
  
They all stopped and turned to look at Noah in confusion, not understanding why he had stopped so suddenly.  
  
“What is it?” Leila asked in worry when she saw the look of discomfort and alert on Noah’s face as he stood there, frozen.  
  
Noah held a hand to his upper chest and swallowed a bit, looking uncomfortable. His eyes suddenly widened, and then he turned around and ran towards the bathroom at the end of the hallway by the front door.  
  
Jayden was right on his heels to help him, since he had immediately noticed that Noah was starting to feel sick again. And he was right. Noah ran over to the toilet and threw up for the second time that day, and Jayden soothed him through it.  
  
Leila gasped in worry, and she, Laura, and Micah stood in the hallway, looking both confused and worried about what had just happened.  
  
“Oh my god, is he okay?” Laura asked, gasping in horror.  
  
“I don’t know,” Micah said, his brows furrowed in worry. He slowly approached the bathroom with Leila, but they couldn’t see anything because the door was almost closed. They were wary about entering it and instead decided to wait until Noah and Jayden reemerged from there. They could hear Jayden saying something inside the room, but couldn’t make out the words, and they soon heard the toilet flush and the water starting to run from the tap.  
  
Soon afterwards, Jayden and Noah finally came out of the bathroom. Noah stared at the floor with his head lowered in embarrassment, and Jayden was standing next to him and rubbing his lower back to comfort him.  
  
Noah slowly raised his gaze to look at his confused and worried in-laws. “Um, I’m sorry about that…”  
  
“That’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” Leila smiled, waving her hand to shrug it off. She looked between him and Jayden with a knowing smile. “Did I just see signs of a little womb nugget growing inside you?” Her lips curling into a wide, excited grin as she asked him this.  
  
Noah blushed furiously, and Micah and Laura both gasped at Leila’s words.  
  
“Oh my god! Is my mom right?” Laura asked, jumping in excitement as she grinned at Noah and Jayden, eagerly waiting for confirmation.  
  
“Yeah, we’re having a baby,” Jayden confirmed, smiling widely as he rubbed Noah’s lower back in a soothing gesture. His tail was wrapped tightly around Noah’s lower leg, using the spike to rub Noah gently.  
  
Noah smiled shyly and rested a hand on his stomach, glancing up at his in-laws to see their reaction.   
  
Laura squealed loudly in excitement, and Micah and Leila both grinned.  
  
“Wow, that’s great news,” Micah said, grinning widely at them.  
  
“Yes, I’m so happy for you both!” Leila beamed. She stepped forward and pulled Noah into another hug, grinning excitedly at him and Jayden. “Congratulations to you both! How far along are you?” she asked Noah after pulling away from the hug.  
  
“Um, almost seven weeks,” Noah told her, smiling.  
  
Leila squealed excitedly and moved on to hug Jayden next. “Oh, that’s so great! I’m so happy that my little boy is going to be a father! I almost can’t believe it,” she grinned.  
  
“Hey, I’m not little,” Jayden protested as he hugged his mom back. He chuckled a bit at how tightly she hugged him and how happy she seemed. He had always known that his mom would be super happy the day she found out that she was going to be a grandmother, and it was great that she was so full of joy at the news.  
  
“You’ll always be my little boy, no matter what,” Leila insisted, giving Jayden a stubborn but fond look when they pulled apart. Their tails were touching and entwining, and Leila was so excited about the news that she almost couldn’t let go. Jayden just chuckled at that, not minding that his mom took a while to let go of his tail.  
  
Micah grinned and stepped forward to pat Jayden’s shoulder in approval. “Glad that your man parts are working, at least.” He laughed out loud at the small scowl Jayden sent him for making that comment in front of the others, before he finally pulled his son into a hug. “I’m happy for you, Jayden. You’ve found a good mate. Take care of him and the baby, yeah? Noah needs your support and protection now more than ever. Understand?”  
  
Jayden hugged his father back, smiling. “Yeah, dad. I understand. And thanks.”  
  
Micah pulled away and smiled at him one more time, before turning to face Noah. “And you take care of Jayden, alright? Just kick his ass if he gets too annoying. I can tell already that he’s going to be really possessive of you in the next few months.”  
  
“Hey!” Jayden protested and glared at his family when they laughed.  
  
Noah chuckled and nodded at Micah. “I will,” he grinned.  
  
Micah smiled before sharing a quick hug with Noah to congratulate him on the baby.  
  
“Gosh, I’m going to be an aunt!” Laura grinned, still restless from excitement and joy. “I can’t wait to see your baby! But I’m having a hard time picturing Jayden as a dad…”  
  
“That’s because he’s your brother,” Leila said, chuckling.  
  
“Yeah. And Noah is kind of like a sister to me,” Laura spoke, grinning at Noah who smiled modestly at her.  
  
“Well, I think you’ll be great parents,” Micah said, smiling at the young couple.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah said, returning the smile sheepishly.   
  
Jayden smiled at Noah and wrapped an arm around his waist, holding him close.  
  
“Now, let’s go inside and eat some snacks to celebrate the good news,” Leila grinned, reaching out to gently put her hand on Noah’s shoulder and guide him into the living room. “I’m sure you want a new taste in your mouth now, no?”  
  
“Ugh. Yes, please,” Noah groaned. Jayden chuckled at him.  
  
Leila laughed softly as they walked into the dining room and headed into the living room area. “I know how it is. I had such terrible morning sickness when I was excepting Connor. I had it for seven whole months.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in horror. “Seven _months?_ ”  
  
“Oh yes, seven months,” Leila confirmed. “He was so troublesome to be pregnant with; more so than Laura was. He’s always been troublesome.” She sent Jayden a playful glare over her shoulder and smirked when their eyes met.  
  
“Jee, thanks, mom,” Jayden muttered in annoyance, following them over to the couch. He glared at Laura when she giggled at him, and Micah laughed.  
  
“Have you told Dean and Castiel about the good news yet?” Leila asked as she gestured at Noah to sit down on the couch.  
  
“No, not yet,” Noah told her, sitting down.  
  
Mr. Giggles was lying on the back of the couch, looking lazy and disinterested, and he watched them absently as they approached. Noah was sitting just below where the cat was lying, and he reached up to rub Mr. Giggle’s head a few times before turning his attention back to the others.  
  
“We’re visiting them tomorrow and then we’ll tell them the news,” Jayden spoke. He went over and sat down next to Noah, who smiled when Jayden put a hand on his knee and rubbed circles into it with his thumb.  
  
Leila nodded at his words and gave them a smile before heading to the kitchen to get them all some snacks. She had baked pie earlier and they could all smell the sweet scent of it lingering around the house.  
  
“Be careful that Dean doesn’t kill you when you break the news to them,” Micah joked, chuckling at Jayden as he sat down on the other side of the couch, leaving some space between him and Noah so that Leila could sit there. Laura sat down next to Jayden and reached up behind him and Noah to pet Mr. Giggles a bit.  
  
Jayden groaned. “I know. I’m a bit worried about how he’ll take the news…”  
  
“He won’t be mad,” Noah insisted, rolling his eyes. “He trusts you and he likes you. He took the news rather well when Eden and Lily got pregnant.”  
  
“But you’re the family baby, so it’ll be different with you,” Micah pointed out, chuckling.  
  
Noah looked a little annoyed to always be called the family’s baby, but he knew they were right. He still didn’t think that his dad would be upset, though. At the most, Dean would be sad that Noah was so grown up now. Noah felt a bit sorry for his parents because of that. They lived all alone now, with just Bella as company and the kids visiting every now and then.  
  
“I still think it’s weird that Noah and Jayden are gonna have a baby,” Laura said, giggling. She reached out and poked Jayden teasingly in the side, smirking at him. “And that means that you and Noah did the naughty.” She snickered uncontrollably, and Micah laughed out loud at her words and at Jayden and Noah’s expressions.  
  
Noah was blushing again and staring into his lap, while Jayden glared at his sister for saying something so embarrassing.  
  
“Shut up, you little brat,” Jayden growled at her with fondness. He reached out to tickle her stomach, making Laura shriek and shy away from him. The young teenage girl laughed and tried to force Jayden’s hands away from her ticklish stomach, and she was just about to move off the couch when he finally stopped. Jayden grinned smugly at her and knew she had learned her lesson. For now.  
  
Noah just grinned as he watched them fool around, and Micah laughed at his kids in amusement.  
  
They all looked up when Leila returned to the room with cookies and a fresh-baked cherry pie. She shook her head at Jayden and Laura when she saw them acting like little children. “Jeez. What kind of kids did I raise?” She let out a helpless sigh and put the food down on the table. She then turned to glare disapprovingly at Micah. “And what kind of mate do I have? Get your butt up and help me out.”  
  
Micah got up, looking annoyed as Leila watched him with a glare. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t be too much like your mom now.”  
  
Leila swatted him with her tail as he walked past her, and Jayden and Laura snickered at their parents as Micah swatted Leila back. The two went to the kitchen to get everyone some plates, forks, and something to drink.  
  
Laura quickly reached out to grab some cookies while her parents were gone, not caring that she didn’t have a plate yet. Noah grabbed one as well, and Jayden watched him with a soft smile as the submissive stared almost hungrily at the cookie in his hand before eating a piece, careful not to spill any crumbs.  
  
When Leila and Micah returned with plates and something to drink, they all dug in, and Mr. Giggles watched them intently as they ate in front of him. He didn’t beg for any though, as he had just eaten.  
  
“Oh, and all this excitement about your baby just made me remember that we found some old CD’s with pictures of when Jayden was little,” Leila spoke, turning to look at Noah with a big grin on her face. “Would you like to see them? They are the ones we couldn’t find last time we showed you some of Jayden’s childhood pictures.”  
  
Noah smiled widely, feeling excited about seeing those pictures. Last time Leila and Micah had showed him old pictures of Jayden, it had been pictures of when he was 12+ years old. Noah kind of wanted to see some from when Jayden was younger. “Sure, I’d love to,” her told her, beaming.  
  
Jayden let out a loud groan of protest. “Mooom,” he whined, embarrassed.  
  
“What? Your mate wants to see them and I think he deserves it,” Leila told him stubbornly, getting up from the couch to go get her laptop to show them the pictures on.  
  
Micah laughed at Jayden’s annoyed face. “Don’t be so embarrassed. I’m sure Dean and Castiel showed you pictures from Noah’s childhood already.”  
  
“Yeah, they showed me most of them, but that’s different.”  
  
“No it’s not,” Laura snorted. “And I wanna see them too. I’m pretty curious now.” She grinned at her brother, who only seemed even more uncomfortable now.  
  
Noah chuckled and put his hand on Jayden’s thigh. “I really want to see them, though.”  
  
Jayden stared at him and groaned when he couldn’t say no to Noah’s face. He let out a deep sigh and hid his face in his hands for a few seconds when he saw his mom return to the room with the laptop. He was pretty embarrassed by his childhood pictures, but at the same time he kind of wanted to share them with Noah. He would have just preferred his parents not being around to tell Noah embarrassing stories from when he was a kid.  
  
“Now, this should be fun,” Laura grinned as Leila sat down next to Noah and opened the laptop. They all grabbed some pie and cookies while waiting for it to load.  
  
“It’s not fun at all. How did you even find those pictures? You said you had lost them,” Jayden asked his parents, groaning.  
  
“We found them when we cleaned the attic a couple of weeks ago. They got lost up there after we moved into the house a few years ago, since everything was such a mess when we moved, remember?” Micah explained, still chuckling at Jayden’s reluctance to let Noah and Laura see the photos.  
  
Noah chuckled softly at Jayden and ate some pie until the laptop had finally loaded the CD. Leila then opened up the pictures, and Noah inched a bit closer as a photo of baby Jayden popped up. He seemed to be no more than six months old in the picture, lying in Micah’s arms while the older alpha was smiling proudly at the camera.  
  
“Aww, you’re so cute,” Laura cooed, grinning at her brother.  
  
Jayden groaned and moved a hand up to his forehead while looking down. Noah just laughed and looked at the pictures with a wide smile.  
  
“He was such a sweetheart back then,” Leila said, smiling in nostalgia as she slowly moved from one picture to the other. The folder was full of baby pictures of Jayden; of him eating and making a mess of himself, his first walk, playing with toys, walking around in diapers with his tail hanging out from it, and some where other members of the family were with him.  
  
“Yeah. He looks pretty cute,” Noah agreed, smiling.  
  
“Stop saying I look cute,” Jayden complained, feeling his alpha pride get hurt.  
  
Leila just laughed at him and moved on to the next folder, where Jayden was a little older. “Oh, I think this is the folder which also has Noah in it.”  
  
Noah blinked at her in surprise. “Me?”  
  
“Yes, you,” Leila smiled. “I took the camera with me to the kindergarten once to shoot a photo of Connor in the playground there, and I’m pretty sure you ended up on one of them too.” She looked through the thumbnails of pictures to find the photo she was looking for.  
  
Finally she found it, and Noah’s eyes widened a bit when a photo popped up of a smiling Jayden in the foreground and Noah, Abby, and a few other kids playing around by the sandbox in the background. When he saw the picture, Noah could immediately recognize Connor from back then, even though it was many years ago. He was six years old in the picture and Noah was four.  
  
Jayden too was a little surprised to see an old photo of him and Noah together. He had forgotten all about that picture.  
  
“You should send a copy of that to Dean and Cas as well,” Micah told Leila. “I’m sure they would like to have it too.”  
  
“Yeah, I should. Our babies are so cute in this picture,” Leila said, grinning at Noah and Jayden, who were both staring at the photo.  
  
Laura giggled. “Yeah. They’re so adorable. It’s hard to say who’s cuter, but I think Noah has to take the prize in that photo.”  
  
Noah blushed, and Jayden was kind of glad that it wasn’t just him being called cute now.  
  
“Oh, and you gotta see the pictures of our first vacation together,” Leila spoke, already moving on to find the next folder. “We went to a lake house when Jayden was four, and he and his two older cousins and Micah were having a water fight with water hoses and water buckets. And Jayden was running around, butt-naked and laughing so happily. It was so cute,” she grinned.  
  
“Jesus Christ, mom. When you will stop embarrassing me?” Jayden groused, feeling so embarrassed by his mother and the old photos of him.  
  
Noah laughed out loud, finding Jayden’s embarrassment very amusing and sweet. “I would love to see that, though. It’s your life, and I like to see it in pictures.”  
  
“I would prefer my mom not being around to tell embarrassing stories, though,” Jayden grunted.  
  
“Oh, don’t be so proud,” Leila groused, rolling her eyes at him. “Noah deserves to know such stuff about you. Especially about how you kept trying to pull your female cousin’s skirt up on that trip because you were curious what a girl looks like down there.”  
  
 _“Mom!”_  
  
The all burst out laughing at that, and Noah then continued to stare at the pictures from the lake house. The cousin Leila had mentioned was nine years old at that time, and there was a picture of her scolding Jayden for grabbing at her skirt. The family seemed to have had a lot of fun on that trip, judging from the smiles in the pictures, and Noah enjoyed looking through them. Jayden looked so small and cute back then, without any of his alpha features since he hadn’t been mature. Noah thought it was a little strange but also interesting to see him like that, and he could definitely tell that puberty had worked well on Jayden. It was amazing that such a little, playful and cute boy could turn into the handsome, badass alpha he was today.  
  
Leila moved on to a new folder, in which Jayden was a little older – seven years old. “And this was around the time when he decided he didn’t want to be called ‘Connor’ anymore. It was shortly after we moved from here to Michigan.” She turned her head to send Jayden a dark scowl, since she didn’t really like that he hated his name so much.  
  
“Well, it’s a horrible name,” Jayden muttered, scowling back at her.  
  
“No it’s not,” Noah protested softly, rubbing Jayden’s thigh with his hand. “I like your name.”  
  
“And I actually don’t see you complaining when it’s Noah who calls you Connor,” Micah pointed out and smirked knowingly at Jayden.  
  
Laura snickered. “That’s because Noah has him wrapped around his little finger.”  
  
Leila and Micah laughed out loud at that, and Jayden just glared at them, looking uncomfortable to constantly be laughed at today. Noah giggled and brushed his wing against Jayden in the small space between them on the couch and tried to reassure him through their bond. He felt Jayden respond and nudge him back through their bond, and Noah smiled.  
  
“Every real alpha is wrapped around his mate’s little finger and would do anything for him or her. If you’re not, then you’re a selfish asshole who doesn’t care about your loved one,” Micah said, smiling as he watched Jayden and Noah sitting there together.  
  
“Oh, so I’ve got _you_ wrapped around my little finger then, hm? In that case, how about a back massage tonight,” Leila said, smirking at her mate.  
  
Micah’s smile disappeared. “You always twist my words…”  
  
Laura, Jayden, and Noah laughed at that, and Leila soon proceeded with showing them more old pictures of Jayden and the family.  
  
When they reached the pictures from when Jayden was in the hospital after his car crash accident when he was 11, Noah felt pretty sad. It was hard to see pictures of his alpha being hurt and in pain, even though he was smiling at the camera and giving the thumbs up in some of the pictures. A photo had been taken of the car after the crash, which made Noah cringe when he saw how much of a wreck it was, and the photos of Jayden’s scars a few days after the accident had him grabbing Jayden’s hand tightly.  
  
Jayden squeezed Noah’s hand back and tried to reassure him when he noticed how upset his mate was when he saw the photos.  
  
“Don’t be so upset. I’m okay now,” Jayden told him softly, leaning in so that his forehead was pressed against Noah’s temple.  
  
“But it looks painful,” Noah replied, cringing.  
  
Jayden smiled and nuzzled Noah’s cheek gently. “I was high on morphine. It helped.”  
  
Jayden still had some of the scars, but they were barely visible. Noah mostly didn’t notice them anymore. The most visible ones were on Jayden’s left shoulder and on his chest, and there was a spot on his left wing bone where the feathers didn’t grow out normally because of the damaged tissue. It wasn’t something that was too obvious, though. Jayden would however experience muscle pains every now and then in his wing, but mostly only when he was under stress or had used his wing too much, for example during swimming or when working out.  
  
“Your scars are barely visible now, aren’t they?” Leila asked Jayden. She looked a bit worried about Noah being upset by seeing the pictures.  
  
“Yeah, they’re not that obvious anymore,” Jayden confirmed.  
  
“Jayden is just always getting hurt,” Laura murmured. “I remember in our old house you used to stub your toes on the doorstep to your room every single morning, and you once broke your little toe from it.”  
  
“Hey, that doorstep was totally messed up! It was way too high,” Jayden said defensively as he turned to scowl at his sister. Noah chuckled and giggled a bit, which actually made Jayden feel better because Noah was in a better mood now.  
  
“Yeah, I’m glad we got out of that house. Saved us a lot of hospital bills,” Micah chuckled. He was mostly joking, since Jayden breaking his toe was the only bad thing that had happened in that house.  
  
Leila rolled her eyes before switching the topic. “Well, let’s take a break from the old stories and pictures now, shall we? We can watch more later.” She and Micah got up and grabbed the used plates after everyone was done eating and then went to the kitchen to clean them.  
  
Laura smiled as she watched Jayden and Noah still holding hands and how their gazes had now turned to Noah’s belly. They were smiling happily, and Laura stared at the scene for a bit before getting up.   
  
“I’m glad you guys came over. I’ve missed you so much,” she spoke, smiling down at them.  
  
Noah and Jayden turned her heads to look at her.  
  
“I’ve missed you too,” Noah smiled. “And you seem to get taller every time I see you.”  
  
Laura laughed. “And you’ll get rounder every time I see _you_ now!”  
  
Noah chuckled, and Jayden grinned at her comment.  
  
“Do you know yet if it’ll be a boy or a girl?”  
  
“No. Noah needs to go for an ultrasound scan for that first,” Jayden told her.  
  
“Oh. Well, let me know when we find out. I’m curious,” Laura grinned.  
  
“We will,” Noah smiled, his hand placed on his stomach.  
  
Laura smiled back and reached out to touch tails with Jayden briefly before smiling at them and turning to leave the room.  
  
When they were alone in the room, Jayden turned to Noah and leaned in to kiss him and touch his stomach and wing possessively.  
  
“Please don’t make my mom show you more pictures today,” Jayden spoke, placing soft kisses on Noah’s lips again after speaking.  
  
Noah chuckled and pulled back to speak, and Jayden kissed his cheek instead. “But I enjoy looking at them… Just not the ones where you were hurt…”  
  
“Hey, I’m fine now. It was an awful experience, but I got over it. Stop worrying so much,” Jayden said, pulling back to look at his mate. He reached up to cup his cheek, caressing it with his thumb.  
  
“I know. I can’t help it. I guess I’m just empathetic…”  
  
Jayden chuckled softly. “I know, and that’s good. But I really _am_ fine now. At least when my mom doesn’t share those embarrassing stories about me…”  
  
Noah laughed. “But I like hearing those stories.”  
  
Jayden groaned, disgruntled. “God, spare me…”  
  
Noah laughed out loud and pulled Jayden into another kiss.  
  
Mr. Giggles just lay there behind them on the couch, watching them quietly until the others returned to the room.  
  
  


***

  
  
The next day they went to visit Dean and Castiel to tell them about the good news.  
  
They arrived at noon, and Isaac, Kaylen, Lily, Tony, and little Alec were there was well. Isaac and Lily had both announced that they would come home a few days in advance, but Noah and Jayden had first called about them visiting on Friday. Dean and Castiel were delighted to have three of their kids coming over.  
  
When they arrived, Castiel opened the door for them and hugged them tightly. “It’s good to see you both again,” he smiled as he hugged Noah, before moving to hug Jayden next.  
  
“You too, papa,” Noah smiled.   
  
Just after Castiel had pulled away, Noah was immediately being jumped on by a very happy Bella. The dog wagged her tail and barked happily, and Noah chuckled a bit when she nudged his stomach gently with her snout while panting up at him. Noah knew she could smell his pregnancy, and he gently petted her and tried to make her back off a bit so he and Jayden could go inside.  
  
Castiel chuckled. “Bella seems to have missed you,” he spoke as he gently pulled the dog by the collar to drag her inside.  
  
“Doesn’t she always jump on people when you open the door?” Jayden pointed out, chuckling as he entered the entrance hall with Noah and began taking off his shoes.  
  
Castiel just smiled, knowing that he was right. He watched Noah and Jayden closely as the two began taking off their shoes, and noticed Jayden’s tail touch Noah more than usual. There was something different about them, he thought, but he didn’t know what.  
  
“Is that Noah and Jayden?” came Lily’s voice from the living room. She appeared in the entrance hall and beamed when she spotted her brother and Jayden. Grinning, she came forward and pulled Noah into a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you again! We were all so happy when we heard you were coming over this weekend too.”  
  
Noah smiled and hugged her back, feeling Lily’s tail touch his leg as she greeted him. “I’m happy to see you too, Lily.”  
  
Lily pulled back and smiled at him, before going over to give Jayden a brief hug and nudge tails with him.  
  
Bella was walking around between them, but Castiel grabbed her collar to make her stop getting in the way. He didn’t want them to accidentally step on her paws, which had happened a few times before. The dog obediently sat back and whined as she looked up at Castiel, who just smiled and rubbed her behind the ears with his free hand.  
  
“Woohoo! Noah and his hottie mate are here!” Isaac cheered from the living room.  
  
Jayden laughed at that before following the others into the living room, where Isaac, Dean, Tony, and little Alec were. Kaylen was nowhere to be seen, but Noah and Jayden suspected he was in the bathroom.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Dean greeted them, coming over to hug Noah and Jayden. The two hugged him back, and Noah was glad to see his dad again. It had been a few weeks since he last saw his parents.  
  
After that, Tony came forward and hugged them too, while Isaac insisted on no hugs.  
  
Noah’s attention turned to Alec then, who had just gotten up from his seat in front of the TV and was now standing by Tony’s side and staring up at them.   
  
“Hi, Alec,” Noah greeted the boy, grinning at him.  
  
Alec grinned back. “Hi! Is you and Jayden staying?” he asked curiously.  
  
“Yes, we’re staying here until tonight,” Noah confirmed, smiling at his nephew who beamed.  
  
“Then mommy didn’t lie!”  
  
“Why would I lie?” Lily groused, looking a little offended as she stared at her son, who just grinned at her. Isaac burst out laughing behind her.  
  
“’Cause you lied ‘bout monsters eating me if I eat candy without permission, and I didn’t get eaten,” Alec said, still lingering by Tony’s side.  
  
Isaac laughed out loud. “Aw man. Looks like you gotta come up with a better way to keep him away from the delicious candy.”  
  
Lily just grumbled and looked irritated, while Tony chuckled and ruffled Alec’s hair.  
  
“But you still can’t eat it without permission,” Tony told the boy.  
  
“Yeah, your ears will fall off if you eat too much,” Dean said. “That’s why Isaac is so hard of hearing sometimes.”  
  
Alec looked horrified, while Isaac let out a loud ‘Hey!’ and glared at Dean for making that comment. The others laughed at it.  
  
They looked up when the bathroom door opened and Kaylen emerged from it. He was holding his pregnant stomach, which was heavy and swollen as he was only three months away from having the baby, and he grimaced a bit in discomfort as he walked over to them.  
  
“Are you alright?” Castiel asked, eyeing Kaylen in worry.  
  
“I’m okay. My back just hurts like a bitch,” Kaylen murmured, making his way over to them unsteadily.  
  
“Fuck, I’m glad it’s _you_ who’s carrying that baby and not me,” Isaac commented, snickering at Kaylen who sent him a dark scowl.  
  
Lily swatted Isaac on the arm, glaring at him. “Be nice! But I also think it’s best that Kaylen is the pregnant one. You’re such a sissy that you would be begging us to kill you if it were you having those pains.”  
  
“Hey!”  
  
The others laughed out loud, and Alec couldn’t stop giggling. When he saw his mother and Isaac interact it was often like the funny fights he saw on cartoons, and he thought it was kind of amusing.  
  
Kaylen went over to stand by Isaac’s side, smiling as he turned to look at Noah and Jayden. “Hi, guys.”  
  
“Hey,” Jayden greeted him with a smile, staring at Kaylen’s extended belly.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened when he saw how large Kaylen’s stomach had gotten. He hadn’t seen him for two months, and he was amazed by how much bigger his stomach was now. “Oh, wow. You’ve gotten so big.”  
  
Kaylen laughed at his words and rubbed his belly. “Yeah, I know. I feel like an inflated balloon.”  
  
“A _sexy_ inflated balloon,” Isaac purred and leaned in to nib playfully at Kaylen’s ear. The submissive demon giggled and shied away from him with a smile.  
  
“Don’t gross me out,” Dean grimaced.  
  
“Hey! You and papa always say I should be more serious and show affection, and when I do that you _still_ complain!”  
  
The others laughed and Castiel shook his head fondly at Isaac.  
  
Lily chuckled and brushed her tail against Isaac’s. “I’m still very excited to see how you’ll do as a father. I’m sure Kaylen will be a good parent, and you… You’re so childish.”  
  
Isaac groaned irritably. “You guys are supposed to _encourage me._ That was not encouraging at all.”  
  
Lily laughed fondly. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sure your kid will appreciate you being childish; childish parents are funnier to play with.”  
  
“Yeah, but just don’t teach them any of your stupid cusswords or any of your awful cooking,” Kaylen murmured, sending Isaac a small scowl.  
  
“Will you stop insulting my cooking? I cooked pasta last week and at least it tasted a bit better than a donkey’s ass, so that’s always something,” Isaac muttered.  
  
They all burst out laughing at that. Alec looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or be horrified by Isaac’s foul mouth since his parents always told him such words were bad.  
  
Castiel groaned. “Don’t compare food to such things. That’s disgusting.”  
  
“Yeah, it totally is,” Tony agreed, laughing and fondly ruffling Alec’s hair as the boy leaned against his leg.  
  
“And don’t say such words around my son,” Lily groused, giving Isaac a small slap on the leg with her tail.  
  
Jayden and Noah snickered at them, and Noah smiled when he felt Jayden step a little closer to him and tighten his tail around his leg. It was good to be with the family again, and Noah had kind of missed Lily and Isaac’s bickering. The twins were rarely together anymore, as Lily was busy with her family and Isaac was busy with his work as an actor.  
  
“Ow,” Kaylen yelped all of sudden and stared down at his stomach. He rubbed his belly gently with an uncomfortable frown on his face.  
  
“Did she kick you again?” Isaac asked, putting his hand on Kaylen’s stomach too and looked a little worried about his mate.  
  
Isaac and Kaylen had found out that they were expecting a little girl, and from the scans they could see she had both wings and a tail. So far all tests had revealed that she was healthy, so they were both very relieved about that.  
  
“Yep. She’s like you when you sleep,” Kaylen said, not taking his eyes off his belly which he stared at with a loving smile on his face when the discomfort went away.  
  
Dean laughed. “So Isaac is a kicker, huh?”  
  
“Ugh, yeah, sometimes,” Kaylen groaned. “I usually just kick him back. Preferably between the legs; that’s the most efficient way of getting rid of his habit.”  
  
“That is _not_ funny!” Isaac growled when the others laughed at Kaylen’s words.  
  
Lily laughed and reached out to ruffle Isaac’s hair. “Aww. Isaac has really found his match.”  
  
“Shut up,” Isaac muttered, shying away from her glaring at everyone as they laughed.  
  
Alec giggled at their interaction, finding it funny to see his mom and Isaac interact. The boy then walked back over to the TV, not wanting to stand there and listen to the adults talking anymore. He sat down to play with some toys while watching cartoons and Bella joined him.  
  
Noah chuckled at Isaac and couldn’t stop staring at the loving smile on Kaylen’s face as the other submissive rubbed his belly. Noah kind of couldn’t wait for his own pregnancy to show like that, but at the same time it was something he was rather nervous about too. He had always felt insecure about his body to some extent, and the thought of having pain back pains and such kind of scared him too.  
  
“So, when it is your turn to have babies?” Lily asked, turning to look at Noah and Jayden again in excitement. “I don’t mean to stress you; I’m just curious.”  
  
Dean snorted. “Let them take their time. Cas and I already have so many grandkids we could start a whole school.”  
  
Castiel bumped his wing into Dean’s kind of rudely since he didn’t approve of Dean being so wary about Noah and Jayden being parents. He knew Dean had a hard time accepting that even little Noah was grown up now.  
  
Noah smiled sheepishly at Lily’s comment and unconsciously put his hand on his stomach. Jayden let out a small, possessive growl next to him and wrapped an arm around his waist to pull him closer.  
  
“Well,” Noah started, blushing. “I, um… I’m already pregnant.” He glanced between his family members warily and in anticipation, watching as their eyes widened in surprise and shock.  
  
“No way!” Lily gasped loudly, staring wide-eyed at Noah and Jayden in disbelief.  
  
Isaac almost choked on his own spit, while Kaylen’s eyes just widened in surprise and happiness when he heard Noah’s words. Tony too looked really happy to hear the good news.  
  
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Castiel exclaimed, smiling happily after the surprise had subsided. “Congratulations!” He came over and pulled Noah into a loving hug, thrilled by the wonderful news.  
  
Noah grinned and hugged his papa back. “Thanks, papa.” He smiled when he felt Castiel hold him extra tight and place a small kiss on his cheek as he overflowed with happiness.  
  
Meanwhile Dean just stood there, frozen for a second as he let the words sink in. He seemed to be in disbelief, and he couldn’t decide if he should feel shocked or happy about the sudden news.  
  
When Castiel pulled away from Noah he cupped his cheeks with his hands, watching his son with a loving, yet kind of rueful smile. “Look at you. All grown up…”  
  
Noah smiled and leaned into his papa’s touch. He could see tears forming in Cas’ eyes, and he reached out to put a hand on Castiel’s arm, trying to reassure him. The angel responded with a soft smile and pulled him in so he could press a quick kiss to his forehead before he finally pulled away.  
  
Castiel turned to Jayden then, while Lily went forward to hug Noah next, grinning and jumping excitedly at the news.  
  
“Congratulations to you as well. I’m hoping you will take good care of them both,” Castiel told Jayden, giving him a trusting smile.  
  
Jayden smiled widely and nodded. “Of course I will. And thanks.”  
  
Castiel beamed and pulled Jayden into a hug, which the young alpha returned. Dean just twitched a bit in the background, not saying a word yet.  
  
Tony and Kaylen came over to hug and congratulate them as well, sharing hugs and smiles.  
  
“This is so awesome. Now we get to be pregnant together,” Kaylen grinned after he pulled away from the hug with Noah. His tail curled in excitement, and his eyes landed briefly on Noah’s still flat stomach before looking up at his face again with a wide smile.  
  
Noah laughed softly at his words. “Yeah, but you’ll be having your baby in three months, though. Mine is probably first due in November.”  
  
“Well, don’t look forward to the back pains. They’re a nightmare,” Kaylen chuckled.  
  
“They really are,” Lily agreed, shuddering at the unpleasant memories of her own pregnancy pains.  
  
“Woohoo! Another family baby!” Isaac cheered out loud after he had recovered from his surprise. “That’s freaking amazing! My baby bro is gonna be a mom…” He grinned excitedly at Noah who smiled at his words. “Aaaand that means that Noah and Jayden had the heat sex,” he added with an impish grin on his face.  
  
Noah blushed furiously at that, and Jayden’s cheeks turned a bit pink too as he looked away awkwardly.  
  
“Isaac!” Castiel scolded, glaring at him in outrage.  
  
“Typical Isaac,” Lily sighed, rolling her eyes.  
  
Kaylen just chuckled and watched as Noah and Jayden twitched in embarrassment.  
  
“What? Am I the only one who can’t stop thinking about someone having done the deed when I hear they’re having a baby?” Isaac asked, looking mildly surprised.  
  
Lily groaned. “Well, at least the rest of us don’t really _say it loud,_ you dumbass!”  
  
“Don’t say bad words, mommy! Bad words are bad!” Alec yelled from the floor by the TV, looking over his shoulder at her. He wasn’t really listening much to their conversation, but he had heard his mother’s loud voice when she called Isaac a dumbass.  
  
Lily looked a little surprised to be corrected by her own son, but she chuckled at her Alec’s comment. “Yeah, that’s right. Bad words are bad, and mommy is sorry for saying them out loud.”  
  
The others laughed, and Alec turned his attention back to his toys and the TV, looking pleased that his mommy knew that such words were bad. That was what she had always taught him, after all.  
  
Dean, who had been quiet until now while everyone had been congratulating the soon-to-be parents and sharing hugs, finally spoke. “So… You’re having a baby now too, huh?”   
  
His voice made everyone turn to look at him, and Noah felt Jayden tense up a bit as he was a little nervous about Dean’s reaction. Jayden knew that Dean likely wouldn’t be angry with him since he knew that the older alpha approved of him, but he worried about how Dean would feel about the situation.  
  
“Dean…” Castiel began, hoping that Dean wouldn’t go into some overprotective mode again.  
  
Dean looked between Noah and Jayden with a face that didn’t reveal anything, until suddenly his lips curled into a wide smile. “That’s pretty great news. I’m happy for you guys.”  
  
Noah blinked at his father in slight surprise. “Thanks,” he said, beaming.  
  
Dean grinned and came over to hug Noah. Noah yelped softly when his father’s hug was tight and breath-taking, but he grinned when he realized that Dean was indeed genuinely happy for him. He laughed softly when Dean pressed a kiss to his cheek before releasing him.  
  
Jayden watched the scene with a grin, but when Dean turned to face him next, he straightened up a little and felt slightly nervous again. The two alphas stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds until Dean spoke.  
  
“You _do_ know that Noah being pregnant now means that your responsibilities just got doubled, right?” Dean stared Jayden dead-serious in the face. “As an alpha and Noah’s mate, it’s your job to make sure that they are both safe and nothing bad happens to them. I’ll kick your ass to the moon if you fail to do that.”  
  
Jayden blinked at him before smirking a bit. “I believe you gave me a similar speech before. But don’t worry; I’ll protect them both with my life. I won’t let anything happen to them. Not ever.”  
  
Dean grinned and finally dragged Jayden into an embrace, patting his back in approval. “Good. And congrats on the baby, son.”  
  
Jayden grinned at the way Dean called him ‘son’ and returned the embrace. He was glad that Dean had taken the news well after all, and it felt good to have his father-in-law’s approval.  
  
Castiel rolled his eyes at Dean’s little speech, sighing helplessly at how Dean was such a protective father. He was still glad that Dean seemed happy about the news, though.   
  
The others just laughed at Dean’s words, while Noah smiled fondly as he watched Dean and Jayden hug and how approving Dean was of them having a baby together.  
  
When the hug was over, Dean patted Jayden’s shoulder before going back over to Cas. He rubbed his tail against the angel’s leg in a loving gesture. “Damn. With all these grandkids we gotta make a list of all their names, including pictures of them to keep track of who is who.”  
  
Once more Castiel rolled his eyes. “That would only be necessary to you. My memory is not that bad; I remember all their names.”  
  
“Yeah? What about when there’s twenty of them?”  
  
 _“Twenty?!”_ Isaac blurted out, gasping in horror. “That’s four kids for each of us! Damn, I don’t think I wanna have _that_ many.”  
  
“Yeah, me neither,” Kaylen agreed, chuckling.  
  
“Four is maybe a bit too much. I’d rather have two kids… Maybe three,” Lily said, looking thoughtful.  
  
Tony turned to look at Lily, looking slightly offended. “Three? You never told me you wanted more kids. You said one was enough.”  
  
Lily snickered shyly. “Well, I might have changed my mind…”  
  
“Oh god! Don’t discuss baby plans in front of the rest of us, please!” Isaac groused, looking disgusted.  
  
Lily gave Isaac a rude shove, and the others laughed at their interaction.  
  
Noah snickered at his siblings, his hand still on his stomach. Every time he put his hand there, he could feel Jayden act more protective and possessive of him, and he smiled when the alpha’s arm found its way around his waist again.  
  
“It’s really wonderful news that you are having a baby,” Castiel spoke then, smiling at Noah and Jayden. “Do your parents know anything yet?” he asked, looking at Jayden.  
  
“Yeah, we told them yesterday. We stayed the night at their house,” Jayden spoke, still holding Noah close. “They took the news well. My mom was really thrilled.”  
  
Castiel smiled. “I can imagine. It is their first grandchild, after all.”  
  
“One of _many,_ ” Isaac butted in, smirking at the two.  
  
Noah blushed and lashed out to slap his brother on the arm, and Isaac just laughed at his embarrassment.  
  
Alec finally got up from the floor again, walking over to them and leaned into Lily’s side while he stared up at everyone. He played a bit with some of his mom’s feathers as he leaned into her. “Does that mean there’s a baby in your tummy like in auntie Kaylen’s?” he asked Noah, staring up at him in wonder.  
  
Noah smiled at the boy and nodded. “Yes, there is.”  
  
Alec stared at Noah’s stomach, noting that it looked nothing like Kaylen’s. “I don’t believe that. Your tummy is small. Kaylen’s is _big._ ”  
  
“That’s because Kaylen’s baby is bigger right now. Noah’s is still very small, so you can’t see it,” Lily explained to him patiently.  
  
Alec still looked unconvinced. He had a hard time believing that a baby could be inside someone’s stomach. “I think auntie Kaylen just has gas…” he murmured.  
  
“Hey!” Kaylen protested, giving the boy a playful glare.  
  
Everyone burst out laughing – even Castiel when he heard his grandson’s ‘logical’ explanation of why Kaylen’s stomach was so big.  
  
“Well, I think you better be careful then that I don’t fart. You could get blown away,” Kaylen told Alec, smirking down at him.  
  
The horrifying look on Alec’s face made everyone laugh even louder, and the boy slowly took a few steps back while staring at Kaylen like he was dangerous. Kaylen laughed warmly at that.  
  
“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t hurt you,” Kaylen told him, smiling at Alec who looked a little less afraid now.  
  
“Promise?” the boy asked, staring up at him with a wary expression.  
  
“Yeah,” Kaylen chuckled. He reached out his hand towards Alec. “Give me high five.”  
  
Alec grinned and came over to slap his hand against Kaylen’s, giving him high five. Immediately the boy and Kaylen were good friends again, and Lily grinned as she picked up Alec and held him on her arm.  
  
“Yeah, Kaylen wouldn’t do that. And it’s Isaac’s farts you have to look out for,” Lily said, placing a kiss on Alec’s cheek. Alec laughed loudly at that.  
  
“Hey, that’s not nice!” Isaac protested loudly, glaring at his twin for saying that.  
  
The room was filled with laughter, and Noah almost felt sorry for Isaac that he got laughed at so much today. He had the feeling that his brother was used to it though, and that he wasn’t too unhappy about it.  
  
While others laughed, Dean pulled Cas close and kissed him on the temple. “What a crazy family we have,” he spoke against the angel, chuckling.  
  
Castiel smiled and nodded. “Indeed.”  
  
“I’m not crazy! I’m the only sane person here! Everyone else is just mocking me,” Isaac said, pretending to be offended as the others laughed.  
  
“Aww, I almost feel sorry for you,” Kaylen grinned, ruffling Isaac’s hair to annoy him. He laughed when Isaac grabbed his arm and held onto to it as he started to place kisses on his hand all the way up to his elbows, making Kaylen get goose bumps. Kaylen struggled half-heartedly to get free, but Isaac refused to let go, and the others laughed and watched the scene fondly.  
  
Noah enjoyed watching Isaac act like that around Kaylen. It made him happy to see that loving side of his brother, even though he was still acting childish while he was doing it. It was just Isaac’s way to show affection.  
  
  


***

  
  
The day at Dean and Castiel’s house was full of family time and laughter. They all relaxed together, forgetting about the stress of work and their daily lives.  
  
Noah and Jayden enjoyed every second of it, and Jayden still stayed close to Noah as much as he could. Even when he joined the other guys and Alec on the lawn to play ball, Jayden still kept an eye on Noah to make sure he was okay. His mate’s morning sickness lately made him quite worried and protective of him all the time.  
  
Two hours after arriving at the house, Noah felt the sickness appear again. He quickly excused himself from the conversation he was having with Lily, Kaylen, and Castiel outside on the terrace and ran into the bathroom inside to empty his stomach. Castiel and Lily followed him, while Kaylen was a bit slower to move because his pregnancy.  
  
“Are you alright?” Castiel asked as he slowly entered the bathroom when Noah was done throwing up.  
  
Noah was kneeling by the toilet, groaning miserably at the unpleasantness, before getting up and flushing the mess away. “Yeah, I’m okay.” He let his papa come over to him and help guide him over to the sink to wash his hands and mouth.  
  
Lily stood in the doorway, watching her brother in sympathy. “Morning sickness really sucks, doesn’t it? I sure as hell don’t miss it.”   
  
Kaylen finally appeared too, peeking into the room in worry. “Is he okay?”  
  
“Yes, he just felt a little sick,” Castiel explained, looking over his shoulder to give Kaylen a reassuring smile while Noah was busy washing his mouth to get rid of the nasty taste.  
  
“Ah. I’m glad I’m past that stage already,” Kaylen chuckled.  
  
“Ugh, I wish I am soon too…” Noah groaned, drying his hands and mouth once he was done.  
  
Castiel rubbed Noah’s back gently. “It should go away in a few weeks. Don’t worry.”  
  
Noah hummed in reply and reveled in his papa’s comforting touch for a few moments.  
  
They looked up when Jayden appeared in the doorway behind Lily and Kaylen, panting and sweating a bit from the soccer game he had just been playing with the other guys. He glanced over at Noah in worry. “Are you okay?”  
  
Noah smiled and nodded briefly. “Yes, I’m okay. You don’t need to check on me every time I throw up.” He rolled his eyes a bit at the alpha and chuckled fondly.  
  
“But I can’t ignore it when you’re sick,” Jayden argued gently and made his way into the bathroom. He went over to Noah and placed his hands on the submissive’s hips, leaning down to kiss him softly on the forehead.  
  
Lily chuckled at that. “Aww, Jayden is always so super-worried about you. That’s sweet.”  
  
Noah blushed a little as the others laughed softly at that, but he leaned into Jayden as the alpha held him.  
  
Castiel watched the two with a smile and slowly retreated from the room when he saw that Noah was okay now. He was no longer needed now that Jayden was there, so he went over to leave the room, gesturing at Lily and Kaylen to follow. The two left as well, casting a small smile over at Noah and Jayden first.  
  
“You’re embarrassing sometimes,” Noah commented, staring up at Jayden with a disgruntled look.  
  
Jayden chortled. “I know. Shut up,” he murmured fondly.  
  
Noah laughed and leaned forward so that his face was pressed against the alpha’s chest. Jayden wrapped his arms around him and hummed contently as they shared an embrace.  
  
They stood like that for a few moments until Noah’s phone suddenly buzzed his pocket. They pulled apart, and Noah reached down to get his phone, surprised to see Adrian calling. He picked up the call as he and Jayden left the room and went into the hallway. “Hello?”  
  
 _“Hey, Noah,”_ came Adrian’s voice on the other end.  
  
“Hi, Adrian. What is it?” Noah asked curiously, as it wasn’t so often that Adrian called him on the phone. Mostly they chatted on Skype to hear how the other was doing.  
  
 _“Is it true what Isaac told me? You’re having a baby?”_ Adrian asked quickly, a hint of excitement in his voice.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t known that Isaac had already shared the news with Adrian. “Um… Yes, that’s true.” He flared his wings sheepishly behind him.  
  
Adrian grinned on the other end. _“Oh, that’s great! And here I thought Isaac was just screwing with me when he sent me that text earlier.”_  
  
“Isaac texted you about it?”  
  
Jayden listened to the conversation quietly, holding back a chuckle.  
  
 _“Yeah. He wrote me a silly text saying that you got knocked up and had your heat-cherry popped. You know how Isaac is; you can never be sure if he’s just fooling around or not, so I wanted to hear it from you to be sure,”_ Adrian explained. _“But that’s really great,”_ he went on, sounding happy and excited. _“Can’t believe my baby brother is gonna be a mom.”_  
  
Noah grinned and twitched shyly, even though Adrian couldn’t see him. Jayden stood next to him, listening to every word, and grinned proudly as he curled his tail around Noah’s leg possessively.  
  
 _“How far along are you?”_  
  
“Um, about seven weeks,” Noah replied.  
  
 _“Oh, wow. So that means you’re having the baby around… November? Does dad know about this yet?”_  
  
“Yeah, we just told him and papa about it today. Dad took the news pretty well.”  
  
 _“So he didn’t kill Jayden then?”_ Adrian chuckled.  
  
“Nope, I’m still alive,” Jayden spoke before Noah could reply, loud enough for Adrian to hear him.  
  
Adrian laughed. _“Oh, so Jayden is listening in, huh? Well, I’m glad he didn’t get castrated.”_  
  
“Ugh, don’t even suggest that,” Jayden said, wincing at the thought alone.  
  
Noah giggled at that.  
  
Adrian laughed. _“Well, I’m happy for you, Noah. Make sure Jayden takes good care of you, yeah? And take care of yourself and the baby.”_  
  
Noah smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I will. Thanks, Adrian.”  
  
They said goodbye and hung up, and Noah couldn’t stop smiling afterwards. Jayden wrapped his arms around him from behind, moving his hands over Noah’s stomach and up under his shirt to feel skin. Noah sighed contently and lowered his wings to give Jayden more space behind him, and the alpha hummed in appreciation.  
  
“I’m glad your family is taking the news well,” Jayden spoke in a soft voice, placing a kiss on Noah’s bared neck.  
  
The submissive smiled. “Yeah. I’m also glad that yours took it well too.”  
  
Another kiss was placed on Noah’s neck.  
  
“Of course they did.”  
  
Noah smiled and closed his eyes as Jayden embraced him from behind and touched his stomach with possessive, gentle hands.   
  
They stood there and shared a blissful moment until Noah’s phone buzzed once more.  
  
Noah groaned and reached down to grab his phone and look at it, seeing it was Eden calling this time.  
  
Jayden laughed and pulled away. “Seems like Isaac already told your entire family about our baby.”  
  
“Yeah…” Noah grunted, before accepting the call. “Hello, Eden.”  
  
 _“Noah!”_ Eden grinned on the other end, sounding overly excited. _“Please,_ please, _tell me that Isaac isn’t screwing with me! Are you really pregnant?”_  
  
Noah chuckled softly and shifted on his feet. “Yes, I am…”  
  
Eden squealed in excitement, and Jayden laughed when he could hear it.  
  
 _“Oh my god, that’s so great!”_ Eden cheered. _“I knew you guys would be taking that step soon. You’re gonna get so much baby stuff for your birthday now! And papa, Lily and I gotta take both you and Kaylen on shopping trips to help you buy stuff for your babies. I’m so excited!”_  
  
Noah grinned. “That sounds nice. I really don’t know half the things I have to buy before the baby arrives.”  
  
 _“Do you know yet when the baby is due?”_  
  
“No… I, um, haven’t gone to see Charlie yet. But I think it’ll be in November.” Noah blushed a little since he knew that Eden knew that he was making those calculations from when he had been in heat and then nine months forward.  
  
 _“Well, you better go see her soon. And start taking extra vitamins.”_  
  
“I know. Jayden’s already made me take them…” Noah said, glancing at Jayden who was still standing next to him.  
  
Jayden had gone to buy Noah prenatal vitamins just after his heat had ended. Such vitamins should be taken before and during the pregnancy, and Jayden had thought that Noah should better start taking them right away. He had gone all mother-hen on Noah lately, and the submissive thought it was kind of cute.  
  
 _“Oh, Jayden is quite obsessed with making sure you and the baby are gonna be okay, isn’t he?”_ Eden chuckled. _“I always knew he would be protective once you got pregnant.”_  
  
Jayden scratched the back of his neck sheepishly even though Eden couldn’t see him, and Noah couldn’t help but chuckle.  
  
 _“Well, I’m happy to hear the good news, Noah. Hope we see each other soon. I gotta run now, though – Luna and her friend are making a wreck of her room from what I can hear, and Jason isn’t home. Talk to you later, okay? And greet Jayden from me!”_  
  
“Okay, I will. Bye,” Noah chuckled and hung up.  
  
“I wonder if anyone else will call,” Jayden said, smirking.  
  
“I don’t know. My grandparents might, if Isaac told them too…” Noah murmured as he put his phone back into his pocket.  
  
“We’ll see,” Jayden spoke, stepping closer to Noah again and leaned down for a kiss. The kiss was soft but intimate, and Noah moaned when the alpha played a bit with his bottom lip and gently chewed on it.  
  
The moment was interrupted when Isaac burst in through the terrace door. “Busted!” he shouted out, laughing like an idiot at them when they pulled apart in shock.  
  
Noah groaned at his annoying brother. “We weren’t doing anything illegal…”  
  
Isaac just grinned before asking, “Has your phone been buzzing non-stop yet, Noah?” He smirked knowingly at Noah, who shot his brother an annoyed look just as Kaylen came in through the door.  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes at Isaac and reached out his hand as he approached him from behind. He put his hand directly over Isaac’s smug face and used it to push him back, causing Isaac to mutter a muffled protest against his hand. “Stop being such a jerk. You should have let him tell the news himself,” Kaylen groused, shooting Isaac a glare before making his way towards the bathroom.  
  
“I was just sharing the happiness,” Isaac pouted.  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at that.  
  
Kaylen smiled at Noah as he passed him and brushed his tail briefly against his leg before going into the bathroom. “The baby is kicking my bladder. Be right back,” he murmured as he went into the bathroom and closed and locked the door, sounding irritated.  
  
Noah laughed softly but couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Kaylen that he had to visit the bathroom so often.  
  
“Be glad it’s not your lungs she’s kicking at! But she can’t take your breath away the way I can anyway,” Isaac shouted cockily, and laughed when he heard Kaylen’s muffled voice saying ‘shut up’ from behind the door.  
  
“God, I really hope you change even just a little bit when your baby is born,” Jayden said, chuckling at Isaac.  
  
Isaac just snorted at that. “Never. Changing is no fun.”  
  
Jayden laughed, and Noah rolled his eyes fondly at Isaac before they all went outside on the terrace again.  
  
They spent the rest of the day with the family. Lily told Noah and Kaylen a bit about her own pregnancy with Alec to let them know what she had gone through in order to reassure them about things. Castiel too gave them some advice and stuff.  
  
Dean was in a good mood as well. Jayden found him patting his shoulders quite often that day, and Dean seemed to be happy all the time. Dean also nudged his tail against Noah’s legs a few times when he passed him, more often than normally. Noah was glad that his father was happy for him and Jayden, but he could still sense that the news was a little hard on Dean as well. Accepting that Noah was growing up had always been difficult for him, but he was coping.  
  
To Noah it was quite exciting to have that little life growing inside him, and he was curious to see what the baby would look like. For now, he was just happy that his family had taken the news well and that he had Jayden by his side to help him through everything that waited ahead.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m very sorry for letting you guys wait again. Life’s keeping me busy and my beta has been busy too. She hasn’t had time to go through everything, so if you find it any mistakes feel welcome to point them out to me so I can correct them :) Also, I should probably mention that I’m going on a 10-day vacation soon. I’m leaving on Friday next week and coming home on the 13th October, so I won’t be able to write or update during that time. I will try my best to finish chapter 15 before I leave so that I can have it up before next Friday, and then hopefully I will be able to update soon after I come home again. I’m so sorry for all the waiting! I like to update regularly and not let my readers wait too much, but life is such a bitch sometimes. After my vacation I should have more time to write, so hopefully I should be able to update faster then.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed the long chapter! :) Thank you for reading.


	15. Chapter 15

**April 2049 (Noah is 22 (almost 23), Jayden is 24 (almost 25), Kaylen is 24 years old).**  
  
The sound of the alarm clock going off woke Jayden and Noah from their peaceful sleep.  
  
Jayden let out a disgruntled groan and quickly turned over on his side to reach out his hand and kill the noise. His hand slammed down pretty hard on the offending source of the noise, effectively turning off the alarm. He let out a deep sigh of satisfaction at the silence and slumped his sleepy head back down on his pillow. It took him some effort to move his arm over to the nightstand again to turn on the lamp, which was to make sure that the light would keep him awake and not let him fall back to sleep.  
  
Behind him, Noah grunted and shifted irritably as his sleep got disturbed. He curled up into fetal position and wrapped the blanket and his wings tightly around himself, trying to go back to sleep.  
  
It was only 6:30am and Jayden had the day off, whereas Noah had to be at work at 8am. The kindergarten was open from 8am-5:30pm during the week and closed at 4pm on Fridays. The kids only had classes for about six hours a day, but they could stay until 5:30 while their parents were at work. Noah didn’t work the whole day, as he only had a 37-hour work week, so sometimes he arrived later or left earlier. Jayden was working 37-43 hours a week and his schedule was always shifting, so he sometimes wasn’t home before midnight because the restaurant was open 11am-11pm all days a week.  
  
After two minutes of snoozing, Jayden finally turned around. The bed shifted and creaked softly as he turned and as his wings smacked against the mattress when he lay down on his right side so that he was facing Noah. He smiled when he saw his mate all wrapped up in the blanket and trying to keep sleeping.  
  
“Hey, wake up. You have work today,” Jayden spoke with a soft chuckle. His voice was gruff and hoarse from sleep, and he gently tugged at Noah’s blanket to wake him up.  
  
Noah let out a disgruntled growl and grabbed the blanket so that Jayden couldn’t rip it off him. He curled up even more.  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at how Noah was so difficult to wake up sometimes. He reached out and shook the submissive gently, until Noah groaned in annoyance and rolled over onto his back.  
  
Noah seemed to finally be awake, but he was still lazy and tired and made no move to get up. The blanket rolled down a bit, making his naked chest visible to Jayden, who stared at the pink nipples that were revealed to him. Jayden was completely naked under the covers, where Noah was just wearing a pair of pink silken panties.  
  
The alpha inched closer to Noah, who moved his wing tighter against his body to give him space. Jayden hummed and leaned in to press a kiss to Noah’s shoulder, before then gently snaking his hand under the covers and moved it down towards Noah’s belly. He touched the skin gently, and Noah purred softly at the gesture and leaned into his touch.  
  
All of sudden, Jayden froze. Noah blinked his eyes open to look at him in confusion, and watched as Jayden sat up a bit so that he was supporting himself on his right arm. The alpha pulled the blanket away and placed his left hand on Noah’s stomach again, staring at it with wide eyes.  
  
“Holy shit, I can feel it,” Jayden spoke, staring at Noah’s stomach in amazement. He moved his hand over the spot again, feeling the tiny bump that hadn’t been there before.  
  
Noah was nine weeks pregnant, so it was normal that the pregnancy would start to be noticeable in his thin body by now.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened and he immediately reached down to touch his stomach as well. Jayden moved his hand away so that Noah could try feeling it too, and he gasped when he noticed that Jayden was right. There was definitely a small bump there – something Noah had been waiting to appear for the past two and a half weeks now since he learned that he was pregnant.  
  
“That’s amazing,” Jayden grinned, excitedly rubbing his hand over Noah’s belly again. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice this earlier. I mustn’t have been paying enough attention to it.”  
  
Noah grinned too, feeling their bond flare with mutual happiness. “Yeah, me too.” He moved his hand over the small bulge in amazement, almost unable to pull his hand away.  
  
Jayden leaned down and pressed a loving kiss to Noah’s stomach, just where the bump was. Noah smiled and lay back to give him space, purring as the alpha kissed his belly and rubbed it with affection.  
  
“Just on time for our first scan today,” Jayden said, and sat back up to stare down at Noah.  
  
They had an appointment with Charlie today at 3:35pm, and Jayden would drive Noah to work and then pick him up later so they could go. Noah had to take an hour off work for it, but his boss hadn’t minded it when he told her about it. She was quite excited for him that he was going to have his first ultrasound scan.  
  
Noah just grinned and rubbed his stomach again now that Jayden’s hand was gone. “I’m excited to see our baby on the scan. It’ll be our first picture of him or her…”  
  
“Yeah, I’m super excited as well. I hope everything is fine with the baby and that it’s healthy.”  
  
“Me too.”  
  
The last thing Noah wanted was for his child to be sick in some way. He wanted the best for it, and he didn’t want the racists to have another reason to talk bad about angel/human hybrids and their offspring if something turned out to be wrong with the baby.  
  
Jayden sensed the sudden change in Noah’s expression when the thoughts of their baby’s health rolled across his mind. He smiled softly at Noah and settled down on top of him, his legs framing Noah’s hips and his hands placed on either side of Noah’s head to support him as he leaned over him.  
  
“Hey, don’t think so much about it. Our baby is going to be fine, I promise. With such a beautiful mother and awesome father, how can it not be healthy?”  
  
Noah laughed softly, his body vibrating with it. “True.”  
  
Jayden grinned wickedly at him before leaning down for a kiss. He hummed as he moved his lips softly against Noah’s, tasting him and feeling the shape of his pretty, pink lips. Noah moaned and let Jayden control the kiss, shuddering when the alpha bit gently at his bottom lip.  
  
The kiss continued, as neither really wanted to pull away, and Jayden leaned down so that his body was right on top of Noah’s. His dick poked against Noah’s thigh, but it was only half-hard so far. Noah was barely hard too, and Jayden could feel his mate’s silken panties touch his stomach during their kiss.  
  
They kissed for what felt like ages, and the two enjoyed every second of it. It wasn’t a dirty kiss, so their bodies didn’t respond with much arousal. It was just an exchange of love and devotion that made their bond feel stronger, and they couldn’t pull away from the mesmerizing moment.  
  
The alpha grinded himself softly against Noah and moved a hand through the light grey feathers. Noah moaned in response and reached up to grasp Jayden’s hair, purring into their kiss when he felt his mate’s loving hand touch his wing. The kiss made them both pant for breath, but it was hard to pull their lips apart. It was a moment that neither of them wanted to end.  
  
Realizing that the kiss had lasted really long already, Noah pulled back with a gasp and stared wide-eyed at Jayden, whose lips where just as red and swollen from kissing as his own were.  
  
“I… Shit, I have work!” Noah exclaimed in horror. He scrambled to get up, almost bumping heads with Jayden as he shot up fast and looked over to the bedside table to see what the time was. It was 6:49 already. “Shoot!” he cursed, clumsily getting off the bed to go get dressed.  
  
Jayden sat back and laughed at his mate. “You’re so cute when you curse,” he chuckled, shooting Noah an amused look.  
  
Noah grumbled and hastily pulled on a fresh pair of pants, jumping around on one leg and almost couldn’t get his leg through the hole because of his hurry. “It isn’t funny!”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Relax. There’s over an hour until you have to be at work.”  
  
“But I have to make lunch, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, and then drive in the car for twenty-five minutes!”  
  
“I’ll drive you. And I’ll do your lunch for you while you eat breakfast, so don’t worry.”  
  
“Oh. Thanks…”  
  
Jayden smiled. He then got up from the bed and went over to Noah to help him put on his shirt next and button it below his wings for him. He was still butt-naked, but he didn’t really care about that. It was warm in their bedroom anyway.  
  
Noah, however, couldn’t help but blush a little when he saw his alpha’s half-hard dick, which was slowly turning soft again. He turned around to face Jayden with his back, letting the alpha do the buttons for him.  
  
“Hurry up, please,” Noah said when he felt Jayden take his time.  
  
Jayden chortled. “Don’t be so bossy.”  
  
Noah grunted in annoyance, and as soon as Jayden was done buttoning his shirt for him, he rushed out of the room to use the bathroom and then go have breakfast.  
  
Jayden pulled on some clothes as well before joining Noah in the kitchen a few minutes later. He started making Noah’s lunch while the submissive sat down by the table and poured up some choco cereal. Jayden raised his eyebrow at that.  
  
“Choco cereal? Really? That stuff is for kids.”  
  
Noah sent him a small scowl while eating his cereal in a fast pace. “So what? I feel like eating it lately, so I bought some.”  
  
“Having cravings already?” Jayden teased, smirking at him while fixing Noah’s lunch with skilled hands.  
  
“You can have cravings without being pregnant… So I’m not sure it’s that type of craving,” Noah murmured, slurping some of the delicious milk with cocoa taste in it before going for the cereals again.  
  
“Don’t eat too much. It makes you throw up,” Jayden warned him gently.  
  
Noah whined. “But I’m so hungry.”  
  
Jayden chuckled and shook his head fondly when he saw Noah continue to consume more cereal and slurp the milk from the spoon.  
  


 

***

  
  
After breakfast Jayden drove Noah to work. He dropped him off and headed to the gym afterwards, planning to spend a few hours there to work out.  
  
Noah spent the day at the kindergarten with his colleagues and with the kids. He enjoyed teaching them and helping them process and train all the new stuff they were learning.  
  
“Is there really a baby in your tummy?” asked Kimberly, a human girl that Noah was helping during the class. He was standing next to her while helping her a bit on the group task the kids had been given. The kids had to link words to the correct pictures, and some of them found it a bit difficult so he and his colleague Kia went around to help the 30 children in the classroom.  
  
Noah blinked at Kimberly who stared back at him curiously. The angel girl sitting next to her seemed curious too, and a few others at the nearby tables listened in as well.  
  
“Who told you that?” Noah asked, surprised. The kids didn’t really know about his pregnancy; only his boss and his eight colleagues knew about it.  
  
“Kia did. She says that you’re gonna have a baby and that it’s inside your tummy now,” Kimberly replied, staring at Noah’s stomach in disbelief.  
  
“No way!” exclaimed a human boy at the table behind them. “No baby can fit in there!”  
  
A few of the other kids around them agreed and stared between each other and Noah with a puzzled look, not understanding how it was possible. Meanwhile, Kia was busy helping some children in the other end of the classroom and couldn’t hear what they were talking about.  
  
Noah blushed lightly and leaned away to straighten up awkwardly. “Um, well I do have a baby in my stomach. It’s just not that big yet, so you can’t see it. It’ll grow bigger when a few months pass.”  
  
The children gasped incredulously and stared at Noah like they were trying to figure him out. They still looked very unconvinced, except for a demon boy named Marcus, who was sitting at the table in front of Kimberly.  
  
“That’s just like my mom. She also has a baby in her tummy, and she’s _big,_ ” Marcus said.  
  
“Is that really why her tummy is so big?” asked one of the girls, staring at him with her jaw dropped in amazement.  
  
Marcus nodded. “Yeah, I’m gonna have a baby sister.”  
  
“Aww!” Kimberly and her angel friend exclaimed, giggling.  
  
“I also want a sister!” the angel girl said in a jealous tone.  
  
Noah laughed softly at them before looking at the boy. “That’s nice that you’re having a little sister, Marcus. Congratulations.”  
  
Marcus grinned and looked proud at the prospect of being a big brother.  
  
“But you have to focus on your group task again. It has to be done in twenty minutes,” Noah spoke, switching the topic when he realized they were having too much small talk.  
  
“Nooo! It’s so difficult! Please help!” Kimberly pleaded, tugging at Noah’s sleeve as she begged.  
  
“I’ll help you a bit, but you have to figure the rest out yourself,” Noah said, smiling.  
  
Kimberly and her friend groaned, but soon got back to work after Noah had given them a small hint about what the word on their paper was saying. Now they just had to link it to the right picture.  
  
Noah and Kia walked around the classroom to check on the kids as they finished up the task. Sometimes there were two teachers to teach and supervise the kids in each classroom, and sometimes there was only one. The kindergarten had nine teachers and 126 children, and the kids switched between learning and playing outside during the day. Noah was teaching them how to read, write, do easy math, and had some of them for art class as well, while some of the other teachers were responsible for the gym classes as well. The kids spent five to six hours a day learning, and the remaining 3-4 hours of their day in the kindergarten were spent playing until their parents came to pick them up.  
  
“You look excited,” Kia said when she and Noah ran into each other while circling the busy children. She kept her voice a bit down to not disturb the kids’ concentration as they were all busy solving their tasks. “You have an unusual smile on your face today. Is it something about the baby?” she asked, smiling as she shifted her gaze to Noah’s stomach. Kia was a dark-haired female angel with white/grey wings, and she was four years older than Noah. She had two small children of her own – twin boys.  
  
Noah was a little surprised that his colleague had noticed his excitement. “Um, well, we’re going to see my ob/gyn today and have the first scan taken…”  
  
Kia’s eyes widened. “Oh, the first scan? That’s nice! Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”  
  
A small frown appeared on Noah’s face. “I didn’t? Hmm, I guess you weren’t in the room this morning when I told you guys that I was leaving earlier today.”  
  
“Must have been when I went out for a bit. But that’s exciting! Have you started to show yet?”  
  
“A little bit. Jayden and I noticed a small bump this morning.” Noah smiled and placed a hand on his stomach. He was very excited that he could finally feel and see the signs of the baby inside him. He still struggled with morning sickness though, and he had already been sick once that morning just after he arrived at work.  
  
“Now it’s starting to feel real, huh?” Kia grinned and nudged Noah gently.  
  
Noah grinned back, but the two parted ways again when some of the kids called for help once more. The assignment had some more advanced words on them, so Noah wasn’t surprised that some of the children found it a bit difficult to solve the task.  
  


 

***

  
  
At 3pm Noah was waiting for Jayden to drop by to pick him up so they could go to Charlie’s clinic for their appointment.  
  
He and the other teachers were gathered in the kindergarten’s eating room, which was a large room with several long tables in it for the children to eat at. The kids were eating an afternoon snack consisting of fruits and a few vegetables. The kindergarten was kind of strict when it came to having the children eat something healthy at least once a day, so all children had to have fruit or vegetables with them.  
  
They were all eating and talking, and the teachers sat with them at the long tables to make sure everyone ate their food and behaved well. The boys had gathered mostly by the tables were the two male teachers were sitting, as many of them found the male teachers to be more fun than the female ones. Six of the kindergarten’s teachers were female and three of them were 40+ years old. Noah was the youngest of the teachers in the kindergarten.  
  
Since it was a mixed-species kindergarten there were humans, demons, angels, and hybrids there, all sitting in mixed groups with their closest friends. Boys and girls were mixed, but there weren’t any submissive children in the kindergarten at the moment.  
  
“You’re coming with us on da trip tomorrow, right?” Millie asked as she sat beside Noah at one of the long tables. Millie was one of the kids who adored Noah the most, and she always wanted to sit with him when they were eating. Some of the other kids thought it was annoying since they also wanted to sit near him, so sometimes Noah had to tell her that it was one of the other children’s turn. Millie mostly sulked because of that, but she always listened to what Noah said.  
  
Noah smiled down at her. He had already eaten the apple he had brought with him today, and he was ready to leave as soon as Jayden arrived to get him. “Yeah, I’m coming with you guys. Are you excited?”  
  
Tomorrow they were taking some of the kids on a small walk around the neighborhood and to spend time in a nearby park for a couple of hours to play and do some teambuilding exercises. The rest of the kids would get to go another day, as there were too many children for the teachers to take out on a walk at the same time. It was difficult to keep track of each child when the group was too large, and the playground would easily get overrun by children if they all went there.  
  
Millie nodded and grinned eagerly. “Yeah!”  
  
“But why do I first get to go on Friday?” one of the other girls murmured, poking sulkily at her food.  
  
“Because we can’t take you all at once; you’re too many. You know that, Maria,” Noah told her softly.  
  
Maria continued to sulk a bit, as did the others who weren’t going tomorrow either. The rest of them just continued to eat and talk, and seemed glad that the classes were over for today. Some of the children were less good at talking than others, but the other children usually didn’t make fun of them. It happened a few times that some would, but the teachers would immediately take affair in that case. Mocking and teasing was not tolerated.  
  
Noah continued to sit with them and listen to the kids telling him about some new toys they had gotten, about their pets or siblings at home, or something they had watched on TV. He enjoyed interacting with them, and sometimes they would say the silliest things that just made him laugh. He kept an eye on his phone the whole time, waiting impatiently for Jayden to text or call him and tell him that he had arrived to pick him up.  
  
Suddenly the children at the table looked up and stared at something behind Noah, so he turned around to see what they were staring at. He was mildly surprised to see Jayden walking over to him and smiling when their eyes met.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden greeted him with a smile before looking at all the children that were sitting with Noah. “Hi, kids.”  
  
Some of the children cheered out a happy ‘Hi!’, and Noah’s colleagues greeted Jayden back when he turned to say hi to them as well.  
  
Noah was a little surprised to see his mate, since Jayden didn’t usually enter the kindergarten to pick him up. It wasn’t often that Jayden came by the kindergarten anyway. It was usually Noah who was off work earlier than him, and he mostly drove to work by himself when Jayden had a day off during the week.  
  
“Thought I’d come in and get you,” Jayden told Noah when he saw his mate’s surprised face. He was standing behind him and smiled when the kids all stared at him curiously.  
  
“Oh,” Noah said dumbly, before getting up from the table and grabbed the empty plastic bag his fruit had been in. “I, um, I’m ready,” he spoke after he got up, looking up at Jayden with a soft smile. The alpha smiled back and touched Noah’s leg with his tail.  
  
“Who’s he?” one of the demon girls asked. She stared at Jayden with a curious tilt of her head.  
  
“Yeah, who is he?” asked one of the others.  
  
Most of the kids had never seen Jayden before and had no clue who he was. Only Millie knew him, as she had met him and Noah outside the kindergarten with her parents once.  
  
Noah chuckled at everyone’s curious faces and turned to look at the girls who had asked him that question. “This is Jayden. He’s my mate.”  
  
The kids gasped and stared between Noah and Jayden in amazement. Some of them didn’t even know that Noah had a mate, so they were very surprised by that.  
  
“But he’s so big!” the demon girl exclaimed, her eyes shifting between looking at Noah and then at Jayden, noting how different their build was.  
  
Jayden’s height and muscular build seemed to surprise most of the kids, especially when they saw him and Noah standing next to each other. Their body types were so different, and Noah looked rather small compared to the alpha demon.  
  
Noah’s colleague Clara laughed from the other table. “That’s because he’s an alpha. Alphas are big when they grow up.”  
  
Jayden chuckled as the kids continued to stare at him and Noah in fascination.  
  
Noah’s human boss, Elizabeth, got up from the table where she was sitting with some of the kids and went over to Noah and Jayden. She smiled at Jayden and looked him up and down for a moment. “I don’t think I’ve had the opportunity to congratulate you on the baby yet, so congratulations. I hope your first scan goes well,” she said, reaching out her to shake Jayden’s.  
  
Jayden smiled and accepted the handshake. “Thanks.” He had only met Noah’s boss twice before and he hadn’t seen her since before Noah got pregnant.  
  
“Yeah, good luck today. Remember to show us the pictures!” Kia grinned from one of the other tables.  
  
“Yep. We’re curious to see!” Clara smiled.  
  
Noah smiled widely and leaned a bit into Jayden. “Thanks. I will.”  
  
Noah’s two male colleagues and the older female teachers weren’t that close with Noah, but they still smiled at him. However, they were quickly distracted when a group of boys started fighting at one of the tables, as two of them had apparently thrown their food at another boy. The boys screamed and yelled, and one of them was crying, so the teachers had to pull them apart and have them apologize to one another. Elizabeth excused herself as she went over to assist the other teachers.  
  
Noah cringed a little when he saw that the human boy who was crying was one of the kids he liked a lot and tried to give extra attention, since he had trouble with the other kids and with the stuff he was learning. His colleagues had the situation under control though, and the boy – Tristan – was being comforted by one of the male teachers whom he was pretty close with.  
  
The commotion distracted a few of the other kids, but they soon went back to eating their late lunch.  
  
“Wow. This is a real kindergarten,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Noah poked him lightly in the side with his elbow for making such a stupid joke. The alpha just laughed.  
  
“Shall we?” Jayden asked Noah, grabbing his hand gently.  
  
Noah smiled and nodded, before turning to say goodbye to his colleagues and the kids. Kia, Clara, and some of the kids waved at him and yelled goodbye, and Noah checked one more time that Tristan was okay before he followed Jayden out of the kindergarten and grabbed his bag on the way out.  
  
Once they were outside they headed over to the car, ready to drive off to Charlie’s clinic. The sun was shining in their faces as they walked across the gravel-covered parking lot, and the temperature was nice and warm.  
  
“The kids seem very nice. And awfully curious,” Jayden chuckled as they walked over to the car. “Well, except for those boys causing trouble…”  
  
“There are a few who have been raised to think they can do whatever they want… It’s just bad parenting,” Noah murmured.  
  
“True. But the other kids really seem to like you, though. They were talking so eagerly to you before you noticed me coming in.” Jayden smiled and wrapped an arm around Noah’s waist, but let go when they reached the car and went around to either side of it to get in.  
  
Noah smiled and twitched his wings a bit in a happy gesture, before getting into the car with Jayden. They got settled and buckled their seatbelts, ready to drive off.  
  
Jayden paused and stared at Noah as the submissive buckled up. “Wearing a seatbelt is not bad for the baby, is it?”  
  
Noah turned his head to look at him, surprised by the odd question. “Uh, I don’t think so. Eden and Lily had seatbelts on too when they were pregnant,” he pointed out, pondering for a bit.  
  
“Right…” Jayden turned to look out the windshield again and started the car. The engine roared to life and made the car vibrate as it rumbled.  
  
Noah eyed Jayden for a few seconds and giggled softly. “You don’t have to worry so much about me and the baby all the time. Wearing a seatbelt is not going to make me lose the baby.”  
  
Jayden pulled the car out of the parking lot and turned his head to give Noah a brief scowl. “Well, I haven’t tried this before, okay? I don’t know what’s good and what’s bad for you. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to our baby.”  
  
Noah chuckled softly at him. “I know. I’m new to this too.” He put a hand on the tiny bulge on his stomach and rubbed it gently, staring at it with a loving smile.  
  
Jayden stared at him with a soft smile for a second before keeping an eye on the road again. “Have you been sick today?” he asked as he pulled the car out on the main road, which was full of cars and cyclists.  
  
“Yeah… In the morning before the teaching started. But it wasn’t so bad. It just kinda sucks…”  
  
The alpha cringed in sympathy and reached out his tail to touch Noah’s leg. “It’ll be okay. It should go away soon.”  
  
Noah let out a small sigh and leaned back into the seat. “I hope so.”  
  


 

***

  
  
When they arrived at Charlie’s clinic they took a seat in the waiting room together. There were two human women in the waiting room as well – one was about four months pregnant and the other seemed to be just about ready to give birth already.  
  
Noah stared a bit at the blonde woman who was heavily pregnant. She was shifting and groaning in discomfort, and eventually she got up from her seat to support herself against the wall while putting a hand on her back. It was clear that she was having horrible back pains, and her husband tried to soothe her and looked quite distressed that his wife was suffering.  
  
Seeing the woman having pains made Noah a little scared. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to experience the same kind of pain once his belly grew big and round.  
  
Jayden picked up on his mate’s worries and reached out to grab his hand as they sat next to each other in the waiting room. He gave Noah’s smaller hand a firm squeeze and offered him a soft smile, and soon he felt Noah begin to calm down a little.  
  
Five minutes later Charlie appeared and called them inside. She beamed at them both when they came over and shook her hand, before she guided them into the clinic room and shut the door after them.  
  
“So now it’s finally your turn to have a baby too, huh, Noah?” Charlie grinned as she gestured for them both to take a seat by her desk. She sat down on the other side by her computer, but her eyes remained on them as she smiled.  
  
Charlie was over 60 years old by now, but she still enjoyed her job very much. Her hair had gotten grey and her face had wrinkles, but her spirit was the same as always.  
  
Noah shifted shyly in the chair, his lips twitching into a smile. “Yeah. I should be nine weeks pregnant now.”  
  
Jayden’s tail curled itself around Noah’s leg, and Charlie chuckled in amusement when she saw it.  
  
“Wow, nine weeks already? Been having morning sickness yet?” Charlie asked.  
  
Noah nodded. “Yeah…”  
  
“You don’t sound too happy about that,” Charlie chuckled. “I don’t blame you, though. Morning sickness is a thing that none of us want to have.” She typed in a few things on the computer before turning to look at them again. “Okay, then. Let’s go have that scan, shall we? You must be dying to see your little cutie already, am I right?” She grinned at them as she got up and gestured at them to follow her over to the patient bed.  
  
Jayden laughed softly as he and Noah got up to follow her. “Yeah, we’re both pretty excited about that.”  
  
Charlie grinned and gestured at Noah to lie down on the bed. “Well, I’m excited for you as well. It’s always special when one of the babies I helped bring into this world is having a baby of their own. And you, Noah, were such a cutie when you were little.”  
  
Noah blushed a bit and tried to get comfortable on the stiff bed. His wings were shaking slightly in anticipation and because he was a little nervous. He had never really liked seeing a doctor much, but he liked Charlie a lot.  
  
“I can imagine,” Jayden chuckled, looking at Noah with a fond smile as he reached out to take his hand. He was sitting on the chair beside the bed, eager for Charlie to start the scan soon. Noah looked a little sheepish, which made Jayden chuckle softly.  
  
“Did you tell your parents about your baby yet?” Charlie asked as she got the machine and equipment ready.  
  
“Yeah, we told them two weeks ago,” Noah answered. He squeezed Jayden’s hand a little while his right hand was on his stomach, rubbing it nervously with the tips of his fingers.  
  
“I bet Castiel must have been bursting with joy,” Charlie grinned. “And how about Dean? He didn’t castrate Jayden when he got the news, did he?” She cast a wary glance at Jayden.  
  
Jayden laughed a little. “No, he didn’t. But he did give me a little speech.”  
  
Charlie laughed. “Typical Dean, isn’t it?”  
  
Noah chuckled, feeling more comfortable about the whole situation now. “It wasn’t so bad. I think they were both really happy when we told them the news.”  
  
Charlie smiled at that. She grabbed the ultrasound scan tool and got some gel ready to pour on Noah’s belly soon. “All your siblings have kids now, don’t they? I think Castiel told me a few months ago when he was here last time that Isaac is also having a baby? Well, his mate is having the baby, obviously. I’m pretty sure Isaac was a male when he was born,” she chuckled.  
  
Noah laughed. “Yeah, his mate Kaylen is giving birth in late June.”  
  
“Wow, look at that. Dean and Castiel are gonna drown in grandbabies soon.”  
  
Jayden chuckled at that and brought Noah’s hand up to his mouth to press a kiss to it. The submissive blushed since Charlie was watching them, but Jayden didn’t really care that there was someone else in the room. He was happy and excited, and he wanted to show his mate some affection.  
  
“Now, roll up your shirt so your stomach is exposed,” Charlie told Noah. “Then I’ll pour some gel on it, which is gonna feel pretty cold, and then I’ll perform the scan on you.”  
  
Noah nodded and did as instructed. He rolled up his shirt, feeling cold air hit his naked skin underneath. He had never liked showing too much skin in front of others, and he felt awfully self-aware now that his stomach had a small bump because of the baby. He could feel both Jayden and Charlie looking at it.  
  
“Oh, you’re already starting to show a little. That’s a good sign,” Charlie smiled as she started rubbing the cold gel over Noah’s belly.  
  
Noah gasped at the coldness as Charlie put the gel on him and his body jerked because of it. Jayden chuckled softly and continued to hold his hand, and Noah shot him a small scowl for finding it funny.  
  
Finally Charlie began the scan. She moved the tool over Noah’s stomach and kept her eyes on the screen.  
  
Noah and Jayden both stared at the screen as well, squinting their eyes at the almost uninterpretable image. It was difficult to make out what was what, but when they saw the small shape inside the black mass they both squeezed the other’s hand tightly and held their breath.  
  
“There it is,” Charlie grinned. “Still very small, but definitely there.” She pointed at the screen where the baby was. You could make out the developing shape of the body, head, and the limps, but it was difficult for untrained eyes to see all the details.  
  
Noah couldn’t stop staring at it in amazement. Seeing that little figure on the screen was an overwhelming experience, and his heart clenched in happiness when he saw the little shape squirm slightly on the screen.  
  
Jayden grinned and leaned closer to see. “Does it look normal?” he asked, praying that everything was the way it should be.  
  
“Yep, everything looks normal so far. The fetus looks like it should at nine weeks. And I can tell you that you’re only having one baby; there are no signs of multiples.”  
  
Noah let out a relieved sigh when he heard that. He really didn’t want to have more than one baby when he was going through pregnancy for the first time. Castiel had always said that his pregnancy with the twins was the hardest, and Noah didn’t want to go through that when he hadn’t tried having a baby before.  
  
Jayden was grinning like an idiot now. Their baby looked normal so far and they were watching it for the first time on the screen. Although it was just a tiny thing that wasn’t fully developed yet, they were still seeing their baby. Jayden was bursting with joy, and he brought Noah’s hand up to his mouth once more to press another kiss to it.  
  
Noah smiled at Jayden’s gesture and held his hand tightly, before turning his head to look at the screen again. Their baby was right there for them to see. The tiny, little life they had created together and which was now growing inside Noah. Noah almost got tears in his eyes when staring at the image, and both Jayden and Charlie picked up on that.  
  
“It’s exciting, isn’t it?” Charlie asked, smiling at Noah.  
  
Noah nodded, not taking his eyes off the image of his baby. “Yeah, it’s…” He trailed off when he felt his voice crack a little.  
  
Jayden smiled and pressed more kisses to Noah’s hand, which he was holding between his own hands now.  
  
“I can’t tell you yet whether it’s a boy or a girl,” Charlie spoke. “It’s hard to tell the gender during the first trimester – I can first really be able to tell it by week 20.”  
  
Jayden nodded. “That’s okay. We can wait for a while, I think.” He looked at Noah who nodded in agreement.  
  
Charlie smiled at that and looked at the screen again, inspecting the baby. “But I do see signs of wings in development – which is no surprise since neither of you have human genes, so your children would of course have wings. And as for a tail… I can’t really see anything so far, but that’s because tails are very small when the fetus is so young, so it could still be there. I should be able to tell next time you come by for a scan.”  
  
“That would be great,” Jayden smiled.  
  
Noah nodded at Charlie’s words, feeling too overwhelmed to say anything right now.  
  
“Do you have a due date for us?” Jayden asked then.  
  
Charlie glanced at the calendar on the wall next to her. “Well, with the fetus being nine weeks old… That means that Noah’s due date is around the 30th November, so you have a little over seven months left until your baby comes out.”  
  
Noah thought that was way too long to wait. He wanted so bad to hold his baby already, and seven months seemed to be ages away.  
  
Jayden’s tail was curling with excitement, and he continued to hold Noah’s hand and rub it gently with his own while they stared at the screen.  
  
Charlie smiled at them before reaching over towards a few buttons, keeping the tool on Noah’s stomach. “I’m gonna print a few pictures for you to take home. I’m guessing you want to save these images, right?”  
  
“Yeah, of course,” Jayden grinned.  
  
Noah nodded eagerly, still unable to look away from the screen and his baby. He felt almost disappointed when Charlie finally removed the tool and packed it away, before she quickly wiped the gel off his stomach.  
  
“I’d like to run a few blood tests on you as well, Noah, so don’t get up,” Charlie told with him a smile when she saw that Noah was about to get up. “You’re not off the hook just yet, even though I know how much you hate the patient bed.”  
  
Noah groaned and stayed on the bed, although in a sitting position now. Jayden laughed fondly at him and stayed by his side while Charlie prepared a needle.  
  
“And since you are first time parents, I would recommend you join my parenting group,” Charlie spoke while she got ready to take a blood test from Noah. “There will be other first-timers there as well, and you’ll be learning the basic stuff about how to care for an infant. If you’re interested?” She stared between with a smile, looking like she already knew what their answer would be.  
  
“Sure, we’d love that,” Jayden smiled. He turned to look at Noah, whose hand he was still holding, to see if he agreed.  
  
Noah too was very positive about the offer. “Yes, that would be very nice.”  
  
“Cool. Let’s sign you up for that after I’m done here,” Charlie grinned, going over to Noah with the needle.  
  
Noah looked away when Charlie took the blood test, not liking to look at it while someone poked him with a needle. Jayden rubbed his other arm to reassure him, and Noah was forever grateful that he had such a supportive and loving mate.  
  
When Charlie was done she put a plaster on Noah and went to put the blood test where it belonged. They followed her over to her desk afterwards, where she informed them a bit about the parent group and when the next starting time for beginners was. They had to wait two months before they could join a group though, but they didn’t mind. There was still a lot of time left until their baby was born anyway.  
  
Charlie also talked a bit with Noah about his morning sickness and what he could do about it. Eating frequent, small meals and snacks, avoiding certain foods, and not lying down after eating were some of the advices that Charlie gave him. Noah hoped that they would help, as he was already getting quite tired of the vomiting and nausea.  
  
Before they left, Charlie went over to the printer and then turned to give them the images she had printed from the screen. “Here you go,” she said, handing the printed pages to Noah. “Your first baby scan pictures, ready to go into a photo album. Don’t lose them!”  
  
“Thanks,” Noah smiled, staring down at the images he had been handed. His smile widened when he looked at the photos of the baby, and Jayden stared down at them too with a happy smile.  
  
“Thanks, Mrs. Bradbury,” Jayden grinned at Charlie and reached out to shake her hand goodbye.  
  
“Just call me Charlie. I’m very familiar with the Winchesters and you’re part of that family now, so you get to call me Charlie too,” Charlie grinned, shaking Jayden’s hand.  
  
Jayden laughed and thanked her again, and Charlie turned to shake Noah’s hand then.  
  
“I’ll see you again for the 16-week scan. If anything comes up regarding the pregnancy, just call me,” she spoke as she and Noah shook hands.  
  
“Thanks. I will,” Noah smiled.  
  
They turned to leave the room, and Jayden wrapped his arm around Noah’s waist as they walked out together.  
  
There were two other patients waiting outside in the waiting room – a female demon and a human woman. The female demon’s alpha demon mate was with her, and the guy gave Jayden and Noah an odd look when he saw them exit the clinic room together. Jayden could tell that the guy was probably thinking that Noah was a full blood angel, and he sneered at the stranger when the guy looked like he was about to make a scene because of what he saw. Jayden’s warning made the alpha back off, but he continued watching them with disapproval when they passed him. Jayden just glared at him and spread his wings just slightly while never letting go of Noah’s waist.  
  
Noah tensed when he saw what was going on, and as soon as they had left the room and the clinic they both sighed in relief.  
  
“I’m so tired of people staring at us like that sometimes,” Jayden growled in frustration once they were outside. “I can’t image what it’s like for Dean and Castiel.”  
  
“Yeah…” Noah lowered his head sadly. He held the photos of the baby close to his chest and let Jayden’s wing cover his own as they walked over to the car.  
  
“But anyway, I’m really glad we went here today. Seeing those pictures was freaking amazing,” Jayden grinned, changing the topic and let the tension disappear after their unpleasant experience just now.  
  
Noah lightened up as well, grinning in joy. “Yes, it was indeed very amazing.” He stared down at the photos once more, a happy smile painted on his lips as he looked at them.  
  
Jayden just grinned and pulled Noah close to press a kiss to his temple, before letting go of him when they reached the car.  
  
They got into the car together, and Noah put the photos safely into the glove compartment.  
  
“Ready to head home?” Jayden asked, giving Noah a smile before starting the car.  
  
“Yeah,” Noah replied, smiling back.  
  
Jayden had only just pulled the car out of the parking lot when Noah’s phone rang in his pocket. Jayden glanced at him as Noah fumbled to get his phone out of his pocket before picking up the call.  
  
“Hello?”  
  
 _“Hi, Noah. I hope this is not a bad time?”_ came Kaylen’s voice on the other end.  
  
“Oh. Hi, Kaylen. And no, it’s not a bad time. What is it?” Noah was mildly surprised that Kaylen was calling him on a weekday. Mostly they would call each other during the weekends when Isaac was home.  
  
 _“Um, well, I’m off work in about half an hour and I’m not feeling so well. I don’t really want to drive all the way back to L.A. to an empty apartment since Isaac is gone for two weeks to shoot his current movie, so I was wondering if I, um, could stay the night at your place? If you don’t mind?”_  
  
Kaylen worked as a nurse at the hospital in Noah and Jayden’s city, and it would take him 45-60 minutes to drive back his apartment, depending on the traffic.  
  
“Um, sure. Jayden and I don’t really have any plans for tonight…” Noah glanced at Jayden who was busy driving. “Do we?” he asked him, wanting to be sure that Jayden hadn’t planned something.  
  
“No. Why?” Jayden asked, frowning as he quickly glanced at Noah.  
  
“Kaylen is asking if it’s okay that he stays the night with us,” Noah explained.  
  
“Ah. Sure, he can stay over. I don’t mind,” Jayden smiled.  
  
Noah smiled and turned his attention back to the phone call. “It’s okay with us if you come over. We’ll be home in fifteen minutes or so, so just come over when you’re off work.”  
  
 _“Great,”_ Kaylen grinned on the other end. _“Thanks a lot. See you guys later.”_  
  
Noah said goodbye and hung up, feeling glad that Kaylen was visiting. Isaac and Kaylen had only visited them once in their apartment, otherwise they usually always only met when they were at Dean and Castiel’s house together.  
  
Jayden was quite excited too to have a guest, and he drove carefully through the traffic to get him and Noah home safely.  
  


 

***

  
  
At 5pm Kaylen finally arrived at their apartment.  
  
Noah opened the door for him, and the two submissives smiled when they saw each other.  
  
“Hey, Noah,” Kaylen grinned and went forward to hug him.  
  
“Hi.” Noah smiled and hugged Kaylen back, careful not to press against the other submissive’s pregnant stomach. “And late happy birthday to you,” he added.  
  
Kaylen laughed softly and pulled back from the hug. “Thanks. Though you called me on Sunday to tell me that.”  
  
Kaylen had just turned 24 years old three days ago, on the 11th April, and Noah had made sure to call him on his birthday and congratulate him. Isaac had been home on that day, but had left in the evening to shoot his movie.  
  
“Yeah, I know. And we haven’t bought you a present yet… We didn’t expect to see you again this soon.” Noah cringed, feeling guilty that he didn’t have a present for his brother-in-law.  
  
Kaylen laughed softly. “That’s okay. I can wait.”  
  
Noah smiled guiltily and gestured for Kaylen to come in. Kaylen accepted the invitation and entered the hallway, and Noah closed and locked the door behind them.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden smiled as he came out of the kitchen and went over to greet their guest. His eyes landed briefly on Kaylen’s large belly before pulling him into a light hug. “I still can’t get over how big you are.”  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes and hugged Jayden back. “Yeah, I hear that a lot. Isaac likes to make fun of me lately…”  
  
Noah gasped in outrage. “Why would he do that? That’s just plain mean.”  
  
Kaylen laughed softly as he and Jayden pulled apart. He put a hand on his pregnant bump and rubbed it gently while turning to smile at Noah. “He doesn’t mean it in a bad way; he just likes to tease me. You know how he is. He finds it funny when he can annoy the daylights out of people.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, I noticed that pretty early when I first met him.”  
  
Kaylen chuckled in response.  
  
Noah let out a helpless sigh when thinking of Isaac.  
  
Kaylen reached down to take off his shoes, but he wasn’t very successful because his stomach was in the way. “Argh, this big bump is seriously getting in my way sometimes, and I’m only barely seven months pregnant,” he grumbled irritably. He let out a pained grunt when bending down made his back hurt, and he had to straighten up again and give up.  
  
Noah chuckled softly at him before coming over and squatting down to help Kaylen untie his shoes and take them off. Kaylen sighed in relief when he didn’t have to bend down again, and he carefully supported himself against Noah to keep his balance while the younger submissive helped him out.  
  
“You said you weren’t feeling well. Is it because of the baby?” Jayden asked while Noah helped their guest out of his shoes. His eyebrows furrowed in light worry as he looked at Kaylen.  
  
“No, not really. I just have a bit of a headache and am so not in the mood for driving back to L.A. tonight,” Kaylen replied. “Plus, my back hurts like a bitch so I’m having trouble putting on my socks and shoes on my own. And with Isaac out of town for two weeks, I feel a little helpless…”  
  
Jayden cringed. “Sorry to hear that. Did you take any tylenol or something for the headache?”  
  
“Of course. I’m not _that_ helpless,” Kaylen chuckled.  
  
Noah finished untying Kaylen’s shoes and gently took them off him. He put them away on the shoe drawer before straightening up again.  
  
“Thanks, Noah,” Kaylen smiled, touching Noah’s leg with his tail in gratitude. “I’ll return the favor when you get too big to bend down too.”  
  
Noah let out a small laugh. “That’s okay.”  
  
Jayden grinned at them, and they all headed into the living room together. Kaylen was walking slowly since his back was sore and hurting, and Noah stayed close to him in case he should lose his balance or something.  
  
The living room was clean and tidy, and it smelled fresh in there since one of the windows was open to let air inside. Jayden quickly headed over to close it so that they wouldn’t feel cold.  
  
Kaylen headed over to the couch, needing to sit down again. He carefully lowered himself onto it and let out a pleased sigh once he was in a sitting position.  
  
“Is it that bad?” Jayden asked, eyeing Kaylen in sympathy as he came over to them. He and Noah sat down on the other side of the couch near Kaylen, both looking worried about their guest.  
  
“Today it is. I’ve been busy at work all day and have been walking a lot, so by the end of the day I always feel sore and tired.” Kaylen shifted on the couch and glanced down at his heavy bump. He rubbed it gently while staring at it with a loving smile. “I just can’t wait for the baby to come out and to get time off work to take care of her.”  
  
Noah smiled softly as he looked at Kaylen. “Yeah, it’ll be exciting when your baby is born.”  
  
“And a challenge. Then I’ll have two babies to take care of…”  
  
Noah and Jayden laughed, knowing that Kaylen was referring to Isaac as the other baby.  
  
“How is Isaac doing?” asked Noah. He hadn’t heard from them since they met at Dean and Castiel’s house a little over two weeks ago, but he knew that Isaac was busy shooting his new movie lately.  
  
“He’s doing well. He was really excited about the movie he’s shooting, but a little sorry that he has to be away from me for so long. Sometimes he’s a bit clingy before he leaves,” Kaylen chuckled.  
  
“He got a role as a main character, didn’t he?” Jayden asked, rubbing circles into Noah’s knee as they sat next to each other.  
  
Kaylen grinned and nodded. “Yep, as one of three main characters. It’s some sci-fi movie about an alien invasion, but with some original plot. He’s a sucker for those movies since he thinks they’re cool. They’re shooting the last few scenes in Nevada, and Isaac was super excited about going ‘cause his character gets killed in a very funny way, so he can’t wait to play that out.” He rolled his eyes at the last part.  
  
“Hey, don’t tell us spoilers!”  
  
Kaylen’s eyes widened and he brought a hand up to his mouth in horror. “Oops, sorry! My bad.”  
  
Noah laughed when Jayden let out a small, annoyed grunt. Jayden hated spoilers and Noah didn’t like them much either, but he thought it was kind of funny how Kaylen had slipped that information and how Jayden had reacted to it.  
  
“It’s okay. We’ll survive,” Noah smiled.  
  
Kaylen cringed in guilt. “I’m still sorry. I’m just so used to Isaac telling you guys about his movies and TV shows that I’m often not sure about which things he’s told you and which he hasn’t. I’m really sorry for spoiling you.”  
  
“Well, that’s okay. That just means that there are less French fries for you for dinner,” Jayden said, smirking at Kaylen whose face paled a bit.  
  
“What? Nooo!”  
  
Noah laughed at the horrified look on Kaylen’s face, and Jayden laughed as well.  
  
“What are you even going to cook?” Kaylen asked curiously. He felt a bit like he was imposing on them, coming over like that, but Noah had expressed that it wasn’t a problem and Jayden didn’t seem to be bothered either. Still, he didn’t like coming over so suddenly and maybe ruining their plans.  
  
“Burgers with pulled pork and fries,” Jayden replied, smiling at how Kaylen’s eyes widened in interest. “I cook it all day when I’m at work, so it’s not a problem for me to cook it tonight. Been a while since Noah and I had it, so that’s what I planned to cook.”  
  
“I hope I’m not imposing… Staying over like this…”  
  
“No, no! Not at all,” Jayden quickly said.  
  
“You’re not imposing at all,” Noah assured him, smiling at Kaylen who seemed more relaxed now.  
  
“Okay, good…” Kaylen sat back and rubbed his belly, and his wings went slack with relief behind him.  
  
“Which reminds me that I better go make that pork now,” Jayden said, excusing himself as he got up to leave the room. He smiled warmly at Noah and nudged him with his tail before going, leaving the two submissives alone in the living room.  
  
After Jayden had left, Noah looked at Kaylen, whose eyes were fixed on his stomach as he rubbed it in slow motions. “How are you feeling now?”  
  
“Better, thanks,” Kaylen smiled, raising his gaze to look back at Noah. “The tylenol and getting out of the stressing hospital really helped. Though, I still feel a bit heavy in the head…”  
  
“Do you want me to give you some massage?” Noah offered. “I’m not that good at it, though… But it might still help.”  
  
Kaylen beamed. “That’s okay. I’d really love that. I feel so tense all over…”  
  
Noah smiled and moved over to Kaylen’s side of the couch. Kaylen moved a little and twisted his body so that his back was facing Noah more. The space was crowded and Kaylen’s wings were a bit in the way, but it was manageable.  
  
“Relax your shoulders,” Noah told him, before putting his hands there and began to slowly massage the area.  
  
Kaylen relaxed the best he could, flexing his shoulders and wings and let his arms go slack. He closed his eyes and hummed as Noah began working on getting rid of some of the tension in him, and even though their position could have been better than this, it still felt very nice.  
  
Noah could feel that Kaylen’s muscles were indeed quite tense, and he wasn’t surprised that it caused him to have some headache. He tried his best to soothe the tension, using as much force as he could without making it hurt.  
  
“Feels so nice…” Kaylen hummed in approval, purring lightly.  
  
Noah smiled and was encouraged to continue.  
  
Kaylen let his wings go limp and spread them out a little; something that submissives wouldn’t do with just anyone. Noah saw it as a sign of trust and that Kaylen was comfortable around him, and he couldn’t help but smile as he concentrated on massaging Kaylen’s tense muscles.  
  
After a few minutes, Kaylen spoke again. “Did you go to your first scan yet?”  
  
Noah worked his hands down Kaylen’s spine, being careful not to push against it too hard. He grinned when Kaylen asked him that question. “Yes, we went there today. We got our first pictures of the baby.”  
  
“Really?” Kaylen turned his head to look at Noah over his shoulder, grinning in excitement. “That’s so great! Did everything look okay?”  
  
Noah smiled and nodded. “Yes, the ob/gyn said that it looked normal so far. She ran some blood tests on me to show more about the baby’s health. We’ll know more next week.”  
  
“I’m sure your baby is just perfect,” Kaylen said, smiling. He turned his head back around to make it easier for Noah to massage him. “Can I see the pictures when you’re done?”  
  
“Sure,” Noah grinned, his wings flaring lightly behind him.  
  
Kaylen smiled and flicked his tail, which was hanging down the side of the couch. He closed his eyes once more, enjoying the relief that spread through his muscles as Noah massaged him.  
  
They could both hear Jayden working on the food in the kitchen, and the idea of having pulled pork and burgers made them feel rather hungry. Noah could feel that his stomach was about to growl soon.  
  
When Noah was done massaging Kaylen as well as he could, he pulled back and got up to get the photos for brother-in-law to see.  
  
“Thanks, Noah. It helped a lot,” Kaylen smiled at him, feeling much better in his shoulders and neck now. He felt lighter and his headache had died down a bit. Jayden would probably have been better at massaging him since he had more finger muscles, but it wasn’t very appropriate to be massaged by another person’s mate, and definitely not one of the opposite gender. Isaac probably wouldn’t have minded it that much since he knew that nothing was going on between Kaylen and Jayden, but Noah likely wouldn’t have liked it. Neither would Kaylen. He liked Jayden a lot as a friend, but massage was a bit too intimate for him. With Noah it was different; they were the same gender and they were rather close. With Noah it was more of a friendly bonding thing.  
  
“I’m glad,” Noah beamed. He padded over to the dining table where he had put the ultrasound scan images earlier after he and Jayden came home. He grabbed them and brought them back over to the couch, where Kaylen had gotten comfortable and was looking eager to see the pictures. Noah sat down next to him and handed him the two pictures.  
  
“Oh wow, it’s so tiny,” Kaylen grinned, staring at the pictures in awe. “Just wait till it grows bigger – then you can really see some nice detail on the images.”  
  
“Yeah, I can’t wait,” Noah grinned.  
  
Kaylen smiled and continued to look at the images. He could tell Noah was very excited and proud, and he felt happy for him.  
  
“I wonder if your kid is gonna have a tail…”  
  
“I hope it will. Most of my family has tails, and I’ve always felt kind of left out not having one…” Noah stared into his lap where his hands were folded, and his wings slumped a little behind him.  
  
“Aww, don’t say that.” Kaylen furrowed his brows in worry and put a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “I admit I sometimes try to entwine tails with you until I remember you don’t have one, but it doesn’t bother me. And Isaac’s told me you used to be quite upset about it when you were a kid, but you don’t need to be. You’re perfect the way you are.”  
  
A small smile tugged on Noah’s lips as he glanced up and stared back into Kaylen’s light blue eyes. He brushed his wing against Kaylen’s as a sign of gratitude. “Thanks. I’ve mostly gotten over it, but I’d still like to have one…”  
  
“And I would love to have oil glands, but I don’t, so I guess we’re square,” Kaylen chuckled.  
  
Noah laughed and felt a little better, although he felt a little sorry that Kaylen didn’t have oil glands. Demon feathers weren’t as delicate as angel feathers, so biology just seemed to have left oil glands out of demons’ genetics.  
  
Jayden entered the room then and saw the two laughing and bonding on the couch. He smiled at them as he walked over to the couch and sat down on the other side of it. “You two girls seem to be having fun together.”  
  
“We’re not girls,” Kaylen grunted, shooting Jayden a small glare.  
  
Jayden chuckled at them before he noticed the ultrasound scan photos, which Kaylen had just put on the couch table. “Ah, Noah showed you those already.”  
  
Kaylen grinned and nodded. “Yeah, he did. Your baby looks so tiny and cute on those photos. I’m excited for you guys.”  
  
Noah blushed sheepishly before moving back over to sit beside Jayden, giving Kaylen more space. The alpha smiled when he sat down next to him, and Noah let him run a loving hand through his feathers in Kaylen’s presence.  
  
“Thanks,” Jayden smiled, his tail curling in joy. “Now we just need to shop all the stuff that the baby is gonna need, and prepare the nursery…” He glanced at Noah and put a hand on his mate’s thigh.  
  
Noah nodded quietly. He felt a little stressed when thinking about all the preparations they had to make before the baby arrived. He wanted everything to be perfect for when the time came, even though there were still seven months left until the baby was born.  
  
“Shopping baby stuff is rather fun,” Kaylen smiled. “Just not with Isaac. He wants to buy the silliest stuff…”  
  
Jayden and Noah both laughed at that.  
  
“I can imagine,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Noah shook his head in amusement. He could almost picture Kaylen and Isaac going shopping together and how Isaac would want to buy the silliest baby clothes for their little girl.  
  
“Ow.” Kaylen grunted and stared at his stomach in discomfort, putting his hand there. “Why do you always have to kick me in the bladder?” he groused softly at his unborn baby.  
  
Jayden let out a small laugh. “Feel free to use the bathroom.”  
  
“Yeah, thanks,” Kaylen grunted as he slowly got up from the couch. “Sometimes she just won’t stop squirming. She’s restless like her father.”  
  
Noah chuckled and watched as Kaylen continued to rub his stomach and trying to make the baby calm down inside him. His own baby was still too small for Noah to feel, but he couldn’t wait until he too would be able to feel his baby move around inside him.  
  
Kaylen excused himself and headed to the bathroom, murmuring soft words to his baby on the way out.  
  
Jayden smiled after Kaylen was gone and leaned in to kiss Noah’s temple. He moved his hand from Noah’s thigh and instead grabbed the submissive’s hand. “So glad we saw Charlie today,” he hummed, nuzzling Noah’s cheek and wrapped his wing around him.  
  
Noah smiled and leaned into his mate. “Yeah, me too.” He moved his free hand down towards his stomach and put it there.  
  
Jayden let out a possessive growl and pulled Noah closer, placing more kisses on his cheek and temple. Noah giggled softly and reveled in his mate’s affectionate and possessive touches, feeling safe and content with the alpha’s wing wrapped around him.  
  
“I love you,” Jayden purred, resting his head against Noah’s.  
  
A smile tugged on Noah’s lips, and he leaned further into his mate while rubbing the tiny bump on his stomach with a gentle hand. “I love you too.”  
  
They sat there and shared a moment of love and happiness until Kaylen returned from the bathroom.  
  
They enjoyed a nice evening together, talking about things in their lives and what was to come when the babies were born. Jayden’s cooking was good as always, and Kaylen was positively surprised when he tried it out for the first time.  
  
Jayden and Noah were relieved that Kaylen seemed to feel better after the massage and getting something to eat and drink, but Noah could tell that the other submissive was still feeling a little unwell, although he tried to hide it. They hoped that he would feel better the next day.  
  
Kaylen spent the night on the guest bed in the room that was to be the nursery someday. It was still pretty empty and messy in the room, but he didn’t mind.  
  
Noah and Jayden lay down to sleep in their own bed, feeling tired after a nice, social evening with their guest. They cuddled together with Jayden’s arms wrapped protectively around his pregnant mate, shielding him from all the bad in the world as they fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m very sorry for letting you guys wait so long! I was on vacation and just wasn’t able to update. I would have updated just before I left, but unfortunately I was too busy for that. However, I should have more free time now, so my updates should finally be more frequent again :)
> 
> And unfortunately my beta, mishasenpai, has become too busy to proof-read for me, so I am once again without a beta. If there is anyone out there who’s interested in proof-reading for me and who’s fluent in English and knows spelling and grammar well and has the free time for the ‘job’, let me know! Until then I will update unbeta’ed chapters, so I apologize in advance for any errors you might find. If you guys spot any mistakes in my story, feel free to point them out to me. I’d like to keep my story as error-free as possible.
> 
> I should also mention that I find the American kindergarten system veeeery confusing. I’ve had some help from some of my readers about how the system works, but it’s still a bit hard for me to understand the details when I didn’t grow up with it, so a few things might be different. The story is set in a fictional world anyway, so it hopefully shouldn’t be a problem that things are a bit different. Sometimes I just have to adjust things so they fit the story and my mind better.
> 
> Anyway, thank you very much for reading! Again, sorry for the long wait! I feel so bad about it ;-; I will update again as soon as I can.


	16. Chapter 16

**May 2049 (Noah is 23, Jayden is 24 (almost 25), Christie is 22 (almost 23) years old).**  
  
Noah woke up in bed on a Sunday morning in mid-May, stretching his limbs as he tried to wake up his brain. There was light in the room coming from behind the curtains, and he had the feeling that it was late enough for him to get up. He felt nice and well-rested after a good, long night’s sleep, and he couldn’t wait for the plans that he and Jayden had today. They were going to the mall to buy stuff for their baby’s nursery, which they had slowly begun to prepare for the baby’s arrival.  
  
Smiling as he thought about their plans, Noah turned on the bed so that he was lying on his back, and slowly moved his hand down to rest on his stomach. He was 14 weeks pregnant and his stomach had swelled more. There was a nice bump there now, which was noticeable through his clothes. Finally you could tell that he was pregnant without having to look too hard, and Noah had experienced strangers staring at the bump sometimes when he passed them in public. The bump still wasn’t overly big though, but it was enough to be seen and noticed, especially since Noah was naturally very scrawny.  
  
Noah smiled as he touched his stomach, and then reached out his other hand towards Jayden’s side of the bed to touch his mate. Except Jayden wasn’t there. Noah’s hand was met by an empty, cold mattress and a blanket that had been thrown to the side.  
  
Noah’s eyes flew open instantly and he quickly sat up and darted his eyes across the room, looking for his mate. Jayden was nowhere to be seen though, and Noah felt his stomach drop with slight panic. Jayden was always in the bed with him on Sunday mornings, especially when he had come home at midnight the night before after working late.  
  
He quickly turned his head to see what the time was, wondering if it was just him who had been in bed for too long. It was 9:32am. Jayden should have been there in bed with him at this hour, but he wasn’t.  
  
“J-Jayden?” Noah croaked as he looked around the empty room and sat up more. He figured that Jayden had just gone to use the bathroom, but the bed seemed too cold for that. The alpha hadn’t been lying there for a while.  
  
Noah swung his legs around to the edge of the bed and got up. He was wearing nothing but a grey t-shirt and blue panties, and he quickly padded his way around the bed and went over to the door.  
  
“Jayden?” he repeated when he peeked into the hallway, but there was no answer. Everything was quiet and empty.  
  
Feeling a bit more panicked now, Noah checked the bathroom and then walked down the hallway towards the living room, which was also empty. He swallowed nervously and headed to the kitchen next, hoping to find the alpha in there.  
  
It was unusual that Jayden was gone like that and didn’t reply to his calls, and Noah tried his best not to freak out. Jayden was alright. He had to be.  
  
The kitchen turned out to be empty as well, and Noah quickly checked the balcony and the nursery to look for his mate, but there was no sign of him.  
  
Now he was beginning to really freak out. He felt tears gather in his eyes as frustration and fear built up inside him, and he struggled to stay rational and tell himself that he was just overreacting and that Jayden had maybe just gone for a morning jog. But he knew that Jayden wouldn’t go off like that without telling him.  
  
Fear and panic took over, and Noah was just about to start hyperventilating when he heard the front door being unlocked and the door being opened. He rushed out into the hallway, praying that it was Jayden and not some stranger.  
  
And sure enough, it was Jayden who had just entered the apartment.  
  
The alpha looked up when Noah rushed into hallway and stopped in his tracks when he saw him, and the two stared at each other for a second. Jayden blinked at him and looked very surprised to see Noah up already. He was holding a small bag in his hand, and he carefully closed and locked the front door, not taking his surprised eyes off Noah.  
  
“Hey, you’re up already,” Jayden said, giving him a smile. He seemed completely unaware of the emotional turmoil that Noah had just gone through in his absence.  
  
Tears of relief ran down Noah’s face. He shook off his panic and immediately ran over to Jayden, throwing his arms around him.  
  
“Whoa,” the alpha exclaimed, surprised by the greeting and how Noah clung to him. He froze for a second when he felt Noah tremble against him.  
  
“Where were you?! I woke up and you weren’t here! You have no idea how much that freaked me out!” Noah scolded angrily as he continued to cling to Jayden with his arms wrapped around the alpha’s neck. He moved one hand away to slam it against Jayden’s shoulder, growling at him before burying his face in Jayden’s shirt again. His wings trembled and lowered themselves behind him, a clear sign that he was distressed.  
  
“Whoa, hey,” Jayden said softly, stunned to have Noah react this way. He carefully ran his free hand up and down the submissive’s back, trying to soothe him. “Shh, it’s okay. I just went to the bakery since I wanted to surprise you with some nice, fresh bread. I didn’t leave you.” His voice was soft and soothing as he tried to reassure Noah that nothing bad had happened. He could sense through their bond that Noah must have been very scared, and it hurt him to have his mate feel that way.  
  
“You could have told me!” Noah chided. “You’re such a jerk.” He sobbed against him, clinging to Jayden and not letting go.  
  
Jayden was slightly offended by that. “Hey, I left you note saying that I had gone to the bakery and that I’d be back soon. Didn’t you see it?”  
  
Noah pulled back slowly, sniffling a bit as he stared up at Jayden’s face with a confused frown. “What? Where?”  
  
“On my pillow,” Jayden spoke softly, rubbing Noah’s leg with his tail to calm him down.  
  
Noah’s frown deepened. “I… I didn’t see that.”  
  
Jayden let out a soft chuckle, but his face was full of guilt and worry as he gingerly moved his hand up to Noah’s cheek and wiped the tears away. “Well, I did. You can go double-check if you want. You probably swept it off the pillow with your clumsy wings – you tend to move around a lot when you’re about to wake up.”  
  
Noah shoved Jayden lightly, looking a little embarrassed and offended at the words. He had stopped crying now, but his face was still a bit wet from tears.  
  
Jayden laughed softly at him. “And you didn’t have to be so worried that I wasn’t there when you woke up. You know I don’t really wander off without telling you. Is it because you’re having mood swings that you got so upset and scared over it?”  
  
Jayden’s amused tone annoyed Noah, who grumbled irritably and stepped back a little. “Maybe… So what?” he muttered, blushing as he looked away. He knew he had overreacted a bit, but he just couldn’t help it. His mood was all over the place lately because of his pregnancy and he couldn’t control it. The smallest things could make him cry or feel annoyed or angry. But waking up without Jayden in the apartment had really scared him a lot. He didn’t like it when he didn’t know where Jayden was and if he was safe.  
  
Jayden chuckled fondly at him and continued to rub his tail against Noah’s leg to comfort him. “Well, you don’t have to worry anymore; I’m back now. And…” He brought up his hand holding the bag with the fresh bread inside, waving it in front of Noah with a smug smirk on his face. “…I have your favorite bread, fresh from the bakery.”  
  
Noah’s lips twitched into a smile he couldn’t suppress. He blushed and hit Jayden lightly on the arm for acting like a smug jerk. Jayden just laughed at him and leaned down for a quick kiss. A gentle, possessive hand moved over Noah’s pregnant bump before Jayden pulled away from the kiss and headed to the kitchen, giving Noah a small, affectionate slap on the butt as he passed him.  
  
Noah let out a small sigh, feeling happy and relieved that Jayden was back and that he had had no reason to worry at all. He placed a hand on his belly and rubbed it lovingly before going into the kitchen.  
  
Jayden was preparing the table for their breakfast. He looked up when Noah entered the room and gave his mate a questioning stare when he saw that he was still only dressed in a t-shirt and panties. “Aren’t you cold like that? Shouldn’t you put on some more clothes?”  
  
Noah glanced down at himself, his hand resting on the small bump on his stomach. “No… It’s rather warm today and I’ve been sweating all night, so I don’t really feel cold. And I’m _starving,_ so I just want to eat right away. Unless you want me to put on some more clothes…?”  
  
“No, not at all. I like when you wear nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of your cute panties. It looks hot on you – especially with that precious bump.” Jayden grinned and stared at Noah’s stomach, feeling a spark of arousal shoot through him at seeing his mate all pregnant and barely wearing any clothes. He loved how Noah’s belly got bigger and bigger every day, and ever since it had started to show properly through his clothes Jayden had been turned on almost non-stop when looking at him. Noah being pregnant was a clear sign of Jayden’s virility, and his alpha instincts swelled with pride and arousal every time he was reminded of it.  
  
Noah blushed and smiled sheepishly before walking over to help Jayden put the food on the table. The alpha smiled and wrapped his tail around Noah’s leg again, and their wings brushed together as they helped each other out.  
  
When everything was ready they sat down to eat together.  
  
Jayden chuckled to himself when he saw Noah dig in like he hadn’t eaten for days. Noah’s appetite had increased a little lately and he had begun eating more sour, salty, and spicy things than usual. Jayden hadn’t pointed it out to him yet, as he still thought it was amusing how Noah seemed almost unaware of his changing eating habits.  
  
They talked a bit while they ate, mostly about Jayden’s day at work yesterday and a problem with their car. Sometimes the engine wouldn’t start, so Jayden would have Dean take a look at it soon to figure out the problem. The good thing about having a father-in-law who was a mechanic was the discounts and the extra good service.  
  
When they done eating they helped each other clear the table and put the dishes away into the dishwasher.  
  
“How’s your nausea today?” Jayden asked as he put the plates and knives into the dishwasher after Noah had quickly washed them.  
  
“I’m feeling pretty okay. I haven’t been sick for two mornings now.”  
  
“Oh, that’s great. Maybe it’s on a retreat?”  
  
“Maybe. But I’m not getting my hopes up too high…”  
  
Jayden let out a small chuckle and closed the dishwasher when they were done. He then turned towards Noah, putting his hands on the submissive’s hips and made him turn around so that they were facing each other. He smiled down at him and moved a hand through the light grey feathers, watching as Noah’s lips parted in a silent gasp.  
  
“Gosh, you look so gorgeous lately. I love how you’re getting bigger and bigger. It looks really good on you,” Jayden purred, moving his hand down and placed it on Noah’s bump.  
  
Noah smiled. “I kinda like it too. But I don’t really want to be fatter than this…”  
  
“Jeez, are we gonna have the fat-conversation again? You’re not fat; you’re pregnant and beautiful.” Jayden leaned down and captured Noah’s earlobe between his teeth, nipping playfully at it.  
  
Noah shuddered and let out an aroused gasp. His wings lowered and spread out, a signal that he was accepting Jayden’s dominant gesture and was aroused by it. It made Jayden growl possessively, and he started pushing Noah over towards the kitchen counter in the middle of the kitchen.  
  
Noah let out a small gasp when his lower back bumped into the edge of the counter, and before he knew it Jayden was lifting him up and placing him on top of the counter. Coldness hit his butt and thighs, making him gasp loudly and shiver, but his sounds were muffled when the alpha kissed him.  
  
The kiss was deep and dominant, and Noah mewled softly at the way Jayden was almost aggressively kissing him. He loved that kind of kiss where Jayden would lose control and kiss him like he wanted to own and taste every part of him.  
  
Jayden’s hand flew up to grasp Noah’s hair tightly, using his grip to pull the submissive’s head a little so he could slide his tongue further into Noah’s mouth. Noah moaned into Jayden’s mouth and squirmed when he felt his ass slick up an embarrassing amount at the gesture. Jayden could smell his mate’s arousal and it only made him even hornier. His cock was pressing against the front of his jeans almost painfully, and his wings were raised and somewhat sharpened as a result of his arousal.  
  
Among all the possessiveness and horniness, a large, loving hand moved across Noah’s belly. It was a touch so different from the possessive and almost aggressive kiss that they were sharing, and Noah moaned and sighed internally at the loving touch. Jayden was also tender and loving no matter how horny and dominant he got, and Noah loved that.  
  
Their bond flared with devotion and love as Jayden touched the bump, and Noah basked in the feeling until Jayden pulled his lips away from his.  
  
“Shit. I really wanna bend you over the kitchen counter and just take you, but that’s bad for our baby,” Jayden murmured, cringing. He was still panting from the heated kiss, and his forehead was resting against Noah’s while he spoke.  
  
Noah chortled. “Yeah, don’t do that. You’ll have to fuck me in another way.”  
  
“God, it sounds so odd and yet fucking hot when you say the word ‘fuck’ in your sweet voice,” Jayden said, grinning wickedly at him.  
  
Noah hit him on the chest, blushing. “Please just do it,” he whined, glaring at Jayden for not doing something about his arousal.  
  
Jayden just grinned before gently pushing at Noah’s shoulders, forcing him to lie down. The submissive complied, but seemed rather wary about lying down on the counter like that. He folded his wings as close to his body as he could since he didn’t want to knock off the few items on the counter. Jayden grabbed his legs and spread them so that Noah’s knees were bent and spread and his entire back was pressed against the counter. It wasn’t very comfortable, but he’d survive.  
  
Jayden licked his lips in interest as he stared at his mate. He hadn’t tried fucking Noah while the sub was lying on the counter like that before. His mate looked really gorgeous that way; his knees bent, legs spread, belly slightly swollen, and the t-shirt riding up a bit so that Jayden could see how Noah’s smaller dick was pressing against those blue panties and twitching as Jayden stared at it. The panties were all wet further down, and the alpha hummed in approval at how Noah’s slick had leaked through them and onto the counter.  
  
Gently, Jayden moved his fingers over Noah’s belly and then down to his erection. He teased it with his fingertips, making Noah writhe and whine in desperation, before he finally grabbed the hem of the panties and pulled them off.  
  
The sight of Noah’s pretty, pink hole twitching and aching to be filled made Jayden so painfully hard he had to push the heel of his hand against his dick to calm it down. He then moved his hands over the pale skin of Noah’s thighs, staring at the pretty hole and gorgeous pregnant bump before finally moving his hand down to push his fingers into Noah. He put his other hand under Noah’s right knee to hold his leg up, giving him better access.  
  
Noah moaned and arched his back slightly when Jayden finally began to work him open. He mewled and writhed on the counter, not caring that it was cold anymore. His ass was aching to have Jayden inside him, and he moaned every time the alpha’s fingers rubbed his inner walls so nicely.  
  
With skilled fingers Jayden quickly got Noah ready and had him leaking slick all over his fingers. He growled softly at the pretty sight before quickly reaching down to undo his own pants. He almost couldn’t do it fast enough since he was _dying_ to bury himself inside Noah’s warm body.  
  
Noah grunted impatiently and lifted his head to stare up at Jayden. He licked his lips when the alpha’s erection finally sprung free from its confines, and felt more slick escape him at the sight. He wiggled his ass on the counter to tell Jayden that he was ready for him, and his invitation was quickly accepted.  
  
The alpha growled as he swiftly grabbed Noah by the hips and settled himself between his spread legs. He pushed into him without warning, moaning loudly as his cock was swallowed by Noah’s eager hole.  
  
Noah moaned with him, trying to grab at something with his fingers and searching for something to dig his nails into, but he only found the smooth surface of the counter. He growled in frustration, but he soon forgot all about that when Jayden started pounding into him hard.  
  
“Aaahhhh!” Noah leaned his head back and let his back arch off the counter as Jayden fucked into him.  
  
The alpha then grabbed his right leg so that his hand was behind Noah’s knee to hold his leg up and spread out for him, and used his other hand to grab hold of Noah’s t-shirt so that Noah wouldn’t get shoved too far up the counter with each brutal thrust.  
  
Noah cried out as Jayden’s cock drove even further into him now, and the way Jayden was holding his leg to have better access turned him on so much that he was pretty sure that Jayden could feel the new slick that was leaking from him.  
  
It was dirty and desperate. Jayden’s hips slammed into Noah over and over, so hard that Noah’s body would have gotten forced further up the counter if not for Jayden grasping his shirt to keep him in place. Noah could feel Jayden’s jeans pressing against his ass every time the alpha bottomed out, and it made him moan and get even wetter inside.  
  
“Fuck. So nice and warm,” Jayden purred, staring down at the place where they were connected. He loved how Noah’s dick bounced with each thrust and how pink and flushed it looked. More so he loved seeing his mate taking his cock like a pro and watching how the small hole fluttered every time it swallowed Jayden’s dick so greedily. He loved it even more when he could make Noah look at it too, but the position was kind of bad for that right now. Mostly Noah was too shy to look anyway, and Jayden loved how he blushed at it when he finally did look.  
  
“Nnruuughh, Connor,” Noah whimpered, closing his eyes and panting heavily as the alpha moved inside him.  
  
“Mmm.” Jayden hummed and moved his right hand away from Noah’s shirt to touch his belly instead. He moved his hand over the swollen skin with affection, making Noah purr at the gesture and bare his neck to him in submission and devotion. That made Jayden even more possessive and aroused, and he was so close to coming already that it was almost agonizing.  
  
“Ahhh! I-I’m almost…” Noah trailed off, his mouth open in a silent gasp he felt his orgasm pooling in his abdomen, ready to flood over him. He just needed one final push.  
  
Jayden growled and wrapped his hand around Noah’s dick, jerking him off to make him come.  
  
Noah cried out and his body seized up as he finally came. Clear fluid spurted from his dick and painted his abdomen and bump beautifully, and his inner muscles clenched down hard around Jayden’s cock, making Noah able to feel its entire shape just perfectly.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted, stroking Noah through it. He was forced over his own edge, coming hard inside Noah, and moaned as his dick released wave after wave of semen into him. He panted through it and enjoyed every delicious tug in his abdomen as he released himself inside Noah’s already pregnant body.  
  
Noah just moaned at the feeling, trying to push back into Jayden to help him through it until it was over.  
  
Jayden’s body went limp afterwards and he had to support his hands on the counter to keep himself up. His tail moved behind him restlessly and his wings slumped in relief after finally getting his release. He basked in the glorious aftermath of his climax before raising his gaze to meet Noah’s eyes. They stared at each other with soft smiles, both panting for breath and feeling exhausted.  
  
The alpha slowly pulled out, making Noah gasp and whine in protest at the sudden emptiness inside him.  
  
Jayden then grabbed the submissive’s legs again, holding them up and keeping them spread while he stared down at Noah’s hole. He licked his lips at how his come was flowing out of Noah and onto the counter below. He had filled him up pretty good, like always.  
  
Noah twitched self-consciously when he noticed what Jayden was staring at. He felt embarrassed and exposed, and let out a small groan as he covered his face with his hands. “Gosh, will you stop staring at it like that?” he whined in complaint.  
  
Jayden laughed but made no move to let go of Noah’s legs or stop staring. “Why? It’s entrancing to look at. You look so nice when you’re full of my come…”  
  
“But _you_ don’t look nice when you’re full of your ego,” Noah retorted in a mutter, scowling at Jayden after removing his hands from his face.  
  
Jayden laughed out loud and gently let go of Noah’s legs. “Hey, I’m not _that_ egocentric. Isaac is worse.”  
  
Noah groaned and struggled to sit up, cringing as more semen leaked out of him. “Don’t talk about my brother at moments like this…”  
  
“Sorry,” Jayden chuckled. He placed his hands on either side of Noah’s hips and leaned down so that their faces were right in front of each other. He gave Noah a derpy, loving smile before kissing him softly.  
  
Noah kissed him back, purring in the back of his throat until Jayden finally pulled away.  
  
“Let’s get you cleaned up. This is not very good kitchen hygiene,” Jayden smirked.  
  
Noah let out a small, offended growl. “ _You_ did this!”  
  
Jayden just laughed before getting a wet rag to clean up with. He helped Noah down from the counter and the submissive then headed to the bathroom to clean up.  
  
It had been a nice morning with good food and sex, but now they had to take care of more serious business. They had to figure out what to buy today for the nursery so that they could start to slowly get it ready for the baby’s arrival.  
  
They already had a few things for the room and for the baby. Noah had gotten some stuff for his birthday in early May – a few neutral baby clothes, some pacifiers, a changing table, baby toys, a thick book about babies and parenting, and a big load of diapers from Isaac and Kaylen.  
  
After Noah got cleaned up and dressed he headed into the nursery where he knew Jayden was.  
  
The alpha was busy taking measures of the room so they could buy enough wallpaper for it, and they would have to measure the windows as well to buy blinders and curtains.  
  
Noah glanced around the almost empty room and walked into the center of it. His hand was on his stomach – something that had become like a habit to him lately – and he started imagining what the room would look like once it was done. They didn’t know yet if the baby would be a girl or a boy, but they were planning to buy wallpaper and curtains which could fit any gender. Probably something with some cute animals on them.  
  
Noah was brought of his thoughts when Jayden was done taking measures and stepped back with a satisfied sigh. The alpha quickly scribbled down the measurements before smiling over at Noah. “So, are you ready to go shopping for baby stuff for the first time?”  
  
Noah smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready.”  
  
Jayden grinned and walked over to him, his tail moving back and forth in a happy gesture. He stopped in front of Noah and put both his hands on the pregnant bump, moving them over the swollen area gently. “Mommy and daddy are gonna make a nice room for you. I hope you’ll like it.”  
  
Noah chuckled at how Jayden was talking to their baby. He liked when the alpha did that. It was nice to see how excited Jayden was about being a father and how much he cared about their baby even if it wasn’t even born yet. Noah too talked to his bump sometimes, mostly in the shower or when he was alone in the bed.  
  
Jayden pressed a quick kiss to Noah’s lips before going over to take measurements of the windows for the curtains and blinders. After that they were ready to go to the mall, excited to do some shopping for the nursery so they could make it look nice before their baby was born.  


 

***

  
  
Since it was a Sunday, it was pretty crowded with people at the mall. It took them a while to find a free parking spot, and Noah stayed close to Jayden when they walked into the mall and into the tight crowds of people.  
  
It was very hot that day and most people wore t-shirts, shorts, dresses, or skirts. Jayden had decided to wear a pair of shorts and a t-shirt since the heat was killing him, where Noah wore a t-shirt and denim capri pants.  
  
They pushed their cart around and held hands as they walked, looking for a store that Jayden knew sold wallpapers, curtains, etc. for nurseries.  
  
Noah noticed people staring at him and Jayden as they walked together. He knew that most thought that they were an angel/demon couple at first glance, and he also noticed them staring at his baby bump. Some got a dark look in their eyes when they stared, but there were some – especially females – who smiled a bit when they saw the telltale bump. A few alphas whom they passed stared more intently than others, and it made Noah shiver uncomfortably. It was not unusual for pregnant submissives to be objectified a lot. Even today, many alphas thought it was a sub’s duty to bear an alpha’s children, and a pregnant submissive was a dutiful submissive in their eyes. Noah was glad that Jayden didn’t have those thoughts.  
  
They entered the store which sold a lot of nice stuff for nurseries. Noah had never been in there before, and he was positively stunned by all the stuff they had. There was so much to choose from – cribs, toys, baby carriages, wallpapers, and various other things.  
  
Jayden smirked a bit when he saw the amazement on Noah’s face, and together they headed over to check out the wallpaper section.  
  
Noah eagerly went down the aisle to check out all the selections of wallpapers, finding it kind of hard to choose. They were so many wallpapers that he liked, but he wanted to find the most perfect one for his baby.  
  
After looking for a few minutes Noah found just the right one; a light purple wallpaper with some white dots on it, and at the top (which would be just above Noah’s head) there was a horizontal frame line with various baby animals inside. It was a rather simple wallpaper, but the animals at the top made it cute and fitting for a nursery. It looked perfect in Noah’s eyes.  
  
“Found one you like?” Jayden asked when he saw that Noah was staring at one wallpaper in particular. He too had been checking out the store’s selections in wallpapers and trying to find a good one, but hadn’t been successful with finding one.  
  
“Yes, this one,” Noah said, pointing at it.  
  
Jayden came over to have a closer look. He stared at it for a few seconds before smiling. “Seems nice. It’s not too girly and not too boyish.”  
  
“Who cares? A girl can live in a blue room and a boy can live in a pink room,” Noah argued, scowling at the alpha.  
  
“Yeah, I know that. I guess I was just kinda brought up to think that pink is just for girls… If our baby is an alpha I’d be kinda reluctant to have him live in a pink room…” Jayden rubbed the back of his neck a bit.  
  
“Well, the wallpaper is purple, and purple can be for both boys and girls, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”  
  
“Jeez, I know that,” Jayden said, rolling his eyes. “Purple is great. Let’s take it.”  
  
Noah smiled in victory, and Jayden called over an employee who could help them get the amount of wallpaper they needed.  
  
The wallpaper went into their shopping cart, and next they went to look at curtains and blinders. Again they went with a purple color to match the wallpaper, although this was a darker purple. Noah was very satisfied with their selection and he couldn’t wait to see how it would look in the room once it was done.  
  
Next they went to look for a crib. They would need a baby carriage too, but they weren’t sure about which model was best, so Noah wanted to wait until he could get Castiel, Eden, and maybe Lily to come with them to look for one since they would know more about baby carriages than them.  
  
The store had about eleven different cribs. Noah went around to check them all out and again found it hard to choose one.  
  
Jayden watched Noah with a quiet smile as he saw his mate walking back and forth between the cribs with a hand on his bump while trying to decide. He could tell that Noah was very concentrated and set on finding the perfect crib for the baby, and it amused Jayden a little. Though, he too of course wanted their baby to have the best crib. He just wasn’t as picky as Noah was.  
  
Noah bent over to check the price tag on two of the cribs, and that was when Jayden noticed him making an uncomfortable grimace all of sudden.  
  
“Are you okay?” Jayden asked in worry, coming over to him.  
  
Noah blushed and glanced around to make sure that there weren’t any other people around, before saying, “I’m fine. I just, um… My butt is still sore from earlier.”  
  
Jayden blinked at him for a second before laughing. “Ah. I take that as a compliment,” he grinned with a self-smug spark in his eyes.  
  
Noah hit him on the arm in embarrassment, hating how smug Jayden got when he made Noah feel soreness in his butt hours after they had sex.  
  
“What? It must mean that I’m good,” Jayden grinned, amused with Noah’s embarrassment.  
  
“Shut up already,” Noah murmured, glancing around to see if there were other customers nearby who could have heard. His face was all warm from blushing and he hated how it only seemed to make Jayden even more amused and smug.  
  
After Noah’s embarrassment had died down, they helped each other find a suitable crib. It took them about ten minutes and a small argument to finally choose one, and they also bought a hanger toy to go with it.  
  
“Are you sure it’s not a little too early to be buying all this stuff?” Noah asked warily after they had paid for the items and left the store. Once again they found themselves in the crowds of the mall’s corridors, and Jayden was pushing the heavily filled cart around. The crib’s parts were inside boxes and Jayden would have to assemble them later.  
  
“Nah. Better early than late, right?” Jayden smirked. “Besides, I could tell how impatient you were to finally have the nursery looking like a real nursery. Now we have six months to get everything ready and make it look nice. No one says we have to put up everything right away.”  
  
“True…”  
  
They walked around a bit more to look at the shops, and after a few minutes they decided to head home. But first Noah had to use the bathroom.  
  
Jayden waited outside in the corridor while Noah went into the ladies’ room to do his thing. Noah never used the men’s bathroom, even if the line for the ladies’ bathroom was agonizingly long. He didn’t trust alphas not to grope him if he ventured into their territory.  
  
Noah waited in line inside the bathroom, rubbing his stomach absently while he waited for one of the stalls to be free. There were only females in there with him, no submissives.  
  
Noah was a patient person, but when it came to having to use the bathroom he really hated it when there was a line. Unfortunately there were almost always lines in the ladies’ room. He appreciated that the place looked clean and sanitary so that at least his nose wouldn’t be assaulted by a nasty smell while waiting.  
  
A young angel woman standing behind him in the line smiled when she noticed how Noah was rubbing his bump. “How far along are you?” she asked, smiling at him. She had long, dark hair and white wings with brown feathers in them. She seemed to be around 30 years old.  
  
Noah turned his head to look at her, somewhat surprised to be talked to in a public bathroom. He then smiled at her and glanced down at his bump. “I’m 14 weeks in.”  
  
“Aww, that’s so exciting,” the woman grinned. “I’m only five weeks in. Just found out about it yesterday. It’s my second child.”  
  
“Oh, that’s lovely. Congratulations,” Noah told her with a sincere smile. He didn’t know the woman at all, but it still felt nice to talk to a complete stranger once in a while, especially one who wasn’t a racist. Sometimes he found it hard to talk to strangers, but this woman seemed pretty easy to talk to.  
  
“You too,” the woman grinned.  
  
Noah smiled at her before it was his turn to enter one of the stalls.  
  
When he was finished and came out to wash his hands, the bathroom was less crowded. Only four people were waiting in the line now.  
  
Noah walked over and began to wash his hands when he suddenly noticed one of the persons from the line coming over to him. He turned his head to look at them and he was completely surprised to see a person he knew. To his dread it was Martin – a submissive angel whom Noah had shared history classes with in college. Martin had never liked him because he was from a family who valued pure blood very highly, and he had always stared at Noah with disgust when they went to college.  
  
“You got pregnant,” Martin stated. His voice was cold and almost disinterested, and he lowered his gaze from Noah’s face to stare at his swollen belly. His eyes darkened and there was a grim, scary look on his face.  
  
Noah swallowed nervously and wrapped his wings tighter around himself, trying to block Martin’s view of his stomach. “Yeah, I did,” he answered simply, trying not to give away any negativity which could set Martin off. He quickly washed his hands and turned off the tap, but when he turned to head over to the dryer, Martin suddenly blocked his way.  
  
“People like you should be sterilized, you know,” Martin spoke, narrowing his eyes as he stared right into Noah’s and was standing uncomfortably close to him. There was a dangerous tone in his growling voice, which made Noah feel even more uncomfortable.  
  
They stared at each other intently, and although the three other women in the bathroom had noticed the tension, they made no move to intervene or help Noah out.  
  
After a second Noah’s eyes narrowed and his wings spread a little to show that he was not going to accept such an insult just like that. “But at least my kind doesn’t spread hate like you do. I haven’t done anything to you, so please stop talking to me like that.”  
  
Martin growled and got right up into Noah’s face, making him have to take a small step back. Noah’s hand flew up to rest on his stomach, instinctively protecting it from any harm that Martin could want to inflict on it. Martin was taller than him and not as scrawny, so Noah couldn’t help but feel a little intimated to have the other sub towering over him like that.  
  
“ _Your_ kind spreads disease! With your impure blood and bastard children!” Martin snarled, spreading his white/brown wings dangerously.  
  
Noah let out a small growl and raised his wings a little, staring right back at Martin. His heart beat so fast inside him he was sure that Martin could hear it. He hated confrontations more than anything and he was so scared, but he wouldn’t let Martin walk away and think that he could insult Noah and his baby so easily. Noah was downright _angry_ to be talked to like that, even though he was pretty used to it.  
  
“Hey!”  
  
The loud voice startled Noah and he quickly looked to his side to see the friendly angel woman from earlier coming out of her stall to help him out. She quickly got between them and sent Martin a dark glare as she stared him down. She was taller than them both, although not much taller than Martin, and she had quite an authoritative energy to her.  
  
“I accept that there are people like you who have a very straight opinion about bloodlines and hybrids, but it gives you no right to treat another person like that,” the woman said, staring firmly at Martin who had taken a small step back and was staring back at her with wary but not intimidated eyes. “Keep your comments to yourself and don’t ruin the happy mood of an expecting mother. That’s just low.”  
  
The tension in the room tightened again as Martin glared back at the woman in defiance. He seemed to assess her and try to find out if he should continue arguing or just leave. After a few seconds he finally let out an angry growl. “Whatever. He’s still a freak.” He cast a venomous glare at Noah before stalking out of the bathroom, seemingly not caring that he had never gotten to use the toilet.  
  
Noah sighed in relief once Martin was gone and his wings slumped and relaxed behind him. “Thanks,” he told the woman, giving her a grateful smile.  
  
The woman smiled back and gave him a small wink before she proceeded to wash her hands. The others in the bathroom went on with their business, but seemed a little shocked by what they had witnessed. Noah felt them stare at him as he walked out of there.  
  
Jayden was waiting patiently outside with the cart and was checking his phone to see what the time was when Noah finally came back.  
  
“Ah, there you are,” Jayden smiled, putting his phone back into his pocket. “That sure took you a while.”  
  
“Sorry. I just… had an incident,” Noah murmured.  
  
A worried frown formed on Jayden’s face. “Morning sickness?”  
  
Noah shook his head. “No, I… I met Martin from college, and he wasn’t being very nice…”  
  
“Oh. So it was him I just saw stalking out of the bathroom then? I knew that sub looked familiar…” Jayden eyed Noah carefully, sensing that his mate was a little distraught and noticed how he kept avoiding his eye. “Hey,” he spoke softly, reaching out his hand and placed it on Noah’s shoulder to comfort him. “Whatever happened, don’t let that guy bring you down. He’s just a narrow-minded racist.”  
  
Noah nodded quietly. “Yeah… But I hate it when they talk to me like that.” He raised his head to meet Jayden’s eyes, looking like a sad puppy.  
  
Jayden gave him a comforting smile and leaned down to press a kiss to Noah’s forehead. “I know. But there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re the kindest person I know, so don’t let those racists affect you. Ignore them. They’re not worth wasting your time with, and they’re certainly not right about the things they say about you.”  
  
Noah smiled and leaned into the alpha. He felt better after what Jayden had said and quickly tried to shake Martin’s words off. It was just painful to always be the victim of such harsh words and hate that he had done nothing to deserve, except for being the product of love between an angel and a demon.  
  
“Now, let’s go get ice cream,” Jayden said, changing the topic and grinned at Noah. “My workplace has nice discounts for its employees when it comes to ice cream…” he added, hoping to tempt his mate.  
  
Noah laughed and he immediately felt his mouth water at the thought of eating the delicious ice cream that the restaurant made. “I’d like that,” he smiled. He glanced down at his bump and stroked it gently with his hand. “I think the baby agrees to it as well.”  
  
Jayden laughed and wrapped an arm around Noah’s waist, beginning to head in the direction of the restaurant. “I’m sure it does.”  
  
They headed towards the restaurant that Jayden worked at to get that ice cream, walking side by side and trying not to bump into other people. It was noisy and full of people, and kids ran around inside and in front of the toy stores, squealing in excitement when they saw something they wanted. The parents desperately tried to make their children be quiet, and Noah watched the scene with slight amusement as he and Jayden walked past them.  
  
As they closed in on the restaurant, they suddenly heard a voice calling their names in the crowds.  
  
“Noah! Jayden! Over here!”  
  
They both turned to see who it was, and Noah had barely turned around before he was met by a very happy Christie who immediately pulled him into a hug.  
  
“C-Christie?” Noah stammered in surprise, blinking for a second before hugging her back.  
  
“Yes, it’s me! Gosh you guys are so blind! Jayden was looking in my direction earlier but he didn’t see me.” Christie held Noah tight before finally pulling back, smiling widely at him.  
  
“Why sorry I don’t look at all the hundreds of faces my eyes come across when I glance around,” Jayden said, chuckling and rolling his eyes at her.  
  
“You’re forgiven,” Christie grinned, waving it off. She beamed at them both and seemed very happy to see them, before her eyes finally landed on Noah’s stomach. The smile on her face widened even further. “Oh my god, you’re showing now! I haven’t seen you guys since forever, have I?”  
  
Noah chuckled, his wings flaring with joy over seeing his friend again. “Yeah, it’s been a while.”  
  
They spoke on the phone about two or three times a month, and Noah had told her about his pregnancy not long after he and Jayden had found out that he was pregnant. Christie had been very excited for them, but they hadn’t seen each other in person for over two months already.  
  
“It’s been way too long!” Christie said, cringing in guilt. She stared at Noah’s bump again, and Noah could tell how excited she was to see him like that. “And that bump looks really good on you, Noah,” she smiled. “You must both be so excited.”  
  
Grinning, Jayden wrapped his arm around Noah’s waist again and pulled him close, glancing down at him and the bump with a loving smile. “Yeah, we’re both very excited. We even started shopping for baby stuff already.”  
  
“It’s never too soon to start,” Christie insisted, grinning at them.  
  
Noah smiled as he leaned into Jayden and kept his eyes on Christie. “And how are you, Christie?”  
  
“Yeah, I heard you got a boyfriend,” Jayden said, smirking at her.  
  
Christie blushed and shifted shyly on her feet. “Yeah, his name is Matthew, he’s a beta angel. He works at the elementary school with me as an arts teacher. He’s very good with his hands.”  
  
“I don’t think we need to know that…”  
  
Christie blushed furiously and lashed out to hit Jayden lightly on the arm. “You know what I mean!” she growled, her face red from blushing.  
  
Jayden laughed out loud and Noah couldn’t help but laugh too.  
  
Christie glared between them before coughing and getting back on topic. “Anyway, it’s going pretty well. My job is awesome and I have great colleagues. But of course I still think about you a lot, Noah. You’re kind of my best friend,” she grinned.  
  
Noah grinned back. “You’re still my best friend, too.”  
  
Christie smiled and seemed very happy to hear that. “We should really see each other more often… How about we go watch a movie together soon? Jayden can join if he wants.”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at that. “Nah, I think I’ll let you guys have a girl’s night for yourselves. You deserve that.”  
  
“Aw, you’re such a gentleman,” Christie grinned. Jayden laughed modestly at that.  
  
Noah chuckled at Christie’s comment before replying to her. “I’d love that. You and Matthew can also come over to visit us one day, if you like? I haven’t met your new boyfriend yet, after all.”  
  
“Oh, you gotta meet him! He’s so funny and awesome. I think he and Jayden would get along well.”  
  
“Well, then I look forward to meeting your guy,” Jayden smirked.  
  
Christie beamed before switching the topics. “Anyway, I should probably let you guys finish your shopping… I gotta head home soon anyways.”  
  
“Oh, but we’re already finished for today. We are going to have some ice cream at the restaurant where Jayden works at now. If you want, you can join?” Noah offered, glancing quickly at Jayden to see if the alpha was okay with that. Jayden responded with a small nod, implying that he didn’t mind.  
  
“Oh, I’d love that,” Christie beamed.  
  
“Cool. Let’s head there then,” Jayden smiled and turned to head towards the restaurant, pushing the shopping cart in front of him. Noah and Christie followed.  
  
Christie kept staring at Noah’s small bump with a wide smile, making Noah feel pretty self-conscious but also glad that his friend was so excited for him. It was good to be with her again. It had been so long since they last hung out.  
  
“I just can’t get used to the thought that my best friend is gonna be a mom soon,” Christie grinned at Noah as they walked. “I mean, I know you’ll make the best mom ever, but it’s still so weird to me…”  
  
Noah chuckled softly. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”  
  
“Aren’t you gonna have kids soon too?” Jayden asked Christie, sending her a smirk.  
  
“Hey, I’ve only dated Matthew for like three months! I’d like to wait a bit before we mate and have kids,” Christie argued, flushing a bit.  
  
Noah couldn’t agree more. Such a thing should indeed not be rushed.  
  
They passed by a lingerie store on the way to the restaurant, and Noah couldn’t help but stare at the angel submissive that was pictured on the poster on the window. The sub was wearing nothing but a pink set of sexy panties, and his white wings were covering his torso in a seductive way to hide his modesty, making pretty much only the panties be in focus. The look on his face was also seductive, as was his exposed, flat stomach, and Noah shivered a bit at the obvious objectification the picture was showing. It was the kind of picture that would send every unmated alpha into a state of arousal, as the body language of that submissive angel was clearly one of sexual intent.  
  
“Ugh, why must pictures like that fill the whole damn window?” Christie groused when she saw what Noah was staring at it. “They don’t just do it with females, also with subs. Can’t they put up some sexy, half-naked males instead?”  
  
“Yeah…” Noah agreed, quickly looking away from the picture when a group of young angel alphas passed by and whistled at the pleasing image on the window. It made Noah feel a bit nauseous that subs like him were portrayed as objects for males’ pleasure.  
  
“I wonder about that too, actually,” Jayden said, looking rather displeased with the objectification as well. “It’s that kind of stuff that makes guys treat subs and girls like shit.”  
  
“Which is why that if I ever have a son I’ll teach him to be a proper man who respects others,” Christie said, sounding very determined.  
  
Noah smiled and rubbed his bump a little. “Yeah. Same if our baby is a boy.”  
  
Jayden grinned and wrapped his arm around Noah’s waist again. “Yeah, we definitely will. He’ll be a real gentleman.”  
  
Noah smiled and brushed his wing against Jayden’s as they walked side by side, pleased with Jayden’s comment.  
  
Christie just grinned at them, and together they headed into the restaurant where Jayden worked to finally get that ice cream and catch up on the latest news in each other’s lives.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have found a new beta to take care of proof-reading for me – electriclullaby here from AO3, and Tumblr URL: http://bookwormblondie.tumblr.com/  
> She has done a good job beta’ing this chapter, so I hope that all or at least most of the mistakes were caught :) I also want to thank everyone who offered to beta for me, I appreciate your offers very much!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the update, please leave a comment :)


	17. Chapter 17

**June 2049 (Noah is 23, Jayden is 24 (almost 25), Castiel is 59 (almost 60), Dean is 61, Eden is 35 (almost 36), Adrian is 32, Isaac and Lily are 28, Jason is 36, Kaylen is 24 years old).**  
  
Noah came home from work at 6pm, having worked late that day. He sighed as he put his bag away while taking off his jacket, looking forward to relaxing for a bit and have a quick bite. He didn’t have much time before he had to leave again, since today was the day where he and Jayden were going to attend parenting classes for the first time. Jayden would come home at around 6:30 to pick him up, and their classes started at 7pm.  
  
They were both very excited to go the classes and learn more about the birth and how to care properly for their baby when it was born. Meeting other expecting parents seemed interesting too, and perhaps they could form some bonds with the others. Noah was a little nervous about it, though. Going to a new place and meeting new people always made him feel out of his comfort zone, but when Jayden was around it was usually easier.  
  
Sighing, Noah pulled off his shoes in the hallway and put them neatly into place before padding into the bathroom. His feet felt a little swollen, he was rather tired, and his back was kind of sore; side effects from the pregnancy. Noah grunted irritably and washed his face in the bathroom sink to feel more awake. He stared at his own reflection in the mirror for a few moments, watching the water droplets roll down his face and fall from his hair, which had also gotten a bit wet. He then pulled away and quickly dried his face in a towel, sighing at the fresh scent on it.  
  
After putting away the towel he unconsciously moved his hand down to rest on his swollen stomach. He rubbed it lovingly and smiled down at it with affection, wondering how the baby was doing inside him. At 19 weeks pregnant, Noah’s belly had grown more. It had a nice, rounded shape, and he was already experiencing some back pains occasionally, mostly after a long day at work. He wasn’t quite half-way through the pregnancy, so his stomach would still get a lot bigger.  
  
Glancing over at the mirror beside the shower stall, he stared at the full-body reflection of himself. The bump was quite visible, and Noah stared at the image of his pregnant self for a while.  
  
Noah had mixed feelings about his bump. It was strange to look in the mirror and see his usual, flat stomach being rounded, and it made him feel rather unattractive. He kept those thoughts to himself though, as he knew that Jayden would only tell him that he was being ridiculous. The alpha, however, didn’t seem to have a problem with the bump. He was always touching it, caressing it, kissing it, and he was as horny as ever when they had sex. Noah wondered if that would change the bigger he got and if Jayden would end up thinking that he was getting too fat and unattractive. It was a fear that Noah just couldn’t shake off.  
  
Finally Noah snapped out of it and quickly headed to the kitchen to grab something to eat before Jayden would come home and pick him up. He had a strange craving for pickles lately, even though he normally didn’t like them. He had bought some the other day and hidden them well in the back of the fridge, hoping that Jayden wouldn’t see them and make fun of him.  
  
He grabbed the pickles from the fridge and some cheese snacks as well, before going over to the table to sit down and eat. He hummed as his cravings were satisfied, but soon got up to go and get something to drink. Juice seemed to be what his body wanted lately, so he had stocked up on that too.  
  
After ten minutes the front door opened and Noah heard Jayden enter the apartment.  
  
“Hey, gorgeous,” Jayden said as he peeked into the kitchen and spotted his mate there. He smiled widely before going back into the hallway to take off his shoes.  
  
“Hi,” Noah replied and went back to eating. He was almost done and he whined a bit when he saw that he had almost finished the jar of pickles by now.  
  
Jayden entered the room again, shaking his wings a little to adjust his feathers before going over to Noah. He stopped by the table and stared wide-eyed at the scene of Noah eating pickles. “Oh. Since when do you like pickles?”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in horror and he tried to hide the jar with his hands even though Jayden had already seen it. “I-I just…”  
  
Jayden burst out laughing, finding the scene incredibly amusing. “Oh, so you’re having cravings for them now, huh? That’s a first one. You usually take them out of your burger when I make burgers with them.”  
  
Noah blushed, feeling his pride get a little hurt. “Shut up. They just satisfy my need to eat something sour and kinda spicy…”  
  
Jayden just grinned, and Noah could tell he was still very amused by the way his tail was flicking behind him.  
  
“You’re so cute,” Jayden said and leaned down to press a quick kiss to Noah’s cheek. “We gotta go soon though, so get ready to head out.”  
  
“Give me two minutes,” Noah murmured before gulping down the rest of the pickles.  
  
Jayden chuckled, shaking his head at how Noah was eating something he usually hated so much. The pregnancy seemed to affect his taste buds quite a lot.  


 

***

  
  
They drove to the parenting class together, feeling rather excited. The class took place in the building where Charlie’s clinic was, and it hadn’t been that long since they last saw her. They had had the 16-week scan three weeks ago and had gotten more photos of the baby inside Noah’s womb. It was amazing to see the development, and Charlie had confirmed that their baby had a tail – something that Noah was very relieved about. Next week they were going for a new scan, which would hopefully reveal the gender of their baby.  
  
Noah’s hand rested on his stomach the whole way to the class, and Jayden smiled when he noticed it. The alpha could tell that Noah was a little nervous, and he used his tail to touch Noah’s leg and try to reassure him. The submissive gave him a grateful smile for that.  
  
When they arrived they got out of the car together, excited to attend the class.  
  
Noah followed Jayden inside the mostly empty building where they looked for the signs leading to the room they had to go to. The building was clean and neat with white walls and doors, and it housed several doctor and ob/gyn clinics.  
  
As they stood in a hallway and looked for the right sign for their classroom, Noah suddenly felt something unusual in his stomach. Immediately he stared down at it and put his hand there, wondering if it was just something he had imagined, until suddenly he felt it again.  
  
Jayden turned his head and noticed the way Noah was staring wide-eyed at his own stomach. He frowned in worry. “What is it? Does it hurt?”  
  
“No, I… I felt something move,” Noah said, completely in awe. He moved his hand over his bump, trying to see if he could feel it again.  
  
“What? Really?” Jayden asked eagerly, reaching out to put his hand on Noah’s belly as well. He carefully moved his hand over the swollen area, concentrating on feeling something shift, but he felt nothing. His wings slumped in disappointment and he was just about to pull away when he finally felt a small, barely there movement under his hand. “Holy shit!” he grinned, his wings flaring in excitement.  
  
Noah grinned back, still in awe over having actually felt some movement from the baby.  
  
“Wow, that’s so amazing,” Jayden said, grinning like an idiot as he continued to look for more movements from Noah’s belly. “The little guy is pretty busy, huh?”  
  
“Or girl,” Noah corrected him.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Next week we’ll probably know the gender and then we don’t have to say ‘it’ anymore.”  
  
Noah just smiled and continued to stare at his stomach. Feeling the baby move was so strange, but it was not an unwelcome feeling. It filled him with happiness to know that the baby was alive inside him and was hopefully doing well. It made him even more impatient to finally be able to hold it in his arms.  
  
Jayden quickly glanced at his watch. “Ah crap, we’re gonna be late for the class. Let’s go.” He grabbed Noah’s hand to make him follow, and the two had to snap out of their happy moment to not be late for their first parenting class.  
  
When they reached the room, Charlie was standing outside and smiling as she gestured for the expecting parents to enter. Most had already arrived, and Noah and Jayden seemed to be the last ones.  
  
“Oh, there you guys are,” Charlie grinned when she spotted them. She reached out to shake their hands, ready to enter the room with them soon.  
  
“Yeah, sorry we’re almost late. The baby suddenly started moving,” Jayden told her, grinning as he shook her hand.  
  
Charlie’s eyes widened and she immediately looked at Noah, who had a wide, happy smile on his face. “Oh, really? That’s very good! You’d usually be able to feel that about 18-22 weeks into your pregnancy. It feels so strange, doesn’t it?”  
  
Noah nodded and placed his hand on his belly. “Yeah, it does, but it’s really amazing.”  
  
Charlie grinned and walked into the room with them. “To me it felt a bit like I had a bad case of gas at first, but I better not share that info…”  
  
Jayden laughed out loud and Noah’s face went from mildly horrified to one of laughter as well.  
  
When they came inside there were 11 other couples in the room as well. Most of them were human, but there were two angel couples and one demon couple, plus a female human and beta angel who were expecting a baby together. One of the human couples were two lesbians, where the dark-blonde woman was the one expecting the child. Her wife stayed close to her, and it was easy to tell that they were both a little nervous about how the others would react to them being lesbians. So far no one seemed to have a problem with it, though.  
  
They all glanced around at each other, taking in the new faces, and Jayden led Noah over to an available table where they could sit down.  
  
The other couples stared a bit at them and especially at Noah since he was such an unusual hybrid, but surprisingly no one seemed to have hostile looks on their faces when they stared at them.  
  
Charlie finally spoke and started welcoming everyone.  
  
“Now, before we start we should all get to know each other more,” Charlie said, smiling at everyone. “So why don’t you guys come join me on the floor? The expecting moms can sit leaned back against their strong mates while we all get to know each other and soon start learning about how to care for the babies that you are expecting.”  
  
The guys groaned mildly at the chick-flick thing they had to participate in – especially the alphas – but everyone followed Charlie over to the empty area of the room, where there were some blankets and pillows laid out to sit on.  
  
Noah and Jayden joined, staying close to each other, and Noah carefully sat down on one of the pillows. Jayden sat down behind him and pulled him close so that he was sitting between the alpha’s parted legs, and Noah tried to adjust his wings so they could sit comfortably.  
  
The human/angel couple sat down on their right side and the lesbian couple seated themselves on their left. They smiled friendly at each other, and Jayden wrapped his arms around Noah to rest his hands on his stomach as they got settled. The baby had settled down again and they could feel no movements from inside, but they both knew that they would get to feel its kicking a lot more often over the next few months.  
  
Charlie sat down with them and told each couple to introduce themselves. Everyone had a different backstory, but they were all going to be parents for the first time. Some seemed more nervous about it than others, especially some of the guys.  
  
Noah’s heart was pounding as he nervously waited his turn. He hated introductions, but Jayden seemed to be more calm and confident about it.  
  
Everyone listened as each couple introduced themselves, and Noah soon felt more comfortable as he got to know more about the others. Everyone seemed kind, and it was nice not to be around racists for once.  
  
When it was Noah and Jayden’s turn, Charlie turned to look at them with a smile. “And now to you guys. Tell us about yourselves.”  
  
Noah swallowed nervously, but was relieved when he noticed that Charlie was mostly looking at Jayden to have him say the words.  
  
“Um, well,” Jayden started, feeling a little awkward as he glanced around at the others. “I’m Jayden and this is my mate, Noah. We’ve been together since high school and now I work as a chef in a restaurant and Noah is a kindergarten teacher. Noah is 19 weeks pregnant with our first baby and we’re really looking forward to be parents.” He smiled down at Noah and tightened his arms around him, holding him close. Noah turned his head to look up at him, returning the smile.  
  
The others smiled and nodded at the information, but some of them couldn’t stop staring curiously at them.  
  
“And… You’re an angel/demon hybrid, is that right…?” asked one of the female angels, staring at Noah with a curious tilt of her head.  
  
Noah felt several of the others stare at him with the same question in their eyes and it made him shift a little. “Yeah, I am.”  
  
“Oh gosh, that must be such a challenge,” the pregnant lesbian next to them gasped. She had introduced herself as Amanda, and her wife was Maddie. “I’m a human, but I’ve seen the way angels and demons treat angel/demon couples and hybrids. It’s just awful. It’s just like how some people won’t let blacks and whites be together, or gay couples like Maddie and I.”  
  
“Yeah. Narrow-minded assholes,” Maddie muttered behind her.  
  
One of the alpha angels snorted. “Can only agree with that. I see nothing wrong with angel/demon relationships, if they love each other. I just hate how they have such a hard time being together.”  
  
The others agreed, and both Jayden and Noah felt more relaxed to have everyone’s support. It was a rare thing that Noah could be in a non-racist environment when he was around strangers, so he was definitely appreciating it.  
  
They moved on and the next couple introduced themselves. Afterwards Charlie showed them some exercises to relieve pregnancy back pains, as many of the expecting mothers were dealing with that. Everyone was about 17-21 weeks pregnant, so some had worse pain backs than others.  
  
The expecting mothers were instructed to get down on all fours, and their mates were told to stay close and help them into position.  
  
Noah blushed furiously as he was on all fours with his wings half spread out and with Jayden gently touching his hips, legs, and arms to adjust him so that all his limbs were in the right position according to Charlie’s instructions. It was embarrassing to be on all fours like that, especially when there were two alpha angels, a beta angel, one other alpha demon, and human males in the room to stare at him. The guys all seemed busy helping out their own mates, but Noah could see they were looking around at what the others were doing too and sometimes ended up looking at him.  
  
“This is embarrassing,” Noah murmured, glancing over his shoulder at Jayden.  
  
Jayden laughed softly and touched Noah’s wing to spread it out a bit more. “Don’t make it more awkward than it is.”  
  
Noah groaned in response. He blushed a bit when one of the female humans giggled at their interaction, which she had overheard.  
  
They were told to stretch out their throats and then slowly bring their chins down towards their chests, making their back arch up and the spine and muscles stretch in a certain way. Breathing was important, and Jayden helped Noah get everything right and make sure he was okay during the exercise.  
  
Then came the movements of the hips where they had to move their butts around slowly in certain motions, which was absolutely mortifying for Noah to have to do in front of a lot of strangers. Jayden thought it was kind amusing, as did some of the other males when their mates started moving around, and some of the females hissed at their mates when they made fun of them.  
  
Afterwards they could finally return to the tables and chairs, and Charlie began to explain the basics of birth to them to let the expecting mothers know what was waiting ahead. She tried to be as inexplicit as possible, but some of the words and details still made Noah shift in embarrassment – especially when Charlie talked about how it would be for a submissive, since their anatomy was different from a female’s. Noah was the only submissive there, so it was pretty embarrassing to have such details told out in front of everyone, even though it was about something that was completely natural.  
  
They got a lot of useful information on their first day, regarding back exercises, the birth, and some pregnancy stuff, and at 8:30pm it was already time to leave again.  
  
Everyone in the group seemed nice, and Noah was glad that he had gotten sincere smiles from some of them instead of hateful, racist glares. Charlie had promised them that she would put together a group with no racists in it so that Noah and Jayden could be comfortable, and they were very grateful that she had kept that promise.  
  
People started heading home, and Noah and Jayden both felt pretty satisfied with how the class had gone. Next time they would learn more about baby formula and how to prepare it, and about changing diapers.  
  
“Hey,” Amanda said as she came over to Noah and Jayden before they could leave. She was dark blonde, had pale skin, brown eyes, and was 30 years old. She smiled between Noah and Jayden as she said, “You know, you’re not the only ones who get to experience what dicks others can be. My wife and I have had sooo many people be mean to us because we’re lesbians, but I mostly shake them off. I hope you guys don’t get hated on too much during your daily lives…”  
  
Noah smiled back at her, grateful that the woman was trying to cheer them up. “Some days are worse, but luckily I don’t experience it that often anymore. It was worse when I was in school.”  
  
Amanda nodded in understanding, glancing briefly over at her wife, Maddie, who was talking to one of the other couples, before looking at Noah again. “Well, I once knew an angel/demon hybrid. We went to school together and he was a grade or two above me. Maybe you know him? His name was Adrian. He had white wings with some black feathers, and a demon tail…?”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened. “Yeah, that’s my brother.”  
  
“Wow, what a coincidence,” Jayden grinned, wrapping his arm around Noah’s waist.  
  
Amanda grinned. “Oh, so you are related then! I kept wondering, but I wasn’t sure. You do kind of look like him, so I guessed you had the same parents. There aren’t that many angel/demon couples or hybrids around anyway, and Adrian was a cool guy. He kept the stupid bitches and assholes off me when they bullied me for liking girls.”  
  
Jayden smiled and glanced down at Noah. “That sounds like Adrian.”  
  
Noah beamed and nodded in agreement.  
  
Maddie came back over, and Amanda smiled as she told them goodbye before leaving with her wife, their fingers entwined as they left the room.  
  
Noah and Jayden turned to leave too, saying goodbye to Charlie and some of the others before heading out to the parking lot again to find the car.  
  
It was a little chilly as they entered the parking lot, and Noah groaned when he saw that the dark sky was full of clouds.  
  
They were almost by the car when Noah’s phone buzzed in his pocket, indicating he had gotten a text message.  
  
Jayden glanced at him as Noah pulled out his phone, feeling a little curious about who would text him now.  
  
Noah was not too surprised to receive a text from Isaac, as his brother sometimes texted him stupid jokes, but this time it wasn’t a joke that his brother was sending him.  
  
 _‘Hiya, Noah and Jayden-boy. Kaylen just had labor pains so i guess the baby is coming soon! Maybe in a few days, the doctors said. Woohoo i’m gonna be a daddy!! i’ll let you guys know when the little feather ball has been born so you can come and worship her as the daughter of awesomeness that she is! Talk to ya later!’_  
  
Noah grinned at the message, but couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the worshipping part.  
  
“What is it?” Jayden asked, curious about why Noah had that look on his face.  
  
“Isaac texted me to tell us that Kaylen is having labor pains, so the baby will be there soon,” Noah explained, smiling in excitement. He showed Jayden the text to let him see.  
  
Jayden burst out laughing when he read it. “Oh god, that’s so Isaac.”  
  
Noah chuckled and put his phone back into his pocket just as they arrived at the car.  
  
“But really, that’s awesome that their baby is coming soon. Can’t wait to see her,” Jayden smiled.  
  
“Yeah, me too. And I wanna see ours too…” Noah glanced down at his belly, rubbing it tenderly.  
  
Jayden smiled. “You will, in a few months.”  
  
Noah nodded and joined Jayden as he got into the car, ready to go home.  
  


***

  
  
Isaac kept updating the family on how Kaylen’s labor was going. Kaylen had had some irregular labor pains for a few days but without the baby coming out, until finally on Sunday they received a message from Isaac that now it was happening.  
  
Noah and Jayden drove to the hospital in L.A. where Kaylen was admitted, and Dean, Castiel, Eden, Jason, and Lily drove off too to be able to congratulate the new parents once the baby was born.  
  
When Noah and Jayden arrived at the hospital and pulled into the parking lot, they saw the rest of the family chatting over by one of the entrances to the hospital. Adrian was there with them too, but there was no sign of Natalie, Tony, or any of the kids.  
  
They got out of the car and went over to the others, watching as everyone’s faces lit up at the sight of them.  
  
“Noah! Jayden! There you are!” Eden grinned and came over to hug them tightly.  
  
“Hi, Eden,” Noah smiled, hugging her back.  
  
Eden pulled back and grinned as she glanced down at Noah’s swollen belly. “Love how you get bigger every time I see you.”  
  
Noah blushed and went over to greet the others while Eden hugged Jayden. Castiel smiled as he pulled Noah into a hug, holding him tight and rubbed his back a few times.  
  
“It’s good to see that you are doing well, Noah,” Castiel spoke.  
  
“Yeah, and that that stomach of yours seems to be doing well too,” Dean grinned.  
  
Noah pulled back from Castiel, smiling sheepishly and put a hand on his stomach. “Thanks. Everything is going fine with me and the baby.”  
  
“It better be, otherwise I gotta have a word with that mate of yours,” Dean joked, grinning as he came forward to hug Noah.  
  
Noah squeaked softly when his dad hugged him very tight – but was careful not to hurt his stomach – and he smiled when Dean’s tail wrapped around his leg lightly to show his son that he loved him.  
  
“Give Jayden a break, dad. We all know you like him,” Adrian remarked from behind them, chuckling at Dean.  
  
Jayden laughed and shared a brief hug with Castiel before going to greet Jason.  
  
“My turn, my turn!” Lily exclaimed, grinning as she rushed over to hug Noah once Dean had pulled away. “So good to see you! Love that stomach of yours.”  
  
Noah blushed at all the comments about his stomach. “Thanks…” He hugged Lily back and greeted Jason afterwards, before finally turning to Adrian.  
  
Adrian smiled at him, looking his pregnant brother up and down before coming closer. “It really suits you. But it’s a strong reminder to me that you’re all grown up now. It’s so weird to think of you as an adult.”  
  
Noah rolled his eyes. “I have been an adult for five years, you know.” He came forward to hug Adrian, who laughed warmly at his comment and returned the hug. Adrian’s tail nudged against Noah’s leg and wrapped around it very briefly until they pulled back.  
  
Jason turned to look at Jayden, who was watching the scene with Noah with a soft smile. “Excited to be a father yet?” he asked.  
  
“Yeah, of course I am, but it’s still new to me,” Jayden replied, smiling.  
  
Adrian chuckled as he came over to Jayden, being the only one who hadn’t greeted him yet. “You’ll do fine.”  
  
The two alphas shared a brief hug and patted each other’s shoulders in approval, and Noah smiled as he watched the scene.  
  
Dean and Castiel watched the interactions with soft smiles, and the angel leaned into Dean when he felt the demon’s tail curl lovingly around his leg. It was good to be with the kids again, but everyone’s thoughts were still on Isaac and Kaylen, and Kaylen’s current struggle to bring their baby into the world.  
  
“Isn’t Kaylen’s family around?” Adrian asked, looking over at Dean and Castiel.  
  
“Yeah, his parents and brother are already inside,” Dean confirmed. “We met them just before you all came, and they decided to go ahead inside while Cas and I stayed behind to gather all our ducklings.” He smirked as he looked at his children, who all groaned at the word he used.  
  
“Stop calling us ducklings! We’re all grown up!” Lily protested, crossing her arms in defiance.  
  
Dean just grinned wickedly at them. “You’ll always be our little ducklings. Ain’t that right, Cas?”  
  
Castiel chuckled softly. “Yes, that’s right.”  
  
Adrian rolled his eyes. “Well, whatever. Let’s head inside, shall we? I’m hungry.”  
  
“You’re always hungry,” Eden said with a roll of her eyes.  
  
“What? I just need some nutrition for my muscles and my brain,” Adrian retorted, smirking as he wrapped an arm around Eden’s shoulders.  
  
“Good god,” Eden groaned helplessly.  
  
The others laughed out loud and followed them inside, and Adrian removed his arm from Eden’s shoulders as they entered.  
  
Dean and Castiel grinned and smiled widely when seeing their kids still getting along and teasing each other, even without Isaac there.  
  
“Did you all leave the kids at home?” Jayden asked as they walked down the hospital corridors in the direction of the cafeteria.  
  
“Yeah, it’ll get too crowded with them all around, and only a few people are allowed to enter the hospital room,” Jason explained.  
  
“And Natalie is looking after Maya and Aaron, as we couldn’t find a babysitter, but she’ll get to meet Isaac’s baby another time soon,” Adrian said.  
  
“I don’t doubt that. Isaac is gonna want to show her around all proudly once the baby is born,” Lily said, giggling softly.  
  
They arrived at the cafeteria and everyone went over to look at the menu to see what they wanted. They were all a little hungry, and it could take a while until Kaylen had given birth and until they were allowed to enter the room.  
  
Noah couldn’t stop thinking about the pain that poor Kaylen had to be in right now. He cringed in sympathy for Kaylen and felt a little nervous when he thought about how it would be his turn in just a few months. He hated being in pain and he wasn’t very good at handling it, and the thought of going through labor and pushing out an entire baby was very scary to him. He had wondered if a C-section would be less painful, but he had been told it wasn’t. Besides, he wanted to give birth naturally; it was better for the baby, and Noah somehow just seemed more content with the idea of doing things the way they were supposed to be done.  
  
“You don’t have to be scared of having the baby,” Castiel told him when he noticed the look on Noah’s face and how he seemed so absentminded.  
  
Noah startled a bit and looked to his side where his papa was standing. Jayden was busy talking with Adrian and Jason, and Dean was interacting with Eden and Lily as they tried to figure out what to order.  
  
Noah blinked at his papa for a second before lowering his gaze. “I know. I’m just a little nervous about everything…” He placed his hand on his bump, staring at it as he rubbed it gently. He had felt the baby move a little more in the past few days. It wasn’t much, but every time he felt the movement from inside him, his heart filled with love and excitement.  
  
Castiel smiled and put a comforting hand on Noah’s shoulder. “It isn’t that bad. I have given birth five times and I’ve survived. If it was really that bad then I wouldn’t have had so many children.”  
  
“But you weren’t expecting to have twins, and I was an accident…”  
  
“It doesn’t matter; I’m glad I had all of you.”  
  
Noah turned his head to look at his papa, returning the smile that was on the angel’s face. “Thanks, papa.”  
  
Castiel smiled and gently removed his hand from Noah’s shoulder. “No need to thank me. And how are things with the baby going? Have you felt it move yet?”  
  
A couple of screaming kids distracted Noah for a second before he replied. “Yes, I have,” he said, smiling widely. “And next week we might know what its gender is.”  
  
Castiel grinned. “That’s good. And let me know when you find out the gender.”  
  
“Your baby moved?” Lily suddenly blurted, coming over to them to listen in.  
  
Noah turned to look at her, chuckling a little. “Yes, I’ve felt it move a few times.”  
  
“Ohh, that’s great,” Eden grinned. Lily’s outburst had caught her and the others’ attention, and they all looked happy that Noah had felt the baby move.  
  
Jayden smiled and came over to stand behind Noah, wrapping his arms around him and placing a kiss on the top of his head as he pulled Noah against himself so they were front-to-back.  
  
“Aww, and Jayden is all excited about it too,” Lily grinned.  
  
“Of course I am,” Jayden chuckled, holding Noah close and touched his bump lovingly.  
  
“Has he been having strange cravings too?” Dean asked, a hint of teasing in his voice as he glanced at Noah before looking at Jayden.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Oh yeah, I’ve caught him eating pickles lately.”  
  
“Pickles?!” Dean exclaimed. “He hates those!”  
  
“Well, lately he’s been eating them with great joy.” Jayden grinned at Noah, who looked embarrassed as the others laughed at his new liking for pickles.  
  
“Well, pickles are very sour, so they were rather common to crave for when you are pregnant,” Castiel explained, chuckling at Noah’s flushed face.  
  
“Shut up. I can’t help it…” Noah murmured irritably when the others continued to be amused.  
  
Adrian laughed fondly. “Soon he’s gonna crave feta cheese and spicy foods too, and he’s never been a big fan of spices either.”  
  
“Yeah, poor Noah,” Eden snickered.  
  
Noah let out an annoyed groan, which made Jayden laugh fondly at him and place a kiss on his cheek to calm him down.  
  
They went on with ordering something to eat. The cafeteria mostly only had sandwiches, some pie, a few pasta salads, and various candy bars. It came to no one’s surprise that Dean went for the pie, even though cafeteria pies often didn’t taste nearly as good as Castiel’s homemade ones.  
  
They chatted and talked, and Noah and Jayden told Adrian about Amanda, whom they had met at the parenting class. It took Adrian a few seconds to remember her, and he too was quite surprised at the coincidence that she was attending the same parenting class as them.  
  
After a little while Kaylen’s parents and older brother showed up in the cafeteria as well. They greeted each other and the three of them joined the others at the tables they had shoved together. Kaylen’s mother was named Patricia, his father was Mark, and his older brother was called Carl. They got along well with Kaylen’s family, and they were all anticipating a message from Isaac and Kaylen saying that the baby had been born and that they could come up and see her.  
  


***

  
  
In the late afternoon they finally got a message from Isaac that the baby had been born and that the doctors were allowing visitors.  
  
Excited, they all got up from their seats and headed up to the fourth floor where Kaylen’s room was. They were too many people to go in at once, so Kaylen’s parents and brother, and Dean and Castiel went in first. The others waited outside, listening to what was being said behind the half-closed door.  
  
Kaylen was sitting on the bed with the baby wrapped up in a blanket in his arms, and both he and Isaac looked happy and proud as their parents came in to see the baby.  
  
“Ohh, she’s wonderful!” Patricia exclaimed when she saw the baby.  
  
“Indeed she is,” Castiel smiled, stepping a little closer to have a look.  
  
Kaylen smiled and rocked the baby gently. “Thank you. I’m so glad that it’s over…”  
  
“And I’m glad I don’t have to listen to you calling me nasty names for knocking you up,” Isaac said, grinning teasingly at Kaylen as he sat on the bed next to him. He reached out and ran his hand through Kaylen’s hair and removed some from his sweaty forehead.  
  
Dean laughed out loud at that. “I think that’s pretty normal, though. Cas always called me names too.” He chuckled when Castiel gave him a discrete elbow in the side and blushed a little.  
  
“Well, you deserved those names,” Kaylen murmured at Isaac, keeping his eyes on the baby.  
  
Outside the room, the others listened as Dean, Castiel, and Kaylen’s family talked about how pretty the baby was and asked how Kaylen was doing.  
  
“Isaac sounds pretty happy,” Lily remarked, smiling when she heard the fondness and happiness in Isaac’s voice as he talked to Kaylen and spoke to the others about the baby.  
  
“Still, him being a dad… Sooo surrealistic for me,” Eden chuckled.  
  
“I think he’ll do fine – at least when it comes to entertaining the kid. His influence on her is another issue…” Adrian said, contemplatively.  
  
Jayden chuckled from where he was leaning against the wall with Noah standing next to him. “I don’t think Kaylen will allow him to corrupt their daughter too much.”  
  
“Yeah, at least Kaylen has lots of common sense in him,” Jason joked and laughed.  
  
“I think Isaac does too, he just doesn’t always show it. He likes to act careless and funny,” Eden spoke.  
  
Noah smiled and nodded in agreement. A sudden, small kick inside him made him stare down at his stomach and rub it gently. Jayden noticed this and smiled as he wrapped his arm around Noah’s shoulder, and let their wings be pressed against each other behind their backs.  
  
“Is the baby active?” Eden asked, grinning at Noah in excitement.  
  
“Yeah, kind of. I definitely felt something,” Noah said, still staring at his bump with a loving smile.  
  
“Can I touch it?” Eden asked carefully, not knowing whether or not Noah was comfortable with that.  
  
Noah blinked at her before nodding once. “Okay.”  
  
Eden smiled and came over to touch his belly, and Noah allowed Lily to touch it too. It was strange to have his sisters touch the bump and look for movements, but Noah was quite content about it. Jayden didn’t seem to mind either, but Noah could tell that the alpha was on guard. It was in Jayden’s instincts to be very protective when someone else touched Noah’s pregnant bump, and Noah couldn’t help but find it cute and amusing.  
  
“Oh! I felt it!” Lily exclaimed, pulling back with an excited squeal.  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Eden grinned, also pulling back to give Noah some space. “It was the tiniest kick, but I think I felt something in there.”  
  
Adrian chuckled and shook his head at them. “Well, I’m glad your baby is moving around, Noah. You don’t know the gender yet, do you?”  
  
“No, but we should know next week,” Jayden replied, his arm still wrapped around Noah’s shoulders. “So far we just know that it has wings and a tail, and Noah’s blood tests showed no abnormalities.”  
  
“Oh, that’s great. I’m sure Noah is glad that his kid will have a tail.” Adrian looked at Noah with a certain look on his face, which showed that he was still a bit upset that Noah had always felt sad that he didn’t have a tail.  
  
Noah lowered his gaze a little. “Yeah, I’m glad it does.”  
  
“Don’t be like that. We’ve never excluded you from our sibling bonds just because you don’t have a tail…” Eden said with a rueful look on her face. Her wings slumped a little behind her.  
  
“I know, but I’ve still always wanted to have one,” Noah spoke, lifting his head to look back at them.  
  
Adrian rolled his eyes fondly and came over to ruffle Noah’s hair. “You little dummy.”  
  
Noah groaned and swatted Adrian’s hand away, and the others laughed at the scene.  
  
After a few minutes, Kaylen’s family and Dean and Castiel finally retreated from the room to let the others come in and see the baby.  
  
They went inside and smiled widely when they saw Kaylen holding the little baby girl in his arms.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Kaylen greeted them, slowly rocking the baby who made a few noises of complaint.  
  
“Hey,” Eden grinned and came over to look. “Wow, she’s so beautiful! Definitely much prettier than Isaac.”  
  
“Hey! That’s not nice!” Isaac protested, glaring at his sister.  
  
Kaylen laughed, as did the others, and the baby squirmed and made another complained noise because of Isaac’s loud voice right next to her. “Shh, it’s okay. It’s just your noisy daddy,” Kaylen soothed her, smiling as he pressed a soft kiss to the baby’s cheek.  
  
Isaac snorted and murmured out a small ‘sorry’ at that.  
  
Noah shifted a little closer and stared at the girl in awe. The baby had demon wings with some white and brownish feathers – though not many – and she had a small demon tail, which was curling and curling as she lay wrapped up in the blanket. Her hair was dark blonde, and she kept opening and closing her eyes to stare up at Kaylen and sometimes at Isaac. She looked small and fragile, but very content.  
  
Lily got tears in her eyes as she looked at the baby. “Wow. My twin had a little baby… That’s so unreal, but I’m so happy for you.”  
  
Eden put a hand on Lily’s shoulder to soothe her, and Isaac got up from the bed and walked around it to be with them.  
  
“Aw, don’t start crying, you silly cry-baby. Eliza crying is more than enough.” Isaac pulled Lily into a small hug, running his hand over her back to comfort her. Lily smiled and leaned into him, sharing a warm hug after many weeks of them being apart.  
  
“Eliza? Is that the baby’s name?” Adrian asked, turning to look at Kaylen.  
  
Kaylen smiled and nodded. “Yeah, it’s the name we picked for her.”  
  
“It’s a nice name,” Jayden said, and Noah and Jason nodded in agreement.  
  
Noah shifted a little closer to Kaylen to have a better look, since Eden and the others had kind of blocked his view earlier. Kaylen smiled as Noah came closer, and shifted the baby a bit so he could see her better.  
  
“She’s very pretty,” Noah smiled. He looked at Kaylen then. “How are you feeling?”  
  
“I’ve been better,” Kaylen answered honestly. “But I’ll survive. After I get to sleep for 15 hours and let Isaac handle the bottle-feeding and diaper changes in the meanwhile.”  
  
“Hey!” Isaac exclaimed, making the others laugh.  
  
“Better get used to it, little brother,” Adrian grinned, patting Isaac’s shoulder.  
  
“Yeah, the smell shouldn’t be a problem for you. Must remind you of your old room,” Eden snickered.  
  
“Jeez! I hate you guys!” Isaac exclaimed, sulking and looking insulted as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.  
  
The others laughed, and Eden, Jason, Adrian, and Jayden finally congratulated Isaac properly by hugging him and patting his shoulder.  
  
Isaac cheered up a bit, and then it was Noah’s turn to properly congratulate his brother.  
  
“Congratulations. I’m happy for you,” Noah smiled, pulling Isaac into a hug.  
  
Isaac grinned and hugged him back. “Thanks, little bro.” They pulled back, and Isaac grinned as he cast a look down at Noah’s swollen stomach. “Love how you keep getting bigger, Noah! Damn, Jayden knocked you up pretty good.”  
  
“Isaac!” Lily chided, shoving him harshly for the inappropriate comment.  
  
Noah blushed furiously, and although Jayden laughed at the comment he still felt a little awkward.  
  
“Yeah, that’s not cool,” Jason said, trying not to snicker.  
  
They all looked over when Dean stuck his head in through the door. “Isaac! Keep those comments to yourself!” he scolded, giving Isaac a firm glare. He had heard Isaac’s comment through the door, and he didn’t like it when Isaac said such inappropriate things about his siblings – especially Noah.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I was just messing around,” Isaac said, rolling his eyes.  
  
Dean gave him one more glare before leaving again and closed the door a little to give them space while he and Cas interacted with Kaylen’s family outside in the hallway.  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes at Isaac, but Eliza’s increasing crying caught his attention. He shushed her gently and rocked her the best he could, but she wouldn’t stop complaining. “I think she’s hungry…”  
  
“Yeah, you better let the nurses prepare some formula for her,” Eden said. “She hasn’t eaten yet, has she?”  
  
Kaylen shook his head, and Isaac came over to be with him and help him try to calm Eliza down for now.  
  
They smiled when they saw Isaac gently picking up the baby and settled her into his arms. He rocked her gently, murmured comforting words and hummed a quiet song, which soon made the baby girl calm down a little. She was still hungry though, so she didn’t stop sobbing and letting them know that she needed food, but she was much calmer now.  
  
Eden smiled at the scene. “Maybe you’ll make a good dad after all.”  
  
Isaac snorted. “I’m perfect at everything, so no need to tell me.”  
  
The others laughed and shook their heads at Isaac’s confident remark.  
  
“Jackass,” Kaylen murmured, rolling his eyes.  
  
“But you like my ass,” Isaac retorted with a lewd smirk on his lips. “I just like yours better.”  
  
“Shut up!” Kaylen hissed, blushing furiously.  
  
“Jeez, Isaac,” Adrian laughed, shaking his head helplessly at his brother, who seemed to be way too amused by Kaylen telling him to shut up.  
  
Noah felt a little sorry for Kaylen, but he could tell that the other submissive wasn’t too bothered by Isaac’s embarrassing and inappropriate comments. He could handle those a lot better than Noah could.  
  
After the laughter had died down, Eden went outside to tell Dean and the others to find a nurse who could bring them formula, and in the meanwhile Isaac kept trying to soothe the baby. Eliza was still rather calm in his arms, but whenever he stopped rocking her or stopped murmuring those soft words, she would cry even more, so he had to constantly focus on her.  
  
Kaylen smiled up at Isaac and Eliza, looking pleased that his prankster mate was doing so well with their baby and had managed to calm her down a bit. He then turned his head to look at Noah. “Don’t look forward to the labor when it’s your turn. It’s really no fun at all, but it gets better afterwards.”  
  
“Yeah, thanks… I really don’t look forward to it,” Noah murmured, glancing down at his bump once more.  
  
“Isn’t it unusual to have labor pains for as long as you did?” Jayden asked Kaylen, looking a little concerned.  
  
“They said it happens sometimes. Every birth is different,” Kaylen relied with a small shrug of his shoulders. “I would have preferred not to have had those pains for that long, of course… But I actually only felt them a few times a day at first, so it wasn’t that bad; just very painful when they appeared. Since early this morning it got a lot worse, though…”  
  
“I also felt some labor pains a few days in advance when I had Lucy, so I know how it is,” Eden said, giving Kaylen a sympathetic smile. Jason grabbed her hand to comfort her, and Eden turned her head to give him a warm smile.  
  
“Thanks, glad to know I’m not alone,” Kaylen chuckled. “If I ever have another baby, Isaac should be the one to birth it.” He scowled up at Isaac, who was still busy with little Eliza.  
  
Isaac grimaced. “Sorry, babe, but that’s gonna be pretty impossible. The only thing coming outta _my_ ass is shit.”  
  
“Isaac! That’s nasty!” Lily growled, looking utterly disgusted.  
  
“Yeah. Gross, man,” Adrian said, scrunching his nose.  
  
The others laughed but also looked rather disgusted, and Isaac just burst out laughing, making Eliza scream and cry at the sudden noise. Isaac quickly tried to soothe her again and murmured small apologies at her, and luckily a nurse soon entered the room with a fresh bottle of milk.  
  
Everyone left the room to give the two parents some space while feeding their daughter.  
  
Everything had gone well, and Eliza was healthy and just the way she was supposed to be. The family stayed at the hospital for a few hours more, enjoying each other’s company and bonding more with Kaylen’s family.  
  
Despite Isaac always acting immature and childish, Noah was rather confident that he would man up for the job as a father. Isaac had his more responsible and sensitive sides too, and that would help him be a good father to his new, little daughter. And Kaylen would be there to make sure that he’d do well.  
  
Seeing Kaylen sitting in the bed with his newborn baby made Noah both nervous and excited to give birth to his own baby. He still had about 5 months left of pregnancy and all the side effects that come with it, but with Jayden always by his side he was confident he would manage it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Dean/Cas grandbaby was born :) Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! It won’t be long before you see Noah having some mood swings because of the pregnancy, and of course see him getting even bigger ;)


	18. Chapter 18

**July 2049 (Noah is 23, Jayden is 24 (almost 25), Eden is 35 (almost 36), Lily is 28, Jason is 36 (almost 37), Daniel is 10, Luna is 6 (almost 7), Lucy is one and a half years old).**  
  
Jayden was lying on his back with his limbs splayed out to the sides, breathing deep and evenly as he slept. A nice dream displayed itself behind his eyelids, vivid and exciting and so addictive, until something touching his dick woke him up.  
  
The alpha groaned and shifted a little, trying to open his sleepy eyes. “Noah…?” he croaked when he felt smaller hands rubbing his clothed member to hardness.  
  
Noah had pulled Jayden’s blanket aside to access his body. He was busy rubbing the alpha’s dick and balls through the boxers to get him hard as he sat next to him and was leaning over him somewhat. He roamed his other hand over Jayden’s muscled chest, feeling the muscles flex under his palm as the alpha began to wake up.  
  
“What are you doing?” Jayden asked, a hint of amusement in his sleepy voice as he cracked one eye open to look at his mate. His lips curled into an amused smile, and his cock was getting nice and hard under Noah’s ministrations, making his body produce a potent musk of alpha arousal.  
  
“I just need you so bad,” Noah murmured, his cheeks flushed from arousal and shyness. He grabbed the hem of Jayden’s boxers and pulled the clothing off him until the alpha was completely naked on the bed. Noah himself was wearing one of Jayden’s old, grey AC/DC t-shirts and a purple pair of panties. Once the underwear was off, Noah swung his leg over Jayden so that he was straddling him, and settled himself with his butt just a few inches over the alpha’s hardened cock.  
  
Jayden let out a pleased growl at the sight of Noah wearing his t-shirt, which was way too big on him. The pregnant bump was still a bit visible despite the t-shirt being too big, and Jayden thought Noah looked incredibly sexy like that. The thought of his mate wearing _his_ t-shirt and mixing their scents like that was just so hot. He reached out and grabbed a hold of Noah’s hips, grunting in approval of the sex that awaited him.  
  
Noah used his legs to support his weight, and moved one hand behind himself and into his panties.  
  
Jayden’s dick twitched painfully when he realized that Noah was putting his fingers into himself, and he listened to the beautiful moans that escaped the submissive, and watched as Noah’s eyes fluttered shut in pleasure.  
  
Then, Noah pulled his fingers out and settled himself over Jayden’s dick, using one hand to make sure the panties were pried to the side, leaving his hole free and exposed, and used his other hand to grab Jayden’s dick before sinking onto it.  
  
“Fuck!” Jayden cursed, bucking up on instinct as Noah’s warm wetness enveloped his cock. Every time Noah took him inside it felt wonderful and amazing, making Jayden see stars almost right away. He let out a long, aroused groan and bucked up again, forcing Noah to take more of his cock.  
  
Noah gasped and almost lost his balance. The hand had he had used to guide Jayden’s cock into him fell down on Jayden’s stomach to support himself, while his other hand continued to keep his panties in place. He shuddered as more of the demon’s dick slipped into his barely prepared hole, making it burn a little.  
  
“Jesus. You should have stretched yourself more,” Jayden said, immediately feeling bad for having bucked up like that. He tried to remain still so that Noah could control how much of him he wanted to take in, but it was hard when all he wanted was to drive into that delicious heat over and over until Noah screamed his name.  
  
“I stretched myself a little before you woke up, but not much. I like the burn…”  
  
Jayden’s self-control was strongly challenged by those words, but he managed to keep his hips still and to not come too early. “Jeez. What’s got you being so horny lately? You’ve wanted sex every day for the past two weeks now, sometimes even two or three times a day.”  
  
Noah blushed and slowly began to rock his hips, making Jayden moan at the gesture. His hole had opened up more to accommodate Jayden, making it easier for Noah to slide down further onto the shaft. “I don’t know. I just want it.”  
  
“Well, I’m not complaining,” Jayden grinned and tightened his hands on Noah’s hips. “Must be your pregnancy hormones talking. I like that.”  
  
Noah blushed even more at Jayden’s lewd face. The alpha then began to buck his hips up into him slowly, trying to get Noah to move. Noah gasped and began to move up and down on Jayden’s cock, flushing heavily as Jayden looked at his face while Noah was the one being in control of their movements. Noah didn’t ride Jayden that often, finding it kind of embarrassing to have Jayden stare at him while he moved on his dick, and neither did he like to be in charge, but it was also rather thrilling to be riding Jayden like this. He still knew and felt that Jayden was in charge, which relaxed Noah since he didn’t like to take on the role of the dominant partner in the bedroom. He was content being the submissive one and he enjoyed it, and taking control of the movements as he rode Jayden was as far as he’d go.  
  
It burned so deliciously whenever Noah slid up and up down on the shaft. His inner walls were tight and sensitive, and he moaned and closed his eyes as he focused on the nice feeling of Jayden’s cock inside him.  
  
Jayden moved one hand from Noah’s hips and down to hold his panties for him, allowing Noah to place both his hands on Jayden’s chest so that he could ride him easier. The alpha’s pupils dilated with lust as Noah began to bounce up and down on his dick faster, swirling his hips to give Jayden extra pleasure. Noah was pleased to have Jayden holding his panties for him – it was a sign that Jayden was still the dominant one, despite Noah controlling most of the movements.  
  
They gasped and moaned as Noah sped up a little more, and Jayden bucked up to meet his thrusts. Noah not having stretched himself completely before they started benefitted them both, but Jayden didn’t like it when Noah did that too often. He was worried it would hurt him.  
  
Noah spread out his wings somewhat, his feathers jostling and moving with every bounce on Jayden’s dick, and the alpha watched them in entrancement. The display was just for him, and Jayden’s chest rumbled with a pleased, dominant growl.  
  
“Fuck, you feel so good. Don’t stop, baby,” Jayden grunted, using his hand on Noah’s hip to caress him there.  
  
Noah just moaned in response, feeling so overwhelmed and engaged in pleasure that he lost almost all his inhibitions and just gave into doing whatever made them feel good. He slammed his ass down into Jayden’s lap with every thrust, taking him balls deep into himself, and he moaned when he felt his ass slap against Jayden’s sac every time he bottomed out.  
  
Humming, Jayden removed his hand from Noah’s hip and sneaked it up under Noah’s t-shirt instead to touch the bump. Noah moaned when he felt the alpha’s rougher hand on his warm skin. He was still a bit insecure about his bump and how it made him look, but he allowed Jayden to touch him anyway. After all, it was a nice to feel his mate’s hand on him and have him murmuring sweet words to their baby sometimes.  
  
“Ah, _ah!_ So good. Don’t stop. Oh god,” Noah moaned with closed eyes, completely lost in the many sensations.  
  
Jayden smirked and watched his mate’s face with interest. He loved it when Noah started losing his self-control and babbled words like that. It was so hot.  
  
Noah’s increased breathing and his flexing inner muscles signaled to Jayden that the submissive was close. He moved his hand out from under Noah’s shirt and instead pulled down the front of his panties to free his dick. Noah moaned in response, and Jayden licked his lips as he stared at how the sub’s smaller member was bouncing in rhythm with the thrusts. It was hard and leaking, and the panties were a mess at the front because Noah’s dick had been trapped inside them until this point.  
  
“Mm. Are you close?” Jayden asked, bucking up extra hard as he smirked up at Noah.  
  
Noah shuddered and opened his eyes to stare back at the alpha. He blushed when he saw how intently he was being watched. Instead of replying with words – since he was too far lost in pleasure to trust his voice – Noah nodded his head, letting Jayden know that he was indeed close.  
  
Jayden let out a pleased growl and stroked his hand over Noah’s inner thigh, neglecting his dick. He wanted Noah to come untouched. “Then come on, baby. _Come for me._ ”  
  
Noah squeezed his eyes shut, his mouth falling open as overwhelming pleasure pooled warmly in his abdomen. He was _so close._  
  
Jayden smirked and moved his tail up behind Noah, stroking it lightly over the submissive’s buttocks before teasing the tip over Noah’s hole, which was currently busy swallowing Jayden’s cock with every bounce and snap of their hips.  
  
That simple touch made Noah fall over the edge. He cried out Jayden’s name, his body tensing up as he came. Fluid spurted from his dick and across Jayden’s stomach, and the alpha grunted in approval and forced himself not to come yet as Noah’s muscles clenched around him like a vice.  
  
Noah looked so beautiful when he came, and Jayden couldn’t stop staring at his mate’s squeezed shut eyes and open mouth, and the look of absolute pleasure on his face. He could feel Noah’s body shaking as his orgasm rippled through him, and it took everything that Jayden had not to come at the sensations alone.  
  
When it over, Noah’s shoulders and wings slumped down, leaving him panting on Jayden’s lap with the alpha’s still hard dick buried inside him. Noah shifted a little, feeling very sensitive right after his orgasm, and it made it tingle so strangely in his ass when Jayden was still rock hard inside him.  
  
Jayden smirked as he collected some of Noah’s come on his stomach with his fingers, bringing it up to his mouth to lick off.  
  
Noah stared at the gesture and shuddered, and Jayden couldn’t help but grin smugly at him.  
  
“Now, off,” Jayden said, patting Noah’s thigh to get him to move.  
  
The submissive blinked at him in confusion, not understanding why Jayden hadn’t let himself come before telling him to get off, but still did as he was told. He moved off of Jayden, gasping softly when the alpha’s dick slipped out of him and left him empty. He blushed when his own slick ran down his thighs and made a mess of the panties now that they were back in place, but Jayden just smirked and enjoyed the sight.  
  
“Clothes off now,” Jayden said, a purr in his voice, and reached out to unbutton the shirt the below Noah’s wings.  
  
Noah was tempted to protest since he felt better when Jayden couldn’t see his stomach during sex, but didn’t.  
  
Jayden gently guided him down on his hands and knees so that he was facing away from the alpha, and continued unbuttoning the shirt.  
  
Quickly, the shirt and wet panties were removed and thrown to the floor, leaving Noah naked on his hands and knees on the bed. He was still sensitive from his orgasm, and he shuddered when Jayden grabbed his hips and got settled on his knees behind him. The alpha entered him in one swift thrust, forcing a loud gasp from Noah’s throat. His fingers grasped the sheets tightly as Jayden began pounding into him.  
  
“ _Ah!_ Not so hard, I’m still—”  
  
Jayden just hummed in response and ran an affectionate hand over Noah’s back and along his spine. The submissive dropped his head lower, and his wings spread out more and lowered themselves as the alpha fucked into him. Jayden appreciated the submissive gesture and moved his right hand into Noah’s feathers while his left hand was holding Noah’s hip to keep him in place.  
  
Noah moaned and shuddered when Jayden touched his feathers and rubbed his thumb gently against his wing bone. His ass slicked up more at the gesture and his oil glands began to leak more. It felt so nice when Jayden touched his wing bone like that, and he felt the alpha’s hand move closer towards the base of his wings.  
  
When Jayden’s hand reached the base, he grasped the smaller feathers tightly, drawing pretty noises from Noah and felt his ass slick up. He could tell that Noah was still oversensitive, but that just made it so much hotter when he drew noises from his mouth.  
  
Jayden teased the feathers and wing bone before finally touching the oil gland, which was leaking and ready for him to touch it. The touch caused Noah’s body to jolt violently and a sharp cry to escape from his throat.  
  
“Ahhh! Connor! I can’t…”  
  
“Shhh,” Jayden soothed, gently rubbing the gland with his thumb.  
  
Noah was going wild under him – shivering, bucking, and moaning loudly – and Jayden knew the sub was close to coming for a second time.  
  
Jayden continued rubbing his thumb against the oil gland and thrusting into him nice and hard, and it didn’t take long before Noah came for a second time. The submissive cried out and made a mess of the sheets with his come, his body shaking and trembling through it.  
  
The alpha held his orgasm back for as long as he could, grunting with effort and digging his fingers hard into Noah’s hip. Finally when Noah’s orgasm was almost over, Jayden allowed himself to come. He quickly moved his hand from Noah’s oil gland and brought it down to grab his own dick as he pulled out of Noah. He stroked himself as he came in hot spurts over Noah’s ass and back, marking him with his seed.  
  
Noah gasped at the feeling of warm come hitting his skin, and he shuddered as he listened to Jayden’s sharp grunts and moans of pleasure as he came. Noah loved listening to Jayden during orgasm, and his ass clenched and slicked up a little at the sounds.  
  
Jayden stroked his cock through it, coming in large amounts as always. He let some of it hit Noah’s wings, covering his pretty, grey feathers in white stripes of semen. The sight of Noah’s ass, back, and his wings being completely covered in his come made Jayden feel all kinds of pleased and smug. It was a beautiful sight, and he loved marking Noah up like that and showing him that he was _his._  
  
When it was over, Jayden panted for breath. He felt nice and sated, and delaying his orgasm had only made it feel even better. He grinned down at Noah who was also trying to catch his breath, and saw the submissive’s wings twitch in response to them being covered in thick stripes of fluid.  
  
“Great. Now I have to shower…” Noah groaned irritably, glancing over his shoulder to glare at Jayden.  
  
Jayden laughed and gave Noah’s ass a playful slap, making him jump. “But you look good like this. All marked up with my come… You’re the one that wanted sex, remember?”  
  
“But you wanted it too.”  
  
“True.” Jayden chuckled and pulled away to go get them a towel to clean up with. “I guess I’ll join you in the shower then. We still have time before we have to see Charlie.”  
  
They had about an hour to get ready before driving to Charlie’s clinic for their 11:30am appointment. Noah’s summer holidays had just started, as he had decided to have them early this year, and Jayden had decided to take his holidays at the same time as him so they could be together, so they had the whole day off.  
  
They got up from the bed and headed to the shower together. Jayden playfully chased Noah there, and the submissive laughed as he ran away from his silly mate and into the bathroom.  
  


 

***

  
  
“So, are you excited to know the gender of your baby?” Charlie asked as she got the ultrasound equipment ready for the scan. Noah was on the patient bed next to her, looking a little anxious as he waited for Charlie to be ready.  
  
“Yeah, it’ll be great to know whether we should refer to the baby as a ‘he’ or a ‘she’,” Jayden said, chuckling softly. He was seated on the chair next to the bed, holding Noah’s hand as they waited impatiently for the scan to begin.  
  
“I know what you mean,” Charlie grinned, twirling around in her chair when the equipment was ready. She then began pouring the cold gel over Noah’s exposed stomach.  
  
Noah gasped at the coldness, and Jayden squeezed his hand to reassure him.  
  
“I hope I can tell the gender today. Sometimes it’s so hard to tell that I’d have to do another scan a week or two later,” Charlie spoke. She smeared the gel around on Noah’s swollen belly before finally placing the ultrasound tool on it, beginning the scan.  
  
They all looked up at the screen, and Noah and Jayden smiled in excitement when they saw the shape of their baby on it. It was curled up inside the womb, shifting and moving a bit, and you could see the tiny tail swishing back and forth in the amniotic fluid.  
  
“Oh, your baby seems to be having fun. Moving around and training that tail,” Charlie grinned.  
  
“That’s quite fascinating to see, actually,” Jayden said, grinning. His own tail moved back and forth behind him because of his excitement, while Noah just smiled widely at the picture on the screen.  
  
“Now, let’s see…” Charlie leaned a little closer to the screen, trying to interpret the image and look for clues about the gender. She moved the tool around on Noah’s belly to get different angles, and they waited impatiently for her to tell them what she saw.  
  
“Can you see it?” Noah asked after a minute, wondering if Charlie saw anything at all.  
  
“Well… Oh! There it is,” Charlie grinned. “I thought I saw it before, but I just needed the baby to shift a little before I could be sure.”  
  
“Well?” Jayden prompted, leaning forward a little.  
  
Charlie turned to look at them. “Well, you’re having a boy. I definitely see a certain little boy part on him.”  
  
“Really? It’s a boy?” Jayden was grinning widely in excitement and happiness, squeezing Noah’s hand tightly in his own.  
  
Noah felt rather overwhelmed at the new information. He was so happy and full of joy, and knowing the gender made the image he had of his baby feel even more real. Neither he nor Jayden had any specific preference for a gender – as long as the baby was healthy, they were happy – but it was still nice to know it. They just didn’t know yet if it was an alpha, beta, or a submissive.  
  
“Yup, he sure is,” Charlie smiled. “And he seems to be very healthy. He’s moving around the way he should at 20 weeks old, and his development looks fine. Let’s see if he wants to come out on the 30th November like he’s supposed to, or if he wants to come out earlier or even stay inside a bit longer. As long as he doesn’t come out too early; hybrids need to stay inside for about 40-43 weeks.”  
  
“Well, I hope he doesn’t stay in there for too long after that. Both Noah and I really want to hold him already,” Jayden said. He smiled at Noah, who turned his head to smile back at him.  
  
“We’ll see when that time comes. Until then, Noah’s gotta take care of himself so the little guy can make it through the final months.”  
  
“I’ll make sure they’ll both be okay,” Jayden spoke, leaning in to place a soft kiss on Noah’s cheek.  
  
Noah smiled, blushing a little at the gesture since Charlie was still watching them.  
  
Charlie smiled at the scene and began printing out the images of the baby so that Noah and Jayden had new photos to show the family. Noah was a little disappointed when Charlie removed the tool and cut off the image of the baby, but he knew that she couldn’t keep it there all day.  
  
“And how is everything going, Noah?” Charlie asked as they walked over to her desk. She sat down behind it, and Noah and Jayden seated themselves on the other side. “Still having your cravings and mood swings? And your morning sickness?”  
  
“The morning sickness is gone, I think. I haven’t had it for about three weeks, but sometimes I still feel some nausea,” Noah replied.  
  
Charlie nodded and wrote down some notes. She looked up and glanced between the two of them, coughing a bit before asking, “And, um, how’s the sex life going? Been feeling any increase in your sex drive?”  
  
Noah blushed furiously as Charlie stared at him with a knowing smile, and Jayden couldn’t help but chuckle.  
  
“Well, _I_ find him to be quite insatiable lately,” Jayden said, chuckling at how Noah looked like he wanted to dig a hole in the floor and hide in it.  
  
Charlie laughed softly. “Well, that is very normal. Submissives especially often experience an increased need for sexual intimacy with their mate during pregnancy, which unfortunately is what gives alphas an inappropriate and immoral image of them sometimes…” She was referring to the fact that many alphas (and often also betas) saw submissives as sluts who were always hungry for a cock. It was a contributing factor to society’s objectification of submissives.  
  
Noah stared down into his lap quietly. He couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed of his increased lust lately. It wasn’t something he could help.  
  
Jayden’s jaw clenched a bit. “Yeah, well, in that case I’m not surprised that alphas have a reputation for being sex-addicted, ego-inflated and narrow-minded assholes when they think like that.”  
  
Charlie laughed out loud. “Good one! I can only agree. But at least not all you alphas are like that.”  
  
“Yeah, I hope _I’m_ not.”  
  
“You aren’t,” Noah reassured him. He smiled at Jayden as he reached out to squeeze his hand to show him his gratitude for Jayden always respecting him.  
  
Jayden smiled back at him warmly and returned the squeeze.  
  
Charlie observed them with a smile before going on. “Oh, and I also have to inform you, Noah, that I have to give out information about you to the health authorities… It’s anonymous, of course. All they will know is that you’re an angel/demon hybrid who’s expecting a child; they don’t know your name and address. Unfortunately the government is just so paranoid about angel/demon hybrids being a genetic health danger to society that they want to monitor pretty much everything about you very closely… Which is total bullshit, if you ask me. No other species gets monitored as strictly as angel/demon hybrids do.” She clenched her jaw in frustration and anger, and it was easy to see how displeased she was about the unreasonable monitoring that was going on.  
  
Noah cringed. “Yeah, my parents told me a little about that, and so did my siblings…”  
  
“That is fucking stupid!” Jayden growled. “Do their monitor the kids of serial killers like that too? That would only be fair, so the kids don’t turn out the same.”  
  
“I have no idea, but it is indeed very unethical,” Charlie said, sounding quite dissatisfied with having to forward information about a specific patient to the authorities like that. “One can only hope that someday people will be less skeptical of angel/demon hybrids. There’s no scientific proof yet that they have bad genes. Though, some have been reported to have certain disorders, but even full blood people can have that, so it’s nonsense. And in the old days it wasn’t unusual for angel/demon hybrids to be victims of violence as infants because they weren’t accepted, and that caused severe damage to their brains and made people think they were just born with the damage they had.” Jayden and Noah cringed at that. “Either way, I don’t have any choice about this, I’m afraid…”  
  
“That’s okay. It isn’t your fault,” Noah reassured her. Charlie gave him a grateful smile for that.  
  
“What kind of information are they interested in?” Jayden asked.  
  
“Well, the info they want from me is about Noah’s fertility, meaning what strength of suppressants do I prescribe him, and how easily does he get pregnant,” Charlie said. “And then information about your baby and my assessment of his health. So far I only have positive information to give, but they also draw information from Noah’s personal doctor, as you might know.”  
  
“Jeez, they stick their noses in everywhere,” Jayden muttered, clenching his fists in anger. “My doctor said that he also had to write a quick summary of _my_ health to give the authorities, so they can see the link between the hybrid in question and their mate to assess how healthy the offspring will be.”  
  
“Oh yeah, they’re very nosy. But at least the information is anonymous; they don’t know your names. But still… the monitoring they are doing is far too exaggerated and it should be illegal.”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but feel that his privacy was being invaded, no matter if the info about him was anonymous or not. He knew that if something turned out to be a problem for the authorities, they could probably force Charlie to give up his name to them. He was even more angry that ‘normal’ people didn’t get monitored to this extend – only angel/demon hybrids did, and now also their mates. It was hard to believe that such a thing could even be legal at all.  
  
They finished up their conversation with Charlie and got the newly printed images of the baby to take home.  
  
They were still a little upset about the stupid government laws, but it wasn’t something that any of them could do anything about, so they tried not to think too hard about it. Right now, Jayden and Noah were just excited to have new pictures of their baby and that they finally knew more about its gender. Whether the baby was an alpha, beta, or a submissive was something they would have to wait and find out about when he was finally born.  
  


 

***

  
  
The following week Noah was going out with Eden and Lily. His sisters had persuaded him to go to the swim center with them to hang out and enjoy some time together.  
  
Jayden drove Noah over to Eden’s house, since Jayden and Jason had agreed to hang out while the girls went to the swim center. It had been a while since Jayden had last hung out with another guy, so he was looking forward to that, even though Daniel was likely going to be there too.  
  
“Noah!” Eden squealed when she opened the door for them. She immediately pulled her brother into a hug after having grinned at the sight of his pregnant belly.  
  
“Hi, Eden,” Noah replied, chuckling as he hugged her back.  
  
Jason chuckled at them and greeted Jayden in the meanwhile, inviting him inside. Daniel was there too, grinning when he saw Noah and Jayden.  
  
“Oh, you sure get taller and taller every time I see you,” Jayden grinned at Daniel, reaching out to ruffle his hair briefly.  
  
Daniel laughed and shied away from his hand. “I better! I don’t want to be the smallest boy in my class.”  
  
“But you’re not,” Jason argued, chuckling.  
  
“I know, but the alpha angels and demons are taller than me…”  
  
“That’s completely natural. Alphas are usually taller, that’s just how it is.”  
  
“But _you_ are pretty tall…” Daniel pointed out, glancing up at his dad. Being half human, Daniel couldn’t be an alpha, beta or a submissive – humans did not have those biological traits.  
  
“Well, but not as tall as Jayden, and he’s an alpha.”  
  
Jayden just chuckled and watched as Daniel tried to process the information.  
  
“Don’t think too much about it. You’ll be tall enough when you grow up,” Eden told her son, smiling as she wiped some hair away from Daniel’s forehead. The boy just nodded and buried his hands in his pockets. Eden turned to look at Noah then. “I’m almost ready to go. Just gotta go get the car keys and put on my shoes.” She headed further into the house to find the keys, leaving the others in the entrance hall.  
  
Noah nodded at Eden’s words before glancing around. “Is Luna not home?” he asked Jason when he realized that his niece was missing. He had one hand placed on his belly as he stood next to Jayden, and the alpha’s tail was curled around his leg possessively.  
  
“No, she’s visiting a friend, and Lucy is asleep in the other room. Means we can play videogames undisturbed.” Jason turned to look at Jayden then, a smirk covering his lips.  
  
Jayden grinned. “Sounds awesome. Haven’t played for a while.”  
  
“I’ll beat you both!” Daniel exclaimed.  
  
Jason snorted and ruffled his son’s chair excessively. “You wish, kid.”  
  
Noah snickered as Daniel hit Jason’s arm to make him stop, but Jason kept going just to annoy him.  
  
Eden returned then, rolling her eyes fondly at her son and mate. “Come on, Noah. Let’s go pick up Lily.” She went over to pull on her shoes, putting her bag with her swimsuit inside on the floor in the meanwhile. Noah too had brought a bag with a swimsuit and towels with him.  
  
“Have fun, girls,” Jason smirked.  
  
“Yeah, and take care of yourself,” Jayden told Noah, smiling as he leaned down to kiss him softly on the lips.  
  
Noah smiled and returned the kiss, humming as Jayden caressed his bump briefly before he pulled away. “I will.”  
  
“And don’t game all day. You gotta look out for Lucy,” Eden told Jason, shooting him a firm look before she headed for the door.  
  
“Yeah, yeah. She can look at us play; it’s nothing graphic anyway,” Jason responded.  
  
“Good. See you!” Eden went over to kiss Daniel on the forehead and Jason on the mouth before leaving the house with Noah.  
  
Noah and Jayden shared one last smile before they parted ways, and Noah followed Eden outside to her car.  
  
They headed over to pick up Lily from her apartment, and together the three siblings headed to the swim center to spend a few hours there. It had been so long since they last did something together, so they looked forward to spending a few hours without their mates and kids, where they could just relax and enjoy each other’s company.  
  


 

***

  
  
The swim center was somewhat busy, but not that much since the weather was nice and most people wanted to head to the beach instead. But it was the school’s summer break so there were still more people there than usual.  
  
“This is gonna be awesome,” Lily grinned as they entered the entrance hall of the swimming center, about to head to the changing rooms and showers. They had just bought their tickets and had received their bracelets, which had a chip inside that you could transfer money onto to buy from the swim center’s shops with. “I don’t think we’ve ever been swimming together before.”  
  
“Yeah, we haven’t,” Eden confirmed, briefly glancing around at all the people and kids around them. “It’s gonna be awkward to head to the showers with you guys, though…”  
  
Noah felt the same. He had never been naked in front of his sisters before – at least not since he was a little kid – so it was very awkward for him too. He had always felt a little uncomfortable getting naked in the swim center’s showers, since there were mostly only females there and he looked different from them. He could feel them staring at him in the showers and in the changing rooms, and he didn’t like that. And now his sisters were going to see him naked too. He almost hadn’t wanted to come because of that, but he had gone anyway after knocking some sense into himself. They were his sisters; there was nothing wrong with them seeing him or him seeing them without clothes on.  
  
Lily glanced between the two of them. “Jeez, you two are so shy about your modesty. I don’t mind you looking at my butt and boobs; there are not much different from everybody else’s. You’re my family, so I’m not bothered by it.”  
  
“Well, I guess Noah and I just aren’t as used to taking our clothes off in front of others as you are,” Eden said, snickering teasingly at her little sister.  
  
“Oh, don’t drag my sexual adventures into this…” Lily murmured, her cheeks reddening as she glared at Eden.  
  
Eden just chuckled at her and nudged their tails together before looking at Noah. “Do you feel okay with this, Noah? With you being pregnant and all…”  
  
Noah nodded his head a little. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just… awkward.”  
  
“Well, we’ve seen your butt before, so don’t feel shy,” Lily told him, smiling as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and stared walking towards the changing rooms. Noah flushed a little, and Eden joined them as they followed the signs to the changing rooms.  
  
When they came inside, Noah lowered his gaze a little to not bother any of the naked females in there by staring at their bodies. He glanced around to see if there were any other submissives in there too, but he only spotted females of the different species, and little boys and girls who had gone in with their mothers. People were chatting, the kids were running around, and the air was pretty humid since the showers were connected to the changing rooms, only separated by a wall. The floors were a bit slippery, and there were benches to sit on during changing and lockers to put your stuff into while you were in the pools.  
  
Noah, Lily, and Eden headed over to a spot where they could stand next to each other and get undressed, and there were three free lockers to put their personal belongings into.  
  
They got undressed, and Noah went as slowly as he could, feeling very awkward about the situation. He tried not to notice people staring a bit. He was a pregnant submissive; probably a sight that was not very common in the swim centers.  
  
Lily got undressed pretty fast, not caring much about being naked in front of them. Eden was a little more hesitant, but when she saw Lily feeling relaxed about it, she was too.  
  
“Alec wanted so bad to join us, and he got upset when I told him no,” Lily said while they undressed, chuckling a bit at her son. “Which is funny, ‘cause last time Tony and I took him to the swim center he freaked out. He didn’t like being in the water _at all._ ”  
  
Eden laughed, pulling off her pants so she was just in her underwear. “Sometimes kids just don’t make any sense. Luna used to be afraid of the water too, but now she loves it.”  
  
Noah listened to them talking and eventually got undressed down to his underwear. His face was all red from awkwardness and embarrassment as he stood half-naked in front of his sisters, and he used his wings to shield his modesty a little.  
  
Lily smiled when she saw Noah’s swollen belly beneath the feathers. “Your stomach looks very nice, Noah. Don’t hide it.”  
  
“It doesn’t look nice…” Noah murmured, still hiding behind his wings.  
  
Eden laughed softly. “Of course it does. Being pregnant makes you sexy – guys _love_ that look on their mates.”  
  
Noah gave her a skeptic look before starting to pull off his panties. Eden and Lily did the same.  
  
Noah noticed that Eden was a bit more tanned than Lily was, and that their body build was pretty similar. Eden was a little more curvy though, but not much.  
  
“Now, time to shower,” Lily grinned, putting her stuff into the locker before walking towards the showers. Her wings were folded neatly behind her back instead of hiding her modesty, and her tail swung back and forth casually behind her. She clearly didn’t mind being naked in the presence of other females and in front of her siblings, which actually didn’t surprise Noah very much.  
  
“Hey, wait up,” Eden told her. She waited for Noah to get ready before they followed Lily over to the showers to clean their bodies before they would put on their swimsuits and go into the pools.  
  
Eden and Lily placed themselves on either side of Noah in the showers, and they turned on the water to get cleaned.  
  
The other women stared a bit as three angel/demon hybrids got under the showers with them, and one of them forced her young daughter to look the other way. Lily snorted at that and ignored the racist behavior, and Eden and Noah followed her lead.  
  
Standing under the shower and feeling his feathers get wet was very nice, and Noah leaned his head back to get his hair wet as well. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling, trying to block out the way the others in the room were staring at him sometimes. He started feeling more comfortable with his nakedness and let his wings fold behind his back so he wasn’t hiding as much anymore.  
  
All of sudden water hit the side of his face, and Noah immediately opened his eyes and turned to look to his left where Lily was standing.  
  
“Oops! Sorry, Noah. I was aiming for Eden,” Lily said, giving him an apologetic look before snickering when her eyes met Eden’s.  
  
Eden gasped in outrage. “You little ant! Don’t throw water at me in the showers!”  
  
Lily laughed. “Sorry, I just couldn’t help it.”  
  
“Gosh, sometimes I forget you’re Isaac’s twin,” Eden grumbled, glaring at her sister for wanting to prank her. “And don’t hit Noah – you’re gonna end up causing him to fall if you do that.”  
  
“You’re right. Sorry…”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but chuckle at them when he realized what had been going on.  
  
Lily and Eden went back to getting their hair nice and wet, and just when they looked very distracted and had their eyes closed for a second, Noah stepped a little forward and spread out his wings, shaking water off them to hit his sisters.  
  
Eden and Lily let out loud gasps when the water hit them, and Noah laughed out loud. A few kids snickered when they saw what had happened, as did some of the teenagers in there.  
  
“Noah!” Eden scolded lightly, surprised that he would do such a thing in front of a lot strangers.  
  
Lily just laughed, mostly at Eden’s reaction, and Noah smirked at them before padding back over to his locker, ready to put on his swimsuit.  
  
Eden and Lily finished up in the showers too and followed him.  
  
“Glad you’re not feeling that shy and modest anymore,” Lily told Noah, smiling at him as she put on her red bikini.  
  
“I still don’t like changing rooms, though…” Noah said, quickly pulling on his navy blue bathing suit. It covered his chest and stomach, as he didn’t like having males staring at too much of his exposed skin. The bathing suit was suitable for pregnant females and submissives as well, so it was no problem to fit his bump in there.  
  
“Here, let me help,” Eden offered when Noah had trouble with one of the shoulder straps, which kept pressing against the base of his wings in a very annoying way.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah said, letting Eden carefully push the strip around so it wouldn’t bother his wing. It wasn’t inappropriate for his sister to touch his wing, but it wasn’t something that most people liked. Eden was being very gentle and avoided touching Noah’s wings more than necessary, but stayed as far away from his oil glands as possible – those were for mates, only. Meanwhile Noah tried not to stare at his sister, seeing as Eden hadn’t managed to put on the top part of her flowered bikini yet.  
  
“There. All better,” Eden grinned, stepping back to look at her brother. “You look very good in that, especially with that belly.”  
  
Lily grinned and nodded in agreement. “Yeah. If only Jayden could see you now…” She sent Noah a suggestive smirk, giggling when she saw his cheeks flush. Noah stared down at his feet and twitched his wings in embarrassment.  
  
After they all got dressed in their swimsuits, they headed out into the pool area together.  
  
It was the same swim center that Noah and Jayden used to go to back in high school, and barley anything had changed. It still had a lot of pools and a big waterslide, and there was a small café area where you could get food (though, you weren’t allowed to bring it into the water). Lifeguards circled the pools carefully, keeping an extra eye on the children, and there were happy screams coming from everywhere.  
  
Eden, Lily, and Noah walked over to the so-called ‘warm pool’, which had a higher temperature than the others, and found a nice corner where they could be somewhat alone.  
  
Getting into the water felt nice, and Noah let out a pleased sigh as he lowered himself into the pool. A few guys – especially young alphas – had stared at him as he walked over to the pool, but he had ignored them and used his wings as a shield. He doubted they would come over and bother him now that he was surrounded by others.  
  
“Oh gosh, the water feels so nice in my wings,” Lily exclaimed in a blissful voice, submerging herself so only her head was above water. She smiled and closed her eyes as she lost herself in the sensations. “It’s almost better than sex.”  
  
Eden laughed and submerged herself as well. “Yeah, almost.”  
  
Noah joined them and chuckled awkwardly at Lily’s comment. The water was indeed nice, but sex was still better – Lily was right about that.  
  
“Everything okay, Noah? Can you move around properly with that stomach of yours?” Lily asked, eyeing him with a little concern.  
  
Noah smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’m good at swimming, but I’ll stay close to the edges for now.”  
  
“Good. If you have any problems, just yell for us and we’ll be there to help,” Eden smiled.  
  
Noah smiled gratefully and nodded once more.  
  
They gathered in the corner of the pool and enjoyed the warm water around them. They chatted back and forth, and Eden and Lily talked about their kids. Noah learned that there was a girl in Daniel’s class whom he liked a lot. It was a cute child crush for now, but Eden seemed a little concerned that her son was already looking at girls.  
  
“I think it’s kind of normal to have a small crush when you’re around 10…” Lily argued as they talked about it. “For now, it’s nothing but a rush of feelings. It’s not like they’re kissing or anything.”  
  
“But one of Daniel’s friends’ mother told us that she caught her son and Daniel staring at porn magazines in her house,” Eden said, looking quite concerned. “He’s only 10! He shouldn’t be looking at such stuff.”  
  
“Some kids start watching those magazines even earlier… I think they were just curious and fascinated. And you can’t really blame him, now that you and Jason already gave him the sex talk and all. He’s got to be curious as hell about all that stuff.”  
  
“You gave him the talk?” Noah asked, surprised.  
  
Eden groaned and lowered herself a bit further into the water, her arms crossed under it. “Yeah, we had to; he was asking too many questions. But gosh, that was so awkward to explain…”  
  
Lily giggled and Eden sent her a small glare for that.  
  
“Jayden and I gave Laura the sex talk once…” Noah murmured, shivering at the memory of that awkward talk.  
  
“Oh my god, really?” Lily laughed. “Now you’re all prepared to be a mom, Noah.”  
  
Noah glared at her, making her and Eden laugh.  
  
“Anyway, how’s the baby doing?” Eden asked then, looking at Noah with a soft smile. “Do you feel him moving around?”  
  
Smiling, Noah put his hand on his stomach under the water. “Yes, I feel that almost every day now. I kinda like it.”  
  
“Wait until he gets bigger, then he’ll start kicking at your ribs – and _that_ really hurts,” Lily said.  
  
Noah stared back at her with wide, horrified eyes.  
  
Eden swatted Lily on the arm, giving her a brief glare. “Don’t scare him!”  
  
“They really kick your ribs?” Noah asked, still looking very scared about that thought.  
  
“Sometimes,” Eden replied honestly. “I’ve heard of women who had their ribs broken because of it, but I don’t think it’s often that it’s so extreme. You shouldn’t worry too much about it, Noah.”  
  
“Yeah, I didn’t mean to scare you. Alec never really kicked my ribs much, only once or twice, so it wasn’t so bad,” Lily said, cringing a little when she saw how nervous she had made Noah.  
  
“Oh, I see.” Noah was more relaxed now, and hoped that his baby wouldn’t cause him that kind of trouble. He was nervous enough as it was about the upcoming months of his pregnancy, which would be the most painful ones.  
  
They talked some more and had fun together, and when the pool cleared out a bit they swam to the other end and competed about who would be first. Noah couldn’t swim so fast though, as he wanted to be careful now that he was 21 weeks pregnant, but he could still swim. His muscles were no longer that used to it and he could feel that, but the water flowing through his wings still felt as good as always.  
  
Afterwards, they went over to the waterslide where Eden and Lily took a few rides for fun. Noah didn’t want to try it because he was worried about the baby, so he stayed at the bottom and laughed when his sisters plunged into the water. Lily almost hit a small boy who hadn’t moved away from the slide, but luckily nothing happened. She comforted the frightened boy and walked him over his parents, and after that he seemed to be okay again.  
  
After about twenty minutes on the waterslide, they decided to head to the café area and have a sandwich.  
  
Lily and Eden walked on either side of Noah and supported him, making sure that he wouldn’t slip and hurt himself.  
  
“I’m fine,” Noah reassured them stubbornly, feeling uncomfortable at the attention he was drawing from strangers by having his sisters support him like that and because of his swollen belly. He was glad he had wings to cover his butt, as he felt his swimsuit being a little askew down there, likely exposing some of his buttocks. He would have to discretely correct that soon without drawing attention.  
  
“No, you’re not. We can’t have you falling over, especially not in your current state,” Lily insisted.  
  
Noah groaned but didn’t protest. The floor was incredibly slippery, so it was probably a good idea that he had support and that they walked very slowly.  
  
“Noah!” came a cheerful child voice all of sudden.  
  
Noah looked up and saw a little angel girl with grey/white wings standing in front of them, grinning widely at him. She was one of the students that Noah taught in the kindergarten, and he wasn’t very surprised to meet her at the swim center. It happened that he would meet his students sometimes when he was out.  
  
“Oh. Hello, Carol,” Noah smiled. “Are you here with your parents?”  
  
Carol nodded eagerly. “Yup, and my big brother too.”  
  
Eden and Lily stopped so that Noah could talk to the little girl, smiling and watching curiously as Noah interacted with his student.  
  
“Oh, you have a big brother?” Eden asked the girl, a gentle smile on her face as she looked at the child.  
  
Carol smiled and shifted shyly, as she didn’t know Eden. “Yeah, but he’s annoying… And he swims better than me.”  
  
Eden and Lily laughed, and Noah chuckled at Carol’s comment.  
  
“So you learned how to swim? You said you couldn’t swim but wanted to,” Noah spoke, down smiling at Carol.  
  
Carol’s eyes widened. “You remember?” She seemed very surprised and happy by that. “And yes, I learned. My daddy taught me, and it’s so fun to swim!”  
  
Noah just smiled warmly at her. “I’m glad you learned. Just be careful in the water, yeah?”  
  
Carol nodded and grinned up at him. Her parents suddenly called her over, so she quickly chirped a happy ‘goodbye’ and waved at Noah before disappearing again.  
  
Eden, Lily, and Noah continued walking over to the café, helping each other not to slip on the wet tiles. Kids were screaming and having fun in the pools, and there were several adults and teenagers around.  
  
“She was cute. One of your students?” Lily asked as they kept walking. She ignored the way an alpha angel in his forties checked her out as he passed her and the others.  
  
“Yeah, she is,” Noah confirmed, smiling.  
  
“She seemed quite happy to see you. Seems like you’re an awesome teacher – most kids don’t wanna meet their teachers outside class,” Eden said with a chuckle in her voice.  
  
“Yeah, you must be popular,” Lilly grinned, nudging Noah with her tail.  
  
Noah just smiled and blushed modestly at their words.  
  
When they arrived at the café area, Noah sat down at one of the free tables to occupy it while Eden and Lily went over to order. They borrowed his bracelet chip to place the order for him. The woman at the café had seen him hand it over to them, so it wasn’t a problem for them to order on his chip; they just had to wait in line for a bit.  
  
Noah waited at the table and glanced around at the pools. He still felt wet from the water, and his hair and wings were dripping, but he didn’t feel cold.  
  
The swim center smelled heavily of chlorine from the water, and the noise of kids squealing and water splashing was quite loud, but Noah blocked most of it out. He glanced down at his bump and rubbed it tenderly through the wet swimsuit, smiling as he thought about his baby in there. He knew it was a boy, but he still wondered if it was an alpha, beta, or maybe a submissive like him. He couldn’t wait to find out, and he thought about his future being a mother and having a family together with Jayden. It was a life he couldn’t wait to start living.  
  
Suddenly someone appeared next to him, blocking the light that shined through the roof. Noah knew almost instantly that he had been targeted by some annoying, sexist guys, but he still turned his head to look up at the people.  
  
And true enough; there were three young alpha angels standing there with their arms crossed. They all stared at Noah with interest, checking him out without bothering to be subtle. They alphas’ wings were spread out a little to show off their attractive color mix and muscles, and Noah felt a wave of disgust go through him at the way they were looking at him.  
  
“Hey there, sweetheart,” said the first guy, who was the tallest of them. He smirked lewdly as he stared at Noah’s bump. “That’s a sight I like to see; a sub all knocked up and dutiful as he should be.”  
  
“Mm, yeah, he looks pretty cute. If not for him being a freak hybrid…” said the grey-winged alpha next to him. The two others laughed out loud at that.  
  
Noah glared back at them, trying not to be insulted. Such guys were not worth listening to, he knew that, but it still hurt to be objectified and talked to like that.  
  
“I checked out your ass earlier when you got out of the water… It was very nice and tight looking. Bet you take a cock like a damn pro,” said the first guy, grinning so maliciously and licking his lips in a way that made Noah feel like vomiting.  
  
Noah swallowed and stared the guy straight in the eye. “So do you, I bet,” he said dryly, trying to hide how uncomfortable and humiliated he was. Instead, he tried to let his contempt and anger show, hoping it would make them back off.  
  
That comment struck a nerve in the proud alpha, and he and his friends immediately spread out their wings to let Noah know who was boss.  
  
“What was that?!” the guy blurted, growling. “I’m an _alpha_ – I don’t submit to anyone, let alone take it up the ass! That’s for sub-sluts to do. You should really watch your mouth, boy!”  
  
“Only if _you_ do,” Noah growled back, trembling in disgust and because of the adrenaline in him. It was so humiliating to be talked to like that by those alphas, because he was more than just an object for others’ pleasure, but he was determined not to let those guys bring his self-confidence down.  
  
The alphas growled, not liking being talked back to – especially not by a submissive.  
  
Luckily, Eden and Lily returned then and saw what was going on.  
  
“Hey!” Eden barked at them, holding her sandwich and coke in her hands as she strode over to the guys. “Leave my brother the hell alone!”  
  
“Yeah, get lost,” Lily growled, coming over to support Eden. She put hers and Noah’s sandwiches and cokes on the table before going over to stand next to her sister, glaring back at the guys.  
  
The alphas stepped back a little, especially now that other people around them were looking and whispering about them. At this rate, security would be called soon.  
  
“Well, you should teach your brother the meaning of the word ‘submissive’ and do something about his snarky mouth,” the taller alpha sneered at them, getting ready to leave with his friends.  
  
“And _you_ should read up on the meaning of ‘asshole’ and try to understand how being one gets you _zero_ ladies,” Lily quipped back with contempt in her voice.  
  
The alphas cast one final glare at them before leaving, looking offended to be answered back at, but they didn’t want to stick around because of all the attention the scene had drawn already.  
  
Eden snorted and sat down next to Noah, who felt much more relieved now that the guys were gone.  
  
“Gosh, what assholes. Sometimes I wonder who raises their sons to think like Neanderthals,” Eden grumbled, popping the cap open on her coke to have a sip.  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Lily muttered, joining them at the table. She glanced over at Noah who was busy opening his own coke. He still looked pretty bothered by the scene, and Lily didn’t like that. “It’s good that you answered back, though,” she said, smiling encouragingly at him and nudging his leg with her tail under the table.  
  
“I don’t like having to do that, though…” Noah murmured, not meeting their eyes.  
  
“I know, but you can’t let them step on you either,” Eden told him. She reached out to touch Noah’s arm, trying to offer him some reassurance and comfort after the incident. “And I get stupid comments from such guys too, but mostly Jason is around to punch them in the face.”  
  
Lily laughed. “I hear such comments too sometimes. It’s really nasty and uncomfortable. There was this one colleague of mine who just wouldn’t leave me alone once and who kept trying to get into my pants, and I was _so close_ to quitting my job because of him.”  
  
Noah stared up at her, mortified. “What, really?”  
  
“Whoa, so what happened?” Eden asked, looking just as shocked and curious as Noah.  
  
Lily had just taken a bite from her tuna sandwich, so she gulped it down before replying. “Well, he didn’t bother anyone else, just me, and I had a hard time proving it, since he mostly only approached me when I was alone. But eventually a few of the others saw him trying to grope me and they supported me in telling our boss about it, and the guy got a warning. Then one week later he quit the job because he couldn’t stand the hateful looks that everyone was sending him, or the evil, sarcastic comments that I made about him sometimes. That’s what he gets.”  
  
“Way to go,” Eden grinned.  
  
Noah grinned too, happy and proud of Lily that she had gotten rid of the guy who had turned her workplace into a nightmare for her.  
  
Lily smiled proudly. “Yeah, he was a nasty alpha. It’s almost always alphas who behave like that…”  
  
“Too bad that not all of them are as nice as Jayden is.” Eden turned her head to give Noah a knowing smile, grinning when he looked back at her.  
  
“Yeah, you got yourself a keeper there, Noah,” Lily grinned.  
  
Noah smiled sheepishly, turning the sandwich in his hands after having taken a bite. “I know. But there are many other alphas like him too.”  
  
“Yeah, like dad and Adrian. Good to know they’re not all fucked up and that not all of them are the same,” Eden chuckled.  
  
“But they’re all very sex-addicted,” Lily pointed out.  
  
Eden almost chocked on her sandwich, and Lily laughed as Eden continued to cough for a few seconds. “God, Lily! Don’t say that – especially _not_ when we’re taking about our dad and brother, _and_ Noah’s mate here!”  
  
Noah flushed furiously, and Lily burst out laughing at them.  
  
“You’re just jealous that Noah’s mate has a much faster recovery time than yours does,” Lily snickered, smirking teasingly at Eden.  
  
“I don’t even want to discuss that,” Eden growled, glaring back at Lily. Her face was red like a tomato, as was Noah’s. “And Tony is not an alpha either, so speak for yourself.”  
  
Noah just continued eating his sandwich and trying to hide his red face. The conversation had turned far more awkward and inappropriate than he liked, but at least Lily seemed to think it was amusing.  
  
They quickly changed the topics after that and continued eating together. They chatted about work and about one of Isaac’s TV shows, discussing their brother’s career and his positive influence on the audience of his shows. Isaac even had fans writing smutty fics about his characters on the shows he was in, and in some of them his character was portrayed as an angel/demon hybrid instead of a demon, so that was definitely progress for their species. Unfortunately he received hate about his species too, but his popularity mostly overshadowed that.  
  
Noah’s hand was on his belly all the time while he ate and talked, and he smiled whenever he felt the baby move inside him. There were times when the baby didn’t move at all, but also times where he seemed to be rather restless. Noah enjoyed feeling the life inside him and having Jayden share those moments with him when his mate was around, but at the moment he only had his sisters to share the joy with.  
  


 

***

  
  
It was late afternoon when Eden, Lily, and Noah arrived back at Eden’s house. Lily had wanted to come with them so she could see Jason, her nieces and nephew, and Jayden again. Noah and Jayden would drive her home afterwards when they left.  
  
“We’re home!” Eden chirped as they entered the house. She let Lily and Noah enter before she shut the door behind them.  
  
“Mommy!” Luna squealed, grinning as she ran into the entrance hall and over to hug her mother.  
  
“Hey, sweetie. You’re home already,” Eden grinned, picking Luna up to place a kiss on her mouth and hug her back.  
  
Luna shrieked happily and let her mom put her down on the floor again. “Yeah, Kat’s parents are busy tonight so I had to go home early…” She glanced up at Lily and Noah then, smiling widely. “Hi!”  
  
“Hey, Luna. You’re so big and pretty,” Lily smiled, reaching out to gently brush some of Luna’s sandy-colored hair back behind her ear.  
  
Luna grinned shyly at her before smiling up at Noah too. “And Noah is so big!”  
  
“Only his stomach is big, though,” Lily giggled.  
  
Noah smiled and blushed a little at Luna’s words, and he shot Lily a small glare for making jokes about his height again.  
  
Jason came into the entrance hall then with little Lucy sitting on his arm. “Hey, guys. Back already?” He came over to kiss Eden, and Lucy squealed happily and reached out towards Eden to be transferred into her arms.  
  
Eden laughed fondly and grabbed Lucy from her mate’s arms. “We were gone for over four hours,” she argued, smiling at Lucy as she rocked her one and a half-year-old on her arm.  
  
Jason snorted, and Noah looked up as Jayden and Daniel came into the entrance hall too.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden grinned, coming over to Noah. He put one hand on Noah’s hip and the other on his belly as he leaned down to kiss him.  
  
“Ewww,” Daniel exclaimed, grimacing in disgust at the sight. Luna did the same and covered her eyes.  
  
“Yeah, totally ‘ew’,” Jason snickered, laughing when Jayden flipped him the bird while still kissing Noah.  
  
“Hey! Not in front of my kids!” Eden protested when she saw that.  
  
Lily laughed, and Noah had to pull back from his mate since it was embarrassing to have them all watch as they kissed.  
  
Jayden just chuckled at Eden’s comment and kept his eyes and hands on Noah, smiling down at him gently. “Had fun? Your wings sure are a mess…”  
  
Noah shifted his shoulder blades and wings unconsciously. It was normal that his feathers got ruffled and messed up when he had been in a pool; it couldn’t be helped. “Yeah, they are… And yes, we had a lot of fun.”  
  
“Guess we all have to be groomed later,” Lily said, glancing at her own messy wings.  
  
“At least my feathers don’t get as easily messed up as yours,” Eden smirked. Her wings resembled demon wings more than theirs and were thus more robust, but they were still a little messy from the swimming.  
  
“And you guys still smell like chlorine. Even I can smell that, and my nose is not as good as yours,” Jason spoke.  
  
Luna and Daniel giggled as Eden slapped her tail playfully against Jason’s leg. She invited them all inside then so they could hang out for a bit before it was time for the guests to leave.  
  
They went over and sat down on the couch, and Noah smiled when one of Eden’s new kitties, Sparkles, came over to him. Their old cat, Trixie, had died about a year ago from an illness, so they had gotten two new ones. Sparkles was a five-month old female kitten, and she was mostly black and white but also had some orange spots on her. The other cat was a one year old female with orange fur and white paws, and her name was Hairball – a name that the kids had picked for her because she was so fluffy and long-haired. Hairball was currently resting on top of one of the shelves, feeling a little shy with the guests in the house.  
  
Sparkles jumped up on Noah’s lap as they sat on the couch and talked, and Noah began to pet her gently. Jayden was sitting next to him with his arm slung over the couch behind Noah, and he watched with a fond grin as Noah petted the cat.  
  
“She likes you,” Luna smiled, crawling across the floor where she had been playing with little Lucy instead of getting up. She stopped at Noah’s feet and sat on her knees as she reached up to pet Sparkles too. The cat’s purring increased.  
  
The others smiled and continued talking about their day, and Daniel was eager to tell how he had managed to beat Jayden and Jason’s scores that day.  
  
Lucy crawled across the floor to join her older sister. She stopped behind Luna and reached out to tug at her feathers, making Luna yelp in pain and start to scold her angrily.  
  
“Hey, no fighting or pulling feathers!” Jason scolded and got up from his seat next to Jayden and Eden on the couch. He went over and picked up Lucy so she couldn’t tug at Luna’s feathers again, and walked with her back over to the couch. Lucy wailed and squirmed in protest, not wanting to sit on her father’s lap when she could be playing with her sister’s feathers, but Jason didn’t give in.  
  
Jayden chuckled at the scene. “Being a parent doesn’t look easy.”  
  
“It’s both fun and a pain in the behind,” Eden explained, trying to help Jason calm their youngest daughter down.  
  
“You can say ‘ass’, mom. Both Luna and I know the word,” Daniel said.  
  
“I will _not!_ And neither should you!”  
  
Lily and Noah giggled, and the others laughed at the interaction.  
  
Sparkles shifted and curled up in Noah’s lap once more, continuing to purr, but when her claws began kneading into Noah’s thigh he let out a loud, pained yip. He immediately tried to pry the cat’s paws away from his thighs, but the cat was stubborn. “Damn, that hurts, Sparkles!”  
  
Eden laughed. “Yeah, she does that a lot. Grab the blanket next to you and put it under her paws; that helps.”  
  
Noah groaned and hoped that the cat hadn’t drawn any blood with her claws, and Jayden laughed as he reached over to get the blanket for him. Noah was careful not to let the cat’s claws come anywhere near his stomach, and he couldn’t lean forward too much without bumping his belly into the cat. That was why Jayden was helping him out.  
  
“You both like cats, right? Why don’t you get one?” Lily asked, smiling as she watched Jayden help Noah arrange the blanket under Sparkles’ paws to prevent the cat’s kneading claws from digging into Noah’s skin again.  
  
“Well, I wouldn’t mind having one,” Noah admitted, feeling much better now that the cat could no longer hurt him. Sparkles just kneaded her claws into the blanket now, purring and shifting on Noah’s lap as she enjoyed the attention.  
  
Jayden seemed to think about it, but he didn’t look opposed to the idea.  
  
Eden beamed. “Oh, we have lots of kittens at the clinic that we give to the shelters each week. They’ve all been neutered and gotten the right vaccines, so they’re ready for adoption once they arrive at the shelters. You should check them out and see if you find one you like.”  
  
“Yeah, me and Tony found a very nice cat there,” Lily smiled.  
  
Noah glanced up at Jayden, and the two looked at each other for a few moments.  
  
“Well, I guess we can go look at some point… If you really want a cat,” Jayden said, stroking his fingers through Noah’s feathers and smiling at him.  
  
Noah grinned excitedly. “I’d like that.”  
  
Jayden smiled in reply and played lovingly with some of Noah’s feathers.  
  
“But aren’t you having a baby?” Luna asked with a confused frown.  
  
“You dummy; you can still have a baby even though you have a cat,” Daniel said, rolling his eyes at her.  
  
“I know that!”  
  
Jason sighed. “Kids…” Lucy had calmed down on his lap by now, and she played a bit with a toy that Eden had handed her to entertain her with.  
  
Jayden chuckled at the kids. “I think we can handle both.”  
  
“When’s your baby coming out anyway?” Luna asked Noah enthusiastically.  
  
“In late November,” Noah told her with a gentle smile.  
  
“Oh. But that’s soooo long to wait!”  
  
“Well, the baby has to grow big and strong inside Noah first. That takes a while,” Eden explained to her patiently.  
  
“And you don’t even wanna know how it got in there…” Daniel murmured, shooting a brief glance at Noah and Jayden before looking back at Luna.  
  
“Daniel!” Eden warned with a growl in her voice.  
  
Luna stared back at her brother, frowning. “How?”  
  
Daniel opened his mouth to explain, but Eden quickly cut him off.  
  
“Daniel! Don’t you _dare_ say a word, or there will be no video games for two months!” Eden threatened, giving a son a very firm look to show that she wasn’t kidding.  
  
Daniel’s mouth snapped shut immediately. “Okay, fine,” he grumbled, crossing his arms.  
  
Lily laughed at them. “Yeah, it’s not easy when your mom threatens to cut off your video games.”  
  
“Yeah, it should be forbidden,” Daniel muttered sulkily.  
  
Eden snorted and leaned back in the couch. “Thank god it isn’t.”  
  
Noah squirmed awkwardly. It wasn’t that nice to know that his nephew knew about sex and reproduction now, because then he and Jayden having a baby together no longer seemed that innocent to the boy. Jayden nudged their wings together in the cramped space between them to reassure him, and soon the conversation in the room took a less embarrassing turn.  
  
Sparkles continued to lie on Noah’s lap for a few more minutes until she eventually jumped off, having gotten new energy to play around with Luna and her favorite cat toys again.  
  
A cat was something that Noah had always wanted, so it was exciting that he and Jayden would get one soon. It was likely it would have to wait a bit; Noah just hoped it wouldn’t be too long.  
  
They started talking about Kaylen and Isaac and their newborn baby. Isaac had called them a few days ago to let them know that things were going well, and Kaylen had confirmed that Isaac was actually doing pretty well in his new role as a dad so far. They still had arguments about who should change the diapers, since Isaac wanted to shove the responsibility onto Kaylen, but other than that everything was going okay.  
  
Talking about little Eliza and Isaac and Kaylen as parents made Jayden and Noah feel rather impatient to finally be parents too. It was exciting while the baby was still inside Noah and was growing bigger and stronger every day, but it was also hard to wait.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the update! Trying my best to update frequently again, and luckily my new beta is super-fast so that’s a nice bonus :) Won’t be that long until the baby is born; Noah is already half-way through his pregnancy now :) Hope you guys are excited for it!


	19. Chapter 19

**September 2049 (Noah is 23, Jayden is 25, Adrian is 32 (almost 33), Natalie is 31 (almost 32), Maya is 7, Aaron is 3 years old).**  
  
Noah woke up on a Saturday morning in September, feeling the need to use the bathroom. The baby was kicking his bladder and making him have to pee, so he grumpily untangled himself from the sheets and got up from the bed.  
  
Jayden made a noise and stirred at the movement, and Noah froze and tried not to make more noise. He watched as the alpha turned onto his side and put his hand on Noah’s side of the bed, making a small, disappointed noise in his sleep to find the spot empty. Noah gave him a rueful look before tip-toeing his way out of the room, wearing only one of Jayden’s old t-shirts and a pair of white panties. He opened the door as gently as possible and closed it before padding into the bathroom to do his thing.  
  
His stomach had grown a lot and he was now 31 weeks pregnant. His back was hurting more, his feet got swollen every now and then, and he generally felt more tired and grumpy than usual. His sex drive was still high, though. His body craved sexual activity all the time, but in the past five days Noah had withdrawn himself from Jayden and from having sex with him. He had made excuses of having headaches and not feeling well, and Jayden hadn’t really questioned it much. Though, he had looked a little confused when Noah rejected him again last night, but he hadn’t said anything other than telling Noah to get well soon. Noah knew he couldn’t keep making such excuses, but he just couldn’t help it. He felt so insecure and disgusted with his body lately. His stomach was large and big – more than it had been before – and it affected Noah’s self-image and his self-esteem more than ever. He was scared that Jayden was disgusted by it too, and he couldn’t bear to have his mate be turned off by him. There was nothing sexy about his stomach, he thought, so Noah always made sure to cover it up with a shirt whenever they had sex, but lately he had gotten so big that he didn’t think it was enough. He would rather avoid any sexual interactions all together than to see the look of disgust on Jayden’s face that he feared the alpha would have if he looked at his stomach.  
  
After having used the bathroom, Noah washed his hands in the sink and stared at himself in the mirror for a bit. He avoided looking at the full-body mirror as he exited the bathroom, not wanting to see himself looking like a whale.  
  
It was already 9:03am, but Noah felt like sleeping a bit longer. Adrian and his family were coming over to visit them later, but they wouldn’t be there until around 1pm, so there was still time catch some extra sleep.  
  
Returning to the bedroom, Noah walked back over to the bed and climbed in as quietly as he could. The light from behind the curtains made him able to orientate himself in the mostly dark room, and he sighed as he carefully settled himself onto his side, facing away from Jayden.  
  
He had only lain there for about three minutes before Jayden shifted behind him. The alpha stretched out his limbs with a loud yawn, before snuggling up behind Noah and draped his arm over Noah’s hip on top of the blanket.  
  
Noah tensed up and folded his wings closer to himself under the blanket, trying to analyze his mate’s movements and whether or not this would turn into another rejection of sex. He really hoped it wouldn’t.  
  
Jayden hummed happily behind him and nuzzled his face into the back of Noah’s shoulder. He was like an oversized puppy at the moment, and despite Noah’s tension, he still thought that was kind of cute.  
  
The alpha lay still for a while, snuggled up behind Noah with his tail curling and uncurling lazily.  
  
“Mm, you smell so nice,” Jayden hummed in a hoarse voice, nuzzling Noah again. His hand moved towards Noah’s bump and caressed it through the blanket.  
  
Noah closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep again, but then Jayden started pressing kisses to the back of his neck and began slowly making his way to the side of his neck. The alpha’s mouth on his skin made Noah shudder in arousal, and he wanted so badly for Jayden to fuck him again. Having to masturbate on his own for five days had been agony, since it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as being with Jayden, but he was still too upset and insecure to let Jayden close.  
  
When the alpha’s kisses turned more sexual and Noah could smell his mate’s obvious arousal, he suddenly flinched away from Jayden’s touch and pushed the alpha back. “Don’t.”  
  
Jayden pulled back, stunned and confused. He watched as Noah curled up and pulled the blanket closer around himself, and that only confused Jayden even more. “What’s wrong?”  
  
“Nothing,” Noah murmured, still facing away from him.  
  
Jayden shifted and sat up more. “No… Something is up. You’ve been pushing me away for five days now.”  
  
“I just don’t always want sex when _you_ want it,” Noah replied in a muttering voice that was half muffled by the blanket.  
  
“ _You’re_ the one that’s been wanting sex non-stop lately; you’ve even been waking me up in the middle of the night for it, and now you _don’t_ want it all? I can _smell_ that you’re aroused, so clearly something else is the matter,” Jayden argued. None of it made any sense to Jayden, and the way Noah refused to look at him only made him more worried and confused. “Was it something I did? Something I said…?” He almost feared the answer, and he swallowed nervously as he anticipated it.  
  
“I just don’t want to, okay?!” Noah snapped, jerking his head back to send Jayden a sharp glare before laying his head down on his pillow again, almost angrily.  
  
Jayden was taken aback by that reaction, but it also made him even more upset. “Well, will you at least explain _why?_ It’s not just sex you’ve been making excuses for – it’s whenever I try to hug you or touch you lately. Can you please just tell me what’s wrong? You’re freaking me out here.”  
  
Noah curled up more. Everything was a mess inside him and his emotions were all over the place. He was ashamed, full of guilt and self-disgust, and he just couldn’t look his mate in the eyes. Jayden’s pressure for answers only worsened his mood, making him agitated, guilty, and grumpy, and he didn’t want to talk right now. It was easier to hide from the problems and push his mate away.  
  
Jayden waited for five seconds for Noah to respond, but he got no reaction from him other than the way Noah refused to even look at him. Jayden’s jaw clenched. “Fine. Have it your way.” He threw his blanket aside and got up from the bed, boiling with negativity and frustration.  
  
“I will!” Noah snapped back with an angry growl in his voice.  
  
Jayden glared at him, finding Noah’s behavior incredibly childish and unreasonable right now. He angrily started pulling on his clothes to get dressed and left the room as quickly as possible. The door made a louder noise than usual as he closed it behind him, almost to the point of having been slammed shut.  
  
Noah lay on the bed after he was gone, feeling the tears prickling in his eyes starting to fall. He let out a strangled sob and pulled the blanket over his head as he began crying, but his sobs and cries were left unheard in the empty room.  
  


 

***

  
  
The fight left them both in a bad mood, and they did everything to avoid each other that morning.  
  
Noah stayed in the bedroom for the next two hours, and Jayden settled down on the couch in the living room to play a graphic video game to manage his frustrations.  
  
Midnight – the cat they had bought together about a month ago – settled down on the couch next to Jayden, trying to play with his tail while he gamed. She was an eight month old kitten, all black except for a white right paw and a white tail-tip. Her eyes were a beautiful yellow color, and they had named her Midnight because her fur reminded them of the sky at night. She was a very loving and playful cat, and she enjoyed lying on their laps and purring when they petted her. Noah had grown very close to the cat – she was good company for him when Jayden worked late, and he spent many evenings playing with her in the apartment. The cat wasn’t allowed in the bedroom during the night, but they let her in sometimes during the day so she wouldn’t sit outside the room and meow pathetically because she was so eager to go into the room which smelled the strongest of her owners. She just wanted to go in and rub her scent all over the place before leaving again.  
  
Midnight was blissfully unaware of the tension between her owners. She just lay next to Jayden and enjoyed it when he petted her every now and then during his game. Petting the cat made Jayden feel a little better, but it still felt like the pressure in his chest was killing him. He was so confused, hurt, angry, and frustrated with Noah, and he just wanted to know what the hell was going on with his mate lately and what he had done wrong to make Noah behave like that. Thinking about Noah hurt too much right now though, so he buried himself in the video game and let the cat distract his thoughts.  
  
When Noah finally emerged from the bedroom, they ignored each other completely. The submissive went to eat in the kitchen and then went to the nursery afterwards. He spent some time in there, feeling miserable and crying alone, until he started arranging some of the stuff in the room. Getting the nursery ready for the baby cheered him up a little.  
  
When it was almost 1pm and time for the guests to arrive, Jayden packed the video game together and went into the kitchen to prepare some glasses and stuff in advance. He tensed when he spotted Noah sitting by the kitchen table and eating a small snack.  
  
Neither spoke a word, although they could both feel the tension in the room. They had shut each other completely out of the bond, as they always did when they had a fight, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t feel the air being all tight and tense between them.  
  
When the doorbell rang they both got up and headed for the door to enter the hallway. They reached the door at the same time, but Noah stepped back to let Jayden go through it first, keeping his head lowered and avoided looking the demon in the eyes.  
  
“Let’s just try to act normal?” Jayden suggested, glancing warily at Noah.  
  
Noah tensed and kept looking away from him. “Fine.”  
  
Jayden glared at him for sounding so rude and grumpy, before finally going into the entrance hall to get the door. Noah followed but stayed a good distance away, his shoulders tense and his arms crossed.  
  
Jayden opened the door and put on a happy facade, not wanting to worry their guests or act different around them. “Hey, guys,” he beamed when he saw Adrian, Natalie, Maya, and little Aaron standing outside.  
  
“Hey,” Adrian grinned and came forward to pull Jayden into a hug. The two alphas bumped tails and patted the other’s shoulders, and meanwhile Natalie and the kids came inside.  
  
“Hi, Noah,” Natalie smiled widely when she spotted him.  
  
Noah too put on a different face in front of the guests. “Hello, Natalie.” He came over and hugged her, and Natalie was careful not to press against his stomach.  
  
“Wow! Look at you! So big and sexy,” Natalie exclaimed, grinning at Noah’s belly after they had pulled back.  
  
‘Sexy’ was not a word that Noah felt applied to him right now – quite the opposite, actually – but he chuckled and tried not to look upset about her comment. “Thank you.”  
  
“Whoa!” Maya blurted when she too saw Noah’s belly. She stared at it in amazement, and little Aaron just blinked next to her. He was too young to properly understand what the big stomach meant, but he still looked pretty fascinated.  
  
Jayden closed the door, and Adrian came over and smiled as he looked Noah up and down.  
  
“Wow, you’ve gotten quite big, and you still have a little over two months left to be pregnant in,” Adrian said, smiling warmly at Noah and the sight of his pregnancy.  
  
Noah smiled and rubbed his stomach a bit when he felt the baby shift inside him. He didn’t want to get bigger than this, and he hated that Adrian had to remind him of that, but he knew his brother only meant well.  
  
Adrian came forward and gave Noah a tight hug, careful of his stomach. “Glad you’re doing okay, little brother.” He pressed a small kiss to Noah’s temple, which made Noah blush and feel rather surprised. Adrian hadn’t really done that before, but Noah appreciated the loving gesture, especially after the fight with Jayden that morning.  
  
Jayden and Natalie shared a quick hug in the meantime, and Maya grinned as she wrapped her arms around Jayden and then went over to hug Noah too. She couldn’t fit her arms around Noah because of the bump though, but she didn’t seem to mind. Noah hugged her back and let her touch his belly with her curious hands, smiling at how amazed she looked.  
  
Aaron wasn’t one for hugs – he only wanted to hug his parents – so he just stood around and glanced up at the others. He wasn’t shy like many kids his age were; he never hid behind his parents when they went somewhere, and he was always eager to explore and get to know people.  
  
“Aaron. Greet uncle Jayden and auntie Noah properly,” Natalie told her son when she saw him just standing around. She gave him an encouraging smile as she ran a hand through his short hair.  
  
Aaron glanced up her, looking a bit hesitant. He then went over to Jayden and reached out his little hand, staring up at the adult alpha’s face. “Hi.”  
  
The others laughed fondly, and Jayden gave the boy a smile as he reached out his hand to shake Aaron’s. “Hi, Aaron. How are you?”  
  
“Good, but I wanna play wif cars!” Aaron exclaimed, staring up at Jayden with his best pleading look.  
  
“Aaron!” Natalie groaned, slightly embarrassed.  
  
Adrian laughed and picked up the bag he had carried with him inside. “I have some toys for the kids here, no worries,” he told Jayden when he could see him wondering about it.  
  
“Ah, okay,” Jayden said. He looked down at Aaron again. “You can go play if you like, as long as you don’t break anything.”  
  
Aaron beamed and nodded.  
  
They took off their shoes and jackets, and Jayden showed them were to put their stuff. Adrian and Natalie hadn’t been in the apartment since just after Noah and Jayden had moved in together, so they were quite curious to see if there had been any changes.  
  
Natalie took Aaron into the living room and placed his toy cars on the floor for him to play with. Maya stayed in there too to look after her brother and play with him, while the others walked around to see the apartment.  
  
Jayden and Noah kept their distance from each other and avoided looking at the other as they walked their guests towards the nursery. There was still a lot of tension between them, but Adrian and Natalie remained oblivious of it so far.  
  
Both Adrian and Natalie were thrilled by how far they had gotten with preparing the nursery. Everything seemed to be in place, but they still needed to buy some more clothes, toys, and a few lamps. They had already bought the baby carriage after having been shopping for one with Cas, Eden, and Lily last month, but they still needed a baby safety seat for the car.  
  
“No lights yet?” Adrian asked as he glanced around the room, seeing that there weren’t any lamps in there.  
  
“I actually have a lamp lying around; it just needs to be put up in the center of the ceiling. I could use a little help to put it up, if you’re up for it later?” Jayden said.  
  
“Sure, no problem,” Adrian grinned.  
  
“Cool,” Jayden grinned back. “But I think you guys need something to fill your stomachs first.”  
  
“Wow, you’re a mind reader,” Natalie chuckled. “I’m quite hungry, actually.”  
  
“Yeah, we didn’t eat before we left since your cooking tastes a lot better than ours,” Adrian smirked.  
  
“Hey, my cooking is not bad,” Natalie groused, sending Adrian a playful glare, which made him laugh.  
  
Jayden laughed at that and headed into the kitchen to get the pie and cookies ready that he had prepared yesterday. Adrian helped Jayden carry the plates and stuff into the living room, since he didn’t want Noah to carry too much in his current condition.  
  
Meanwhile Noah and Natalie went into the living room, where Maya was trying to make the cat come down from the bookshelf.  
  
Midnight was feeling a little wary about all the people in the house. Aaron had come running towards her the moment the saw her, so she had jumped up on a shelf to get away from the strange being that chased her.  
  
“Doesn’t she wanna talk?” asked Maya while Noah tried to encourage the cat to come down from the shelf. The cat refused to move though, and Noah couldn’t reach her because the shelf was too tall.  
  
“I think she’s a just little shy right now,” Noah told her, giving her a small smile when he saw his niece looking disappointed. He turned his attention back to Midnight and made a soft clicking noise to attract her attention. “It’s okay, Midnight. The kids only wanna play,” he told the cat in a soft voice. The cat just stared down at him before glancing at the kids with a wary expression.  
  
Natalie chuckled and smiled at how Noah tried to calm the cat down so she would get down from the shelf to play with the kids. The cat didn’t want to move just yet though, so they would have to wait.  
  
Meanwhile, Adrian and Jayden walked back and forth to get the couch table ready for the food. Once everything was ready, the kids abandoned their play to rush over to the couch, impatient to eat.  
  
Adrian frowned when he noticed how Noah and Jayden were purposefully avoiding each other’s eye or getting too close, and his worries only increased when the two seated themselves in opposite ends of the couch, so that Adrian and his family were sitting between them. Adrian ended up next to Jayden, and Natalie sat next to Noah. Natalie looked a little surprised too, as she was used to Noah and Jayden always being close to each other. The kids didn’t notice anything since they were too busy eating the pie and cookies. Jayden had prepared chocolate milk, juice, and coffee, and there was enough for everyone to go around.  
  
“I love your cat! She’s so cute,” Maya exclaimed while they ate. “How old is she?”  
  
“Maya, don’t talk when your mouth is full of pie,” Natalie scolded her lightly.  
  
“Sorry…”  
  
Noah chuckled at his niece. “She’s around eight months old.”  
  
“Is that old for a cat?”  
  
“No, not really. She’s a teenager, you might say.”  
  
“Ohh.” Maya looked rather stunned but also fascinated and interested. She glanced back over her shoulder at Midnight, who was still watching them from the bookshelf.  
  
“I always imagined you to be a cat person, Noah,” Adrian smiled, holding his plate in front of him while he ate. “But Jayden doesn’t really look like a cat person.”  
  
Jayden chortled while eating his own piece of pie. “Well, I like cats. They’re pretty awesome sometimes, but I like dogs too.”  
  
“I want a dog and a cat too,” Aaron murmured. His mouth and hands were full of pie and chocolate milk, so Natalie grabbed a tissue from the table to clean him up with before he could make a mess of the furniture. She asked Noah to help her out because Aaron was flailing so much with his arms, so Noah happily grabbed another tissue and leaned over to help her getting Aaron cleaned.  
  
“Me too,” Maya said, staring at her parents with pleading eyes. “You said we could maybe have a dog soon…”  
  
“Yeah, and that’s a ‘maybe’,” Adrian said. “A dog is a big responsibility.”  
  
“But grandma and grandpa have one! And our other grandpa too!”  
  
“Well, begging doesn’t help. You know that.”  
  
Natalie chuckled at how Maya folded her arms and sulked a bit. She used the opportunity to change the topic. “So how’s it going with the baby, Noah? Been having lots of back pains yet?” She put the tissues away after she and Noah had finished cleaning Aaron up, and the boy happily continued eating.  
  
“Yeah, it hurts quite a lot sometimes,” Noah admitted, giving her a small smile. “But the baby is doing well. He’s moving around and kicking me, so that has to be a good sign.”  
  
“Yeah, it sure is,” Natalie grinned.  
  
“Sounds like he wants to come out already,” Adrian smiled.  
  
“How do babies even come out?” Maya asked, glancing around at everyone with a confused frown. Aaron looked up too, also not understanding how it worked.  
  
Natalie coughed. “Well, that’s something you’ll know when you get older.”  
  
Adrian and Jayden just laughed. Noah felt a little awkward, but he was quite amused by Maya’s blunt question and her annoyed face when everyone refused to tell her about it.  
  


 

***

  
  
They spent the next two hours talking about the latest news in their lives, and Maya and Aaron ran around the apartment to play while the adults talked. They played hide and seek, played with toys, watched cartoons on the TV, and made a few drawings. Especially Maya enjoyed drawing, and she was ecstatic when Noah came over and taught her some tricks on how to draw dogs and cats better. Noah wasn’t as good of an artist as Castiel was – he couldn’t make realistic drawings or paintings, but he wasn’t that bad at drawing cartoon style.  
  
Midnight came down from the shelf at some point and Maya was eager to pet the cat. She was very gentle as she petted the cat, and Aaron too was allowed to pet her for a bit. Midnight was very cautious at first, but when Noah showed the kids where they kept the cat toys, the cat quickly warmed up to them as they began playing with her. Maya and Aaron laughed and squealed as they had Midnight chasing after a toy on the living room floor and in the hallway, and Adrian and Natalie kept a close eye on them to make sure that they didn’t bring the toy anywhere near things that could be broken.  
  
There was still a tight tension between Noah and Jayden, which both Adrian and Natalie picked up on as they talked. The two didn’t look or speak to the other, and when their eyes met they would quickly look away. It was a very unusual thing, because normally Jayden and Noah were always sharing smiles and small, affectionate touches, but now there was nothing but cold air and tension between them. It was a little awkward for Adrian and Natalie too, but they decided not to confront them about it.  
  
At around 3pm they headed to the park together. The weather was warm and nice, the kids looked like they could need some open space to run around in. Maya wanted them to bring Midnight along, but Jayden didn’t think that was a very good idea. They took the cat outside sometimes on a leash, but she wasn’t very fond of noisy places like the park when it was full of screaming kids, so it was best if she stayed at home.  
  
The park was rather crowded when they got there, and Maya and Aaron shrieked happily when they reached the playground. Maya mingled with some of the other kids on the slides, while Noah and Natalie took Aaron over to a place for the smaller kids. Adrian and Jayden lingered at the edge of the playground, keeping an eye on Maya as she played around.  
  
“So…” Adrian started as he and Jayden stood next to each other with their arms crossed while they watched the playground. “Do I have to beat you up or something, or wasn’t it your fault?”  
  
Jayden turned his head to look at him, blinking. “What?”  
  
Adrian glanced back at him. “Noah. You’ve been avoiding him ever since we came and he’s been avoiding you too. Did you piss him off or something?”  
  
Jayden glanced back at the playground, his tail flicking behind him in agitation. “I don’t know. You tell me. I have no idea what’s going on; he just started withdrawing himself from me and I can’t get through to him.”  
  
“Oh.” Adrian glanced in the direction of where Noah and Natalie were guiding Aaron through a small obstacle course. The two laughed and cheered at Aaron to make it through it, and the scene made Adrian smile a bit. “Um, well, in that case it’s probably best to wait until he opens up. Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones that are making him grumpy? Natalie and I also got into a lot of fights when she was expecting Maya…”  
  
“I don’t know. He’s been pulling away from me for five days now, and I don’t know what to do…”  
  
Adrian gave Jayden a sympathetic look when he saw how helpless he looked about the situation. “Me neither, man. I don’t think I’ve ever had a fight with Noah, so I don’t know which battle strategy works best with him.”  
  
Jayden snorted out a laugh at that, and Adrian joined him in laughing.  
  
All of sudden Maya cried out for Adrian in a distressed voice. “Daddy!”  
  
Adrian immediately ran over to check on his daughter, and Jayden was right behind him.  
  
“What is it?” Adrian asked when he reached her, leaning down to put his hands on Maya’s shoulders and checked her up and down to see if she was okay.  
  
Maya stared back at him with teary eyes and sniffled a bit. “I twisted my ankle, running…” she murmured, lifting her hurt foot off the ground and used her wings to help keeping her balance. A few of the other kids stared a bit at her after she had cried out like that earlier, looking curious and a bit worried.  
  
Adrian’s wings slumped in relief. He had feared something much worse had happened. “Shh, it’s okay, sweetie. It happens. Up you go.” He lifted her up and held her close, and the girl sniffled a bit and rested her head against his chest.  
  
Jayden too was very relieved that it hadn’t been something more serious. “Is she okay?”  
  
“Yeah, I think so,” Adrian said, giving him a brief smile before continuing to soothe Maya. She didn’t seem to be hurting that much, so Adrian guessed that she hadn’t twisted her ankle that bad after all.  
  
Natalie came over when she noticed something was wrong, and Noah held Aaron’s hand as they followed her. Maya seemed to feel better after her mom and dad both comforted her.  
  
“Is she okay?” Aaron asked worriedly, glancing up at his sister and at the way their parents were comforting her.  
  
Noah smiled down at him and squeezed his hand. “Yeah, I think she is. She just got a little hurt.”  
  
Aaron looked up at his big sister in sympathy. “Hope you feel better soon,” he told her.  
  
Maya lifted her head from Adrian’s chest to smile down at him. “Thanks.”  
  
Jayden smiled at the scene, and Adrian soon put Maya down again. She limped a bit, but she could still walk on her own, which was a good thing. Natalie walked her back over to the slide and stayed with her so that Maya could keep playing, and Aaron ran over to ride on the slide too.  
  
“I gotta use the bathroom,” Noah murmured, turning to leave.  
  
“I’ll join you, I gotta go too,” Adrian said. He caught up with Noah and glanced back at Jayden over his shoulder. “Keep an eye on my mate and kids, yeah?” he grinned.  
  
“Sure,” Jayden smiled and went over to Natalie and the kids by the slide.  
  
Noah supported his stomach with his hand as he and Adrian headed over to the bathrooms, and he chuckled when he felt Adrian bump his wing playfully into his. Noah pushed Adrian back with his own wing, and the alpha laughed at the gesture.  
  
It took two minutes to reach the bathrooms and they parted ways when they got there – Adrian went into the men’s room, and Noah went to the ladies’ room. There were many people inside, since it was a great day to visit the park so there were a lot of kids there, and the smaller kids had to be accompanied by their parents when going in.  
  
Adrian waited outside for Noah afterwards, watching the kids and dogs play on a nearby lawn and listened to the birds tweeting.  
  
When Noah finally emerged from the bathrooms, the alpha smiled and started heading back to the others with him.  
  
“Is everything okay, Noah?” Adrian asked while they walked, glancing warily at his little brother.  
  
Noah blinked and turned his head to look back at him. “I… Why do you ask?”  
  
Adrian shrugged. “You and Jayden have just been acting pretty weird today, and Jayden told me that you’ve been pushing him away lately, so I figured something must be bothering you…”  
  
Noah grit his teeth when hearing that Jayden had talked to Adrian. “He told you that?”  
  
The annoyance in Noah’s voice made Adrian stop walking and turn to face him. “Whoa, he didn’t tell me much, okay? I just asked him what was going on and he said he didn’t know.” Noah stopped as well and he seemed to think a bit about Adrian’s words. The alpha went on. “It’s not my business what’s going on between you two, but I can tell you’re a little uptight today. I’m not a very, uh, sensitive and touchy-feely guy – at least not as much as Jayden is – but, uh, you can still talk to me if you need to, okay?”  
  
Noah chewed on his bottom lip, looking conflicted. “I just… I don’t know what’s wrong lately. A lot of things, I guess… I just don’t feel like myself and I get agitated so easily.” His wings slumped behind him pathetically and he lowered his gaze to stare at his feet.  
  
Adrian stepped a little closer and nudged Noah’s leg with his tail. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re full of pregnancy hormones, so it’s natural that your mood is all over the place. Jayden just seemed pretty worried and confused, so maybe you should talk to him and get things settled out?”  
  
“I don’t feel like talking to him right now,” Noah muttered.  
  
“Well, whenever you feel like it. I just don’t like seeing you guys behave like that, and I don’t think Natalie does either.”  
  
Noah cringed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you and Natalie…”  
  
Adrian chuckled and gave Noah a gentle puff on the arm. “Don’t worry about it. Just make sure that you and Jayden don’t stay pissed at each other forever; I like him, so I’d hate to see you switch him out with another guy.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened, and the mere thought of what Adrian said made him look horrified. “I wouldn’t do that.”  
  
“I know,” Adrian chuckled. “Now, let’s keep moving. This girl talk has lasted long enough, and I don’t wanna grow certain lady parts.”  
  
Noah rolled his eyes and chuckled a bit at Adrian’s words. “Thanks, though,” he said, giving his brother a grateful smile for being there for him. Adrian returned the smile, and Noah turned to follow his brother back to the others, holding his extended belly as he walked.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but feel a bit ashamed about the way he had acted around Jayden in Adrian’s presence. He hadn’t meant to make his brother and his family worried or feeling awkward, but he was just not in the mood for being around Jayden that day.  
  
A group of kids and their parents came down the path, so Noah and Adrian separated to go around them.  
  
Noah had just gotten past the people when he heard a loud whistle, like a catcall. He tensed up and looked up to see a muscled, cocky-looking alpha angel with golden wings blocking his path, his eyes clearly checking Noah out as they roamed over his body. The guy was around 35 years old, and Noah immediately felt uncomfortable to have the alpha check him out like that.  
  
“What do my eyes spot? A young, obedient, little sub,” the alpha slurred, his eyes not leaving Noah. His feathers and hair looked unkempt and his breath smelled like alcohol. Noah wondered who would start drinking this early; it was only 3:45pm. “Want me to help you out a little? Bet your pregnancy makes you so hungry for a big cock like mine.”  
  
Noah grimaced in disgust and his cheeks reddened in humiliation. He was just about to open his mouth to tell the guy off, when suddenly a very angry Adrian appeared and grabbed the guy by the front of his shirt.  
  
“Watch your fucking mouth! Don’t talk to my little brother like that,” Adrian growled, holding the guy firmly by his shirt and got right up in his face. His wings sharpened and spread out in a warning display, and a few girls around them gasped and hurried out of there, while others watched what was going on without interfering.  
  
Noah stared wide-eyed at the scene, almost surprised to see Adrian get so aggressive with the guy.  
  
The alpha angel struggled to get free, but Adrian wouldn’t let him. “O-Okay, my bad…” the guy stuttered, staring back at Adrian in a mixture of fear and shock. He obviously hadn’t counted on Noah being accompanied by an alpha, and he was too drunk to really bother fighting back.  
  
Adrian growled at him once more before letting him go. “Get out of here. And learn how to speak nicely to other people.” He glared at the other alpha until the guy had disappeared down one of the other paths in the park, and first then did he fold his wings back behind his back.  
  
“Thanks…” Noah murmured, giving his brother a grateful smile.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Adrian replied and continued walking back to the playground, ignoring the other people around them whispering about the incident. “Do you meet those kinds of assholes often?”  
  
“Sadly, I do…”  
  
“Shit. I’m glad you know self-defense at least, but that’s not easy to use when you’re pregnant…”  
  
Noah had to agree with that. He hoped he would never have to use it for real, pregnant or not.  
  
When they came back to the playground, Natalie and Jayden were busy playing around with Maya and Aaron. Natalie was helping Aaron on the slide, and Maya had persuaded Jayden to push her on the swing. Noah couldn’t help but smile at how Maya laughed and happily cheered for Jayden to push her harder so she could go up higher. Jayden seemed to be having a lot of fun as well, and Noah stared at his mate’s laughing and happy face. He had missed seeing that.  
  
“Higher! Higher!” Maya yelled, looking back over her shoulder at Jayden while riding on the swing.  
  
“No, I can’t make you go higher; you’ll just fall off,” Jayden chuckled, giving her a push every time she swung over to him.  
  
“Yeah, don’t kill my daughter,” Adrian joked, smiling as he came over to them.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “I won’t.”  
  
They stayed at the playground for a while longer, and Noah sat down on one of the benches to relax. His back hurt a little and he felt tired, so it was nice to sit down for a bit. Natalie came over to join him while the guys looked after the kids, and the two had a nice talk about babies and pregnancies, where Natalie shared some of her own experiences with Noah.  
  
Noah tried to relax and give Natalie all his attention, but it was hard not to think about all the negative things that were swirling around in his mind and that had been going on between him and Jayden. Speaking to Natalie was still a nice distraction, though. They got along well with each other.  
  
Whenever Noah wasn’t looking, Jayden would glance in his direction to see if he was okay. He got worried whenever he saw Noah feeling tired and when he was hurting, but Adrian reassured him that it was normal for pregnant females and subs to feel like that. Jayden still didn’t like it, though.  
  


 

***

  
  
When they came back to the apartment they chatted for another forty-five minutes, and Adrian gave Jayden a hand with the lamp in the nursery.  
  
At 5:45pm, it was time for Adrian and his family to leave.  
  
“We’re spending the night with dad and papa, and we’re having dinner there, so we better get going soon,” Adrian told Noah as he and his family went into the entrance hall to get dressed. “It was nice seeing you guys again, though.”  
  
“You too,” Noah smiled. “And greet dad and papa from us.”  
  
“I will,” Adrian promised and pulled Noah into a hug before getting dressed to leave. He said goodbye to Jayden too, and Natalie and the kids also said goodbye to them.  
  
“Bye, Noah,” Maya said, wrapping her arms around him in a goodbye hug. “When your baby comes out, can I play with him?”  
  
Noah chuckled warmly at her. “Sure. When he gets a little older, then you can.”  
  
“Okay!” Maya beamed and grinned happily up at him. Her expression turned a little worried as she added, “And I hope you and Jayden will be good friends again soon…”  
  
Both Noah and Jayden were taken aback to hear that from her, and they cast a reluctant glance at one another.  
  
“Maya! That’s _their_ business, not ours,” Natalie shushed her, guiding her over to get dressed.  
  
Aaron blinked in confusion. He hadn’t really noticed anything going on, but it seemed like Maya had noticed that things weren’t the way they usually were between Noah and Jayden.  
  
Noah and Jayden looked away from each other again, and more tension built up between them as they both took a small step away from the other. Adrian glanced at them in worry before turning to leave. Jayden came over to open the door for them, and once again he and Noah put on smiles as they said goodbye to their guests. The kids waved happily at them, and as soon as they had all stepped into the elevator, Jayden closed the door and locked it.  
  
A heavy silence and tension after their guests were gone filled the apartment like a suffocating cloud. Their smiles quickly disappeared from their faces when they no longer had to put on smiles for someone.  
  
“I’ll go make dinner,” Jayden murmured, walking past Noah and headed to the kitchen without looking at him.  
  
Noah stood in the hallway for a moment, twitching and glancing around, before he made his way into the living room to be with Midnight.  
  
In the kitchen, Jayden tried to calm himself down from the agitation and frustration he felt boiling inside him. It wasn’t as bad as it had been that morning, but he could still feel all that negativity radiating off Noah and it only increased Jayden’s own foul mood.  
  
The alpha quickly put a pot on the stove and started making the sauce for rice and curry. He needed something spicy to eat, and rice and curry was one of his and Noah’s favorites. Noah wasn’t very fond of spices though, so Jayden always poured only a little amount of curry into the sauce and then later spiced up his own portion with some extra curry later, after the food had been served.  
  
Cooking always made Jayden feel better, and he hummed a song quietly to bring himself in a better mood. He didn’t care if Noah heard him or not, and his tail moved behind him as he hummed and prepared the food.  
  
When the sauce cooked on its own, Jayden sat down by the dining table in the kitchen with his tablet and looked at some funny gifs to cheer himself up with. Noah didn’t come into the kitchen like he usually did, but Jayden wasn’t surprised, nor did he mind it. It was good to be away from him for a bit until their emotions had calmed down a little.  
  
When dinner was ready, Jayden walked over to the living room to let Noah know. “Dinner is ready now,” he said, before turning to leave again.  
  
Noah got up from the couch where he had been watching TV and petting Midnight. He walked into the kitchen to pour some food for himself, not looking at Jayden, who was busy doing the dishes while Noah poured food. Midnight meowed as she came into the kitchen too, but stopped when she saw that Jayden had already served food for her in her bowl. She rushed over and began eating eagerly.  
  
Not a word was exchanged as Jayden did the dishes and Noah poured food on his plate. Jayden glanced at his mate briefly, and Noah glanced back after Jayden looked away again.  
  
Noah took his plate of food with him into the living room to eat at the dining table in there while reading a book, while Jayden stayed in the kitchen to eat.  
  
It was depressing and unfamiliar to eat in different rooms, but neither wanted to start another argument again by being together.  
  
Midnight wandered back into the living room after she was done eating. They had a climbing tree for cats in there with hiding places in it, and she loved playing around there while Noah and Jayden were busy.  
  
After spending an hour on his tablet and fixing some stuff in the nursery, Jayden slowly made his way to the living room to see what Noah was up to. He quietly approached the open door and peeked inside, spotting Noah on the couch.  
  
The submissive was sitting in the corner of the couch with his legs crossed, and the TV was running in the background. Pillows were stashed behind his back to make it more comfortable, his wings were spread out lazily to each side, and Midnight was lying on a towel in his lap. The towel was to prevent Noah from feeling Midnight’s sharp claws while he petted her.  
  
Jayden smiled and stared at the scene from the doorway. Noah always had such a fond, loving expression on his face when he petted Midnight. It was so maternal and soft, and Jayden thought it was the best look on him ever. He stared at Noah’s face for a bit before his eyes wandered down to look at Noah’s swollen belly. It looked like it was a bit uncomfortable for Noah to sit with such a big stomach being his in way, especially when he was petting the cat, but Noah didn’t really let it show. He just continued to pet Midnight, who was purring and splayed out lazily on his lap.  
  
Although Noah looked content and loving, Jayden could still tell that he looked a little sad as well. It pained him to see that, and he just couldn’t understand what was going on with Noah lately or why he was withdrawing himself from Jayden like that. The fact that Noah didn’t want to talk to him about it hurt. It hurt so damn much that it was almost unbearable for him to look at his mate.  
  
Noticing he was being stared at, Noah glanced up and met Jayden’s eyes as the alpha stared at him from the doorway. Immediately Noah’ body tensed up and his wings drew closer to his body. “What?” he asked, his voice a bit more snappy than he had intended.  
  
Jayden didn’t flinch, though. He just stood there and watched Noah with a faint smile on his lips. “Nothing, just… You look cute like that.”  
  
Noah stared back at him, surprised by the honest statement. He blinked at the alpha before looking away, blushing. He concentrated on Midnight again, gently running his hands through the cat’s soft fur and listened to her purring in content. He felt the baby shift inside him and kick against his organs, which made him grimace and shift uncomfortably until the baby had calmed down again.  
  
Jayden watched him for a few more seconds, smiling. “I’m going out for a run. See you later,” he announced, turning to leave without waiting for Noah to reply.  
  
“Okay.” Noah glanced up to look at him, but Jayden was already gone. He felt a small surge of disappointment inside him, before he glanced down at Midnight again.  
  
Noah heard Jayden leave the apartment a few minutes later, and was pleased to hear the lock click into place; indicating that Jayden hadn’t forgotten to lock the front door. He went back to listening to the stuff on TV and bonding with the cat. Slowly, Noah’s mood was getting better, and he hoped that it wouldn’t turn for the worse when he and Jayden got into bed later to go to sleep.  
  
His mood got a little better when he saw that one of the TV shows that Isaac was in was on TV. He watched the episode – which he had already seen once before – and smiled whenever his brother’s familiar face popped up. He thought about his brother and Kaylen, and their little baby girl, Eliza. Last Noah had spoken with them, everything seemed to be going well with them and the baby. It had already been five weeks since Noah last saw his new, little niece, and he looked forward to seeing her again soon.  
  


 

***

  
  
Jayden came back from his run at 9pm and took a hot, long shower. They spent the rest of the night in different rooms until they headed to bed. Noah went to bed first, and Jayden followed ten minutes later.  
  
When Jayden came into the bedroom, the lights were turned off and Noah was already in bed, his back facing Jayden. Jayden turned on the lamp on his nightstand and started pulling off his clothes for bed. It was pretty awkward because they still hadn’t made up, and he could tell that Noah was awake and listening to every move he made.  
  
He unzipped his jeans and pulled them off, fumbling a bit with his tail when it got caught. He then pulled off his socks and went for his shirt next, using a few moments to unbutton it under his wings. Once the shirt was off, he was naked down to his boxers and ready to climb into bed.  
  
Jayden was a quiet as possible as he got settled down under the covers. Noah shifted a little but otherwise remained completely quiet, still facing away from the alpha.  
  
Once Jayden was on his back with the blanket covering him nicely, he let out a deep sigh and stared up at the ceiling. His lamp was still on, casting some light around the room, and he didn’t bother to turn it off just yet.  
  
The tension between them had died down, Jayden could feel that, but he was still unsure about how to approach Noah without pissing him off further.  
  
After a few moments of lying in total awkwardness and silence, Jayden turned over on his right side so that he was facing Noah’s back. He stared at the back of his mate’s head and at the outline of his wing under the blanket. A few feathers were left outside the blanket, and Jayden was tempted to reach out and touch them.  
  
Finally, after several moments of silence, Jayden spoke. “I hate this. I hate us being mad at each other and ignoring the other like this.”  
  
Noah tensed and shifted a little, but didn’t say a word.  
  
Jayden sighed and reached out to touch those feathers, playing gently with them. He could tell the gesture startled Noah for a second before the submissive relaxed more. “Just… Will you at least tell me what it is you’re so mad about? I just want to know if I’ve done something to hurt you to have you acting like this. _Please?_ It’s killing me, man.”  
  
Finally Noah’s tenseness seemed to go away a little. “You haven’t done anything wrong,” he said in a soft voice, slightly muffled by the blanket.  
  
Jayden frowned in confusion. “Then why are you so upset?”  
  
Noah curled up, trembling under the blanket. “B-Because I’m scared.” His voice was small and insecure, which immediately alerted Jayden.  
  
The alpha sat up so that he was leaning his weight on his right arm while glancing down at Noah in worry. “Scared? Of what?”  
  
Noah slowly turned his upper body in Jayden’s direction and stared up at him with glassy eyes. “That you find me disgusting…”  
  
The words took Jayden by surprise. He had not expected that at all. “What? Why would you think that? There’s nothing disgusting about you.”  
  
“Yes, there is!” Noah insisted, pulling the blanket closer around himself. “I’m getting so big that it’s not even cute anymore. My stomach is huge and in the way all the time, and I can barely look at myself in the mirror. I don’t like the way the pregnancy makes me look, and I just feel so agitated and annoyed all the time, and sometimes I don’t even know _why._ I don’t know what’s going on with me, and I hate all these emotions that I sudden feel.” Noah took a deep breath to calm down. It felt good to finally say out loud what he was feeling, but he still couldn’t meet Jayden’s eyes or look at his face. “And I can’t take the thought of you being disgusted with me too… That’s why I think it’s better if we don’t have sex until I look normal again.” He curled up under the blanket and continued to look away from Jayden, who was still staring down at him while processing the information.  
  
Jayden blinked as he let the words sink in, until finally snapping out of it. “You think that I—” He trailed off and stared at Noah, who was still making an effort to not look at him. This wasn’t at all what Jayden had expected was wrong, and he couldn’t help but let out a small, relieved laugh. “You honestly think that I could find you disgusting?” he asked, half amused.  
  
Noah glanced at him, frowning in confusion and annoyance because he felt like Jayden was ridiculing him. Before he could say anything, however, Jayden continued.  
  
“I could _never_ find you disgusting, you silly dumbass,” Jayden chuckled, reaching down to stroke Noah’s pregnant bump through the blanket. “You’re the most beautiful person in the world to me. I love everything about you, _including_ your pregnant stomach.”  
  
Noah stared back at him with a disbelieving frown. “Why would you like it? It makes me look fat and unattractive.”  
  
Jayden sighed and leaned over Noah a little more. “Jeez, will you stop saying that. You being pregnant is one of the most sexy things about you, _ever._ When I look at you, I don’t see you as being fat; I see you as a very fertile mate, who trusts and loves me enough to want to start a family with me. I see the product of our love growing inside you, and it drives me nuts with hormones whenever I look at your belly. Alphas like it when their mates’ pregnancy starts showing, you know? It reminds us of our own virility, and that’s enough to make any alpha high with pride and arousal.” Jayden smiled at Noah’s still disbelieving face and gently moved his hand over the submissive’s pregnant bump. “Besides, it’s a good look on you. If I wasn’t turned on by you anymore – which I could never _not_ be – you’d know. Trust me.”  
  
Noah stared back at him and began to calm down. He could tell that Jayden was sincere and honest, and as their bond slowly started opening up between them, he could feel it even more. “But _I_ don’t think I look pretty like this…” he murmured, lowering his eyes.  
  
“You just have to stop thinking of yourself as being fat. Think about the baby instead and what it means for us. And how it got there…”  
  
Noah blushed furiously and shoved Jayden in the chest for making that final comment. Jayden laughed at him, and the sound of his mate’s laughter immediately made Noah feel better.  
  
Jayden stopped laughing and instead stared down at Noah’s face, searching his eyes. “You’ve seriously been so upset and mean just because you were afraid that I didn’t find you attractive anymore?”  
  
Noah felt a little ashamed of himself as he nodded. “Yes… And because I don’t like the way I look. It’s just made me feel so disgusting, and my mood is all over the place lately because of the pregnancy… I just can’t control my own feelings sometimes, and I hate it. I hate what the pregnancy is doing to me.” His voice broke and he averted Jayden’s eyes again.  
  
Jayden gave him a rueful, soft smile and reached out to gently place his hand under Noah’s chin, forcing the submissive to lift his gaze to look at him. “I get that. It’s hard to let others close when you hate yourself, and I guess your mood swings and back pains haven’t helped you feel any better, but you _know_ you can talk to me, right? You don’t have to push me away. The reason I’ve been so pissed off today is because I don’t like it when you don’t trust me enough to share your problems with and instead decide to push me away. It hurts me when you do that…”  
  
“I’m sorry…”  
  
Jayden leaned down, pressing their foreheads and noses together and stared into Noah’s blue eyes. “I’m sorry too.”  
  
Noah took a deep breath and closed his eyes. All his negative emotions seemed to just fade away, and he allowed himself to revel in the comforting touch of his mate. It would still take him a while to learn to like the way he looked when he was pregnant, but for now he felt more confident and reassured.  
  
“Shit. I’m so embarrassed by the way we behaved around our guests today. That wasn’t cool at all,” Jayden said, his forehead still pressed against Noah’s.  
  
Noah groaned and opened his eyes. “Yeah, I’m ashamed by that too. It was all my fault…”  
  
“No, it was your hormones’ fault,” Jayden argued gently. “I guess I have to show your hormones how beautiful you are when you are all knocked up and swollen with child… If you’ll let me.” He gave Noah a wicked smile and his tail moved back and forth behind him in anticipation.  
  
Noah blushed and nodded quietly.  
  
Jayden smirked in victory before capturing Noah’s lips in a hot kiss. It was so good to feel Noah against him again and be back on terms with him. Noah kissed him back hungrily, as if he had missed the intimacy of kissing just as much as Jayden had.  
  
Jayden grasped at Noah’s hair to pull his head back a little, exposing his neck more. His mate mewled and bared his neck in submission, making Jayden explode with increased arousal.  
  
The alpha pulled away from Noah’s lips and stared kissing his way down towards Noah’s bared neck. He sucked bruises into the delicate skin, making Noah writhe and moan in response, before he moved further down.  
  
Noah’s blanket and oversized shirt were in the way, so Jayden gently pulled the blanket aside and snaked his hands in under Noah’s body. He saw reluctance and slight fear in Noah’s eyes when the submissive realized he wanted to take his shirt off; the only thing that was covering the bump that he was so uncomfortable with.  
  
“Trust me,” was all Jayden said, giving his mate a reassuring smile.  
  
Noah searched his eyes for a few seconds before slowly sitting up to give Jayden access to unbutton his shirt below his wings. The alpha helped him sit up, and Noah groaned in effort. His back was sore and it was hard to move because of his belly, so he was quite grateful that Jayden helped him up. He tensed a bit as Jayden reached behind him and started undoing the buttons. He hadn’t let Jayden see his naked stomach for almost a month now, and he was still very insecure and scared about how Jayden would react to seeing it without any shirts covering the skin.  
  
Jayden was as gentle as possible as he unbuttoned the shirt, knowing that Noah’s belly was a sensitive topic to him right now. He kissed Noah’s shoulder and neck to relax him and let his fingers graze the submissive’s oil glands carefully to distract his mind. Noah gasped and shuddered in response, and Jayden couldn’t help the smug smirk on his lips when he smelled arousal coming from his mate.  
  
Finally the shirt was unbuttoned, and Jayden slowly helped Noah out of it. The submissive lifted his arms as the shirt was pulled off him, but as soon as he was naked down to his panties, he wrapped his arms and wings around his body in an insecure gesture.  
  
Jayden threw the shirt to the floor and gave Noah a small smile when he saw the way his mate was trying to hide. “You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. You’re beautiful.”  
  
Noah glanced up to meet his eyes, giving him a doubtful look, before slowly moving his arms and wings away to let Jayden see him.  
  
The alpha stared at Noah’s pregnant body and licked his lips in interest. Noah could smell an increase in testosterone and musk coming from Jayden and it made him shudder in arousal; it was a signal that Jayden liked what he saw.  
  
Gently, Jayden guided Noah to lie down again. He made sure that the submissive was comfortable and put a pillow under him to support his back, before he settled himself on his stomach between Noah’s spread legs.  
  
Noah glanced down at him, but he could barely see the alpha because his big belly blocked his view of him.  
  
Jayden chuckled when Noah gave an annoyed grunt because of that, so he leaned up a bit before putting both his hands on Noah’s belly. The skin was soft under his palms, and due to some crème that Noah smeared on it once in a while there weren’t any stretch marks there. Jayden wouldn’t have minded it if he had them, but he was glad that Noah didn’t have yet another reason to feel uncomfortable and disgusted with his own body.  
  
The baby moved inside Noah’s womb, maybe trying to find another position to lie in, and Jayden grinned when he felt the movement under his hands. “Hey, little guy. Don’t move around too much, yeah? You’re making mommy uncomfortable whenever you kick too hard.”  
  
Noah smiled, loving it when Jayden talked to the baby in such a soft and loving voice.  
  
Jayden placed a chaste kiss on the bump, just below Noah’s bellybutton, and the submissive squirmed and blushed shyly under him. Jayden just smiled and moved his hands over Noah’s stomach, pressing more kisses to it.  
  
“Jayden!” Noah complained, hiding his face behind his hands. It was so weird to have his mate kissing his belly like that, almost as if he was worshipping Noah, and it made him embarrassed. He almost felt unworthy of the love and adoration the alpha was showing him right now, especially after everything they had been through that day.  
  
“You’re so pretty,” Jayden smiled, ignoring Noah’s little complaint. He pressed another kiss to the submissive’s swollen belly while roaming his hands over it. “So…” kiss, “pretty…” kiss, “and…” kiss, “all _mine._ ” His wings sharpened and rose up in a dominant and possessive posture, and his eyes stared right back into Noah’s as he looked up at him from between his legs.  
  
Noah shuddered at the possessiveness Jayden was showing, and the display of his wings made Noah squirm in arousal. He could feel his panties getting soaked with slick, and Jayden could without doubt both smell it _and_ see the way Noah’s dick was becoming achingly hard in his panties.  
  
Jayden smirked and continued touching Noah’s stomach like it was the most amazing thing in the world. He loved thinking about how it was his seed that had made Noah’s belly swell with child, and that such a beautiful and wonderful person like Noah had chosen _him_ to be his mate. It made him feel complete, both as an alpha and as a mate, and he wanted to be everything that Noah needed and be there for him for the rest of their lives. That new, little life inside Noah was their future and their dream, and Jayden would do anything to keep the baby and Noah safe. They were his family, and nothing was more important than family.  
  
“C-Connor,” Noah moaned, awed by all the love that flowed through their bond at the moment while Jayden was lost in thoughts.  
  
Jayden hummed in reply, his tail flicking happily at hearing his first name spilling from Noah’s lips, and he pressed another kiss to Noah’s belly before sitting up. Noah stared back up at him, and Jayden smiled and chuckled softly at him when he saw what looked like disappointment in his mate’s eyes after Jayden had sat up. He stroked Noah’s belly in apology and smiled when he still felt tiny movements coming from inside.  
  
“Been so long since I saw your stomach without any clothes being in the way. It’s so beautiful…” Jayden moved his hand over Noah’s belly in a loving gesture.  
  
Noah blushed shyly and a tiny smile appeared on his lips to hear Jayden say that. He let out a soft purr and enjoyed the way Jayden was touching him so affectionately.  
  
“Do you still think sex should be banished until you look ‘normal’ again, or do I have permission to fuck your brains out in some very nice and highly required make-up sex?” Jayden asked, a wicked grin appearing on his lips as he looked down at Noah.  
  
The comment made Noah flustered and he almost forgot to how to speak because of Jayden’s blunt and unexpected way to ask for permission to have sex with him. “Yes! God, yes. Just don’t be too rough with me; my back kind of hurts…”  
  
Jayden grinned and leaned down over Noah. “Alright, I’ll try.” He captured Noah’s lips in a heated kiss, growling in approval when the submissive grabbed his hair tightly and kissed him back with eagerness. He loved when Noah got a little aggressive and desperate during kissing, but never crossed the line to be dominant. He always let Jayden take charge, and the alpha loved it when Noah bared his neck or lowered his wings in submission when they kissed; it drove Jayden insane with lust.  
  
Both were heavily aroused and eager to be intimate after five days of being apart physically. Their bodies craved each other and it only increased their arousal and desperate need to touch one another.  
  
Jayden pulled away from Noah’s lips and chuckled at the way the submissive tried to follow him. He then kissed his way down Noah’s neck, chest, and stomach, until he reached his hips. He snaked his fingers in under the hem of Noah’s panties before pulling them off, watching them glide down Noah’s pretty, hairless legs, before he threw them over his shoulder somewhere. Next up was Jayden’s own underwear, and Noah wiggled impatiently as Jayden got out of them and threw them to the floor. His cock was rock hard and was leaking precome down the shaft, and Noah’s dick was also painfully hard. Jayden loved how submissives got hard even though there was really no need for it – they didn’t have any seed to spread. Noah in particular looked hot when he was hard and flushed and was dripping from his ass, and Jayden could stare at the sight all day long.  
  
Jayden inched closer, sitting on his knees and shins, and settled himself between Noah’s spread legs. He reached down to touch Noah’s inner thighs, hearing his mate suck in a breath at the touch, and then slowly made his way up to Noah’s dick. The submissive’s skin was flushed pink from arousal, and Jayden hummed at the sight before wrapping his hand around Noah’s member.  
  
 _“Ah!”_ Noah’s back arched off the bed at the unexpected, pleasurable touch, and he muttered a small curse when it hurt.  
  
Jayden chuckled in sympathy. “Sorry.” He played a bit with Noah’s cock, stroking his hand up and down the shaft and moved his thumb over the head. Wetness leaked from the tip, but it wasn’t potent like Jayden’s was, nor was his dick anywhere near the size of Jayden’s. Jayden could easily fit it in his hand, and he gave it a few firm strokes until he had pushed Noah almost to the edge.  
  
“Ah, Connor, s-stop. I can’t…” Noah moaned and writhed on the bed, going crazy with sensations as Jayden stroked him.  
  
Jayden smirked at him before finally letting go, ignoring Noah’s small protest when he did so. He then moved his hands down towards Noah’s ass, running soothing circles over the submissive’s inner thighs. “Can you hold your legs up a bit?”  
  
Noah blinked at him before trying. He bent his legs and moved them up towards his chest, but he couldn’t move them up too far without his back protesting. “Ugh, my back hurts.”  
  
“Okay, just keep your legs there and don’t move them up further. You shouldn’t strain yourself too hard.” Jayden kept his eyes on Noah’s ass, circling the pink hole with his fingers before pressing them inside. The first two fingers went in rather easily due to Noah’s arousal and his slick channel, and he quickly started preparing the submissive to take more.  
  
Noah moaned and wiggled as Jayden worked him open. It was difficult to hold his legs up, and the baby squirming around inside him didn’t make it easier to keep that position. He hoped the baby would calm down soon, as he really didn’t want to think too much about it during sex.  
  
Finally, Jayden pulled out his fingers and lowered himself a little so that his cock was lined up with Noah’s entrance. He held his dick in one hand and teased it over Noah’s waiting hole, watching it twitch every time his cock nudged against it without pressing inside.  
  
Noah let out an impatient growl. “Just put it in, you useless alpha!”  
  
Jayden stared at him in shock for a second before he burst out laughing. “Okay, okay. Sounds like you got your sex drive back. That’s nice.”  
  
Noah let out a deep, irritated groan. “I’ve had it all along; I was just in a bad mood for five days. Please just put it in already…”  
  
Jayden smirked. “As you wish.” He slid inside in one, deep thrust, making Noah howl loudly. He didn’t give his mate much time to adjust before his own sex drive got the better of him. He pounded into Noah right away, desperate to feel his mate’s familiar warmth and tightness all around him again. He moaned at the welcome feeling and felt Noah’s muscles flex around him, as if they had missed him.  
  
“ _Ah,_ god. Right there! _Ohh._ ”  
  
Noah’s needy moans and incoherent ramblings only steered Jayden on. He was careful not to get too rough since he didn’t want to hurt Noah, but after five days of not being physically intimate with his gorgeous, pregnant mate, Jayden was getting desperate for release.  
  
Noah moaned and gasped every time Jayden’s cock struck his prostate and cervix, and his stomach bobbed slightly with every thrust. His hands moved up to touch Jayden’s muscled chest and shoulders, and he dug his nails into the skin as he lost himself in pleasure. Jayden hissed softly and spread out his wings to retain his dominance, and Noah’s own wings pressed into the mattress and spread out on display.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted. He slowed down a little and ignored Noah’s disappointed grunt. Instead he leaned in over Noah and supported himself with his hands on either side of Noah’s head, still thrusting his hips forward to fuck into his mate’s willing body under him.  
  
They stared into each other’s eyes before Jayden leaned down to kiss Noah, humming at the wonderful combination of making love to him and kissing him. Noah kissed him back, one hand moving up to bury itself in the alpha’s hair while the other stayed on his chest.  
  
“Fuck, you drive me so mad,” Jayden panted between kisses. “You make me mad literally when we’re fighting, and you drive me mad with lust whenever I look at your gorgeous body.” He kissed Noah’s jaw and neck, sucking bruises into the skin to mark him up.  
  
Noah moaned and shuddered in arousal. “J-Jayden…” He was too far gone to really reply to the alpha’s words, so he just stayed quiet and continued moaning and gasping as he felt his orgasm build up inside him.  
  
Jayden sped up a little when their climaxes approached. He kept kissing and sucking bruises into Noah’s skin while he thrust his hips forward into his body. He was determined to have Noah come first, so he quickly buried one hand in the submissive’s feathers to bring him over the edge.  
  
Noah cried out and arched his back as he came, shooting his release between their bodies.  
  
Jayden growled possessively and kissed Noah’s bared neck through the waves of his orgasm. He felt his own threatening to overwhelm him, and it only took a few more moments before Jayden too was coming. He shot the first two stripes of his load into Noah’s body before quickly leaning up and grabbing his cock to pull out of Noah. He grunted as his dick spurted the rest of his release over Noah’s swollen belly instead, covering it and marking it up with his semen.  
  
Noah gasped, surprised that Jayden had decided to let his come hit his stomach instead of finishing inside him like he mostly did. Thick stripes of warm come covered his skin, and Noah squirmed the feeling. Jayden’s groans and grunts were hot to listen to, and it was fascinating to watch his mate’s face during orgasm and see all that semen spurt from his cock. It filled Noah with an odd feeling to have Jayden mark him up like this. He felt owned, loved, and desirable, and he really liked that.  
  
The alpha’s wings slumped down when it was over, leaving him panting for breath and enjoying the tingling sensation of the aftermath his body. He smirked at the sight of his come covering Noah’s skin, and he immediately reached down to rub it further into it with his hand.  
  
Noah shuddered at the gesture. “Do you really like my stomach that much?” he asked after a few moments, staring up at Jayden to meet his eyes.  
  
Jayden stared back at him. “Of course. Stop doubting already that I don’t. Being pregnant really suits you. I’m just sad that you don’t enjoy your pregnancy as much as I do…”  
  
“I enjoy it,” Noah argued. “Just… I’m not used to looking like this.” He gestured at his belly where he could feel Jayden’s semen slowly flowing down his skin. He blushed when the alpha looked at it too.  
  
“I know, but I like this look on you. Don’t get me wrong – I love the way you looked when you were thin and had a perfect, flat stomach, but this looks good on you too. You look so mature and feminine when you’re pregnant, and I like that.”  
  
Noah’s lips twitched into a small smile. “Well, I guess I could get used to it… There _are_ a lot of things I like about being pregnant.”  
  
Jayden grinned at that. “I hope so. I also hope you’ll learn to control your mood swings a little better. Don’t let them make you feel worse about yourself or shut yourself away from me. I don’t really want a repetition of today…”  
  
Noah cringed guiltily. “Yeah, me neither. I’m still sorry for pushing you away, I just… My mood is such a mess lately.”  
  
“I know,” Jayden smiled. “I forgive you.” He leaned down to kiss Noah, humming as the submissive returned the kiss and touched his cheek lovingly. Jayden hadn’t shaved for three days, but the small scruffs against his palm didn’t seem to bother Noah as he touched his cheek while kissing him back.  
  
They pulled apart and stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments, sharing a smile.  
  
“I love you,” Noah whispered, caressing Jayden’s cheek while staring into his eyes.  
  
Jayden smiled widely. “I love you too.” He kissed him one more time before leaning back and glancing down at Noah’s come-covered belly. “And I love you too, little guy. Can’t wait to see you.” He smiled and moved his hand over Noah’s stomach, smearing the come around.  
  
Noah laughed and giggled at how awkward it was. “Don’t talk to him when my stomach is such a mess!”  
  
“He doesn’t care, nor does he know,” Jayden chuckled. “But let me get you something to get cleaned up with before I speak to him again.”  
  
Noah chortled and waited on the bed as Jayden got up to fetch some towels and cleaning wipes.  
  
They helped each other clean up the mess, and afterwards the alpha got into bed and lay down with his ear pressed against Noah’s tummy, trying to hear their baby inside. He grinned when he heard a heartbeat and faint noises that he interpreted as the baby moving around, and Noah smiled and played gently with some of Jayden’s softened feathers while his mate listened to the baby. It was a nice bonding moment that left them both feeling quite impatient to finally be able to hold their baby in their arms, but they knew it would have to wait. Just 11 more weeks and then their baby would be born.  
  
Afterwards they settled down to sleep. Noah moved over on his side since he felt more comfortable like that, and Jayden wrapped his arm around him and pulled him close as they closed their eyes to fall asleep.  
  
Finally the tension between them was gone and they had made up, making it easier for them to catch a good night’s sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing about Noah and Jayden having a fight is a real challenge, but I hope it turned out well. There will likely be some more fighting later on when the baby makes them stressed, but we’ll see :)
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed reading the chapter!
> 
> Since some of you sometimes forget what the characters look like: **Read character and verse descriptions** for my story [here](http://luciel89.livejournal.com/62063.html). Layout pictures are on my [Fanfiction net profile.](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/672874/)


	20. Chapter 20

**October 2049 (Noah is 23, Jayden is 25, Castiel is 60, Dean is 61, Leila is 51, Micah is 52, Laura is 13 (almost 14), Isaac is 28 (almost 29), Kaylen is 24 years old, Eliza is 3 months old, Gabriel is 64, Katie is 59 years old).**  
  
“Be careful. Don’t trip,” Jayden told Noah as he carefully guided him over to their car in the parking lot outside their apartment block. He had one arm around Noah’s waist and held his hand to support him as they headed for the car.  
  
Noah grunted irritably. “I’m pregnant, not helpless!”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I know, but you’re also incredibly clumsy, so just do as I say,” Jayden said, chuckling in amusement at Noah’s stubbornness.  
  
Noah sent him a small glare but didn’t object. He winced in pain when Jayden helped him into the car after having opened the door for him. The movements of getting into the car made his back hurt. He was 36 weeks pregnant now, and moving around had become rather troublesome for him. He wasn’t very tall and he had always been small and skinny, so having a 6.6 pound (3 kilograms) baby inside him took a toll on his body. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t for him feeling tired and drained from energy all the time; that only made it worse for him when he had to move. His size also meant that he couldn’t wear his usual clothes anymore, so today he was wearing one of Jayden’s old t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants to feel comfortable.  
  
Jayden carefully helped him into the car before going around to get into the driver’s seat.  
  
It was Saturday and they were going to spend the weekend at Dean and Castiel’s house. It had been a while since they had last visited them, so they had decided to finally go, and Isaac and Kaylen had also announced that they would come over. Noah and Jayden were making a quick stop at Jayden’s parents’ house first, though. Micah needed Jayden’s help with a broken washing machine, so Jayden had agreed to come over for a few hours to help out. It had only been five weeks since last time they had visited Jayden’s parents, but his mother and Laura had sounded very ecstatic on the phone when they heard they were coming over for a few hours.  
  
Noah buckled up and tried to get comfortable with the seatbelt pressing against his stomach. He hated how big he was; it was inconvenient and bothersome, but Jayden had helped him like his pregnant look better. He still thought it looked best when he was thin or when the bump had still been small – this huge, rounded shape wasn’t one that he was very fond of, but he could live with it. It seemed to turn Jayden on like crazy, and Noah certainly wasn’t complaining when Jayden wanted to go for two or three rounds during a night. Noah couldn’t deny that he too had been at fault that they had gone at it so many times. His pregnancy was making him horny a lot, and sometimes it was actually a bit annoying.  
  
“Are you comfortable? Should I help you put your seat further back?” Jayden asked, casting a look at Noah as he pulled out of the parking lot.  
  
Noah chuckled at Jayden’s constant need to make sure that he was okay. “No, I’m fine. Just drive.”  
  
Jayden nodded and drove them off to his parents’ house.  
  
It was 11:15am when they arrived, but Micah and Leila had already been up for hours. They greeted Noah and Jayden at the door with big smiles and pulled them both into tight hugs.  
  
“Oh, you are so beautiful like that, Noah!” Leila exclaimed in a cheerful voice, looking Noah up and down with an excited grin.  
  
Noah smiled sheepishly as he rubbed his belly gently. “Thank you.”  
  
“It’s good to see that you’re getting bigger. That means that the baby is growing as he should,” Micah smiled, stepping aside to let them in. He pulled Jayden into a hug and entwined tails with him before closing the front door.  
  
“Yes, and you’re just glowing so beautifully,” Leila added, still smiling at Noah, who was a little embarrassed to be the center of attention. “I’m very excited to see the little guy when he comes out.”  
  
Noah chuckled and stared down at his belly as he rubbed it tenderly. “Me too.” He let Jayden help him out of his shoes and jacket so that he wouldn’t have to bend down or move too much.  
  
“And I see that you’re wearing one of Jayden’s baggy shirts. It’s hard to fit into your own now, isn’t it?” Micah chuckled softly.  
  
Noah glanced down at himself after Jayden had helped him take his jacket off. “Yeah… But I’ll live. I just had to buy some new clothes, especially for work.”  
  
“Aren’t you going on maternity leave soon?” Leila asked.  
  
“Yes, I only have two more weeks before my leave starts. And luckily it’s a paid leave, up to two months. After that I can get other kinds of money support, though it isn’t much, but I think we’ll be fine.”  
  
“Yeah, and I still have work and get paid,” Jayden reminded him. He came over to wrap his arm around Noah’s waist and pressed a soft kiss to the submissive’s temple. Noah blushed as Leila and Micah watched the scene with soft smiles. Jayden only had two weeks paid leave after the baby was born, which wasn’t really much, but he hoped they’d manage.  
  
They all looked up when they heard footsteps on the stairs and saw Laura coming down to greet them. She yawned sleepily, and her feathers and hair were kinda messy from sleep. She beamed when she spotted Jayden and Noah standing in the entrance hall. “Hey, guys,” she grinned, hurrying over to hug her big brother.  
  
“Jeez, Laura. Don’t you ever brush your hair and feathers?” Jayden asked with a soft chuckle as he hugged his sister back. He gave her a tight squeeze and entwined tails with her before they pulled apart.  
  
Laura swatted Jayden on the arm. “Mind your own business. And you don’t insult girls like that.”  
  
“You’re hardly a girl; you look more like a living bird’s nest to me.”  
  
“Jayden!” Laura scolded, looking insulted and upset, especially when their parents and Noah laughed in the background.  
  
Jayden laughed fondly at her and nudged her tail with his own to cheer her up and to apologize. Laura just chortled at him and gave him a small smile before turning to Noah. She was already taller than him now, which was hard for Noah to get used to.  
  
“Hi, Noah,” Laura grinned, pulling him into a hug. She felt Jayden staring at her and could practically feel him sending a warning at her to be careful around Noah’s belly, and it made her roll her eyes before pulling away from Noah. She grinned as she looked him up and down. “And you’re even bigger now! That’s so exciting!”  
  
Noah grinned. “I know.”  
  
Leila then looked at Laura, crossing her arms as she glanced at her daughter’s appearance in disapproval. “Why didn’t you brush your hair before coming down, young lady? You can’t greet guests like this.”  
  
Laura shrunk a little. “I, um, only just got out of bed? And I was in such a hurry to come down and greet Jayden and Noah that I simply forgot.”  
  
“Gosh, what do you do all night since you get up so late?” Micah asked, rolling his eyes.  
  
“I watch TV shows and stuff.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Ah, you’re a real teenager now; staying up all night and waking up late. And you used to wake up earlier than the rest of us.”  
  
Laura shifted on her feet and sent Jayden a small glare. “Stop making fun of me.”  
  
“I’m not. Noah’s kinda the same, actually; he also likes waking up late, so sometimes he’s almost late for work in the mornings. And I can’t even wake him up in time since my work starts at 11, sometimes later.”  
  
Noah blushed and pushed his elbow into Jayden’s side for telling his family that. The others laughed and Noah felt a little embarrassed.  
  
Laura grinned. “Well, sleeping late is nice.”  
  
“Well, let’s get you inside to sit down now, Noah,” Leila said, gently grabbing Noah’s arm to support him as she led him into the living room. “Then Jayden and Micah can work on that bloody washing machine.”  
  
“Remember whose fault it was that it broke!” Micah yelled from the entrance hall after Leila, Noah, and Laura had entered the dining room area.  
  
“Yeah, ‘cause I’m the only one that washes everybody’s dirty underwear in this house!” Leila retorted, snorting in satisfaction when the others laughed and Micah stayed quiet.  
  
Noah snickered in amusement and let Leila help him over to sit on the couch. Mr. Giggles was lying there, splayed out and lazy, and the old cat purred as Noah ran his fingers through his fur to pet him.  
  
Laura smiled and sat down on Noah’s other side. “How’s Midnight doing? Getting used to having a cat yet?”  
  
“Yeah, we’re getting used to it. She’s a very quiet and loving cat, but she loves to play around too. I’m glad she can take care of herself while Jayden and I are gone,” Noah replied, keeping his eyes on Mr. Giggles as he petted him. He shifted a bit and leaned further back into the couch to get comfortable.  
  
“Yeah, that’s the best thing about cats,” Leila smiled. She handed Laura a hairbrush that she had just fetched from the dining room, before going over to sit down on the other side of the cat.  
  
Laura glared at her mother when she got that ‘you better brush that hair right now, girl’ look from her, but started brushing her hair anyway.  
  
They chatted while Jayden and Micah were busy trying to figure out what was wrong with the washing machine and whether or not they could fix it. They talked about the baby and how Noah was doing, about some stuff from Laura’s school, and Leila shared a few more stories about Jayden when he was a kid. Noah liked hearing about Jayden’s childhood and how he grew up, and Leila would tell him stories that Jayden would never share because they were too embarrassing or because he couldn’t remember them. Noah found it awfully funny that Jayden had once peed on his paternal grandmother’s bedroom door when he was eight because she had confiscated his favorite toy and he wasn’t pleased with that.  
  
After a while Noah had to excuse himself to go use the bathroom. The baby seemed quite active at the moment and Noah’s bladder was an unfortunate victim of that.  
  
After finishing up in the bathroom, he almost bumped into Jayden when he opened the door to exit the room. He yelped in surprise and his wings spread out on reflex.  
  
“Whoa, sorry,” Jayden said, giving Noah a guilty look when he saw how startled he was. He rubbed his tail against his mate’s leg to calm him down.  
  
“It’s okay,” Noah reassured him with a smile.  
  
“Is the baby making you have to go again?”  
  
“Yeah.” Noah glanced down at his belly as he rubbed it. “Your son is very active at the moment…”  
  
“Yeah?” Jayden grinned and put his hand on Noah’s stomach to feel it. He was pleased when he felt the baby’s movements inside. “I’m kinda glad that _I_ don’t have a baby squirming around inside me. It sounds so freaky.”  
  
Noah chortled and smiled as he and Jayden rubbed his belly together. “I kind of like it, even if it’s uncomfortable sometimes when he kicks my insides too hard or when I have to pee a lot. It’s just nice to feel that he’s alive…”  
  
Jayden smiled and leaned down to kiss Noah gently on the lips. The submissive kissed him back, purring.  
  
“Now, get out. Unless you wanna watch me do my thing,” Jayden chuckled, giving Noah a playful pat in the butt as he gently ushered him out of the bathroom.  
  
“I’ve seen you do that before because you have a bad habit of not locking or closing the bathroom door at home, and it’s not like I haven’t seen your manhood before either,” Noah murmured, shooting his mate a small scowl as he went out.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Who the hell uses the word ‘manhood’ nowadays? I gotta teach you to use the dirty words more often.”  
  
Noah blushed and lashed out to slap Jayden on the arm. Noah wasn’t very fond of using dirty words, especially during sex, and he was embarrassed every time Jayden made him say certain words before he would fuck him.  
  
The alpha laughed out loud at him before closing the bathroom door, and Noah went back to the living room.  
  
When Noah came over to the couch, Leila had gone into the kitchen and only Laura and the cat remained. Noah smiled as he watched Laura sit with Mr. Giggles on her lap, and he carefully sat down next to her, groaning at the effort it took him because of the big stomach and his back pains. Laura glanced at him in sympathy.  
  
“Does it hurt very badly?”  
  
“Sometimes, but not right now,” Noah replied, shifting until he was comfortable. “It’ll be nice when I no longer have to go to work, though… On the bad days it’s hard to concentrate.”  
  
“Aren’t you freaking the kids out when you’re hurting?”  
  
Noah cringed as he thought about it. “Sometimes… But I sit down a lot, so it’s not like I’m straining myself too hard either. I just can’t play with them that much anymore.”  
  
“And does Jayden make sure to give you proper backrubs when you come home?” Laura asked, chuckling.  
  
Noah let out a small laugh. “Sometimes, when I need it the most. He’s quite good at making sure that I’m comfortable.”  
  
Laura sighed and glanced down at the cat as she pet him. “Damn, I want a mate too…”  
  
“But you’re only 13,” Noah said, staring at her in mild surprise.  
  
“I’m almost 14. And well, I just want a boyfriend whom I can have fun with and who likes the stuff that I like, but it’s so hard to find a guy at my school who doesn’t act like a kindergartener…”  
  
Noah chuckled at that. “I’m sure you will find someone soon. You’ll be starting high school next year.”  
  
“More like I’ll be going to hell,” Laura muttered.  
  
Noah laughed. High school was indeed a place very close to hell, unless you belonged to one of the most popular groups. He didn’t think that Laura was at the total bottom, but she wasn’t at the top either. She was a hard-working girl who took her homework seriously, and unfortunately those were often not at the top of the high school hierarchy.  
  
Leila came back into the room with cake and cookies, and Micah and Jayden also came in to have a break and eat something. Jayden grinned as he sat down next to Noah and slung his arm around his shoulders. He couldn’t stop touching Noah’s belly every now and then, which his family thought was very adorable.  
  
They managed to fix the washing machine without having to take it in for repairs or buy a new one, and Noah was quite proud of his mate when Micah said what a great help he had been and that he was good at fixing stuff.  


 

***

  
  
After three hours with Jayden’s family, they drove off to Dean and Castiel’s house. It was 2:43pm when they arrived, and they could see that Isaac and Kaylen were already there. Noah was quite surprised to see Gabriel’s car parked next to the sidewalk outside the house. He hadn’t seen his uncle since his college graduation last year, because he hadn’t been around when Gabriel had visited Dean and Castiel.  
  
“This should be interesting,” Jayden commented after they got out of the car. He glanced over at Gabriel’s car and then at Isaac’s before looking at Noah with a smirk.  
  
“Yes, and quite noisy…” Noah said, sighing. He held his stomach as they walked up to the front door to ring the doorbell, and Jayden carried their stuff with him.  
  
They heard Bella’s happy barking on the other side of the door, and Noah chuckled when he could hear her scratching the door in impatience. Finally the door was opened, and Castiel smiled at the two when he appeared in front of them.  
  
“Hello, Noah and Jayden. It’s good to see you,” Castiel spoke, immediately pulling his youngest son into a warm hug.  
  
“You too, papa,” Noah smiled as he returned the hug.  
  
The angel pulled back and grinned as he looked at Noah’s pregnant belly. “The sight is still something I have to get used to, but you look wonderful like that.”  
  
Noah blushed shyly, and Jayden grinned at him before being pulled into a hug by Castiel as well. Bella was barking and jumping around next to them, excited to see them again. She was careful around Noah and didn’t jump on him like she usually did; she was very well aware that he was pregnant, so she was hesitant to jump on him. Noah just smiled and rubbed the old dog behind the ears, making her pant and bark happily.  
  
“Noah, Noah, Noaaah!” Isaac sang cheerfully, rushing into the entrance hall with his arms spread out and pulled Noah into a hug before the submissive could say anything.  
  
Noah was stunned to be greeted like that by Isaac, but he hugged him back and tried not to let his stomach get crushed between them. Jayden laughed at them, but he kept a close eye on them to make sure that Noah’s belly didn’t get pressed too much.  
  
Isaac pulled away from the hug and grinned at Noah. “My favorite little brother! I almost missed you.”  
  
“I’m your _only_ little brother…” Noah reminded him, rolling his eyes.  
  
“Eh, small details. Who cares,” Isaac snorted, brushing his tail against Noah’s leg before turning to Jayden. “What’s up, Jayden? Getting second thoughts about being a dad yet?” He grinned as he reached out his fist and bumped it into Jayden’s. Castiel shook his head at Isaac’s hyper attitude.  
  
Jayden snorted out a laugh. “No, but I was wondering if _you_ had.”  
  
“Me?” Isaac huffed. “I’m the best daddy in the world!”  
  
Castiel sighed and started pushing Isaac back into the living room to let Jayden and Noah have some space to take off their shoes and jackets and put away their bags. “Stop being so self-centric,” he scolded his son.  
  
Gabriel barked out of a laugh from the living room, where he, Katie, Dean, Kaylen, and little Eliza were. “That’s like telling him to stop breathing, Cassie.”  
  
Castiel glared at him, which made Dean laugh.  
  
Kaylen chuckled at them from where he was sitting on the couch, holding Eliza in his arms while he fed her from a bottle. The baby squirmed happily and stared up at her mother with curious blue eyes, being very restless while drinking the precious milk. Kaylen’s stomach had returned to its thin shape again, and you couldn’t tell anymore that he had been pregnant at all.  
  
Dean went over to the door to the entrance hall, smiling when he saw Jayden squatting down in front of Noah to help him out of his shoes. “Hey, guys. Everything okay?” He reached down to pet Bella when the dog came over to him, her wagging tail slapping against his legs and feathers.  
  
“Yeah, I just can’t bend down that well…” Noah murmured, thanking Jayden when the alpha had helped him out of his shoes.  
  
“I told you not to look forward to that,” Kaylen said out loud from the living room, snickering a bit.  
  
Noah groaned at how right Kaylen was, and Jayden and Dean laughed fondly at him before they shared quick hugs and went into the living room together.  
  
“Whoa!” Gabriel exclaimed when he saw Noah’s belly. “That stomach is _way_ too big for a small guy like you!”  
  
Katie hit her elbow into Gabriel’s side. “Be nice. He looks good like that.”  
  
Noah blushed and lowered his head a little, while Jayden wrapped his arm around his waist and held him close.  
  
“That’s what happens when you’re pregnant, Gabriel,” Castiel muttered, rolling his eyes at his brother.  
  
“I know that!” Gabriel said, rolling his eyes too.  
  
Noah chuckled at them before spotting Kaylen and little Eliza on the couch. He gently untangled himself from Jayden’s arm to go over to his brother-in-law and his new, little niece. “Ohh, she’s so wonderful. And she’s gotten bigger,” he smiled, slowly sitting down on the other side of the couch so that he and Kaylen sat next to each other on either side of the couch.  
  
Kaylen grinned and stared proudly down at his daughter. “Yeah, she’s growing so fast. And she’s restless, like her daddy…” He smiled as Eliza drank eagerly from the bottle in his arms, and at how her tail slapped against his arm every now and then because she kept moving it around.  
  
“You make it sound like a bad thing,” Isaac complained, crossing his arms and pretending to be offended.  
  
“It _is_ a bad thing, because it’s making it hard to change her diapers,” Kaylen complained, shooting Isaac a dark scowl.  
  
“Well, be glad she’s not a boy, otherwise she could pee in your face while you change her,” Gabriel snickered.  
  
Castiel let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes, and Dean laughed at his helpless expression. He came over to the angel, wrapped his arm around his waist, and placed a loving kiss right on his lips. His tail curled around Castiel’s leg, making the angel blush as everyone stared at them.  
  
“Dean…” Castiel groused softly, trying to push Dean off, but the alpha demon just grinned and placed another kiss on him.  
  
“Eww, c’mon!” Isaac exclaimed, looking away in disgust.  
  
Kaylen laughed, and he and Noah glanced over at Dean and Castiel with soft smiles. Jayden too smiled, while Gabriel was busy pretending to be puking.  
  
“I think Gabe wants to communicate,” Katie said, chuckling at him.  
  
“Well, I don’t wanna hear what he has to say,” Dean said and finally pulled away from Cas.  
  
“Aw, you hurt my feelings, Dean,” Gabriel said in a dramatic voice, pretending to be hurt.  
  
“You don’t have any.”  
  
“Hey, don’t be so mean!”  
  
Castiel snickered at them and the others laughed in amusement.  
  
Eliza finished the bottle and started crying immediately afterwards, squirming in Kaylen’s arms and flailing her limbs around grumpily. Bella was a little alarmed by the crying and looked up, but Dean calmed her down.  
  
“Shhh, don’t cry. Why are you crying?” Kaylen shushed his daughter gently. He shoved the empty bottle into Isaac’s hands before lifting Eliza up under her arms and then placed her against his shoulder. He shushed and rocked her while patting her back gently. The baby started calming down a little, sobbing softly against his shoulder and stared at Kaylen’s dark red wings.  
  
Noah smiled at the scene. Eliza was such an adorable baby, and when he watched Kaylen hold her like that it made Noah wish that he could hold his own baby already.  
  
Isaac sat down next to Kaylen and stroked his hand down Eliza’s back, helping calming her down. She still cried and complained a bit though, so Isaac decided to try something. “Give her here for a second,” he said, holding out his hands.  
  
Kaylen gave him a skeptical look before gently handing him the baby. The others watched as Isaac grabbed Eliza under the arms and held her out in front of him, and then he started making the most ridiculous, funny faces and noises at her, eventually making her laugh.  
  
“Oh, that’s a good way to change her mood,” Gabriel laughed.  
  
“Yeah, she loves my face,” Isaac grinned, making more funny faces and grinned as Eliza’s body shook with laughter. She had a very cute laugh, and her tail moved and curled as she was amused by her father’s face.  
  
The others laughed fondly at the scene. Castiel smiled as he watched Isaac interacting with his daughter and how quickly he could change Eliza’s mood. She seemed very familiar with him already and that was great to see. Dean grinned and came over to wrap his arm around Cas’ waist again, watching the scene with him.  
  
“Now, no more faces. I’m gonna pull a face muscle and end up permanently looking like a jerk,” Isaac said, grinning as he moved Eliza closer and bumped their noses together. The baby gurgled and moved her still untrained hands up to touch his face, exploring it curiously and clumsily. Isaac just let her, grinning warmly at his daughter and even tolerated her slapping his face a bit in her clumsiness.  
  
“I don’t think it would make much of a difference on your face,” Dean joked.  
  
“Hey!” Isaac protested, glaring at his dad before gently moving Eliza back into Kaylen’s arms.  
  
“Thanks. At least she’s not grumpy anymore now,” Kaylen chuckled, taking the baby and putting her back against his shoulder. She cooed softly and was very calm, almost ready to fall asleep. Kaylen turned to look at Noah. “Wanna try holding her before she falls asleep?”  
  
Noah blinked at him in surprise. “What? Now?”  
  
“No, in 30 years. Of course now!” Kaylen laughed, already handing his daughter over to Noah.  
  
Noah looked a little panicked at first. He had never held Eliza before and it had been a while since he last held such a little baby. He gently grabbed Eliza as Kaylen handed her over, shushing her softly when she made a few noises of complaint, and then settled her against his shoulder like Kaylen had done. He stroked his hand gingerly up and down her back, careful not to hurt her tiny wings.  
  
Jayden came over and sat down next to him, smiling as he reached out and stroked Eliza’s tiny hand as she lay against Noah’s shoulder.  
  
Kaylen grinned at them, looking pleased with how Eliza wasn’t making any noises of protest anymore. She just rested against Noah and looked like she was about to fall asleep.  
  
“Aww, that’s so cute,” Katie cooed, smiling at them.  
  
“Right until she barfs on Noah,” Gabriel commented. Katie kicked his leg gently without looking at him, making him go ‘Ow!’ and glare at her. He glared even more when Dean and Isaac laughed at him.  
  
Isaac watched Noah and Jayden rubbing Eliza’s back gently and how the baby girl was all calm. “Hmm, she seems to like Noah. She’s falling asleep already.”  
  
“Good, then I can finally use the bathroom,” Kaylen said, getting up from the couch and stretched his arms before going around the couch table to head for the bathroom.  
  
“You could have just asked one of us to hold her while you went,” Castiel told him, eyeing him worriedly.  
  
Kaylen smiled at him over his shoulder as he headed for the bathroom. “Nah, it’s okay. I could hold it.”  
  
“And you better keep your voice down now, Isaac. Otherwise she’s gonna wake up,” Dean said, gesturing at the sleeping baby.  
  
Isaac snorted and crossed his arms. “Who said I can’t? I’ve done it for three months already.”  
  
“And you’ve been gone some of that time to work your movie,” Gabriel reminded him. “How’s that going, by the way?”  
  
Isaac lit up at the mention of his movie. “Oh, it’s awesome! This is gonna be a kick-ass alien invasion movie! Finished my last shoot two weeks ago, and the movie is set to be released in February next year. You all gotta go watch it!”  
  
“Sure. Sounds interesting,” Jayden chuckled, still sitting with Noah and the sleeping baby. Eliza didn’t wake up, even though Isaac’s voice was a bit loud. She seemed to be able to just tune it out.  
  
“I don’t know. You have already spoiled so much of the plot for me…” Castiel murmured.  
  
“Aw, c’mon, papa! I’m your _son!_ You can’t let me down,” Isaac whined, putting on a hurt and pleading face.  
  
“I would enjoy it more if you hadn’t told me so much about it already…”  
  
“Yeah, he’s a big-mouth,” Dean chuckled.  
  
“Why, I’m sorry that I get excited about being freakin’ famous!” Isaac said, mumbling a bit.  
  
Gabriel laughed and came over to wrap his arm around Isaac’s shoulders, pulling him close in a brotherly gesture. “Don’t bother explaining. These peasants don’t understand.” He laughed when Dean, Cas, and Katie glared at him.  
  
Meanwhile Noah chuckled at their interaction and sat still as the baby slept against his shoulder. He was afraid to move and wake her up, so he sat as still as possible and continued running a calming hand up and down her small back.  
  
“You look good like that; holding a baby against your shoulder,” Jayden spoke softly and smiled at his mate. “I love it when you get all maternal. It suits you.”  
  
Noah blushed shyly and held Eliza until Kaylen returned from the bathroom. He handed the baby back to the submissive demon so that she could be laid to sleep in one of the old cribs upstairs. Castiel went up with Kaylen to show him where the crib was, and Dean joined to help them get it ready.  
  
Again Noah felt the baby kicking his bladder, so he tried to get up from the couch to use the bathroom. Jayden immediately helped him out, supporting him as he got up from his seat.  
  
“Babies are such kickers, huh?” Katie said, eyeing Noah in sympathy when she knew what was going on.  
  
“Ugh, yes,” Noah groaned, letting Jayden help him away from the couch until he could walk on his own again.  
  
“Am I the only one who thinks it’s creepy that pregnant women and subs have an entire _person_ inside their stomachs? That’s fucking freaky!” Isaac exclaimed. “What if the zombie apocalypse happens and a baby turns into a zombie inside the mother? It’s gonna eat her from the inside out!”  
  
Noah groaned and shook his head helplessly at Isaac’s ideas, before quickly disappearing into the bathroom.  
  
Jayden and Gabriel both laughed out loud at Isaac’s comment.  
  
“I’ve wondered about that too,” Katie admitted.  
  
“I’d rather not think about it,” Jayden chuckled, shaking his head in amusement at how random Isaac’s trail of thoughts was.  
  
“I like your trail of thoughts, Newton! Genius, like the guy you share names with,” Gabriel grinned.  
  
Isaac grinned back and gave his uncle a high-five.  
  
The four of them chatted back and forth about Gabriel and Katie’s children for a bit, until Noah re-emerged from the bathroom and Kaylen, Dean, and Castiel came downstairs again.  
  
Isaac grinned at the sight of his mate and pulled him into a sappy hug before Kaylen could make his way over to the couch. Kaylen groaned when Isaac leaned too much weight on him, and their tails entwined while they hugged.  
  
“Dude, you’re heavy,” Kaylen complained, trying to push Isaac off.  
  
“But I’m so lazyyy,” Isaac whined, nuzzling his face into Kaylen’s shoulder and held him tight.  
  
“C’mon, you’re gonna break his back,” Gabriel said, scolding Isaac lightly.  
  
“What’s got you being so touchy-feely?” Dean asked Isaac.  
  
“Ugh, I’m not touchy-feely, I’m lazy and tired. That baby is freaking noisy at night…” Isaac groaned, looking like he was about to fall asleep against Kaylen.  
  
“Go over to the couch and sleep. You’re almost making me fall on my ass here,” Kaylen growled, hitting Isaac on the shoulder and pushed him off with all his might.  
  
“Just kick him between the legs,” Gabriel smirked.  
  
 _“No!”_ Isaac exclaimed, jumping back with his eyes wide in horror. “Fuck, don’t give him ideas!” He scowled over at Gabriel in betrayal.  
  
Kaylen just smirked smugly before going over to sit down next to Noah on the couch. He smiled when he saw how Noah was rubbing his stomach absently while watching the others interact and chuckling in amusement.  
  
The others came over to sit down as well – Dean sat down in one of the chairs, Castiel, Jayden, and Noah sat on one side of the couch, and Kaylen, Isaac, Gabriel, and Katie sat down on the other side of the couch. Bella was going back and forth between, seeking attention from whoever would pet her.  
  
“So, I hear that your appearance on the TV show The Sorcerer’s Redemption is still making you quite famous,” Gabriel said, looking at Isaac. “Didn’t get scared off by the fans yet?”  
  
Isaac grinned and shook his head. “Nope. It’s awesome to have all that attention, especially when I attend conventions. The fangirls are all over me, and the fanboys too.”  
  
Gabriel laughed and glanced past Isaac to look at Kaylen. “And how does Kaylen feel about that?”  
  
“I went with him once and I’m never going again. I don’t like all that attention… It was too much for me,” Kaylen murmured. “And I don’t like the fact that we had to have a bodyguard there.”  
  
“All the actors do,” Isaac argued, nudging his wing against Kaylen’s when he saw him looking a little upset.  
  
“I wouldn’t like it either,” Noah said, cringing at the thought.  
  
“As long as the fans don’t come knocking on our doors to have us get them autographs from you,” Dean commented. He didn’t look very fond of the idea and neither did Castiel.  
  
“They don’t know where I live or who my family is. Been trying to keep that as far away from the public as possible,” Isaac reassured them. It was too much of a risk for him to tell too much – he could risk fanatic, angel/demon-hating fans approaching him and his family and he didn’t want that.  
  
“You better. Fans can be a pain in the ass sometimes,” Gabriel said, speaking from experience. “Katie gets swarmed by them when she goes shopping ‘cause they recognize her, so you better not show Kaylen around too much to the fans if he doesn’t like the attention.”  
  
“Aww, but he’s my better half!” Isaac said, pouting and placing his hand on Kaylen’s thigh.  
  
Kaylen seemed to light up at that, and he giggled as he put his hand on top of Isaac. “Oh, _finally_ you admit that…”  
  
Isaac glared at him, his cheeks turning a bit pink. “Shut up.”  
  
The others laughed out loud, and Castiel smiled as he saw the affection in Isaac’s eyes as he looked at Kaylen.  
  
Suddenly, Noah gave a soft yip and jumped a bit when the baby kicked him in the ribs. It hurt a bit, and Noah winced in pain as he ran his hands over his extended belly, hoping the baby would calm down and not kick him like that again. Jayden’s attention was immediately on him, and he worriedly glanced between Noah’s face and his stomach.  
  
“You okay?” Jayden asked.  
  
Noah nodded. “Yeah, he just kicked me in the ribs…”  
  
Kaylen cringed in sympathy. “Ow.”  
  
“He’s most likely just shifting his position,” Castiel said, giving Noah a sympathetic smile. “Does he kick you there often?”  
  
“No, thank god…” Noah murmured, rubbing his bump and staring down at it.  
  
“Babies are scary, man,” Gabriel said, shivering.  
  
“And now I have to pee again,” Noah groaned and struggled to get up from the couch.  
  
“But you just went!” Isaac exclaimed.  
  
“I know,” Noah grunted irritably, letting Jayden help him up.  
  
The others chuckled at him, and Castiel got up so that Jayden and Noah could get past him. Jayden ran a soothing hand up and down Noah’s back as he walked him away from the couch, and Noah gave him a grateful smile before hurrying over to the bathroom. Bella barked and tried to follow, but Noah closed the door before she could get inside with him.  
  
Castiel glanced after Noah in sympathy, knowing how annoying it was to have to go to the bathroom all the time when you were pregnant. When he had expected the twins he could sometimes go there thirty times or more during a day.  
  
“I feel a bit sorry for him, but I’m glad I never had to go through that,” Dean said, chuckling a bit.  
  
Castiel turned to glare at him. “You didn’t, but _I_ did.”  
  
Dean laughed and reached out to take Cas’ hand as the angel stood next to him, waiting for Noah to return before he would sit down again. “I know, and you handled it better than I would have.”  
  
“Yeah, guys would be whining ten times more than women and subs if they were the ones being pregnant,” Katie huffed.  
  
Gabriel barked out a laugh. “True, true.”  
  
The others laughed, and a few minutes later Noah returned to join them on the couch.  


 

***

  
  
Being with the family was fun and relaxing, and when evening approached, Castiel started preparing dinner. Jayden offered to help, and Gabriel too decided to butt in since cooking was also his thing. They were going to make homemade tuna pasta, which would be served with garlic bread and some salad with tomato, cucumbers, and vinegar.  
  
“This should satisfy your cravings pretty well, Noah,” Jayden spoke when Noah and Kaylen came over to see what was for dinner. “You’ve been loving pasta, garlic, and vinegar lately. And maybe your parents will let you have some ice cream for dessert so you can eat it with pickles, like you did the other day.” He snickered uncontrollably as Noah’s face reddened in embarrassment.  
  
Gabriel burst out laughing. “Ice cream with pickles?! That’s just gross!”  
  
Noah blushed as they all laughed, and he gave Jayden a harsh shove for telling everyone that. “Shut up! I can’t help my cravings!”  
  
Kaylen laughed and put his hand on Noah’s shoulder to relax him. “No worries. I ate weird stuff too when I was pregnant.”  
  
“Yeah, he put ketchup on everything – even bread with nothing else on it and on salad too. What’s up with that?” Isaac laughed, having to bend over because he was laughing so hard. Kaylen sent him a deadly glare for making fun of him.  
  
“Nasty,” Dean laughed. “But ice cream with pickles tops it.”  
  
Noah groaned and glared at everyone for laughing. He turned around and headed back to the couch, going slow because his back hurt. He was quite grumpy for being ridiculed like that, but he knew they didn’t mean to be mean to him.  
  
Bella walked between Noah’s feet, making him have to try not to trip over her, but once he was sitting down he pet her and grinned at how much she enjoyed it. He had missed the dog so much since he moved out.  
  
The baby alarm went off a few minutes later, revealing that Eliza had woken up and was crying in the crib upstairs.  
  
“I’ll go check on her,” Kaylen said, heading for the stairs.  
  
“I’ll come with,” Isaac said, cheerfully jumping over to Kaylen to catch up with him as they headed upstairs together.  
  
Katie was in the kitchen with Castiel, Gabriel, and Jayden, and Dean joined Noah on the couch.  
  
“Hey, kiddo,” Dean smiled, coming over to sit down next to Noah. He eyed Noah in sympathy when he could tell that his son was hurting a bit. “How are you doing?”  
  
Noah sighed and tried to get comfortable with his back. “I’m okay… I just can’t find a good position.”  
  
“Here, let me help.” Dean reached over and grabbed one of the couch pillows, and then tried to help Noah get it behind his back without touching his wings too much. Noah’s feathers touched his hand and arm as he tried to help him, but it was okay as long as Dean didn’t touch the wing bone or oil glands.  
  
Noah gave a pleased sigh when Dean managed to put the pillow just right behind his back, and it now felt much better when he leaned back against the couch. “Thanks,” he told his dad, giving him a grateful smile.  
  
“Anytime,” Dean smiled back. He listened to Gabriel and Cas bickering about the pasta for a bit until he spoke again. “How’s the little guy doing?” He made a gesture at Noah’s stomach.  
  
Noah smiled and placed his hands there. “Good. He’s squirming a bit.”  
  
“Yeah?” Dean grinned at that. He hesitantly reached out to touch, but then stopped to look at Noah’s face. “Can I, uh, touch it?”  
  
“Sure,” Noah smiled, moving his hands a bit to give Dean space.  
  
Dean nodded and put his right hand on Noah’s belly. It didn’t take long before he felt a small kick inside, which made him grin widely. “Hey, little guy. Greeting your grandpa, huh?”  
  
Noah smiled and giggled softly.  
  
Dean felt another small kick against his hand. “I think he likes me.”  
  
Noah laughed at that, and Dean gently pulled his hand back and grinned as he used it to ruffle Noah’s hair.  
  
“You’ve got Cas’ hair. Funny how it can look just as messy as his.”  
  
Noah groaned and shied away from his dad’s hand, frantically trying to correct his hair again. “Daaad,” he complained softly.  
  
Dean laughed and nudged his wing against Noah’s in apology. “Sorry. I just missed doing that.”  
  
Noah’s lips twitched into a somewhat sad smile. He missed the old times too and it was sad that Dean and Castiel’s children had all grown up now. Noah didn’t want to think about it happening to him someday. He could imagine it must be very hard to let go of your children one day.  
  
They looked up when Isaac and Kaylen returned downstairs with little Eliza. Isaac was holding her on his arm, and the baby leaned against his chest and turned her head from one side to the other to look around. The pacifier in her mouth was bobbing as she chewed on it, and Noah couldn’t help but smile at the cute sight.  
  
“The princess is awake! Now she can order her humble servants around again,” Isaac grinned, rocking Eliza as he walked into the room. Kaylen chuckled behind him and shook his head.  
  
“And those humble servants are us?” Dean asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
“Yeah, but mostly Kaylen and me.” Isaac went over to Dean and handed him the baby, and his father grinned as he took Eliza into his arms.  
  
“That’s a good girl. Keeping your daddy busy and not allowing him to sleep properly. That’s the way it’s done,” Dean snickered, lifting Eliza up in front of him. The baby laughed and her pacifier fell out and landed on Dean’s leg, but Noah reached over to get it and put it back in her mouth before she could complain.  
  
“Hey,” Isaac warned his dad softly, making the others laugh.  
  
Kaylen smiled as he watched Eliza staring back at Dean with interest while the older demon played a bit with her and kept her entertained. He then walked around the couch to sit next to Noah so they could chat, while Isaac went over to the kitchen where the others were busy cooking. He passed Katie on his way over, as she was headed to the living room area to give the others more space.  
  
“Isaac!” Castiel growled when the beta reached out and grabbed one of the bigger cucumber pieces that he was about to cut and put into the salad.  
  
Isaac jumped back when Cas tried to slap his hand away. “What? You always say I must eat healthy stuff, and now you have a problem with that too,” he said while chewing the piece of cucumber in his mouth. “If you want it back, just say so.”  
  
“The only reason I would have to want it back is so that I can smear it in your face,” Castiel said, glaring at Isaac before continuing to cut more cucumber and tomatoes for the salad.  
  
Gabriel and Jayden laughed out loud.  
  
“That’s right, Cassie. Don’t put up with that brat of yours.” Gabriel smirked over at Cas and then at Isaac.  
  
“Hey!” Isaac exclaimed. “You’re supposed to be on _my_ side, uncle Gabe!”  
  
“Sorry, I don’t tolerate thieves in the kitchen, kiddo.”  
  
Isaac snorted loudly at that before heading back over to Kaylen and the others.  
  
Gabriel tried out some of the tuna pasta they had made to see if the taste was right. He closed his eyes and hummed excessively at the wonderful taste. “Damn, this is good! You’re a good cook, boy.” He grinned at Jayden and patted his shoulder in approval.  
  
Jayden chuckled, feeling modest. “Thanks.”  
  
“Noah must be glad that he got himself a mate who can cook. His cooking skills are not very advanced, ya know…”  
  
“My dad’s cooking is a lot worse,” Jayden said, casting a glance over his shoulder to see if Noah had heard them, but the submissive was busy talking to Kaylen and playing with Eliza while she sat on Dean’s lap.  
  
“Noah is just not very interested in cooking and never has been,” Castiel said, glancing at Gabriel with a look that said he should stop making fun of it.  


 

***

  
  
They shared dinner together and talked at the table. Castiel was allowed to feed Eliza from the bottle and give her some mashed bananas as well, so he sat with her in his arms, feeding her while he tried to eat something himself. The girl was very active and kept waving her arms around, giggling, gurgling, and staring up at him, so she required a lot of his attention.  
  
The dinner was wonderful, and Noah was pleased that his cravings were satisfied with it. The vinegar in the cucumber and tomato salad was very nice, and the garlic bread also made him feel more satisfied. He ate a lot of bread, which Isaac made a bit fun of.  
  
“So, do you wanna try putting your diaper skills to the test?” Kaylen asked Noah and Jayden after dinner was over and Dean, Castiel, Katie, and Gabriel were doing the dishes.  
  
Noah blinked at him and then looked down at Eliza, who was sitting on Kaylen’s arm and making grumpy noises. “Sure, I don’t mind.”  
  
Isaac burst out laughing when he saw Jayden looking a little like he wanted to decline that offer. “What’s with that face? Didn’t Charlie teach you how to change a diaper?”  
  
“She did and I can do it,” Jayden insisted.  
  
Kaylen chuckled and handed Eliza over to Noah carefully. “I put the diapers and stuff in the bathroom already.”  
  
“Okay,” Noah smiled, rocking Eliza when she got a little fussy. He held her against his chest, and the little girl sobbed a bit to complain about her dirty diaper.  
  
Isaac snickered as Noah and Jayden went to change the baby’s diapers, obviously happy that he didn’t have to do it himself this time.  
  
Noah shushed Eliza gently and walked over to put her down on the counter by the bathroom sink, where Kaylen had put out some towels earlier when he had changed her. The baby flailed her limbs around, but had stopped sobbing. Now she was just staring up at them and sucking on her pacifier.  
  
Jayden grabbed one of the baby’s tiny hands and let her curl her hand around his thumb while Noah worked on taking off her pants and the diaper.  
  
“Changing diapers is probably one of the things I least look forward to when we have our baby, but I think I’ll live,” Jayden spoke, smiling down at Eliza.  
  
“Same here,” Noah said, smiling softly.  
  
Eliza was rather calm as they helped each other clean her up, and Noah let Jayden put the new diaper on her. He struggled a bit to fit her tail through the hole, so Noah had to hold her legs still since she was squirming, but with teamwork they managed to successfully put on a clean diaper and make the baby happy again.  
  
“Oh, you’re so happy now, huh?” Jayden grinned at the baby when Eliza squealed and waved her arms happily. He gently picked her up, trying to get used to holding an infant. She was so small and fragile in his large arms, and he was very careful not to hurt her somehow.  
  
They walked out of the bathroom to hand the baby back to her parents, and Kaylen beamed when he saw them return. He came over and took Eliza when Jayden gave her back to him. “Aww, you look so happy, sweetie,” he grinned, kissing her cheek.  
  
“Yeah, I think she approves of the servants,” Isaac smirked.  
  
“But at least we’re not full-time servants like you,” Jayden smirked back.  
  
“Oh, you will be, soon,” Kaylen said, looking at Noah and his belly.  
  
Noah smiled and rubbed his stomach tenderly.  
  
They headed over to the couch to sit down and chat, but Noah stayed in front of the bathroom door and tried to stretch his sore back. He grunted and groaned uncomfortably, placing his hands on his lower back as he tried to stretch.  
  
“Hey, you okay?” Jayden asked, coming over to him.  
  
“No… It hurts.”  
  
Jayden went around to stand behind Noah, letting the submissive lean back to rest against his chest while Jayden hugged his waist. He ran gentle hands over Noah’s swollen belly and kissed the top of his head. Noah smiled contently and leaned back into the alpha, purring softly at the wonderful feeling of his mate running hands over his stomach. He moved one arm up behind himself and put his hand on the back of Jayden’s head, making the alpha lean over him so they could kiss. It was an upside-down kiss and it was rather clumsy, and Noah couldn’t bend back like that for very long before it got uncomfortable.  
  
“Get a room!” Gabriel yelled from the couch, making Isaac burst out laughing.  
  
Noah blushed furiously and straightened up again, and Jayden just chuckled.  
  
The others smiled at them when they came over to the couch, and Noah held Jayden’s hand as they sat down together to be social with the others.  
  
They talked back and forth and had fun, and Kaylen put Eliza down to lie on the floor for a bit. She played with her toys there, lying on her back and gurgling, and she was very fascinated by Bella whenever the dog came over and sniffed at her. Bella was very gentle around the baby, and she lay down and watched as Eliza tried move towards her. She couldn’t quite crawl yet, but she could turn over on her stomach by herself and try to inch herself forward. The others laughed fondly at the baby and how she grunted almost irritably when she couldn’t get her body to do what she wanted.  
  
After a while Noah got up to the use the bathroom again. He had used it a lot of times that day, so the others didn’t question him getting up. After he was finished and had exited the bathroom, he slowly went into the kitchen instead of going back over to the others. They were busy paying attention to little Eliza, so Noah went over to the fridge and peeked inside. His eyes scouted the heavily filled refrigerator for pickles, which he once again felt a drowning need to eat. He pushed a few things aside until he finally spotted a jar. Beaming, he grabbed it and put it on the kitchen counter, and then he roamed through the fridge to look for some feta cheese. When he found it, he closed the fridge and began putting some of the cheese on a piece of bread. When that was done he put generous amounts of pickles on top and added some paprika, before putting the stuff back into the fridge and began eating.  
  
“What are you doing?” came a curious voice behind him.  
  
Noah flinched in surprise and turned around to see Jayden staring at him, and Noah’s wings lowered as he was caught eating the strange combination on his bread.  
  
Jayden’s eyes darted down to stare at the bread before he looked at Noah’s face. He tried to retain his snickering and not laugh out loud at the caught-with-his-hands-down-the-cookie-jar expression on Noah’s face and the weird food he was holding. “You’re seriously still hungry, after all that stuff you ate for dinner? And now you’re eating feta cheese with pickles on top?” Amusement was all over his face and in his voice, and Noah felt a little embarrassed.

“Sorry… I just needed it so _bad._ ”

Jayden shook his head, still very amused, and his tail rubbed itself against Noah’s leg as he stood in front of him.

Castiel came over to grab another bottle of coke from the fridge and saw the two of them standing there. “What is it?” he asked when he saw Jayden looking very amused by something, and he glanced between them in confusion before he saw the piece of bread in Noah’s hand and the guilty look on his son’s face. “Oh.”

“Sorry. I just can’t help it,” Noah murmured.

“No, that’s alright. You can eat anything you like,” Castiel said, smiling. “I ate weird things too the times that I was pregnant. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Well, I wanted to have ice cream with it too, but that’s just a little weird, isn’t it…?”

Jayden laughed. “Why? I caught you doing that once before.”

Noah glared at him and took another bite from his bread, stepping aside to let Castiel have access to the fridge.

“What? I’m not making fun of you. I think it’s cute,” Jayden said, smiling at Noah. He didn’t mind that Castiel was right there and listening to him saying that he thought that Noah’s cravings were cute, and the angel didn’t seem to have a problem with it either; he just smiled as he listened to them.

The alpha smiled and went over to plant a sweet kiss on Noah’s lips, brushing his hand over the submissive’s large belly, before going back over to the couch with the others.

Castiel smiled at the scene and glanced at Noah while he grabbed the bottle of coke from the fridge. “How are you feeling?”

Noah glanced up at his papa while finishing up his piece of bread. “I’m good. I’m just tired of all the bathroom visits, and I can’t sleep properly at night because my back hurts or the baby is pressed against something inside me that’s uncomfortable.”

Castiel chuckled softly and closed the fridge, putting the bottle of coke on the kitchen counter for now. “Yes, the last few weeks of a pregnancy are the worst. The bigger the baby is, the more uncomfortable you feel.”

Noah nodded and glanced down at his belly as he rubbed it absently. “I only have 6 weeks left until the baby comes out… I feel a bit scared.”

Castiel picked up on the slightly frightened tone in Noah’s voice, and he smiled softly as he placed his hands on his son’s shoulders for reassurance. “You’ll be alright. Giving birth is very painful, but when your mate is right by your side then it isn’t so bad. Charlie will be there to help you through it and give you painkillers, and she will make sure that you and the baby will be alright in the end. Just remember to keep calm and take deep breaths once your labor starts, and it’s okay to scream and curse if that’s what you need to feel better when going through the pain.”

Noah lifted his gaze and smiled up at Castiel. “Thanks, papa. I hope I’ll manage.”

“You will,” Castiel said, pulling Noah into a hug and kissed his temple.

Noah leaned into Castiel and wrapped his arms around him. The smell of his papa’s familiar scent calmed him, and he smiled and closed his eyes as he dwelled in Castiel’s motherly embrace.

Dean came over to see what happened to the coke, and he stopped and smiled at the scene when he spotted Cas and Noah hugging and sharing a moment. He waited a bit before he spoke. “So, what happened to the coke?”

Castiel glanced over at him but didn’t pull away from Noah. “It’s on the kitchen counter if you need it.”

“I can see that.” Dean smiled and came over to join them. He wrapped his arms around both of them and pulled them close, careful not to hurt Noah’s stomach. They both grunted and giggled at him, and Dean grinned and curled his tail around Cas’ leg.

“Is that the hugging corner over there?” Gabriel asked from the couch, getting up. “Wait for me! I want free hugs too!” He ran over to them with his arms spread and a goofy look on his face, and the others laughed when he jumped on Dean from behind before wrapping his arms around Dean and Cas. Noah had snuck away from the scene to protect his stomach, and he laughed when his parents grunted heavily to have Gabriel jump on them like that.

“Damn it, Gabe!” Dean complained loudly.

Gabriel just laughed and slung his arms around Cas and Dean’s shoulders, and the others laughed from the living room.

Jayden laughed at the scene and smiled as Noah came back over to sit down next to him. He leaned in to press a kiss to Noah’s cheek and touched his stomach lovingly, and Noah blushed a little when the others noticed this, despite them being busy laughing at the scene that Gabriel was making.

 

 

***

 

At 10:30pm, Noah and Jayden headed up to bed, as did the others. Gabriel and Katie had just left, but Isaac and Kaylen were sleeping over at the house with little Eliza. Kaylen had been hesitant to stay because he knew the baby crying would bother the others, but Dean and Cas had insisted that it wasn’t a problem, and Noah and Jayden didn’t mind either. Eliza had been sleeping since 8pm, so now it was time for the others to head to the bedrooms.

“You guys better keep it down in there if you wanna do some ‘exercises’ on your sheets, ‘cause I really don’t wanna hear Noah moaning,” Isaac said when he and Kaylen said good night to Noah and Jayden outside their rooms upstairs.

Noah blushed furiously. “Isaac!”

Jayden laughed. “That goes for you too.”

“We have a baby sleeping in our room, so we’ll be quiet,” Isaac smirked.

Kaylen blushed and pulled gently at Isaac’s tail, making him yip. “Shut up already. We probably won’t be able to hear each other anyway; Lily’s bedroom is between our rooms.”

“True, but I think Noah is noisy in bed.”

“Would you _shut up?!_ ” Noah barked, blushing so bad his face felt all warm. Isaac was so embarrassing sometimes that it drove him mad.

Isaac laughed out loudly. “Whoa, I struck a nerve there.”

Jayden just laughed at Noah’s even more humiliated face, and Kaylen gave Noah a sympathetic chuckle before practically shoving Isaac into the bedroom to have him be quiet. Jayden led a very embarrassed Noah into the submissive’s old room, where they had already put their stuff earlier.

“Why does he have to be so embarrassing?” Noah muttered after they were inside and had closed the door.

“You’re asking the wrong person,” Jayden chuckled, turning on some lights. He glanced over at Noah’s old bed, finding it way too small to sleep on. “I think I should get a mattress to sleep on. You need more space now that you’re so heavily pregnant.”

“Oh.” Noah looked over at the bed and saw that Jayden was right. It would be too cramped for the both of them, as it wasn’t nearly as big as their bed at home.

“I’ll go ask Dean where he keeps the mattresses.”

Jayden left the room and Noah slowly sat down on his old bed, rubbing his stomach while glancing around the room. Nothing had changed in there; it still looked the same, but the smell was a bit different. It smelled empty and unused, whereas before it had been filled with Noah’s scent. He glanced around at some of his old books and posters, which he had left at the house after moving out. It brought back so much nostalgia, and it was almost hard to believe that the little boy and shy teenager that had lived in this room once was going to be a mother very soon.

He looked up when he heard Jayden and Dean’s voices, and then the two entered the room while carrying a mattress for Jayden to sleep on, and a blanket and pillow for him. They helped each other get the mattress into place before dropping it on the floor, and Jayden threw the blanket, sheets, and pillow on top.

“Thanks,” Jayden said, smiling at Dean.

Dean dusted off his hands and smiled back. “No problem.” He glanced over at Noah, who was still sitting on the bed. “Hope you’ll sleep well in here, even if you can’t cuddle with your mate.”

Noah blushed lightly. “Yeah, thanks.”

Jayden chuckled, and Dean retreated from the room after saying goodnight to them both. Jayden closed the door after him, but didn’t lock it.

“Lock it, please,” Noah said from the bed.

Jayden glanced over at him, blinking for a second before he turned the lock.

Noah got up from the bed and went over to Jayden rather fast, throwing his arms around the alpha’s neck and leaned up to kiss him. Jayden’s nostrils flared when he picked up on Noah’s increasing arousal, making him grunt in approval and kiss Noah back hard. He grasped Noah’s hair while devouring his mouth and squeezed his ass with his other hand.

“It’s amusing how much sex you want lately,” Jayden chuckled between kisses, spreading out his wings to show his interest.

Noah moaned and kissed Jayden back hungrily. His stomach was pressed against Jayden, but he was careful not to press it too hard against him. “I can’t help it. I just want you so bad.”

Jayden growled and squeezed Noah’s ass again, before moving his hand to the front of Noah’s pants to take them off.

“No,” Noah said, pulling back. Jayden stared at him in confusion. “I want to taste you first.” He pulled Jayden’s shirt while backing his way over to the bed, making the alpha follow. When they reached the bed, Noah carefully sat down on it and began unzipping Jayden’s pants, keeping his eyes on the alpha’s face the whole time. His legs were spread so that Jayden could stand in front of him.

“Fuck.” Jayden’s cock twitched in interest as Noah unzipped his pants and pulled down his underwear to free his cock. The hardened member sprung free, already rock hard and ready for action, and he moaned when Noah wrapped his hand around it.

Noah gave the alpha’s cock a few good strokes and swirled his thumb across the head and played with the foreskin, before he finally leaned forward and took it into his mouth. He moaned and closed his eyes as the taste of Jayden filled his mouth, and he kept stroking his hand up and down the shaft while he sucked on the head.

Jayden grunted and groaned in approval, moving his hand up to grasp Noah’s hair tightly. The submissive mewled and blinked his blue eyes open to stare up at him. Jayden stared right back at him, loving the sight of a pregnant Noah sucking his cock while glancing up at him like that. The submissive’s tongue licked a long stripe along the shaft before Noah put the tip of the head into his mouth again, sucking hard and purred around it. The vibrations tickled through Jayden’s cock, making him shudder and his cock drip precome from arousal.

“Shit. You’re so good… That’s it, baby,” Jayden grunted, moving his hand through the submissive’s hair to praise him.

Noah smiled and hummed, pleased to be praised and that he was bringing Jayden pleasure. A blowjob was not an act; it was a gift. It was something that Noah wanted to do for Jayden, and it was something he liked doing. He liked to taste his alpha and feel the weight of his cock inside his mouth before getting fucked by it. He never took Jayden in too far, though. The alpha was too big for that, and Noah hated gagging. Instead, he focused mostly on the head and the parts he could reach, and used his hands to stroke the parts he couldn’t reach and to stimulate his balls.

Jayden’s breathing became faster as he got closer to orgasm, and he kept his hand in Noah’s hair, gripping it tightly. He liked the control it gave him and he knew that Noah loved it just as much. He could see Noah’s pupils dilate and could smell his arousal increasing whenever he grasped his hair like that.

Noah hummed and purred, sucking harder and kept staring up into Jayden’s eyes. He used his other hand to fondle the alpha’s testicles, playing with them and squeezing them the way Jayden liked it best.

“Shit, I’m gonna come soon,” Jayden warned.

Noah pulled off for breath, panting. “Can you get it up again if you come now?”

Jayden grinned and stroked his hand through Noah’s hair. “Of course I can. You’re too sexy for me not to.”

Noah gave a pleased hum before going back to sucking Jayden off, this time more determinedly than before. He knew the alpha’s dick well and where to suck, touch, or stroke to make him come fast, and it didn’t take long before his expertise paid off.

Jayden grunted through his orgasm as it hit, trying not to be too loud in case someone was outside in the hallway. He came in hot spurts into Noah’s mouth, and when the submissive pulled away he came on his face instead.

Noah squeezed his eyes shut, grimacing a bit as the semen hit his eyelids, nose, and entire face. He stroked Jayden’s dick through it until the alpha was spent.

“Fuck. That’s so hot,” Jayden smirked, enjoying the sight of Noah’s face covered in his come. He laughed softly when Noah made a disgruntled noise when he tried to open his eyes, and Jayden immediately went over to grab a wet tissue and a towel from one of their bags and came over to clean Noah’s face. Some of it had hit the submissive’s shirt and hair, so he tried to clean that off too. “Better?” he asked afterwards when Noah’s face looked clean again.

“Yes, but I really want you now,” Noah said, whining in need. His ass was so slick and wet that it had leaked through his underwear and sweatpants, and his dick was painfully hard.

Jayden let out a possessive growl before gently pulling Noah to his feet. He immediately started removing the submissive’s clothes, purposefully touching his leaking oil glands in the process and felt him shudder in his arms. His eyes roamed over Noah’s pregnant belly when the submissive stood naked in front of him, placing his hands there and touching the skin tenderly.

Noah whined. “Touch me afterwards. I need you _right now._ ”

“Impatient much?” Jayden chuckled, a hint of teasing in his voice.

Noah just grunted and reached out to pull Jayden’s pants off. Jayden helped him out and took all his clothes off, before guiding Noah over to the bed and told him to get on his hands and knees.

The submissive got into position, wiggling his ass in front of Jayden in impatience. Doggy-style was the most comfortable sex position for him while he was pregnant, because it took some weight off his spine and allowed it to be in a straight line. His stomach also didn’t get pressed in this position.

Noah glanced back at Jayden over his shoulder, lowering his wings and upper body a little to show his alpha that he was horny and wanted him, and he was rewarded by another possessive growl that sent shivers up his spine.

Jayden put his hands on Noah’s perfect ass with a loud smack, before prying the cheeks apart to look at his hole. It was pink, twitching, and leaking excessive amounts of slick which coated Noah’s ass and thighs so prettily.

“Mm, so pretty,” Jayden purred, enjoying the sight before leaning down and licking at the hole.

“Ah!” Noah gasped, tightening his hands in the sheets as he felt Jayden’s tongue lick his entrance teasingly.

Jayden hummed before pressing his tongue inside, using it to stretch Noah. He loved the pretty sounds coming from the submissive and felt him tremble as he licked him open, and he was rewarded with even more delicious slick. He moved his hand down and pressed a finger inside, using it and his tongue to open Noah up.

“ _Ah!_ Oh god. C-Connor. So good,” Noah moaned, going wild on the bed.

“Shh, not so loud. Don’t want the others to hear us, do you?” Jayden reminded him, chuckling before burying his tongue inside Noah again.

Noah tried to keep it down, and he squirmed and writhed and tried to push his ass into Jayden’s face as the alpha worked him open. Jayden’s hand on his ass kept him in place though, so Noah couldn’t do much.

“Please. Need you inside me…”

“Give me a few moments,” Jayden said, having three fingers inside Noah now. He twisted them around good until he deemed his mate ready. He then pulled his fingers out slowly before getting up on his knees behind Noah, grabbed his hips, and pushed into him.

Noah held back a wail of delight and pushed back into Jayden, taking all of him inside right away. The stretch and feeling of being absolutely full was just what Noah had craved, and he panted and clawed at the sheets as the demon fucked into him over and over.

“Fuck, so tight,” Jayden grunted, watching Noah’s hole intently. He moved one hand from Noah’s hip and put it on his ass with another smack, before using his thumb to tease the stretched rim while he pounded into Noah. He was careful not to be too rough with him, but Charlie had assured them that the baby wouldn’t be harmed unless Noah’s stomach got pressed into the bed. Still, he held back to protect the baby, and he could tell that Noah didn’t mind it.

The submissive moaned and gasped under him, trying to keep the volume down in case Isaac had gotten the stupid idea of standing outside the door to listen so he could make fun of them.

Noah’s back was sweaty and his oil glands were leaking. Jayden hummed as the scent of honey filled his nose, and he moved his hand up to touch the oil and to tease the oil glands, which were particularly sensitive during Noah’s pregnancy.

“Ah, don’t touch them too much. I’m going crazy,” Noah gasped, trying to keep his balance as he was pounded into. The sound of skin slapping against skin made him shudder, and he could feel Jayden’s balls smacking against his ass every time the alpha bottomed out inside him.

Jayden just hummed and continued playing with the gland, although he tried not to overstimulate his mate too much. “Feel good?”

“Yes, so good,” Noah moaned in reply, lowering his head. His back hurt a little but he could live with that. He just needed Jayden’s cock so bad that he didn’t care about his back right now.

Jayden hummed, pleased with the answer and kept up his movements. He could tell Noah was close and he could feel himself getting there too. He moved his hand from Noah’s oil gland – ignoring his mate’s soft protests – before bringing it down to touch Noah’s belly. He placed his palm on the middle of Noah’s stomach, rubbing it tenderly while he fucked into him. The gesture made Noah moan and spread out his lowered wings more, showing him trust and submission. Jayden smiled at the gesture and leaned down so that his chest was pressed against Noah’s back, still thrusting into him and rolling his hips, and placed kisses on the back of Noah’s shoulder and on his neck.

Noah closed his eyes, purring as Jayden kissed him and touched his pregnant belly while his cock moved inside him. It was what drove Noah to his climax, and Jayden held onto him as Noah held back a cry and shuddered through his mind-blowing orgasm. Jayden followed right behind him, shooting his load deep inside Noah and filled him with his seed.

They gasped and trembled together until it was over, and Noah had to wait a bit until the last drop had been squeezed from Jayden’s cock. He shuddered at the pleasant feeling of all that warm come inside him, until Jayden pulled out and it began leaking from him. Jayden hummed at the sight and pressed some of it back inside with his thumb, smearing it into Noah’s rim. Some of it ran down his thighs, but Jayden put the towel under him so that it wouldn’t make a mess of the sheets.

“Mm, feeling better now? Did I satisfy you?” Jayden asked, still playing with the semen that was flowing out of Noah.

Noah blushed and shifted as he was still on his hands and knees with his butt facing Jayden. “Yes, it was, um, good.”

Jayden grinned cockily. “I’m glad.” He gave Noah’s butt a playful slap before getting off the bed and went to get more tissues to clean up with.

When they were cleaned up, Jayden helped Noah off the bed so the submissive could pull on a bathrobe and head to the bathroom before bed.

Meanwhile Jayden pulled on the sheets on his mattress, blanket, and pillow and got ready for bed. He felt nice and sated after two orgasms, and his body tingled pleasantly inside. He knew he had to enjoy Noah’s high sex drive while it lasted, because once the baby was born, Jayden feared that they would be having less sex. He’d heard that couples get stressed when they have a newborn in the house, and females and submissives would center their attention on their offspring’s needs instead of their mate’s. Jayden hoped that they would get through it and that Noah would still feel the need to be intimate with him. Being with Noah was much better than having to take care of his erections on his own, and he hated it when he couldn’t hold Noah and cuddle with him in bed.

When Noah returned to the bedroom they both got into bed. Noah lay on his side on his own bed while Jayden slept on the floor. It was strange to not share beds for once, and Noah didn’t like it all.

“It feels so cold and empty up here,” Noah murmured after they had turned off the lights and were trying to sleep.

Jayden opened his eyes in the darkness, staring up at the ceiling which was pitch black to him, save for a bit of light shining behind the curtains from the street lights outside. “Yeah, I know, but you need space.”

Noah curled up under the blanket, feeling the sudden urge to cry. He knew that being alone in the bed and not feeling Jayden’s warmth around him wasn’t such a big deal, but his pregnancy hormones were making him so emotional lately.

Jayden was alerted when he heard Noah bite back a sob in the darkness. “Hey,” he said softly, inching closer to the edge of the mattress and reached up his hand, searching for Noah in the darkness. His hand made contact with the blanket, and Noah snaked his hand out from underneath it to hold Jayden’s hand. The alpha squeezed it tightly. “I’m right here, you know. Don’t be so upset.”

“I can’t help it! It’s all those stupid hormones…”

Jayden chuckled. “I know. But I’m still here.”

“Yeah, I know.” Noah sighed and tried to calm down. He shifted and found a nice position on his side where his stomach and back were comfortable. He kept holding Jayden’s hand until the alpha gave it one more squeeze before letting go. Noah put his hand back under the warmth of the blanket, curling up. “I love you,” he whispered, staring at Jayden through the darkness.

Jayden smiled – something Noah couldn’t see, but he could almost feel it. “I love you too, Noah. So much.”

Noah smiled and sighed contently as he closed his eyes to sleep.

Jayden did the same, letting the sound of Noah’s soft breathing lull him to sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the family chapter :) Noah’s gonna have the baby in the next one, so very soon you’ll be able to read about the baby!


	21. Chapter 21

**November 2049 (Noah is 23, Jayden is 25, Castiel is 60, Dean is 61 (almost 62), Eden is 36, Adrian is 33, Isaac & Lily are 29, Jason is 37, Kaylen is 24, Leila is 51, Micah is 52, Laura is 13 (almost 14) years old).**  
  
It was Saturday the 27th of November, and Jayden came home at 8:30pm after working nine hours that day. He was tired and exhausted from a busy day at the restaurant and hundreds of customers he had to make food for, and he was happy to finally be home.  
  
It was the final week of Noah’s pregnancy, and the baby was estimated to arrive in three days. They were both very excited about and a bit nervous of the upcoming birth, but Jayden was confident that Noah could pull through it. Noah’s stomach was rather large now, and his back was always hurting and he got tired very easily. Jayden had become increasingly protective and was always trying to make sure that Noah didn’t strain himself too much or did something he wasn’t supposed to do while he was pregnant. Noah had been on maternity leave for a few weeks now, so he was at home all day and did the final preparations before the baby would be born.  
  
“I’m home,” Jayden called as he entered the apartment, kicking the door shut behind him and locking it. He grinned when Midnight came running out of the kitchen and meowed as she came over to greet him. “Hey, Midnight.” He petted the cat and listened to her purr, but he frowned when he got no response from Noah. He quickly got out of his shoes and jacket before going around the apartment to look for Noah. He looked in the bathroom, bedroom, living room, and in the kitchen, before he finally went into the nursery to see if his mate was in there. “Noah? Are you in here?” he asked as he knocked once on the half-closed door before entering.  
  
Noah was sitting cross-legged on some pillows on the floor, leaning up against the cabinet with drawers. He hummed as he folded some of the baby clothes together neatly so they could be put properly into the drawers. When Jayden looked around the room he could tell that Noah had wiped every surface clean and had arranged all the stuff perfectly. What caught his attention most was the four pillows that were splayed around Noah, which he wasn’t even sitting on.  
  
“Yeah, I’m here,” Noah replied to Jayden’s calling from earlier, briefly glancing over at him before turning his attention back to the baby clothes.  
  
The alpha chuckled and entered the room. “Are you nesting?”  
  
Noah stopped what he was doing, blinking before glancing up at Jayden with a guilty look. “I… I guess I am.”  
  
Jayden smiled and chuckled as Noah looked a little ashamed by the pillows he had unconsciously stashed around himself. “That’s okay. It’s completely natural.” He walked over and squatted down beside Noah, looking at all the clothes that Noah had been folding so neatly. “I guess these preparations are part of your nesting instincts too.”  
  
The submissive blushed a little at Jayden’s amused tone and continued what he was doing. He shifted and winced a bit when his back was sore, but the pillow he had put between his back and the cabinet helped making him comfortable.  
  
Jayden smiled at him and leaned over to kiss Noah’s forehead, before getting up. “I’ll go take a quick shower and then make some late dinner; I didn’t get to eat before I left work. Call me if you need help getting up from the floor.”  
  
“Okay.” Noah gave his mate a grateful smile before Jayden left the room.   
  
Midnight came in through the half-closed door, meowing and made her way over to him. Noah smiled at her and petted her when she came over, but he had to push her back every time she got in his way or stepped on the clothing on the floor. She was just in a social mood and wanted to be pet, so Noah gave her as much attention as he could.  
  
Sitting there and making the final preparations before the baby’s arrival helped Noah feel calmer. He was nervous about the upcoming birth, which could begin at any moment. He was already 41 weeks pregnant – close to 42 weeks – and Charlie had said that many births started a few days before or after the estimated due date. Noah felt some anxiety about it, mostly because he was scared of the pain and struggle that awaited him when going through labor and childbirth, but also because he would very soon be a mother for the first time in his life. He worried a bit that he wouldn’t be good enough or that he’d do something wrong. He took deep breaths and tried to calm himself down, distracting his thoughts by concentrating on the clothing in front of him. Looking at all those tiny pieces of clothing made his stomach flutter in excitement. Despite him being nervous about everything, he still looked forward to finally being able to hold his little baby in his arms and dress him in the cute outfits laid out in front of him.  
  
He sat around for a bit longer before getting up. It was a struggle to get up from the floor, but he was too stubborn to call Jayden for help. Once he was up he dusted off every surface of the room once more, humming a song as he stroked his hand across his belly while he worked. Midnight ran between his legs and rubbed herself against them, until she finally went out of the room when she heard Jayden open a can of cat food in the kitchen. The alpha had just come out of the shower, after spending only fifteen minutes in there – Noah’s showers were usually much longer.  
  
Noah finished up in the nursery before walking into the kitchen, where Jayden was cooking some pasta. Noah supported his large belly and grunted with effort as he made his way over to the table to sit down.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden said in a soft voice and came over to him. “You okay?” His wings and hair were still a bit wet from his shower, and he smelled fresh and nice.  
  
Noah nodded, leaning back into the chair and rubbed his belly. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just sore and tired…”  
  
Jayden gave him a sympathetic look and leaned down a bit to touch Noah’s belly. “Can’t believe that the baby is gonna come out soon.”  
  
Noah smiled. “Yeah. I’m a little scared, actually…”  
  
“Don’t be. You can handle it,” Jayden reassured him and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “And I’m actually gonna miss you being pregnant. You’re so hot like this,” he grinned.  
  
Noah blushed heavily, knowing that Jayden wasn’t just referring to how he looked, but also the fact that he was very horny lately. He knew it turned the alpha on like hell that Noah was always wet and wanting when they climbed into bed together.  
  
With a smug grin, Jayden went back over to keep an eye on the food, which would be finished in about ten minutes.  
  
Noah sighed and relaxed in the chair while Jayden got the dinner ready. He was a little upset that he couldn’t really help his mate out, but he really didn’t want to get up right now unless it was necessary. Instead, he asked Jayden about his day and they had a nice chat while the alpha worked on the dinner. Jayden got Noah some pickles from the fridge while waiting for the food to be ready, and Noah hated that his mate still thought his addiction to pickles lately was so funny.  
  
  


***

  
  
They went to bed at 10:30 that night, tired after a long day. They snuggled together on the warm bed, shared blowjobs and light grooming and talked about their baby, before lying down to sleep.  
  
Noah was lying on his left side, facing Jayden, who was lying on his back. Both were fast asleep, breathing evenly and lost in their dreams, when suddenly a sharp pain in his stomach woke Noah up. He gasped loudly and his body jerked as the pain shot through him, and Jayden immediately woke up next to him, alarmed.  
  
“Whoa! What is it?” Jayden demanded, sitting up and turning on some light so he could see Noah. All kinds of thoughts were racing through his mind, and his instincts told him to make sure that his mate was okay.  
  
Noah’s face was scrunched up and he clutched his stomach in pain while writhing slightly. “Nrugghh, it hurts!” He took a few deep breaths, praying that the pain would go away soon.  
  
Jayden was panicking, alarmed by his mate’s pain. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” He touched Noah’s shoulder, trying to calm his mate down and assess what was wrong with him.  
  
Noah’s body slumped in relief once the pain was finally gone. He panted for breath and felt sore all over because he had jerked so hard that it had made his back hurt. “I-I think I had a contraction,” he stuttered, glancing up at Jayden with wide eyes.  
  
The alpha stared back at him in surprise before glancing at the clock. It was 4:37am. “Shit, really? Okay, I’ll go call the hospital and have them tell us what to do. Just stay here, okay?”  
  
Noah nodded, curling up a little in fear of the pain returning. He had been so scared at first that something was wrong with the baby, but he wasn’t bleeding or anything, so it had to be a contraction. It fit Charlie’s description of them perfectly.  
  
Jayden got out of bed, looking more panicked and out of it than Noah had ever seen him before. Noah couldn’t blame him; it was a situation that was easy to get freaked out over, and Noah too felt panic rise up inside him. This was something neither of them had been through before, and even though Charlie had explained it to them in theory, it was hard to prepare for in real life.  
  
The alpha quickly grabbed his phone and called the hospital, not bothering to put on any clothes since no one could see him standing there in his underwear anyway. Noah stayed on the bed and sat up against the headboard, taking deep breaths to calm down. He rubbed his belly while listening to Jayden talking on the phone.  
  
When Jayden hung up, he turned to look at Noah. “Okay, they’re telling us to come in. So let’s get dressed, pack up, and go.”  
  
Noah nodded and carefully got off the bed to get dressed and to go use the bathroom. They quickly put on some clothes before Jayden started packing a bag with stuff they would need. They were likely going to stay at the hospital for a few days, so he packed some clothes, their toothbrushes, and went to the nursery to get some baby clothes and stuff from there. They had already packed a bag with the baby’s stuff beforehand, which Jayden was grateful for because he felt too overwhelmed and freaked out at the moment to pack too much.  
  
Midnight woke up when she heard the commotion and came into the hallway to be social. Her owners were too busy to talk to her though, so she just meowed pitifully and watched as Jayden ran around.  
  
They were almost ready to leave when another contraction hit, twenty minutes after the first one. Noah was in the hallway, about to pull on his jacket and shoes, when suddenly he felt another sharp pain in his stomach. He let out a loud, pained groan and bent over to clutch his stomach, his wings flaring in distress.  
  
“Nruugh, fuck, it hurts!” Noah cried out, trying to handle the pain.  
  
Jayden was at his side immediately, rubbing his back and supporting him. “Shhh, it’s okay. Just breathe and relax.”  
  
Noah tried to do so, but it was clear that he was in pain. Jayden hated seeing Noah hurting like that and he tried his best to soothe him through it. He felt helpless that he couldn’t do anything to help Noah’s pain, but he could drive him to the hospital and make sure that he was in competent hands.  
  
“Deep breaths, nice and slow. That’s it,” Jayden soothed, watching as Noah followed his instructions.  
  
The pain seemed to last forever, and Noah struggled to remain calm and breathe properly. He could barely stay on his feet as the contraction rippled through him, and he just wished that they were at the hospital already so that the doctors and Charlie could help him.  
  
After 35 seconds, the pain finally subsided. Noah let out a deep sigh and tried to straighten up. He was grateful that Jayden had been there to support him, otherwise he was pretty sure he wouldn’t have been able to stay on his feet.  
  
“You okay? Is it over?” Jayden asked, still holding on to Noah to make sure that he didn’t collapse.  
  
“Yeah, it’s over. Just take me to the hospital, please?”  
  
Jayden nodded and helped Noah put on his shoes before they left the apartment in a hurry. They said goodbye to Midnight and locked the door behind them before getting into the elevator. Noah was clearly scared of what was happening, since this was his first time having a baby, and Jayden tried his best to calm him down. Jayden was almost just as freaked out as Noah was, but he tried to be strong for his mate.  
  
Jayden helped Noah across the parking lot and into the car, making sure he was comfortable before he got into the driver’s seat and drove them to the hospital. Luckily there was very little traffic at that hour, so the drive went fast and smooth.  
  
They were almost at the hospital when the third contraction hit, making Noah cry out in pain in the passenger seat.  
  
“Please drive faster! It hurts so bad,” Noah sobbed.  
  
“I can’t; I’m already driving too fast and I don’t want to crash,” Jayden said, glancing at Noah whenever he could. “Just don’t give birth in the car, okay?”  
  
“I don’t think he’s coming out yet,” Noah groaned out while the contraction began dying out. “And I don’t care about the car. This fucking _hurts!_ ”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at that, although he really didn’t want Noah to make a mess of the car.   
  
When they reached the hospital, Jayden quickly found a parking spot near the entrance and got out to help Noah inside. The contraction was over, and although Noah had been in a lot of pain, Jayden was pretty sure that the birth itself hadn’t started yet.  
  
When they came inside they were received by nurses, who guided them to the maternal ward where Noah was signed into a room. A human nurse walked him there in a wheelchair since his legs were rather weak and there was a long way to the maternal ward. She asked them questions about Noah’s contractions, their strength and length, and if there had been any discharge coming from Noah yet. They answered her questions honestly, and she assessed that Noah was only in the first stage of labor so far and that they baby wasn’t on his way out just yet; Noah’s body was just preparing for the birth, which could happen hours from now.  
  
Once they arrived in the room, Noah was guided over to the bed and given a hospital gown to change into. The room had plenty of free space on the floor, various equipment inside for birth, a bed, and another small room connected to it where the midwives could clean up the baby after the birth.  
  
“We’ve called Charlie and she should arrive here soon,” the nurse said as she handed Noah the gown. “Just put that on and someone will come in to check on you in a few minutes.” She flashed them both a friendly smile before turning to leave, giving them privacy.  
  
“Here, let me help,” Jayden said once they were alone in the room. He started helping Noah out of his clothes, unbuttoning his shirt and helping him out of his pants. He was being as gentle as possible, since Noah’s back hurt whenever he moved too abruptly. Noah’s underwear had to go too, since doctors needed to be able to access his lower regions during labor and birth.  
  
Noah felt very uncomfortable having to take all his clothes off, and when Jayden helped him into the hospital gown, he didn’t even feel like he was any less naked. The gown was thin but long, but he was completely naked underneath it, and he didn’t like the thought of having doctors stare at his exposed ass and genitals when they had to examine him. He was glad that Charlie would be the one in charge, though.  
  
As he stood in that room, dressed in the hospital gown and hearing the faint cries of a woman further down the corridor giving birth to her baby, it hit Noah full on that this was it. He was about to have the baby and it would come out of him, no matter what. There was no turning back. His heart beat fast as he got more nervous and tense, and he felt himself getting a bit sweaty. Jayden quickly picked up on Noah’s emotions.  
  
“Hey.” Jayden reached out and grabbed Noah’s hand, holding it and stroking it tenderly with his thumb. “You’ll be okay. You’re in good hands here.”  
  
Noah glanced up at him with frightened, blue eyes, swallowing. “But it’s going to hurt…”  
  
“I know, but I won’t leave your side, okay? I’ll be right here to help you through it.” Jayden smiled at him and pulled Noah into a loving embrace, holding him close and pressing a kiss to his head.  
  
Noah sighed and closed his eyes as he rested his head against Jayden’s chest, feeling safe in his mate’s strong arms.  
  
“Why do _I_ have to be the one to go through the pain?” Noah murmured after a few moments.  
  
Jayden chuckled and stroked his hand up and down Noah’s back while they embraced each other. “Well, I don’t really have the right parts to carry the baby. I would love to absorb your pain, though. I hate seeing you hurting…”  
  
Noah buried his face in Jayden’s shirt, inhaling his alpha’s scent and sighed as it comforted him.  
  
A nurse and a female angel doctor came into the room then, telling them that Charlie would arrive there in a few minutes. The doctor quickly told them about what was going to happen and what Noah should do when the contractions hit. She also came over to measure Noah’s blood pressure, finding that it was normal but a bit high because he was so nervous.  
  
Just as the doctor finished speaking, Charlie came into the room, panting from having hurried there. “Hey, guys,” she said, smiling friendly at Noah and Jayden. She nodded at the doctor and nurse to greet them before coming over to Noah. “So, your baby is a bit early, huh?”  
  
Jayden chuckled, his arm wrapped around Noah’s waist while he glanced down at his mate, who was rubbing his belly lightly. “Yeah, I guess he’s impatient.”  
  
“I wish he would just come out already… I want it over with,” Noah murmured, cringing at the thought that this process could take several hours.  
  
Charlie laughed softly at them, and the nurse and doctor smiled as they left the room for now. “Well, many first time mothers go through 12 hours of labor before their baby is born, and sometimes even up to 24 hours. But you’ve had pretty regular contractions this morning, haven’t you? So your baby will likely come out today.”  
  
Noah sighed in relief, but the relief quickly disappeared when another contraction hit. “Nrrgh, not again,” he groaned, clutching his stomach and grunted loudly at the sharp pain. Jayden’s grip immediately tightened on him to keep him on his feet.  
  
“Just breathe and don’t panic,” Charlie said, her voice calm and soothing. “If you relax, the contractions will be much easier to cope with.”  
  
Noah inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, and followed Charlie’s instructions when she told him to spread his legs a bit and squat down a little. Noah gripped Jayden’s arm for support, holding on so tightly that the alpha was pretty sure it was going to leave bruises.  
  
“You okay?” Jayden asked, worried as Noah grunted loudly in pain.  
  
“No! It hurts!” Noah snapped, wincing in pain and took more deep breaths.  
  
Jayden chuckled a bit and continued to support him, hating that he couldn’t do anything to help.  
  
The contraction began to subside after 35 seconds, but when fluid began leaking down his thighs and legs, Noah was very freaked out. “W-What’s wrong?” he stammered, horrified that the baby was in trouble or something. Jayden too was alarmed by it and panicked for a second.  
  
“Oh, no worries; that’s completely normal. It’s a sign that things are moving along,” Charlie told them. She went over to gather some towels to clean Noah and the floor up with. “Now, I think you better get on the bed so I can see how dilated you are,” she said while she cleaned him.  
  
Noah blushed a bit, embarrassed by the mess.  
  
They went over to the bed, and Jayden held his hand while Noah lay down, keeping his legs spread so Charlie could assess the progress of the labor. Noah tried to keep his focus on Jayden and the way the alpha was soothingly stroking his hand, but when a nurse entered to assist Charlie he got a little uncomfortable to be stared at down there.  
  
“Okay, you haven’t really started dilating yet, so you’re still in the early phases of labor,” Charlie said, getting up from her chair and pulled off her gloves. “I think it’s only a matter of hours until the cervix dilates more, but until then you will continue experiencing the contractions. Let me know when they get stronger and occur more often, alright?”  
  
“We will. Thanks,” Jayden told her, smiling.  
  
Noah groaned and dropped his head down onto the pillow, feeling impatient by the slow process. The slower the process, the longer he had to endure those horrible contractions.  
  
Charlie chuckled at him and came over to show Noah some more positions he should get into when the contractions appeared, and a nurse came over and gave Noah some painkillers to take away the worst part of the pain. Jayden and Noah were then left in the room mostly on their own, with Charlie and a nurse coming in to check on them once in a while.  
  
  


***

  
  
The contractions continued throughout the morning, usually every 20-40 minutes.  
  
At 8:30am, Jayden called their families to let them know that the baby was on his way. He hadn’t wanted to call them earlier since they were probably asleep at that time; it was Sunday, after all. Jayden told them that Noah was still only in the early stages of labor and that it could take a while before the baby was out. He would call them back when the active phase began, so that they could drive to the hospital and be there for the baby’s birth.  
  
Jayden didn’t leave Noah’s room. He stayed by his side and made sure that he ate the food that the nurses got him and that he was comfortable. Every time a contraction hit, he helped Noah through it with soothing and encouraging words, and even tolerated Noah cursing at the situation and at him. It was strange to hear Noah curse so much, but Jayden thought it was a bit amusing.  
  
It was 12:30pm, and the two were sitting on the hospital bed and reading one of the baby name books that Jayden had brought along. They hadn’t fully decided on a name for the baby yet, but they were discussing it.  
  
Suddenly another contraction hit, earlier than the others. Noah cried out and clutched his belly in pain.  
  
“Whoa, already another contraction? It’s only been like 15 minutes since the last one,” Jayden said, trying to soothe Noah by rubbing his back.  
  
Noah cried out louder, and he had to get down on the floor on all fours; a position that he found helped his back pain and the pain of the contractions. Jayden quickly shoved the foam mattress that Charlie had provided them under Noah, so that his knees and hands would be spared. Noah’s wings flapped in agony and he continued to groan and grunt in pain.  
  
“Fuck, I hate this!” Noah growled, tears appearing in his eyes from pain and frustration. “Why did you do this to me?! I hate you,” he sobbed, panting heavily.  
  
Jayden kneeled down in front of him, chuckling at Noah’s words. “I know. I hate you too,” he said, amused.  
  
Noah let out a loud groan and lifted his head to send Jayden a deadly glare for making fun of him. The alpha just chuckled and rubbed his shoulder. Noah was panting for breath during the sharp pain, having trouble handling it.  
  
“Hey, don’t breathe so hard. Breath nice and slow, remember?”  
  
“I know, but it hurts so bad. Even more than the others,” Noah whined, trying to calm down. The contractions were more painful than the others had been and they also seemed to last longer. “Please make it stop,” he sobbed.  
  
Jayden’s heart clenched and he felt helpless that he couldn’t do anything. He rubbed Noah’s shoulder and pulled Noah close so that his face was pressed against his chest while he kneeled in front of him. “Shhh. It’ll be over soon. Just focus on me, okay? Don’t think about the pain.”  
  
Noah trembled and more tears formed in his eyes because of the agony he was in. He inhaled Jayden’s scent and buried his face in the alpha’s shirt, trying to block out all other sensations than the familiar scent of his mate. It helped a bit, and he was so grateful that Jayden was there with him.  
  
Charlie walked in then, stopping for a second when she saw what was going on. “Oh, another contraction already? Are they increasing?”  
  
“Yeah, seems so,” Jayden said, still holding Noah close. “Noah’s also complaining that it’s more painful.”  
  
“Alright. Seems like the labor is finally moving along. I will have to look at you again, Noah, once your contractions are over.”  
  
Noah just nodded, too busy trying to block out the pain. 70 seconds after the contraction started, it finally died down, making Noah sigh and slump his wings in relief.  
  
Jayden helped his mate up from the floor and guided him over to the bed, where Charlie took another look at him. She smiled when she announced that Noah had dilated more and was now in the active phase of the labor, where the cervix would dilate more quickly and the contractions would increase in strength and length.  
  
“Probably just a couple of hours left until the baby is coming out,” Charlie said, grinning. “I’ll come in to check on your every now and then to see how fast you dilate.”  
  
Noah and Jayden nodded and thanked her before she left the room again.  
  
Noah slumped back against the bed, already feeling exhausted. He shifted a bit so that he was sitting up more and leaning back against the pillow behind him. His legs felt cold so he grabbed the blanket and covered them with it. Jayden was sitting on a chair next to him and his left side, holding his hand.  
  
“So… Have you decided on names yet?” Jayden asked, bringing Noah’s hand up to press a kiss to it.  
  
Noah lazily turned his head to look at him. “There are a few that I like.”  
  
“Yeah? Which ones?”  
  
“Well, I kind of have the feeling that’s he a beta…” Noah glanced down at his belly and smiled as he rubbed it tenderly. “So… I think the name ‘Nathan’ would be nice for him. I just have a good feeling about that name.”  
  
“Nathan, huh? That was the name I suggested for a beta earlier,” Jayden chuckled, rubbing Noah’s hand between his own.  
  
“I know.” Noah rolled his eyes before staring down at his belly again. “I just wish he’d come out already… I want to hold him so bad, and I’m tired of all these contractions…”  
  
Jayden chuckled softly and pressed another kiss to Noah’s hand. “Yeah, he likes to keep us waiting. I can’t wait to see him too. I bet he’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”  
  
Noah smiled softly at that, not taking his eyes off his bump as he stroked it slowly.  
  
Jayden was just about to get up and call their families to let them know that Noah had reached the next step of labor, when there was suddenly a soft knocking on the door.  
  
“You’ve got visitors,” Charlie smiled, stepping aside to reveal Dean and Castiel in the door.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened. “You’re here already?”  
  
Castiel smiled and came over to the bed where Noah was lying. “Of course. We didn’t want to wait any longer.”  
  
“Yeah, Cas was quite impatient to come here and support you,” Dean said, chuckling as he came over to them.  
  
Castiel sent him a brief glare before smiling down at Noah again, taking his other hand to hold it. “How are you feeling?”  
  
Noah’s face dropped a bit. “It hurts. And I’m tired. I just want it to be over…”  
  
“I know, but sometimes labor can take a while,” Castiel told him, giving him a rueful look. “Charlie told us that you have just reached the active phase, so now it shouldn’t be long before it’s over.”  
  
Noah nodded, feeling relieved. “I’m glad you guys are here…”  
  
“Of course we’re here,” Dean grinned. “My kid is having a baby – how could I not be here for that? Your siblings aren’t here yet though, but we’ll give them a call and let them know that your baby is coming soon. I already called them and told them that the labor started, but they won’t come until they know that the baby is about to arrive.”  
  
“Yeah, same with my family. This could take hours and it would suck to wait too long here,” Jayden said.  
  
“Yeah, exactly,” Dean agreed, looking over at Jayden and smiled at him. “And how are you holding up, son? Freaking out yet?”  
  
Jayden grinned and chuckled a bit. “Nah. I don’t think I’ll freak out much until the actual birth begins.”  
  
Dean laughed. “Yeah, that’s the freakiest part. It’s all pain and screams.”  
  
“Dean!” Castiel scolded. “Stop making Noah nervous.”  
  
Dean looked over to see Noah looking rather nervous and uncomfortable, and he cringed at himself. “Hey, it’s not that bad. I guess…? I wouldn’t know.” He reached out and patted Noah’s leg through the blanket. “You’re just like your papa, so you’ll pull through this.”  
  
Noah relaxed a little and felt Jayden squeeze his hand for reassurance. He didn’t get to relax long though, as another contraction started all of sudden. He cried out and writhed in pain, and both Jayden and Castiel held his hands and tried to soothe him. Dean cringed in sympathy, hating to see one of his kids being in pain like that.  
  
“It’s okay. It’ll be over soon,” Castiel soothed, moving a few hairs away from Noah’s slightly sweaty forehead while his son went through the contraction.  
  
“Shit, it fucking _hurts,_ ” Noah groaned in a strangled, pained voice.  
  
Dean chuckled. “Hey, where did you learn those words?” He barely ever heard Noah curse like that, so it was quite new to him to hear those words coming from Noah’s mouth.  
  
Jayden laughed. “That’s what I’ve been asking him.”  
  
“Shut up! It hurts!” Noah snapped, writhing and squirming under the blanket.  
  
“Just let him curse,” Castiel said, giving Dean and Jayden a firm glare.  
  
Castiel and Jayden continued holding Noah’s hands through it, and Dean began murmuring encouraging words to him to help him through the pain.  
  
His family’s comforting words and hand squeezes helped Noah remain calm, and after another 65 agonizing seconds, the contraction finally subsided. Noah could finally slump back against the bed again, having time to relax and recover until the next contraction.  
  
“Are the contractions getting more painful?” Castiel asked, his brows furrowed in sympathy.  
  
Noah nodded weakly. “Yeah, that one was pretty bad… I hate this…”  
  
Jayden rubbed Noah’s hand with his thumb, hating that he couldn’t do anything to ease his mate’s pain. It hurt him to see Noah go through that and he wished he could take the pain upon himself in Noah’s stead.  
  
“That’s a good sign. It means the baby will be on his way soon,” Castiel smiled.  
  
Noah just sighed, and looked up when Charlie came in to have a look at him again. Castiel and Dean left the room to give them privacy, and Dean informed Jayden that he would call his parents for him to let them know of the progress.  
  
  


***

  
  
Another hour passed with Noah’s contractions coming every 12-20 minutes, until they were only 5-10 minutes apart. Charlie saw that Noah had dilated almost fully, so it was finally time for the baby to be delivered.   
  
Noah’s siblings and Jayden’s parents and sister had all arrived at the hospital to show support, but because the birth was about to begin, Charlie had told them they couldn’t see Noah and Jayden until after the baby was born. Their families headed to the cafeteria together to wait it out while Noah went through the struggle of birth in the hospital room.  
  
As Charlie and the midwives began getting ready to deliver the baby, Noah got increasingly nervous and scared. He was on the bed with a pillow under his back and his legs spread while Charlie was checking once more how dilated he was. Noah’s heart was pounding in his chest and he began feeling warmer and sweatier. He knew the birth would be painful, and his legs trembled slightly in fear.  
  
“Shhh, it’s okay,” Jayden soothed him, holding Noah’s hand as he sat on his left side. “I’m right here.”  
  
“I’m scared,” Noah croaked, turning his head to look at his mate.  
  
Jayden’s heart clenched at the fear and exhaustion on his mate’s face. He reached out his other hand and stroked it through Noah’s hair, noting that the submissive’s forehead was getting sweatier. “I know, and it’s okay to be scared. You just gotta trust your body and Charlie to know what to do.”  
  
Noah nodded weakly, taking a deep breath to calm down. Another contraction hit then, only four minutes after the last one, and he cried out at the intensity of the pain. He could feel the baby move inside, likely on its way to the birth canal, and it hurt so bad as his body prepared for the birth.  
  
“You’re doing well, Noah,” Charlie reassured him, sitting between his spread legs. “The baby is on his way out now, so I need you to start pushing, okay? It’s probably gonna be hard for you since you’re such a scrawny guy, but you can do this. Just start pushing.”  
  
Noah nodded, struggling to handle the pain, and finally started pushing. He cried out in agony and squeezed Jayden’s hand so hard that he made the alpha wince, but he was too preoccupied to notice it.  
  
Jayden just let Noah grip his hand as tight as he needed, thinking it was only fair that they both experienced some pain. He helped Noah through it by murmuring encouraging words at him, hoping it would help.  
  
The contraction died down a moment, and Noah had to take a break from pushing. He slumped against the bed, panting for breath. “Fuck, I can’t… This hurts so much.”  
  
“You gotta push again. You’re doing so well, Noah. C’mon,” Charlie told him, giving him a smile of encouragement.  
  
“Yeah, you can do this,” Jayden said, stroking Noah’s hand with his own. “You’re doing _so_ well. Better than I could if I was in your place, and I’m so proud of you. Just keep pushing, okay?”  
  
Jayden’s encouraging words and his fond smile gave Noah new strength. He sat up a bit and started pushing again, listening to Charlie whenever she told him to push more or less or to stop. He was determined to bring his baby into the world on his own, without any surgical help, so he gathered everything he had and felt Jayden kiss and stroke his hand as he pushed as hard as he could, crying out loud through the pain.  
  
“That’s it, keep going,” Charlie grinned, getting ready to grab the baby. The two midwives behind her were getting stuff ready to clean the baby with once he was out.  
  
Noah cried out and pushed as hard he could, his wings flaring and flapping behind him, hitting against the bed.  
  
“You’re doing so well, baby,” Jayden grinned, holding Noah’s hand and kissing it. The baby was _so close_ to being born, and Jayden felt excitement run through him. He was so proud of Noah giving it everything he had even though it hurt so much, and he couldn’t wait for the baby to be born and for Noah’s suffering to end.  
  
It took one more minute of determined pushing, pain, and screaming, until finally the baby was out. Charlie quickly grabbed him and cleaned his mouth before the baby began wailing and crying loudly.  
  
The sound of the baby crying made Noah slump against the bed in relief and exhaustion, panting heavily. His body went limp and he could barely move, while Jayden was grinning wider than ever as the cries filled the room.  
  
“There he is!” Charlie grinned, holding the squirming newborn up for the parents to see. “A healthy baby boy.”  
  
With effort, Noah lifted his head and stared down at the baby that Charlie was holding up. The baby was dirty and was wailing in discomfort, but he was the most beautiful thing Noah had ever seen in his life, and he couldn’t stop grinning as he looked his baby for the first time.  
  
Jayden too was overwhelmed as they both stared at their newborn son. He felt tears of happiness prickle in his eyes, and he wiped them away while he grinned down at the baby happily.  
  
Charlie smiled at their happy grins before cutting the umbilical cord and getting up. “We’ll go get him cleaned up and check his health so Noah can rest for a bit. I’ll be right back with him.” She gave them both a friendly smile before carefully walking away with the baby, and one of the midwives joined to help her out. They went to the room that was connected to the hospital room where Noah was in, where they could wash the baby and take few blood tests from him to determine his health and if he was an alpha, beta, or a submissive. He was a bit too big to be a submissive, so they were pretty sure that he was either an alpha or a beta.  
  
Noah slumped against the bed again, panting and feeling sweaty all over. The second midwife helped him when the placenta had to get out, and afterwards she quickly grabbed the dirty sheets and towels, cleaned Noah up very quick, and went out of the room with the laundry.  
  
Finally Noah and Jayden had a moment for themselves, and Jayden smiled widely at Noah as he gently swiped some hairs away from his sticky forehead. “You did so well, Noah. Our boy looked so beautiful and his cries were strong and healthy.”  
  
Noah smiled back at him and let out a relieved sigh that it was over. He was impatient for Charlie to return with the baby, but for now it was nice to hold hands with his mate and be happy that his efforts were over. “I can’t wait to hold him.”  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Jayden smiled, leaning over to press a kiss to Noah’s forehead. The submissive closed his eyes and hummed at the loving gesture, smiling at him after Jayden pulled away. It was clear that Noah was exhausted, but Jayden couldn’t blame him.  
  
Charlie returned to the room then, holding the baby in a white blanket and smiled as she came over to Noah. “Here he is. He’s very healthy, and it will be just a few minutes before we know if he’s an alpha, beta, or a submissive, so have a little more patience.” She carefully transferred the newborn into Noah’s arms, smiling as Noah gently took him.  
  
“Thanks, Charlie,” Jayden told her, inching closer to the bed as Noah took the baby from Charlie’s arms.  
  
Noah got the baby settled in his arms, quickly adjusting to holding him. The baby was rather quiet now and was only making a few grumpy noises and squirming a bit, but he calmed down when Noah shushed him in a gentle voice and pried the blanket a bit to the side to have a better look at him. Jayden leaned over and grinned as he gently stroked the baby’s head, staring down at him with the same awe as Noah did.  
  
Their baby had dark hair, a small demon tail that curled next to his leg, and his tiny, downy wings were grey with dark red feathers in them. His little hands were curled into fists, and he finally blinked his blue eyes open to look up at his parents.  
  
Noah melted the moment his baby looked up into his eyes. It was so breathtaking and such a wonderful moment, and he felt tears of happiness prickle in his eyes. “H-He’s so beautiful…”  
  
Jayden smiled, still stroking the baby’s head gently. “Yeah, he is. He’s perfect.” He grinned when the baby stared up at him next, locking eyes with him, before he slowly closed his untrained eyes again and made a small noise as he shifted in the blanket.  
  
A tear rolled down Noah’s cheek and he continued watching his son in awe and happiness. He was a mother now, and all his maternal instincts seemed so natural and easy for him. He stroked his hand over the baby’s head, touching Jayden’s hand too in the process, before slowly bringing the baby up so he could place a soft kiss on his forehead. The baby cooed softly and squirmed in response, and Noah let out a happy chuckle.  
  
Jayden smiled and leaned in to kiss the baby too, before pressing a kiss to Noah’s cheek as well. Noah giggled and turned his head to smile at him happily. They smiled and stared into each other’s eyes for a moment before leaning forward to share a quick, intimate kiss. Words could not describe their happiness right now, and their bond flared with love as they turned their gazes down to stare at their baby once more.  
  
Noah shifted a bit closer to the edge of the bed to give room for Jayden, who got onto the bed to sit next to him. The space was a bit cramped and their wings bumped together, but it was the best way for them both to revel in their happiness and stare down at their beautiful baby together.  
  
Neither of them had noticed Charlie leaving the room earlier until she came back again.  
  
“So, I got the results!” Charlie grinned cheerfully and came over to them. “Your baby is a healthy, 8 pound (3600 gram) beta male.”  
  
“Really?” Jayden grinned, glad to finally know the specific gender. He looked at Noah then and chuckled. “Just like you said he was.”  
  
Noah chuckled. “It was just a feeling I had…”  
  
Charlie smiled at them before asking, “Do you want me to go get your families now?”  
  
Noah and Jayden shared a look before nodding.  
  
“Yeah, please,” Jayden told her, smiling.  
  
“Alrighty. I’ll tell them to come in in two groups; it can’t be too crowded in here.” Charlie turned to leave, and when she opened the door to the hallway they could hear their families’ voices outside.  
  
Noah cringed a bit when he heard Isaac’s loud voice cheering when they got the news that the baby had been born and that they could come inside to have a look, and Jayden chuckled at Noah’s face.  
  
Dean, Castiel, Micah, Leila, and Laura came inside first, smiling happily as they went over to the bed to congratulate them on the baby.  
  
Leila gasped and teared up, overwhelmed to see her first grandchild. She, Micah, and Laura came around to the side of the bed where Jayden was sitting, and they all stared at the baby in awe as they congratulated them. Noah’s body was covered by the blanket, so they couldn’t see his barely dressed body under it.  
  
“Ohh, he’s so beautiful!” Leila gasped, wiping away her tears. Micah put his hand on her shoulder to calm her down, grinning as he peeked down at the small baby.  
  
Dean and Castiel were on Noah’s side of the bed, grinning proudly as they looked at Noah’s baby for the first time.  
  
“Indeed he is,” Castiel agreed, feeling tears appear in his own eyes, but quickly wiped them away. “You did so well, Noah.”  
  
Noah smiled up at his papa, letting everyone see the little bundle of joy in his arms. “Thanks. I’m so glad that part is over…”  
  
“So am I. Hate to see you struggling like that,” Jayden said, looking at Noah with a somewhat sad face.  
  
“Glad your baby is healthy. Charlie said he’s a beta,” Dean said, grinning down at the baby as he gently stroked a finger over the small, fisted hand.  
  
“Yeah, he is,” Jayden confirmed, smiling proudly.  
  
“I can’t believe Jayden is a daddy now,” Laura said, laughing a bit. “It makes me feel so old that my brother has a baby and that I’m an aunt.”  
  
Leila and Micah laughed at her, and Micah fondly ruffled Laura’s hair. Dean and Castiel laughed too, amused by Laura’s words.  
  
“Well, I’m 25,” Jayden argued, chuckling at his sister. “I just hope _you_ won’t have kids before you’re 30.”  
  
“Hey!” Laura protested, making the others laugh.  
  
The baby started squirming and making a few noises of complaint, but Noah quickly shushed him and rocked him gently. Castiel smiled at how natural Noah was around the baby already.  
  
“Have you guys decided on a name yet?” Micah asked, looking between Noah and Jayden curiously.  
  
Jayden and Noah shared a look, before Jayden turned to look at his dad. “Well, we were thinking of naming him Nathan. We both really like that name, and Noah thinks it suits him.” He turned to look at Noah, smiling when he saw his mate rock the baby gently in his arms.  
  
“Ohh, that’s a good name,” Leila smiled.  
  
“Yeah, I approve too,” Dean said. “I actually think that was one of the names Cas and I considered for Isaac back then.” He glanced at Castiel, who thought about that for a second.  
  
“Yes, I think you’re right,” Castiel spoke, a thoughtful look on his face as he tried to recall it.  
  
Noah blinked up at them. “Really?”  
  
Castiel smiled and nodded. “Yes, I’m pretty sure it was.”  
  
“I like the name,” Laura said, grinning when the baby opened his eyes again and stared up at her.  
  
“Hmm, so, Nathan it is, right?” Jayden said, smiling at Noah as he wrapped an arm around his shoulders.  
  
Noah nodded and kept his eyes on the baby. “Yeah. Nathan it is.”  
  
The others smiled and watched the baby as he stared up at everyone, squirming lightly in his mother’s arms. He was so small and fragile in Noah’s arms, and Noah couldn’t stop staring at the small baby that he had carried inside him for nine months and that he finally got to see for real. He was so happy that the baby was there at last, and that he and Jayden would have a family of their own.  
  
“And you look so exhausted, Noah,” Leila said then, cringing a bit when she took in how flushed and sweaty he looked.  
  
“Yeah, you should drink some water and get back your strength,” Micah added.  
  
“I will go get you some water,” Castiel told Noah, swiping some more hairs away from his forehead. “And then the others can come in to see the baby too.”  
  
Noah nodded and gave his papa a grateful smile. “Thank you.”  
  
The others turned to leave, just as they heard Isaac’s voice saying ‘Hey, when it is our turn to have a look?’ in the hallway. Castiel rolled his eyes while the others laughed, and Noah and Jayden shared a quick smile before the room was crowded once more by visitors.  
  
“Noah!” Eden exclaimed cheerfully, grinning proudly at him as she entered the room with the others.   
  
Almost everyone was there; Eden, Jason, Lily, Isaac, Kaylen, and Adrian. Tony and Natalie weren’t there; they had stayed home to look after their kids, and they didn’t want to overcrowd Noah and Jayden with their presence. They would get their chance to see them and the baby very soon anyway. The other kids were being babysat by their parents’ friends, except for Eliza, who was outside in the hallway with Dean and Castiel at the moment while Isaac and Kaylen went inside to see the new baby.  
  
They all hurried over to the bed to see the baby, gasping in amazement and congratulating the new parents.  
  
“Oh my god! Noah is a mommy now!” Isaac exclaimed, staring at the baby with wide eyes. “I never thought this day would come. And you look like shit, Noah.”  
  
Noah groaned irritably. “Thanks, Isaac…”  
  
Jayden laughed at the sarcasm in Noah’s voice.  
  
Kaylen smacked Isaac on the arm. “Don’t be rude! I’d like to see how _you_ look after almost 12 hours in labor! And childbirth _hurts,_ you know!”  
  
“Ow. I know that.” Isaac pouted at his mate and rubbed his arm where Kaylen had smacked him.  
  
The others laughed at them before looking at the baby again.  
  
“Oh, he’s so pretty,” Lily grinned, wiping the happy tears away. “And I think he has Jayden’s nose…”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Well, he better look a bit like me; he’s mine, after all.”  
  
“You sure about that?” Isaac joked, grinning.  
  
“A hundred percent,” Jayden smirked.  
  
Noah blushed heavily as the others laughed, but smiled at all the compliments little Nathan got.  
  
Adrian stepped closer and peeked down at the baby, grinning proudly. “He’s an adorable baby. You did well, Noah. Congratulations.”  
  
Noah smiled, his cheeks a bit red with modesty, and looked up at his big brother. “Thank you.”  
  
“Does he have a name yet?” Jason asked, standing next to Eden on Noah’s side of the bed with Adrian. Lily, Isaac, and Kaylen were on Jayden’s side of the bed.  
  
“Yeah. His name is Nathan,” Jayden replied, unable to hide the pride in his voice.  
  
“I like that name,” Kaylen smiled.  
  
“Me too. It suits him pretty well,” Eden said.  
  
Noah smiled and let Eden and Lily come over to stroke Nathan’s head gently. Adrian and Kaylen touched the baby’s hand, while Isaac didn’t make a move to go forward and touch the baby, but instead just smiled happily at the scene of Noah holding Nathan in his arms like that.  
  
Jayden was quite protective already. Noah could feel the alpha’s wings twitch whenever one of them came over to the baby, and he knew that Jayden was on alert. It was a bit amusing, but Noah was glad that Jayden still had his protective instincts when it came to him and their baby.  
  
“You look so tired, Noah,” Eden noted. “Dad told us that you got up pretty early this morning.”  
  
“Yeah, his contractions started at half past four already,” Jayden said.  
  
“Damn, that’s early. And it’s like 3:30pm now!” Isaac exclaimed.  
  
“Well, I walked around with pre-labor contractions for a few days before I had Eliza, but they didn’t get bad until about ten hours before she was born,” Kaylen said.  
  
Noah shivered at the thought alone. “I’m glad I didn’t have mine for that long…”  
  
Kaylen chuckled. “As I said; they weren’t that bad or that many until the day she was born. It was still hell, though.”  
  
“Fuck, I’m glad I’m a guy,” Jason chuckled.  
  
“Me too. Uteruses are not for wimps,” Isaac spoke, shivering slightly.  
  
“Well, then you should be glad you weren’t born with one, Isaac, otherwise you wouldn’t have survived puberty,” Adrian quipped.  
  
“Oi!”  
  
The others laughed at how Adrian indirectly called Isaac a wimp, and Nathan made a grumpy sound at all the noise. Noah quickly shushed him and rocked him gently, while Jayden stroked the baby’s head.  
  
Castiel entered the room then, holding a glass of water for Noah and a bottle of fresh, warm baby formula for the baby. “I got Charlie to prepare some formula for the baby. He’s probably getting hungry already.” He smiled as he walked over to Noah, and Eden, Jason, and Adrian stepped aside to give him space.  
  
Noah beamed and grabbed the glass of water from Castiel while Jayden took the bottle of milk. “Thank you, papa.” He quickly began drinking, feeling more thirsty than ever after all the struggle he had been through to bring Nathan into the world.  
  
“I think we should let the parents bond a bit with the baby now,” Eden announced, smiling at them as she slowly made her way over to the door. The others followed.  
  
“Aww, but we just got in here!” Isaac complained.  
  
“You can come in again later,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“Good, ‘cause I could look at that cutie forever,” Lily grinned, looking over at little Nathan, who was starting to complain that he was hungry.  
  
Noah smiled at her comment, and the others quietly left the room to give them some time alone.  
  
Castiel moved to leave too, but Noah stopped him.   
  
“Can you stay, please? I just want to make sure that we’re doing this right,” Noah said, gesturing at the bottle. He had put the glass away on the table next to him, having emptied it already.  
  
“Of course,” Castiel smiled.  
  
Jayden held the bottle while Castiel instructed Noah about how to hold Nathan. The baby’s neck had to be comfortable while feeding, and eye contact was also very important. Noah quickly got a hold of it, and Jayden passed him the bottle so that Nathan could feed for the first time. The baby was already sobbing and squirming in hunger, but as soon as the bottle appeared in front of his mouth, he quickly latched on to the tip and began eating. The new parents smiled proudly at their baby, and Noah cooed soft words at Nathan while the baby ate the precious milk eagerly from the bottle.  
  
Castiel stayed a bit with them, and Noah was comforted by his papa’s presence. After a few minutes he turned to leave, though. “I will give you two some space now. Just call me if you need anything. I will be right outside the room.”  
  
“Okay. Thank you, papa,” Noah smiled, watching as Cas left.  
  
“Yeah, thanks,” Jayden told the angel.  
  
Castiel left the room and closed the door behind him, and Noah and Jayden could finally be alone with their newborn.  
  
Jayden smiled down at Nathan and stroked his hand over the baby’s small head. “He’s so beautiful…”  
  
Noah smiled, staring down at the baby with a loving smile. “Yeah, he is.” The milk was disappearing rather fast, and Nathan looked very content to get some nutrition and something to fill his stomach. “You should hold him for a bit,” he told Jayden, looking up at him.  
  
Jayden beamed. “Okay.” They helped each other move the baby into Jayden’s arms, and the baby cried in protest when the bottle was temporarily moved from his mouth.  
  
“Shh, it’s okay,” Noah shushed him softly, making sure that Nathan was comfortable once he was in Jayden’s arms. He gave the bottle to Jayden, who brought it back to Nathan’s mouth. The baby quickly continued to eat, closing his eyes as he rested in his father’s arms for the first time.  
  
Noah smiled at the scene. He had loved seeing males sitting with their babies like that, and Jayden especially looked good as their newborn was lying in his arms. Noah knew that Nathan was safe and protected in Jayden’s strong arms and that the alpha would never allow any harm to come to him. He let out a content and tired sigh and leaned himself against Jayden while watching Nathan eat. Jayden turned his head to look at Noah as the submissive rested his head on his arm and leaned into him. He smiled at Noah and touched him with his tail under the blanket, before looking down at Nathan again.  
  
“Damn, he’s so small,” Jayden said, smiling fondly at the baby who was still eating eagerly from the bottle. The bottle was over half empty now, but the baby was still hungry.  
  
Noah smiled, still leaning into Jayden and using his muscled upper arm as a pillow. “Yeah, he is. But still kinda big… 8 pounds (3600 gram).”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “I think I was 8.4 pounds (3850 gram) when I was born.”  
  
“Hmm, I didn’t weight that much… I think my parents told me I was like 6.4 pounds (2900 gram)…”  
  
“Damn, that’s not much. But you’ve always been small,” Jayden said, glancing at Noah with a fond look on his face.  
  
Noah just smiled and sighed as he closed his eyes and snuggled into Jayden’s arm and side. He opened his eyes a little to look at Nathan, reaching out his hand to touch the baby’s bare stomach gently. Nathan squirmed a bit at that and Noah chuckled softly. He then moved his finger up to Nathan’s hand, and the baby grabbed a hold of it and held onto it as he drank the last milk in the bottle.  
  
It was one of the happiest times in their lives, sitting there with their newborn baby and bonding with him.  
  
After Nathan had been fed, Noah took him back into his arms and rocked him to sleep. Their families came in to have a look at the baby one more time before he fell asleep, and Noah was social with them for as long as he could until he was too tired and needed some rest.  
  
Everyone was happy for them, and their parents were proud to be grandparents again or for the first time. Dean and Castiel got along well with Leila and Micah, and Laura talked well with all of Noah’s siblings. Dean and Micah had both taken their cameras along, so the first few pictures of the baby were snapped on the first day. Jayden cursed himself for having forgotten his own camera, but was glad that Dean and Micah had theirs.  
  
Noah and Jayden would have to stay at the hospital for a bit so that Charlie and the doctors could make sure that they were equipped to take care of the baby properly before taking him home. They would go home on the next day or the day after that, and Jayden’s parents would take care of Midnight until then.  
  
It had been a long and exhausting day for Noah, but he was content and happy as he and Jayden lay down to sleep that night with the baby only few feet away from them. Parenthood waited ahead, but both were confident that they would pull through it and be a happy family together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally their first baby has been born ^_^ Their lives as parents should be interesting to explore. Everything about the birth in this chapter is from stuff I looked up. All births are different, it seems, but I hope what I wrote is pretty accurate.
> 
> I’d like to add that I am currently working on a new Destiel fic, which I will be writing parallel to Dedicated (but it’s not related to the Bonded verse at all). Therefore I apologize in advance that my updates on Dedicated may come a bit slower, like this one. The new fic will be about 3 chapters long, so I hope I’ll get time to write it and finish it soon. It’s just been in my head for so long that I just had to start writing it. I might tease with the summary on Tumblr at some point, but until then please wait for it to published :) Hope you guys will be interested in reading it!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter :)


	22. Chapter 22

**December 2049 (Noah is 23, Jayden is 25, Nathan is 6 days old, Castiel is 60, Dean is 61 (almost 62), Leila is 51, Micah is 52, Laura is 14 years old).**  
  
The two new parents were fast asleep on the bed when they were woken up by the cries of their baby, coming from the baby alarm. Both groaned and shifted on the bed, annoyed to be woken up when they were having such nice dreams.  
  
It was Noah’s turn to tend to Nathan, so he had to pull himself together to get up from the bed. He lazily turned around to see what the time was, and wasn’t surprised to see that it was only 2:47am. The baby had been asleep for four straight hours, but was now awake again, likely because he was hungry. The cries of his baby forced Noah’s maternal instincts to take over, giving him strength to get off the bed, even though he grunted irritably to have his sleep disturbed. Again.  
  
It had been four days since they brought Nathan home, and the baby was rather easy to handle. He only needed food, diaper changes, and baths once in a while, and of course attention and interaction with his parents when he was awake. He didn’t stay asleep for very long at the time, though. He woke up every two to five hours, demanding food or a new diaper. Charlie had said that it would be like that for the first few weeks, but that soon he’d begin to sleep for longer periods at the time.  
  
Noah lazily got up from the bed, rubbing his sleepy eyes and padding out of the room. He was dressed in one of Jayden’s t-shirts and some pajama pants that slid down his hips every now and then. It had been only six days since the birth, so his body still hadn’t gone back to normal and he wasn’t quite back to his usual, thin self yet.  
  
Jayden rolled over on his other side to keep sleeping while Noah went to take care of the baby, taking the baby alarm with him.  
  
The apartment was dark and even Midnight was asleep, so Noah turned on some lights as he wandered through the hallway and kitchen until he reached the nursery. He still felt like a zombie, but his baby was calling for him, so he turned on the lights in the nursery and went over to the crib where little Nathan was squirming and crying.  
  
“Shhh, it’s okay, sweetie. Mommy is here now.” Noah reached down and grabbed Nathan gently, pulling him up to rest him against his shoulder. The baby was still so small and helpless, and he couldn’t do anything on his own yet. Noah rocked the crying baby and shushed him gently while he patted his butt. Nathan was calming down a bit, but Noah knew he was hungry again, so he went into the kitchen with him to start preparing some formula.  
  
He used one hand to hold Nathan against his shoulder while using the other to grab the things he needed to warm up the milk. He hummed a children’s song he knew while getting the milk ready, and Nathan became calmer and calmer, although he still sobbed once in a while to let Noah know he wanted food.  
  
Although it was hard to always get up at night and tend to the baby, Noah was happy that he could finally hold him. He embraced motherhood already and his baby was the most precious thing in the world. He placed soft kisses on the baby’s dark-haired head every now and then, smiling and holding Nathan close.  
  
When the milk was ready, Noah went over to the table and sat down with Nathan in his arms, testing the milk’s temperate on his skin before he began feeding the baby. Nathan eagerly began eating, his little hands curling into fists and his tail flapping every now and then while he filled his stomach with nutrition. Noah smiled down at him and rocked him gently from side to side, keeping eye contact whenever Nathan’s blue eyes stared up at him.  
  
The baby made soft noises while staring back up at Noah, and Noah chuckled at him. It was amazing to see some of his own features on Nathan’s face. The baby definitely looked more like Noah than Jayden, but he kind of had Jayden’s nose. Noah knew that Nathan would look more boyish than him when he grew older, since Noah was a submissive and Nathan a beta, but he still liked the similarities.  
  
After a few minutes Noah felt himself needing the bathroom pretty badly, and he cringed when he realized that he couldn’t just put Nathan down – the baby couldn’t hold the bottle by himself yet. He could hold it for a bit longer, but it could take over five minutes before Nathan was done feeding.  
  
Luckily Jayden came into the kitchen then, looking sleepy as he walked over to them. “Hey. How is he?” he asked, smiling at Noah and the baby, who was busy eating.  
  
“He’s good, just very hungry,” Noah replied, smiling down at Nathan too. “Um, can you take him for a bit? I need the bathroom…”  
  
“Sure. You’re lucky I had to use it myself earlier, otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten up,” Jayden chuckled, coming over to take Nathan.  
  
“Yeah, thanks.” Noah handed Jayden the baby carefully before heading to the bathroom, while Jayden shushed Nathan, who got a little grumpy when he was moved around like that.  
  
Jayden sat down and stared at the baby with a smile. He waited patiently for Noah to return, and Nathan suckled noisily on the bottle in his arms. Nathan was still so small and fragile in Jayden’s large arms, and he was very careful when he handled him. It was funny to feel the baby’s little wings twitch against his arm while he ate, and how his tail moved a bit. Nathan was still not very good at moving his limbs, but it would come.  
  
After a few minutes Noah returned to the room, approaching them slowly. “How is he?”  
  
“He’s fine. He’s very hungry, as usual,” Jayden chuckled, noting that Nathan was almost done with the bottle already. “Soon he’ll be ready to go back to bed.”  
  
“Ugh, don’t say the word ‘bed’,” Noah groaned. “I’m so sleepy…”  
  
Jayden laughed softly. “Yeah, I know. Me too.”  
  
Noah sighed and sat down in the chair next to Jayden, resting his elbows on the table while burying his face in his hands. He struggled to keep his eyes open, but it was like his brain was ready to just shut down. He had been very tired ever since the birth – both because it had been hard on his body and because the baby kept them awake at night. His body still hadn’t recovered from the birth, and sexual intercourse was not something he would be ready for for another six or seven weeks or so. He was still sore inside and his sex drive had dropped significantly. Jayden’s hadn’t changed, but he had had to take care of his arousal on his own in the past few days because Noah was too tired and not in the mood for any kinds of sexual activity.  
  
Nathan finished the bottle and sobbed in complaint until Noah got up and gently grabbed him to put him against his shoulder. Jayden watched as Noah rocked the baby gently and patted his back, urging him to burp. After a few seconds the baby finally burped, making Jayden laugh.  
  
“That’s a good boy,” Jayden grinned, getting up from his chair too and reaching out to stroke Nathan’s head lovingly. “Better burp as much as you can while you still get praised for it.”  
  
Noah chortled softly and continued rubbing Nathan’s back. “Yes, _you_ certainly don’t get praise.”  
  
“Neither do you when you fart in bed.”  
  
“I don’t fart in bed!” Noah protested.  
  
Jayden laughed and looked at Noah with a wicked smile. “Yeah, you do. Don’t think I haven’t heard.”  
  
Noah opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it again. He glared at Jayden before looking away and kept rocking the baby. “Speak for yourself. Yours are worse.”  
  
“Didn’t say they weren’t,” Jayden chuckled. He came closer and kissed Nathan lovingly on the head, stroking his hand over the small, soft head and listened to the baby coo a little.  
  
Suddenly a foul smell filled their noses, making them both grimace a bit. Jayden pulled away.  
  
“Oh. I think I’ll let you handle this... I’ll go back to bed,” the alpha snickered, touching Noah’s leg with his tail and turning to leave the room.  
  
Noah glared at him before taking Nathan into the nursery to change his dirty diaper. He was still getting used to the diaper changes, but at least Nathan was not old enough yet to move his tail properly; otherwise the task would be much more difficult.  
  
Noah smiled down at the baby and cooed soft words at him while changing his diaper. He kissed his little hands and his belly, and the baby squirmed and gurgled happily, staring at Noah with happy but sleepy eyes. Noah grinned down at Nathan and finished up; putting the new diaper into place and dressing Nathan in warm clothes so that he wouldn’t be cold.  
  
Carefully, Noah moved Nathan over to the crib and put him down into it. He stayed by the crib, hummed a quiet song to him and ran his hand slowly over Nathan’s head until the baby finally fell asleep. Noah stared at him with a fond smile, admiring how pretty and perfect his baby was, before he quietly left the room and took the baby alarm with him.  
  
When Noah returned to the bedroom, Jayden was asleep already. He slowly made his way back to the bed and climbed inside, and as soon as he had pulled his covers over him, Jayden hummed and rolled over to pull him into a cuddle. Noah smiled and rolled his eyes at how Jayden held him close even though he was pretty much asleep, and he allowed his mate to bury his hand in his feathers as they got ready to sleep again.  
  
  


***

  
  
When the day started and Noah and Jayden decided to get out of bed, they got ready to leave the apartment for a few hours. It was the 4th December – Laura’s 14th birthday – and they were headed to Jayden’s family’s house to spend some time with them and give Laura her birthday present.  
  
Nathan was put into a handheld baby carrier and then into the baby safety seat in the car as they drove off. He slept the whole way there, and Jayden smiled as he checked on him in the rearview mirror every once in a while.  
  
When they arrived at the house, they helped each other get Nathan out of the car and put him into the handheld baby carrier again so they could carry him inside.  
  
It was a rather cold day and it looked like it was about to rain soon, so they hurried up to the door and rang the doorbell.  
  
Leila opened the door, beaming when she saw them and little Nathan. She quickly invited them inside and pulled them into hugs, before leaning down to look at Nathan in the carrier. “Aw, aren’t you just wonderful, little guy!” she cooed, reaching out to rub his tummy with her finger. Nathan was awake now, and he stared back at Leila with a curious look on his face.  
  
Noah and Jayden grinned and watched her, until Micah and Laura came over to greet them too.  
  
“Oh, there’s the birthday kid,” Jayden grinned, coming over to pull Laura into a tight hug. “Happy birthday, kiddo.”  
  
Laura squeaked and laughed happily as Jayden hugged her tight and lifted her feet off the ground. “Thanks. I hope you have presents for me.”  
  
“Laura,” Micah chastised her softly, finding her comment rude.  
  
Jayden just laughed before putting Laura down again. “You sure you deserve that? It looks like it’s about to rain outside, so you were probably a bad girl this year…”  
  
“No I wasn’t!” Laura protested. She gasped and covered her mouth guiltily when her loud voice made Nathan cry.  
  
“Shh, it’s okay,” Noah reassured Nathan, putting the carrier on the floor and kneeled down so he could see Nathan. He waved a colorful, noisy rattle in front of the baby, which quickly calmed Nathan down.  
  
“Sorry…” Laura said, cringing.  
  
“It’s okay,” Noah told her, looking up and giving her a soft smile.  
  
Jayden chuckled and ruffled Laura’s chair before greeting his dad properly with a hug.  
  
Noah took off his jacket and shoes while Leila bent down to play a bit with Nathan. Once his shoes were off, he went over to congratulate Laura. “Happy birthday, Laura,” he smiled, pulling her into a hug.  
  
“Thanks,” Laura beamed, hugging him back.  
  
They pulled away, and Noah found himself thinking that he would never get used to Laura being taller than him. He also couldn’t believe she was already 14 years old. The first time he had met her, she had been a shy, cute 6-year-old girl who was always eager to hang out with him and have him come up to her room with her to play. A lot had changed in almost eight years, and Noah thought it was kind of sad in a way.  
  
Noah greeted Micah next before he and Jayden finally pulled out Laura’s present.  
  
“Here. From Noah and me,” Jayden said, handing Laura the present, which was a card wrapped in nice paper.  
  
Laura grinned in excitement and began opening the present. She gasped when she saw that they had gotten her a gift card for her favorite beauty shop. The present was worth 70 dollars in total. “Oh my god! Thank you!” She happily came over to hug them both again, her wings flaring behind her in joy.  
  
Jayden laughed and hugged her back. “Use it wisely, and don’t paint your face in two tons of makeup, please…”  
  
“You’re just scared I’ll get a boyfriend,” Laura quipped, playfully sticking out her tongue at him before hugging Noah too. Noah chuckled at them in amusement.  
  
“Jeez, what a buncha kids,” Micah murmured, rolling his eyes.  
  
Leila chuckled at them, but she was busy entertaining and bonding with Nathan right now.  
  
Jayden groaned at the idea of Laura having a boyfriend. He still didn’t want to imagine that happening. He was quite protective of her and always had been, and he didn’t want to see his sister get her heart broken by a guy. If Laura ever had a boyfriend, Jayden wanted to get to know the guy and make sure that he would treat his sister right.  
  
They all headed into the living room then, and Jayden picked up the baby carrier and carried Nathan inside. The baby was awake and was sucking on a pacifier while the others peeked down at him with soft smiles.  
  
They settled down on the couch, and Jayden took Nathan from the baby carrier and sat down with him in his arms next to Noah. Noah smiled and stroked Nathan’s head gently while the baby played with the rattle in Jayden’s arms, and the others smiled at the scene.  
  
“So, are you getting used to being woken up every night by the baby yet?” Leila asked, and gestured at them to eat from the cookies, coffee, and juice on the table. They would be eating cake later, but for now she had served them cookies so they had something to munch on.  
  
“Kind of. It’s hard not getting proper sleep…” Jayden murmured, looking down at Nathan who was busy with the rattle. Nathan was quite active at the moment after having slept for many hours, but his movements were still very restricted and his development and learning had only just begun.  
  
“I hope he starts sleeping longer soon,” Noah murmured. The lack of proper sleep made him have a blue/purple shade under his eyes, and he didn’t like seeing that whenever he looked at himself in the mirror. Jayden had some bags under his eyes too, but not as visible.  
  
Micah laughed. “Don’t worry; it won’t be long before he can stay asleep for longer at the time. At some point he can probably sleep for ten straight hours.”  
  
“That would be nice…”  
  
The others laughed, and Jayden gently nudged Noah with his wing in sympathy. Jayden was better at handling sleep deprivation than Noah was, but he too already felt very drained and tired from taking care of the baby all the time.  
  
They poured something to drink for themselves, and Laura played a bit with Nathan. She was sitting next to Jayden and grinning down at little Nathan while dangling the rattle over him. He focused on it with his eyes, and his little tail flapped against Jayden’s arm every now and then. Laura chuckled at that and reached out to poke his tail gently. The tail twitched and Nathan’s eyes darted around a bit, as he wasn’t able to process yet what it was that had touched him.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Is she teasing you, huh? Don’t pay attention to her,” he told Nathan in a soft voice, rocking him in his arms. Laura just grinned and waved the rattle over Nathan again, and the baby watched the toy closely.  
  
“Is your energy coming back yet, Noah?” Leila asked Noah as they started eating from the cookies.  
  
Noah swallowed the cookie he had just taken a bite of and looked at little Nathan. “Slowly. I still feel very exhausted and tired, though…”  
  
“Sounds like Jayden needs to step up and be the baby man for a few nights so that Noah can get the rest he deserves,” Leila said, giving Jayden a glare of disapproval.  
  
“Hey, I _did_ do that. For the first two nights, I was the one looking after him while Noah got some rest,” Jayden said, glaring back at his mom.  
  
“Yeah, he did. I did get to rest a lot, but I’m still so tired…” Noah said, giving Jayden an apologetic look because he made his mom get a bit upset with him.  
  
“Oh. Well, in that case I hope you’ll feel better soon, Noah.” Leila gave him a soft smile and glanced briefly at Jayden in apology.  
  
“I’m glad _I_ can sleep all night without being woken up,” Laura snickered.  
  
“I bet you are,” Jayden murmured jealously. Laura laughed.  
  
They continued to talk on the couch, and Jayden and Noah elaborated a bit on how little Nathan was doing and how they were adjusting to being parents. After a few minutes, Jayden moved Nathan over into Leila’s arms so she could hold him, and Laura and Micah got to hold him too. The baby was rather calm and didn’t protest much at being moved around. Leila and Micah were still thrilled to hold their first grandchild and it was great to see how happy they were.  
  
After a while Nathan was put into Noah’s arms. Noah smiled lovingly down at his baby and entertained him a bit with the rattle, until Nathan began to cry. He was hungry, so Jayden got up and went to the kitchen to prepare some milk. Leila and Micah joined so they could get the cake ready, while Laura stayed on the couch with Noah.  
  
Laura shifted over to where Jayden had sat before so that she could sit next to Noah and stare down at the baby. Nathan was crying and Noah gently shushed and rocked him.  
  
“It’s so strange that you’re a mom now,” Laura said, staring down at the crying baby with a soft smile. “And I can’t get used to the fact that Jayden is a father now. I think you guys will be great parents.”  
  
Noah smiled at her while he was busy calming Nathan down. “Thank you. And I think I’m getting used to the mother thing.” Nathan wouldn’t stop crying, so Noah had to pick him up and lean him against his shoulder, shushing him kindly while patting his back.  
  
Laura grinned at the scene. “He’s so cute. I also want a baby someday.”  
  
“I think your family wants you to wait a few years with that,” Noah chuckled.  
  
Laura laughed. “Yeah. Jayden is such an ass lately, and so is my dad. Whenever we talk on the phone he asks me if I have a boyfriend yet, and whenever I mention a boy in my class to my dad he goes ‘you better not like this boy’.” She rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Honestly, I’m 14 already!”  
  
Noah chuckled softly, feeling a bit sorry for her. “They’re just being protective. I know that Jayden finds it difficult that you’re growing up. To him you’re still his baby sister and he wants to make sure you’re safe.”  
  
Laura sighed. “Were your parents and siblings like that too when you were a teen?”  
  
“Yeah, kind of. Especially my dad. He still doesn’t like to be reminded of the fact that I’m not a kid anymore…” Noah smiled ruefully at that.  
  
Laura looked at him as if she understood exactly what he meant. She flinched a bit when Mr. Giggles suddenly jumped up on the back of the couch, balancing elegantly on it as he made his way over to them. “Jeez, you scared me, Giggles,” she groused softly, reaching up to pet the cat.  
  
Noah laughed softly and turned his head to look at the cat. Nathan was still sobbing against his shoulder and squirming grumpily to let him know that he was hungry, but when he saw the cat it was like he calmed down a moment to study the furry creature next to him. The cat came over to have a closer look, but Noah made sure that Mr. Giggles didn’t get too close or made Nathan uncomfortable.  
  
Finally Jayden came back with a fresh bottle of formula for the baby. They had packed lots of formula and diapers in the car before leaving so that they would have everything they needed to keep the baby happy. He handed the bottle to Noah, who got Nathan settled in his arms before feeding him. Nathan eagerly began eating, and Laura grinned at how cute it looked when his tiny tail flapped every now and then while he fed.   
  
Mr. Giggles watched them from the back of the couch, blinking his eyes slowly and glancing around the room lazily.  
  
Meanwhile, Leila and Micah got the dining table ready so they could eat cake there, and Laura helped them out a bit. Noah and Jayden got up too to stretch their legs, while Nathan kept eating as he lay safely in his mother’s arms.  
  
“Are you guys staying for dinner too?” Micah asked as he put plates on the table.  
  
“No, we’re leaving in the afternoon. I gotta be home when Dean comes over later; he promised to help me attach something to the back of the car so I can transport the baby carriage around,” Jayden explained.  
  
“Ah. Better let the mechanic handle that, right?”  
  
“Well, he’d get the equipment for me for free and help me attach it, so I’m not complaining,” Jayden grinned, shrugging his shoulders a bit.  
  
“Reminds me I better get our car to repairs. I started getting my car done at the garage where Dean works – he always provides some extra service for family,” Micah grinned.  
  
Noah smiled happily, glad that his and Jayden’s families got along so well.  
  
“Oh, that reminds me…” Laura started, looking at Noah. “Did I tell you that my best friend Anna went to a convention and attended a panel with Isaac there? She said it was the funniest panel she’s ever attended and that she’s never laughed so much in her life before. And she totally ships Isaac’s character on The Sorcerer’s Redemption with that other male character, Tyson or something.”  
  
Noah couldn’t’ help but laugh, but luckily Nathan wasn’t bothered his mom’s body vibrating as he laughed; he just kept eating. Noah had seen the show, and Isaac’s character _did_ have pretty nice chemistry with ‘Tyson’.  
  
“I bet he made some jokes about that on the panel,” Jayden laughed.  
  
“Yeah, and Anna said that he crashed the other actor’s panel and gave him a big kiss on the cheek in front of all the fans. I hope Kaylen isn’t upset by that…” Laura murmured.  
  
Noah chuckled. “Kaylen told me that Isaac has kissed that other actor a few times, but that there’s nothing to it. It was just to entertain the fans and he said that Isaac has never kissed the guy on the mouth. Kaylen says he’s fine with it as long as Isaac doesn’t take it too far.”  
  
“Well, let’s hope he doesn’t cross that line,” Micah commented with a chuckle in his voice.  
  
Jayden smiled and curled his tail around Noah’s leg as he stepped closer to him so that their arms and wings were touching. “We should attend one of his conventions someday.”  
  
“Yeah…” Noah looked down at Nathan, who was still eating from the bottle and lying still and content in his arms.  
  
Leila smiled at them before telling everyone to take a seat already. They all sat down to share the cake, and Laura told them about her plans to go to the movies with her three best friends that night to celebrate her birthday.  
  
Noah let Leila hold Nathan for a bit so she could bond with her first grandchild, and she and Micah couldn’t stop staring down at the baby proudly as he finished the bottle.  
  
  


***

  
  
At 3pm, Noah and Jayden left the house and headed home. Nathan had slept in the baby carrier in Jayden’s old room for a while, and he got a little fussy when he was suddenly moved when they had to head home. Laura seemed a little sad that they had to leave already, but after Jayden gave her a long, tight hug, she seemed to cheer up more.  
  
They headed home in the car, tired after not getting proper sleep for several days and after spending five long hours with Jayden’s family.  
  
When they arrived in the parking lot outside the apartment, they helped each other carry their stuff inside. Jayden grabbed the handheld baby carrier where Nathan was sleeping, while Noah grabbed some of their bags with diapers, formula, toys, and other stuff.  
  
As they walked across the parking lot, they noticed a leased truck from a moving company parked outside the building and wondered where the new tenants would be moving in. They knew that the apartment next to theirs was free at the moment, so perhaps the tenants were moving in there.  
  
They made it to the elevator, where an elderly demon female was standing inside. She smiled politely at them as they got inside, and she watched little Nathan curiously when she spotted him in the carrier. He was sleeping, but that didn’t stop the woman from smiling at him. Noah and Jayden shared a small smile, glad that the old lady didn’t seem disgusted that Nathan was a hybrid with both demon and angel blood inside him. It was rare to meet elderly people who didn’t have a very traditional view on keeping the species’ blood pure.  
  
The woman got off at the fourth floor, wishing them a good day, and Noah and Jayden continued the ride up to the sixth floor where they lived.  
  
The elevator stopped with a small ding, and Noah and Jayden hurried out. They were both a bit startled to run into a young demon couple as they exited the elevator and stepped into the stairwell.   
  
“Whoa! I’m _so_ sorry!” said the beta demon whom they had almost bumped into. He was almost a head shorter than Jayden, had dark hair, brown eyes, and some stubble on his jaw. He seemed to be a little older than Jayden, and next to him was a heavily pregnant female demon, presumably his mate. The female was dark blonde, had grey eyes, and she held her pregnant stomach as she stared between her mate and Noah and Jayden. Around the two there were several boxes stashed with writings such as ‘kitchen’, ‘living room’, and ‘bedroom’ on them, so they were clearly about to move into the apartment next to Noah and Jayden’s.  
  
“No, that’s okay,” Jayden smiled, waving it off. “You didn’t bump into us, but it was close.”  
  
The beta sighed in relief. “Well, we’re moving in here and I was about to go down with the elevator to get more stuff from the truck. I got so stressed I didn’t think that someone else could be coming out of the elevator.”  
  
“Yeah, he’s clumsy,” said the female demon, giving them an apologetic look and snickered a bit when her mate glared at her.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “So, you’re our new neighbors then?”  
  
The beta shifted a bit and put on a smile. “Seems so. I’m David, by the way, and this is my mate, Millie.” He gestured at his mate before reaching out his hand to shake Jayden’s.  
  
Jayden had to put the carrier with Nathan down for a bit while he reached out to shake the guy’s hand back. “I’m Jayden and this is my mate, Noah.” He gestured at Noah, who smiled at Millie and accepted her handshake as she reached out her hand towards him.  
  
“Nice to meet you,” Millie grinned, rubbing her belly after having shaken their hands. She looked down at the baby carrier where Nathan was half asleep. “And who’s this cute, little guy?”  
  
Noah smiled and followed her glance. “This is Nathan, our son.”  
  
“Aww, he’s adorable! How old is he?”  
  
“He’s six days old now,” Noah replied, still holding most of the stuff that he had been carrying.  
  
“Ohh. Congratulations on him then.”  
  
“Thank you,” Noah smiled, glad that the couple seemed friendly and accepting towards them.   
  
Jayden’s tail flicked behind him slowly, a gesture of protectiveness and wariness as the two strangers stared at his son and his mate. It wasn’t threatening or rude, but still a sign that whoever would want to hurt his family should back the hell off if they didn’t want to get beat up. David had picked up on that and kept a respectful distance. The beta was protective of his own family as well, but alphas were much more territorial and possessive than betas were.  
  
David smiled as he looked down at Nathan. “Glad to see that there are other children here. Our baby girl should be here in about five weeks from now.” He looked at his mate, and their tails touched briefly as they shared a smile.  
  
“That’s nice. Maybe they can hang out in the playground together when they’re old enough,” Jayden said, smiling.  
  
Millie beamed. “That would be nice. If they get along, that is.”  
  
Noah smiled at that, happy to know that Nathan would have a potential friend next door as he grew up.  
  
“Well, we’ll let you go inside your apartment now,” David said, chuckling a bit. “We’ll try not to make too much noise while we’re moving in, and if we annoy you when we start drilling, just let us know and then we can work something out. We don’t wanna bother the little guy’s sleep too much…” He glanced down at Nathan briefly.  
  
“Okay, thanks. We appreciate it,” Jayden grinned. The new neighbors seemed kind and considerate, and it made his territorial posture soften a bit.  
  
They all smiled at each other and said goodbye before Noah and Jayden entered their apartment with Nathan and locked the door behind them.  
  
Noah was glad that their new neighbors seemed nice. Millie had smiled at him and Nathan a lot, and her body language had told him that she had no problem with living next to an angel/demon hybrid. He also felt like their chemistry worked well together, so hopefully Nathan and Millie’s baby could be friends someday and visit each other. Noah really wanted Nathan to have friends, but he knew it would also be a challenge for the boy because he was different.  
  
They got out of their shoes and jackets, and Noah took Nathan out of the baby carrier and hushed him gently when his son sobbed in protest. He put the baby against his shoulder and patted his butt gently. “Shhh, it’s okay. Mommy will take you to your crib now. It’s nice and soft there.”  
  
Jayden smiled as he watched Noah with the baby, and he stepped aside as Noah passed him and walked Nathan into the nursery to put him down to sleep.  
  
Midnight jumped out of the living room then, meowing happily and coming over to Jayden to rub herself against his legs. The alpha grinned at her and picked her up, petting her and taking her with him into the kitchen to get her some food.  
  
The cat was eating eagerly from her bowl on the floor when Noah exited the nursery and gingerly closed the door behind him. Jayden was in the kitchen and taking food out of the freezer to cook for dinner. Dean and Castiel were coming over later and Jayden planned to make dinner for them as well. He had marinated pork meat in mind, as well as some vegetables and potatoes.  
  
The alpha looked up when Noah came into the room. “Hey,” he said softly, smiling. “Is he sleeping?”  
  
“Yes. He went out like a light,” Noah chuckled, coming over to him. He flexed his shoulders and wings, groaning a bit at the stiffness in his muscles. His back didn’t hurt much anymore, but he hated that he was still not as thin as usual yet. He did the pelvic and stomach muscle exercises that Charlie had shown him, so he hoped it wouldn’t take long until his body was back to normal again. Luckily angels and demons recovered rather fast from such things, and submissives’ butts always got tight again after a while, no matter how wide they had been stretched.  
  
Jayden noticed Noah’s discomfort in his shoulders and gently turned the submissive around so that they were back to front. He placed his hands on Noah’s smaller shoulders and began to rub and massage them. Noah sighed and relaxed his body, closing his eyes as he enjoyed his mate’s large, rough hands tending to his stiff muscles. It felt so nice and relieving, and he purred in appreciation as Jayden rubbed the tension out of the muscles the best he could.  
  
Jayden smiled, loving to listen to Noah’s soft purrs and moans. He leaned down and nuzzled Noah behind the right ear, humming a bit before he placed a kiss there.  
  
The submissive shuddered, feeling a small spark of arousal inside him. It had been a whole week since he last felt that, but he still felt too tired and sore inside to have sex. “Connor, I can’t… I’m still sore.”  
  
Jayden’s wings slumped a bit in disappointment and he nibbled Noah’s ear a bit before sighing. “I know. I just miss you… And I don’t have to be inside you, you know. We can do other stuff.”  
  
“I’m just so tired and my body doesn’t feel it… Plus, my parents are coming over soon.”  
  
Jayden sighed and stepped back.  
  
Noah slowly turned around to face him, giving him an apologetic look as his wings slumped behind him in guilt. “Sorry, I just… Sex is just not really something I’m in the mood for lately. It’s only been a week since the birth and I’m still sore all over.”  
  
“I know. I get it,” Jayden said, his voice soft and understanding. “I just can’t help my alpha libido.” He shrugged and tried to lighten the mood up with a chuckle, but Noah knew he didn’t think it was funny.  
  
“Um, I’m not against, um, giving you a hand. I’m just not sure how aroused my own body will be.”  
  
“It’s not the same if you don’t get to enjoy it too… So I guess I’ll just make good friends with my right hand until you’re ready, okay?” Jayden held up his right hand, chuckling and moving his fingers.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but laugh shortly at Jayden’s gesture. “I’m still sorry, though…”  
  
“Don’t worry about it,” Jayden said, flashing him a reassuring smile before putting his hands on Noah’s hips and pulling him closer. He smiled down at him with a loving expression on his face before leaning down for a kiss.  
  
Noah got up on his toes and kissed him back, humming as Jayden stroked his hand through his hair.  
  
They shared a long, deep kiss, reveling in each other’s taste and the warm feeling that flowed through their bond. It had been a while since they last shared such an intimate moment, and Jayden especially was relieved by it. His alpha instincts always wanted him to be close to Noah, feel him, smell him, and mark him, and the kiss was like something he had been thirsting for for a while now.  
  
They had just pulled apart when Jayden’s cell phone went off on the kitchen counter, buzzing and making noise. He quickly went over to pick it up, seeing that it was Dean who was calling.  
  
Noah listened as Jayden and his dad talked on the phone. He could tell that Dean was calling them to let them know that he and Cas were leaving the house soon to come visit them.   
  
While Jayden talked on the phone, Noah moved his hand up to his mouth to brush his fingers over his lips. His lips still tingled after the kiss and he felt a bit warm inside, but he didn’t feel nearly as aroused as usual when he and Jayden shared a kiss like that. He knew it was just because of a change in his hormones and that he’d soon get his sex drive back, but he hated not feeling like usual anymore.  
  
The alpha hung up after a minute, and the two of them cleaned up a bit before their guests would arrive.  
  
  


***

  
  
Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang and Noah hurried over to get the door. He beamed when he saw his parents and quickly let them in.  
  
“Hello, Noah. How are you?” Castiel smiled, hugging Noah tightly to greet him.  
  
“I’m good. Things are going pretty okay,” Noah replied, hugging his papa back before turning to his dad. Dean grinned and pulled him into a hug, touching his leg with his tail in affection.  
  
Jayden emerged from the kitchen and grinned as he came over to greet them too. He gave both Cas and Dean a hug before pulling away and wrapping his arm around Noah’s waist.  
  
“It smells pretty nice in here. Are you cooking?” Dean asked, sniffing the air.  
  
“Yeah, I figured you guys might want to stay for dinner,” Jayden replied with a smile. He had just put the marinated pork into the oven, which caused the smell to linger around the apartment.  
  
Castiel smiled as he took off his shoes and jacket. He wouldn’t be going outside to help Dean and Jayden attach the equipment to the car; they were capable of doing so themselves. “We would love that, thank you.” He looked down when Midnight came over to him, meowing and rubbing against his legs. He reached down to pick her up, and the cat purred loudly as he scratched her under the chin while she sat on his arm. Dean grinned at that, loving to see his mate around kids and animals.  
  
“Where’s the little guy? Is he sleeping?” Dean asked, looking around.  
  
“Yeah, he fell asleep when we went to visit my parents earlier. He was still sleepy when we got home, so Noah put him to bed,” Jayden answered, still standing next to Noah. He rubbed his thumb against Noah’s hip in affection as he had his arm wrapped around his mate’s waist, and he could feel Noah relax at his touch.  
  
“Sorry… He should wake up soon,” Noah said, cringing a bit because he knew his parents wanted to see Nathan, but the baby was asleep. Dean and Castiel had come to the hospital after the day of the birth and had gotten to spend a lot of time with Nathan, but they were of course still eager to see him again.  
  
“That’s alright. We can wait,” Castiel smiled.  
  
“So,” Dean began, clapping his hands together and looking at Jayden. “Should we go down and upgrade your car? Better get it done before it gets too dark outside.”  
  
Jayden laughed at Dean’s phrasing. “Yeah, let’s.” He brushed his wing against Noah’s before putting on his shoes and jacket and leaving the apartment with Dean, while Noah and Castiel stayed inside.  
  
After the guys were gone, Castiel put Midnight down on the floor again and followed Noah into the living room. “I’m guessing from your tired face that Nathan has been keeping you awake a lot,” he commented, chuckling at Noah.  
  
“Is it that obvious?” Noah murmured, sighing as he sat down on the couch. He cringed a bit as his butt was still a bit tender from the birth. “It’s rather exhausting and he wakes up a lot. I’m glad that both Jayden and I are off work at the moment.”  
  
Castiel sat down next to him, and Midnight jumped up to sit in the small space between them.   
  
“Jayden only has one more week left of his leave, doesn’t he?”  
  
Noah nodded. “Yeah. I’m hoping we’ll still have time for each other… I already feel a bit like I’m drifting away from him mentally because I’m so tired. How did you and dad manage that?”  
  
“Well, we had a lot of arguments whenever we had a newborn to stress us both out,” Castiel answered honestly. “It can be difficult as mates to maintain the relationship when the baby requires so much attention and you feel tired and moody, but I think it’s important to still pay attention to each other. Even small things such as kisses and touches can make a big difference.”  
  
Noah nodded quietly, taking in his papa’s words. It was mostly Jayden who initiated those small, physical touches, and Noah knew he should get better at initiating it too.  
  
They talked a bit more about how the first week with the baby had gone, and Noah asked Cas about babies’ development. He was curious about when Nathan would be able to move more, to crawl, to stand up, and speak his first words, and Castiel gladly answered all his questions and shared his own experiences. They petted Midnight while they talked, and the cat loved to get attention from four hands. She would get up on their legs all the time, and Noah laughed when Castiel let out a loud, high-pitched yelp of pain when the cat dug her claws into his thighs.  
  
After half an hour of talking, Nathan began crying on the baby alarm. Noah immediately got up to tend to him, and Castiel followed. Nathan was hungry, so they brought him to the kitchen and got some formula ready.  
  
Castiel held his newest grandson against his shoulder and hushed and patted his back gently while Noah worked on getting some milk ready for him to eat. Nathan fisted his little hands in Castiel’s shirt while he sobbed against him, and Castiel smiled as he gently rocked the baby.  
  
The milk was almost done when Dean and Jayden returned to the apartment. Noah and Castiel could hear them laughing at something together in the hallway while taking off their shoes, and it made them smile.  
  
After a few moments, Dean appeared in the kitchen, beaming when he saw that Nathan had woken up. “Hey, you’re awake,” he cooed, coming over to see the baby.  
  
Jayden entered the kitchen and smiled as Castiel and Dean bonded with Nathan. He came over to help Noah with the formula, and tested the temperate on his arm when it was ready before handing the bottle to Castiel. “Here. I think he wants his grandma to feed him this time,” he smiled.  
  
Castiel accepted the bottle with a wide smile, and Dean helped him get Nathan to lie down properly in his arms so he could eat. Once he got the warm milk into his mouth, Nathan calmed down and went slack in Castiel’s arms. He looked up at his grandparents while feeding, and they both looked back at him with soft smiles.  
  
“Did you get that thingie attached to the car?” Noah asked, watching as Castiel fed the baby.  
  
“Yep, now you’ve got your very own baby express car,” Dean smirked. “Your mate is a lousy mechanic, though.”  
  
“Hey, it was _you_ who gave me inefficient instructions!” Jayden complained, staring back at Dean with a small glare. “I haven’t tried attaching such a thing before.”  
  
“Well, you managed it and that’s most important,” Castiel cut in. “And you are usually quite lousy at giving instructions, Dean…” He scowled at his mate, who didn’t look very happy to have Cas turn against him.  
  
Noah laughed softly at them and went to clean up the stuff he had used for the formula.  
  
  


***

  
  
Nathan stayed awake for quite a while, and Noah held him while they had dinner later.  
  
The food was very good, as it always was when Jayden cooked, and Dean and Castiel happily dug in. They talked about their lives, and Dean told them some news about Sam and his family. Jesse – Sam and Jess’ oldest child – was going to be a dad for the second time soon, and Aria – their second child – was also going to have a baby. There was a big baby boom in the family lately, and Mary and John seemed rather overwhelmed by all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren they had. Noah hadn’t seen his cousins for quite a while, but it was good to hear that they had settled down and were having kids. Kaylee – who was Sam and Jess’ youngest child – hadn’t found a boyfriend yet, but Noah wasn’t surprised. She had confessed to him once that she was more attracted to girls than boys, but that she hadn’t quite figured out her exact sexuality yet. Noah hoped that she would figure things out soon and be happy with who she was.  
  
Dean and Castiel left at 8pm after Nathan had been put to bed. They were both proud of Noah and that he had managed to find such a wonderful mate to start a family with. Castiel especially had been worried once that Noah would have a hard time finding someone who loved him for who and what he was, and Jayden was the most perfect mate that he and Dean could have wanted for Noah.  
  
Noah hugged his parents goodbye when they left, feeling a little sad that they had to leave.  
  
When the guests were gone and Nathan was asleep, the apartment suddenly felt quiet and empty. Midnight made for it a bit up as she jumped over to Noah and wanted to play, so he brought out one of her toys to entertain her. Jayden watched some TV in the meanwhile, and looked over at Noah and Midnight every now and then while the submissive played with the cat. The alpha smiled and played with Midnight too whenever she jumped up on the couch, and they laughed at how busy she was chasing those toys.  
  
After a while Noah got tired and put away the toy, trying very hard to ignore Midnight’s disappointed meowing when the play was over. “I’m going to bed. I’m so sleepy…” he told Jayden, standing next to the couch and looking down at him.  
  
Jayden glanced up a bit. “Alright, I’ll be right there soon. Just wanna take a quick shower first.”  
  
Noah nodded and turned to leave, taking the baby alarm with him. “Okay, but don’t make too much noise when you come to bed.”  
  
“I won’t.”  
  
Noah left and Jayden browsed through a few more channels before finally getting up from the couch. He sighed and made his way to the bathroom, his legs feeling heavy as he dragged himself there.  
  
Jayden closed the door as he entered the bathroom, but he rarely locked it in case Noah needed to pee while he was showering. Jayden didn’t mind if Noah saw him showering – the submissive had seen him naked plenty of times before. However, he would have to start locking the door when Nathan got old enough to be able to open doors.  
  
The alpha quickly undressed, and with each layer of clothing going off him, more skin and lean muscles were revealed. Once he was naked he flexed his shoulder blades and spread out his wings, sighing as he felt tired and a bit stiff in the muscles. The feeling of air hitting his skin and him spreading his wings like felt nice, and he soon felt his blood pouring south. It had been a week since he and Noah last had sex, and Jayden’s body was starting to crave it more and more. He hated sometimes that he had such an insatiable libido that wasn’t properly satisfied unless he was with his mate, but he would never touch Noah if the submissive didn’t want it.  
  
Sighing, Jayden went into the shower and pulled the glass door shut, before turning on the water. It was such a relief to feel the warm water hit his body and get into his hair and feathers, and Jayden started putting hair and feather products into them. He didn’t want to stay in there too long, so he hurried up.  
  
His arousal increased as he loosely rubbed some feather products into his wings on the parts he could reach. His erection was growing painfully hard, so he would have to take care of that.  
  
Jayden rinsed out all the care products from his hair and feathers before dipping his head under the stream of water, supporting himself with one hand on the wall while the water flowed down over his head and face. He closed his eyes and flexed his wings before moving his right hand down his body to touch himself. He let out a pleased gasp when his hand closed around his erection, and he slowly began stroking himself and swirling his thumb over the sensitive head.  
  
The bathroom was getting fogged with moisture from the water, and the running water deafened most of Jayden’s moans as he jerked himself off, going slow at first. It was nice to feel his own hand around his cock when he was so aroused, but he still wished that it was Noah’s hand that was there. He closed his eyes and pictured Noah naked on the bed, on all fours with his ass facing Jayden and his pretty wings twitching and lowered in submission. He pictured excessive amounts of slick running down Noah’s thighs, showing him that he was horny and was begging to have Jayden’s cock make him feel good.   
  
Jayden grunted at the image and sped up his strokes.  
  
He imaged Noah’s sweet moans and how he’d beg Jayden to take care of him. He imaged the overpowering smell of submissive arousal, like he remembered from when Noah was in heat. The memory of that mouth-watering scent made Jayden whine in need and buck into his hand in wild arousal. He panted as he kept fantasizing about the sounds Noah would make when he fucked him hard and good, and pictured himself placing sweet kisses all over Noah’s back, wings, and his neck while he felt the submissive’s inner muscles gripping him tight.  
  
His orgasm was so close now, and Jayden kept up his strokes and used his tail to touch his own balls, teasing and stimulating them until the mental image of Noah’s face when he came finally pulled him over the edge. He let out a deep, loud growl and came in heavy spurts over his own hand, his hips bucking forward and his balls tightening as he ejaculated in several waves. The climax was wonderful and Jayden reveled in every second of it, feeling his knees go weak as the sensation took over his body.  
  
He panted through it until it was over, leaving him breathless and struggling to stay on his feet. The orgasm was good, but not as good as the ones he got when he was with Noah. He missed his mate’s soft and warm skin and feeling his smaller hands roaming over his body while they made love. It was an intimacy that Jayden couldn’t imitate with himself, and he felt himself longing to feel it again.  
  
The water washed away his semen, and Jayden watched as it disappeared into the drain. The sound of the shower felt loud in his ears, but not annoying. He let himself recover from his climax before he quickly washed up with some soap and stepped out of the shower. His wings were wet and heavy, so he had flapped the worst of the water off before stepping out. Next, he went over to a blow dryer that was built into the wall, made to help angels and demons get their wings dried after showering. Jayden dried himself off with a towel while turning in front of the blow dryer and spreading his wings to get them dried properly. He winced when he got too close and the warmth felt uncomfortable on his wing bone, and after getting dried he pulled on a fresh pair of underwear and went to throw his used clothes in the laundry basket in the small laundry room at the end of the hallway. He then quickly went to check on Nathan to make sure that the baby was sleeping, before finally making his way to the bedroom.  
  
It was dark in the bedroom when Jayden entered it, and he closed the door as quietly as possible before tip-toeing his way over to the bed and climbed in. He could tell that Noah was awake. The submissive’s breathing was different from when he was asleep, but Noah didn’t move or show that he was awake. He was just lying there on his side with his back facing Jayden.  
  
Jayden cringed a bit, since he knew that Noah could smell the faint remains of sexual climax on him. Angels and demons always smelled a certain way when aroused and in the aftermath of their orgasm, and mates could easily pick up on it in their partner.  
  
Even though Noah was awake and had without doubt picked up on the smell, he didn’t move or say anything, nor did Jayden feel any negativity coming from him.  
  
Jayden sighed and got settled on his back, his head turned to the side to look at the back of Noah’s head in the darkness. He watched him for a while until Noah let out a soft sigh and pulled the covers tighter around himself.   
  
Jayden watched him for a bit longer before rolling over on his side to face him and shifted a little closer. Noah didn’t seem bothered by Jayden getting closer to him, and neither of them said anything.  
  
They closed their eyes to sleep, and Jayden shifted a little closer to Noah to spoon him after the submissive had fallen asleep, tired and exhausted from parenthood.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slow update, I’ve been busy writing two fics at the same time ^^’’ Writing about Noah and Jayden as parents is quite interesting, and I hope you enjoy reading about it :) There’s more to come!


	23. Chapter 23

**January 2050 (Noah is 23, Jayden is 25, Nathan is 1.5 months old, Brandon is 24 years old).**  
  
By January Nathan was sleeping longer during the night. He could easily sleep 6-10 hours without waking up, giving his parents more time to get some rest too.  
  
However, just when things were starting to go well, Nathan caught an ear infection that left him crying a lot because of the pain and discomfort. Jayden had gone back to work already, leaving Noah alone to take care of the baby most of the time. It didn’t make it better that Jayden had signed up for 10-13 hour shifts a few weeks earlier so that he could earn more money, since Noah would soon be receiving support while being on maternity leave, and would thus earn less money, and when Jayden got home he only had a few hours before he had to sleep so he could be ready for work. It was frustrating for them both as they had to worry about their son and spend so much time trying to comfort him and attend to him.  
  
It was 10:20am and Jayden was heading out the door to go to work. His shift began at 11am and today he would be off work at 11:30pm.The restaurant closed at 11pm, but after the customers were gone the chefs had to clean up in the kitchen. Very often Jayden didn’t end up leaving before midnight because it took so long to clean the place.  
  
“I’m heading to work now,” Jayden announced from the hallway, zipping up his jacket as he got ready to leave. He glanced into the kitchen where Noah was walking around with a crying Nathan on his arm, trying to soothe him.  
  
“Okay,” Noah replied, sounding tired and drained of energy. Nathan had been sick for three days already and Noah had barely gotten any sleep. It affected their sex life negatively too. Although Noah still wasn’t quite ready for sexual intercourse, he and Jayden had instead been doing oral sex and using their hands on each other. It was only a few times a week, when they had the energy for it, but after Nathan got sick Noah didn’t have energy for that at all.   
  
“Remember the appointment with the pediatrician at 2pm,” Jayden kindly reminded him.  
  
“I will. See you later.”   
  
Noah cringed as Nathan cried out very loud again, sobbing and wailing in discomfort. It hurt Noah to see his son like this, and he felt helpless that he couldn’t make him feel better. He hushed him and kissed his head, rocking him gently to calm him down.  
  
Jayden gave him a small smile before hurrying to work, locking the door after he left.  
  
Noah felt kind of abandoned when his mate left. He was all alone with the crying baby, and there wasn’t anything he could do to ease his pain. He didn’t know what kind of painkillers he could give him, so he had to wait for his appointment with Gilda that day and hear what she would suggest. Gilda was the pediatrician that Noah had also had when he was a kid, so he knew her well.  
  
“Shhh, it’s okay,” Noah hushed Nathan gently, letting the baby lean against his chest while he walked around with him. “Mommy knows you’re hurting, but it’s okay. Gilda is going to help you get rid of it, alright? Shhh.” He kept his voice soft and calm, and he stroked his hand slowly up and down the crying baby’s back to soothe him.  
  
Nathan sobbed and his cries subsided a bit, but Noah knew he still felt very uncomfortable. Noah rocked him from side to side, singing a song that helped Nathan focus on something else beside the pain. Slowly Noah headed into the living room and sat down on the couch, still holding Nathan against his chest as he sang softly to him.  
  
Midnight was a little bothered by all the crying, so she often left the room when Nathan was in it, but this time she stayed inside her cat castle and tried to keep sleeping.  
  
It was the most awful thing in the world to see your child in agony, and a few tears rolled down Noah’s cheek because he felt so helpless and frustrated about it. He pressed several kisses to Nathan’s head, and eventually the baby’s sobs died out and he rested against Noah as he slowly fell asleep. Noah turned on the TV and kept the volume low, still running a hand up and down Nathan’s back as the boy slept.  
  
  


***

  
  
Noah left the apartment with Nathan at around 1:20pm to head to see Gilda. Jayden had taken public transport to work that day so that Noah wouldn’t have to bother riding on the bus or subway with the baby carriage. It was challenging to tend to the sobbing baby in the baby carriage, manage the keys as he locked the door and later got into the car, and then having to go through the trouble of packing the baby carriage together and get it attached to the back of the car.  
  
The drive to Gilda’s clinic took twenty minutes, and when he arrived Noah quickly went out to get the baby carriage off the car. Nathan was crying inside the car, and Noah felt his stress levels increase when the carriage wouldn’t do what he wanted. He just couldn’t get it off.  
  
Thankfully a young angel mother with her 5-year-old daughter came out of the building and saw Noah struggling. She came over to offer him some help. “Do you need any help?”  
  
Noah looked up and saw the blonde angel female with white and pinkish wings. “Oh. Yes, please. This is quite difficult…”  
  
The woman chuckled and told her daughter to stay where she was while she went over to help Noah get the carriage down from the car. The little, blonde girl watched them quietly, and she glanced at the car when she could hear the baby’s cries from inside. Curiously she jumped over to the car and peeked inside, standing on her toes to see.  
  
“Annabelle! You don’t look into people’s cars like that,” the female angel scolded when she saw what her daughter was doing. She and Noah struggled to get the baby carriage down on the ground, which was difficult because it was stuck a little.  
  
The girl flinched and moved away from the car, staring at her mother in guilt.  
  
Noah chuckled. “That’s alright. I don’t mind.”  
  
“Is he your baby?” Annabelle asked as she stepped a little closer to see what they were doing.  
  
“Yes, he is,” Noah smiled, still struggling with the carriage.  
  
“Why’s he crying so much?”  
  
“That’s because he isn’t feeling so well, so I’m taking him to the doctor now.”  
  
“Yeah, just like you were also just at the doctor’s office,” the female angel said, smiling at her daughter.  
  
Annabelle pondered over that. “I hope he gets better soon.”  
  
Noah smiled at her, and finally the baby carriage was on the ground and ready to be used. “Thank you so much,” he told the female angel, giving her a smile of gratitude.  
  
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling friendly. “I know how stupid these baby carriages can be. Don’t let them win.” She gave him a small wink before grabbing her daughter’s hand and walking over to her own car. Annabelle waved at him and Noah waved back.  
  
Noah smiled at them as they left and went to get Nathan from the car, trying to calm him down a bit before putting him into the baby carriage. Nathan quieted down and sobbed for a bit, but he was much calmer now. Noah pushed the carriage inside the building and headed up to the second floor with the elevator to where Gilda’s clinic was. The secretary at the desk signed him in and told him to wait in the waiting room, so Noah pushed the carriage in there and found a spot to sit down.  
  
Glancing around at the others in the waiting before sitting down, Noah saw there was one human family and one angel family (where the mother was an angel/human hybrid) in there. The human couple had a boy who was about three years old, and the angel couple had a girl who was about five years old. The humans smiled friendly at Noah as he joined them in the waiting room, where the angel parents eyed him with wariness. The female angel/human hybrid didn’t him spare a long glance before focusing on her daughter again, where her mate – an alpha angel in his late thirties – stared at Noah for much longer, as if he was trying to figure out what he was. Noah’s not so soft wings must have made him suspicious, as it was unusual for submissives angel not to have very soft feathers.  
  
Noah tried to ignore the guy and his staring, and he gently rocked the carriage back and forth in front of him when Nathan sobbed a bit. He got up from his seat to lift Nathan up for a bit when he cried, hushing and soothing him, and holding him against his chest.  
  
When the alpha angel saw Nathan’s grey wings mixed with red feathers and his little demon tail, he immediately knew that Noah and his son were hybrids. His eyes darkened further and his fists clenched, scaring even his mate, who tried to calm him down.  
  
“Why is it that people like you must always bring new, little freaks into the world? As if we haven’t got enough disease here already,” the alpha muttered, a growl in his voice.  
  
There were gasps of outrage in the room as he spoke, and Noah turned to look at the alpha, startled that the guy would speak to him like that in the waiting room.  
  
Noah’s eyes hardened as he glared back at the alpha. “We are not the source of any disease. Please don’t speak to me like that.”  
  
The alpha let out a growl and shot up from his chair, and Noah had to fight his instincts not to flinch back. He held Nathan close to his chest and wrapped his wing around them to protect him. Nathan cried and gripped his shirt with his small hands.  
  
“Gary!” the female hybrid scolded at her mate, outraged by his behavior in front of the others. Their little daughter hid behind her, scared as her dad spread his sharp wings. The humans seemed equally terrified.  
  
The alpha calmed down just a little when his mate touched his arm, but his malicious eyes kept boring into Noah. “I’m not surprised your kid is going to the doctor. It’s all bad genes…” He huffed and sat back down, crossing his arms.  
  
“Hey, don’t talk like that to him!” the human man intervened, angry about the way Noah was being treated.  
  
The alpha growled in his direction, not liking to be criticized.  
  
Noah glared back at the guy, glancing briefly at the guy’s mate before looking at him again. “Your own mate is a hybrid. I don’t see what your problem is.”  
  
“She’s a _human_ hybrid! Her blood isn’t mixed with that of a _demon!_ ” the alpha snapped.  
  
“I don’t see the big difference,” Noah muttered, giving him one more glare before sitting down on his chair with Nathan and kept soothing his baby.  
  
The alpha growled again, but his mate’s angry whispering at him to shut the fuck up made him quiet down.  
  
Noah was grateful that the female hybrid and the human male had helped him a bit, but he felt a bit sorry for the two kids in the room – especially the little angel girl, who still wouldn’t get too close to her dad.  
  
Luckily the angel couple was called in next and the tension in the room disappeared when they left. The human family told Noah they were sorry that he had to experience that and that they did not approve at all. When he told them that it was something that happened quite often, their faces turned shocked and horrified.  
  
Gilda was a little behind schedule that day, and it was 2:20 when Noah was called in. She beamed at him as he entered her clinic with the baby carriage, and it was clear that she remembered him.  
  
“Hello, Noah. Been so long since I saw you,” Gilda grinned, shaking his hand and closing the door.  
  
“Yeah,” Noah smiled, pushing the carriage into the room before picking up a quite grumpy Nathan.  
  
“Charlie told me that you had a baby. She always tells me when one of Dean and Castiel’s kids have children, since we’re both very interested in you guys. You are pretty much our only angel/demon hybrid clients, so that makes you interesting,” Gilda said, grinning.  
  
Noah laughed softly at that, and placed Nathan against his shoulder as the baby sobbed and looked around the room with a somewhat wary expression on his face.  
  
Gilda came over to finally have a look at him, and Noah put Nathan down on his lap and let him lean back against him as Gilda checked his ears and took his temperature. Nathan kept sobbing and shying away from her, and Noah smiled a bit at how the young baby tried to seek comfort with him. Noah kept running soothing hands up and down Nathan’s stomach and chest, letting his son know that he was right there.  
  
“He does have some fever and his ears are clearly infected and irritated,” Gilda said afterwards, getting back to her computer to write things down. “I will prescribe you some painkillers that will also reduce the fever a bit, but I don’t think antibiotics are necessary. Should it however get worse, I might need to give him some.”  
  
Noah nodded, holding Nathan in his arms. “Thank you. I hope it won’t be necessary and that the problem will go away soon…”  
  
“It should hopefully pass in a few days.” Gilda smiled over at him before typing away on the computer. She sent out a prescription in the system so that Noah could buy the painkillers at any pharmacy he liked.  
  
Before he left, Gilda asked Noah a bit more about Nathan and how he was doing. She measured his length and weight just in case, and assessed that he seemed healthy and properly mentally developed for his age. Noah was glad to hear that everything was the way it should be, except for the ear infection of course.  
  
Gilda was as kind and gentle as Noah remembered, and he left the clinic feeling satisfied with how it went.  
  
He went back to the car and reattached the baby carriage on it before driving to a nearby pharmacy to buy the painkillers that Gilda had suggested. He called Jayden first to let him know what the doctor had said and to ask him about what he should buy when he went grocery shopping.  
  
  


***

  
  
Grocery shopping proved to be quite a challenge.  
  
Nathan was in a handheld baby carriage in the cart, still crying and feeling uncomfortable, so Noah had to be fast as he roamed through the aisles to get the things he needed. Luckily, he only needed to buy twelve things – some milk, formula, bread, powder for the washing machine, and some ingredients for dinner. Since Jayden was so busy with work lately, he made quick dinners or had Noah buy some already finished food that was easy to warm up and eat. Noah’s cooking skills were mostly limited to pasta and other easy foods.  
  
People glanced at him in annoyance because of Nathan’s crying, but at least the baby wasn’t crying non-stop. Noah suspected he was also getting hungry, so he would have to feed him some formula in the car before going home. He always prepared a bottle before leaving anywhere with Nathan. The boy always got hungry at the most inconvenient times.  
  
As he stood in the dairy section to get milk and some cheese, Noah suddenly felt a person approach him.  
  
“Noah?”  
  
Noah looked up and was surprised to see Brandon standing in front of him, looking just as surprised as he was. He blinked at him for a few seconds before smiling. “Oh. Hello, Brandon.”   
  
“I see you and Jayden had a baby,” Brandon commented, peeking down at Nathan, who was currently quiet and was squirming a bit in the carriage.  
  
“Yes. This is Nathan,” Noah replied, smiling proudly down at his son and reached out to wave a rattle in front of him, as it looked like he was about to cry again.  
  
“He looks a bit grumpy,” Brandon chuckled.  
  
“Well, he’s got an ear infection, so he cries all the time…”  
  
“Ow. That sucks.” Brandon glanced down at the baby in sympathy, but smiled when Nathan looked up at him curiously.  
  
Suddenly a young female demon with long, dark hair came over to Brandon and curled tails with him. “Hey, baby,” she smiled, leaning up to kiss his cheek. She looked at Noah then. “Someone you know?”  
  
“Yeah, that’s Noah. Went to college with him,” Brandon explained. “And this is my girlfriend, Kira,” he told Noah, gesturing at the female.  
  
“Hi.” Noah smiled politely at her.  
  
“Hi,” Kira smiled back, before looking at Nathan. She gasped and moved a little closer. “Ohh, he’s so adorable!”  
  
“Thank you,” Noah grinned.  
  
“Isn’t his daddy with you?”  
  
“No, he’s at work. Unfortunately…”  
  
“Means double work for you,” Brandon chuckled. “We gotta get going, though… It was nice seeing you again, Noah. Greet Jayden from me.”  
  
Noah smiled at him. “You too, and I will.” He nodded goodbye at them and watched as they walked down the aisle to shop for their own stuff. He was happy for Brandon that he had gotten a girlfriend. Brandon was one of the good alphas now, so he deserved that.  
  
Nathan sobbed, and Noah had to continue his shopping and get out of there fast. He hated the way some people glared at him in annoyance when Nathan’s cries got pretty loud, but he kind of understood why it was annoying to them. But it wasn’t like he could help it.  
  
  


***

  
  
Noah spent the rest of the day tending to Nathan and making sure he was comfortable. The painkillers seemed to work, and by the evening the baby was less fussy and could fall asleep a little easier. Noah got some rest during that time, having passed out on the couch while watching TV. Midnight woke him up sometimes, but he was too tired to pay her much attention and just lulled back to sleep almost right away.  
  
He only got two hours of sleep before Nathan cried again, needing a diaper change and some food. Noah was at the end of his energy then. He had spent three days with barely any sleep and having to constantly tend to his sick baby, and Jayden wasn’t much help because he had work. He felt stressed, completely drained of energy, and got easily irritated around people, but he never let it out on Nathan or blamed him for it.  
  
It was midnight when Jayden came home. The hallway was dark, but he could see some light shining through the crack of the door to the living room. He took off his shoes and jacket and headed over to the living room. “Hey. I’m home.”  
  
Noah looked up from where he was lying on the couch. He was watching TV and had almost fallen asleep before Jayden came home. “Welcome home,” he said in a sleepy voice before lying his head back down on the pillow. He was lying on his right side on top of his wing, while his left wing was folded down his left side and keeping him warm.  
  
“Rough day?” Jayden asked, sympathy in his voice. He walked into the room and smiled when Midnight jumped over to him, wanting to be pet.  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
Jayden chuckled a bit before noticing all the mess on the couch table. There was an empty, used baby bottle, and Noah’s dirty dishes were still there. When Jayden shifted his gaze to the floor, he saw some spilled coke there which had dried up already, leaving an ugly spot. Because the dishes were there, the living room smelled heavily of the lasagna Noah had had, which was a pleasant smell but just not in a living room.  
  
Jayden sighed heavily. “This is the second day I come home and see such a mess. I thought we agreed to clean up after ourselves so that the place doesn’t smell or look like shit?” He went over to clean up the spilled coke with a napkin that was on the table, knowing he would have to scrub a bit to get it off.  
  
Noah tensed and grit his teeth angrily. He sat up and stared back at Jayden with a deep glare. “I’m sorry I haven’t had the energy to clean that up,” he snapped, sarcasm in his voice. “I’ve been busy for three days dealing with a baby that’s sick and crying all the time, and today I spent over _three hours_ in town to go to the doctor, the pharmacy, and do grocery shopping while taking care of Nathan, who just wouldn’t stop crying because he’s not feeling well. And then I get home and can’t even catch some sleep because he keeps waking up! I just spent over _an hour_ trying to make him fall sleep again, and now you come home and complain because I left my dishes on the table?!”  
  
Jayden’s jaw clenched and he threw the napkin away in frustration. “And you don’t think that _I’m_ stressed?” he snapped back, his wings spreading a bit. “I’ve worked 13 hours today, and the last three days too! And when I come home I have to help you with Nathan – which I gladly do, but I also need sleep so I can perform at work the next day, but because you’ve been so tired I’ve stayed up longer to help you, meaning I don’t get to sleep more than six hours a night! Do you have any idea how tired it makes me to cook food for five hundred customers and more during just _one_ evening? Not to mention all the customers we have during the day. You’re not the only one who’s tired here!”  
  
“ _You’re_ the one who signed up to work more,” Noah bit out.  
  
“Yeah – which _you_ were fine with, last I asked. And you certainly don’t complain when more money goes into our account.”  
  
“ _Fine!_ But don’t come here and tell me what to do. I’ll do my dishes when I feel like it.”  
  
Midnight stared at them from the windowsill, a little alarmed by the raised voices of her owners.  
  
“Fine. Do what you want,” Jayden muttered, angrily turning to the leave the room before he could snap something else at Noah.  
  
A heavy, tense atmosphere spread between them, despite them not being in the same room anymore. Their bond closed off as they locked the other out to deal with their own emotions.  
  
Jayden headed to the bathroom, needing a cold shower to deal with everything. The stress was getting to them both, and Jayden kind of regretted using such a tone with Noah as he did earlier. But it wasn’t like Noah’s had been kind either. The alpha was stressed after a long day at work, and combined with his worries about Nathan, it left him moody and edgy. He suspected Noah felt the same, so it had probably only been a matter of time until they would get into a fight. Still, it really sucked.   
  
Jayden tried to shake the heavy feeling off his chest while he let the cold water hit his body. He stayed in the bathroom for as long as he could, and eventually he heard the bedroom door close outside, indicating that Noah had finally gone to bed. The alpha stayed in the bathroom until he assumed that Noah was asleep, before leaving the room and went to grab a quick snack before bed.  
  
When Jayden finally got into bed, Noah didn’t wake up and Jayden made no attempt to touch him or try working things out with him. He was too sleepy and too exhausted, and ahead of them waited yet another night where they had to get up every few hours to attend to their sick baby.  
  
  


***

  
  
A few days passed and Nathan got better, like Gilda had predicted. Both and Noah and Jayden were relieved that his condition hadn’t worsened, and after four days Nathan could finally sleep for six hours and more again without waking up.  
  
Neither Noah nor Jayden had mentioned anything about their fight or talked about it. The day after had been full of tension and avoidance, but it had slowly faded away as the days passed. They now spoke to each other again and helped the other with Nathan when needed, but their conversations were short and without much feeling. They hadn’t really touched either. Jayden wasn’t sure how Noah would react if he touched him, and there was still some tension between them, so they hadn’t shared any kisses or sexual intimacy since the fight. There had been an episode two days later where they had snapped at each other again, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the first incident.  
  
Jayden was starting to get increasingly sexually frustrated, which Noah had picked up on but chosen to ignore. The submissive could tell it by the way Jayden’s tail swished back and forth in agitation behind him sometimes, and he could smell the build-up of testosterone on Jayden because of the lack of sexual release and intimacy. It wasn’t something Jayden could help – it was just how his alpha body was wired, and their mating bond only made him want that intimacy even more, especially after their fight. The frustration made him have to jack off at least twice a day, and it was particularly bad because he and Noah hadn’t shared any kinds of physical touches for over four days already. His body and the bond were going mad.  
  
Noah wasn’t affected as much as Jayden was from their bond and how it craved intimacy, but he could feel it too. As Nathan got better and Noah felt less stressed, his sex drive slowly increased. It got to the point where Noah didn’t want to keep up their physical separation. He wanted to be with Jayden again, make up with him, and have him make love to him.  
  
After putting Nathan to sleep one evening, Noah grabbed a quick snack before heading to the bedroom. He took the baby alarm with him and closed the door.  
  
It was 9:25pm already, and Noah knew that Jayden would be off work soon and come home, since today he was working till 9:30. He wanted to tell his mate that he was sorry about the fight they had gotten into and that he wanted them to start touching each other again, but first he wanted to make sure that his body was ready for sex.  
  
It had been a little over seven weeks since Nathan was born now, so Noah’s body should have recovered enough to be able to take Jayden’s cock again. He wanted to make sure about that, though.  
  
Noah went over to the wardrobe and rummaged through it until he found the box he was looking for. He carried it over to the bed and placed it there before looking through it. It was filled with sex toys – dildos, vibrators, butt plugs, and the thing Jayden had bought once to stimulate Noah’s oil glands. He grabbed his smallest dildo first and then his biggest one, and put the others away in the wardrobe again.  
  
It had been so long since Noah last had something inside him, and he felt blood rush to his lower regions in arousal as he looked down at the two dildo vibrators in his hands. His ass slicked up and his dick hardened at the thought alone of having something inside him again, and he quickly stripped out of his clothes before getting on the bed.  
  
First, he put the toys away and lay on his back. He got comfortable on the soft sheets before moving his hand over his chest, purposefully touching his nipples. His body responded with arousal, and it tingled pleasurably in every cell in his body, making him moan. It felt nice to finally feel that delicious spark inside himself again, and he finally realized how much he had missed feeling it.  
  
Noah continued to touch his nipples and rub his wings and oil glands into the sheets for a few minutes. It felt nice and good, and he moaned as his dick got harder and his ass got slicker. He then finally moved his right hand down towards his ass. A needy moan escaped him when his fingers touched his sensitive rim, sending sparks of arousal through him. He circled the pucker for a bit before pressing a finger into himself, going slow and careful to see if he was still sore inside. It almost felt alien and strange, since it had been so long, but he still welcomed the feeling. He wished it had been Jayden’s fingers though, but his own would have to do for now.  
  
Twisting and rubbing his finger around inside himself, Noah tested to see if it hurt and if he was all tight again after having given birth. He found himself being quite tight and he couldn’t really feel any difference from before. His ass didn’t hurt either. It was a bit tender maybe, but not painful.  
  
Satisfied with the test, Noah pulled out his slick-covered fingers and reached for the smaller dildo. He had stretched himself enough to take it, so he slowly pushed the toy inside, gasping at the wonderful feeling of the penetration. His muscles clenched down around the toy, and his inner walls got stimulated as he slowly slid it in and out of himself.  
  
“Oh god. Ah!”  
  
Noah gasped and moaned, wiggling a bit on the bed and grasping the sheets with his free hand. He quickly got annoyed that the dildo was too small, so he pulled it out and reached for the other instead. He took a good look at it, licking his lips hungrily. It wasn’t as thick as Jayden’s cock, but it would do.  
  
The submissive rolled over on his stomach this time and positioned the purple dildo at his entrance before pushing it in. He immediately felt himself stretch wider to accommodate it, and although he felt a little burn, it still felt very good.  
  
Noah’s wings flared and flapped behind him, and he pushed the dildo vibrator as far in as he could before turning on the vibrations. He started out at the lowest level, but the sensation still had him jerking in surprise and letting out a loud gasp.  
  
“Fuck!” He buried his face in his pillow, panting as he rocked himself back against the toy that was buzzing inside him. He wasn’t embarrassed to admit that he was so hungry for his mate’s cock right now that even the vibrator almost wasn’t good enough. He missed feeling Jayden’s rough but gently hands move across his body and feeling him grip his hair and feathers like he owned Noah. He missed the feeling of a big, warm cock inside his ass and Jayden’s seed flooding into him when he came inside him and marked him up good. Mostly he missed the way Jayden would look at him; like Noah was the most beautiful and important person in the whole world, and that he’d do anything to keep him safe and make him happy.  
  
Noah turned the vibrations up a bit and pushed back into the dildo, writhing restlessly on the bed until his orgasm started pooling in his abdomen. He moaned louder then and bit his lower lip a bit, before turning the vibrations up even further, until his body couldn’t take it anymore. He came with a loud cry, his body jerking as he shot his release over the sheets, not caring that he would have to change them before bed because of the mess.  
  
His body went limp afterwards, exhausted and happy from his much needed climax. The dildo still vibrated inside him, making his oversensitive ass feel uncomfortable, until he finally turned it off and pulled it out.  
  
Noah had barely pulled the dildo out of himself before the bedroom door flew open, revealing an alarmed Jayden in it. Noah let out a loud yelp of surprise and sat up quick. He stared back at his mate with wide eyes, wondering how he hadn’t heard him enter the apartment. The dildo was still in his hand, in plain sight, and when Jayden’s eyes landed on it, Noah blushed heavily and quickly hid the toy away, wrapping his wings around his naked form as he stared back at the alpha.  
  
“J-Jayden. I didn’t hear you come home.”  
  
Jayden blinked at him, still processing what he was seeing. He had heard Noah’s cry when he entered the apartment and had become alarmed, that’s why he had hurried inside the bedroom to see what was wrong, without having had the time to take off his shoes or jacket. He hadn’t expected to find… _that._  
  
Jayden’s posture quickly changed, though. He straightened up, his wings unfolded themselves a bit and got tense, and he clenched his jaw a little. He looked between Noah and the spot where the submissive had hidden his toy. “So, this is what you do when I’m at work? Play with yourself and then later claim you don’t feel like sex?” There was jealousy and hurt in his voice, which Noah immediately picked up on.  
  
“What? No!” Noah denied, moving to get off the bed. Jayden’s eyes lowered as he looked away from him, and Noah could tell that he was confused and a bit hurt. “I was, um, testing myself.”  
  
The alpha lifted his gaze and stared back at him with a frown. “Testing yourself?” he repeated, skepticism and confusion in his voice.  
  
Noah nodded, coming over to stand in front of Jayden. His wings unfurled a bit to let Jayden see his nakedness, showing him that he wasn’t going to hide or reject any advances from his mate. He felt a bit insecure about his belly though, as it was still not completely thin yet like it used to be, but it was almost there. He felt Jayden stare at his body and it caused a small, pleasant shiver to run up Noah’s spine.  
  
“I, um, wanted to see if I was still sore and if I was ready to be with you… We’ve spent so much time lately being stressed out and even fighting, and I’m tired of it. I want us to be together like we used to. I want us to make love again – especially after our, um, fight a few days ago.” Noah glanced up into Jayden’s eyes, seeing the alpha look back at him quietly. He slowly stepped closer and grabbed Jayden’s hand, bringing it forward and placing it on his naked chest, over his nipple. Jayden sucked in a breath and Noah could smell he was getting aroused. “I don’t want us to be angry anymore, and I’m sorry about the fight we had.”  
  
Jayden stared back at him for a few moments. He felt uncomfortably overdressed, standing there in jeans, a thick shirt, jacket, and shoes, while Noah was completely nude in front of him. But it was kind of hot, actually. His face softened and he gently rubbed his thumb over Noah’s nipple, making the submissive gasp and shiver a bit. “I’m sorry too. We’ve both been feeling tired and stressed, so I guess a conflict was inevitable. And I want us to be like before too. I want to feel you so badly, but I wasn’t sure if I could…”  
  
Noah smiled up at him, gentle and soft. “You can.”  
  
Jayden let out a possessive growl and launched forward to kiss Noah hard. His hands moved up to frame Noah’s face while he kissed him deeply, like he had been thirsting to taste him again.  
  
Noah mewled and kissed him back, his hands fisting themselves in Jayden’s shirt while his mouth was devoured and claimed by Jayden. His body throbbed with new arousal, and the aftermath of his previous orgasm still tingled pleasantly inside him. He let out another mewl as Jayden’s tongue swirled around inside his mouth, tasting him and feeling him, and he felt new slick beginning to leak from his hole.  
  
Finally Noah reached out and began to fumble with Jayden’s pants, trying to get them off. The alpha growled in approval, but quickly kicked off his shoes first and pushed them back into the hallway with his feet before using his foot and tail to shut the bedroom door behind them. He kept his lips pressed against Noah’s the whole time, not wanting to waste any of that taste. Next they helped each other get Jayden’s clothes off him. It went fast, and Jayden got so impatient to get out of shirt that a few buttons were torn off as he practically ripped it off himself.  
  
Noah was then being pushed over to the bed, yelping a bit as he fell back on it. He quickly moved up the bed to put his head back on his pillow, and Jayden climbed on top of him and covered his body.  
  
They kissed as their hands roamed over each other. Jayden’s wings were raised and sharpened in arousal, and his tail was restless behind him as he finally got to be with his mate again.  
  
Noah purred and bared his neck to Jayden, who wasted no time with closing his mouth around Noah’s pulse and sucking hickeys into the pale skin. The submissive shuddered, pleased to be claimed again, and he moved his hands up to rest on Jayden’s shoulders, digging his fingers into the skin.  
  
Jayden kept sucking marks into Noah’s skin and grinded his painful erection into Noah’s thighs, smearing precome on them. The dildo was still on the bed, lying right next to them, and Jayden loved how it shined and smelled of Noah’s slick.  
  
“Please, Connor. I want you inside me…” Noah begged, purring as he kept his neck bared for his alpha.  
  
Jayden let out a possessive growl and buried his fingers in Noah’s feathers, making the submissive cry out in pleasure.  
  
“You need what inside you exactly?” Jayden prompted, teasing in his voice as he licked a stripe up Noah’s jugular.  
  
Noah groaned, shuddering at the gesture. He hated when Jayden wanted him to beg for his cock explicitly. "You know what I need…”  
  
“I want you to tell me,” Jayden said, a purr in his voice. He sucked another bruise into Noah’s neck and kneaded his hands against the submissive’s wing bones, making his mate buck violently under him.  
  
“Stop teasing!”  
  
“Then tell me what you want,” Jayden said, amused. He kept licking and sucking on Noah’s skin – on his neck, collarbone, and his jaw, knowing exactly which spots drove Noah mad with lust.  
  
Noah shuddered, overwhelmed by all the sensations. His ass was leaking so much slick now that he could feel the sheets getting soaked under him, and it was almost embarrassing. His oil glands also leaked, creating damp patches under his back. “I-I want your cock. _Please._ ”  
  
Jayden let out a loud growl of appreciation and lust. He quickly pushed Noah’s legs apart and moved a hand down to check his entrance to be absolutely sure that Noah could take him. He pushed three fingers inside, spending only a few seconds to check him before yanking them out and lining his cock up against the hole instead. Noah wrapped his legs around Jayden’s waist and held onto him, and the alpha pushed inside him in one, quick thrust.  
  
Noah howled, arching his back and spreading out his wings across the bed. Jayden pounded into him immediately, not showing any mercy. Noah hung on for dear life, tightening his legs around Jayden and pushed his heels into the alpha’s ass to make him penetrate him deeper, and moaned shamelessly as he was finally being thoroughly fucked again. The bed creaked in protest, and Jayden’s thrusts were hard and brutal, making Noah see stars.  
  
There was a heavy smell of arousal and sweat in the room. Their scents mixed, but most overpowering was the heavy smell of alpha testosterone and musk, potent and strong. Noah basked in the scent, whimpering in need as he was fucked into the bed and listened to the sounds of Jayden’s skin slapping against his own.  
  
Jayden had wanted to be gentle and give Noah more time to adjust, but he was so out of it that he just couldn’t stop thrusting into him hard. By the sounds of Noah’s moans, the submissive didn’t seem to mind. He buried his face in Noah’s neck again, breathing in his mate’s sweet scent and shuddering as it filled his nose. Noah was so warm and soft, and Jayden had missed that so much.  
  
Jayden’s thrusts slowed down a little as he got more self-control, and began pressing kisses to Noah’s neck and jaw while he pounded into him. He could feel Noah’s dick trapped between them and feel it leaking against their skins, and when he buried his hands in the grey feathers it only leaked more.  
  
“ _Fuck,_ right there!” Noah grunted, digging his fingers into Jayden’s shoulders and held onto him. “I’m so close…”  
  
“Mm, me too.” Jayden nuzzled into Noah, thrusting a bit faster as climax approached. “Shit. You’re gonna make me come so hard.”  
  
Noah whimpered, and Jayden felt his mate’s ass overflow with slick after he had said that just now. The alpha smirked cockily at that.  
  
“So pretty,” Jayden hummed, kissing Noah’s jaw.  
  
“J-Jayden,” Noah whimpered, shuddering under him.  
  
With heavy moans and grunts they finally fell over the edge together, their visions flashing white as they came. They held onto each other, and Noah’s release spurted across their stomachs and made a mess, while Jayden shot his load deep inside Noah.  
  
The alpha shuddered through every wave of his release, his breath coming out in damp puffs against Noah’s neck as the submissive ran gentle hands over his back. Noah hummed contently, his body feeling relaxed and sated, and his ass was wet and warm with Jayden’s release.  
  
Jayden panted after it was over, and they both felt their bond flaring inside them, sending out waves of warmth and love through them.  
  
After a few moments Jayden leaned up a bit so he could look at Noah’s face. The submissive smiled up at him, his skin prickled with small beads of sweat, and he slowly moved his hands up to cup both of Jayden’s cheeks, staring him right in the eyes. They shared a loving smile, and Jayden let out a soft purr and leaned into Noah’s touch, feeling his thumb rub his skin with affection. It was so intimate that Jayden almost wanted to cry, and he couldn’t stop staring into the blue oceans of Noah’s eyes.  
  
“I love you,” Noah whispered softly, keeping his eyes on Jayden’s face.  
  
Jayden grinned and leaned down to press his forehead against Noah’s with the submissive’s hands still on his face. “I love you too.”  
  
Noah giggled happily before their lips pressed together in a kiss. Jayden was still inside him, but Noah didn’t want him to pull out. He wanted to feel the connection forever and have Jayden kiss him and touch him till the day he died.  
  
Sadly, they couldn’t stay like that forever, so as soon the kiss was over and they had regained their breaths, Jayden got up and pulled out, leaving Noah feeling empty inside. The alpha gave him a rueful smile when Noah whimpered, and watched as Noah planted his feet on the bed again, his legs bent and spread.  
  
Noah saw his mate staring at his belly, and he felt a surge of embarrassment and shame inside him because he wasn’t quite as thin as he used to be yet. His wings moved up and shyly covered some of his body from Jayden’s view, and his legs closed a little.  
  
“Hey, don’t be like that,” Jayden said softly, sitting back and running a soothing hand up and down Noah’s leg. “I know you’re not back to normal yet, but you’re still beautiful. I don’t care that you still have a little leftover fat on you – it’s just proof that you carried our baby, which is a beautiful thing.”  
  
Noah relaxed a bit and his wings unfurled a little, but not entirely. He looked up at Jayden with a small, skeptic frown. “I just want to look the way I used to again…”  
  
“You will,” Jayden promised, a soft smile appearing on his lips. “Besides, there’s barely any leftover fat on you anymore, so you don’t need to be ashamed. And you’re not ugly or unattractive like this – at least not to me – so stop worrying so much. You look gorgeous.”  
  
“Sometimes I have the feeling I could get a tattoo of a big, black dick on my stomach and you still wouldn’t care…”  
  
Jayden burst out laughing. “Okay, that’s maybe a bit too extreme. I don’t think I’d like _that._ ” He laughed for a bit longer before looking at Noah, his face still full of amusement. “I’m just saying that all these natural changes in your body don’t bother me, especially not if they’re related to you having a baby. And if we ever have another baby, I hope you’ll remember that.”  
  
Noah blushed a bit at the mention of them having another baby someday, but Jayden just smiled at him and reached out to touch his belly. He put his hand on the skin, feeling it and exploring it, and getting some of Noah’s drying come on him. Noah let him and watched him curiously until Jayden finally pulled away to get them cleaned up.  
  
Noah got up from the bed as well, using a towel to clean the come off that was flowing down his thighs. He blushed when Jayden smirked at the sight.  
  
“How’s Nathan been today? Is he still doing better?” Jayden asked, pulling on some boxers and a t-shirt.  
  
“Yes, he’s been quite easy today,” Noah smiled, going to get some fresh panties from the drawers. He let Jayden check out his butt until he pulled on one of his favorite panties – pink with a white heart on the front. They were maybe a bit childish and girlish, but he liked them and so did Jayden. “And I think our neighbors finally had their baby. I heard baby cries from the stairwell earlier.”  
  
“Oh? That was about time. Their baby was supposed to have come last week, right?”  
  
“Yeah, but Millie said that it seemed like the baby wanted to stay inside a bit longer when I met her the other day…”  
  
“Well, at least the baby’s out now.” Jayden walked over to stand behind Noah, wrapping his arms around him from behind and leaning down to rest his chin on Noah’s shoulder. The submissive purred and leaned back into him, still only wearing his panties. “It didn’t hurt earlier, did it? The sex…”  
  
“No, not really,” Noah replied, spreading his wings to give the alpha space. “I’m a bit sore, but it isn’t bad. It’s a good kind of sore.”  
  
“Mm.” Jayden placed a kiss behind Noah’s ear and rubbed Noah’s belly slowly with his hands. “It’s so hot when you masturbate with your toys, though. I love to watch you doing that…”  
  
Noah blushed furiously, finding it a bit embarrassing to have been caught. The dildo was still on the bed, wet and dirty, and he’d have to clean it soon.  
  
“So many people are having babies lately…” Jayden murmured as he stood behind Noah. “I’m glad that Lily recently announced that she’s pregnant again.”  
  
Noah beamed, feeling the same. Just after New Year, Lily had called them to let them know that she and Tony were going to be parents again – this time to twins. She had seemed excited about having twins, but also a little nervous. Dean and Castiel too had been thrilled to receive the news.  
  
“I’m glad I didn’t have twins, though…” Noah commented.  
  
Jayden let out a soft laugh. “Yeah, me too, actually. Too much work.”  
  
They stood around for a bit longer, enjoying being close again, until they decided to go to the kitchen for a quick snack.   
  
Jayden checked on Nathan in the nursery, seeing that the baby was fast sleep and breathing evenly. He was glad that Nathan was doing better and could sleep properly again, and he stroked the baby’s head gently before quietly leaving the room.  
  
Another round of sex and making out awaited them as they headed back to the bedroom after their snack. They had a lot to catch up on, and with the baby finally feeling better, they had lots of time to make love and keep their relationship going.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fight was inevitable when they’re so stressed out because of the baby, but everything is okay now :) I’ll soon begin to make a few time jumps with several months between the chapters, but I’m still gonna explore Nathan’s early childhood before he gets any siblings.
> 
> Thanks for reading! :)


	24. Chapter 24

**May 2050 (Noah is 24, Jayden 25 (almost 26), Nathan is 5 months old, Castiel is 60 (almost 61), Dean is 62, Isaac and Lily are 29, Tony is 30, Kaylen is 24 (almost 25), Eliza is 11 months old, Alec is 5 years old).**  
  
Noah was sleeping peacefully on the bed, lying on his side facing Jayden’s side of the bed, his limbs entangled in the sheets and blanket. A noise from somewhere in the apartment woke him up and he slowly blinked his eyes open. He reached out towards Jayden, only to find the bed empty. Jayden wasn’t there.  
  
Yawning, Noah sat up on the bed, his feathers and hair sticking out in all directions. He could hear Nathan’s happy babbling from the hallway, so he guessed that Jayden had gotten up already to attend to their son. Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was 9:38am. His eyes widened, wondering how long he had been asleep while Jayden was up, since Nathan usually woke up at around 8am – sometimes a bit earlier or later. Yesterday he had been put to bed rather late since he was so awake and full of energy, so Noah guessed that he must have gotten up later than usual this morning.  
  
Noah rubbed his eyes and sat on the bed for a bit, contemplating to get up and be with his family, but then he remembered that today was his birthday. He had turned 24 years old already. He didn’t like getting older, but it couldn’t be avoided. He was still on maternity leave, but would return to work next month.  
  
Since it was his birthday, he wasn’t supposed to leave the room unless he had to use the bathroom. He and Jayden always stayed in the bedroom on their birthdays until they were called into the kitchen for breakfast and presents. It was something they had both grown up with in their families.  
  
Slowly he got up and pulled on some sweatpants and a t-shirt before leaving the room to use the bathroom. His body had already returned to its former, thin shape again, which Noah was really happy about. You couldn’t tell he had had a baby just by looking at him, and Noah enjoyed moving his hand over his stomach and feel it being flat again. Though, he had to admit that feeling a pregnancy bump had been very nice too. He kind of missed that, actually.  
  
Noah exited the bedroom and sneaked across the hallway, smiling when he could hear Jayden talking to Nathan in the kitchen.  
  
“No, no! Don’t pull daddy’s tail; that hurts,” Jayden groused softly, and Noah could hear Nathan gurgling in reply.  
  
Nathan was five months old now, so he was more mobile than before. He was slowly starting to learn how to crawl, although it was still slow and clumsy, and he could babble, support weight on his legs if he had support, sit up on his own, and he had started reaching for things or for people to be picked up. He had also started being able to experience a bit of separation anxiety, and he didn’t like it when they left the room all of sudden. He’d start crying and reaching out for them, and he was most content when he was sitting on their laps and being cuddled.  
  
Noah chuckled fondly at them before going into the bathroom.  
  
Afterwards, Noah returned to the bedroom and pulled the curtains apart. He squinted his eyes when the heavy light hit them, but he quickly adjusted to it. It was sunny outside, and when he opened the window he was met by fresh, spring air. The birds were tweeting, but the sound was overpowered by the noise of traffic in the city. Noah stood a bit by the window and stared down at the street below and at the park, which was just across the street.  
  
After a few minutes, Jayden knocked gently on the door and entered the room, holding Nathan on his arm. He beamed when he saw that Noah was awake. “Ah, so you _are_ awake. Knew I heard you earlier.”  
  
Noah smiled and turned to face him, still standing by the window. He watched as Jayden came over to him with little Nathan and handed him the baby. “Hey, sweetie,” Noah grinned, taking Nathan and pressing a loving kiss to his cheek.  
  
Nathan gurgled happily and reached up his arms to touch Noah’s face. Noah chuckled and watched his son fondly as Nathan grinned at him and touched his face with his little hands. Noah pressed more kisses to Nathan’s cheek, making him squeal and laugh.  
  
Jayden laughed softly at the scene before leaning in to press a kiss to Noah’s lips. “Happy birthday, baby.”  
  
“Thanks,” Noah smiled, rocking Nathan on his arm while he stared lovingly at his mate.  
  
“Stay here and get comfortable on the bed. You’re having breakfast in bed today,” Jayden told him, flashing him a smile before leaving the room.  
  
Noah was about to speak, but Jayden was already gone. The alpha whistled joyfully as he headed to the kitchen, and Noah couldn’t help but smile at that.  
  
Nathan squirmed on his arm and caught Noah’s attention again. “Your daddy is really spoiling mommy today,” he chuckled, rocking the baby slowly from side to side. He balanced Nathan on one arm and reached out to pick up the pacifier, which was attached around the baby’s neck and hanging in front of his chest. He put the pacifier back into Nathan’s mouth and made a noise with his tongue, making Nathan laugh.  
  
He went over to the bed and sat down, placing Nathan on his lap and holding his arms on Nathan’s waist to support him. He leaned back against his pillow and the headboard, murmuring soft words at his son as Nathan sat patiently on his lap and glanced around the room curiously. He let the baby play a bit with his blanket and shake it, and Nathan squealed happily when Noah suddenly hugged him close and placed kisses on his cheek and head.  
  
Jayden came back to the room with breakfast on a tray and some toys for Nathan, and he smiled when he saw the scene. He settled himself against the headboard next to Noah and handed him a piece of bread, fresh from the bakery. He had gone to buy it before Nathan had woken up. Knowing that Nathan would complain if he saw them eating without him getting anything, he had brought some mashed banana with him for the baby.  
  
Jayden put the tray on the bed, and they ate together in bed and helped each other feed Nathan, who was still sitting on Noah’s lap. The baby ate the food eagerly, and luckily Jayden had brought some napkins with him to wipe Nathan’s mouth with.  
  
“He’s getting a little better at crawling,” Jayden said while he guided another spoonful of mashed bananas into Nathan’s mouth, while the boy sat on Noah’s lap. “He crawled around on the floor behind me in the kitchen and kept playing with my tail.”  
  
Noah let out a soft chuckle and wiped Nathan’s mouth and chin before the banana that was there could make a mess of the bed. Nathan was wearing a bib, which was already a bit dirty. “I know. I heard you when I went to the bathroom. Just be careful that he doesn’t touch your sharpened feathers.”  
  
“Hey, I always keep them softened when we’re at home and Nathan is around. I don’t want him getting hurt…”  
  
Jayden only had his feathers completely softened when they were alone. He didn’t let the rest of the family see their softened state, since that was reserved for mates only, and for their younger offspring so they wouldn’t get hurt. It wasn’t wrong to let other family members see their softened state, but alphas were very self-conscious about it. Personally, Jayden wouldn’t have a problem with it if he had to show his parents or in-laws his softened feathers, but he preferred not doing it. He liked it when it was only Noah who got to see him like that. It made it special, and his wings were more vulnerable when the feathers were softened.  
  
Nathan whined and reached out his arms towards Jayden when his dad was too slow to give him another spoonful of food. They both chuckled at him, and Jayden quickly guided more food up to Nathan to eat. The boy’s little wings and small tail moved happily behind him, and he had gotten a bit more control over them now than he had before.  
  
They finished up their food, and Jayden left the room to go and get Noah’s presents. Meanwhile, Noah waited on the bed with Nathan, spreading his legs and placed Nathan on his feet between them and held his hands to support him. Nathan was learning to stand up, and in a few months he wouldn’t need any support anymore. Nathan gurgled happily and laughed as Noah interacted with him, until Jayden returned to the room with the presents.  
  
Nathan sat down again, and Noah let him help him a bit with ripping the wrappings off the presents. They had to quickly grab the paper before Nathan could bring it to his mouth, though.  
  
Jayden grinned as Noah opened the presents and seemed happy to get a few things he had wished for; new towels for the bathroom, his favorite shampoo and body lotion, new bed sheets, and three pairs of panties. The panties were in different colors; purple, white, and red. They had small hearts on them and looked very cute.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah told Jayden, blushing slightly at the panties because of Jayden’s smirk on his face. He knew Jayden had brought those panties because he thought they would look sexy on Noah.  
  
“You’re welcome. Hope you like the presents,” Jayden smiled.  
  
“I do.” Noah reached over and gently grabbed Jayden by the back of the head, pulling him in for a kiss.  
  
They hummed into each other’s mouths and touched tongues. Noah moaned softly when Jayden played with his bottom lip between his teeth before kissing him deep and intimately again.  
  
Nathan just sat between them, watching them curiously while playing with a small plush toy that squeaked a bit when he pressed it. He gurgled and waved the toy around, hitting Jayden’s leg sometimes, but Jayden was too used to it to let it bother him.  
  
They pulled apart from the kiss and shared a loving smile.  
  
“I, uh, kind of have something extra for you. But you’ll get it later, after our guests have gone home tonight,” Jayden announced.  
  
Dean and Castiel were coming over soon to visit them and be there for Noah’s birthday, and Isaac and Lily were coming as well, along with their mates and kids. Eden and Adrian weren’t coming today, as there would be too many people if they came, so they had agreed to come over tomorrow instead.  
  
A small, curious frown formed on Noah’s face, and he stared back at Jayden and searched his eyes. “What is it?”  
  
Jayden laughed. “I’m not saying anything. You’ll find out tonight.”  
  
Noah pouted at him. “Stupid…”  
  
“I know,” the alpha smirked, leaning in for another kiss before getting up to get rid of all those wrappings that were spread out over the bed.  
  


 

***

  
  
Lily and Tony were the first guests to arrive. They arrived at noon, and Lily beamed when Noah opened the door for them.  
  
“Noah! Happy birthday!” Lily exclaimed, throwing her arms around Noah in a tight hug.  
  
“Thanks, Lily,” Noah smiled, hugging his sister back. They pulled apart, and Noah glanced down at her swollen belly. “How are your twins doing?”  
  
Lily smiled and placed her hand on her six months pregnant belly, rubbing it tenderly. “They’re doing great. Already making me have to pee all the time.”  
  
Noah cringed in sympathy. “Yeah, I don’t miss that…”  
  
Jayden chuckled at them and greeted Tony as he squeezed his way past Lily to come in. Nathan was sitting on Jayden’s arm, so they were careful not to squeeze him.  
  
Alec was there too, glancing up at them while staying close to his mother’s side. He was five years old and quite outgoing. He was usually a tiny bit wary for the first two minutes after entering someone else’s home, but after that he was full of energy and always loved to interact with people.  
  
Noah and Tony greeted each other, and Noah closed and locked the door once they were all inside. Tony put the bag he was carrying away and helped Lily take off her shoes. Since she was expecting twins, her belly was a bit larger and her back was pretty sore already.  
  
“Glad I have my wonderful man-slave to help me,” Lily snickered, smiling down at Tony as he kneeled in front of her to take her shoes off for her.  
  
“Anything for you sweetheart,” Tony replied, giving her a wicked smirk as he glanced up at her.  
  
Noah and Jayden laughed softly at that.  
  
“Can he talk yet?” Alec asked and stared up at Nathan, who was still sitting on Jayden’s arm and sucking on his pacifier.  
  
Jayden chuckled down at him. “No, he’s too young for that. But in a few months he can.”  
  
Alec seemed to ponder over that as he continued to stare up at Nathan, who glanced down at him curiously from his father’s arm.  
  
“Yeah, babies don’t speak when they’re five months old. By the time he’s one year old, he’ll know more words,” Lily told Alec patiently.  
  
Noah chuckled as Alec looked a little disappointed that he couldn’t speak with Nathan yet, but that was just how things were.  
  
They invited the guests into the living room afterwards, and Lily handed Noah his birthday present from her and Tony. He quickly opened it, but was careful since Lily had warned him that it could break. The wrappings came off and a brown box was revealed. When Noah opened it and peeked inside, he saw a pretty vase in there for flowers. The design was nice and fit well into the living room.  
  
“Thank you,” Noah told them with a wide smile.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Lily told him, smiling. “But better keep it away from your cat when it’s not being used.”  
  
“Yeah. Our cat has smashed a couple of our vases already,” Tony chuckled.  
  
Jayden laughed softly at that, and he and Noah glanced over at Midnight, who was sitting on top of the bookshelf at the moment and was watching them quietly.  
  
Noah put the vase away somewhere safe before hugging Lily and Tony to thank them again.  
  
Jayden handed Nathan over to Noah before going to get some toy cars and Legos for Alec to play with, and the boy lit up like a Christmas tree when he had some stuff to be entertained with.  
  
A few minutes after Lily and her family had arrived, the doorbell rang again, indicating that more of their guests were there.  
  
Noah headed to the entrance hall to get the door with Nathan still on his arm, while Jayden stayed in the living room and chatted with Lily and Tony. They didn’t want to make the hallway too crowded, and they could greet the others when they came into the living room.  
  
Noah opened the door and was surprised to see not just Dean and Castiel, but also Isaac, Kaylen, and little Eliza. They seemed have run into each other before heading up to the apartment to ring the doorbell.  
  
“Noah!” Isaac exclaimed before anyone could say anything, and came forward to throw his arms around Noah’s neck, being careful not to hurt little Nathan. “Happy birthday, squirt!”  
  
“Thanks, Isaac,” Noah squeaked, trying to hug him back without dropping Nathan.  
  
“Be careful of the baby, Isaac,” Castiel groused softly behind him, rolling his eyes at his son.  
  
Isaac pulled away from Noah and grinned down at little Nathan, reaching out to gently poke his nose. “Hi, Nathan,” he cooed at him. “Still cock-blocking your parents?”  
  
“Isaac!” Castiel chastised in disapproval.  
  
Kaylen swatted Isaac’s tail with his own and glared at him, while Dean laughed a bit.  
  
Noah just groaned at his brother and rocked Nathan, who didn’t understand what was going on. Luckily Eliza didn’t know what Isaac meant either.  
  
Finally Dean and Castiel came forward and hugged Noah tightly, while Isaac made his way inside to take off his shoes.  
  
“Happy birthday,” Castiel told him, squeezing Noah and smiling at Nathan.  
  
“Yeah, happy birthday. Can’t believe you’re 24 already. Makes me feel old,” Dean grinned, hugging Noah as well.  
  
Noah chuckled at them after pulling back and shifted Nathan on his arm when the baby complained softly. “You’re not old, dad.”  
  
“No, he’s only over half a century old!” Isaac commented from inside, where he had already taken off his shoes.  
  
“Hey, watch it!” Dean warned him softly, before going inside with Cas.  
  
Noah chuckled at them and smiled at Kaylen and Eliza as Kaylen stepped forward, holding his daughter on his arm. Eliza was almost one year old now, and she stared curiously at Nathan when their mothers stood in front of each other.  
  
“Happy birthday, Noah,” Kaylen smiled, hugging him briefly before going inside.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah smiled back, closing and locking the door after them.  
  
Nathan kept staring back at Eliza curiously. The two knew each other pretty well, since they had met multiple times before, and each time they would stare at one another, gurgle and squeal happily. Eliza grinned and jumped in Kaylen’s arms as if she was eager to play with Nathan, and Noah chuckled softly.  
  
“Wanna go play with your cousin?” Noah asked Nathan, placing a soft kiss on his cheek.  
  
“I think Eliza definitely wants to play,” Kaylen chuckled, having trouble holding her because she was so eager to be put down. He quickly got out of his shoes and pulled Eliza’s small shoes off her, before he and Noah took the babies to the living room to put them down on the floor so they could play.  
  
“Well, at least they can’t run around yet and make trouble,” Dean chuckled as he and Castiel took off their shoes.  
  
“Eliza makes trouble anyway,” Isaac commented.  
  
“She takes after her father, it seems,” Dean smirked, ruffling Isaac’s hair as the three of them went into the living room too to join the others.  
  
“Hey!” Isaac complained, shying away from Dean’s hand.  
  
Castiel chuckled at them and brushed his wing against Dean’s as they went over to greet the rest of the family. Noah and Kaylen were watching over the babies as they sat on the floor together along with Alec, and Jayden and Tony were chatting as Dean and Castiel entered the room.  
  
“Twinnie!” Isaac exclaimed happily when he saw Lily and came over to hug her. It had been a while since they last saw each other.  
  
“Ugh, not so tight, Isaac,” Lily complained softly as Isaac hugged her tightly. She kept a hand on her belly and entwined tails with Isaac as they greeted each other.  
  
Isaac pulled back and stared at Lily’s big stomach. “Whoa, you got bigger since last I saw you!”  
  
“Well, what’d you expect, dummy?”  
  
Isaac snorted at her before reaching out to touch Lily’s stomach gently. Lily let him and smiled as Isaac rubbed it carefully.  
  
“How are you doing, Lily?” Castiel asked as he came over to hug her along with Dean.  
  
“I’m good. It’s a bit tougher than when I expected Alec, though…” Lily replied, hugging them both back. Tony had greeted Dean and Castiel too, and he stayed by Lily’s side almost protectively as they talked about the babies she was carrying.  
  
Castiel gave her a rueful smile. “Yes, having twins is a little different.”  
  
“And they’re both girls. One would kind of expect them to be calmer than if it were two boys, but I think they’re incredibly active already… They sure kick around a lot.”  
  
“Well, in my experience, girls are pretty much as active and annoying as boys,” Dean told her with a soft chuckle.  
  
“But I bet Isaac takes the prize in our family…” Lily murmured, glancing at her twin.  
  
Isaac snorted and crossed his arms. “Of course. I always take the prize. I’m the best.”  
  
“Does someone have a needle we can burst his ego with?” Tony joked, making them laugh and Isaac protest when his pride was hurt.  
  
Alec suddenly jumped up from the floor then, having almost forgotten to greet his grandparents and his uncle Isaac. He had been busy interacting with Nathan and Eliza, as well as Noah and Kaylen who were keeping an eye on them.  
  
“Grandma! Grandpa!” Alec cheered, running over and wrapping his arms around Castiel first.  
  
Castiel grinned down at him and ran a hand through Alec’s sandy-colored hair. “Hello, Alec. Have you been looking out for your mom lately?”  
  
Alec nodded and grinned proudly. “Yep!” he chirped, letting Castiel hug him back before he ran over and hugged Dean next. Dean grinned at him and picked Alec up under the arms, lifting him up in the air. Alec squealed and laughed, enjoying when his grandpa did that. “Again, again!” he begged when Dean was about to put him down.  
  
“Jeez, boy, you’re getting heavy,” Dean chuckled, lifting Alec up again and spun him around. “You’ve been eating too much candy.” He brought Alec down to sit on his arms and playfully pretended to try and eat him, making the alpha boy squeal, laugh, and try to get away.  
  
The others laughed and watched the interaction, until Alec was put back down on the floor again. He went over to Isaac then, because he was still in a playful mood and he knew his uncle was always up to no good. Isaac smirked at him before grabbing him, and Alec laughed his ass off as Isaac tickled him all over until he was a kicking, squirming mess. Alec got to tickle him back, and he laughed when Isaac squeaked and playfully tried to get away.  
  
“Noooo, he’s killing me! Get him off!” Isaac laughed playfully as he let Alec tickle him. Isaac playing along only hyped Alec up further, and he kept laughing as he tickled his uncle and tried not to get tickled back.  
  
“Jeez, and we didn’t even give him any sugar before we came here,” Tony chuckled.  
  
“I guess he runs on other fuels too,” Jayden joked. Tony laughed at that.  
  
Isaac took a sudden step back to get away from Alec’s tickling and almost bumped into Lily.  
  
“Hey, be careful! I’m pregnant here!” Lily groused, glaring at her twin brother.  
  
“Oops, sorry. It was an accident,” Isaac said, before laughing and jumping away from Alec again.  
  
Castiel chuckled fondly at them before going over to Noah to hand him his present from him and Dean. “Your father and I didn’t quite know what to get you, but I hope you will like it,” he said as he handed the present to Noah.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah smiled, opening the present curiously. The others looked over to see what it was, and Alec and Isaac stopped playing around when curiosity got the better of them. Noah quickly opened up the present and gasped when he saw that his parents had gotten him the third installment of his favorite book series. Real books were less common now, as most people used electronic books, but there were some people who preferred the hard copies, and Noah was one of them. “Oh my god, thank you. I’ve been waiting for this book!” He turned the book in his hands to read the description, and saw a fifty dollar bill attached to its back.  
  
Dean grinned at him. “You’re welcome. And the book wasn’t that expensive, so we decided to give you some cash as well.”  
  
“Thanks,” Noah told them, smiling widely at his parents and coming over to hug them both again.  
  
“Aw man, I want cash too!” Isaac pouted.  
  
“Your birthday is six months away,” Kaylen told him with a roll of his eyes. He let Eliza play a bit with his tail as she sat on the floor next to his feet, and his wings twitched every time her curious hands touched them.  
  
Lily snickered at her silly twin and rubbed her stomach absently.  
  
Noah grinned down at his book, excited to read it later. Jayden watched him with a fond chuckle, knowing how much his mate liked reading in the evenings when he was waiting for Jayden to come home from work.  
  
“And we have a present for you as well,” Kaylen told Noah, turning to look at Isaac to indicate to him that he should go and get it.  
  
“Oh. Right.” Isaac hurried out of the room to get the present, which he had left in the hallway when they came into the apartment. Eliza whined and got up to try to follow her dad, not knowing that he’d be back in just a few seconds, but Dean picked her up before she could leave the room on her unsteady legs. She couldn’t move very fast and often fell over, but she had managed to make her way over to Dean before anyone could stop her.  
  
Eliza whined a bit when Dean picked her up and stopped her from following her dad, but when Dean held her close and kissed her cheek several times, she giggled and squirmed happily in his arms and seemed to forget about her little mission.  
  
The others laughed softly at Eliza until Isaac returned to the room seconds later.  
  
“Here you go,” Isaac said, handing Noah his present with an excited smile.  
  
“Thank you,” Noah smiled. He eyed the present warily, since Isaac usually got him very embarrassing or silly stuff for his birthday or for Christmas, but since he and Kaylen became mates, the presents had gotten more decent. He opened the present and was aware of the others watching it curiously. He frowned a bit when he saw a used shoebox inside, which they had probably used so that he couldn’t get a feel of what the present was. He opened the lid and peeked inside, seeing a gift card hidden there. The gift card was for a very popular lingerie store, and Noah felt a bit embarrassed as he picked it up and opened it. It was worth 70 dollars, which was quite a lot of money.  
  
“Now you can go buy something to spice things up in the bedroom with,” Isaac smirked. “You can have Jayden help you pick something that will make him absolutely _wild._ ”  
  
Noah blushed furiously when the others laughed. Castiel groaned at Isaac for embarrassing Noah like that once again, but at the same time he couldn’t help but be a bit amused.  
  
Jayden too blushed a bit, but unlike Noah he was laughing.  
  
“Jeez, Isaac. You’re such a kid,” Lily said, rolling her eyes at him.  
  
Kaylen laughed when he saw Noah’s red face. “You should be grateful that I persuaded Isaac to give you a gift card for that store. He wanted to go in and pick some sexy underwear for you himself, but I told him that it’s best if you and Jayden pick something on your own.”  
  
“T-That’s… Thanks,” Noah murmured, still blushing as he gently put the gift card away on the dining table along with the rest of his presents.  
  
“What’s that?” Alec asked, pulling at Tony’s pants while glancing up at him in confusion.  
  
“Some money to buy clothes with,” Tony explained, not wanting to elaborate.  
  
Isaac laughed at Tony’s lame explanation. “It’s hardly _clothes._ ”  
  
“Isaac, why must you be so embarrassing,” Castiel murmured while scowling at his beta son.  
  
“Hey! I only mean well. Having a good love life is important,” Isaac said defensively.  
  
“Yeah, but this is embarrassing,” Castiel argued.  
  
“There’s nothing wrong with some lingerie,” Isaac insisted.  
  
“Yeah, but when you buy it for your brother it’s just awkward,” Dean groaned.  
  
“And Kaylen was in on this too…” Lily murmured and glanced over at Kaylen.  
  
Kaylen just grinned and shrugged a bit. “It’s just a gift card. Besides, the store also sells bathrobes and stuff, so who says that Noah has to buy underwear with it?” He looked over at Noah, who was still pretty embarrassed to have his family see that he had gotten a gift card to buy sexy underwear with. At least Kaylen’s mention of the store selling other things too made it a little less embarrassing.  
  
Jayden chuckled and shook his head at them before going over to Noah. His mate was still blushing, and Jayden gently placed his hands on Noah’s hips and curled his tail around his leg for reassurance. “Don’t be so embarrassed. It’s not as bad as when he got you dirty movies for your birthday.”  
  
Noah groaned loudly. “Please don’t remind me of that…”  
  
“Isaac’s sole purpose is just to annoy everyone around him. You should know that by now, Noah,” Lily told him, giving him a sympathetic look.  
  
Isaac snorted and went over to Alec. “They are being mean to me,” he told the boy, pouting.  
  
Alec laughed, finding it all very amusing even though he didn’t really understand everything that was going on.  
  
Eliza made a noise of complaint on Dean’s arm and reached out towards Isaac. Isaac grinned at her and came over to take her into his arms, and Eliza squealed happily when she was with her dad again.  
  
Castiel smiled as he watched Isaac with Eliza. Isaac was a good father, even though he was kind of immature and childish. He had lots of love to give and Eliza seemed very fond of her dad.  
  
Meanwhile Nathan was playing with toys on the floor, lying on his stomach and rolling around once in a while. He suddenly started sobbing a bit and began crawling over to his parents clumsily. Noah turned to him immediately and squatted down a few feet away from him.  
  
“Come on. You can do it,” Noah said, smiling encouragingly at Nathan and spread out his arms as the baby began crawling towards him. Nathan was still getting the hang of how to crawl, so it was more like scooting himself forward, but he seemed determined to make his way over to his mother. The others watched and cheered on him until he finally made his way over to Noah. “Yay! You’re such a good boy,” Noah praised him, grinning as he picked Nathan up to hold him. The baby gurgled happily and fisted his hands in Noah’s shirt.  
  
Jayden grinned proudly and stroked Nathan’s head after Noah had gotten up from the floor with him. “That was so good,” he told Nathan and leaned in to kiss him on the head.  
  
“Yeah, he’s getting good at that,” Lily grinned. “I guess hanging out with Eliza and seeing what she can do encourages him.”  
  
Kaylen chuckled. “Yeah, probably.”  
  
Castiel went over to praise Nathan too, and the baby smiled when his grandmother stroked his head lovingly. Dean came over as well, and he and Castiel were happy to see that Noah and Jayden were being such good parents together. Nathan seemed very attached to them both.  
  
“Better watch out once he starts walking,” Isaac warned Jayden, still holding Eliza on his arm. “Eliza is opening all the doors at home and peeking into every drawer. I’m getting a heart attack each time I watch her close a door, ‘cause she almost crushes her fingers sometimes.”  
  
“Yeah, gotta be careful,” Tony cringed.  
  
“Yeah, I plan to put some stuff in the doors so that they don’t close completely to avoid such accidents,” Jayden said, also cringing a bit. “But we have those small gates to prevent him from entering certain rooms already.” He gestured at the baby gate that was placed next to the door, currently not in use. It was a small gate you could easily put in any doorway to keep a baby in or out of a room, and it had a lock that babies couldn’t open by themselves. Jayden had bought three of them so far, and they often put one in the doorway between the living room and the hallway when they didn’t want Nathan crawling out of the living room. Midnight wasn’t bothered by it. She could just jump up on it and get past it if she wanted to.  
  
“We have those too, but sometimes when we visit people, Eliza plays with their doors and almost gets her fingers stuck. We always gotta look out for her,” Kaylen said, glancing over at Eliza in slight worry.  
  
Alec glanced down at his own fingers. “I don’t wanna get mine stuck either…”  
  
Toy chuckled at him and ruffled his hair fondly. “But you almost did a few times when you were a baby.”  
  
Lily chuckled as Alec looked up at his dad with an almost terrified face. She suddenly looked over at Noah then. “Oh, and you’ll probably get a familiar student in the kindergarten this year, Noah.”  
  
Noah turned his head and blinked her.  
  
“Alec is going to attend the kindergarten you work at,” Lily told him, smiling excitedly.  
  
“Oh, really?” Noah glanced between her and Alec in surprise. “But he’s in a different pre-kindergarten now, isn’t he?” The kindergarten that Noah worked at shared facilities with a pre-kindergarten, and most of the pre-kindergarteners would attend the kindergarten once they were old enough.  
  
“Yeah, that one is closer to our home than where you work, but it doesn’t have a kindergarten, so he’ll be attending yours this August,” Lily explained, smiling down at Alec and ran her hand through his hair in affection. “It’ll be nice having him attend a place where we know someone.”  
  
“Oh, that’s cool,” Isaac grinned excitedly.  
  
Noah smiled over at Alec, who seemed pretty excited as well about the idea of attending kindergarten soon. “I can’t promise I will be his teacher, though. We are several teachers there who teach different classes…”  
  
“I know, but maybe he’ll be lucky to get you as a teacher,” Lily grinned. She looked down at Alec again. “Don’t you want Noah as your teacher in kindergarten?”  
  
“Yeah! That would be so cool!” Alec cheered and jumped happily.  
  
The others seemed to like the idea too, and Noah grinned at Alec as the boy was all excited. Noah hadn’t tried teaching a kid whom he was related to before, so he kind of wondered if that was going to be a challenge. He didn’t want to give Alec too much special treatment, as that would upset the other kids, so he hoped that he could balance it without upsetting anyone. One day, Nathan would have to attend pre-kindergarten and kindergarten as well, and since Noah worked at one, it would be easier to have Nathan be there as well. It was strange to think that he could end up teaching his own children in kindergarten one day, but he hoped he could make it work out.  
  
“Speaking of kindergarten… Aren’t you going back to work soon, Noah?” Dean asked him while everyone finally went over to sit down on the couch. They seated themselves next to their mates, and Noah ended up sitting between Jayden and Castiel. Dean sat on Castiel’s other side, followed by Lily, Tony, Kaylen, and Isaac. Alec was playing with toys on the floor, imitating the noises of a car engine or a helicopter as he played with the toys that Jayden had provided for him earlier.  
  
“Yeah, I’m going back next month,” Noah confirmed.  
  
“Next month already? Are you ready for that?” Castiel asked, glancing between Noah, Nathan, and Jayden.  
  
“I think so. We’ve gotten a place for Nathan in a private daycare one block away, and the woman who has it seems very nice,” Noah said, glancing briefly at Jayden.  
  
“Yeah, I think he’ll like it there. If we can leave him there without him getting upset…” Jayden spoke, glancing worriedly at Nathan, who was blowing a few bubbles from his mouth while sitting on Noah’s lap. Eliza was sitting with Kaylen now and playing with a toy, which she kept hitting Isaac and Tony with, since Kaylen sat between the two.  
  
“Emily will be there too, so hopefully it’s fine,” Noah reminded him gently.  
  
Emily was the daughter of their new demon neighbors, David and Millie. Over the past few months, they had formed a small friendship with the other couple and had even had dinner together sometimes to get to know each other. Nathan and Emily got along well and were about the same age. Emily was only five weeks younger than Nathan.  
  
“Who’s Emily?” Isaac asked, glancing at them in confusion.  
  
“Our new neighbors’ daughter,” Jayden reminded him with a small chuckle.  
  
“Ohhh right! You told us about them. Are they still not racists?”  
  
“No, we get along well.”  
  
Castiel smiled at that. “That’s good. I’m glad you’re making friends with your neighbors. Perhaps Emily and Nathan will continue to get along well?”  
  
“I hope so,” Noah smiled, rocking Nathan on his lap. He gently guided Nathan’s pacifier back into his mouth when he suddenly missed it, and he baby gurgled happily behind the pacifier.  
  
“Aren’t your friends gonna have babies too soon?” Lily asked. “Christie and Lucas, that is.”  
  
“I think Christie wants to wait a year or two before she mates with her boyfriend, Matthew,” Noah explained. “As for Lucas… I’m not sure what his plans are, but he finishes his studies next month, so I guess he wants to wait a little bit before he and Caleb have children. They haven’t mated yet either…”  
  
“How is Lucas doing?” Castiel asked, remembering Lucas well from when Noah was in high school and college.  
  
Noah smiled. “He’s good, I think. I spoke to him a few weeks ago, and things are going okay for him at college. Caleb looks out for him, so he’s in good hands.”  
  
“Can’t you get him into the kindergarten where you work? He’s a kindergarten teacher too isn’t he?” Lily asked. She was still rubbing her swollen stomach every now and then as she leaned back into the couch.  
  
“Actually, Noah has talked about trying to do that,” Jayden said and glanced at Noah with a smile.  
  
“I’m sure Lucas would really appreciate that,” Castiel smiled.  
  
Noah nodded. “Yeah, that’s why I’m going to ask my boss about it when I return to work next month.”  
  
“Ohh, Noah is a recruiter now,” Isaac grinned. “Can you get me a job there as well? Could be funny to entertain those kids all day long.”  
  
“Sure, I’ll let you know if we have an open position for a clown someday,” Noah told him with a completely straight face.  
  
Everyone burst out laughing, and Isaac didn’t look very happy with Noah’s comment. He crossed his arms and leaned back into the couch, sulking. “Why’d I even ask…” he muttered.  
  
Noah snickered and gave Isaac a look of triumph after having gotten back at him for the embarrassment he had caused him earlier.  
  
Nathan and Eliza stared at the adults curiously as they laughed, and Jayden gently grabbed Nathan when the boy reached out towards him to be switched into his arms instead.  
  
“Nice one, Noah,” Kaylen told him, giving him a wink.  
  
“Hey! Whose side are you on?” Isaac protested, pouting at his mate.  
  
Noah laughed softly at them and watched as Kaylen gently put Eliza down on the floor when she indicated that she wanted to move around on her own for a bit.  
  
“You deserved that one, Isaac,” Dean told him, still laughing.  
  
“Yeah, and you’d make a good clown,” Lily said, leaning forward a bit so she could look past Tony and Kaylen and see Isaac.  
  
“Would you be quiet already?” Isaac groused, avoiding using too many cusswords when the kids were around. “My talent is too great to be wasted with playing a clown. I’ve played a freaking magician and a soldier – clowns are below my talent!”  
  
“But you’re the family clown!” Lily snickered.  
  
Isaac growled and crossed his arms again. “This is harassment! Dad, they’re bullying me!” He looked at Dean as if he wanted him to help him.  
  
“You’re 29 years old; you can handle bullies by yourself now,” Dean chuckled.  
  
The others laughed more, and Noah felt a little sorry for Isaac. Isaac, however, was mostly just pretending to be offended; they all knew that. He knew they were just teasing him and sometimes getting back at him for being embarrassing to them. Besides, he got attention this way and made the others laugh, which he had always liked.  
  
Eliza went over and placed herself between Isaac’s legs, her fingers scratching his jeans a bit while she stared up at him. “Da-da,” she said.  
  
Isaac grinned at his daughter and gently picked her up sit on his lap. He hugged her tight and placed kisses on her head and cheeks, making her laugh, giggle, and squirm a bit. Her tiny wings and tail flapped and curled behind her, and she snuggled into Isaac as he hugged her.  
  
“It’s nice to hear that she’s talking a bit,” Castiel smiled.  
  
“Yeah, she knows quite a lot of words already, but it’s still difficult to understand her sometimes,” Kaylen said, watching Isaac and Eliza fondly.  
  
Noah and Jayden smiled over at Eliza. They both looked forward to when Nathan started being able to speak words, and were curious about what his first words would be.  
  
Alec came over to them when Midnight suddenly jumped up on the back of the couch. He was eager to pet her, but the cat was a little cautious around children. It took a minute or two before he could get close enough to her.  
  
Jayden got up to get some snacks for everyone, and he had baked some pie to share on Noah’s birthday. Dean immediately loved him for that, and Castiel had to remind Dean not to eat all of it. Dean liked Jayden’s pies a lot, so he sometimes forgot that he should save a bit for the others.  
  
They spent the rest of the day chatting, having fun, and interacting with the children. Both Nathan and Eliza were up for quite a while, and Eliza got to practice her walking skills when she started following Alec around the room.  
  
In the evening, Jayden prepared a nice dinner for them; Noah’s favorite pork meat, potatoes, vegetables, and a nice homemade béarnaise sauce. Castiel helped him out a bit in the kitchen, despite Jayden’s protests, and they got to bond a bit while Noah stayed with the other guests in the living room.  
  


 

***

  
  
It was around 7pm when the guests finally left, and Noah and Jayden hugged them all goodbye. Nathan was awake again after his afternoon nap, as was Eliza, and Dean and Castiel kissed him on the cheek before leaving the apartment.  
  
It had been a good day with the family, and Noah had enjoyed every second of it. He looked forward to seeing Eden and Adrian tomorrow when they’d stop by for a visit.  
  
When the guests were gone the apartment felt uncomfortably quiet.  
  
Noah rocked Nathan on his arm and kissed him gently on the cheek before going back to the living room with him. Jayden followed them and started cleaning up all the toys that Alec and Eliza had scattered all over the place.  
  
“Man, what a day,” Jayden sighed, picking up the toys while Midnight watched him from her cat castle.  
  
“Yeah, but it was fun,” Noah said, still holding Nathan on his arm while the baby sucked on his pacifier and glanced down at Jayden.  
  
“Yeah, it was. And you got some nice presents, especially from Isaac and Kaylen.” Jayden looked at Noah with a knowing smirk.  
  
Noah blushed a bit. “I still hate it when he gives me such embarrassing presents, though…”  
  
Jayden laughed softly and put the toys away in the box he kept them in. “Well, I’m not complaining. It’s always nice to see you in new, sexy lingerie.”  
  
“You’re embarrassing!” Noah chastised him, glad that Nathan couldn’t yet understand what they were talking about.  
  
Jayden just laughed at him before putting the box away and went to the kitchen to do the last bit of the dishes.  
  
Meanwhile Noah sat down on the couch with Nathan. He put the baby down on his back and gently tickled his little feet, making Nathan laugh and kick. He then leaned away and watched as Nathan tried to sit up so he could see him better. The baby made small grunts of efforts, but was having some trouble getting up.  
  
“Come on. I know you can do it,” Noah told him in a soft, encouraging voice, smiling proudly at Nathan as the baby tried to train his body.  
  
Nathan sobbed a bit, impatient to sit up so he could see his mother better, and he eventually rolled over on his side so that his face was facing the back of the couch. Then he began using the back of the couch for support, and slowly he finally managed to get into a sitting position. Noah reached out to steady him when he was about to fall over, and Nathan grinned at him when he could finally see his mother properly.  
  
“That was so good,” Noah praised him with a proud grin. He watched as Nathan slowly leaned forwards so that he fell down on his stomach, and then used his elbows to get up and crawl over into Noah’s lap. Noah laughed fondly at him and placed him properly on his lap, and the baby cooed in content as he leaned back into him. Noah wrapped his arms around him and pressed a kiss to his son’s head, holding him close.  
  
Jayden returned to the room then, smiling as he watched them. “I think our son is quite a big cuddler. He just loves to sit on his mommy’s lap.”  
  
Noah glanced up at him and chuckled softly. “Yeah. But it’s not just my lap he likes sitting on.” He reached over and grabbed one of Nathan’s noisy toys and handed it to the baby so that he had something to entertain himself with. Nathan turned the toy in his hands and stared at it curiously, laughing when it made noises.  
  
“Well, I think your lap is his favorite,” Jayden smiled, moving over to sit down next to Noah. Slinging his arm over Noah’s shoulders he inched closer to him and smiled lovingly down at their son in his mate’s lap. “What have you got there, huh?” he asked Nathan in a soft, cooing voice.  
  
Nathan glanced up at him and grinned a bit when he looked at his dad, before waving the toy and causing it to make more noise.  
  
Jayden chuckled at the baby and played around with him for a bit, and Noah watched the interaction with a smile. Spending time with their little son together was the best part of their day. Midnight jumped over on the couch and stared curiously at the toy that Nathan was holding. Nathan stared back at her, but Noah had to keep him away from Midnight for now because he still hadn’t learned to be gentle with her. He had once grabbed her fur too tight, causing her to hiss at him angrily before running away, leaving Nathan confused and crying. Noah didn’t really want that to happen again.  
  
They turned on the TV and found some cartoon channel, which kept Nathan busy for a bit as he stared at the screen. Meanwhile Noah leaned against Jayden’s shoulder, while their wings touched and got kind of squeezed between them and the couch. It was a bit uncomfortable, but it was manageable.  
  
After half an hour Nathan got sleepy and started sobbing a bit. Jayden carried Nathan to the nursery to change his diaper before bed, and Noah followed.  
  
Noah got Nathan’s crib and night clothes ready while Jayden took off the dirty diaper on the changing table in the nursery.  
  
“Buuuh, what a nasty smell. Did you make that?” Jayden cooed at Nathan, who just giggled up at him and watched him as he changed the diaper.  
  
Jayden took off dirty diaper and wrapped it up before putting it away and cleaning up Nathan. He tickled the boy’s feet and stomach a bit, making Nathan laugh and kick. He would have liked to bond with him some more, but the diaper just smelled too bad for him to keep standing there.  
  
“I’m gonna go get rid of this diaper. God, it smells,” Jayden announced, grimacing as he picked it up and carried it out of the room.  
  
Noah chuckled at him before going over to Nathan, who still needed to be put into a new diaper. Nathan immediately recognized his face and squealed happily, his tiny hands reaching up towards Noah. “Oh I know, mommy loves you too,” Noah grinned, taking both of Nathan’s hands in his own and placed small kisses on them. He then leaned down and put his mouth to Nathan’s stomach, blowing raspberries on it.  
  
Nathan laughed loudly at that, enjoying it when his parents produced that funny noise and made it tickle.  
  
Noah blew a few more raspberries on him, smiling at him all the time, and didn’t notice Jayden watching them from the doorway. The alpha looked at the scene with a smile and watched as Noah began putting a new diaper on Nathan. The baby’s tail swished back and forth, and Noah had to grab both of his legs with one hand and try to tame that tail while shoving the diaper under him. He then had to get the tail through the hole and attach the diaper properly.  
  
“Having trouble?” Jayden asked, approaching them slowly.  
  
Noah looked over him, a bit startled since he hadn’t noticed that he was there. “Yeah, a bit. His tail is just so lively: It’s kind of annoying.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, demon tails have a mind of their own sometimes, but you’re doing great.”  
  
“Thanks…” Noah finally got the tail through the hole and wrapped the diaper around Nathan. He let out a relieved sigh when it succeeded at last.  
  
Together they entertained Nathan for a bit until the baby got sleepier.  
  
They put him into the crib and stayed with him for a bit until Nathan closed his eyes to sleep, sucking peacefully on his pacifier.  
  
It was past 8 already, and they headed back to the living room after Nathan was finally asleep. Noah kept the baby alarm with him in case Nathan should suddenly wake up.  
  
Jayden collapsed on his butt on the couch and watched some TV, and Noah went over and seated himself next to him. There was nothing much on TV, but that was how it usually was. They snuggled together and watched some science program for a while until Noah finally spoke.  
  
“So… What was it that you wanted to give me?” Noah leaned a bit away to look at Jayden. “You said you had another present for me for later.”  
  
“Oh. Right. Uh…” Jayden rubbed the back of his neck a little, and Noah frowned a bit when he suddenly looked a bit sheepish. “It’s not a present as such, but… I’m hoping you’ll still like it.”  
  
Noah got increasingly curious. “What is it?”  
  
Jayden glanced at him almost shyly. He seemed to have an inner conflict with himself to gather courage, and eventually he let out a small cough and moved off the couch. Noah blinked in wonder when Jayden placed himself in the narrow space between the couch and the couch table and stared down at him.  
  
“So, uh, we’ve been together for like eight years now and been mated for five, and I still haven’t asked you to officially marry me,” Jayden began, rubbing the back of his neck in a way that was kind of cute. He kept glancing at Noah and shifting nervously as he spoke, and his tail was curling and uncurling behind him.  
  
Before Noah could speak, Jayden took a deep breath and slowly got down on one knee in front of him.  
  
Noah stared wide-eyed at Jayden, his heart almost stopping because he knew what Jayden was going to ask him now.  
  
Jayden slowly reached out and grabbed Noah’s right hand, cupping it between his own and looked him straight in the eye as he sat on his knee in front of him. “So, um… Will you marry me, Noah?”  
  
It was like Noah’s mind almost couldn’t process it. It was such an intense moment and so romantic, and Noah forgot about everything else in the world as he watched his alpha mate get on his knees before him and ask him to marry him. It didn’t take Noah many seconds before he grinned widely at Jayden and let out a happy, “Yes!”  
  
Jayden grinned at him, wider than ever, and Noah launched himself forward to throw his arms around Jayden’s neck.  
  
“Of course I will marry you, you dummy,” Noah said, sighing into Jayden’s neck as he hugged him tight.  
  
Jayden grinned in happiness, running his hands up and down Noah’s back, purposefully touching the base of his wings too. “I know, but I had to ask. I didn’t really expect you to reject me, since we’re already mates.”  
  
Marriage was a human tradition, which angels and demons had also adapted. Although being mates meant that the couple belonged together, marriage was the official confirmation of their mating. Many mates felt that marriage was what connected them fully together, forever and always, and having the state’s approval of their mating meant a lot to them. It also called for a celebration for family and friends, and was the ultimate way for the couple’s bond to be acknowledged and approved legally as well as inside the family.  
  
After a few moments, Noah finally pulled back to look at Jayden. “But… Can we afford the celebration?”  
  
“I’ve actually saved up for it for a while,” Jayden said with a grin on his face. “And my grandmother has been preaching to me lately that I gotta marry you already. Remember the money my grandparents gave us for Christmas? She said it was for our wedding, so that we can be celebrated properly.”  
  
Noah’s wings flared in happiness, and his arms were still wrapped around Jayden’s neck as he grinned at him. “I can’t wait.”  
  
“Yeah? When do you wanna get married then?”  
  
“I don’t know… In a few months? Maybe in August or September…? I just want to get back to work again and get used to it before we get married.”  
  
“Sounds good to me,” Jayden smiled, leaning in to nuzzle his nose against Noah’s. “Mm, can’t wait for you to officially be mine. I love you so, so much.”  
  
Noah smiled at him, gently rubbing his thumb against the back of Jayden’s neck as he had his arms wrapped around him. “I love you too, Connor.”  
  
Jayden let out a possessive growl and crushed his lips against Noah’s. They shared a deep, hungry kiss, happy when thinking about their upcoming marriage. They had both been content just being mates, but marriage was a chance for them to consummate their love further.  
  
Noah kissed Jayden back, mewling softly into his mate’s mouth and let him take the lead. He slowly leaned back into the couch, and Jayden supported himself with one hand on the couch as he leaned in over his body and continued to kiss him. The alpha’s other hand roamed through Noah’s messy hair and gripped it tight, making the submissive moan and buck his hips up a bit.  
  
They both knew that the next thing on their schedule was sex. They always had heated sex in the evening of their birthdays, and today was no exception. Noah had been wondering all day what Jayden had in mind for tonight when they got into the bedroom together.  
  
Their kiss continued and their arousals grew, until Jayden switched their positions. He sat down on the couch and leaned back into it and then pulled Noah up to sit on his lap. The submissive followed his lead and straddled the alpha’s lap before kissing him again. Jayden’s hands grabbed him by the waist possessively, and Noah moaned as Jayden gently moved his hands up and down his sides.  
  
A heavy scent of arousal filled their noses, and Jayden finally moved a hand down and began undoing Noah’s pants. Together they opened them up, and Noah got up to pull them all the way off himself. He got rid of his panties too before straddling Jayden’s lap again, naked from the waist down.  
  
Jayden growled in approval as he placed both of his hands on Noah’s naked buttocks, squeezing them.  
  
“Ah, Jayden,” Noah moaned, leaning his head back a little. His cock was hard and his ass was wet and leaking. He whimpered when one of Jayden’s fingers teased his hole and massaged the rim, making him shudder. “Fuck, _please._ ”  
  
“Mm, you’re so wet,” Jayden hummed, taking advantage of Noah’s head being tilted backward a little and leaned in to kiss him on the bared skin. “You’re gonna leak down on my jeans soon and make a mess of them.”  
  
“S-Sorry,” Noah whimpered, baring his neck to his mate as Jayden kissed him there tenderly.  
  
“Don’t be. It’s hot,” Jayden told him, squeezing his ass again and pulled him further up into his lap.  
  
“Please… I need you.”  
  
“You know. I was planning to groom you nice and thoroughly first, getting you all worked up for it, but now that you’re in my lap like this and begging for my cock, I think I’ve changed my plans.” Jayden pulled back and gave Noah a wicked grin, before pushing two fingers into him.  
  
Noah gasped loudly and put his hands on Jayden’s broad shoulders for support. He moaned when he felt the alpha’s fingers twist around inside him, feeling him and getting soaked in his juices while they stretched him. Jayden leaned in and placed soft kisses on his jaw, jugular, and neck, while he added another finger to stretch him open.  
  
The submissive moaned and gently pushed back onto Jayden’s fingers. His wings were slightly spread and flapped a bit every time Jayden’s fingers nudged his sweet spots inside, and Jayden enjoyed watching him like that.  
  
Suddenly Noah’s eyes flickered open and spotted Midnight sitting in the windowsill over to his left. The cat was watching them curiously.  
  
Noah flinched back a bit. “M-Midnight is watching us.”  
  
Jayden blinked at him before following his gaze over to the cat. He snorted out a short laugh. “So what? She’s a cat. She doesn’t care about seeing us having sex.”  
  
“But she’s staring!”  
  
Jayden laughed and kept twisting his fingers around inside Noah, making the submissive yip softly when he hit his prostate and cervix. “She’s watched us do naughty things before, and it didn’t bother you much back then. Just ignore her.” He leaned in to suck on Noah’s neck again, just over his pulse, making the submissive shudder in his lap.  
  
Noah glanced over at Midnight again before moaning when Jayden’s fingers kept pleasuring him. He was so wet and so horny, and a few seconds later he almost forgot that that the cat was even there.  
  
Jayden took good care of Noah until he was properly stretched. When Noah was ready, Jayden pulled out his fingers and brought them up to Noah’s mouth. “Clean them,” he ordered gently with a small smirk.  
  
Noah obediently opened his mouth and took Jayden’s fingers inside, using his tongue to clean them of his own slick. He moaned at the taste of himself and stared back into Jayden’s eyes, smelling how the alpha’s arousal was increasing.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden cursed, his eyes transfixed on the hot sight in front of him as Noah licked his fingers clean of his own slick.  
  
It was kind of dirty to be doing this, but Noah liked the way Jayden’s pupils dilated and how his red wings twitched against the back of the couch while he watched him. Noah licked all the wetness off, thinking it was a little weird to taste himself on Jayden’s fingers like that, but it was also kind of arousing. Jayden’s fingers were bigger and more masculine than his own, and he enjoyed licking them and feeling them inside him when the alpha stretched him.  
  
Jayden shuddered in arousal and removed his fingers from Noah’s mouth to reach down and unzip his pants. His erection sprung free and he pulled his pants down a bit, before gently grabbing Noah by his sides and guiding him into position. Noah took the hint and reached down to grab a hold of Jayden’s twitching cock before lowering himself onto it.  
  
They moaned in unison when they finally connected and Jayden’s cock slid inside, and Noah leaned his head back and squeezed Jayden’s shoulders with his hands while he moaned.  
  
“Oh god,” Jayden moaned, loving how Noah was all warm and tight around him. He quickly moved his hands up behind Noah and touched the base of his wings, making Noah shudder and moan as he began to slowly bounce himself on Jayden’s lap.  
  
They moved together and met each other’s thrusts, and Noah moaned loudly as he bounced on Jayden’s cock and felt his mate touching his wings and his oil glands. He let out a loud noise of pleasure when the alpha’s fingers teased his oil glands deliciously, making him go wild on his lap.  
  
“Oh god. Please, please! Don’t stop,” Noah begged, biting his lip in pleasure while leaning his head back. It felt so good when Jayden rubbed and pinched his oil glands gently, and his ass was filled up completely by Jayden’s dick.  
  
Jayden growled softly and leaned forwards a bit to bite Noah’s neck gently, intent on leaving marks. He held Noah steady as the submissive shuddered and cried out, and he continued to mark his neck and play with his oil glands while Noah rode his cock. The glands were leaking excessively beneath Noah’s shirt, making a mess of it. Jayden inhaled the sweet scent of honey and ran his hands through Noah’s feathers, earning him soft gasps from his mate.  
  
They clung to each other as their climaxes approached, and Jayden reached down and squeezed Noah’s ass tightly with his hands as they rode over the edge together. They cried out in unison, coming hard. Noah’s little cock spurted his release over Jayden’s shirt and hit his own stomach as well, while Jayden shot his load deep inside Noah.  
  
They rode through it together, panting and gasping and running their fingers through each other’s feathers until it was over.  
  
Noah went limp on top of Jayden afterwards, gasping softly when the last wave of Jayden’s come shot into him before the alpha went limp too. Jayden was still hard inside him, and Noah squirmed a bit and moaned when the cock nudged his oversensitive sweet spots so nicely.  
  
Midnight just watched them lazily from the windowsill, where she was busy cleaning herself. She didn’t pay them much attention anymore.  
  
Jayden smiled at Noah and cupped his cheek gently. “So beautiful…”  
  
Noah blushed shyly at those words before letting Jayden place a soft kiss on his lips.  
  
“I’m gonna take you to the bedroom now,” Jayden announced. He then grabbed Noah and held onto him as he lifted himself off the couch, keeping his dick buried inside Noah the whole time. Noah yelped as Jayden stood up, and he quickly wrapped his legs around the alpha’s waist, shivering at the way he could feel Jayden’s dick inside him. A bit of come leaked out, but Jayden’s dick kept most of it plugged inside him.  
  
“W-What are you doing?”  
  
Jayden grinned at him and slowly began walking towards their bedroom, going slow and awkwardly because he had to keep Noah in place and try not to trip in his own pants. His tail helped a bit to keep the pants in place. “Taking you in for round two.”  
  
Noah held on to Jayden for dear life, afraid he was going to slip down, but the alpha’s strong arms had a good hold of him. He was kind of amazed that Jayden could carry him like that almost effortlessly, and it made him shudder in arousal. It was so hot. He had managed to snatch the baby alarm from the table before they left, and he clutched it in his hands while trying to hold on to his mate.  
  
Jayden led him to their bedroom and put him down on the bed. He quickly had Noah roll over onto his stomach so that his come wouldn’t flow out of him so easily. He then pulled the rest of their clothes off before settling himself behind Noah and pushed his tail into him. The tail acted as a plug to keep his semen inside Noah’s ass, and Noah shuddered under him.  
  
Jayden settled himself behind Noah, straddling him without putting much weight on him. He then began to massage Noah’s back as he lay under him, taking his time and making Noah feel good.  
  
The tail in his ass kept distracting Noah because it felt so good, but he soon melted into the bed as Jayden began to massage him so nicely with his rough hands. He let the alpha take care of him and closed his eyes as he enjoyed Jayden’s ministrations. Jayden was pretty good at massaging him, and soft purrs escaped Noah’s throat as the tenseness in his muscles was released.  
  
Grooming was up next, and Jayden carefully made his hands wet in Noah’s precious wing oil before coating the feathers in it. Noah gasped every time he collected new oil from him by stimulating and massaging his oil glands, and Jayden took his time to rub the oil into the feathers.  
  
It was a very intimate thing, and Jayden felt blessed that Noah trusted him so deeply to allow him to touch his oil glands. He loved how Noah just melted into the bed, closing his eyes and enjoying the grooming. It couldn’t get more intimate and more full of trust than that, and Jayden thanked him by placing gentle kisses on Noah’s back, oil glands, and his wing bones.  
  
Noah purred under him and enjoyed every second of it, but it was clear to Jayden that the submissive was also going insane with arousal. Getting his oil glands stimulated like that caused extreme arousal in him, and the way Jayden was touching his wings only made it worse.  
  
When the wings had been groomed, Noah turned around onto his back and Jayden made love to him again. They clung to each other and gasped together as the alpha buried himself inside Noah once more, making slow, sweet love to him.  
  
Jayden’s proposal was the best birthday present Noah had gotten, and he couldn’t stop smiling at his mate as he dreamed about their future together. They already had the most wonderful son in the world, and Noah was happy that he’d get to watch him grow up and maybe have more children with Jayden someday.  
  
Hands entwined and bodies connected, the mates spent the rest of the night together in the bed until they got worn out and needed sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, Noah and Jayden are finally getting married! Which was about time, really. Now Lily and Isaac just need to marry their mates XD So the next chapter will of course be about the wedding, and Nathan will be a little older by then. Won’t be long either till Nathan gets his first sibling… :)
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! :)


	25. Chapter 25

**September 2050 (Noah is 24, Jayden is 26, Nathan is 10 months old, Castiel is 61, Dean is 62, Eden is 37, Adrian is 33 (almost 34), Isaac and Lily are 29 (almost 30), Jason is 37 (almost 38), Daniel is 11, Luna is 8, Natalie is 32 (almost 33), Maya is 8, Aaron is 3 (almost 4), Kaylen is 25, Eliza is 1, Tony is 30 (almost 31), Alec is 5, Leila is 52, Micah is 53, Laura is 14 (almost 15), Gabriel is 65, Katie is 60, Mary is 84, John is 86, Christie is 24, Abby is 24, Lucas is 22, Caleb is 21 years old).**  
  
It was a beautiful day in mid-September. Fresh, warm air blew quietly through the windows of their apartment as Noah and Jayden got ready for their big day. Today they were getting married; the final step in their union as mates.  
  
Noah stood in front of the wardrobe in the bedroom, which had a mirror on the inside of the closet door. He looked at himself and turned all the time, taking in his appearance. He was dressed in tight, black pants and a simple, white shirt, which was a little open at his clavicle. He didn’t want to wear something too masculine, nor something too feminine, so he had picked these items of clothing to be more neutral. They suited him well; the clothing clung to his body and showed off his shape. His wider, feminine hips made him look good in those clothes, and as Noah turned around and spread his wings a little, he kind of liked the way his butt looked in the pants too. The mating pendant around his neck added to his appearance, and Noah admired its beauty as he looked at himself in the mirror.  
  
His wings had been thoroughly groomed by Jayden the night before, using his own wing oil mixed with some other wing products. The feathers smelled nice and were kind of softer now after the treatment, and Noah admired Jayden’s handiwork in the mirror. Though, sleeping had made his wings a tiny bit messy again, even though he had tried to lie as still as possible. He had tried using a brush to make it look better, but he’d still need Jayden’s help.  
  
Noah was still looking at himself in the mirror when Jayden entered the room. The alpha was dressed in a nice, black suit with grey vest under it, and he was struggling a bit with the grey tie he was wearing. Jayden smiled when he looked at Noah and slowly approached him. “You look nice.”  
  
Noah looked up and took in Jayden’s suit. “Thanks. You too.” He smiled and came over to help Jayden a bit with the tie.  
  
“I’m a little nervous, though,” Jayden admitted, chuckling a bit.  
  
“Yeah, me too. I’m kind of worried I’ll trip on the way up to the officiant…”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at him and reached out to correct the collar of Noah’s shirt a bit. “You won’t, and if you do, I’ll catch you.”  
  
Noah smiled up at him and patted the tie after he had made it look nice. “Where’s Nathan?”  
  
“In the living room, playing with his toys,” Jayden replied. “He can’t get out because of the baby gate and I removed all dangerous items from his reach, so he’ll be fine. And Midnight can take care of herself around him.”  
  
Noah nodded and ran his hand down Jayden’s tie and suit absently, thinking that his mate looked very handsome in such formal clothes.  
  
“You look pretty sexy in those clothes,” Jayden purred, leaning in to place a lingering kiss on Noah’s jawline.  
  
Noah shuddered a bit and bared his neck to him. “Thanks. But you’ll have to help me with my wings again…”  
  
“Jeez. You always make a mess of them so quick after I spend _hours_ on making them look nice.”  
  
“I can’t help it! They just get ruffled so easily.”  
  
Jayden laughed and slowly turned Noah around so that he could correct his feathers. “Yeah, I know. Just stand still.” He began to work the rogue feathers back into place the best he could, and Noah spread his wings to give him more access. Jayden’s own wings had also been thoroughly groomed the night before, but unlike Noah’s they didn’t get ruffled so easily. Noah had mostly used some artificial wing products on them, but had also used a bit of his own oil for the smaller feathers. Jayden loved it when Noah groomed his feathers in his own oil and the way it made him smell like Noah afterwards. Submissives only did that if they really loved and trusted their partner.  
  
Jayden had just finished correcting Noah’s feathers when they heard Nathan cry loudly into the hallway. They could hear that he was standing by the gate, obviously upset that he couldn’t get out and find his parents. He could sit around and play on his own for a while until he suddenly realized that he was alone. Then he would cry because he missed them and because he had a bit of separation anxiety.  
  
“He’s such a mommy’s boy,” Jayden chuckled, curling his tail around Noah’s leg.  
  
“He just doesn’t like to be alone,” Noah argued and began heading into the hallway to check on Nathan.  
  
“Neither does he like getting dropped off in the daycare,” Jayden added and followed after Noah. “At least not until Emily arrives.”  
  
Noah chuckled at that and went over to see Nathan standing by the gate. The baby stopped crying the moment he saw him and sniffled softly as he reached his arms up towards him, wanting to be picked up. Noah smiled at the boy and reached over the gate to pick him up. Nathan leaned into his chest and cooed happily as Noah kissed him and stroked his back softly. “Don’t cry, Nathan. Mommy is right here, and so is daddy. We’re not leaving.”  
  
Jayden came over and stroked his hand through Nathan’s hair, smiling softly as his son. Nathan’s small tail curled happily and he looked up at Jayden with his blue eyes, which were a little darker than Noah’s, but still resembled them a lot.  
  
“Today is gonna be a busy day for you too, Nathan,” Jayden told him as he stroked his head softly. “And you’ll get to see some of your cousins.”  
  
“Yeah, but not all of them are coming,” Noah reminded him.  
  
Eden’s youngest daughter Lucy and Lily’s new twin girls Marie and Jennifer weren’t coming. They were too young to feel comfortable at such a party, and Lucy was a little sick, so Eden had gotten a friend of hers to babysit her. Lily’s twin girls still needed sleep and quietness, as they were only six weeks old, and they couldn’t have that at the party. She was still breastfeeding them, but they had learned to eat from a bottle too, so she could attend Noah and Jayden’s wedding without having to bring the twins along.  
  
“Well, most of them are,” Jayden said, wrapping a hand around Noah’s waist and leaning down to place a kiss on Nathan’s head. The boy giggled a bit as Jayden tickled him softly, and Noah had to hold on tight to him as Nathan squirmed to get away from his father’s tickling hand.  
  
“Stop teasing him,” Noah scolded softly.  
  
“What? He likes being tickled,” Jayden argued. “Don’t you?” he asked Nathan, tickling him a bit again.  
  
Nathan squealed and laughed before leaning further into Noah, keeping his eyes on his dad. Jayden just chuckled softly at him and stroked his cheek with his hand.  
  
“Just don’t tear off your mommy’s pendant, okay?” Jayden told Nathan, when he saw that the boy was dangerously close to Noah’s mating pendant.  
  
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t,” Noah said, smiling at Nathan, who was still resting against his chest.  
  
After feeding a very hungry Midnight, they got their things ready and brought a lot of diapers, toys, and extra clothes for Nathan along, since they would spend the entire evening at the hotel they were having the party at. Noah and Jayden were going to spend the night in one of the hotel rooms, and Nathan would be going home with Dean and Castiel later. It was the same hotel that Eden and Jason had had their wedding at, and they would be having the party in a large room with long tables for the guests to sit at.  
  
Noah and Jayden had been busy making the invitations, planning what they were going to eat (appetizer, main course, and dessert) and what kind of entertainment there would be. They had had financial trouble because the whole thing was rather expensive, but suddenly Gabriel had butted in and insisted that he was going to be in charge of the music and entertainment for free. He had persuaded his band to perform at the wedding – both with songs and instrumental music – which he had also done at Adrian and Natalie’s wedding. Dean and Castiel had insisted to pay for the wedding cake because Noah and Jayden’s budget had gotten pretty tight, and after some discussions back and forth, they had finally agreed to letting Noah’s parents pay for it.  
  
When they were finally ready to leave the apartment, Noah picked Nathan up on his arm while Jayden carried their bags with them outside. They were excited to see their families and friends at the city hall and to finally be married.  
  
As soon as they had locked their door and called for the elevator, the neighbors’ door opened and David and Millie came out, along with little Emily.  
  
“Hey,” David smiled at them. “Just wanted to congratulate you on your wedding today before you leave.”  
  
“Thanks,” Jayden grinned, shaking David’s hand when the beta demon offered it. “Sorry we didn’t invite you; our guest list is already too long. But we’ll invite you guys over for dinner sometime next week to make up for it.”  
  
“Oh, that sounds great,” Millie grinned, having just congratulated Noah and shaken his hand.  
  
Nathan immediately started squirming on Noah’s arm and wanting to be put down to play with Emily when he spotted his friend. Noah put him down for a bit, and the two young friends walked over to each other on wobbly legs and grinned behind their pacifiers. Emily almost tripped over forwards because she was still a bit unsteady on her legs, but she quickly put her hands on Nathan and caught her balance. Nathan kept his balance because he was standing next to David and bumped into his leg.  
  
Millie laughed softly at them. “Oh, you guys are such good friends,” she said as she watched them smile and stare at each other.  
  
“Yeah,” Jayden chuckled, watching the kids.  
  
Noah too smiled at the scene. Nathan and Emily always played together in daycare, the woman there had told them, and they were nearly inseparable. They got along with the other kids too, but it was like they had a special friendship with one another.  
  
“Come on, Nathan. We gotta go,” Jayden told his son, reaching out his hand to grab Nathan’s. Nathan whined loudly, protesting at being separated from his friend, and said some babbling words that neither of them could understand. Jayden gently swept him up into his arms and held him close, distracting him with some kisses while he and Noah headed over to the elevator. Noah grabbed the bags while Jayden was holding Nathan.  
  
Emily too whined and cried, and her parents had to reassure her as well.  
  
“It’s not easy when your parents are being mean,” David chuckled, looking over at Jayden.  
  
“Yeah,” Jayden agreed with an amused laugh.  
  
They shared smiles and waved goodbye at each other as Noah and Jayden headed into the elevator with Nathan. The baby kept complaining until they reached the first floor, where he finally calmed down.  
  
They headed over to the car together. The baby carriage was on the back of it, since Jayden had attached it earlier. It was equipped with some small alarm that went off in case someone would try to steal it, and it was locked tight to the car to prevent theft.  
  
When they approached the car and got a better look at it, they saw something that made them both stop in surprise.  
  
“What the…” Jayden said, staring at his silver Hyundai in horror.  
  
There was spray paint on the side of the car, saying ‘Just Married!’ and there were some rather poorly drawn hearts on it. They had only stared at it for a few seconds until Isaac jumped out from behind the car.  
  
“Surprise!” Isaac exclaimed, grinning at them both. Kaylen came out too, holding Eliza on his arm and laughing at their faces as they stared at the car and Isaac in complete surprise.  
  
“Did you—” Jayden trailed off to stare at his car once more before looking at Isaac and Kaylen again. “You vandalized my car!”  
  
Isaac burst out laughing at that. “Well, you’re getting married; what did you expect?”  
  
“And there’s more vandalism to come when the ceremony is over,” Kaylen told them, still laughing at them in amusement as he came over to them. He went over and pulled a still surprised Noah into a hug, while Eliza kept staring over at Nathan from his arm. “Congratulations about today. Hope you’re not too nervous,” Kaylen told Noah.  
  
Noah hugged him back, smiling. “Thanks. Well, I am _a bit_ nervous…”  
  
“Don’t be. I’ll make sure that Isaac doesn’t spoil your wedding,” Kaylen told him, pulling back from the hug.  
  
Noah chuckled at that. Eliza stared up at Noah from Kaylen’s arm, sucking on her pacifier. Noah smiled back at her and reached out to gently shake her tiny hand and greet her. She giggled shyly at him before hiding her face in Kaylen’s shirt, and Noah chuckled at her cuteness.  
  
“I couldn’t resist coming here and getting creative with your car before you guys drove off to the city hall,” Isaac grinned, coming over to them as well. “Your faces were _priceless._ ”  
  
“Hope you had your fun, ‘cause you’ll get to clean it off too,” Jayden mumbled, shifting Nathan on his arm.  
  
“No way!” Isaac exclaimed. He finally went over and hugged Jayden, patting the alpha on the back and being careful around Nathan. Jayden hugged him back with one arm before Isaac pulled away and grinned at little Nathan. “Hey, Nathan. How’s it hanging?” He gently poked Nathan on the nose and the boy laughed a bit. He then turned to face Noah while Jayden and Kaylen greeted each other. “Noah! Come here!” Isaac spread out his arms and pulled Noah into a tight hug.  
  
Noah grunted softly, annoyed that Isaac was taking on Gabriel’s habit of hugging people very tight whenever he did hug someone.  
  
“My little brother is getting married! And he’s looking good,” Isaac grinned, looking Noah up and down after pulling away.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah replied, shifting shyly.  
  
“And Jayden is handsome as always. Better not let Nathan puke on your suit,” Isaac told Jayden.  
  
Jayden snorted out a small laugh. “I won’t. He’s kinda past that age anyway.”  
  
“But you can never know!”  
  
Jayden chuckled at him and handed Nathan over to Noah while getting their stuff into the car, and Noah and Kaylen talked a bit while the guys got ready to drive off. Nathan and Eliza stared at each other and seemed eager to play. They got along very well, but unfortunately there wasn’t time for them to play right now.  
  


 

***

  
  
When they arrived at the city hall, pretty much all of their family and friends were there already. Everyone came over to them as they got out of the car, hugging them and being all happy that the pair was getting married. Everyone was dressed in nice, formal clothes, and their hair and wings had been groomed so they looked nice. Noah and Jayden were happy to be surrounded by their families and friends in the parking lot, and it took a while to greet everyone.  
  
Almost everyone was there; all of Noah’s siblings and brothers- and sisters-in-law and most of their kids, Dean and Castiel, Jayden’s parents, sister, and his maternal grandparents and paternal grandfather (his paternal grandmother had passed away a few years ago), as well as their friends Christie, Lucas, Caleb, and Christie’s boyfriend Matthew. Abby was there too. Noah hadn’t really had much contact to her since they started in college, so he had been full of joy when she had accepted the invitation to come to the wedding.  
  
Noah had wanted to invite Sam and Jess too, but that would mean they would have to invite all of Jayden’s uncles and aunts as well, and that would be too many people. Instead, only Gabriel and Katie were coming, seeing as Gabriel was in charge of their entertainment. Gabriel hadn’t shown up in the parking lot yet, and neither had Mary and John.  
  
Noah’s parents and siblings came over to congratulate them, and Jayden’s family came over as well. There were so many people in the parking lot that it felt pretty crowded.  
  
“Ready for your big day?” Dean asked Noah after they had shared hugs. He was grinning at him and brushing his tail against Noah’s leg.  
  
“Yeah, I am,” Noah smiled. Nathan was sitting in the baby carriage now, which Jayden and Micah had just gotten off the car, and Noah gently moved it back and forth to calm Nathan, since he looked a little nervous with all the people standing around them.  
  
“You look wonderful,” Castiel told him, smiling at Noah and correcting his sleeve a bit. “And your wings are all shiny and clean. Jayden did a nice job with them.”  
  
Jayden grinned at that when he heard it.  
  
Micah patted Jayden on the shoulder. “And Noah did a nice job with your wings too. Haven’t seen them look this nice since… ever.”  
  
“Jee, thanks, dad,” Jayden said, sarcasm in his voice.  
  
“And he’s wearing a nice suit,” Dean commented about Jayden, looking him up and down. “It looks nice on you.”  
  
“Thanks,” Jayden grinned, curling his tail sheepishly. Micah smiled proudly next to him.  
  
Everyone was talking back and forth, and Lily and Eden came over to see little Nathan, since it had been a while since they last saw him. Nathan seemed to like the attention from his aunts, who both smiled down at him.  
  
“How are you, Lily? Are the twins doing well?” Noah asked his sister while he watched her play a bit with Nathan in the carriage.  
  
“Yeah, we’re all doing fine,” Lily replied, smiling widely. “Isabella is babysitting the twins along with her girlfriend. They’ve been so hard to handle because it’s extra work with twins, but I kinda miss them now…”  
  
“At least they can feed from the bottle, right?” Eden asked.  
  
Lily nodded. “Yeah, but it took a lot of patience to get them to eat from a bottle. They just wouldn’t do it at first – especially Jennifer didn’t want to.”  
  
Dean laughed when he heard that. “Sounds like she has an attitude problem already,” he joked.  
  
“She must get that from Isaac,” Adrian murmured behind them.  
  
“Hey!” Isaac protested when he overheard them talking about him. Everyone was talking back and forth with each other, and he and Kaylen had been a little busy talking with Christie, Abby, Lucas, and their boyfriends. Abby’s boyfriend wasn’t there, though.  
  
Noah chuckled softly and watched as Maya and Luna went over to look at Nathan too. The girls seemed very interested in their little cousin, and Nathan returned their interest.  
  
After having talked to Isaac and Kaylen, Abby, Christie, and Lucas came over to look at Nathan too, whom they rarely saw. Caleb and Matthew followed them, but ended up in a conversation with Tony and Jason when they bumped into them.  
  
“It’s still so weird that you’re a mom now,” Abby said while grinning at Nathan, who was playing with a toy in the baby carriage.  
  
Noah smiled. “Yeah, I guess.”  
  
“When’s it your turn to have babies?” Christie asked Abby, poking her a bit in the side with her elbow.  
  
Abby laughed. “Well, first I want to graduate. Studying to be a doctor takes a lot of years and is very stressful, so I’ll wait until that’s over before I have any kids.”  
  
“Well, I hope it all works out for you,” Noah told her. “And I’m glad you could come today. It’s been so long…”  
  
“Yeah, too long,” Christie agreed, and Lucas nodded in agreement.  
  
Abby glanced at them with a rueful and slightly guilty smile. “Sorry, guys. Medical school is just such a bitch, and I haven’t had the time to hang out much…”  
  
“That’s okay,” Noah reassured, smiling at her.  
  
Mary and John soon arrived, and now they were just missing Gabriel and Katie.  
  
Noah hadn’t seen his grandparents for a while, so the reunion was full of hugs and smiles. Mary and John had seen Nathan once before when he was about four weeks old, but that was a very long time ago. They were thrilled to see him again and their other great-grandchildren too. Although they were in their eighties, they were still by good health and didn’t require help walking or cleaning at home.  
  
They were just about to head inside when another car arrived, honking loudly as it pulled into the parking lot. Some of them cheered at the honking while others – especially Castiel – groaned at it.  
  
“I don’t even have to look to know who that is,” Dean murmured.  
  
The others laughed at him, and everyone watched as Gabriel got out of his car along with Katie.  
  
“Hey, the wedding party is here! How is everyone?” Gabriel cheered at them before coming over. He greeted everyone quickly, as did Katie, but he hurriedly made his way over to Jayden and Noah. “There is the wedding couple! Damn, you two are looking good!” he exclaimed before hugging them both.  
  
“Hi, Uncle Gabe,” Noah greeted him, smiling as he hugged him back.  
  
Gabriel grinned at them and at little Nathan before greeting Dean and Castiel. “Ready to let go of your youngest one yet?” he asked them after sharing hugs.  
  
“Guess I don’t have a choice,” Dean chuckled.  
  
“Yes, we are ready,” Castiel said, rolling his eyes a bit at Dean. “They are a wonderful couple and it was about time that they got married.”  
  
Jayden rubbed the back of his neck a bit when he heard that, feeling a bit ashamed that he hadn’t proposed earlier. They just hadn’t really had the money for it before. Adrian laughed at him when he saw it and patted his shoulder for reassurance.  
  
“Well, you and Dean were also pretty slow to get married, as were Eden and Adrian,” Gabriel said, scowling at all of them. He then looked at Lily and Tony. “And Lily still needs her man to claim her officially. You’re fucking slow, Tony. And so is Isaac, for that matter.”  
  
Now it was Tony’s turn to shift and look ashamed, and everyone laughed at him in sympathy. Lily just grinned at her mate and entwined fingers with him. Their son Alec was busy interacting with Adrian and Natalie’s son Aaron, who was just one year younger than him.  
  
Isaac was too busy making faces at Eliza to make her laugh, so he didn’t hear them mentioning his name.  
  
“We weren’t slow to get married; we just weren’t allowed to,” Dean reminded Gabriel. He still felt angry about the fact that he and Cas had been rejected when they had first applied for marriage, simply because Dean was a demon and Cas was an angel.  
  
Leila stared at him in surprise. “Really? You weren’t allowed to?”  
  
“No, they did not want a demon and an angel mating with each other, so they refused to acknowledge our bond and let us get married,” Castiel explained to her. “It took a while before we managed to make them give in; they couldn’t legally keep us from getting married, since the law does not actually forbid interspecies marriage in the state of California.”  
  
“Oh god, that’s horrible that they treated you like that,” Leila gasped.  
  
“I heard that this still happens,” Laura cut in. “In school we heard about some angel/demon couple in Texas being denied marriage and the community hated on them for being mated. It was quite horrible. People vandalized their home and stuff…”  
  
Noah’s wings slumped a bit when he heard that, and saw Castiel’s wings slumping too. It was frustrating and sad that angel/demon couples still faced discrimination and hatred in most places. There had even been a murder of a young angel/demon couple earlier that year somewhere in the southern states, which had shocked the family quite a lot.  
  
“Damn, don’t make us depressed,” Isaac groaned, sensing how the mood got a little sad in the parking lot.  
  
“Yeah, today is Noah and Jayden’s big day, so let’s keep the mood good!” Eden said, grinning over at the two of them.  
  
“Yeah,” Jayden agreed, smiling at Noah and curling his tail around his mate’s leg. Noah smiled back up at him and let their fingers entwine.  
  
“And let’s head inside already. All these people in such a small space is making me claustrophobic,” Gabriel complained, looking around at everyone and wrapping his wings closer to his body.  
  
“Don’t be such a pussy, Uncle Gabe!” Isaac told him. Gabriel sent him a dark scowl, which made a few of the others laugh.  
  
They all began heading inside because the ceremony started very soon. Jayden and Noah’s families mingled with each other, and it was nice to see that their parents and grandparents got along. Laura was speaking a lot with Lily and Eden, but also Christie, Abby, and Lucas, and the kids mingled with their cousins and got along well.  
  
It was a good thing that the ceremony room was large, since they were almost forty people there. Everyone took a seat and got settled, and Noah let Nathan stay with Castiel. The baby carriage was standing over by the wall to not take up too much space, while Nathan was sitting in Castiel’s lap. Dean, Micah, and Leila interacted with him as well, and the boy seemed very content sitting with his grandparents. The other kids were all sitting with their parents, and Maya and Luna sat next to each other because Adrian and Eden sat close. The girls were a bit noisy and tried to tease Daniel, who was sitting next to Luna, and the adults tried to calm them down.  
  
There was a lot of chattering as the officiant got ready to begin the ceremony, and Isaac’s and Gabriel’s laughter could always be heard very clearly in the room.  
  
Noah was getting a little nervous already, but Jayden’s tail around his leg comforted him. They waited for everyone to get comfortable and for the officiant to be ready.  
  
“Excited?” Jayden asked Noah, quiet so the others couldn’t hear them. He stood right next to Noah, holding his hand and leaning down to nuzzle his hair a bit.  
  
Noah squeezed Jayden’s larger hand. “Yes, very. But it makes me nervous when so many people are watching us…”  
  
Jayden chuckled softly at him. “You’ll be fine.” He brushed their wings together and gave his mate a reassuring smile.  
  
Noah smiled back and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He moved his hand up and touched the mating pendant around his neck absently, needing something to keep his hand busy with until the officiant was ready.  
  
Finally, the officiant (a middle-aged female human) walked over to stand in front of everyone and smiled over at Noah and Jayden to let them know that she was ready. Jayden squeezed Noah’s hand, and they walked up to the officiant together, ready to say their vows.  
  
Everyone watched them with happy smiles, and Leila and Castiel both got a few happy tears in their eyes as they watched their children walking up there together. Dean was rather emotional too, as was Micah, while Isaac and Gabriel couldn’t resist whistling a bit as Jayden slung his arm around Noah’s in a gentleman’s manner as they walked up there together. Castiel, Katie, and Kaylen scowled a bit at them while some of the others suppressed snickering and giggles.  
  
Noah’s heart pounded in his chest as he and Jayden finally arrived in front of the officiant. The woman smiled at them before beginning the ceremony. She started out with a small speech to welcome everyone and remind them why they were there.  
  
Jayden’s kept his arm entangled with Noah’s, and their wings touched behind their backs, which reassured them both. They were both quite excited, and their bond flared with it inside them.  
  
After the introduction speech, the officiant was finally ready to wed them.  
  
“Will you, Connor Jayden Williams, confirm to us that you have taken Noah Winchester as your one true mate and will love, honor, and protect him for as long as you live, in both the good and the bad times ahead of you?”  
  
Jayden smiled, his arm still connected with Noah’s as they stood next to each other. “Yes, I will.” He glanced at Noah with a happy smile, and Noah couldn’t help but smile back.  
  
The officiant now looked at Noah. “And will you, Noah Winchester, confirm to us that you have taken Connor Jayden Williams as your one true mate and will love and honor him for as long as you live, in both the good and the bad times ahead of you?”  
  
Still smiling at Jayden, Noah said his reply. “Yes.”  
  
Jayden grinned at him and let their wings brush behind their backs. His tail curled around Noah’s lower leg, making Isaac whistle loudly from the seats behind them. They both tried to ignore that.  
  
“Then I hereby declare you official mates and acknowledge your mating bond on behalf of the authorities. I also declare Noah Winchester to be named Noah Winchester Williams from now on,” the officiant said, smiling between them. “You may kiss now.”  
  
Noah blushed a bit as Jayden turned to face him and reached out a hand to cup Noah’s cheek. Gently, Jayden leaned down and pressed his lips against Noah’s, and Noah leaned up on his toes and kissed him back. Jayden’s tail tightened around Noah’s leg as another signal that he was claiming Noah to be his spouse and official mate.  
  
The room exploded with cheering and clapping from their families and friends, and Jayden grinned at Noah when they pulled away from the kiss. They shared a happy smile before turning to walk back to their families and friends, who got up to congratulate them.  
  
Everyone was clapping and smiling at them, and they came over to hug them and give them their best wishes. It took a while to hug all the guests, but the most emotional congratulations for Noah was from his parents, who looked both happy and a little sad to let go of him completely.  
  
“Take good care of my son, yeah? And little Nathan,” Dean told Jayden after they had hugged, bumping him lightly on the shoulder with his fist. His eyes were glassy with unshed tears of emotion, and Jayden smiled softly at him.  
  
“Yeah, I promise,” Jayden said. He felt Dean’s approval when the older demon bumped his tail into his.  
  
“He already has taken good care of him, Dean,” Castiel told his mate softly.  
  
“I know. Just wanna be sure that he keeps doing so,” Dean argued.  
  
Micah appeared behind Jayden, grinning as he put his hand on his son’s shoulder. “If he doesn’t, I will kick his ass myself.”  
  
“Jeez, thanks, dad…” Jayden muttered. “But there’s no way I wouldn’t take care of Noah and our boy.” He smiled at Noah, who had just pulled away from a hug with Kaylen and smiled back at him.  
  
“Happy wedding!” Luna and Maya exclaimed in unison as they came over to hug Jayden and Noah tightly around the waist.  
  
“Thanks, girls,” Jayden grinned at them.  
  
“Does that mean you’ll have more babies now?” Maya asked, giggling up at Noah as she hugged him.  
  
Noah blushed as the others around him laughed at that. “Um, not right now. We have Nathan and he’s still a baby, so it’ll be a while.”  
  
“Ohh, so you _do_ wanna have more?” Isaac asked, grinning teasingly at his little brother, whose face only turned redder.  
  
Jayden laughed at Noah’s blushing, but felt a little sorry for him. Though, His tail curled happily at the hint that Noah did want to have more children with him someday.  
  
Maya pulled back and glanced up at Noah in slight disappointment. “But babies are cute…”  
  
“I think they’re noisy…” Alec murmured next to her. His new, little twin sisters always cried during the night, and Alec thought it was quite annoying.  
  
Tony laughed at his son and ruffled Alec’s hair. “It’s not so bad; you can barely hear it from your room, little man.”  
  
Alec scowled up at his father for calling him little, and Noah chuckled softly at that. Alec had recently started in kindergarten and Noah had ended up as his English and arts teacher, so they saw each other almost every day now. Noah had noticed that Alec was already starting to behave a bit alpha-like; he wanted to do things on his own, and he didn’t want to be caught playing with ‘girly’ toys. Alpha boys were usually also more loud, wild, and daring than betas, subs, and girls, because of their higher testosterone levels, so alpha boys spent a lot of time running around and burning off excess energy.  
  
Mary, John, and Jayden’s grandparents came over to congratulate them next. Jayden’s grandmother seemed very smitten with Noah and adored him and Nathan, and Noah blushed a bit as she said that Jayden had picked a beautiful and wonderful mate.  
  
After their grandparents had retreated a bit, Noah looked over and saw Isaac and Gabriel leave the room in a sneaky manner. He frowned in suspicion, since it looked like they had pranks in mind. However, he was quickly distracted by Abby, Christie, Matthew, Lucas, and Caleb, who came over to him next.  
  
“You two make a nice pair,” Caleb smirked, looking at Noah and Jayden. He had to speak a bit loudly because of all the noise in the room.  
  
Noah blushed a bit. “Thanks.”  
  
“You two were just always meant to be,” Christie grinned, pulling them both into hugs.  
  
“Yeah, right from the moment when Jayden molested Noah back in the daycare,” Abby added, smirking teasingly at Jayden.  
  
“I bet you don’t even remember that,” Jayden grumbled.  
  
“No, not really, but I remember Noah always hiding behind me in daycare, pre-kindergarten, and in kindergarten whenever you came near him,” Abby said, chuckling. “He was so scared that you’d touch his wings again, which is pretty cute now that I think back on it.”  
  
Noah blushed as his and Jayden’s parents laughed softly at that.  
  
Jayden just looked at Noah and touched his leg with his tail. He brushed their wings together too, earning more blushing from his mate.  
  
“And now you’re married and have such a wonderful baby!” Christie exclaimed then. “God, I’m so jealous. Nathan is so cute it’s killing me.”  
  
“Well, then you better start making some babies of your own,” Jayden told her with a grin on his face.  
  
Christie laughed. “Yeah, eventually.” Her boyfriend Matthew blushed a bit next to her when she looked at him.  
  
Noah smiled at them before looking over at Lucas when his friend spoke to him.  
  
“And, um, thanks again for helping me get a job,” Lucas told Noah, blushing and shifting sheepishly.  
  
Lucas had graduated in June, and Noah had thrown in a good word for him at the kindergarten he worked at when Lucas had sent an application there. Noah’s boss Elizabeth had decided to interview Lucas and had eventually hired him, so now Noah and Lucas were colleagues. It was going very well so far, and Noah was happy to be around his old friend and work with him. Noah’s colleagues liked Lucas too, as did the kids.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Noah smiled. “I just threw in a good word for you, but _you_ were the one that handled your job interview so well. Elizabeth said that she got a very good impression of you right away.”  
  
Lucas smiled and blushed a bit, and Caleb grinned next to him.  
  
“But still… thanks,” Lucas said.  
  
Noah smiled and came forward to hug him. Lucas hugged him back, beaming.  
  
All the people and noise in the room kind of stressed Noah out, whereas Jayden seemed more comfortable with it than he was. The alpha started talking to the others again and shaking hands with everyone, while staying close to Noah’s side. Nathan was being taken care of by Leila at the moment, but Noah still kept glancing around to see if his baby was okay.  
  
Noah looked up when Adrian and Natalie came over to them next.  
  
“Hey, baby brother. Congratulations on being married now,” Adrian smiled, hugging Noah tightly.  
  
“Thanks, Adrian,” Noah smiled, hugging his brother back and feeling Adrian touch his leg with his tail.  
  
Adrian gave him a wide smile afterwards before going over to Jayden, while Natalie congratulated and hugged Noah next.  
  
Adrian grinned at Jayden as he pulled him into a hug and hit him in the back in a brotherly gesture. “I’m glad that it’s _you_ who’s Noah’s mate. You’re good for him.”  
  
“And he’s good for me,” Jayden grinned as he pulled back.  
  
Adrian laughed and bumped tails with Jayden. “You know, we really should see each other more often. We could go out with Jason, Tony, and Isaac again someday, like we did once. If they’re up for it?” He glanced over at Jason and Tony, who were standing behind him. Isaac had left the room earlier and wasn’t there to hear it.  
  
“Hell yeah,” Jason grinned, and Tony nodded in agreement.  
  
“Well, you boys better not wreck town,” John murmured when he overheard what Adrian had said.  
  
“Only Isaac does that,” Tony joked, making the others laugh.  
  
“Just like he’s probably out wrecking my car right now…” Jayden mumbled when he noticed that Isaac and Gabriel were missing.  
  
Adrian laughed and patted Jayden’s shoulder. “Don’t worry; I’ll help you clean the car afterwards.”  
  
“Yeah, thanks…”  
  
After everyone had congratulated the newlywed couple, they began heading outside to their cars.  
  
Noah and Jayden found each other and entwined fingers as they walked outside together, happy that they were finally an officially mated and married couple. Their guests hurried outside before them, and when Noah and Jayden exited the building, they were showered by tons of rice that their families and friends threw at them. Isaac and Gabriel had shown up again too to throw rice at them while laughing.  
  
Noah groaned and lifted his wings up to shield himself, but then Jayden’s wing suddenly spread out and covered his head. The rice tickled their wings a bit and got into their clothes, but it was a tradition to throw rice at newlyweds, so they couldn’t even complain about it. Jayden chuckled at how Noah tried to find cover with him, and he tried his best to keep him shielded with his wing.  
  
Everyone laughed as the couple ran away from the rice shower and shook their wings afterwards. Rice fell out from between their feathers, and they both grunted in annoyance when some of the rice was hard to get out.  
  
“Gosh, this stuff gets in everywhere…” Jayden murmured, feeling rice in his pockets, pants, and his shoes. Not to mention how it tickled and irritated his feathers.  
  
“Don’t look like that,” Lily said when she saw their annoyed faces. “It means good luck to have rice thrown at you.”  
  
“Yeah, and it’s supposed to make you have healthy children together,” Mary elaborated, looking amused at how they were struggling to get the rice out.  
  
Noah blushed furiously at his grandmother’s words and how everyone laughed.  
  
“Well, that’s a bit too late!” Isaac exclaimed. “But maybe it makes you wanna have more?” He grinned at them with a wicked smile that made them both blush a bit.  
  
Castiel chuckled at Noah’s blushing face, and smiled as he watched Jayden come over to help Noah get rid of the rest of the rice in his feathers. Noah blushed more as all the others watched Jayden touching his wings like only mates were allowed to touch them, but everyone just smiled at them. Jayden laughed a bit at all the rice in Noah’s black hair and couldn’t help but ruffle it to get the rice out, earning him a slap on the hand from an annoyed Noah when his hair got messy. They both had to empty their shoes to get rid of the rice in there, and Laura came over to offer herself up as a support pillar that they could hold on to. Jayden scowled at her when he realized she had mostly just done that to get to giggle at him even more.  
  
“I’d go check on your car if I were you…” Christie told them after they had gotten the rice out of their shoes. She cast a wary glance over at Isaac and Gabriel, who had guilty, amused looks on their faces.  
  
Jayden followed her gaze and groaned. “I almost don’t even wanna see what they did to it…”  
  
Gabriel laughed out loud at him. “We just pimped it up a little!”  
  
Jayden grunted in annoyance, but then Nathan’s soft whining caught his and Noah’s attention. Their son was sitting on Leila’s arm while Dean and Castiel stood with the baby carriage, and Nathan was reaching out towards them while making soft whines.  
  
“Aww, come here,” Noah said softly, coming over to take Nathan from Leila’s arms.  
  
“You’re such a mommy’s boy, aren’t you?” Leila said to Nathan in a fond voice, and gently handed the baby back to his mother.  
  
Nathan calmed down when Noah held him, and he smiled up at Jayden when the alpha came over too. The others watched the scene with soft smiles and continued to talk and chat with each other, and the kids were running around and having fun.  
  
Finally they all headed over to their cars, and just like Jayden had dreaded, Gabriel and Isaac had made a mess of his car. The car was full of spray paint (which could luckily rather easily be washed off) and there were words like ‘Just Married’ and ‘Honeymoon Sex Suite’ on it, as well as more hearts drawn in different places. They had avoided painting on the windows so that Jayden could still see where he was driving, but when Jayden approached the car he could see that Isaac and Gabriel had been busy adding a long line of used coke and beer cans on the car’s tow bar, so that they would trail along the ground and make noise when driving.  
  
The other guests laughed and admired Isaac and Gabriel’s creativity. Jayden too thought it was kind of funny, but it still wasn’t cool to see his car be vandalized like that. He was just glad that neither Isaac nor Gabriel had been able to steal his car keys so they could get inside and make a mess of it there too.  
  
Everyone got into their cars to drive off to the hotel, where they would be having dinner and celebrating Noah and Jayden’s marriage.  
  
Noah put Nathan into the baby seat in the backseat of the car before sitting down on the passenger seat. He and Jayden smiled at each other when they sat in the front together.  
  
“Ready for the party, my dear wife?” Jayden asked, entwining his fingers with Noah as they sat there. There was a hint of teasing in his voice as he spoke.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but blush and smile at how Jayden called him his wife. He was the girl in their relationship, so to speak, so that would make him Jayden’s wife. But generally the word ‘mate’ was used for angels and demons, and not ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ like it was for humans.  
  
“Yes, I’m ready,” Noah smiled, squeezing Jayden’s hand.  
  
The alpha grinned at him before leaning in to place a kiss on Noah’s lips. He then started the car and drove off to the hotel along with the others. He cringed when he heard the sound of the cans scraping along the asphalt as he drove, and he could see Gabriel and Isaac cracking up inside their cars. Nathan looked a little confused about the noise, but eventually he started laughing because it sounded it a bit funny.  
  
Noah giggled when he saw Jayden’s annoyed face and put his hand on Jayden’s thigh to calm him down. His touch made Jayden relax.  
  


 

***

  
  
It was 5:10pm when they arrived at the hotel.  
  
Everyone brought their presents with them as they went inside, and the hotel staff had decorated the party room beautifully. There were two long tables for the guests to sit at, each fitting around twenty people, and the staff served coffee and tea as they arrived. The guests put the presents on a table that the staff had provided for the gifts, and everyone watched as Noah and Jayden began opening them after everyone had come inside.  
  
They got various presents; money, nice cutlery and kitchen equipment, bed sheets, gift cards for spa and wellness experiences for the two of them, and various small things for the apartment. They also received a lot of flowers and cards, and of course the wedding cards that Gabriel and Isaac had picked were kind of perverted. The card from Isaac and Kaylen had an image of a bed where you could see two bumps under it, indicating that some indecent things were going on, while the card said ‘Happy Wedding & Making Of The Future!’. Gabriel’s card had two bunnies having sex on it, and Noah blushed and groaned when they saw the cards. The others laughed in amusement and the cards got shown around while both Isaac and Gabriel laughed their asses off at how embarrassed Noah was to be related to them. Eden, Lily, and Adrian made sure to keep the cards away from their kids, but luckily Eliza was too young to understand the images, so Kaylen didn’t have to shield her eyes too much. Eden couldn’t keep the cards away from Daniel, however, and he thought the cards were pretty hilarious.  
  
“There’s one last present…” Castiel added after they were done opening all the presents.  
  
Noah looked up and blinked at his papa, who pulled out a large, flat present (which had been standing by the wall earlier) and handed it to him. It felt like a painting wrapped in gift paper, and everyone watched curiously as Noah and Jayden helped each other unwrap it.  
  
True enough, it was a painting. Jayden turned the canvas around for him and Noah too see, and they both gasped softly when they saw the painting. Castiel had painted a picture of Nathan, sitting on the floor and staring up. There weren’t many colors in the painting, since Castiel had used mostly grey-toned paint to draw the lines, but there was some red on the wings and tail, and some blue for Nathan’s eyes. The baby was sitting in just his diaper and a shirt, and his little tail was splayed out on the floor in the picture. It was a beautiful and peaceful image, and Noah was very touched when he saw it.  
  
“That’s… so beautiful. Thank you, papa,” Noah said, looking up at Castiel with glassy eyes. Jayden stood behind him and helped him hold the painting, and he grinned as he watched it in awe.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Castiel replied, looking a bit modest. Noah came over to hug him, and Castiel happily hugged him back.  
  
“Ohh, that’s a wonderful painting!” Leila exclaimed, amazed by Castiel’s talent.  
  
“Yeah. Not bad, papa,” Adrian grinned. After Aaron was born, Castiel had painted a picture of him and Maya for Adrian and Natalie, and he had also painted Eden’s children and Alec as well, but still needed to paint Eliza, the new twins, and Lucy.  
  
Dean grinned proudly at Castiel as everyone praised the painting and admired it. He had always loved Castiel’s creative talents and the beautiful paintings he could make.  
  
Nathan stared at the painting curiously while he sat on Lily’s arm and sucked quietly on his pacifier. He didn’t yet understand that it was him who was portrayed in it.  
  
“See? That’s you, Nathan,” Lily told Nathan softly, smiling at him and rocking him a bit. The boy just continued to stare at the painting in fascination and pointed at it eagerly, as if to make sure that Lily was looking at it too. Lily laughed softly at him.  
  
“I don’t think he gets that yet,” Tony chuckled next to Lily.  
  
“Yeah, probably not.” Lily pressed a kiss to Nathan’s cheek, and Noah smiled at how Nathan giggled a bit in Lily’s arms.  
  
“Is there a painting of me too?” Alec asked eagerly, his hands placed on Tony’s thighs as he stared up at his dad.  
  
“Yeah, your grandma made paintings of you and most your cousins too, remember?” Tony told him, smiling as he ruffled Alec’s hair.  
  
“Oh. Right…”  
  
“Yeah, and we have one of me and Daniel in the living room at home,” Luna grinned, curling her tail happily. “But I look best in it.”  
  
Daniel snorted next to Luna. “No you don’t.” He reached out to ruffle his sister’s hair, which Eden had put pretty hairclips into earlier. Luna squeaked and pulled away from him, only to slap him several times on the arm afterwards. Daniel just laughed at her and made no big attempts to dodge her hits. She never hit him very hard anyway.  
  
“Hey, no fighting, you two,” Mary scolded her great-grandchildren kindly, and stared down at them with a firm expression on her face.  
  
Luna stopped hitting her brother, but continued to glare at him when he looked all smug.  
  
Meanwhile, Maya was staring at Nathan’s picture in awe. “Grandma is so good at drawing… I wanna be good too,” she said, looking up at Castiel in admiration and slight jealousy.  
  
Castiel smiled down at her and brushed some of her hair over her ear. “But you are already good. You draw nice dogs and use so many pretty colors.”  
  
Maya grinned and shifted shyly.  
  
Adrian chuckled at his daughter and rubbed her leg with his tail in a loving gesture.  
  
“Yeah, you’re already good. I’m sure if you practice more you’ll be just as good as your grandma,” Natalie told Maya softly.  
  
“Me too?” Aaron asked, staring up at his parents.  
  
Adrian laughed softly at him. “Yeah, you too, Aaron.”  
  
People walked back and forth to get themselves some coffee and talk to the others, and some went over to take a seat at the tables.  
  
Noah and Jayden stayed at the present table for a bit, talking with Abby and Laura, while Dean and Castiel were talking with Jayden’s parents next to them. The kids were running around and playing, and Adrian, Isaac, Lily, and Eden were chatting a bit while looking after the kids. Gabriel’s band had arrived, so Gabriel was busy helping them set up their instruments and equipment so they could play music soon.  
  
Nathan was shifted around between Noah’s siblings and Laura, since they all wanted to hold him, and Eliza got shifted a bit around as well. Eventually they were put down on the floor, and Noah came over to keep an eye on Nathan and make sure he wouldn’t run too far.  
  
“Oh, and, um, Adrian and I have some news,” Natalie suddenly spoke, glancing at Adrian briefly before looking at the others again.  
  
“What is it?” Eden asked, getting curious.  
  
When Natalie saw that she had the attention of Dean and Castiel as well, she finally spoke. “Adrian and I are having another baby,” she said, grinning happily.  
  
“What, really?” Lily exclaimed in excitement.  
  
Eden grinned and clapped happily, thrilled by the news.  
  
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Castiel smiled.  
  
Adrian grinned proudly and entwined fingers with Natalie. He placed his other hand gently over his mate’s abdomen. “Yup, number three is coming,” he beamed proudly. Natalie grinned and leaned into him.  
  
Noah grinned at them in excitement, as did Jayden, and they watched as Dean came over and slung his arm proudly around Adrian’s shoulders.  
  
“Congrats, son. Glad you’re spreading the good Winchester genes,” Dean grinned, patting Adrian’s back proudly.  
  
Adrian laughed. “Yeah. Thanks, dad.”  
  
“More nephews or nieces?!” Isaac exclaimed. “Gosh, I’m drowning in them already!”  
  
“Stop complaining. It’s nice when new babies are born,” Lily told him, before going over to hug Adrian and Natalie to congratulate them.  
  
Adrian and Natalie were congratulated by all of them and received hugs, and Noah was thrilled that his oldest brother would be having his third baby soon. It was always nice when another baby was added to the family, and seeing Adrian and Natalie being so happy and proud made Noah happy too.  
  
“Are you gonna have a fourth one too?” Eden joked after having hugged them.  
  
Adrian and Natalie shared a look.  
  
“Nah, maybe three is enough,” Adrian chuckled.  
  
“Yeah,” Natalie agreed with a soft chuckle. “There are too many toys around the apartment at the moment now anyway. I’m just gonna trip and fall if we add more.”  
  
“Yeah, I know that feeling already…” Eden murmured. Jason chuckled next to her and touched her arm for reassurance.  
  
“When are you due, Natalie?” Castiel asked his daughter-in-law, glancing briefly at her still flat stomach. Maya and Aaron had been babysat by some of Adrian and Natalie’s friends while Natalie was in heat, so Castiel and Dean hadn’t know about her and Adrian’s plans to have a third baby at all.  
  
“In April, around the twentieth,” Natalie replied, smiling as she put a hand on her stomach. She then glanced over at Noah and Jayden, her eyes widening a bit. “Sorry; I didn’t mean to take the attention from you on your wedding day…”  
  
“No, no, not at all,” Jayden grinned, waving it off.  
  
“It’s good news,” Noah reassured her with a smile.  
  
Adrian smiled at that and touched Noah’s leg briefly with his tail before curling it around Natalie’s leg.  
  


 

***

  
  
Gabriel’s band finally got themselves settled on the small stage and started playing music. The guests cheered when the band played two of the most popular songs until finally dinner was being served. Dinner started out with an appetizer with shrimp and salad, and everyone dug in and enjoyed the meal. The band temporarily had a break until everyone was done eating.  
  
Noah and Jayden were seated at one of the long tables with their parents on either side of them, and Nathan was placed in a baby seat between Noah and Dean. Noah fed him some fruits and other easily chewed foods while eating from his own food. All of Noah’s siblings and their mates and kids were sitting at that table too, while their friends and grandparents were seated at the other long table. Some of them switched seats sometimes to have a new conversation partner, but during dinner they all remained in their seats.  
  
When most of the guests were done with the appetizer, Dean gently tapped his glass with his fork and got up from his seat to hold a small speech. Noah blinked at his father in wonder, and everyone quieted down and temporarily stopped eating to look at Dean.  
  
“Before we have a toast to our beautiful couple today, I’d like to say a few words,” Dean said, looking around at everyone. He looked confident as he stood in front of them, but Noah could tell that his father was a little bit nervous. “The first time I met Jayden, he was nothing but a little brat who had molested my youngest son in the daycare they used to be in.” He gave Jayden a pointed glare, and Jayden shrunk a bit as the others laughed and snickered all around them. “I admit I wasn’t fond of him at first, since he used to make Noah a bit uncomfortable, and that was also the case when I met him again ten years later, although none of us knew at first that it was that same boy. I used to be skeptic of him ‘cause what dad wouldn’t be when some alpha starts showing interest in your youngest kid? But when the two of them fell in love and Jayden treated Noah better than any other alpha could, I came to accept him too, and since then he’s been an important part of the family.”  
  
Jayden smiled a bit sheepishly at Dean’s words, and Noah held his hand under the table, squeezing it. Jayden’s parents laughed softly at Dean’s words and listened with interest, as did Castiel and everyone else.  
  
“And now they’re sitting here together; happy, mated, and have a wonderful, little son,” Dean went on, this time turning a warm smile to Noah and Jayden. “So let’s toast to that! And hope that they’ll always have each other.”  
  
Everyone cheered loudly and toasted to Dean’s speech and to Noah and Jayden.  
  
Dean sat back down again after the toast, and Castiel smiled as he brushed their wings together.  
  
“Thanks…” Jayden told him, blushing a bit.  
  
“No, I thank _you,_ ” Dean told him with a grin. “You make my boy happy and that’s all I want.”  
  
Leila and Micah grinned proudly, and Jayden blushed a bit as everyone stared at him.  
  
Noah smiled and squeezed Jayden’s hand again under the table, making the alpha turn to look at him with an adoring smile.  
  
“I think Noah has the very same effect on Jayden,” Micah pointed out, chuckling at them.  
  
“Yeah, Jayden is totally like a tamed tiger around Noah,” Laura added from the table behind them, snickering when her eyes caught Jayden’s for a brief moment. There wasn’t enough space for her to sit with her parents and Jayden at the table, so she had moved over to sit with Christie, Abby, and Lucas at the table behind them. She got along with them quite well, so she didn’t mind.  
  
Dean laughed out loud at that, and Jayden grumbled a bit as some of the others laughed too.  
  
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Jayden said defensively, glaring in Laura’s direction.  
  
Isaac laughed from across the table. “Oh don’t worry; Noah’s always been good at wrapping people around his finger.”  
  
“That’s not true,” Noah muttered, feeling kind of offended.  
  
“I think what Isaac wants to say is that you just make people like you and do things to make you happy,” Eden cut in to reassure Noah, and glared over at their impudent brother.  
  
Noah felt a little sheepish as his siblings all smiled and agreed with that, and Jayden chuckled fondly at him.  
  
Next up was the main course, which was some very delicious steak with potatoes, fries, vegetables, and a sauce, and there was some pork meat served as well for those who weren’t fond of steaks.  
  
Jayden was usually a bit critical of the food served in hotels and restaurants, since he was a chef by profession, but he was quite satisfied with the quality of the food served for them that night. He and Noah had been to the hotel the week before to test the food, so he had approved of it beforehand. He had, however, had to tell the chef to use a little less spices in the sauce because it was rather strong, and Noah had felt a bit embarrassed when his mate had corrected the chef’s cooking. The chef had taken the critique quite well, though.  
  
Everyone talked and chatted with each other, and there wasn’t anyone who didn’t get along. The kids all got along too, and as soon as dessert (the wedding cake) was over they got out of the seats and began running around to play. Eliza and Nathan stayed a while longer at the table before joining the other kids, and Eden told Daniel and Luna to make sure that the youngest ones didn’t get hurt.  
  
Nathan didn’t play around for very long at the time before he wandered back over to his parents to sit with them. Isaac made a joke that it was a good thing that Nathan wasn’t an alpha, otherwise Jayden would probably protest that his son was such a mommy’s boy.  
  
Gabriel’s band played again, and after a while Gabriel and Isaac took over the stage to entertain everyone. Both of them practiced some magic tricks in their spare time and as a hobby, so they showed off a few tricks in front of the guests. Noah was rather amazed that Isaac knew so much magic, since his brother rarely showed it. The kids all gathered in front of the stage and stared in awe as Isaac and Gabriel made things disappear and reappear somewhere else, and everyone was happily entertained.  
  
After the magic tricks, Isaac and Gabriel went on with some comedy together, which was mostly to embarrass Noah and Jayden. Jayden was very surprised at first when the two told a story from his childhood that was extremely funny (and embarrassing), but he quickly guessed that his parents must have told them about that earlier.  
  
“And I remember one of the first water fights I had with Noah,” Isaac began, after he and Gabriel had already told a few stories about Noah and Jayden, which had made their audience laugh and the wedding couple twitch in embarrassment. “He was about three years old back then, and me and our other siblings were all playing with water outside in the garden on a hot summer day. So I was busy throwing buckets of water at Adrian, ‘cause that sneaky piece of alpha big brother had claimed the water hose and kept spraying me, Lily, and Eden like a maniac, when suddenly Noah comes running in right in front of me! And I’m like ‘Holy crap! Dad’s gonna kill me now!’, ‘cause that whole bucket of water I was throwing came showering down right on little Noah, who wasn’t paying any attention to anything around him. So he gets hit, gets completely and utterly _drenched,_ slips on the grass in surprise, falls and hits his butt, and starts screaming like a slaughtered pig, and next thing I know, dad is running over and yelling at me that I’m a stupid idiot with a lousy aim.”  
  
Everyone laughed, and Noah groaned a bit because it was embarrassing to have Isaac tell such stories.  
  
“And then papa comes over and soothes him, ‘cause Noah is still crying like someone told him that he’ll never get to watch cartoons again, and papa turns to glare at me ‘cause he knows how difficult it will be to clean that grass off of Noah’s white underwear,” Isaac continued. “So I’m standing there, looking all ashamed ‘cause I’m not supposed to hit little Noah with the water, and I watch as Noah goes inside with dad and papa, who try to make him stop crying. And then God’s will has it that as dad and papa lead Noah inside, the boy slips on the wet tiles inside and falls on his butt. _Again._ So then I ask: ‘who’s the stupid idiot now?’ ‘Cause I have _never_ fallen on my butt like that twice in a row! And I’ve fallen on my butt _a lot._ ”  
  
Noah hid his embarrassed face in his hands as all the guests laughed out loud around him and clapped at Isaac’s story. Jayden too was laughing, so hard he almost got tears in his eyes. When the alpha noticed Noah looking all embarrassed and trying to hide, he reached over and ruffled Noah’s hair gently, grinning at him in amusement.  
  
Gabriel cracked up on the stage next to Isaac, and Isaac looked very pleased that he got everyone to laugh.  
  
Castiel too was laughing, and both he and Dean remembered that day pretty well.  
  
“It was pretty funny,” Lily giggled, watching Noah with a sympathetic smile.  
  
“Yeah, but he cried so hard,” Adrian said, feeling a little sorry for Noah.  
  
“Well, it hurt…” Noah murmured, glaring at Jayden when he laughed again.  
  
“Don’t worry; you haven’t fallen on your butt as much as Isaac has when he was a kid,” Dean chuckled.  
  
Noah felt somewhat reassured by that until Jayden spoke.  
  
“You also fell right on your butt when we bumped into each other when we met each other again in high school,” Jayden said, chuckling while he ran his fingers gently through Noah’s hair. “And your school papers and books flew everywhere.”  
  
Noah scowled at Jayden for saying that. “You don’t need to make it worse…”  
  
Jayden laughed softly and kissed him on the cheek before they turned their attention back to Isaac and Gabriel on the stage.  
  
Gabriel and Isaac went on with a few more embarrassing stories before the band began playing again. People went back to listening to the music and to chat with each other, and Noah glared at Isaac as his brother came back to sit at the table.  
  
After having played around with the other kids for a bit, Nathan wobbled back over his parents, sobbing a bit and reaching up his arms towards them as he came over. Noah had been keeping a close eye on him while Nathan had played with the others, but everything had gone well and Nathan seemed to have had fun with Eliza and his older cousins.  
  
“Hey, buddy,” Jayden smiled at Nathan, reaching down to pick him. The boy calmed down as he was placed on his dad’s lap, and he reached out towards his pacifier, which they had kept at the table for when he returned. Nathan quickly put it back into his mouth and suckled on it, and Jayden gently rocked his leg while sitting with him.  
  
“Aww, you look so tired,” Leila cooed at Nathan. She was sitting on the other side of Micah, who was sitting next to Jayden.  
  
“Well, he’s been up for hours and has played around a lot,” Jayden said, smiling at Nathan and grabbing his hand in a gentle hold. Nathan just blinked his eyes sleepily before glancing around the table. His eyes landed on Isaac, who was making funny faces on the other side of the table. Nathan laughed and giggled, and the others too laughed at Isaac’s silliness.  
  
Noah chuckled fondly at his son and corrected his clothes a bit, since they had gotten a bit ruffled while playing. His diaper had been changed an hour ago, and Noah hoped he wouldn’t need to change it again soon.  
  
Jayden and Noah got distracted as Dean talked to them about something, and Nathan was still occupied with Isaac’s funny faces. Eliza was back on Kaylen’s lap again, so she too stared at Isaac’s faces. After a while Isaac stopped when he got caught up in a conversation with his siblings and their mates, and Nathan quickly grew bored in Jayden’s lap. He started playing a bit with Jayden’s dirty napkin, until he eventually managed to grab Noah’s glass. There was coke in it, as Noah didn’t feel like drinking too much alcohol that night, and Nathan played a bit with the glass without the others seeing. By the time Eden saw it and told Nathan to put it down, he had already begun turning the glass upside down. The coke immediately spilled from the glass and landed on Nathan’s own leg and on Jayden’s lap.  
  
“Whoa!” Jayden exclaimed, flinching a bit as the cold coke hit his thigh.  
  
“Ah shit,” Isaac cringed from across the table.  
  
Jayden immediately took the glass from Nathan’s hand and handed him over to Noah, before starting to try cleaning the spilled coke on his pants with his napkin. “Shit, not on my suit!” he grumbled, frantically trying to clean the spot.  
  
“You better go wash that with water,” Micah told him.  
  
Jayden nodded and got up from his seat.  
  
“I’ll go with you,” Noah said, handing Nathan over to Dean. “Will you look after him?” he asked his dad.  
  
“Sure,” Dean smiled, putting Nathan on his lap and trying to clean the baby’s dirty pants. Nathan’s pants getting dirty with coke wasn’t a big deal – it was worse with Jayden’s pants, since his suit was more expensive.  
  
Noah followed Jayden out to the bathroom, which was reserved for the guests of the party only. The bathroom was pretty big and looked neat and clean, and they were the only ones in it at the moment.  
  
They quickly went over to the sink where Noah grabbed some paper towels, got them wet, and began to try to clean Jayden’s pants with them.  
  
“Ah man, I should have paid more attention to him,” Jayden sighed, letting Noah help him.  
  
“It happens,” Noah said, busy trying to help the damage. He kneeled down in front of Jayden to be able to see the spill on his pants better. The fabric of the pants was getting dark in the area that was wet now, but Noah was pretty sure that the coke wouldn’t leave a stain. It would have been a lot worse if it was red wine.  
  
Jayden watched as Noah helped him out, and he couldn’t help but notice that Noah was level with his crotch now. The way Noah was touching his thigh and kneeling in front of him made Jayden’s dick begin to harden. He swallowed and tried to suppress the sudden arousal, but it was more difficult than it sounded.  
  
It didn’t take long for Noah to pick up on Jayden’s arousal. He could smell it and he could see a bulge forming at the front of Jayden’s pants.  
  
“Connor, do you really have to get aroused now?” Noah asked, lifting his head to scowl up at his mate. “Now is not a good time. Our guests are in the other room and someone could come in here at any moment.”  
  
“Sorry, but it’s not like I can help it,” Jayden said, chuckling guiltily. “You just look so gorgeous when you kneel in front of me like that…”  
  
Noah blushed and focused on the stain again. “You’re so perverted…” he muttered, trying to ignore his mate’s arousal.  
  
“Who can blame me when I’ve got the hottest and most sexy mate in the whole world?” Jayden said, giving Noah a cocky smirk.  
  
Noah blushed even harder and his wings twitched a bit behind him. He tried not to get aroused too.  
  
The door suddenly swung open, and they both looked up to see Adrian enter the bathroom.  
  
Adrian stopped briefly when he saw the scene in front of him, and Noah quickly scrambled to get to his feet, blushing furiously.  
  
Adrian eyed them suspiciously. “Did I interrupt something?” There was a hint of amusement in his voice, which only made Noah even more embarrassed.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Nah. Noah was just helping me clean the spill.” He made sure to hide his deflating erection from Adrian as the other alpha looked at him.  
  
Adrian eyed Noah with a knowing smirk while making his way over to the urinal. “Be glad it wasn’t Isaac who entered the room; he would never let you guys live that down.”  
  
“N-Nothing happened!” Noah insisted.  
  
“Why do you sound so defensive about it then?”  
  
Noah quickly closed his mouth again, and Jayden tried to suppress a snicker. When Noah saw that his brother was about to relieve himself, he quickly turned to leave the bathroom, not wanting to witness that.  
  
Noah went out into the small hallway between the bathrooms and the party room, sighing a bit. A few seconds later, Jayden appeared behind him and gently wrapped his arms around him, pulling him back against his chest. Noah let his wings slump down to give Jayden more space behind him, and he sighed softly when Jayden placed a small kiss on his bared neck. The alpha had had some wine earlier, so he was in quite a loving mood right now.  
  
“Mm, you smell so nice. Can’t wait till we get up to our room later,” Jayden purred, holding Noah close and roaming his hands over Noah’s chest. One hand sneaked itself into Noah’s shirt through the collar, touching the skin on his collarbone and upper chest gently. The pendant was a bit in the way, but Jayden didn’t mind.  
  
They never really got to spend any time alone together outside their home, so renting a hotel room for the night was a new thing. It would be just the two of them, enjoying their wedding night together and having breakfast in bed the next morning. They didn’t have to worry about Nathan either, since the boy would be spending the night with Dean and Castiel. Leila and Micah had recently babysat him for a bit, so now it was Dean and Castiel’s turn.  
  
Noah knew that they would be having sex once they got into their hotel room later. It sent shivers of arousal up his spine, and he felt his ass begin to slick up a bit in anticipation. Jayden’s arms around him and his hand on his collarbone felt so nice, and he leaned back into his alpha and bared his neck further. “Me too. Just don’t drink too much; you don’t last long when you’re drunk.”  
  
“Hey, are you insulting my stamina?” Jayden groused with a soft chuckle.  
  
“Yes, your drunk stamina, at least. And I don’t like it when you reek too much of alcohol when we’re in bed.”  
  
“Hey, I rarely ever drink,” Jayden argued. “But I’ll try not to get wasted tonight. After all, I wanna be able to fuck you and get to enjoy and remember every single second of it, and I can’t do that when I’m too drunk.” He nuzzled Noah’s neck in affection, placing more small kisses there.  
  
Noah purred and closed his eyes as he enjoyed his mate’s affectionate touches and kisses. He could smell the wine in Jayden’s breath, but it didn’t really bother him much. He just hoped that Jayden would live up to his word and not get wasted tonight.  
  
They were so caught up in their affection that they barely heard the footsteps approaching them from behind.  
  
Adrian had exited the bathroom again, and he walked up to them and slapped Jayden playfully on the back of his legs with his tail. “Hey, stop molesting my brother. You can do that later when you get a room; then you can touch him all you want.” He smirked at them both as he passed them.  
  
Noah blushed furiously, while Jayden just laughed.  
  
“Yeah, I’ll touch him alright,” Jayden smirked.  
  
“Jayden!” Noah growled, slapping his mate’s arm in total mortification.  
  
“Yeah, I don’t wanna hear about that, though,” Adrian chuckled. “And definitely don’t tell my dad that.”  
  
“I’m not suicidal,” Jayden chuckled, joining Adrian in heading back to the party. He grabbed Noah’s hand to make him follow them, and chuckled at how red the submissive’s face was.  
  
“You two are such jerks,” Noah muttered, glaring at them both.  
  
Adrian just laughed at him and gave him a fond look, until the sound of the band playing and everyone’s chatting made them focus on something else.  
  
When they came back to the party, Noah and Jayden decided to walk around to their guests and chat with each of them for a bit.  
  
Jayden ended up hanging out with Matthew and Caleb for a bit, while Noah talked with Abby, Christie, and Lucas. Their guests were all enjoying the celebration and having fun, and no one had left yet. It was 9pm already.  
  
“So are you and Jayden gonna have more babies soon?” Christie asked, grinning at Noah. She was sitting between Lucas and Abby, and Noah had grabbed Laura chair, so that he was now sitting on Abby’s other side, while Laura was talking to Eden and Lily at the other table.  
  
“No, not anytime soon,” Noah replied, his cheeks reddening a little and his wings twitching. “Someday, probably. I want to have more…” He glanced over at Jayden, who was sitting on the other side of the table, but the alpha was so busy talking and laughing along with Caleb and Matthew that he didn’t hear what they were talking about.  
  
“Yeah, and it’s good for kids to have siblings,” Lucas smiled.  
  
“Ah, I wanna have kids too…” Christie sighed, pouting a bit as she rested her chin on her hands.  
  
Abby poked her elbow into Christie’s side. “Then do something about it instead of just talking about it!” she told her friend with a large grin.  
  
Christie looked all flustered at that.  
  
Noah laughed softly at them. “I’m sure you and Matthew will have wonderful kids someday. You’d make a good mother.”  
  
Christie lit up a little. “You think?”  
  
Noah nodded, and Lucas and Abby agreed.  
  
“I also want to have a family someday, but I want to get settled into my job first,” Lucas murmured.  
  
“Oh that’s right! You and Noah are colleagues now,” Abby said, glancing between them. “How’s that going, by the way?”  
  
“Good. Noah has helped me a lot getting comfortable in my job and has helped me get to know the other teachers,” Lucas spoke, smiling over at Noah.  
  
Noah smiled modestly, but was glad that he had helped Lucas feel comfortable at work.  
  
Christie turned to look at Noah. “Your nephew Alec is at the kindergarten now, isn’t he?”  
  
“Yeah, he is,” Noah confirmed. “It’s quite strange to teach my nephew, but it’s going pretty well. I try not to give him too much special attention, since I don’t want the other students to get upset…”  
  
“That’s gonna be harder the day where Nathan starts in kindergarten and you have to teach _him…_ ” Abby pointed out.  
  
“Well, I’m kind of hoping that he’ll be in another teacher’s class… I don’t want to be biased too much with him, especially when evaluating him.”  
  
“Let’s see if he’ll end up in my school class too,” Christie smiled. “Unless you’re making him attend a different elementary school than the one I work at.”  
  
“I don’t know yet. I haven’t thought that far,” Noah replied, smiling at her in apology.  
  
“Yeah, he’s only ten months old,” Lucas chuckled.  
  
“Well, I hope I’ll be his teacher,” Christie grinned. “He’s so cute and adorable, and then I’ll also get to be more in touch with you and Jayden. If Lucas and Abby ever have kids, I wouldn’t mind teaching them too.”  
  
Noah, Abby, and Lucas laughed softly at her.  
  
They talked a bit more until suddenly Alec and Aaron suddenly came over to them. They were both squealing and laughing, and they tried to hide between their chairs as they played hide and seek with Luna, Maya, and Daniel. It was Daniel’s turn to find them, and Noah could see the boy looking around and trying to find his cousins.  
  
“Shhh, don’t tell him we’re here,” Alec said, grinning up at Noah as he hid between his and Abby’s chairs.  
  
Noah chuckled at them. “We won’t.”  
  
“Shouldn’t you kids be in bed by now?” Abby asked, glancing at the boys with a raised eyebrow.  
  
“Yeah, it’s like 9:30 or something,” Christie pointed out.  
  
“Don’t wanna sleep,” Aaron mumbled with a small pout. “We’re having fun.”  
  
“You can hide under the table near our legs,” Lucas told the boys. “When Daniel comes over to look for you, just shift your position and hide behind our legs if he looks under the table.”  
  
“Yay!” Alec grinned, climbing under the table with Aaron.  
  
“What?!” Christie exclaimed, horrified because she was wearing a dress. “Well, just don’t look at the ladies’ underwear from down there! Only bad boys do that.”  
  
Abby just laughed. She too was wearing a dress, but it wasn’t as short as Christie’s.  
  
“What’s wrong with dat?” Aaron asked from under the table, confusion evident in his voice.  
  
Alec giggled. “’Cause it makes girls embarrassed.”  
  
“Damn right it does!” Christie growled.  
  
“Why?” Aaron asked, not understanding it at all. He was only three (almost four), so he didn’t know that much about girls, dresses, etc. yet.  
  
Noah laughed, but they quickly pretended that the boys weren’t around when they saw Daniel come over to look for them.  
  
Daniel walked over and stood at the unoccupied table end. He glanced at Noah, Christie, Lucas, and Abby, and then at Jayden, Matthew, and Caleb, who were busy talking and laughing opposite from them and hadn’t really registered that the small boys were hiding under the table. Daniel glanced back at Noah, Lucas, and the girls with a calculating look, and Noah and his friends tried to look neutral.  
  
“What’s up?” Christie asked.  
  
“They’re under the table, aren’t they?” Daniel said.  
  
“No we’re not!” Aaron argued loudly from his hiding place, and they could hear Alec shush him.  
  
Christie and Lucas tried to suppress laughter, as did Noah. Abby was already laughing, unable to hold it back.  
  
“We haven’t seen them,” Noah lied, having a hard time keeping a straight face because the whole thing was just so funny. Daniel’s total serious face only made it even funnier.  
  
Daniel was of course not convinced, and he quickly bent down and crawled in under the table, saying a loud ‘Boo!’. The little boys squealed and started crawling away from him, and Noah and his friends laughed as Daniel followed them all the way to the other end of the table, where the boys quickly ran away from him.  
  
Jayden, Matthew, and Caleb finally caught on about what was happening and started laughing too, and Daniel chased Alec and Aaron around for a bit.  
  


 

***

  
  
The party came to an end at around 11:30pm, when the guests and the hosts got tired.  
  
Mary and John, and Jayden’s grandparents had left at around 10 because they got tired a bit faster than the others. Nathan and Eliza were sleeping in their baby carriages in the hallway between the party room and the bathrooms, where it was a bit more quiet. The other kids were tired and sleepy as well, though they were happy that they got to stay up late for once. Aaron had passed out on a bench over by the wall at around 10:30, and Alec had soon joined. Luna, Maya, and Daniel were older and managed to stay awake longer.  
  
It had been a night full of celebration, fun, and family time, and now everyone was going to go their separate ways again.  
  
Dean, Castiel, Adrian, Jason, and Tony had helped Noah and Jayden carry their wedding presents with them up to their hotel room, where they’d spend the night. Noah and Jayden would carry them back down to the car the next day when going home. Dean put a few of the items into his own car to take them home with him, seeing as Noah and Jayden would be coming over tomorrow anyway to pick up Nathan, but he couldn’t fit everything in there. He also put all of Nathan’s stuff into the car so they’d have diapers, toys, and clothes for him.  
  
Afterwards, Noah and Jayden went out to the parking lot to say goodbye to the rest of the guests. Gabriel’s band had just left, as had Abby, Christie, Matthew, Lucas, and Caleb, and Gabriel and Katie were about to leave too.  
  
“Thanks for the entertainment and music, Uncle Gabe. It was very nice,” Noah told his uncle before he left.  
  
Gabriel grinned and patted Noah on the shoulder after hugging him. “No problem, kiddo. Bet you enjoyed those stories I told about Jayden. Jayden’s mom is awesome for telling me them so I could share them.”  
  
Noah laughed as Jayden scowled at Gabriel and then over at his mother, who was snickering behind them.  
  
“Yeah, that was fun as hell,” Isaac grinned. “Did you really pee on your grandma’s door when you were eight ‘cause she took your favorite toy away?” he asked Jayden, cracking up again.  
  
“Yeah, I did, and she deserved it back then,” Jayden murmured.  
  
“My poor mom. All the things she has had to endure when she was alive…” Micah laughed, patting Jayden on the shoulder.  
  
Dean and Castiel laughed too, as did the others.  
  
“Well, we’ll get going now,” Jason said, glancing at Eden, Daniel, and at Luna who was about to fall asleep standing up.  
  
“Yeah,” Eden agreed. “Goodbye, Noah. Thanks for the party, and I hope you and Jayden will have a nice night.” She gave him a suggestive smile before pulling him into a hug.  
  
Noah blushed and hugged her back, trying to ignore Isaac’s sharp laughter next to them.  
  
Eden went on and hugged Jayden next, while Noah said goodbye to Jason and the kids.  
  
The others were leaving too, so Noah and Jayden hugged them all goodbye.  
  
“See you in kindergarten again on Monday,” Noah told Alec as the boy left with Lily and Tony.  
  
Alec turned around and grinned at him before waving goodbye and going into the car with his parents. Lily smiled at her family and waved at them before she started the car and drove off. Tony wasn’t sober, so Lily had to drive.  
  
Afterwards, Laura turned to say goodbye to Noah and Jayden, as her parents were getting ready to leave as well. “I’m so glad that the two of you are together,” she told them with a smile. “Take good care of my brother, yeah?” She looked at Noah, who nodded at her words.  
  
“I will,” Noah smiled, hugging Laura goodbye for the night.  
  
Jayden felt more like it was him who needed to take care of Noah, but he didn’t say anything. He just hugged his sister goodbye and then his parents as well, before the three of them left in the car.  
  
Adrian and Eden drove off with their families too, and Gabriel had just left as well. Now it was just Noah, Jayden, Dean, Castiel, Isaac, and Kaylen left in the parking lot, and of course Nathan and Eliza, who were sleeping in their baby carriages.  
  
“Have fun under the sheets tonight, but don’t wake up the people next door,” Isaac told them with a teasing grin on his face.  
  
“Isaac!” Castiel chastised him.  
  
Noah blushed and Jayden laughed a bit.  
  
“And don’t lock yourselves out of your rooms in just your underwear, like Isaac did once,” Kaylen said, smirking at Isaac smugly. Eliza was in the baby carriage next to them, sleeping peacefully after a long day, and Kaylen gently rocked the carriage as they stood there in the parking lot.  
  
“Hey!” Isaac exclaimed at Kaylen, annoyed that his mate had to tell them that.  
  
Dean laughed. “When did you do that?”  
  
“When we went on a small vacation together after we had become mates,” Kaylen explained. “There were some noisy kids outside in the hallway in the early morning and Isaac wanted to tell them to shut up, but the door slammed behind him and locked on its own, so he couldn’t get back inside. I was still asleep when it happened. Took me a few minutes to wake up because I sleep like a rock and didn’t hear Isaac banging on the door, and by the time I opened the door, Isaac had already been scolded by several old ladies for standing in the hallway half naked and making noise.” He giggled at Isaac, who glared daggers at him for sharing that story.  
  
“That’s what you get,” Dean laughed.  
  
The others laughed too, and Castiel shook his head in amusement at the story.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, just laugh,” Isaac grumbled, crossing his arms in offense. “I know enough embarrassing stories about you guys already, so don’t get too full of yourselves when laughing at _me._ ”  
  
Noah chuckled at him before going over to Nathan’s carriage to say goodbye to him before Dean and Castiel would take him home. Nathan was sleeping, but he twitched a bit every now and then because he wasn’t in a deep sleep yet. Noah watched his son with a fond smile and stroked the baby’s head softly.  
  
“See you tomorrow, sweetie. Good night,” Noah whispered before stepping back. He watched as Jayden too said goodbye to their son before Dean and Castiel were heading home.  
  
Dean and Castiel hugged them both, and Jayden helped Dean get Nathan into the baby seat in the backseat of the Tahoe and then get the baby carriage into the trunk. The trunk of Dean’s car was big and the seats in the back could be laid down to give more space, so it wasn’t a problem for the baby carriage to fit in there after it had been folded together.  
  
They said goodbye again, and Noah and Jayden watched as Dean, Castiel, Isaac, and Kaylen drove off into the night.  
  
The parking lot suddenly felt so empty, even though there were a few other people in it. Their families and friends had gone home and their wedding party was over at last.  
  
Jayden let out a heavy sigh. “Damn. Adrian didn’t get to help me clean the damn car after all…”  
  
Noah chuckled at him and rubbed Jayden’s arm for reassurance. “I’ll help you instead.”  
  
“Thanks. It was your brother and uncle who did it, after all.”  
  
“Sorry, but I can’t help it that they’re so silly…”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “I know.”  
  
Noah shivered a bit when a small, cold wind hit him. It was warm in September, but tonight’s wind was a little chilly to him. “Let’s go back inside? I’m tired and cold…” He rubbed his arms with his hands, and his wings wrapped themselves around him for warmth.  
  
Jayden smiled at him and wrapped his wing around Noah to keep him warm. “Yeah, let’s go up to our room. After all, it’s time for kinky stuff now.”  
  
Noah hit Jayden softly in the side because of the perverted grin on his face. He too was quite excited about the kinky stuff though, and together they headed inside and went up to their room on the tenth floor to consummate their marriage.  
  


 

***

  
  
Noah giggled as Jayden pushed him into their hotel room and kicked the door shut behind them. The alpha was placing kisses on his face and neck nonstop, and Noah half-heartedly tried to squirm out of his hold while giggling under the onslaught of kisses.  
  
The door locked on its own, and the two mates clumsily turned on the light and moved over to the king-sized bed with Noah still giggling and pushing at Jayden.  
  
They fell onto the bed together, and Noah’s back arched as Jayden closed his mouth around his neck and sucked bruises into it. The alpha’s hands grasped his feathers in a possessive grip, while his hips grinded into Noah. Noah moaned as his dick got stimulated by Jayden’s motions, and he could feel the heavy bulge of Jayden’s erect cock against his thigh as Jayden rubbed himself against him.  
  
“Mm, all mine now. In every way possible,” Jayden hummed, tightening his hold in Noah’s feathers.  
  
Noah moaned and leaned his head back, allowing Jayden to mark him up as much as he wanted. Jayden’s possessiveness made Noah shudder in arousal, and it was obvious that them being married now only increased the alpha’s possessive nature. Their status as mates had been approved and registered, so it wasn’t a surprise to Noah that Jayden wanted to mark him up and stake his eternal claim on him. Noah got off on it so much, and he loved when Jayden got all possessive and protective around him.  
  
Jayden unbuttoned some of the buttons in Noah’s shirt, exposing his chest more, before licking and kissing the skin.  
  
“Ahh, Jayden,” Noah purred, his hands jumping up to grasp Jayden’s hair tightly. He squirmed a bit as his ass slicked up and it began leaking into his underwear.  
  
“You taste so good,” Jayden hummed, his mouth not leaving Noah’s skin. He was a little bit drunk, but not much since he had tried to restrain himself from drinking too much.  
  
Noah just purred and closed his eyes as his mate touched him, kissed him, and claimed him. His hands moved through Jayden’s brown hair, and he could tell that the alpha liked that.  
  
They began to take off each other’s clothes, eager to be naked in front of each other. Piece by piece the clothes were discarded and thrown to the floor, and they now lay naked in the silken soft sheets on the hotel bed. Jayden had smirked in satisfaction when he saw that Noah had been wearing some of his most sexy panties, and he had taken his time pulling them off Noah’s perfect body before throwing them into the pile of clothes on the floor. He had wanted to admire the panties for longer, but he’d get to do that later. Right now he just wanted Noah to be naked.  
  
Noah’s hand in Jayden’s hair slid down to cup his cheek, and he smiled up at Jayden as the alpha leaned in over him, just inches from his face. Jayden smiled back at him before claiming his lips in a kiss, and their naked bodies gently rubbed together.  
  
Noah was wearing nothing but the mating pendant now, and Jayden’s chest rumbled with a possessive, pleased growl every time he looked at it.  
  
Finally Jayden moved his hand down between Noah’s legs and teased his fingers over the submissive’s entrance. He rubbed the pucker for a bit before pressing his finger inside, pleased with how wet Noah already was.  
  
They kissed as Jayden opened Noah up, and the alpha swallowed all of his mate’s needy moans and gasps in the process. Noah was touching his face and hair as he kissed him back, his hips bucking eagerly while Jayden stretched him.  
  
Eventually, Jayden pulled out his fingers and grabbed Noah’s right leg, pushing it up a bit so he had easier access to his ass. But instead of pushing his cock into him, he pushed in his tail instead, watching Noah’s face closely as the muscled appendage slid its way into him.  
  
“Ah! Jayden, what are you— _God!_ ” Noah exclaimed, his back arching off the bed when the spiked tip of Jayden’s tail rubbed his sweet spots teasingly on its way in.  
  
Jayden grinned smugly. “Love it when you take my tail. I don’t fuck you with it often enough.” He continued to twist and squirm his tail around inside Noah, making the submissive gasp, moan, and grasp the sheets desperately. He loved listening to those sounds and see Noah squirm under the assault of pleasure that Jayden was giving him. Noah’s hands moved up to grab Jayden’s shoulders, and the alpha hissed softly when his mate dug his nails into his skin in desperation and need. It was so hot, and Jayden could tell that Noah was close to coming already.  
  
Jayden leaned down and sucked gently on Noah’s neck again, still twisting his tail around inside Noah. “Shh, I’m taking care of you. Such a good boy…” he whispered soothingly.  
  
Noah whimpered under him, his breath hitching and increasing as his climax approached. When Jayden’s mouth closed around his sensitive jugular and his thumb rubbed his nipple teasingly, Noah finally came with a loud howl of pleasure. His body jerked helplessly under Jayden as he shot his release over his own stomach. Jayden gently kept him in place and fucked him through it with his tail, humming in approval when he made his mate come.  
  
Noah went limp afterwards, panting from his orgasm.  
  
Jayden slowly pulled out his tail and smirked down at his mate. “That was fucking hot.”  
  
Noah blushed and his wings twitched shyly on the bed. Jayden grinned at his cuteness before sitting up and moving his tail up towards Noah’s mouth. Noah took the hint and scrambled to sit up before beginning to lick Jayden’s tail clean. He could taste himself on the tail and feel its muscles with his tongue. It made Noah moan and shiver lightly, and he licked the tail clean like a good boy and stared back up at Jayden as he did so.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted. He reached down and closed his hand around the base of his dick to stop himself from coming at the sight and the sensation of Noah’s pink tongue licking and sucking his tail clean. Noah’s tongue felt nice, and when the submissive sucked briefly on the tip like he did with his cock so often, Jayden body shuddered in arousal.  
  
Noah made sure to lick all the slick off of Jayden’s tail, before sitting back and licking his lips when he was done. He stared back at Jayden and saw that his mate was exploding with the need to come already. Noah smiled at him before crawling over into Jayden’s lap, putting his hands on the alpha’s broad shoulders before slowly seating himself on Jayden’s erect cock.  
  
They gasped in unison as Noah took Jayden inside him, his muscles clenching and trying to adjust to something bigger than Jayden’s tail intruding him.  
  
Jayden let out a possessive growl and placed his hands on Noah’s sides to steady him as the submissive slowly began to ride him. Noah was relaxed and compliant after his previous orgasm, and Jayden loved when his mate was still oversensitive when he fucked him after he had just come.  
  
Their wings spread out and the feathers rustled in rhythm with their thrust. Noah kept his wings lower than Jayden’s in a gesture of submission, and it only seemed to turn Jayden on even more. The pendant bobbed and hit against Noah’s chest with every bounce, but they both didn’t mind.  
  
Noah moaned shamelessly as he moved himself up and down on Jayden’s cock, and Jayden couldn’t resist moving his hands up to touch the submissive’s oil glands. The moment he touched them, Noah jerked violently and his muscles clenched down even further around Jayden’s trapped cock.  
  
“Ahhh! Please,” Noah begged, feeling so oversensitive right now that Jayden touching his oil glands made his head get dizzy. He loved it though, and he wanted Jayden to touch him more.  
  
Jayden bucked up harder into Noah, holding the submissive tight and continued to touch the leaking oil glands. Noah went wild in his lap, squirming and crying out in pleasure, and it only got more intense as Jayden leaned in to lick and suck on Noah’s left nipple.  
  
That was the final push for Noah, who came for the second time that night. He cried out his orgasm, and Jayden followed him when the vice grip on his cock became too much. The alpha growled out his release into Noah’s shoulder, biting him softly there while he flooded Noah’s insides with his seed.  
  
Noah moaned through it, running soothing hands up and down Jayden’s muscled back and smiled in bliss. He savored every tremble in Jayden’s body as the alpha rode out his release, and the deep growls escaping Jayden’s throat during his climax made Noah shudder lightly in arousal.  
  
When it was over they went limp against each other. Noah remained seated on Jayden with his cock buried in his ass, trapping the come inside him, and he rested his head against the alpha’s shoulder while Jayden rested his own head on Noah’s shoulder. They caught their breaths together and ran soothing hands up each other’s backs in slow, loving motions.  
  
“Mm, I could sit here all night,” Jayden hummed, closing his eyes and breathing in his mate’s sweet scent.  
  
Noah smiled against his shoulder. “Me too.”  
  
They sat there for a few more moments until Jayden felt his cock begin to feel uncomfortable. It was soft and still trapped inside Noah, so he slowly pulled away. Noah let out a small whine at the loss when he was left empty again, and Jayden quickly went over to get some tissues before the whole bed got dirty with come.  
  
They cleaned up together, and Noah lay back down on the bed afterwards, feeling sated and exhausted.  
  
Jayden stared at his mate’s exposed, naked body on the bed and admired the sight. Noah lay with his arms up next to his head and with his legs slightly pressed together in a shy manner while Jayden stared at him. The alpha grinned softly at his mate before climbing onto the bed with him, settling himself on his front between Noah’s legs and gently spread them apart. He took in the sight of Noah’s spent dick, which was soft and had a pretty, pink shade at the tip. He smiled at the sight and couldn’t resist touching it.  
  
Noah gasped softly when Jayden touched his soft dick by running a finger down the shaft and teasing the head a bit. He was oversensitive, so the touch made him shiver a little.  
  
Jayden just smiled at him and placed a soft kiss on Noah’s hipbone.  
  
“I can’t believe that Nathan is almost a year old already,” Jayden spoke, randomly.  
  
Noah glanced down at him. “Yeah. He grows fast.”  
  
“Mm.” Jayden hummed and nuzzled Noah’s hip softly, staring at his flat stomach and bellybutton before tracing a finger over the skin. “I can’t wait to see you pregnant again someday. You’re so gorgeous when you’re pregnant…”  
  
Noah blushed and squirmed a bit on the bed. “I’m not ready for another one yet, though.”  
  
“I know, but in a few years I hope you’ll be.”  
  
“Probably. I have always wanted a big family…”  
  
Jayden grinned at that, his tail flicking happily behind him. “Me too.” He pressed a kiss to Noah’s flat stomach and smiled up at his mate. “I love you. I’m so happy that you’re all mine now; both spiritually and legally.”  
  
Noah smiled back at him, his wings twitching happily on the bed. “I love you too. And I’ve always been all yours…”  
  
The alpha grinned before crawling up to lie by Noah’s side. They smiled and snuggled up together under the blanket, holding each other close.  
  
They talked for a bit while cuddling, mostly about the party and their families, and Noah giggled when Jayden’s soft touches tickled a bit.  
  
After some rest they were ready for the next round of sex, enjoying being in a new environment where they could relax and forget about the world around them. Tonight was just about the two of them, and they had all night to show the each other just how much they loved their mate.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally they are married! :) This chapter was really hard to write and it turned out longer than I had expected, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. There will be some time jumping now until their next baby is coming, so be prepared for that.
> 
> Thanks for reading! :)


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Trigger warnings** for mentions of past suicide and sexual assault in this chapter, since Jayden is talking about an incident at his previous school here. Just want to give you guys a heads up, in case someone is sensitive about this subject.

**February 2052 (Noah is 25 (almost 26), Jayden is 27, Nathan is 2, Lucas is 23 (almost 24) years old).**  
  
It was a hectic morning for Noah as he had to get himself and Nathan ready for the day. Noah was meeting at work at 9am that morning and wasn’t off until 5:30, and he had to drop Nathan off at the daycare first. Jayden didn’t work until 11am, so he was still sleeping when Noah got out of bed at 7:50.  
  
Noah was running around in stress to make sure that Nathan got to eat a proper breakfast before leaving and that he too managed to eat something, and he also had to change his son’s diaper, make their lunch, and get him properly dressed. Noah had always had a hard time waking up early, so sometimes he ended up getting out of bed a little later than planned. This was one of those mornings. He was ten minutes behind his usual schedule, and Nathan was being a slow eater.  
  
“Please, Nathan. You gotta eat before we go out,” Noah told his son as he quickly fixed their lunches for the day.  
  
Nathan sat in his toddler chair by the dining table in the kitchen, poking at his food, which consisted of pieces of fruit and carrots and some bread with cheese. The boy was two years old now and could speak small sentences. He already knew about two hundred different words, but it was still a little difficult making sense of what he was saying sometimes. He glanced over at Noah when he heard his mom speak, before putting another piece of apple in his mouth, smiling as he chewed it.  
  
Noah chuckled softly at Nathan’s happy face and how his little tail curled. The boy really liked apples a lot. Nathan was still pretty slow with eating his food, though; he seemed to enjoy playing with it rather than eating it, and Noah was worried that the boy would be hungry too soon after arriving in the daycare if he didn’t finish his breakfast.  
  
Noah quickly finished their lunches and put their lunchboxes into their bags, making sure he put them in the right bag so that he wouldn’t end up taking Nathan’s lunch with him to work. That had happened a few times already.  
  
“Mommy. Milk, pwease?” Nathan said, holding up his already empty plastic cup. He smiled when Noah came over and poured more milk for him, although Noah never poured too much at a time. Nathan tended to knock his cup over sometimes, so it was a waste to pour too much into it. “Where daddy?” he asked then, glancing around.  
  
“Daddy’s still sleeping. His work starts later than mommy’s, you know,” Noah explained, smiling as he stroked his hand through Nathan’s hair before heading over to fill a bottle of water for himself for work today.  
  
Nathan hummed before drinking from his milk, slurping as he sucked it in and swallowed it. His mouth was all white afterwards, and when he put the cup away he accidentally placed it on the edge of the table. The cup lost balance and fell to the floor with a small crash. Nathan stared down at it in surprise. “Oh,” he said, blinking at the white stains on the floor.  
  
Midnight quickly darted over to the spilled milk and drank it off the floor, making Nathan laugh. Noah sighed before going over to clean the rest up. He grabbed Nathan from the chair afterwards and got him properly dressed for the day.  
  
Noah was getting Nathan ready in the hallway, putting on the boy’s shoes and jacket, when Jayden suddenly emerged from the bedroom.  
  
The alpha ran a hand through his messy hair and yawned loudly before looking at them. He was wearing nothing but his boxers, and Noah was a little surprised to suddenly be faced with his mate’s attractive muscles so early in the morning.  
  
“Daddy!” Nathan chirped, his pacifier falling from his mouth as he grinned up at his dad and reached up his arms towards him.  
  
“Hey, buddy,” Jayden grinned, coming over to pick him up. He placed a loving kiss on Nathan’s cheek as he held his son, and Nathan grinned and leaned into his naked chest while trying to throw his arms around him in a hug. Jayden looked at Noah then and leaned in to kiss him on the lips. “Good morning.”  
  
Noah kissed him back, but quickly continued putting on Nathan’s shoes. The boy grunted a bit in annoyance because he wanted to be with his dad and not have his shoes put on, but Noah was in a hurry, so he put the shoes on him while Jayden held him.  
  
“You’re up pretty early,” Noah remarked, struggling with those shoes.  
  
“Yeah, I had to use the bathroom, and I could hear that you hadn’t left yet,” Jayden replied. “When will you be home tonight?”  
  
“I’m off at 5:30, so I guess I’m home at around 6. Do you want to do the grocery shopping or should I?”  
  
“Nah, I can do it. I’m off at 5:30 today as well, so I’ll be home early. Probably around the same time as you, but maybe later,” Jayden told him.  
  
They had bought a second car soon after Nathan was born (a used silver Chevrolet SUV with five seats, which Dean had helped them get at a cheap price), so now they could both drive to and from work in a car. It was usually Noah who drove Nathan to the daycare and picked him up though, since Jayden’s work hours were always different and he often went to work late and came home late. Sometimes Jayden drove Nathan to the daycare on the days where he met early at work, but since he had worked till 11:30pm last night and hadn’t been home before midnight, Noah was taking Nathan to the daycare that day. Nathan usually woke up between 7:30 and 8am, so Noah wanted to let Jayden get some sleep that morning.  
  
“Okay. I’m glad you’ll be home early for once,” Noah said, smiling a bit.  
  
“Sorry. I know I’ve been working late in the past week, but I’m trying to get as many early shifts possible now so I can be home by 7 on most nights. After all, I miss seeing Nathan on the days where I work late…”  
  
“I think Nathan would really like that. And so would I,” Noah smiled.  
  
Jayden smiled at him before looking down at Nathan, who was still hugging him and leaning into him. He tickled the boy gently, making Nathan laugh and flinch. “Daddy’s gotta use the bathroom now, so you better get ready to leave with mommy,” he told him softly, putting him down on the floor. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?”  
  
Nathan whined softly, looking at his dad with sad eyes before nodding.  
  
Noah gave his son a rueful smile before putting his jacket on him, and he and Jayden shared another kiss and said goodbye before Jayden disappeared into the bathroom.  
  
Noah and Nathan left soon afterwards, and Jayden got started on his day before heading off to work too.  
  


 

***

  
  
It was an ordinary day at Noah’s work in the kindergarten. He taught the kids English, basics of math, and would have an art class with them later that day. The kids usually liked art class the most, where they’d get to draw, paint, and use their creativity. It was also the class that Noah liked to teach the best, because he liked to see the children having fun, getting creative, complimenting each other’s work, and getting inspired by one another.  
  
During the lunch break, the teachers sat with the students in the large lunch room, making sure that everyone behaved and ate their food.  
  
Alec was no longer in the kindergarten. He had started in the first grade now, but the time he had spent in the kindergarten had been quite fun for both him and for Noah. Alec had told Noah a lot about his new twin sisters and how they cried all the time, but even though he could be annoyed by their crying, he was still quite proud to be a big brother. Noah had also gotten to see Lily and Tony more often during the year that Alec had been in the kindergarten, so that had been a bonus too.  
  
Lucas was still working in the kindergarten with Noah. For Noah it was nice to have Lucas as his colleague; they were still good friends, and their other colleagues got along well with Lucas too. Lucas was a little skittish around adults sometimes, but when it came to kids he was open and attentive and really enjoyed working with them, just like Noah.  
  
After eating lunch, the children had half an hour where they could play outside and have fun.  
  
Noah was about to head outside to keep an eye on the kids along with the other teachers, when he suddenly noticed that Lucas seemed to be feeling unwell. He saw his friend placing a hand against his chest and swallow uncomfortably, and the look on his face made Noah worry.  
  
“Hey, are you okay?” Noah asked worriedly. He was about to put his hand on Lucas’ shoulder when suddenly Lucas ran out of the room and towards the bathroom fast. Shocked, Noah followed after him, worried that something was horribly wrong.  
  
Lucas burst into the teachers’ bathroom and ended up emptying his stomach into one of the toilets. Noah quickly ran over to help him through it, rubbing Lucas’ back for reassurance.  
  
“Oh my god, are you okay? Should I call Caleb and have him drive you home?” Noah asked, worried sick about his friend. Their colleagues hadn’t noticed what was going on since they were so busy with the kids, so it was just Noah who had followed Lucas out to the bathroom.  
  
Lucas panted and used some toilet paper to wipe his mouth with. He was still sitting on the floor, looking tired and a bit sick. “N-No, I’m okay.”  
  
“Are you sure? You might be coming down with something…”  
  
Lucas turned to look at Noah, giving him a smile that Noah couldn’t really interpret. “I’m not sick, I promise. I…” Lucas glanced around before grinning at Noah. “I’m pregnant.”  
  
Noah stared back at him in complete surprise. It took him a few seconds to react to what Lucas was telling him. “You’re…” He glanced briefly towards Lucas’ stomach before looking at his face again. “Oh my god! Really? That’s great!” Noah grinned widely and threw his arms around Lucas’ neck to hug him.  
  
Lucas grinned and hugged him back, his tail curling with joy on the floor.  
  
“I’m so happy for you! Congratulations,” Noah grinned and pulled back from the hug.  
  
Lucas smiled widely and placed a hand on his abdomen. “Thank you. I just found out about it yesterday when the pregnancy test was positive. Caleb was so happy; I’ve never seen him explode with so much joy before.”  
  
Lucas and Caleb had become mates about six months ago. It had taken Lucas over five years to finally be ready to mate with Caleb, but the beta had waited patiently for him to feel ready. Noah was the first person outside his family whom he told about the news, and Noah knew that mating with Caleb was a huge step for Lucas. Although Lucas was more confident now than he had been before, he was still rather fragile due to his sad past and still had trust issues because of it.  
  
Noah grinned and helped Lucas up on his feet again. “That’s such great news. I’m sure you and Caleb will be wonderful parents.”  
  
“I hope so. I know that Caleb will make a great father, but I don’t know about myself… I’m a bit of a mess sometimes, especially when I’ve had those bad dreams…”  
  
Lucas still suffered from horrible nightmares about his father sometimes, and it took a great toll on him when they appeared. He’d be depressed and skittish for days afterwards, but Caleb was always there to reassure him and comfort him. Lucas had called Noah a few times as well to come over when he was feeling bad. He always felt better after talking to Noah about his problems and feelings and just hanging out with him. Noah was always there for him when he needed it.  
  
Noah gave Lucas a sad, soft smile and placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine, and you have Caleb to help you out. This baby will be good for you. It will grow up in a happy family, like you’ve always wanted, and it will love you no matter what. You’ll be okay, trust me.”  
  
Lucas smiled back at Noah, briefly touching his leg with his tail to show his gratitude.  
  
Their little moment was interrupted when a group of noisy kids ran inside and headed towards the children’s bathrooms. Some boys were chasing a group of girls, and they all laughed as they had fun. The girls tried to hide in the bathrooms, but there were no locks in there so that the kids couldn’t lock themselves inside a stall or get stuck in there.  
  
Noah went out to check on the kids. “Hey, don’t be so rough with the doors!” he told them when he saw the boys pushing on one side of the door and the girls pushing on the other side to keep them out.  
  
The children immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Noah innocently.  
  
“Sorry, Mx. Williams,” one of the boys murmured, before he and his friends retreated. The girls giggled in victory after having shaken the boys off.  
  
Noah was pleased that they had listened instead of arguing. He was still getting used to be called ‘Mx. Williams’ by some of the kids (most just called him Noah). He had taken Jayden’s last name after they got married, but it was still strange to be addressed by that name instead of ‘Winchester’, which now worked as his middle name.  
  
Lucas went over to rinse his mouth from the taste of bile after the kids were gone.  
  
Noah was about to ask Lucas how far he was in his pregnancy when he suddenly remembered the ‘vacation’ that Lucas had been on with Caleb seven weeks ago. He now realized that it hadn’t been a vacation at all; Lucas had taken a week off work to go through his heat.  
  
“It wasn’t a vacation you and Caleb went on a few weeks ago, was it?” Noah finally said.  
  
Lucas blushed furiously while drying his mouth in some paper towels after having cleaned up. “No… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth; I just didn’t want to get too excited about having a baby in case it didn’t work…”  
  
“It’s okay. I understand. But it rarely _doesn’t_ work, you know,” Noah told his friend with a smile.  
  
Submissives were very fertile, and it was extremely rare that they didn’t conceive during their heat if their partner was with them and they didn’t use birth control. The only causes to them not conceiving would be because of prior damage to their reproductive organs or because of serious illness.  
  
“Yeah, I know,” Lucas chuckled, turning to face Noah. His lips curled into an excited grin as he gently touched his own stomach. “I’m so excited already, but I really don’t like the vomiting part…”  
  
Noah laughed. “No one likes that. But if you eat snacks frequently through the day, don’t lie down after eating, and eat mostly cold food and food that doesn’t trigger your nausea, you should feel better.”  
  
“Thanks for the advice. I think I’ll need a lot of your advice from now on,” Lucas smiled.  
  
Noah returned the smile and brushed his wing against Lucas’ in a friendly manner, before the two of them headed outside to help their colleagues keep an eye on the playing kids.  
  


 

***

  
  
Jayden’s workday was a normal one as well.  
  
He spent it cooking the food for the restaurant’s customers and chatting with his colleagues while working. They were usually three to four people in the kitchen at same time, and their most busy hours were after 5pm. Luckily Jayden was off at 5:30 that day, so he managed to escape the most busy hours.  
  
When he was off, Jayden put away his hat and chef’s clothing before saying goodbye to his colleagues. He looked forward to coming home and spending the night with his family, and he smiled as he thought about that.  
  
Putting on his jacket, Jayden left the restaurant and went into the crowds of the mall. It was rather busy in the mall because most people were off work now and went shopping or out to eat, and the mall’s cinema attracted a lot of people as well.  
  
Jayden moved through the crowds and tried not to bump into anyone, and he was relieved when he finally made it outside. The fresh winter air was nice, and Jayden breathed it in through his nose to get rid of the lingering scent from the kitchen. The food they cooked smelled good, but Jayden didn’t want to have the scent in his nose when he was off work.  
  
It was almost completely dark outside since it was winter, but the lampposts illuminated the area.  
  
Jayden moved through the parking lot towards where he had parked the SUV, fumbling to find his keys in his jacket pocket, when he suddenly heard someone say his name.  
  
“Hey, if that isn’t Jayden!”  
  
Jayden looked up to see who the owner of that male voice was, and he froze when he saw a familiar face coming over to him. And it was not the good kind of familiar face.  
  
An alpha demon, who was a year or two younger than Jayden, came over to him, smiling almost maliciously as he approached him. The guy was tall, but a little shorter than Jayden, and he had very short dark hairs and brown eyes. Next to him was a female demon with long, dark blonde hair, and she looked a little confused as her boyfriend approached Jayden like he knew him.  
  
Jayden stared back at the guy with a cold face, and he unconsciously straightened up and raised his wings a little; a gesture that he was on alert and didn’t want the other guy coming too close.  
  
“Chris,” Jayden acknowledged him coldly, staring back at the guy who just smirked when Jayden recognized him.  
  
Chris was an alpha demon that Jayden had once gone to middle school with. Jayden had been 15 at that time, and Chris had been 13-14. They had been in the same class together when Jayden lived in Arkansas (Jayden had been two grades behind since he was 11 because of his accident and all the moving), and they had never gotten along. In fact, they couldn’t stand each other.  
  
“Heh, you’ve gotten taller and bulkier,” Chris remarked, looking Jayden up and down.  
  
Chris eyes rested on Jayden’s wings for a second, and Jayden was pleased when he saw a flicker of nervousness in Chris’ eyes when he looked at them. Jayden’s wings had gotten larger since he was 15, and they were stronger-looking than Chris’ were.  
  
“Still hanging with angels and hybrids?” Chris sneered as he looked at him. “You used to hang out with them like they’re equal to us. It’s fucking disgusting,” he spat.  
  
Chris and his family were hardcore racists, which was one reason why Jayden didn’t get along with him.  
  
“Believe it or not, they _are_ equal to us,” Jayden replied, a slight sneer in his voice. “And I really don’t want to waste my time talking to you. I’ve got better things to do.” He turned to leave, not wanting to have anything to do with his old enemy, when suddenly Chris let out a growl and reached out and grabbed Jayden’s arm harshly. Jayden responded with an angry, low growl, spreading and raising his sharp wings and shaking Chris’ hand off, before turning to stare the other alpha down as a warning. “Don’t. Fucking. Touch me.” A threatening growl rumbled in his chest as he glared Chris down and pointed his razor sharp feathers at him.  
  
The female demon took a wary step back, staring at them with wide eyes. A few others in the parking lot watched the scene as well, holding their breaths.  
  
Chris just growled and took a threatening step closer, his own wings spreading in aggression. “ _You_ fucking got me thrown out of my school! You dishonored me in front of my father by doing that!”  
  
“You had that coming,” Jayden growled back, not backing down. “What you did to that angel girl was unforgivable. Not to mention the way you treated all other angels who were easy victims for the likes of you.”  
  
“She was a poor freak who couldn’t handle being reminded of what she was,” Chris said, rolling his eyes like it wasn’t a big deal. “I wasn’t the only demon who liked to show her where her place was, don’t forget that.”  
  
Anger and disgust rose up inside Jayden. All the memories of that incident at his previous school came flashing back to him. Memories he didn’t like to think about.  
  
Jayden’s fist clenched as he tried desperately not to punch the guy in the middle of the parking lot. He had so much hatred for Chris that he had to struggle to keep himself under control. Finally he managed to calm the worst of his anger, and he stared back at Chris with a dark look of disgust. “No, sadly there are many fucked up guys like you out there,” he sneered before turning around and walking over to his car.  
  
“And sadly there are too many disgusting angel-lovers like _you_ out there!” Chris snapped back. When Jayden ignored him and kept walking away from him, Chris continued. “And yeah, you better get out of here! I beat your ass to a pulp once and I’d do it again!”  
  
Jayden continued to ignore him and quickly got into his car to drive off, desperate to get away from the old face of the past. He hadn’t even gotten to question Chris about why he had showed up in this city of all places. He just hoped the guy hadn’t moved there, because Jayden really didn’t want to cross paths with that asshole again.  
  


 

***

  
  
When Jayden finally came home, he was carrying two bags of groceries and trying to make it into the apartment without dropping them. He struggled to put them over on top of the shoe drawers before closing and locking the door behind him. He could hear Nathan’s happy laughter from the living room and Noah grinning at the boy. The sounds of his family’s happy voices and laughter made Jayden smile and sigh softly. He had looked forward to hearing that after having run into Chris earlier.  
  
Jayden took off his shoes and jacket when Noah suddenly came out of the living room. The submissive beamed when he saw him and came over to hug him.  
  
“Hi. Welcome home.” Noah wrapped his arms around Jayden’s neck and pulled his mate into a hug, his wings flaring happily behind him.  
  
Jayden grinned and held Noah tight, sighing softly as he buried his face in the crook of Noah’s neck and breathed in his scent. Noah smelled so good; like mate and home, and the scent immediately relaxed Jayden.  
  
Noah quickly noticed that something was up. Jayden was keeping him in the hug for longer than necessary and wouldn’t let go when Noah gently tried to free himself. “Connor? Are you okay?” He tried to search their bond for Jayden’s emotions to see how he was doing and was met with sadness, a bit of frustration, and anger. Frowning, Noah finally pulled away and looked up at his mate in worry.  
  
“Um…” Jayden began, but was interrupted when Nathan came running into the hallway.  
  
“Daddy!” Nathan grinned happily, running over to Jayden with his arms raised up towards him. He almost tripped on his way over, and his little tail swished back and forth in joy as he ran. Noah had left the baby gate open when he came into the hallway, so Nathan could easily follow him there.  
  
Jayden grinned and picked Nathan up, making the boy squeal as he lifted him up above his head. “Hey, Nathan. Had a nice day in the daycare with Emily?”  
  
Nathan grinned and nodded, and he squealed when Jayden lifted him up once more before placing him on his arm. The alpha placed several kisses on Nathan’s cheek and he boy giggled and squirmed before Jayden put him down again.  
  
Noah watched the scene with a fond smile before Nathan ran back to the living room where his toys were. After the boy was out of sight, Noah turned to look up at Jayden again. “What is it?”  
  
Jayden sighed and picked up the grocery bags, and Noah helped him. “I’ll tell you later when Nathan’s been put to bed. I just ran into some asshole today, that’s all.”  
  
“Oh.” Noah stared at his mate in worry as they helped each other carry the groceries into the kitchen and put the stuff into place. He wanted to hear about what had made Jayden look so upset, but it was indeed best to wait until Nathan had been put to bed. They didn’t want to act upset around him.  
  
“So I think I’ll make us some chicken and fries for dinner for once. If you’re up for that?” Jayden spoke, quickly finding some chicken pieces to warm in the oven.  
  
“Sure,” Noah smiled.  
  
The chicken would need almost one and a half hours in the oven, so it would be like 7:45 before they could eat. Since they both often came home after 6pm, they were used to having a late dinner. Nathan, however, would be given some food before that because he got hungry at around 6:30 and needed to sleep at around 8pm. They usually fed him leftovers from the night before and then later had him have something more to eat when their own dinner was ready, but never too much right before he had to go to bed. Noah was sometimes home earlier, so on those days he cooked a quick (and easy) meal for dinner so they could eat early. He wasn’t a good cook, but he could cook potatoes, rice, pasta, and other easy things. He just wasn’t any good with sauces, meat, and other more complicated foods. When he tried, the result usually wasn’t good.  
  
Jayden got started on the chicken, and Noah went back to the living room to keep an eye on Nathan. He gasped when he returned to the room and saw that Nathan was about to empty his cup of milk onto the couch.  
  
“No!” Noah scolded, quickly prying the baby gate open before rushing over to stop Nathan. “You don’t put food or drinks into the couch, you hear?”  
  
Nathan looked up at him with guilt written all over his face. He didn’t like to be scolded, and Noah’s strict voice scared him a bit. Noah snatched the cup from his hands and Nathan began sobbing and crying. He sat down almost pathetically on the couch and stared up at his mother while he whined and cried.  
  
Noah sighed, but didn’t give into the crying. Nathan was just throwing a scene because he didn’t get to do as he wanted. “You know not to sit on the couch when eating or drinking,” he told the boy firmly. “Stop crying. I still won’t let you spill the milk on the couch.”  
  
Nathan sobbed again, but stopped when Noah changed the TV channel and some interesting children’s cartoon showed up on the screen. The boy sniffled and sobbed for a few seconds before getting all entranced with the TV show, and Noah secretly smirked in victory when he made Nathan be quiet again. The submissive ruffled his son’s hair fondly before tidying up some of the toys that lay spread all over the room.  
  
Midnight sat on her indoor cat tree, licking her paws and staring at him. Noah smiled at her and came over to pet her, and Midnight purred and stretched her neck as Noah rubbed her under the chin.  
  
“You need to be taken out for a walk soon, don’t you?” Noah murmured to the cat, smiling at how she purred as he pet her.  
  
“ _You_ walk her next time. I’m tired of people staring at me like I’m weird for walking a cat on a leash,” Jayden suddenly spoke behind him.  
  
Noah jumped in surprise, not having heard Jayden enter the room. He turned around and stared up at his mate as Jayden came over to stand behind him, reaching out to pet Midnight as well. Noah rolled his eyes at what Jayden said. “ _You’re_ the one that always says to just let people stare.”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “I know.” He petted Midnight a bit more before wrapping his arms around Noah from behind instead, leaning down to rest his chin on Noah’s shoulder. It felt nice hugging his mate and being close to him. It made him think of better things. “So, how was your day?” he asked randomly, gently roaming his hands over Noah’s clothed, flat stomach and placed a kiss on the submissive’s neck.  
  
Noah sighed softly and leaned into him, while Midnight went back to licking herself. “It was good. I got some good news today.”  
  
“What news?”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but smile. “Lucas told me that he’s having a baby.”  
  
Jayden pulled back in surprise. “No way!” he gasped, before a large grin appeared on his face. “That’s great for him and Caleb!”  
  
“Yeah,” Noah agreed, reaching out to idly hold Jayden’s hand while they smiled at each other. “He’s having morning sickness, so he doesn’t think it’s very great at the moment, though…”  
  
The alpha chuckled at that. “I’m glad that _I_ never have to go through that. Though, seeing you go through it wasn’t fun either…”  
  
Noah scowled at his mate. “It was still less fun for _me._ ”  
  
“I know,” Jayden said, chuckling.  
  
They heard Nathan laugh suddenly when some funny scene happened on the TV show he was watching. They both looked over to see their son sitting on the couch, holding his own tail in his hands while it twitched lightly. He was so engaged in the show that it made the two parents chuckle fondly at him.  
  
The show ended twenty seconds later, and Jayden came over and surprised Nathan by leaning in over him while standing behind the couch. “Boo!”  
  
Nathan squeaked and jerked in surprise before looking up at his dad. He let out a small giggle when he saw his dad grinning down at him.  
  
“I think it’s time for your bath now, young man. You’re smelly,” Jayden said in a playful voice, reaching down to pick up the boy. Nathan squealed as Jayden lifted him up and ‘attacked’ his stomach with his mouth, and Noah laughed fondly as he watched them.  
  
“Yeah, he does need a bath,” Noah agreed, going to get the bathtub ready for Nathan.  
  
Jayden continued to fool around with Nathan, holding the squirming boy in his arms while Nathan tried to get down. The boy laughed and kicked, and Jayden had to hold on tight to not let him fall down. Nathan hated it when they told him he was going to have a bath, but once he was in the water he really enjoyed it.  
  
Noah got the bath ready and checked the water’s temperature as it flooded into the bathtub. Meanwhile Jayden took of Nathan’s clothes and diaper, with the boy still struggling to get away (even though he was laughing).  
  
When the water was ready, they put Nathan into a laundry basket in the bathtub. He liked to sit in the basket and it also made sure that his water toys didn’t float away from him.  
  
Since Noah had bathed Nathan more often lately, Jayden stepped in to bathe him this time. He kneeled down beside the bathtub, wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, and began to rub some products into Nathan’s hair and wings. Noah let the two be and went to check on the chicken, while Jayden made sure that Nathan got cleaned up.  
  
Noah could hear Nathan’s happy laughter and giggling from the bathroom and how he splashed around in the water, and he could hear Jayden playing around with his toys with him. He smiled as he listened to them having fun and getting to spend some time together.  
  
Noah was a little concerned about Jayden, though. He had behaved a bit strange when he came home, and he still seemed pretty bothered by that ‘asshole’ he had run into that day. Noah wondered about what had happened. Usually Jayden didn’t let himself get upset over some random racist, so clearly _something_ must have happened. Something bad. The way Jayden tried to distract himself made Noah worry too. It was clear that the alpha was trying not to think too hard about whatever had happened that day.  
  
After a few minutes, Noah returned to the bathroom where Nathan was still in the tub. Jayden was laughing his ass off over something, and Nathan was grinning widely and almost mischievously.  
  
“What is it?” Noah asked, frowning as he came over to them.  
  
Jayden turned his head and looked up at him, still grinning. “Nothing. Our son has just discovered how fun it is to fart in a bathtub, that’s all.”  
  
“Bubbles!” Nathan exclaimed, grinning all over his face as he threw his hands into the water and made it splash.  
  
“Yeah, bubbles,” Jayden laughed.  
  
Noah grimaced in disgust. “Ew. Why are you making him fart in the water? You’re supposed to clean him!”  
  
“Oh c’mon, it was funny!” Jayden laughed. “Besides, he did it on his own; I didn’t _make_ him do it. You should have seen his surprised face when he saw that it created bubbles.” Jayden cracked up again and Noah rolled his eyes. Though, even Noah couldn’t help but laugh a bit at it. It _was_ pretty funny.  
  
“Bubble, bubble,” Nathan babbled, continuing to play with his toys in the water. His favorite toys were a rubber duck and a dinosaur, and he made them hit each other in the water all the time to make it splash.  
  
“Just make sure he doesn’t poop,” Noah told him with a small chuckle before turning to leave, shaking his head fondly at little Nathan.  
  
“I will,” Jayden grinned and went back to having fun with Nathan in the bath.  
  


 

***

  
  
After having had dinner that night, it was time for Nathan to go bed. It was 8:10 already and he needed to catch some sleep before a new day started tomorrow.  
  
“Come on, Nathan; it’s time for bed,” Noah told his son softly, holding his hand as he walked with him out of the living room, headed towards the nursery.  
  
Nathan was looking sleepy already, and he sucked on his pacifier as he followed his mother into the hallway. Then, he suddenly let go of Noah’s hand and whined as he ran towards the front door. “Em-lee,” he said, patting his hand on the door while glancing back at Noah and Jayden.  
  
Noah sighed and smiled softly at him as he came over to take Nathan’s hand again. “No, Emily can’t come to bed with you. She has her own bed and I bet she’s already in there, dreaming about playing with you in the daycare. Maybe you’ll meet her there if you dream about her too.”  
  
Nathan pondered about that and stared at the door almost sadly before taking Noah’s hand.  
  
“You’ll see Emily again tomorrow,” Jayden promised his son, ruffling his hair fondly as he passed him along with Noah.  
  
Noah led Nathan into the nursery to change his diaper and get him dressed for bed. Jayden joined them and helped him out, and together they put Nathan into his crib and tucked him in. The boy almost immediately closed his sleepy eyes and sucked on his pacifier as he tried to sleep.  
  
The two young parents stroked their son’s head and told him goodnight before quietly leaving the room. Noah had the baby alarm with him in case Nathan should wake up all of sudden, although that rarely happened anymore. He usually slept through the night now.  
  
Noah and Jayden returned to the living room afterwards, intending to spend the rest of the night together and relaxing. They didn’t always get to be together during the day when Jayden worked late, so it was nice to have an evening to themselves for once.  
  
However, there was a conversation that awaited them that probably wouldn’t be very relaxing.  
  
Jayden dropped down on his butt on the couch, letting out a deep sigh. He sat at the edge and moved his arm up to rest it on the back of the couch, trying to keep his wings as close to himself as he could as Noah gently made his way past him to sit down next to him. Jayden stared at the brief look of Noah’s clothed ass that he got as the submissive tried to get past his legs, and he hummed at the sight before Noah sat down next to him.  
  
Cartoons were still playing, so Jayden reached over and picked up the remote, switching through the channels until he found some science show that seemed more interesting. His arm still rested on the back of the couch, just behind where Noah was sitting.  
  
Noah glanced at Jayden quietly, waiting for his mate to speak. He realized that Jayden wasn’t going to talk until Noah brought up the subject, so he chewed a bit on his bottom lip before asking, “Do you want to talk about the thing that’s bothered you all night?” He kept his voice soft, not wanting to push Jayden to talk if the alpha wasn’t in the mood for it yet.  
  
Jayden sighed and threw the remote back on the couch table before shifting a bit on the couch. He kept his gaze on the TV, though Noah could tell he wasn’t really watching it. The alpha hesitated for a few moments, trying to find the right words to say. “I ran into someone I knew today. Another alpha demon, like me. Except we’re not alike at all…”  
  
“Oh.” Noah blinked at him. “Who was he?” he asked carefully.  
  
“His name’s Chris,” Jayden murmured, saying the name in contempt.  
  
Noah noticed how Jayden’s lip twitched into a sneer as he spoke the name.  
  
“I went to middle school with him back when I lived in Arkansas,” Jayden continued, still staring at the screen ahead of him. “I was 15, and he was 1-2 years younger. We went to the same class back then because I was two grades behind, and we never got along. No idea why I met him today at the mall, but I really hope he didn’t move here. He’s such a fucking asshole and I had to resist the urge to punch him.”  
  
Noah saw Jayden clenching his jaw and fists. He could tell his mate really loathed this Chris guy, and he had never seen Jayden display so much spite for someone before. “What happened? Back then…”  
  
Jayden let out another sigh and ran his free hand down his face. “Well, Chris is one of those hardcore racists, you know. He hates angels with a passion and he doesn’t accept other demons hanging out with them, so he definitely didn’t like me when I hung out with some of the class’ alpha angels.” He paused a bit before continuing. “He bullied every weak angel he could find; beta, girl, submissive, he didn’t care. To him they were all just scum. But there was this one particular angel girl whom he targeted… As did a few others. I think I’ve mentioned her to you once.” He slowly turned his head to look at Noah, who listened quietly and intently to his story. “Uh, an angel girl who came from a poor family and was bullied because she wore second-hand clothes. The one who ended up killing herself and was the reason why I had a hard time ignoring bullies back in our high school…”  
  
Noah’s eyes lit up. “Oh. Yeah, I remember you told me about her. Did he… Was he the one that made her do that?” He swallowed, not liking this topic at all.  
  
“Well, he was just one of the guys that made her take that decision in the end,” Jayden murmured, looking away again. “To be honest, I never really noticed her or knew her. We weren’t in the same class and I was never really around when Chris and the others bullied and made fun of her. But one day I was walking home from school and saw Chris and his friends say horrible, racist and nasty words to that girl somewhere behind the school. She was crying and telling them to stop, but they kept saying those horrible words to her and pushing her around. Then a teacher was about to head their way and the boys ran off before I could intervene, so I didn’t think much of it after the teacher attended to the crying girl. Then, the week after, the principal gathered us all in the great hall and told us that the girl had hung herself in her room. That was also when I heard that some of the oldest students had sexually assaulted her a few weeks earlier…”  
  
Noah shivered and stared down into his lap. It was such a horrible story and he couldn’t help but feel furious that the boys had done that to the girl. It was so sad.  
  
“So… The principal said that he demanded to know who had bullied the girl, because he wouldn’t accept such behavior at the school,” Jayden continued. “So I told my mom about what I had seen, and together with my dad we went to the school and told the principal that I had seen Chris and his three friends harassing the girl the week before she took her own life, and that I had heard them bragging about harassing her on other occasions too. Chris was expelled from the school immediately, as were his friends. I wasn’t the only one who had seen them bully her before, so the principal didn’t question what I had seen. I was pretty shaken up about it back then, ‘cause that girl had died, you know…”  
  
“Yeah, that’s horrible…” Noah said, feeling so sorry for the girl that he got tears in his eyes.  
  
Jayden nodded and swallowed before going on. “Yeah… And Chris eventually found out that I was the one who had told the principal about that and had caused him to get kicked out of school, so he was _furious_ at me. He gathered his three alpha friends and his older brother and one of his friends, and one afternoon when I was walking home from school, they surprised me and dragged me into an alley to beat me up.”  
  
Noah stared back at Jayden in horror. He had never heard about that before – not from Jayden, nor his family. For a moment he wanted to ask Jayden why he had never told him about that incident before, since getting beat up like that was a pretty serious thing, but when he looked at Jayden’s profile and the way he was biting his lower lip, Noah understood. It had been a traumatizing experience and Jayden didn’t want to talk about it. Nor did Jayden want to admit to Noah that he too could get beat up by others, even though he was a pretty strong alpha. He wanted Noah to think that he could protect him and didn’t want to be seen as weak. Even though Jayden was a quite soft alpha, who didn’t mind being domestic and showing some sides of himself that were less alpha-like, he was still somewhat of a macho alpha deep down. Still, Noah couldn’t help but feel a bit offended that Jayden hadn’t shared this story with him before – at least not in detail. All Jayden had said was that he knew a girl who was bullied and took her life at one of his previous schools, and that he had gotten into fights with several guys before. He had never explicitly said that he once got ganged up on like that before.  
  
Slowly, Noah reached out and placed his hand on Jayden’s thigh, rubbing soothing circles into it with his thumb. “I’m sorry to hear that…”  
  
Jayden seemed to relax a bit at Noah’s words and his touch. “Well, it was six against one and five of them were alphas, so the odds weren’t exactly in my favor.” He let out a broken chuckle. “Luckily some store owner heard what was going on and came to my rescue, but they had already managed to break my arm, leave me with bruises and cuts all over, and my jaw got dislocated. At least I managed to hit them back, so Chris too looked like hell after the fight. But yeah, that’s one of my least favorite memories…”  
  
“Gosh, that’s so unfair of them!” Noah exclaimed. “I’m so sorry that happened to you… I hate it when you get hurt.” He shifted closer and rested his head against Jayden’s chest, leaning into his mate to comfort him. He cringed at the thought that Jayden had been through so much pain when he was younger. He hadn’t deserved that.  
  
Jayden smiled softly and moved his arm down to hold Noah close. “Yeah, that’s why I didn’t tell you about it before; because I knew you wouldn’t like the story. And I don’t like talking about it anyway… I just really want to forget about it.”  
  
“I know. But you could have told me before…”  
  
“Yeah. Just didn’t really know how. I’m sorry…”  
  
Noah leaned further into Jayden. He could hear his mate’s heartbeat as he rested his head against Jayden’s chest, even though he was sitting on his right side. It was a beautiful sound.  
  
“So what did that Chris guy do today?” Noah asked after a few seconds of silence.  
  
“Nothing much,” Jayden said. “He was just being provocative and is still angry that I got him expelled. He’s just a stupid asshole.” He let out an angry growl and squeezed Noah tighter. “He doesn’t care about angels and doesn’t think they are equal to demons. He’s totally cold about that girl who killed herself, and that makes me so angry.”  
  
“Yeah. But I guess you just can’t rationalize with some people…”  
  
Jayden huffed. “Especially not _this_ guy.” He let out a sigh and leaned down to bury his nose in Noah’s hair, breathing in his scent. He hadn’t really thought much about what had happened in Arkansas for years, but seeing Chris again had made it all flash back to him. He had never known that girl who had died and had only ever seen her from a distance, but it still saddened him that she had gone through that and no one had been there to help.  
  
“You don’t know why he was in our city?” Noah asked, worried that Jayden could maybe run into Chris again. He really hoped that wouldn’t happen.  
  
“No. But he was with some girl, so maybe she’s got family that lives here? I don’t know. I just hope I don’t run into him again, ‘cause I’m not sure I can stop myself from punching him next time I have to listen to his stupid comments.”  
  
“Yeah, and I don’t want you getting into trouble for having beaten him…”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “I won’t get into trouble, I promise. When I punch people, it’s usually to protect myself or the ones I care about. I never throw the first punch unless I have to.” He hugged Noah closer and placed a soft kiss on top of his head. Sitting with Noah and holding him close made him feel better. His mate always had a soothing effect on him, and he slowly began to feel less upset about having met Chris again that day.  
  
Noah purred and leaned into him. “Let’s please talk about something else. This is making me so depressed to hear about…”  
  
Jayden laughed softly. “Yeah, I agree. But it felt pretty nice talking about it, actually… Thanks for listening.”  
  
Noah smiled. “You’re welcome. Anytime.”  
  
Jayden placed another kiss on his mate’s head and gently ran a hand through the submissive’s feathers.  
  
Noah let out a soft sigh before slowly leaning back to look at Jayden. “And there aren’t more of those kind of things I need to know about, is there? Other fights you got into?”  
  
“Nah,” Jayden chuckled, rubbing his tail against Noah with affection. “I mean, I’ve gotten into a few fights before, but nothing too serious. I think I’ve told you about pretty much all incidents were I got badly hurt now. Except maybe for the time when my dad dropped me when I was three and I almost broke my wing, but that’s about it.”  
  
Noah gasped in horror. “Your dad dropped you?! How?”  
  
“Well, he didn’t do it on purpose. We were playing outside and he was throwing me up in the air when our neighbor’s dog suddenly ran into him and made him miss me when I fell back down,” Jayden said, chuckling. “I mostly only remember the pain and my mom getting more so furious at my dad that I was scared of her for weeks afterwards. That’s it.”  
  
“Ouch… Why did your mom blame your dad for that?”  
  
“She didn’t know it was the dog’s fault at first. She didn’t exactly see it, so she thought he was just being a reckless jerk.”  
  
“Oh. Well, I’m glad you were okay… mostly.”  
  
Jayden smiled softly at him and stroked his hand across Noah’s cheek in a tender gesture. “Yeah. I don’t go down so easily.”  
  
Noah sat up a bit, facing Jayden and bringing his hand up to cup the alpha’s cheek while smiling at him. “I know.” He gently rubbed Jayden’s cheek with his thumb, seeing his mate lean into his touch and close his eyes for a moment. Noah then slowly climbed into Jayden’s lap, straddling him and leaning in to rest his body against him while his head rested on Jayden’s shoulder. The alpha wrapped his arms around him gently, holding him close.  
  
Their bond flared inside of them as Noah tried to comfort Jayden through it. Jayden returned the gesture, and together they sat there and held each other close for a few minutes. Midnight was minding her own business in the meantime as she slept inside her cat castle.  
  
Noah played a bit with one of Jayden’s softened feathers, smiling when he heard the alpha purr a bit. It felt nice leaning against Jayden and to help him feel better again. Jayden touched his feathers too, and Noah enjoyed the small, affectionate touches.  
  
For once there was nothing sexual about them touching the other’s feathers. It was just comfort and love and them enjoying each other’s soft touches.  
  
“Mm. I want ice cream,” Jayden suddenly murmured.  
  
Noah laughed and leaned back to look at him. “Don’t make me want some too.”  
  
A wicked grin appeared on Jayden’s lips. “We can share it?”  
  
“It’ll make me fat…”  
  
“No it won’t. Only _I_ make you fat when I knock you up, and I haven’t done that for three years.”  
  
Noah blushed and hit Jayden on the arm in embarrassment.  
  
Jayden just laughed at him before gently pushing him off of his lap and dragging him with him into the kitchen to get ice cream.  
  
Noah laughed as Jayden pulled him with him even though Noah tried to resist. He was glad that their bond was being filled with more positive emotions now and that Jayden seemed to feel better after having shared that story with him. Noah was still a little upset that Jayden hadn’t told him about it before, but he forgave him. He was just sad that Jayden had to go through that and think about it alone without having had Noah to talk about it with. Jayden seemed to have mostly made his peace with it by now though, but Noah would be there if Jayden ever needed to talk about it once more. And if Chris ever showed up again.  
  
Both of them went to share some delicious ice cream together, trying to get in a better mood after the somewhat dark topic they had talked about earlier. Ice cream was the perfect way to get into a good mood again, and there was lots of vanilla and strawberry ice cream for them to share.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt the need to make a more Jayden-oriented chapter and mention some stuff from his past, and I never really got to go into details about what happened to that girl in Arkansas (who was also mentioned in Devoted at some point). I don’t know yet if Chris will appear again, but it might be possible. It depends.
> 
> I hope the chapter wasn’t too sad right before Christmas. And seeing as I won’t update again until after Christmas, I wish all my readers a very merry Christmas! ^_^ It’s been almost two years with the Bonded verse now and I’ve had so many awesome readers who’ve written wonderful comments and have helped motivate me, and I thank you for that! I will update again as soon as I can.


	27. Chapter 27

**May 2053 (Noah is 27, Jayden is 28 (almost 29), Nathan is 3, David is 30, Millie is 28 (almost 29), Emily is 3 years old).**  
  
On a Saturday morning, Noah and Jayden were sleeping in their bed, completely unconscious as dreams flashed across their closed eyelids. Jayden was on his back with the blanket only covering him from the waist down, and Noah was lying on his side, facing Jayden, with his wings cocooned around him. Both were wearing just their underwear, but Noah also had a thin t-shirt on.  
  
Suddenly their sleep was interrupted when the door opened and small feet came running over to the bed. The mattress sank as their three and a half-year-old son climbed up on the bed and grinned as he threw himself on top of Jayden. He accidentally hit Jayden’s crotch as he climbed over him, making the alpha cry out in pain.  
  
“Ah! For the love of god!” Jayden exclaimed in pain, quickly covering his junk while Nathan rolled off him to sit between them on the bed. His wings flapped against the bed in agony, almost hitting Noah if the submissive hadn’t woken up with a shock when he heard his mate’s pained outburst.  
  
“What is it?” Noah quickly asked, staring at Jayden in worry and alert as he sat up.   
  
“Ugh. He hit me in the groin when he came onto the bed,” Jayden said, wincing in pain and almost curling into a fetal position because it hurt. “Jeez, Nathan. How many times do I have to tell you to be careful when you climb on me?”  
  
“Sorry, daddy…” Nathan murmured guilty, his wings drooping behind him as he sat between them. He was wearing his light blue pajamas with puppies on it, and he shrunk a bit when he saw that he had hurt his dad accidentally.  
  
Noah cringed at Jayden in sympathy before reaching out to pull Nathan against him. “It’s okay, sweetie. Just be careful.”  
  
“Well, at least it doesn’t hurt as much as it did last time,” Jayden groaned, letting out a pained, broken laugh and glancing at his son.  
  
“You okay, daddy?” Nathan asked, looking so sad and guilty over what had happened.  
  
“Yeah, I’ll be okay. If you promise never to do that again.”  
  
Nathan nodded. “I promise, daddy.”  
  
Jayden gave him a soft smile before slumping back against the bed with a small sigh. His junk still hurt, but the pain was subsiding. It could have been a lot worse if Nathan had hit him harder. Luckily, most of the boy’s weight had landed on his legs when he climbed over him, but his foot had sort of kicked him between the legs in the process.  
  
Noah glanced at the clock to see what the time was. “It’s only 7:50… Why are you up already?” he asked Nathan. He ran an affectionate hand through the boy’s light brown hair and tried to make it look nice. It was messy and sticking out in all directions after sleep, and Noah couldn’t help but smile at how cute it looked.  
  
“’Cause I wanted to come to your bed,” Nathan spoke, glancing up at Noah. He was pretty good at talking now, though he still struggled with some words and sometimes he didn’t say the words right. But Noah and Jayden could mostly still understand what he was saying.  
  
Noah smiled and let out a soft chuckle.   
  
Nathan loved to sleep in their bed and cuddle with them, but he was rarely allowed to stay there for the whole night. Sometimes when Jayden was working late, Noah let Nathan sleep in the bed with him until Jayden came home and carried the sleeping boy back to his own bed.  
  
“Come here.” Noah lay back down on the bed and pulled Nathan with him, and the boy grinned as he cuddled up against his mother.  
  
Jayden smiled at them. “You got place for one more?” He was already rolling over to join them before Noah could speak, and Nathan laughed happily when his father cuddled up behind him and held both of them close. Nathan was sandwiched between them, but he wasn’t being squeezed. Jayden made sure to hide his junk in case Nathan’s feet should suddenly kick, and he was still sore down there so he was careful to not lie in a way that made it hurt.  
  
Noah smiled, enjoying lying there with his family. His wings were wrapped around himself as he lay on his side and Nathan was snuggled up against his chest, while Jayden’s left wing was covering Noah over the blanket.  
  
They all closed their eyes for a bit, enjoying each other’s warmth and being together.  
  
While they lay there quietly, there was suddenly a noise that made both Noah and Jayden open their eyes. The sound was unmistakable; someone had just let out a fart.  
  
Nathan started giggling furiously between them, and that’s when they knew who had done it.  
  
Jayden laughed out loud. “Are you farting? Jeez, what a little piglet you are.”  
  
Nathan squealed and laughed as Jayden tickled him a bit. “It was daddy!”  
  
“No, it wasn’t! It came from _you._ ” Jayden continued to tickle Nathan, and Noah rolled his eyes fondly at them. “Daddy’s farts are _much_ better, and that was a baby fart.”  
  
Nathan continued to laugh and squirm, and Noah had to lean back a little to not get kicked. The submissive chuckled at them as Nathan rolled over and tried to tickle Jayden back, only to have Jayden catch his little hands and place kisses on them. Nathan laughed and tried to free himself, his wings flapping behind him.  
  
“Be careful not to kick daddy again,” Noah reminded Nathan.  
  
Nathan stopped for a second, and Jayden smiled at him before pulling him into a hug and kissing him on the forehead.  
  
“I think it’s time to get up now,” Jayden spoke.  
  
“Noooo.” Nathan hugged Jayden tight and clung to him, not wanting to leave the bed yet.  
  
Jayden just smiled and decided to stay on the bed a little longer, and Noah did too. They smiled at each other while Nathan was now leaning into Jayden with his face buried in his dad’s neck.  
  
Noah watched them for a bit, but lying there in a half-dark room on the bed made him feel pretty sleepy. He had only slept for a little over seven hours, so he was still very tired. His eyes began to close again and he could feel Jayden watching him, but he didn’t care. He was sleepy.  
  
Nathan continued to lay cuddled up against Jayden, humming a bit sometimes. Jayden recognized the rhythm of the humming to be from his favorite TV show intro, and the alpha let out a soft chuckle as he lay there with Nathan.  
  
About three minutes passed until there was yet another fart. A bigger one.  
  
Noah opened his eyes to look at Jayden, who immediately burst out laughing. There was no doubt that the fart had come from Jayden this time, because there was no way that Nathan could fart that loud.  
  
Nathan let out a loud laugh and pulled away from Jayden.  
  
“Gosh, you two are such _pigs!_ ” Noah groused, looking disgusted as he glared at them both.  
  
Jayden just laughed and looked at Nathan, who looked very amused by the whole thing. “Hear that? Mommy thinks we’re pigs.”  
  
“You a pig!” Nathan told Jayden, grinning and poking Jayden in the chest.  
  
“So are you,” Jayden grinned back, poking Nathan back in the stomach. “And so is mommy.”  
  
“Hey, I haven’t farted!” Noah said in defense.  
  
“Well, not right now, but you did a few nights ago.”  
  
Nathan was laughing so much that he was getting all awake and hyper from it. They both knew they had to calm him down a bit.  
  
Noah glared at Jayden, but the alpha ignored him with a small smirk before turning his attention to Nathan.  
  
“Funny,” Nathan giggled, grinning at Jayden.  
  
“Yeah, but we don’t fart in front of others, remember?” Jayden said, correcting some of Nathan’s hairs as they lay next to each other. “You may only do that when you’re alone and when no one else but mommy and daddy can hear it, okay? You can’t do that in the daycare or anywhere else where others can hear it; that’s not appropriate and you know that.”  
  
Nathan nodded, having calmed down more now. “Why?”  
  
“Because the other children and the adults will think you are a disgusting, little pig if you do that,” Noah told him in a kind, patient voice.  
  
“And Emily will think that too. You don’t want her to think you’re a piggy, do you?” Jayden said.  
  
Nathan looked horrified at that idea. “N-No. I’m not a piggy.”  
  
Jayden gave him a pleased smile and stroked Nathan’s cheek gently. The boy just grinned and squirmed restlessly.  
  
Noah sighed, disappointed that he wouldn’t get more sleep now that Nathan was so awake.  
  
A few moments later, Nathan crawled off from the bed and tried to drag Jayden with him, and Noah knew he better get up too.  
  
Both Noah and Jayden got up from the bed, and Nathan grinned happily before running out of the room. He was probably headed to the living room, eager to watch some cartoons. He usually sat there in the mornings and played with some toys until breakfast was ready.  
  
Jayden walked over to get some clothes from the wardrobe, limping a bit.  
  
“You okay?” Noah asked, a worried frown on his face as he saw the limp in Jayden’s steps.  
  
“Yeah, I’m okay. Still just a bit sore,” Jayden replied, flashing Noah a reassuring smile before starting to get dressed. He rubbed the palm of his hand against his crotch to massage it a bit, but ended up wincing since it was still pretty tender down there.  
  
Noah gave his mate a sympathetic look before they both got dressed and left the room. Noah crossed the hallway to use the bathroom, and he let out a small yip when Jayden playfully slapped him in the butt. He turned to glare at the alpha, who just laughed at him as he went towards the living room to where Nathan was.  
  
Jayden checked on Nathan in the living room before going to get breakfast ready for them while Noah used the bathroom. When the submissive returned, they helped each other with the breakfast before calling Nathan into the kitchen to eat.  
  
They were having bread, and there was cheese, jam, Nutella, and ham on the table. Nathan liked all of them and had a hard time deciding what to eat, so Noah cut small pieces of bread and put each ingredient on them so that Nathan wouldn’t get a headache while deciding what he wanted.  
  
Afterwards, the boy ran back to the living room to watch more cartoons, and Noah and Jayden joined him after having cleaned up in the kitchen.  
  
“Mommy, mommy!” Nathan chirped, running over to Noah when the submissive entered the living room. He grabbed onto Noah’s pants and looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Can I goes play wif Em-lee?”  
  
“It’s only 8:30, Nathan. I’m sure she and her parents are busy with breakfast or something. You can play with her later,” Noah told him in a soft voice.  
  
Nathan pouted and whined softly. “But I wanna play wif her…”  
  
“You can play with her in an hour or two, okay?” Jayden spoke. “Maybe we can all go to the park and then you and Emily can play on the slide? How would you like that?”  
  
“Yay!” Nathan cheered, grinning happily before going over to watch more TV and play with his toys.  
  
Noah smiled as he watched how happy his son was, but looked up when Jayden came over to him. The alpha placed his hands on Noah’s hips and curled his tail around his leg, and Noah leaned into his touch.  
  
“You look tired,” Jayden remarked with a soft chuckle.  
  
Noah gave him a small scowl. “Yeah, I only got to sleep for like seven hours because you made me watch that horror movie last night. And then I had a dream that I got chased by zombies…”  
  
Jayden laughed and pulled Noah closer so their bodies were touching while Jayden stared down at him. “Well, you were the one whose eyes were glued to the screen the whole time and refused to even as much as pause the movie even though you had to pee.”  
  
“Shut up,” Noah murmured, hitting Jayden softly in the chest.  
  
The alpha laughed and leaned down to kiss his mate before Noah went over to sit on the couch.  
  
Nathan grinned as he jumped over to sit next to his mother, and together they watched some cartoon about a puppy and a kitten who were friends even though their parents didn’t want them to be. Noah quite liked that cartoon and Nathan seemed to like it a lot too. Meanwhile Jayden went to clean up the kitchen properly. Noah was the one who cleaned the apartment most often, seeing as he was home more than Jayden was, but sometimes Jayden felt to urge to clean a bit as well.  
  
After half an hour, the cartoon ended and commercials rolled across the screen. Nathan began trying to make Noah play with his toys with him to pass time and Noah happily participated. They ended up playing with Midnight too when the cat needed to burn energy and got playful, and Noah kept an eye on his son as he had the cat chasing a toy across the floor.  
  
When Jayden came back to the living room, Nathan had to use the bathroom, so the alpha went with him there to help him. Nathan had just stopped using diapers and also pacifiers, but he still required assistance in the bathroom.  
  
“Daddy?” Nathan asked while he stood on a small stool and washed his hands in the sink in the bathroom after having done his thing.  
  
“Yeah?” Jayden replied, washing his hands along with him and standing behind Nathan.  
  
“Why does people become mates?”  
  
Jayden frowned a bit at the unexpected question, but his expression quickly turned into one of amusement. “Well, people mate and marry each other when they love each other. If you really, really like someone and want to be with them for the rest of your life, then you mate with them.”  
  
Nathan pondered about that and carefully got down from the stool afterwards to dry his hands.  
  
Jayden watched his son curiously and could see that Nathan was thinking very deeply about that. “Why do you ask? Do you want to have a mate someday?” He gently guided Nathan out of the bathroom and back to the living room.  
  
Nathan nodded while he walked. “Yeah.”  
  
“Who? Do you have anyone in mind?”  
  
They entered the living room, where Noah was petting the cat on the couch while watching some cartoons. He glanced over at them as they returned.  
  
Nathan went into the middle of the room before turning to glance up at his dad with a determined look on his face. “When I’m big, I want mommy to be my mate.”  
  
Jayden’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Noah too was taken aback by that statement. Noah was completely confused and surprised, since he hadn’t heard the previous part of their conversation.  
  
Jayden let out a small, amused laugh. “But you can’t mate with mommy; _I’m_ mated to him, and you can only have _one_ mate.” He chuckled at Nathan and gently swept his hand through the boy’s hair.  
  
“Oh.” Nathan pondered about that for a few seconds before looking up at Jayden again. “Well, then I wanna mate with Em-lee, and we cans live in my room together.”  
  
Jayden laughed again, and Noah couldn’t help but laugh too.  
  
“Yeah, you can be Emily’s mate if she wants to be yours too,” Jayden said, laughing fondly as he gently ruffled Nathan’s hair.  
  
Nathan just grinned before jumping over to sit in front of the TV, his little tail curling happily next to him.  
  
Jayden was still laughing, amused by the boy’s funny, blunt statements about wanting to be mates with Noah and Emily. He went over to the couch, where Noah was trying to hold back his own laughter.  
  
“What was that about?” Noah asked, scooting over a bit to make room for Jayden.  
  
Jayden sat down next to him and laughed again. “Nathan just wanted to know why people mate with each other, and I told him you mate with someone whom you love very much. I know he loves _you_ a lot, but I’m not letting him mate with you.” Chuckling and still amused, he leaned over and nuzzled his nose gently against Noah’s cheek.  
  
Noah chuckled and folded his legs under him as he sat on the couch. “Yeah. I don’t think that’s legal anyway.”  
  
“Totally not,” Jayden laughed. “And you’re _mine,_ so no one else gets to be your mate.” He nuzzled Noah’s cheek and jaw again, possessively nipping at the skin.  
  
Noah just smiled and bared his neck to Jayden, letting the alpha put his own scent on him and nip him gently.  
  
“So, are you up for going to the park today?” Jayden asked, still nuzzling Noah’s neck and breathing in his scent as he leaned against him.  
  
“Yeah, today’s weather is nice, so I don’t mind going there. Nathan enjoys being outside anyway, so it’ll be fun for him too,” Noah replied, playing with some of Jayden’s softened feathers as they cuddled on the couch.  
  
“Let’s hope David and Millie don’t have other plans…”  
  
“Mm…”  
  
They looked over at Nathan, who was making car noises as he played with his toy cars on the floor while commercials were on again. They smiled and watched their son fondly, happy that he was developing normally and seemed to be a happy, little boy.  
  
  


***

  
  
The park was full of families and young couples enjoying the warm weather, and dogs were running around and playing with each other and with their owners. The sound of children laughing was everywhere to be heard, and the birds tweeted their usual songs in the trees.  
  
Noah, Jayden, David, and Millie were walking towards one of the playgrounds, and Nathan and Emily were running around happily in front of them, playing and chasing each other. The parents kept a watchful eye on their children and told them to be careful not to bump into or bother any strangers.  
  
“They look so happy to be here,” Millie smiled, watching the kids in front of them. She was five months pregnant with her and David’s second child, and she rubbed her extended belly tenderly as she walked next to Noah.  
  
Noah smiled. “Yeah, they do.”  
  
“Fresh air and lots of space to play around in is what every kid loves,” David said, walking behind them with Jayden.  
  
Jayden agreed and smiled as he saw Nathan grin happily at Emily and enjoyed being with his best friend.  
  
They found the playground, and Nathan and Emily eagerly ran over to play on the slide. It was a playground for smaller kids, so the slides weren’t that big. Jayden and David came over to help the children on the slide and make sure they didn’t fall off, while Millie and Noah stood a few feet away and cheered at the kids when they reached the bottom of the slide safely. There were other kids and parents around, and two other kids were using that slide too.  
  
Noah noticed a few of the other parents staring a bit at him and at Nathan, but no one said anything. Nathan didn’t pick up on it at all; he was just busy having fun.  
  
After a few minutes, Nathan and Emily went over to play in a small playhouse, and their parents watched them from a few feet away.  
  
Millie’s smile suddenly became a little sad as she watched Emily and Nathan play so happily in the playhouse. “You know, watching them be so happy together makes it really hard to know that David and I are moving soon…”  
  
Millie and David didn’t really have enough space in their apartment for two children, so they had talked about buying a house. Noah and Jayden didn’t really have much room either, so they too were going to have to move eventually, but it had still made Noah very sad when Millie and David had announced that they would be moving.  
  
“Yeah…” Noah looked over at Nathan, who was really enjoying Emily’s company. The two were such good friends and Noah didn’t want to take that away from them.  
  
“Hey, maybe you guys can buy a house close to ours when we find our dream home,” David commented, having heard what Millie had said.  
  
“That depends on the neighborhood and the prices,” Jayden spoke with a somewhat sad smile on his lips.  
  
“Well, we are looking for a decent neighborhood with good prices,” David said. “But so far we haven’t found what we’re looking for… I’m just kind of worried about telling Emily that we’re moving away from you guys.”  
  
Noah cringed. “Yeah, that’s gonna be a hard thing to tell… I don’t think Nathan will be happy either.”  
  
Millie sighed. “Well, I gotta sit down… Just imagining their heartbroken cries makes me feel the need to sit down.” She moved over to a free bench a few feet away and Noah joined her.  
  
“Well, since we are looking for a house near the neighborhood where Noah works, maybe they will still get to go to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten together?” David pointed out to cheer everyone up a bit.  
  
“Well, that would save their day when they find out,” Jayden grinned. “I hope you guys manage to find something there.”  
  
Millie smiled. “Otherwise we may still have Emily go there, if it isn’t too far away. It’s one of the best kindergartens in town.”  
  
Noah smiled as Millie turned to wink at him. “Yeah, it is,” he grinned.  
  
The others laughed, and Nathan and Emily continued to play around with each other and with some of the other kids, still unaware of what their parents were talking about.  
  
Half an hour passed by in the playground until suddenly Nathan came over to Noah, who was still sitting on the bench with Millie. David and Jayden had been helpings the kids on the slide again, and the children had enjoyed having their fathers around.  
  
“Mommy?” Nathan said, coming over and placing himself in front of Noah, putting his hands on Noah’s knees while staring up at him.  
  
“What is it, sweetie?” Noah asked, smiling at him.  
  
“I gotta pee…” Nathan replied, shifting and closing his legs.  
  
“Oh.” Noah got up and took Nathan’s hand. “Then let’s go find a bathroom, okay?”  
  
Millie got up too. “I’ll go ask Emily if she needs it too. _I_ definitely do.”  
  
Noah chuckled and nodded, waiting until Millie and Emily were ready to join them to the bathrooms before heading there.  
  
Jayden and David stayed behind to wait for them in the playground. The bathrooms weren’t that far away anyway and could be seen from the playground, so the two male demons sat down on the bench and talked while their mates and kids left for a few minutes.  
  
The kids happily followed their mothers into the ladies’ room, but there was a small line so they had to wait for a couple of minutes.  
  
Noah and Millie chatted a bit until it was their turn, and Nathan and Emily picked up a few pretty stones from the ground while they waited.  
  
Finally it was their turn, and Noah rushed Nathan into one of the stalls when the boy insisted it was urgent.  
  
After Nathan was done in the bathroom, Noah took him out to wash his hands, after which they went outside to wait for Millie and Emily. Nathan was focused on some stone he had found earlier, and he turned it curiously in his hand. It was shiny white and not very big, and he played around with it for a bit while waiting for the others.  
  
Noah saw Millie exit the stall with Emily and taking her over to wash their hands, when suddenly he spotted someone out of the corner of his eye whom he recognized. He turned to look at the person, who had just gotten into line in front of the men’s restroom right next to Noah. A cleaning assistant was busy in the men’s room, causing the line, and Noah’s eyes widened when he saw that the person was none other than Max; his old tormentor.  
  
Max was shifting impatiently like the other four guys in the line. When he noticed someone staring at him, he turned to look back at Noah, and Noah saw his eyes widen when their eyes met.  
  
Surprise soon turned to hatred and slight caution in Max’s eyes, and Noah instinctively moved to stand in front of Nathan to shield him. Max glared at him and Noah glared right back.  
  
“Never thought I would see _you_ again, freak,” Max spoke in a cold voice.  
  
“Same,” Noah muttered back, still glaring at him. He was very much on alert around Max and he tried to shield Nathan as much as possible, but the boy was getting curious about whom his mom was talking to. Nathan peeked out from behind Noah’s protective wing and blinked up at Max, whose hateful eyes were still fixed on Noah. When Nathan came into view, however, Max turned to look at him.  
  
“Oh, you and Jayden got a freak son. How cute,” Max commented, snorting out a small laugh. “They should have sterilized you both or strangled the kid at birth.”  
  
Noah growled and raised his wings up in a threatening manner, pushing Nathan behind him. Millie and Emily came out then, and Millie gasped in horror when she saw Noah’s stance. A few others around them watched the scene too, but no one intervened.  
  
“Don’t talk to me or my son like that, or I will kick you where it hurts,” Noah threatened, making sure to keep his eyes right on Max. He still remembered the incident in high school all too well, where Max had beaten him up and ripped out his some of his feathers. He was very much afraid of Max, but he refused to let that fear control him and he wouldn’t put up with the things Max was saying about Nathan.  
  
Max let out a threatening growl and took a step closer, his wings spreading behind him. Being threatened by a submissive in front of a crowd would hurt any alpha’s ego, so Max had to show that he wouldn’t put up with it. Since he couldn’t spot Jayden anywhere, he wasn’t really afraid to approach Noah and threaten him.  
  
Another alpha angel standing in front of Max in the line laughed, looking at Noah with the same look of disgust as Max did and also with a mocking glimpse in his eye. It Noah feel sick to his stomach.  
  
“Hey, back off!” Millie told Max, standing next to Noah to support him, though her wings weren’t as raised as Noah’s were. Since she was pregnant, she was very careful about interfering too much.  
  
“Mommy?” Nathan squeaked in a small voice, holding onto Noah’s pants while hiding behind him under his wing. He stared up at Max with a wary, scared expression, not liking this confrontation at all. Emily seemed a little frightened as well as she hid behind Millie.  
  
“It’s okay,” Noah reassured Nathan, reaching down to run a hand through his son’s hair while keeping his eyes on Max. He slowly began to move away and get out of there, and Nathan, Millie, and Emily followed.  
  
Max snorted and lowered his wings a little. “Yeah that’s right. Better get out of here with that freak kid of yours!”  
  
That comment made Noah turn to face Max again, his wings spreading and rising into an aggressive stance. “You just shut your mouth! I’m tired of listening to your stupid comments. And don’t you _dare_ say another word about my son!”  
  
Max reeled back a bit at the venom and anger in Noah’s voice and eyes, but he quickly recovered. His wings rose again as he growled at Noah in anger and aggression, looking like he was about to get physical.  
  
That was when Jayden finally came over. He quickly moved himself in front of Noah and Nathan and spread out his sharp wings as he growled back at Max in rage. His instincts to protect his mate and child were too strong for him not to intervene when he saw what was going on, and the growl that escaped his throat as he faced Max was low and threatening, sending shivers up Noah’s spine and making the bystanders take a step back.  
  
“Back the hell off!” Jayden snarled at Max, getting almost right up in face. His fist clenched and itched with the need to punch Max in the face again, but when the alpha angel reeled back in shock and fear, Jayden was satisfied enough.  
  
Max stared back at Jayden in shocked surprise, and for a moment he seemed like he didn’t know what to do. He had never really been one to fight – at least not with guys bigger than himself – and last time Jayden had defended Noah from Max, Max had ended up in the hospital. So he took a few steps back and gave Jayden a small growl before turning and stalking out of there fast, not wanting another confrontation with Jayden.  
  
People around them sighed in relief and whispered to each other. Most had been scared that some big alpha fight was going to break out or that Max would charge at Noah, but luckily it hadn’t gotten that bad.  
  
Jayden let out a pleased snort as he watched Max leave, and his wings slowly folded themselves behind his back again. Finally he turned to look at Noah to make sure that he and Nathan were okay.  
  
“Hey. You okay?” Jayden asked, his face all soft again despite how aggressive he had just been.  
  
Noah nodded, stroking Nathan soothingly on the arm as he boy clung to him. “Yeah, we’re both okay. Max just showed up and was being a jerk.”  
  
“Old friend of yours?” David asked, standing next to Millie to reassure her after the incident. Emily stood between them, but she seemed to be okay even though she had been quite frightened.  
  
“Not a friend, exactly,” Jayden told David before brushing his tail against Noah’s leg. He smirked at his mate. “You were all badass with him.”  
  
“Not as much as you, though,” Noah chuckled, blushing a bit at Jayden’s comment.  
  
Jayden glanced down at Nathan then, who was finally emerging from behind Noah.  
  
“Daddy!” the boy exclaimed, running forwards to hug him.   
  
Jayden grinned and picked up Nathan, placing a kiss on the boy’s cheek. “Hey, buddy. You weren’t scared, were you?”  
  
“That angel was scary…” Nathan murmured, looking at Jayden from under his lashes. He sniffled and still shook a bit from the incident, but otherwise he seemed fine.  
  
Emily nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Like bad guys in cartoons.”  
  
The others laughed softly at that before slowly beginning to walk back to the playground. Jayden still held Nathan on the arm and tried to reassure him.  
  
“That man was just being mean to mommy, so mommy and daddy got mad at him,” Jayden explained.  
  
Nathan nodded in understanding. “Why was he mean?”  
  
Noah and Jayden shared a look, before Jayden spoke. “We don’t know. Some people just are.”  
  
“That’s stupid…”  
  
Noah chuckled softly. “Yeah, it is.”  
  
“You okay, mommy?” Nathan asked then, looking at Noah in worry. It was clear that he had been quite scared that Max was going to do something to his mother and he didn’t like that at all.  
  
Noah smiled at him and brushed a hand through Nathan’s hair as they walked. “Yes, mommy is fine. Daddy helped me out.”  
  
Nathan seemed glad to hear that, and he leaned into Jayden as the alpha carried him back to the playground. Meanwhile David and Millie were busy reassuring Emily as well, but the girl was fine.  
  
They returned to the playground and let the kids play around for a bit more. Noah was still a little shaken up over having seen Max again, but Jayden reassured and comforted him.  
  
  


***

  
  
After three hours in the park, the families returned home. Since Nathan and Emily weren’t ready to stop playing with each other yet, Noah and Jayden invited Millie and David inside so they could hang out and the kids could play for a bit longer. They spent the rest of the afternoon drinking coffee, tea, and eating some lunch that had been prepared for them by Jayden. Nathan and Emily ran around the apartment and had fun, and they also played a bit with Midnight, who seemed to like the attention.  
  
The adults talked a bit more about Millie and David’s plans to move and agreed they better tell the children about it soon, even though it wouldn’t be easy.  
  
At the end of the afternoon, David and Millie left with Emily to go back to their own apartment next door.  
  
The parents smiled as Nathan and Emily shared a friendly hug and said goodbye, and after the guests were gone, Nathan wandered back to the living room where he sat down on the floor with a sad face.  
  
“Don’t be sad, Nathan. You’ll see Emily again on Monday,” Jayden told his son, squatting down next to him.  
  
Nathan glanced up at him sadly. “Why not tomorrow?”  
  
“’Cause Emily’s parents have other plans tomorrow.”  
  
Nathan pouted and tried to keep playing with his cars and Legos.  
  
Noah and Jayden shared a look.  
  
“Um, Nathan?” Jayden asked softly. When the boy looked up at him, he continued. “There’s something mommy and I gotta tell you…”  
  
Nathan titled his head curiously at them. “What?”   
  
Noah gently kneeled down next to Jayden in front of Nathan and looked at their son. “Well, you know that Emily is going to be a big sister soon, right?”  
  
“Uhhuh.”  
  
“And… Emily’s parents don’t have enough room for the new baby in their apartment.”  
  
“Yeah, so they are going to move somewhere else soon,” Jayden continued, trying to sound as soft and calm as possible.  
  
Nathan blinked at them and they could see that he was trying to understand what they were saying. His wings drooped a bit behind him when he picked up on what they meant. “Em-lee… goes away?”  
  
The look on Nathan’s face broke Noah’s heart, but he quickly tried to cheer their son up. “Yes, she’s moving away and is going to live somewhere else, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t see her anymore.”  
  
“Yeah. Maybe you will get to go to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten together,” Jayden said, smiling softly at Nathan.  
  
Nathan stared at them for a second before beginning to cry. “N-No! Em-lee not move!” Frustrated and sad, he pushed his toys away and brought his hands up to his teary eyes, crying when he understood that Emily wouldn’t be around that much anymore. He was used to always visiting her next door when he wanted to play, and sometimes Emily came over to visit him as well. He was devastated to know that they couldn’t do that anymore.  
  
Noah’s own eyes prickled with tears at seeing his son so heartbroken and sad, and he gently pulled Nathan into a hug. The boy leaned into him and cried into his shirt, fisting his hands in the clothing.  
  
Jayden sighed and sat down on the floor next to them, rubbing Nathan’s back to comfort him. Seeing his son so upset hurt him too, but there was nothing they could do about the situation.  
  
“Shhh,” Noah soothed the boy, rocking him gently. “You will still get to see her…”  
  
“Promise?” Nathan sniffled between sobs.  
  
“Yes, I promise.”  
  
“And who knows, maybe we will have to move at some point too, and it could be that we move somewhere close to Emily,” Jayden spoke, still rubbing Nathan’s small back and trying to calm him down.  
  
Nathan sniffled and lifted his head to look at Jayden. “Why Em-lee can’t live in my room?”  
  
Jayden let out a small laugh at that. “I’m sure she would love to, but she can’t. She has to live with her parents, just like you have to live here with mommy and daddy.”  
  
Nathan let out another sob and buried his face in Noah’s shirt once more.   
  
Jayden slowly got up to get some tissues for Nathan’s eyes and nose before he made too much of a mess of Noah’s shirt, and meanwhile Noah just held his son close and hushed him gently.   
  
Nathan continued to be upset for a while and wasn’t quite willing to accept that his best friend was moving. He ended up placing himself in front of the TV to watch cartoons and play with his toys, avoiding looking at his parents.  
  
Midnight seemed to sense that things weren’t right. She came over and rubbed herself against Nathan as he occupied himself with watching cartoons. The cat cheered Nathan up a little, and he rubbed her fur and giggled as she repeatedly nudged her head against him.  
  
Noah was a little hurt that Nathan had pushed them away a bit, but he understood that the boy needed to process things on his own and that he was feeling a little upset. Nathan just needed a few minutes of space to get better.  
  
  


***

  
  
A 7:40pm, Nathan was ready to go to sleep. Noah took him to the bathroom to brush his teeth, which was always kind of a struggle because Nathan hated having his teeth brushed. The boy was in a better mood now though, but was still a bit upset about his best friend moving away.  
  
“Nooo, don’t wanna!” Nathan whined, pushing the toothbrush away every time Noah tried to put it into his mouth. He was standing on a small stool in front of the mirror and sink in the bathroom, and Noah stood behind him and made sure he didn’t run away.  
  
Noah let out a helpless sigh. “Well, your teeth _have_ to be brushed, Nathan.”  
  
“No!” the boy said, crossing his arms and refusing to cooperate.  
  
“Is this you still being upset that Emily is moving?”  
  
“Em-lee not move!”  
  
Noah sighed again, trying to figure out how to make Nathan cooperate. “There’s nothing that I or daddy can do about it, you know that… But you still need to brush your teeth. Do you know what happens if you don’t?”  
  
Nathan frowned and looked at Noah’s reflection in the mirror. “No…”  
  
Noah was about to speak when Jayden’s head appeared in the mirror as he suddenly stood behind them. “Then the monsters come and eat your teeth!” the alpha said in a playful, scary voice.  
  
Nathan’s eyes widened, and Noah had to suppress a laugh at how silly Jayden looked and sounded just now.  
  
“Yes, your daddy’s right; the monsters come and eat your teeth,” Noah said, still suppressing a giggle. He cleared his throat and straightened up, trying to look serious in front of Nathan.  
  
Nathan glanced up at him, his eyes wide and horrified. “M-Monsters?”  
  
“Yes, little monsters and bacteria that love to feed on teeth that haven’t been brushed,” Jayden explained with a small grin on his face. “Haven’t you seen how homeless people and some of the bad guys in cartoons have ugly teeth? That’s because they don’t have a toothbrush, and then the monsters and bacteria get into their mouths and slowly begin to eat their teeth. It can hurt quite bad, and then the dentist has to pull your teeth out.”  
  
Noah nodded to confirm that Jayden was right. “Yeah, that’s right. That’s why they invented toothbrushes and toothpaste.”  
  
Nathan stared up at them both in horror and slight disbelief, swallowing nervously.  
  
“I think you better let mommy brush your teeth for you, don’t you?” Jayden spoke, smiling at the boy.  
  
Nathan nodded. “Yeah, okay…” He finally opened his mouth so Noah could clean his teeth, and the submissive smirked in triumph when he no longer had to argue with his son about it.  
  
They got the boy’s teeth brushed, helped him use the toilet and wash his hands, and finally walked him into his room to put his sleepwear on. Nathan was very sleepy now, so it was easy to get him dressed for bed and lay him down to sleep. Nathan no longer slept in the crib; he had his own, little bed with a pillow and blanket with his favorite cartoon characters on them.  
  
Noah sat down on Nathan’s bed and read him a short bedtime story. Jayden stayed with them and watched with a soft smile as Nathan listened to the story with interest and how his sleepy eyes began to fall shut towards the end.  
  
When the boy was asleep, they kissed him goodnight and quietly left the room, turning off the light before going.  
  
Noah let out a relieved sigh as they stood in the kitchen afterwards, and Jayden rubbed his arm soothingly before they headed into the living room together.  
  
“He’s gonna be okay,” Jayden spoke when he saw Noah looking a little worried about Nathan. They were in the living room now, where the TV was still on and making some noise behind them.  
  
“I know. It’s just… It was so hard on him to know that Emily is moving away.” Noah turned to look at Jayden with a sad, helpless expression on his face. His wings drooped behind him, and Jayden hated seeing his mate looking so sad.  
  
“Yeah, I know. But it can’t be helped…” Jayden came over and pulled Noah into a hug, rubbing his mate’s back soothingly as the submissive leaned into him.  
  
Noah let out a soft sigh and leaned into Jayden, hugging him back. He inhaled the alpha’s scent from his shirt and felt his body relax at the smell.  
  
“Today was a pretty rough day, huh?” Jayden commented as they stood there, still hugging and leaning into each other. “What did Max say to you anyway before I showed up?”  
  
“Just his usual, racist comments,” Noah muttered into Jayden’s shirt. “He was calling me a freak and saying things about Nathan that I do not want to repeat.”  
  
Jayden let out a growl, his arms tightening around Noah. “That fucking prick. I should have punched him in the face and broken his damn nose.”  
  
“He’s not worth it getting into trouble over…”  
  
“Yeah, I know.” Jayden slowly pulled back, placing his hands on Noah’s upper arms as he looked down at his mate. A small smirk titled his lips as he stared at him. “You know, you’re pretty hot when you spread your wings in aggression like you did today. I could tell Max was a little scared.”  
  
Noah’s lips twitched into a small, sheepish smile. “I was just protecting our son.”  
  
“Yeah. I didn’t want to intervene at first, but when I saw that he wouldn’t leave you alone I just had to do something. When I see my family being threatened I just can’t control myself.”  
  
“I know. I’m glad you came,” Noah spoke, smiling softly up at the alpha. “I don’t like confrontations anyway, especially not with Max…”  
  
“Hey,” Jayden said in a soft voice when he saw Noah lower his eyes. He reached up to cup Noah’s cheek with his right hand, rubbing his thumb soothingly over the skin. “You don’t need to be scared of Max anymore. You fought back pretty well last time he attacked you, and I kicked his ass so good that I don’t think he’ll dare touch you or our family ever again. He’s just got a big, foul mouth, that’s all.”  
  
Noah nodded, glancing up at Jayden again. “Yeah… But I still don’t like him.”  
  
Jayden let out a small chuckle and pulled away.   
  
Noah gave him another smile before walking around the room and picking up Nathan’s toys from the floor so they wouldn’t trip over them. Midnight watched them quietly from the bookshelf, where she was often sleeping and relaxing.  
  
Jayden fidgeted nervously, waiting for Noah to finish tidying up the toys before he approached his mate again. “So, um…”  
  
Noah looked up and blinked at Jayden in wonder, watching as the alpha came over to him and started playing a bit with some of his feathers. Jayden looked kind of nervous, which made Noah frown a bit. “What is it?”  
  
“Well,” Jayden began, staring at Noah’s feathers he gently played with them. “I was thinking that maybe it’s time for us to try having another baby? If you want that, that is.” His eyes flickered up to look at Noah’s face, searching his eyes.  
  
Noah blinked at him once before smiling shyly. His wings flared behind him in joy before closing again. “Yes, I would like that.”  
  
Jayden’s lips curled into a happy grin, and his tail flicked joyfully behind him.  
  
“But then we’d have to move, wouldn’t we? We don’t have space for another baby here…” Noah said.  
  
“Yeah, we’re facing the same problem as David and Millie. But maybe it’s time for us to find a house to live in. I’m sure Nathan would love to have a garden he could play in.”  
  
“Yeah, I think so too,” Noah smiled. “But can we afford it?”  
  
“I think so, yeah. I get paid well and so do you, and I don’t think the bank minds giving us a few loans. It could work out. Maybe we can even manage to find a house near David and Millie. I can tell that you really want to keep in touch with them.”  
  
“Yeah, they are good friends to us,” Noah said. “I would really love to move into a house with you.” He smiled up at Jayden and brushed his hand down some of Jayden’s half-sharp feathers.  
  
Jayden grinned and curled his tail around Noah’s leg. “Yeah, and I can’t wait for our family to get bigger. I’ve always wanted to have a big family with you.” He stepped closer and leaned down to nuzzle Noah’s head. The submissive chuckled and leaned into him. “And I can’t wait for you to be in heat again. You smell so fucking good when you’re in heat and it drives me crazy.” He nibbled softly at Noah’s neck when the submissive bared it to him, loving how his mate was so trusting and submissive around him.  
  
Noah hadn’t been in heat since Nathan was conceived four years ago. They had talked about him getting an IUD so that he couldn’t get pregnant when they shared a heat together, but Noah hadn’t wanted to. If he went into heat, they would have to let their parents or friends babysit Nathan and it would be too obvious _why_ Nathan needed babysitting for an entire week. Noah was too embarrassed to have their parents or friends know that he was in heat, and if he didn’t turn out to be pregnant then it would be equally obvious that the heat had just been so that he and Jayden could have some fun. That was even more embarrassing than going through a heat to have a baby, so Noah hadn’t been very happy about the idea.  
  
Noah blushed at Jayden’s comment about his heat, but it still made him smile. “You’re so perverted…”  
  
“Hey, I can’t help that I’m hardwired to go nuts when my mate is in heat,” Jayden said, smirking at him.  
  
“I know,” Noah chuckled, rolling his eyes a bit at Jayden’s lewd smirk.  
  
Jayden grinned at him in excitement, placing his hands on Noah’s hips and tightening his tail around the submissive’s leg.  
  
Excited and happy about their plans to have another baby soon, the couple joined hands and moved over to cuddle on the couch while watching a good movie.  
  
Noah was a bit amused by the loving and affectionate mood Jayden was in now. The alpha kept kissing, nuzzling, nibbling, and touching him, much more than usual. He could tell the alpha was very excited for them to make another baby soon, and the idea of their family expanding and Noah being pregnant again made Jayden’s possessive instincts flare up inside him. Noah didn’t complain, though. He loved the way his mate kept touching him and holding him close, and Noah rested his head against Jayden’s shoulder as they watched the movie together. He felt safe and content with Jayden, and their baby plans made their bond flare happily inside them both.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally their second baby is about to come! I look forward to exploring that kid’s character :) And Noah’s older than me now… I can’t quite get used to that. It’s so odd, but it was bound to happen.
> 
> The scene about Nathan saying he wants to be Noah’s mate and then Jayden telling him he can’t because Noah is already Jayden’s mate was inspired from my own childhood. When I was 1-7 years old I had a male childhood friend whom I was very close with, and one day he told his dad that he wanted to marry his mom, but when his dad told him he couldn’t, my friend said he wanted to marry me instead and live with me in his parents’ trailer XD I thought it was very cute so I decided to add something similar in my story, since Nathan and Emily are close friends. Unfortunately I never saw my friend again after he moved. Life is like that sometimes.
> 
> Anyway, the next chapter will be a heat chapter filled with smut, so I hope you guys look forward to that! :) I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and will have a safe New Year as well!


	28. Chapter 28

**July – August 2053 (Noah is 27, Jayden is 29, Nathan is 3 (almost 4), Castiel is 63 (almost 64), Dean is 65, Isaac is 32 (almost 33), Leila is 54 (almost 55), Micah is 56, Laura is 17 (almost 18) years old).**  
  
Jayden woke up in bed when a door slammed somewhere in the apartment. He was alarmed for a second until he figured it was Nathan who had woken up and had closed a door a bit too roughly behind himself. The sound of small feet running in the hallway quickly confirmed his suspicion, and the alpha could finally relax again.  
  
Noah had woken up too, but quickly curled up under his blanket to keep sleeping.  
  
Yawning, Jayden stretched out his limbs to wake himself up and get ready for a new day. They would have to drive Nathan over to Dean and Castiel’s house soon so they could babysit him for a while, seeing as Noah was about to enter his heat. It had only been three months since they talked about having another baby, but they were eager for it to happen soon. They had already begun looking for a family house and were mostly looking in the area where David and Millie were moving to in just two weeks. It was located pretty close to the neighborhood where Dean and Castiel were living and not all that far from Jayden’s parents and Eden.  
  
Jayden’s nose picked up on some of Noah’s sweet scent and he smiled as he thought about how close Noah was to his heat. Even though Noah wasn’t in heat yet, he had smelled so good lately because he was close to it, and Jayden hadn’t been able to resist burying his tongue in Noah’s ass every day lately to eat him out and taste his delicious sweetness. He got hard just thinking about it.  
  
Jayden turned his head to look at Noah, who was lying on his side with his back facing him. The alpha smiled and rolled over to spoon up behind Noah and slung his arm over him.  
  
Noah stirred and hummed softly as he let Jayden shift closer to him. The alpha buried his face in some of Noah’s feathers and kissed the wing bone with affection, and a content, lazy smile spread across Noah’s lips.  
  
“Morning,” Jayden spoke, inhaling Noah’s scent from his wings and neck and purring at it.  
  
“Morning,” Noah replied, too tired to open his eyes. He smiled when he felt Jayden sniffing him, thinking it was both a bit ridiculous but also cute. Noah was only about two days away from going into a full blown heat, so he wasn’t surprised that Jayden liked his scent so much. His upcoming heat left Noah feeling a little weak and warm inside, and he was glad that his summer holidays had started so that he wouldn’t have to worry about work.  
  
Jayden hummed and nuzzled the back of Noah’s neck, while his left hand snuck in under the blanket and Noah’s t-shirt to touch his stomach. “You smell so good. I just wanna eat you out again so bad…”  
  
Noah groaned and gently pushed Jayden back. “Not now; Nathan’s awake. And I don’t want you to force me into my heat before we drop him off at my parents’ house.”  
  
The alpha let out a disappointed sigh before pulling away and getting out of bed. “Later, then.”  
  
Noah smiled. “Yeah, later.”  
  
  


***

  
  
Nathan was very excited about visiting his grandparents, and he jumped out of the car when they arrived in the afternoon and hurried up to ring the doorbell. Jayden and Noah carried bags with Nathan’s stuff inside and headed up to the house as well, chuckling at how excited he was. Nathan hadn’t fully understood yet that he wouldn’t be coming home with them for a while, and they both wondered how he’d react to the news.  
  
Castiel opened the door and grinned when he saw them on his doorstep. “Hello, guys.”  
  
“Gramma!” Nathan chirped happily and ran inside to hug Castiel.  
  
“Hi, Nathan. You have gotten bigger again, haven’t you?” Castiel picked the boy up in his arm and returned the hug that Nathan gave him. Nathan grinned happily at the mention of him getting bigger, although he hadn’t actually grown that much since last time Castiel saw him two weeks ago. Nathan just really liked to hear that he was getting bigger.  
  
Dean appeared behind Castiel and greeted Nathan too, and the boy grinned and practically jumped over into his grandpa’s arms next.  
  
“Hi, papa,” Noah smiled when the angel turned to greet him next.  
  
“Hello, Noah. I hope everything is going well,” Castiel spoke as he pulled his son into a hug.  
  
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Noah replied, returning the hug.  
  
Jayden put the bags down and greeted Castiel next, while Noah went inside to give Dean a hug.  
  
There was a loud bark and suddenly Dean and Castiel’s new dog appeared, panting and wagging her tail happily as she came over to greet them too. Bella had passed away earlier that year from old age, which had been pretty hard on the family. They had had her for fifteen years and it was hard to say goodbye to her. Two months ago, Dean and Castiel had gotten a new dog since they needed some company with the kids and Bella gone. The dog was a female black lab and she was about a year old now. They had adopted her from a shelter and named her Carrie.  
  
Noah smiled at the dog and petted her gently. “Hi, Carrie.” The dog panted up at him and nosed at his crotch almost curiously. She could without a doubt smell that Noah was about to go into heat soon and she seemed kind of curious about it. Noah blushed a bit as he gently pushed her away.  
  
“Oh, she seems to like you,” Dean remarked, laughing. Nathan was still sitting on his arm, but when the boy wanted to greet Carrie, Dean put him down.  
  
Nathan grinned as he gently stroked his hands through Carrie’s black fur, and he laughed when the dog sniffed him curiously and licked his chin. She had tried to lick his mouth, but he had shied away from that with a small giggle.  
  
“She likes everyone,” Castiel spoke, patting the dog and making sure she didn’t make Nathan uncomfortable.  
  
“I hope you guys are ready to babysit Nathan for a bit,” Jayden spoke, after he had greeted them all.  
  
“Of course. We are always happy to have him over,” Castiel smiled.  
  
“Yeah. We’re gonna have a lot of fun,” Dean said, grinning down at little Nathan, who grinned back in excitement.  
  
Noah smiled as he watched Nathan being so happy around his grandparents. He still felt weak in his body and his throat suddenly felt pretty dry. He needed something to drink. “Um, do you mind if I go get myself a glass of water?”  
  
“No, of course not,” Castiel said, frowning a bit.  
  
“Why are you even asking?” Dean asked, finding it a bit amusing that Noah felt the need to ask for that in his own childhood home.  
  
Noah blushed a bit and headed towards the kitchen to get himself something to drink.  
  
“I’ll go get the baby seat from the car so you can drive Nathan around while he’s staying with you,” Jayden spoke, quickly hurrying outside to go get it.  
  
Meanwhile, Dean and Castiel led Nathan into the living room and Carrie followed them, while Noah drank his glass of cold water in the kitchen.  
  
Nathan beamed when he saw that his grandparents had already placed boxes with old car toys for him to play with on the floor, and he quickly ran over to scatter them across the floor and play with them.  
  
Castiel slowly went over to Noah to check on him. “Are you alright?” he asked him when he saw how fast Noah was gulping down the water.  
  
Noah pulled back from the glass and panted for breath for a second. “Yeah, I’m just so thirsty.”  
  
Castiel didn’t say anything, since he knew very well why Noah was so thirsty. It was normal for females and submissives to get thirsty a lot when their heat was about to start, and Castiel wasn’t stupid; he knew why he and Dean suddenly had to babysit Nathan for so long.  
  
Jayden returned to the house and put the baby seat somewhere in the entrance hall before going into the living room to where the others were.  
  
“Are you guys staying for a bit?” Dean asked, looking between Noah and Jayden.  
  
“Nah, we better head home soon…” Jayden said, glancing over at Noah in slight worry.  
  
Noah nodded. “Yeah, we better.”  
  
“Remember that my parents are coming by in about four days to pick up Nathan. My mom said she’d give you a call to make arrangements,” Jayden added, looking at Dean and then at Castiel.  
  
Since Noah and Jayden wouldn’t be available to the outside world for about nine days (about 1-2 days until Noah’s heat hit, 6-7 days of heat, and one day to make sure his heat was gone), they had agreed that Leila and Micah should babysit Nathan as well so that Dean and Castiel wouldn’t be burdened with him for too long. Besides, both of their parents wanted to babysit, so it was only fair that both couples got to be with their grandson.  
  
“That’s a lot of days you guys are ‘gone on vacation’,” Dean said, glancing at them both with a knowing look. “Is this just to have fun or should Cas and I expect to see another grandkid soon?”  
  
Noah blushed furiously and almost chocked on the water he was drinking. He coughed a bit, and Castiel couldn’t help but laugh at him.  
  
“Dean, stop being so nosy,” Castiel chastised his mate softly, amused by Noah and Jayden’s embarrassed faces.  
  
“Um, well, you should probably expect one more, yes,” Jayden finally answered. He smirked a bit as he glanced over at Noah, whose face was all red now.  
  
“Well, good luck then,” Dean said, coughing awkwardly.  
  
This was exactly why Noah didn’t want to go into heat once a year so that he could share it with Jayden just for fun, because it was so embarrassing to have others know that he was going to be in heat and that Jayden would be with him.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, thanks.” He chuckled at Noah as the submissive walked over to him with his head low from embarrassment.  
  
Nathan grinned up at Noah when he saw his mother coming over, and he ran forward to throw his arms around Noah’s waist in a hug and grin up at him.  
  
Noah smiled and gently swept his hand through his son’s hair. “Mommy and daddy have to go now, Nathan. You stay here with grandma and grandpa, okay?”  
  
Nathan’s face turned into one of confusion. “Why you go and I stay?”  
  
“Because you’re gonna be on vacation with grandma and grandpa for a few days, and then your other grandparents will come over and take you home with them so you can have a vacation there too.”  
  
Nathan whined and clung to Noah. “But why? You and daddy stay! We can have vacation together!”  
  
Sighing, Noah slowly kneeled down in front of Nathan to be level with him. He gently put his hands on his son’s shoulders and looked at him. “Mommy and daddy can’t stay, so you’ll just have to be a big boy, okay? You love being with your grandparents, so you’ll be fine.”  
  
“Yeah, you got nothing to complain about; you always have fun here,” Jayden told Nathan, stroking the boy’s head softly.  
  
Nathan stared up at them with a quivering lip and tears in his eyes. He had never been away from his parents for more than one or two days before, so this was all very new and strange to him. “When you come back?”  
  
“Sooner than you think,” Jayden told him with a reassuring smile and gently rubbed his tail against Nathan’s leg for comfort.  
  
Nathan stared at them both with a sad face before throwing his arms around Noah’s neck to hug him tightly. The submissive hugged him back and tried to reassure him, while Dean and Castiel watched the scene with a patient smile.  
  
Next, Jayden leaned down and hugged Nathan too, and the boy whined softly when his dad pulled away.  
  
“Be good, yeah? Don’t make grandma and grandpa upset,” Jayden told Nathan.  
  
“He’s usually always calm and easy to babysit, so I’m sure it won’t be a problem,” Castiel spoke, smiling down at Nathan.  
  
Dean grinned and nudged Nathan gently with his tail to get his attention. “Yeah, we’re gonna play so much ball outside, and Carrie can join too. How about that?”  
  
“And I believe that your cousin Eliza and maybe also Alec, Jennifer, and Marie will be coming over during the week to play,” Castiel said, smiling patiently down at Nathan. Isaac and Lily had talked about dropping by for a visit with their mates and kids, so hopefully Nathan would get to see some of his cousins.  
  
Finally a smile appeared on Nathan’s lips and he seemed quite excited to play ball and be with his cousins.  
  
Noah smiled at his son and got up, groaning a bit at how exhausting it felt to get up again. His body was so weak that it was rather annoying, but his heat shouldn’t start until the next day or the day after.  
  
Jayden and Noah headed back to the entrance hall to leave, and Dean, Castiel, Nathan, and Carrie followed.  
  
“We’ll make sure not to call you unless it’s an emergency,” Dean told them. He gave them a small smirk which made Noah’s cheeks flush.  
  
“Yeah, thanks,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Castiel came forward and hugged Noah goodbye. “Take care. And good luck.” He gave Noah a small wink after they pulled away.  
  
Noah’s cheeks reddened further, and he and Jayden said goodbye to them once more before going out to their car. They waved at little Nathan as they drove off and the boy waved back. Nathan didn’t look very pleased that his parents were leaving, but Dean and Castiel were right behind him and comforting him, and that cheered him up.  
  
  


***

  
  
Jayden dropped Noah off at home and then went to the supermarket to buy the rest of the stuff they needed before Noah’s heat began; lots of food, toilet paper, etc. They had to be well stocked seeing as they wouldn’t get to leave the apartment for a while. Jayden could leave it for a bit since he wasn’t the one in heat, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to bear being away from his mate for too long. When Noah was in heat, all of Jayden’s instincts called to him and demanded him to be with his mate and take care of him, so leaving him was not really an option unless it was an emergency.  
  
The rest of the day passed without Noah’s heat appearing, and on the next day Noah spent most of the time in front of the TV, watching some series and eating ice cream and snacks. Jayden was with him most of the time, but also found time to clean the place up a bit. Midnight was in the apartment too; it wouldn’t really be a problem to have her around when Noah was in heat, as she wouldn’t be affected by it anyway and wouldn’t get in their way.  
  
Jayden had just finished cleaning up Nathan’s room in the evening when he returned to the living room and saw Noah talking to someone on the phone. The submissive was sitting cross-legged on the couch and laughing at whatever the person on the phone was saying. Jayden stood near the door and watched him for a bit, smiling absently as he looked at his mate laughing, nodding, and talking on the phone.  
  
Finally Noah hung up, and Jayden walked over to him.  
  
“Who was that?”  
  
Noah looked up and seemed a little startled when he noticed that Jayden was in the room. “That was Lucas. He called me to hear how I was doing, and he told me some things about little Nina. Apparently she managed to break Caleb’s work phone when he wasn’t paying attention.” He let out an amused chuckle as he told Jayden about that.  
  
Nina was Lucas and Caleb’s little daughter, who had been born on the 8th of September last year. Lucas had been on maternity leave until May, and like Noah he now had summer holidays.  
  
Jayden laughed at the story. “Yeah, you gotta be careful about what you hand little kids, ‘cause you might never see that thing again.”  
  
Noah chuckled. “Yeah.” He slowly got up from the couch, trying to find his balance when his knees felt rather weak. His heat was so close to coming now and he could feel it in his bones, but he was so thirsty that he just had to get up. “I’ll be right back…”  
  
Jayden hummed to let him know it was okay, but when Noah passed him, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Noah, pulling him in for a quick, deep kiss. Noah yelped softly, but the sound was swallowed by Jayden as the alpha kissed him.  
  
Noah quickly melted in Jayden’s hold and closed his eyes as he kissed his mate back. Their tongues touching and playing sent small, pleasant shivers up Noah’s spine, and his nostrils flared when he picked up the scent of his mate’s virile pheromones. The scent that came from Jayden was he was aroused made Noah feel even weaker his in his knees, and he had to gently pushed the alpha back.  
  
“I’m thirsty. We can kiss afterwards.”  
  
Jayden snorted softly. “Party pooper.”  
  
Noah rolled his eyes at him before leaving, jumping a bit when Jayden slapped his ass playfully. He glared over his shoulder at his laughing mate before hurrying into the kitchen.  
  
Quickly, Noah got himself a clean glass and poured up some orange juice to drink. The cold drink was so satisfying to consume, and Noah finished the whole glass before putting it away on the counter next to the sink.  
  
Noah closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. His hand rested on his abdomen as he thought about having another baby with Jayden. He loved Nathan more than anything, but it would be nice to have more children and give Nathan some siblings to interact with. He was a bit worried about them not being able to find a house before the baby was born, but in that case the baby would just have to sleep in their bedroom until they got the house. Hopefully they would be able to find a wonderful home at a good price, and Noah hoped that Nathan would still be able to visit Emily when they moved. He knew that Nathan would make new friends, but he still didn’t want Nathan’s friendship with his best friend to disappear.  
  
Noah’s body felt so warm and he could feel himself sweating a little now. He turned to get himself some more orange juice to drink, when suddenly the warmness inside him increased and he could feel his ass getting wet with copious amounts of slick.  
  
Gasping, Noah quickly put his hands on the counter to support himself. His knees almost gave out under him as a strong, tingly sensation spread through his entire body. His ass was on fire now. He was so warm inside and his panties quickly got drenched in slick.  
  
His heat had finally appeared.  
  
“J-Jayden!” Noah called in a weak voice, needing his alpha so bad that it drove him insane.  
  
Jayden was in the kitchen in a heartbeat. He picked up on Noah’s scent fast, and when he saw how Noah looked over at him with need and want, the alpha wasted no time before striding over to his mate. With a possessive growl, Jayden grabbed Noah, turned him around, bent him over the kitchen counter in the middle of the room, and yanked the submissive’s pants and underwear down fast.  
  
Noah was already dripping wet, and Jayden was filled with unimaginable arousal when he saw a thick stripe of slick still clinging to Noah’s panties when he yanked them down his thighs to expose his mate’s ass. Noah was wetter than ever, and the slick’s sweet, entrancing scent went right to Jayden’s cock.  
  
Noah immediately leaned over the counter and wriggled his ass in front of Jayden, mewling and moaning and was so eager for Jayden to fuck him.  
  
Jayden’s body was high on testosterone and the need to mate and breed, but he was still thinking clear enough to know that Noah had to be stretched first. He would never hurt his mate. Frustrated that it was going to take time, Jayden quickly shoved two fingers into Noah, who pushed back onto them on instinct and let out a noise that made Jayden’s cock grow impossibly harder in his pants. Jayden was a little surprised to find Noah’s ass stretched and ready for him.  
  
“I-I’m stretched. I did it earlier,” Noah panted, grasping the counter with his hands and flaring his wings impatiently as he had them spread out and lowered in submission for his alpha. “Please, I need you…”  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted, pulling out his fingers and patting Noah’s ass gratefully before quickly undoing his own pants. He was bursting with the need to fuck and breed his mate, and he growled when his zipper got caught on him as he forcefully opened his pants and pulled out his cock.  
  
Without wasting another second, Jayden pushed his cock all the way inside Noah with a hard thrust, shoving the submissive harshly against the counter. Noah let out a loud, keen cry of pleasure, and was completely at Jayden’s mercy as the alpha pounded into him over and over.  
  
Noah’s hole was so wet that each thrust created sloppy sounds, and Jayden could feel his dick getting covered in that sweet wetness. Noah being so wet was a testimony to how much he needed and craved Jayden’s cock, and it drove the alpha mad with lust.  
  
Jayden’s hand quickly grasped Noah’s feathers tightly, making Noah gasp and cry out under him. It was a possessive and dominant grip to keep Noah in place and stake a claim on him while he bred him up good, but he made sure that the action wouldn’t hurt Noah too much.  
  
Grunts, moans, and pants filled the room along with the obscene sound of skin slapping against skin, and it didn’t take long before they both fell over the edge. The pheromones and instinctive need to create offspring made them come faster without holding back.  
  
Jayden growled and dug his fingers into Noah’s hip as he held him steady with his other hand, and he could feel Noah’s body shaking under him as the submissive was about to come.  
  
“Ah, ahh, _ahhhhhh!_ ” Noah cried out as he came, less than two minutes into it. His body shook and trembled, and his muscles clenched tightly around Jayden’s cock as he shot his release against the counter with a loud cry.  
  
Jayden followed, holding Noah down almost harshly as he finally shot his potent release deep inside Noah, filling him with load after load of come. Noah mewled under him when his heat was satisfied with his mate’s seed, and Jayden continued to push his hips forward in small, hard thrusts until it was finally over.  
  
It was one of the most intense climaxes they had had for years, and it left them both exhausted and tingling with bliss when it subsided.  
  
Jayden almost collapsed on Noah. He placed his hand on the counter and panted for breath against Noah’s neck afterwards.  
  
“Fuck,” the alpha grunted, humming in the aftermath of the first of many releases he’d get.  
  
Noah squirmed under him and wiggled his ass a bit, where Jayden’s cock was still buried to the hilt. Some of Jayden’s semen leaked out and ran down his thighs, and Noah could tell that his legs were covered with his own slick as well.  
  
Only a few seconds later, Noah’s heat flared up once more.  
  
Noah let out a soft whine and wiggled his butt again, and Jayden felt more blood rush to his dick when the sweet, intoxicating scent of Noah’s fertility entered his nose.  
  
“Fuck, your scent drives me crazy.” Jayden nuzzled the back of Noah’s neck possessively, his hand still grabbing his feathers and keeping Noah in place.  
  
“Yours too,” Noah grunted, pushing back against Jayden’s dick. “I need you again. I need so much of it…”  
  
A pleased growl rumbled in Jayden’s chest. “Mmm, love when you’re such a come slut for me,” he smirked as he nuzzled Noah with affection.  
  
 _“Please.”_ Noah wiggled his ass once more, desperate for Jayden to fuck him again.  
  
Jayden growled, but then suddenly pulled away. Noah let out a whimper when he was left empty, but then Jayden quickly turned him around, maneuvered him up on the counter and gently pushed him down so that he was lying on his back.  
  
Noah quickly spread his legs to fit Jayden between them, and Jayden pulled Noah’s pants and underwear all the way off him before grabbing him under the knees, pulling his ass closer towards the edge of the counter for better access, and then finally buried himself inside his mate again.  
  
Noah’s back arched as he cried out in pleasure when Jayden entered him once more. The alpha kept his hands under his knees and kept his legs spread and open while he pounded into Noah mercilessly, and all Noah could do was lie back and moan. The burn in his ass had been satisfied a bit with Jayden’s release earlier, but now it was back and demanding more. His hole was already sloppy with slick and so much alpha come, but it was like his body didn’t care; it just wanted _more._  
  
“Ahh, fuck! J-Jayden,” Noah moaned, throwing his head from side to side and curling his toes in pleasure. His wings were spread out across the counter, on display for Jayden, and they flapped every time Jayden’s cock nudged his extra sensitive sweet spots inside. Every sensation in his body was heightened, and it felt so good when Jayden fucked him that it didn’t take long for Noah to fall over the edge when he was in heat.  
  
“So tight and gorgeous,” Jayden purred, watching how Noah’s hole greedily swallowed his cock. Jayden’s wings were spread out on either side of him and the feathers were sharpened to show his mate how strong and virile he was. Noah enjoyed the display as much as Jayden enjoyed how Noah’s wings were spread out across the counter for him.  
  
“I-I’m coming,” Noah warned, biting his lip and moaning loudly as Jayden pounded into him.  
  
Jayden responded with a small growl before letting go of one of Noah’s legs so he could wrap his hand around the submissive’s cock. He stroked it in time with his thrusts, and a few seconds later Noah came again; spurting wetness over Jayden’s hand and his own stomach, while his back arched off the counter. Jayden put his other hand on Noah’s abdomen to hold him down and to feel him while he climaxed.  
  
“Mm, so pretty,” Jayden hummed as he watched Noah go through his orgasm. The submissive’s muscles hugged his cock so nicely, but Jayden held himself back from coming just yet.  
  
Noah went limp afterwards. He panted for breath and felt somewhat sated, but the burn in his ass wasn’t gone. He still needed Jayden to fill him up with another load of his sperm. Jayden, however, wasn’t coming just yet, much to Noah’s frustration.  
  
Oversensitive and desperate for something to satisfy his heat, Noah flapped his wings against the counter and lifted his head to stare up at Jayden. He pushed back against Jayden as much as he could, and his nails clawed at Jayden’s arm while the alpha held him down with his hand.  
  
The overwhelming scent of pheromones and him sensing Noah’s need to be satisfied sent Jayden over the edge once more. He came hard and cried out as his muscles spasmed inside him, making him release another load into his mate. It was just as intense as the first orgasm, shaking Jayden to the core.  
  
Noah hummed when his heat got what it demanded, and he stared entranced at Jayden’s pleasured, scrunched up face when the alpha went through his orgasm. Jayden’s hips pushed against him in small, slow thrusts through the whole thing, making Noah gasp softly as Jayden’s cock rubbed against his insides. Come dripped out of him and ran down the counter onto the floor, but Noah honestly didn’t care about the mess right now. He was too busy reveling in the short moment of satisfaction he got.  
  
Jayden’s shoulders and wings slumped when the round was over, and satisfaction spread through his body. “Shit. I only came twice so far, but now I remember how exhausting your heats are… And how fucking _awesome_ the sex is.” He grinned down at Noah, not caring that they were both sweaty and messy from sex.  
  
Noah let out a small laugh. “Yeah. And I think I’ll need you again soon…”  
  
“Mmm, we better head to the bedroom then. We’re making a mess of the kitchen.”  
  
Noah nodded and tried to sit up. His body was so weak from his heat that he almost couldn’t move. It was nature’s way to make sure that he didn’t run away from his mate while he was fertile, in order to ensure that he got pregnant with their offspring.  
  
Jayden chuckled softly at Noah’s annoyed face when the submissive found it difficult to move. He quickly picked Noah up, holding him bridal style, and began carrying him towards the bedroom. Noah yelped and clung to him, complaining about the come that was dripping from him and leaving a trail on the floor. Jayden didn’t care about the mess right now, though; he could smell that Noah’s heat was about to flare up again and he wanted to breed his mate once more, without interruptions.  
  
  


***

  
  
Their matings continued the rest of the night, leaving them exhausted and sleepless. The second day was just as bad since Noah’s heat was still at its peak, giving them little time to rest.  
  
Jayden enjoyed every second of it. Knowing that he was making Noah pregnant again turned him on so much, and every single sound of pleasure and need that Noah was making drove him mad with lust. He never got tired of filling Noah with his come and satisfying his heat, and he loved how Noah would keep begging him for more.  
  
On the third day, they were still at it. Jayden had to take a break sometimes because his dick got sore and tired, but he’d use his hands, tail, and some toys instead to keep Noah satisfied.  
  
Noah was on his stomach on the bed, completely naked and wet with sweat and come. His wings flared impatiently as they were spread out on either side of him, and he glanced back over his shoulder at Jayden, waiting for his mate to satisfy his heat.  
  
“Please. I’m burning up here,” Noah whined, wiggling his ass for Jayden.  
  
Jayden sat behind him and gave a soft chuckle. “Give me two seconds…”  
  
“What are you doing anyway?” Noah asked, growling softly as he kicked his foot gently against Jayden to show how impatient he was. Noah’s heat had just flared up again and he needed so badly to be filled. Jayden’s dick was taking a break though, so Noah waited for him to fill him with something else instead.  
  
Jayden didn’t answer. He just smirked and told Noah to look away, before finally pushing something into him.  
  
Noah gripped the sheets tightly and let out a loud, pleased moan when he felt his biggest vibrator going into him. His ass clenched around the toy, drawing it further inside to please him. It had been a few hours since last time Jayden pleasured him with the toy, and Noah’s ass was already slicking up more in anticipation of the pleasure that awaited him.  
  
Jayden hummed and used his other hand to pat Noah’s butt gently, before he finally turned on the vibrations. He quickly switched it to level two to surprise Noah, and he was pleased when his mate let out a loud yelp and jerked at the sudden strong vibrations going through him.  
  
“Ah! Oh god,” Noah cried out, biting into his pillow and flapping his wings on the bed. He continued to cry out in pleasure and using the pillow to muffle his sounds, while his body jerked uncontrollably on the bed. “Ah, ah! Right there! Nrrguuugh!”  
  
Jayden grinned and rubbed Noah’s butt with affection. “Like that?” He twisted the toy around inside his mate, making sure that its slightly curled tip hit Noah’s cervix and prostate straight on.  
  
Noah cried out, ready to come already. “Yes, so good. More!”  
  
Noah’s greediness amused Jayden and turned him on so much. He gave in to his mate’s demand and turned the vibrations up further, as far as they could go, and it didn’t take many seconds before Noah came. The submissive’s wings spread out as he came again, and Jayden had to hold him down as the orgasm rippled through Noah and caused his body to jerk violently. His hole was leaking so much slick, mixed with Jayden’s last load of come, and Jayden hummed at how beautiful his mate looked with it running out his hole and clinging to his thighs.  
  
Jayden loved holding Noah down when he had such an intense orgasm. It forced Noah to feel every bit of it and be completely at Jayden’s mercy during his most vulnerable state. The submissive’s body would shake and tremble, and Jayden liked to feel the muscles twitch as he held his mate down.  
  
Noah went limp then. He panted heavily as he lay boneless on the bed, and Jayden quickly turned off the vibrator and slowly pulled it from Noah’s ass.  
  
“Such a good boy…” Jayden praised, patting Noah’s butt again.   
  
Noah replied with a small hum, and Jayden could tell that his mate was completely and utterly fucked out.  
  
Jayden’s dick still wasn’t quite ready to go again, and he was impatient for it to recover a bit so he could continue to breed Noah. Still, he enjoyed pleasuring his mate in other ways, even though Noah couldn’t be satisfied with a fresh load of come at the moment.  
  
Noah lay on the bed and tried to recover for a bit, and Jayden started running his fingers through Noah’s light grey feathers. Some of the feathers were sticky with dried come, since Jayden had released a generous amount on them earlier. It made Noah’s wings feel a little irritated and he couldn’t stop twitching them, but it still felt nice. It was one of Jayden’s signs of claim on him, so Noah welcomed it.  
  
As they recovered together and shared a loving moment as Jayden petted Noah’s feathers with such gentleness and affection, Noah’s phone suddenly rang. It buzzed and made noise on the nightstand beside the bed, and he let out a loud groan of irritation because he had been enjoying their moment so much.  
  
Jayden reached out and got Noah’s phone for him.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah murmured, taking the phone when Jayden handed it to him. It was Isaac who was calling, which didn’t surprise Noah at all. His heat wasn’t flaring up right now, but it could start at any moment, so he had to make the conversation quick. He sighed before finally accepting the call. “Hello?”  
  
 _“Noah! About fucking time,”_ Isaac spoke on the other end. _“I was worried you were dead or something.”_  
  
Noah rolled his eyes. “I didn’t take that long to pick up the phone. And now’s not really a good time to call me…”  
 _  
“Why? Are you and Jayden about to get it on?”_  
  
Noah blushed and was grateful that Isaac couldn’t see him. “Um, that’s, um, private. What is it?”  
  
 _“Well, Kaylen and I were just wondering if you and Jayden will be at dad and papa’s house tomorrow, since we’re coming over for a visit. Haven’t seen you guys for ages!”_  
  
Noah shifted and glanced briefly over his shoulder when he noticed Jayden lying down behind him between his legs. The alpha had been rubbing his wings while he was on the phone with Isaac, and Noah wondered what he was up to now.  
  
“No, we won’t be there,” Noah began to explain, feeling so embarrassed right now because as soon as Isaac and Kaylen visited Dean and Castiel and saw Nathan there, they would know that he and Jayden were at home, going through Noah’s heat. That was the downside of heats. Mates had a hard time keeping it private because it lasted for so long and couldn’t be around other people during that time, and it made people suspicious.  
  
 _“What, really?! Damn. But Eliza has been begging to play with Nathan again… We haven’t seen you guys for almost two months. You sure you can’t come over?”_  
  
Noah was conflicted about what to say. He didn’t really want to give Isaac any hints over the phone that he was in heat right now, but he still felt like telling him that Nathan was already at their parents’ house, so Eliza would still get to see him.   
  
Just when Noah was about to reply, he felt Jayden put both of his hands on his buttocks and pry them apart, and suddenly Jayden’s tongue was licking and lapping at his hole, greedily cleaning up his sweet slick. Noah let out a loud cry but quickly covered his mouth with his hand. He tried to squirm away from Jayden, but the alpha’s fingers dug into his butt to hold him still while his tongue continued to pleasure him.  
  
Jayden licked up all the slick and remains of his own come from Noah’s ass, humming at the taste. His tail flicked happily behind him, and he buried his tongue deep inside Noah to access the newest slick coming from him. He smirked smugly at how Noah was trying to keep quiet while on the phone with Isaac, and it turned Jayden on to tease his mate like that.  
  
 _“Uh, Noah?”_ came Isaac’s confused voice on the phone, clearly trying to figure out why Noah had screamed like that.  
  
“A-Ah! I have to g-go,” Noah said, shuddering under Jayden’s ministrations and trying to kick him back, but to no avail. “Nathan’s at dad and papa’s, so don’t worry. L-Lily should also be dropping by, as far as I know. And I really gotta go now! Bye!” He quickly hung up the phone before Isaac could say another word, because he didn’t want to listen to Isaac laughing at him when he finally figured out what was going on.  
  
Jayden chuckled behind him before continuing to eat him out.  
  
Noah let out an annoyed growl and turned to look back at Jayden, still shuddering and moaning because of the things the alpha was doing to him. “Why did you do that?! I was on the phone!”  
  
Jayden lifted his head to smirk at him. “Sorry, I just needed to taste you again. Besides, it was kind of hot…”  
  
Noah was beyond mortified. Isaac would never let him live this down. He wanted to be mad at Jayden, but when the alpha’s ministrations made his heat flare up once more, Noah quickly forgot to be angry and instead went all submissive for his mate. He moaned and shuddered as his heat pulsed through him once more. “P-Please. Need you again…”  
  
A pleased growl rumbled in Jayden’s chest as he got up on his knees behind Noah. He put his hands on Noah’s hips and pulled him up on his knees as well, and the submissive obediently followed his lead and supported his weight on his knees and his elbows. Noah’s wings lowered themselves in submission and he pushed his ass against Jayden’s crotch to have him breed him again.  
  
Jayden’s dick quickly got hard and ready again when Noah’s sweet pheromones teased his nose and senses. His mate was all ripe and ready to be knocked up with Jayden’s seed, and who was Jayden to turn down that invitation?  
  
Noah fisted his hands in the sheets and screamed when Jayden’s cock entered him once more. The thick member rubbed against his insides, and his inner muscles responded by clenching down around it to begin to milk the semen from it.  
  
“Ah, so big…” Noah moaned, his head lowered as he pushed back onto Jayden’s cock greedily. “So good… Harder, please.”  
  
Jayden dug his fingers into Noah’s hips possessively, leaving bruises on the flushed skin. Noah’s skin was pearling with sweat and it was warm from his heat, and Jayden loved touching it and feeling his mate’s softness. He also loved that he could be extra rough with Noah during his heat and have his mate scream in pleasure and beg for more, over and over.  
  
The alpha thrust into his mate brutally, and Noah had a hard time keeping his balance on the bed. He mewled and moaned for more, and Jayden happily complied to his needs.  
  
Noah’s phone buzzed somewhere on the bed where he had thrown it earlier, but neither paid it much attention. It was probably just Isaac sending a text message after having been cut off on the phone earlier.  
  
“Ahh, god. Please! I-I need…” Noah trailed off, moaning loudly as Jayden pounded into him, and his hands grasped the sheets tightly to have something to hold on to. His wings flared uncontrollably on either side of him, and on instinct they were kept low and on display for his mate in invitation for him to take him.  
  
“You need what?” Jayden prompted, teasing in his voice. He removed one hand from Noah’s hips to grasp his feathers tightly, claiming ownership on them. The action caused Noah to scream out when he was turned on by that.  
  
Noah lowered his head so that his forehead was pressed against his pillow, rubbing against it with every hard thrust of Jayden’s hips. “Y-You know what I need. I want you to fill me up…”  
  
Jayden smirked in satisfaction as he fucked Noah’s tight ass good and hard. “Shh, I’ll give you what you need. So much of it…”  
  
Noah responded with a mewl and pushed back against him, getting more and more impatient for Jayden’s seed as the rising heat inside him drove him mad.  
  
Jayden pounded into him and helped Noah stay on his knees by grabbing his hip tightly. He noticed how Noah’s wing oil was flowing down his back, mixing with sweat and making it glisten, and he finally removed his hand from Noah’s feathers to touch the oil glands. He pinched them gently and rubbed them with his thumb, and the action caused Noah to finally fall over the edge once more.  
  
Noah’s scream of pleasure and his vice-tight muscles pulled Jayden over the edge as well. He filled Noah with loads of semen, and continued to gently rub Noah’s oil glands all the way through their orgasms.  
  
Noah went limp afterwards, but Jayden held him up so that he wouldn’t collapse on the bed. He kept his cock buried inside his mate, trapping his come inside, and felt the muscles relax around him.  
  
“Shhh,” Jayden soothed, knowing that Noah was sore and exhausted from all the sex. His mate responded with a small whimper, and Jayden almost felt sorry for him. He ran his hand soothingly up and down Noah’s back and over his ass, trying to calm him down.  
  
“I’m so tired…” Noah said eventually, squirming a bit and trying to get away from Jayden to lie down, but the alpha stubbornly kept him in place.  
  
“Yeah, I know. But your heat is about to flare up again, so stay still.” Jayden could smell the increase in pheromones again, knowing that the cycle was far from over. Noah’s heat often flared up 4-7 times in a row before taking a break for a while, only to flare up again later.  
  
Noah let out a pitiful whine against his pillow, wanting a break so bad right now, but his body wouldn’t let him. Warmness soon spread through his body once more and his ass got dripping wet again, making Noah groan helplessly.  
  
More blood rushed to Jayden’s cock as his mate’s heat flared up, and he started fucking into Noah in small, hard thrusts. The submissive gasped every time he bottomed out inside him, and Noah’s body was still limp and exhausted from his previous climaxes as he let Jayden thrust into him.  
  
Jayden sped up a bit and tried not to be too rough since Noah was so oversensitive and tired. The submissive’s ass clenched around him, trying to keep him in and milk him dry, and Jayden grunted at how good it felt.  
  
Suddenly Jayden slowed down, making Noah wonder why he was doing that. The submissive tried to glance back at him, but couldn’t really see what he was doing. “What are you— _Oh!_ ” He was cut off when Jayden’s tail nudged against his filled entrance and slowly starting slipping inside.  
  
It wasn’t very often that Jayden fucked Noah with both his dick and his tail, since it required a lot of preparation and it often left Noah feeling sore for days afterwards. They did it sometimes when Noah knew he could handle the soreness, but mostly they had done it during his heats, where he was extra wet and eager to be filled.  
  
Noah panted and grasped the sheets tightly, bracing himself as the tail slowly went deeper and deeper into him. It hurt a bit, but it also felt so good. It had been a few hours since Jayden had fucked him with his dick and tail, and Noah was hungry for more.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted, gripping Noah’s hips tightly as he bottomed out inside Noah and pushed his tail in to the point where he wouldn’t go further. It was so tight and warm inside, and he shuddered when he twitched his tail and felt it rub his cock and Noah’s insides so nicely.  
  
“Please, please!” Noah begged, going wild under him.  
  
Jayden shushed him gently before finally beginning to move. He went slow at first before fucking into Noah as hard as he could, twisting his tail around inside the tight space to give Noah and himself pleasure.  
  
Noah mewled and squirmed wildly, pushing back onto Jayden as much as he could. “It’s so good, I can’t… So full…”  
  
Jayden dug his fingers into Noah’s hips possessively as he fucked him. “Shh. You’re doing so well… Feels so good, baby.”  
  
Noah whimpered and surrendered himself to the pleasure Jayden was giving him. He could feel a very strong climax approaching; tugging and tingling in his body, and he was desperate to reach the peak already and draw Jayden over the edge with him.  
  
They reached out to each other through their bond as the climax approached, and their minds touching was the final trigger for their pleasure. They came together, crying out and holding on to each other as pleasure rippled through them in waves. It was so good and so perfect, and they never wanted it to end.  
  
They both collapsed on the soft, messy sheets afterwards, completely exhausted.  
  
Lying together and catching their breaths, they reveled in the aftermath and felt their bodies filled with nice satiation. They both knew it would be a little while until Noah’s heat flared up again, so they finally had time to rest for a bit.  
  
Jayden was on his back, catching his breath after the last round, when he felt something under his wing. He slowly sat up and looked over to see what it was. “Oh. Sorry, I almost crushed your phone,” he told Noah, picking up the phone and handing it to his mate.  
  
Noah lifted his head from his pillow and reached out a lazy hand to take the phone. “Thanks…” He lay on his stomach, feeling too sore in his butt to shift his position at the moment. It was a nice kind of sore though, and at the same time he felt so empty now with nothing filing him up anymore. He really preferred having Jayden’s cock in his ass through his whole heat, but Jayden needed breaks too.  
  
Noah unlocked his phone to see the text message Isaac had sent him earlier.  
  
 _ **Isaac** : ‘I cant believe I just spoke to my little bro while he was being fucked by Jayden. Didnt think you were that kinky, Noah! Remind me to buy brain bleach soon, cuz I dont want to remember the stutter in your voice anymore, thats fucking gross. Anyway have fun and make lotsa babies with your stud! I’ll make sure to let Nathan eat all the candy he wants when I see him tomorrow. He deserves that since he’s gonna be a big brother and all. Bye! :D’_  
  
A deep blush spread across Noah’s cheeks as he read the message, feeling so embarrassed that he could die. He groaned loudly and buried his face in his pillow, cursing the world for having let Isaac call him at such a bad time earlier.  
  
“From Isaac?” Jayden asked with a knowing chuckle.  
  
“Yes… Why did you do this to me, Connor? Couldn’t you just keep your hands and mouth to yourself for one god damned minute?” Noah spoke into the pillow, sounding a little angry.  
  
“Sorry. You know I can’t help myself when you smell so good,” Jayden said, apologetically. “Besides, it was kind of hot how you couldn’t keep quiet on the phone while I did those things to you…”  
  
Noah groaner louder, hating himself for finding it a bit hot too. It was still utterly embarrassing, though. He just hoped that Isaac would keep quiet about it. He probably wouldn’t, but if he had told Kaylen about it already, Kaylen would make sure that Isaac wouldn’t go too much into detail with it in front of others.  
  
Jayden chuckled softly at Noah’s embarrassment and rolled over to lie on his side, facing Noah. He ran his hand through the submissive’s feathers gently until he suddenly remembered something.  
  
Noah watched out of the corner of his eye as Jayden got up. He stared at the alpha’s softened, slick-covered cock before Jayden disappeared from his sight, and he wondered what his mate was up to. He was too lazy and tired to turn his head to find out, so he waited for his mate to return.  
  
Jayden came back over to the bed just a few seconds later, and Noah gasped and squirmed softly as Jayden pushed a butt plug into him.  
  
“There. Can’t forget to keep my come inside you. Have to make sure it does its job,” Jayden spoke with a small smirk before getting into bed again.  
  
Noah squirmed a bit as he felt he plug inside him, keeping Jayden’s semen inside where it belonged. The plug felt nice against his sensitive inner walls, and he couldn’t stop clenching around it, even if his hole was still pretty stretched from having taken both Jayden’s dick and tail earlier. It was nice to be filled with something again.  
  
Jayden lay down next to him and smiled when their eyes met. “You look so gorgeous when you’re all fucked out and exhausted, you know.”  
  
Noah blushed. “Shut up. Pervert.”  
  
Jayden laughed and shifted closer to him. “I can’t wait for your stomach to grow big with child again. You’re so beautiful when you’re carrying our baby, and I’m so happy that you’re my mate.”  
  
Noah’s lips curled into a shy smile, and he stared back at Jayden as he rested his head on his pillow. “I’m happy too. And I also look forward to the baby. I wonder how Nathan will react to the news, though…”  
  
“I think he’ll take it well. He might be a little surprised and find it hard to understand though, but I think he’ll be fine.”  
  
Noah nodded into the pillow and sighed. “I miss him…”  
  
Jayden reached out and petted Noah’s wing again, gently and softly. “Me too. But we’ll get to see him in about five days…”  
  
“That’s so long, though.”  
  
“Yeah, but we can’t really have him be here while you’re in heat. Don’t worry; I’m sure he’s having lots of fun with your parents right now. They haven’t called us tell us that something is wrong, so I’m sure everything is fine.”  
  
“Yeah, you’re right.” Noah sighed and shifted closer to Jayden.   
  
The alpha rolled over on his back, and Noah snuggled up against him and rested his head on his mate’s strong chest. He purred in content at being in the arms of his alpha mate, and he tried to get comfortable with the plug inside him. Jayden held him tight and pressed a kiss to his head. Jayden’s hand then sneaked down to touch Noah’s lower abdomen, and Noah shifted a bit to give him better access. Jayden’s large, warm hand felt nice as it rested on his skin, and neither of them cared much that they were both sweaty and messy from sex.  
  
It was fascinating to know that their baby was being created inside Noah at that very moment. They both had very little doubts that their many copulations hadn’t succeeded, and they were both very excited to be parents again.  
  
They rested together for a few hours until Noah’s heat demanded more satisfaction. Jayden had his hands full when Noah was all needy and desperate for more, but that was part of why he enjoyed it so much.  
  
  


***

  
  
When Noah’s heat was finally over and he was back to normal again, they headed to Jayden’s parents’ house to pick up their son. Castiel had called them on the fourth day of Noah’s heat to let them know that Nathan was okay and to let Nathan speak with them on the phone for a bit. The boy had missed them a lot even though he had enjoyed his time at Dean and Castiel’s place, and for the last five days Nathan had been at Leila and Micah’s house to be babysat there.  
  
When they arrived at the house in the late afternoon, Leila greeted them with a big smile and hugged them both tightly.  
  
“I hope you guys haven’t been too worried about Nathan. He’s missed you, but I think he’s had a good time here,” Leila smiled, inviting them inside.  
  
“We haven’t been worried, we’ve just missed him,” Jayden told his mom and started taking off his shoes in the entrance hall.  
  
Noah took off his shoes as well, and he couldn’t help but notice the way Leila was smiling and staring at him knowingly. It made him blush a bit.  
  
“Ah, there you guys are,” Micah said as he entered the entrance hall. Laura joined him, and soon little Nathan came running towards Noah and Jayden with a big, happy grin on his face.  
  
“Mommy! Daddy!” the boy exclaimed, running over to hug his parents.  
  
Noah grinned and leaned down to hug his son back. “Hi, Nathan. Have you been good while you stayed at your grandparents’ house?”  
  
Nathan pulled back and nodded proudly. “Yep!” He then turned and threw his arms around Jayden’s waist next to hug him, happy to see his parents again. Jayden grinned and picked him up, and Nathan squealed happily as he wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck to hug him.  
  
“How have you been? Has Auntie Laura been nice to you?” Jayden asked, sending a teasing look in Laura’s direction.  
  
Nathan pulled back and laughed. “Yeah. She funny.”  
  
Laura glared at Jayden. “Of course I’ve been nice.”  
  
Jayden laughed at her and reached out his tail to bump it into hers playfully.  
  
“Where you and mommy been?” Nathan asked in a small voice, glancing at Jayden from under his lashes with a somewhat sad look on his face. He had clearly missed them.  
  
“Mommy and daddy have been really busy, and we couldn’t be with you,” Jayden explained, smiling softly at his son. He felt a bit guilty now that he saw how sad Nathan looked, and he could tell Noah felt the same. “But we’ve missed you very much, and we’re so happy to see you again.”  
  
Noah nodded and reached out to gently stroke Nathan’s cheek. Nathan looked up at him with a small smile, which Noah returned.   
  
“We’ve missed you so much,” Noah told him. “And we’re glad that you’ve been behaving well with your grandparents, like a big boy.”  
  
Nathan grinned, feeling rather proud that he had been on his own without his parents and managed to pull through it. He had been a bit upset without his parents around and had cried a bit, but Dean and Castiel, and Leila and Micah had comforted him.  
  
Nathan threw his arms around Jayden’s neck in one more hug, before the alpha finally put him down on the floor again. The boy grinned happily up at his parents and went over to cling slightly to Noah’s leg while leaning against his hip. Noah smiled down at him and used his wing to hug him close, and Nathan grinned happily.  
  
“Aww, you’ve missed your mommy so much, haven’t you?” Leila cooed at Nathan and smiled softly at him.  
  
Nathan shyly hid his face against Noah, his little wings twitching under Noah’s bigger wing.  
  
“He’s so cute,” Laura chuckled. “I want a kid like that too.”  
  
“I hope you go to college before you have any kids…” Jayden murmured. He still thought it was weird knowing that his sister was almost eighteen years old already. He still thought of her as a little kid, and it was difficult for him to accept that she was almost an adult now.  
  
Laura rolled her eyes at her brother. “Well, I don’t even have a boyfriend yet, so don’t worry.”  
  
“What about that Michael guy from your class?” Micah asked, raising an eyebrow at her.  
  
“Ew, gods no! I was just working on a project with him! He’s a total douche; I’m not interested in him.”  
  
“Thank god,” Jayden murmured, feeling rather relieved. Noah nudged him with his elbow, finding his comment rather rude.  
  
Laura stuck her tongue out at Jayden when she heard his comment, making Micah laugh and Leila roll her eyes.  
  
“Mommy?” came Nathan’s small voice then.  
  
Noah looked down at his son, who was tugging at his shirt now. “What is it, sweetie?”  
  
“Can I goes watch more cartoons?”  
  
Noah smiled and ran a hand through Nathan’s hair. “Of course.”  
  
Nathan beamed before running back into the living room to finish watching the show that was on.  
  
“He’s obsessed with cartoons,” Micah chuckled, turning around to go back into the living room and keep an eye on Nathan.  
  
Leila smiled at Noah and Jayden one more time before walking towards the living room with Micah, and the others followed.  
  
Laura snickered knowingly at Jayden and Noah as they walked towards the door to the dining room together. “Was it fun?” she asked her brother, holding her hand in front of her mouth as she giggled teasingly at him.  
  
Jayden glared at his sister and shoved her lightly, trying to hide a blush. “Shut up and wipe that grin off your face.”  
  
Laura laughed out loud. “So it _was_ fun! Pervert…”  
  
“ _You’re_ the pervert for asking!”  
  
Noah blushed behind them, finding it embarrassing and awkward that Laura knew what they had been up to for the past week.  
  
Laura just laughed at them and gave Noah a playful shove when she saw how embarrassed he was. It only made Noah’s cheeks flush redder.  
  
Leila turned around and smiled at them after they had entered the dining room. “And I hope you guys will let us know when your pregnancy test is positive, Noah.”  
  
Noah’s blush grew even deeper, and his wings wrapped slightly around himself in embarrassment.  
  
“Mom, you’re embarrassing,” Jayden complained, blushing a bit too.  
  
“What? It’s a completely natural thing, and don’t think that _my_ parents haven’t teased me when Micah and I decided to have you and Laura,” Leila argued.  
  
Laura grimaced. “I don’t want to think about that…”  
  
Micah chuckled and put a hand on Leila’s shoulder. “Just give them a break. They’re already red like tomatoes.”  
  
Leila looked over at Noah and Jayden, seeing that Micah was right. She chuckled softly. “Don’t be embarrassed; going through a heat and having kids is a good thing and there’s no shame in it. But I do wonder… Isn’t your apartment a bit too small for two kids?”  
  
“Yeah, that’s why we’ve begun looking for a house…” Jayden spoke.  
  
“Oh, so you’ve already thought about moving?” Micah said, looking a bit surprised. “Pick your house well; it’s hard to get rid of it again, should something be wrong.”  
  
“Yeah, I know. We’re being kinda picky about it.” Jayden looked down at Noah with a small smile.  
  
“Have you told Nathan yet that he might get a little brother or sister soon?” Leila asked next, looking a bit curious.  
  
“Um, no,” Noah admitted. He glanced over towards the living room where Nathan was sitting in front of the TV, completely entranced with his favorite show.  
  
“We’re thinking of telling him when the test shows positive,” Jayden elaborated, curling his tail around Noah’s leg as they stood next to each other.  
  
“Well, I’m sure he will be happy about the news,” Leila smiled. “If not a little confused.”  
  
“He’s probably gonna think that his toys are gonna get stolen,” Laura chuckled.  
  
The others laughed at that, and Noah looked in Nathan’s direction with a fond smile.  
  
Nathan got up from the floor then and ran over to Jayden, pulling at his dad’s arm to drag him over to the TV with him. “Daddy, daddy! Come watch with me!”  
  
Jayden grinned at him and followed his son over to the couch to sit down and watch, and Leila and Micah laughed and joined them.  
  
Noah smiled at the scene and walked over to sit with them, as did Laura.  
  
“He’s been watching his favorite cartoons nonstop whenever they air,” Laura explained as she and Noah walked over to the others. “And he constantly wants to play ball outside and go to the park. It’s been quite fun to have him here.”  
  
Noah smiled and sat down next to Jayden, and Laura sat down on Noah’s other side. Nathan was sitting on Jayden’s lap, staring intently at the TV.  
  
“Yeah, he does like to go outside,” Noah spoke, running an affectionate hand through Nathan’s hair and chuckled at how the boy didn’t tear his eyes away from the screen.  
  
“He’s been pretty easy to babysit. Dean and Castiel thought so too,” Leila spoke. “Let’s hope his younger sibling will be just as easy.”  
  
Noah blushed again as Leila gave him a knowing smile.  
  
Laura giggled at Noah’s face and almost felt sorry for him.  
  
“I think Dean and Castiel are about to drown in all the grandkids they have,” Micah commented. “How many do they have by now?”  
  
Noah quickly tried to calculate it in his head. “Um, they have eleven by now, I think.”  
  
“Eleven?!” Laura exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock.  
  
“Yeah, Eden has three kids, and so do Adrian and Lily, and Isaac has one kid, and so do Jayden and I… That would make eleven.”  
  
“And soon to be twelve,” Leila grinned.  
  
“So we hope,” Jayden smirked, looking at Noah, whose cheeks reddened a bit again.  
  
Nathan was more or less oblivious of their conversation. He just leaned back into his dad and held Jayden’s larger hand with his own two hands, playing a bit with his father’s big fingers while watching the show. The tip of his tail curled slowly, indicating that he was content, and Noah and Jayden watched their son with small smiles as he stared at the TV.  
  
They stayed with Jayden’s family for about an hour, chatting and catching up on things they had missed during their week away from the outside world.  
  
Jayden stayed close to Noah the whole time, feeling an instinct to be around his mate in the aftermath of the heat. He wanted Noah to be safe and not strain himself too much yet, while the baby was still in the earliest stages of development inside him. The whole day he had made sure that Noah got enough to eat and drink, and Noah didn’t really complain about it. He liked how Jayden wanted to take care of him and how enthusiastic he was about their next baby. They both wanted the pregnancy to progress well and without trouble.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m pretty busy lately and I will be even busier starting next week, when I start in an internship. I will of course continue the story and write whenever I can. I always aim to update at least once a week :)
> 
> Their second baby is on its way now! And they’ll be moving soon. I have big plans for the next baby’s personality, so that should be fun to explore when the kid gets older.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the smuttiness! :)


	29. Chapter 29

**September 2053 (Noah is 27, Jayden is 29, Nathan is 3 (almost 4), Castiel is 64, Dean is 65, Lily is 32 (almost 33), Tony is 33, Alec is 8, Jennifer and Marie are 3 years old).**  
  
It had been six weeks since Noah’s heat and he was already starting to feel the first symptoms of his pregnancy. He had started feeling nauseous, a bit tired, and felt himself be repelled by certain aromas – especially from Jayden’s morning coffee. Noah himself didn’t drink coffee, but he usually didn’t mind the smell. His pregnancy was just making him more sensitive to smells and taste. They had also noticed a tiny, little swell on Noah’s stomach recently. They were pretty sure that it was him starting to show already, but it could also just be Noah gaining a bit of weight (which Jayden highly doubted).  
  
When Noah found his mate in the kitchen on a Sunday morning, drinking a cup of coffee while Nathan was playing in his room, he scrunched his nose in disgust. “Ugh, why are you drinking that?” he complained and went over to the fridge to get himself some apple juice instead.  
  
Jayden looked over at him from where he was drinking his coffee at the table and reading news on his tablet. He let out a chuckle at Noah’s sudden dislike for the smell of coffee. “I like coffee, even if you don’t. And you usually don’t mind the smell.”  
  
“I do right now,” Noah murmured, not wanting to get too close to Jayden and his coffee. “The smell makes me feel sick…”  
  
“You didn’t like my coffee that much either last time you were pregnant,” Jayden pointed out, smiling because now he was very certain that Noah was definitely pregnant.  
  
Noah placed a hand on his abdomen and stared down at it. “Yeah…”  
  
Nathan was playing with Legos in his room, making noises and playing rather roughly. They listened to him being so engaged in his play and they both smiled when it sounded like he was having a lot of fun.  
  
Noah suddenly felt the need to vomit. He put his juice away and quickly left the room to run for the bathroom, hoping he’d make it in time. Jayden got up and followed him immediately, wanting to be there and help him through it.  
  
Noah rushed into the bathroom and emptied his stomach into the toilet, glad that he made it there in time. It was very unpleasant and not something he had missed from when he was pregnant with Nathan. Although he was happy that his body was finally showing signs of pregnancy, he still hated throwing up.  
  
“You okay?” Jayden asked as he slowly helped Noah up afterwards, holding on to his arm tightly.  
  
Noah nodded and went over to wash his mouth in the sink to get rid of the awful taste.  
  
“I guess you don’t really need to take a pregnancy test,” Jayden spoke as he rubbed Noah’s lower back for comfort.  
  
“We already bought one, so I’ll take it,” Noah argued softly before rummaging through the small cabinet above the sink to find the pregnancy test they had bought the other day. They had bought two, and the first one had been negative when Noah tried it five days ago. He hated how it could take a few weeks before the tests would show positive.  
  
Jayden stayed with his mate as he took the test, since Noah wasn’t really bothered by his presence while he did it. Jayden kept an eye on the door to make sure that Nathan didn’t suddenly barge into the room, but they hadn’t heard him leave his room yet, so he was likely still playing with his Legos.  
  
Noah held the test in his hands afterwards, waiting impatiently for it to reveal the results. A few moments later the test finally showed positive, making him sigh in relief.  
  
Jayden grinned happily. He grabbed Noah by the sides and lifted him up in the air, spinning him around. “I knew it! There’s no way you couldn’t be pregnant after how thorough I fucked you during your heat.”  
  
Noah blushed at his words but still laughed, thrilled to be expecting their second baby. He put his hands on Jayden’s shoulders as the alpha lifted him, but felt more secure once he was put down on his feet again. “Yeah. I’m glad to get it confirmed at last.”  
  
Jayden kept grinning at him and curling his tail in happiness, and he finally pulled Noah in for a deep, intimate kiss. Jayden’s hand roamed possessively over Noah’s hips and stomach as they shared the kiss and moaned into each other’s mouths, and his hand quickly found its way in under Noah’s shirt to touch his stomach.  
  
“That’s definitely a small baby bump I feel there, and not you getting fat,” Jayden grinned, touching the tiny swell possessively.   
  
Noah moved his hand down to feel it too. He found it difficult to determine if the swell had been there all along or if it was new. It was always difficult to assess that on your own body, after all. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He smiled as he glanced down at the small, barely there bump when Jayden pulled up his shirt a bit to see.  
  
Jayden growled possessively when he looked at the small swell of his mate’s belly, and leaned down to press a happy kiss to Noah’s cheek. “I’m so excited. Can’t wait to meet our baby when he or she is ready to come out.”  
  
“You’ll have to wait some months for that,” Noah chuckled, liking it when his mate was so excited and happy about their baby.  
  
“Yeah, until May next year, if I calculated that right. Let’s hope the baby won’t have the same birthday as you.”  
  
“I think it’s going to be born a week or two later than my birthday, though…”  
  
“That’s possible. Either way, we need to tell Nathan about the new baby soon.”  
  
“Yeah…” Noah was a little worried about how Nathan would react to there being another child in the house soon. He hoped that his son wouldn’t be too upset about having to share their attention with the new baby. He had experienced that some kids in the kindergarten seemed jealous of their younger siblings because they felt like the new babies were taking all their parents’ attention, and Noah didn’t want Nathan to feel like that.  
  
Suddenly they heard Nathan’s small feet running around the apartment when the boy finally noticed that they weren’t in the kitchen anymore. “Mommy! Daddy!” he cried, sounding a bit distressed that he couldn’t see them anywhere.  
  
“We’re in here,” Jayden called and went towards the bathroom door.  
  
Nathan spotted his dad when Jayden left the bathroom and came out into the hallway. The boy whined and ran over to hug him, and Jayden chuckled fondly at how clingy he was.  
  
“You didn’t think that me and mommy had left, did you?” Jayden asked, rubbing Nathan’s head soothingly.  
  
Nathan just made a small sound as he pressed his head against Jayden’s jeans, and Noah watched them with a small smile.  
  
“I think you’re still a little tired,” Jayden spoke, rubbing his tail gently against Nathan, who was still clinging to him. It was only 9am since Nathan had woken up kind of early that morning.  
  
“Yeah…” Noah agreed. He reached out his hand towards Nathan. “Come on. Mommy and daddy have something we want to tell you.”  
  
Nathan lifted his head from Jayden’s jeans and blinked at his mother curiously. He reached out and took Noah’s hand before following him into the kitchen. Jayden went with them.  
  
They seated themselves at the table in the kitchen; Jayden and Noah seated themselves on one side of the table, while Nathan sat on the other side and munched on some fruit pieces that he had neglected to eat earlier. He hummed as he ate the fruit and glanced over at his parents curiously.   
  
Jayden and Noah shared a look before speaking.  
  
“So… You know how Emily just had a little sister two weeks ago, right?” Jayden asked Nathan in a soft voice as he looked at him.  
  
Millie had just given birth to another girl on the 1st September, just four weeks after they had moved into their new house. Nathan and Emily had been devastated to be torn apart and no longer be able to play whenever they wanted, and Nathan was still quite upset about it. He had refused to talk to them for a few hours on the day Emily had moved, until he finally softened up more when he learned that he could still see Emily sometimes. David and Millie didn’t live all that far away, and driving there only took about fifteen minutes, so it wasn’t a problem for them to visit each other sometimes.  
  
Nathan looked up at his dad and nodded his head before putting another piece of fruit into his mouth.  
  
“Well, you’ll soon get a little sister or brother too,” Jayden finally said.  
  
Nathan’s calm posture as he ate his fruit peacefully suddenly faded a bit. He stared at his parents with wide eyes as his mind tried to process what his dad had just told him. He looked over at Noah then, who nodded to confirm that Jayden was right.  
  
Nathan sat back, and they could see his eyebrows furrow a bit and his lips quiver. “Does dat mean I gotta move?” he asked in a small, broken voice.  
  
“What? No!” Jayden immediately said.  
  
“No, you’re not going anywhere,” Noah told his son, leaning across the table and resting his weight on his arms while he stared Nathan right into the eyes. “You’re staying here with us and nothing is going to change, except that there will be a baby here too.”  
  
Nathan looked between them. “So I stay?”  
  
“Of course you stay, silly,” Jayden laughed. “Emily’s still living with her parents after Jenny was born, so why shouldn’t you?”  
  
“’Cause Mick from daycare got a lil’ sister also, and he says his mommy and daddy dun have time for him no more…”  
  
Noah’s wings drooped behind him when he saw how scared Nathan looked when he thought he was going to be abandoned. “No… That’s not going to happen. Come here.” He patted his lap gently, and Nathan quickly got up from his chair and ran around the table to climb into his lap. Noah pulled the boy up and hugged him tight to comfort him. “Mommy and daddy love you so much and that’s not gonna change. Don’t be scared…”  
  
Nathan sniffled and buried his face in Noah’s shirt, holding on to him tightly.  
  
Jayden reached out and stroked Nathan’s head softly to help comfort him. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, Nathan. There will be a baby in the house next year, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll forget about you. It just means that mommy and daddy will have two little kids to love.”  
  
Nathan nodded and kept holding on to Noah’s shirt. He was finally calming down again, although he continued to sniffle for a bit. “Can I keep my toys, at least?” he asked after a few moments, sounding genuinely worried.  
  
Noah and Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at that. Out of all things, Nathan was now worried about his toys.  
  
“Of course you can keep your toys,” Jayden laughed. “But the new baby might want to play with them too when they’re old enough, so you may have to share some of them. You share toys in the daycare too, so you’ll be fine.”  
  
“Okay…”  
  
Noah chuckled and rocked Nathan softly as he sat with him. He was glad that Nathan was finally feeling better about it.  
  
After a few moments, Nathan suddenly pulled back a little and glanced up at Noah with a curious frown. “Where is da baby?” he asked, tilting his head a bit.  
  
Noah let out a small chuckle and placed his hand on his lower stomach. “The baby’s in here. In mommy’s tummy.”  
  
Nathan stared down at Noah’s stomach, looking perplexed. He then lifted his gaze and stared up at Noah again, looking as if he thought that his mother was joking with him. “I dun believe dat…”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Well, it’s true. Mommy’s taking good care of the baby inside his stomach until it’s big enough to come out. He did that with you too before you were born.”  
  
Nathan still looked unconvinced and pretty confused, and they couldn’t help but laugh at his face when he glared a bit at his dad, thinking he was just being silly.  
  
Noah shifted so that Nathan could jump down on the floor again, and the boy then ran towards the living room to watch cartoons.  
  
“Well, that went pretty well,” Jayden said after Nathan had left the room. “At least he didn’t throw a big fit about it.”  
  
“But he was pretty scared that we’d forget about him when the new baby is born, though…” Noah pointed out. He didn’t like it when Nathan was upset like that. There was no way that they would love Nathan less when the new baby was born. Noah was sure that they would love all their kids equally and divide their attention between them. That’s what Dean and Castiel had done too, although Noah knew that he had probably been given more attention than his siblings because he needed it more when he was a kid. He hadn’t been very independent and he had been quite clingy and shy and had thus demanded more attention and guidance, but he knew that his parents had loved him and all of his siblings equally, no matter what.  
  
“I think most kids feel like that. I know I felt a bit like that too when Laura was born,” Jayden spoke, playing a bit with Noah’s feathers as they sat next to each other at the table.  
  
Noah turned his head and looked at him. “Why’s there such a big age gap between you two anyway? It’s a bit unusual…”  
  
Jayden shrugged a bit. “I guess it was because my dad was always so busy with work, and so was my mom; they didn’t have time to have another kid. Ever since I was nine, I had to spend a couple of hours home by myself after school before my parents came home, and when they did come home they were tired as hell. They still gave me attention and love, but I did miss my dad when he was away on business for a while sometimes. My mom started working less after Laura was born though, but my dad still worked a lot and we kept moving from place to place because of his work. I’m glad they finally settled down here in this city again when they saw that the moving wasn’t good for Laura…”  
  
“Yeah, you’ve told me a bit about that before…” Noah said. “I’m glad they ended up choosing family over their careers in the end.”  
  
Jayden grinned. “Yeah, otherwise I wouldn’t be here right now, and it wouldn’t be _my_ baby you’re carrying.” He leaned in and nosed softly at Noah’s temple, closing his eyes.  
  
The thought of carrying anyone else’s baby but Jayden’s made Noah feel sick. “Don’t say that. I don’t want to have anyone else’s baby but yours.”  
  
Noah’s words made Jayden’s chest rumble with a pleased, possessive growl, and he nibbled at Noah’s ear and made his mate bare his neck to him. “Yeah, you’re _mine._ Won’t let anyone else have you. Not ever.” He growled and nipped possessively at Noah’s neck and ear to stake his claim. Noah’s natural scent entered his nose and made his nostril flare. He smelled so sweet and good, but a little bit different than usual. Jayden knew it was the pregnancy that made Noah smell a tiny bit sweeter, and the scent was gorgeous on him.  
  
Noah smiled and happily bared his neck to Jayden, loving it when the alpha got possessive over him like that. He giggled when Jayden’s nose rubbing against his skin tickled a bit, and he squeaked when Jayden noticed this and tickled his stomach to tease him.  
  
“No! Stop it,” Noah laughed, trying to push his mate away.  
  
Jayden laughed and slowly pulled back. He grinned at Noah and reached out to ruffle his hair fondly. “You’re so cute.”  
  
Noah blushed and swatted his hand away in embarrassment. “Unlike you…”  
  
Jayden leaned his head back and laughed at that before getting up from his chair. He walked over behind Noah’s chair and put his hands on his mate’s shoulders to massage them. Noah melted into the chair and relaxed his muscles, humming in content as Jayden massaged him and got rid of some of the tension in his muscles. Jayden’s hands were large and rough, but he was gentle as he massaged Noah and always made sure that he didn’t rub him too hard.  
  
Nathan was in the living room by himself, and they listened to every sound they could hear from there to make sure that he didn’t break anything.  
  
Noah’s confirmed pregnancy was happy news to them and they couldn’t wait to tell their families about it soon.  
  
  


***

  
  
On the following weekend, Noah and Jayden decided to go visit Dean and Castiel and stay the night at the house. Nathan had been begging to see his maternal grandparents again after they had recently seen Leila and Micah, so Noah and Jayden decided to take him there. It had been a while since they had stayed the night at Noah’s parents’ house anyway, and Lily and her family were also visiting, although they didn’t have plans to stay for the night.  
  
They arrived at the house at around 1pm and saw Lily and Tony’s car parked in front of the garage. They had already arrived with their kids.  
  
Nathan was eager to go inside and see his grandparents and play with his cousins, and Jayden had barely gotten him out of his seat before the boy ran up to the front door.  
  
“Easy, Nathan,” Jayden told him, laughing at the boy. He handed Noah two of their bags with clothes and stuff, and together they headed up to the door. They both chuckled at how excited Nathan was to go inside.  
  
A few seconds later, Dean opened the door and grinned at them. He picked up Nathan, who grinned in joy and immediately wrapped his arms around Dean’s neck, and Noah and Jayden came up to greet him as well. Carrie barked happily at them and bumped their legs with her snout to get attention, and soon Lily’s twin girls Marie and Jennifer came running out into the entrance hall to play with Nathan. The girls were three years old and had a lot of energy, and Nathan got along well with them. They looked exactly the same and it was hard to tell who was who, which was why Lily and Tony often dressed them in similar clothes but with different colors. They, of course, could tell who was who, but Noah and Jayden still found it difficult to tell the twins apart.  
  
Noah smiled as he watched Nathan’s tail swish back and forth in joy as he followed his cousins into the living room to play after Jayden had taken off his shoes and jacket for him. The children immediately went over to the pile of toys on the floor by the couch table and started playing.  
  
After having taken off their own shoes and jackets, Noah and Jayden finally entered the living room as well, where Castiel, Lily, and Tony were seated on the couch. They immediately got up to come over and greet them. Alec got up from his seat in front of the TV and came over to greet them too, while Nathan the girls kept playing on the floor with toys.  
  
“Hey, Noah,” Lily grinned, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.  
  
“Hi, Lily,” Noah smiled as he hugged his sister back. It had been a while since he last saw Lily and it was nice to hug her again.  
  
Lily pulled back and grinned at him as she rested her hands on Noah’s shoulders. “I hear rumors that I’m gonna have another niece or nephew soon.” She glanced towards his abdomen with a knowing smile.  
  
Isaac had told Lily, Eden, and Adrian that Noah and Jayden were trying to have another baby. He hadn’t let Noah forget that he had spoken with him on the phone while he was in heat, but at least he hadn’t really gone into details about it when he told the others. He had just told them that he had good reason to believe that Noah was going to get pregnant soon. Kaylen of course had stopped Isaac from sharing too much embarrassing information, and he was also the one that had told Noah that Isaac had told his siblings about it. Noah was glad that he hadn’t yet seen Isaac in person since their phone call.  
  
Noah blushed a bit at Lily’s words. “Yeah, we’re, um, having another baby,” he confirmed as he put his hand on his lower abdomen and smiled.  
  
“Really? That’s great,” Tony grinned, nudging Jayden on the arm to congratulate him. Jayden just grinned back at him, proud and happy.  
  
“Oh, I’m glad that it succeeded,” Castiel said, smiling knowingly at Noah, whose cheeks turned a bit redder. Castiel chuckled softly at him before coming over to hug his son and then hug Jayden too. “Do your parents know yet?” he asked Jayden as he hugged him.  
  
“Yeah, I called them last night and told them about it. We’ve known for a while that Noah was pregnant, but we wanted to tell you guys in person when we came here. I didn’t want my mom to let it slip before we visited, so I didn’t tell her until last night,” Jayden explained, and smiled as he hugged Castiel back.  
  
Castiel chuckled and slowly pulled back. “I’m sure she’s very thrilled by the news.”  
  
Jayden rubbed the back of his neck a bit in a sheepish gesture. “Yeah, but she had kind of guessed it anyway. It’s hard to keep the plans a secret…”  
  
“No kidding there,” Dean chuckled after he had just hugged Noah to congratulate him. “And damn, how many grandkids are Cas and I gonna end up with?” he asked jokingly as he stepped away from Noah.  
  
“We only have Nathan so far,” Noah pointed out, murmuring.  
  
“You sure it’s just one?” Lily asked, gesturing at his stomach.  
  
Noah nodded. “Yes. We, um, went to see Charlie for an ultrasound scan two days ago. There’s just one baby.” Noah had wanted to know if he was expecting just one baby or multiples, so they had gotten an appointment with Charlie a few days ago to see her. He had been relieved when the scan had showed just one baby in it.  
  
“Yeah, having twins is extra work, so it’s good for you that you’ll have just one,” Tony spoke. He glanced towards his and Lily’s twin girls, who were still sitting on the floor with Nathan and having fun with the toys. Carrie came over to the kids and sniffed curiously at the toys, and they let out happy squeaks when the dog sniffed at them too.  
  
“I think twins are noisy,” Alec murmured next to Tony, crossing his arms. “They always bicker and argue, and run around screaming…”  
  
“Yeah, and you’re good at fueling the fire once it’s started,” Tony told him, ruffling Alec’s sandy-colored hair fondly. The alpha boy shied away from his hand, and Tony laughed at his offended face.  
  
Jayden laughed at that and looked down at Alec, who had gotten a bit taller since they last saw him a few months ago. “So what grade are you in now, Alec? The second grade?”  
  
Alec’s face lit up when someone finally asked about him. “No, the third grade,” he said, proudly straightening up and grinning.  
  
“Yeah, he’s getting big,” Dean said, looking at Alec with a proud grin. “Soon you’ll be a teenager and annoy the hell out of your parents; listening to loud music in your room and inviting hot girls or guys over…”  
  
“Dad! No need to encourage him,” Lily complained, while Alec just laughed and found it quite funny how upset his mother got over that.  
  
Noah chuckled at the conversation. It was amazing how fast all the kids grew up. Eden’s son Daniel was already fourteen years old, but Noah had a hard time picturing him as more than ten. And Eden herself was already forty. It was almost unreal.  
  
All of sudden Noah felt nausea build up in his throat. He knew it was the morning sickness, so he quickly put a hand over his mouth and excused himself as he headed towards the bathroom to vomit. He hoped he’d make it there in time.  
  
The others watched him go, and Jayden was about to follow him when Noah signaled to him that he shouldn’t. They heard the bathroom door shut soon after that, followed by the faint sounds of Noah throwing up.  
  
Castiel glanced towards the bathroom in sympathy. “That is the downside of it…”  
  
“Yeah, poor Noah. I hate morning sickness,” Lily murmured. She shivered slightly at the memory of her own experiences with it.  
  
A small whine coming from Nathan caught Jayden’s attention, and he watched as Nathan got up and tried to walk towards the bathroom, where he had seen his mom go. Jayden quickly grabbed his arm and held him back.  
  
“Hey, it’s okay. Mommy’s fine,” Jayden reassured his son, rubbing Nathan’s leg soothingly with his tail.  
  
“Why mommy not feel well?” Nathan asked, tilting his head back to look up at his father with a worried frown.  
  
Jayden smiled down at his son and gently swept a hand through his hair. “It’s just the baby that’s making him feel a bit ill, but he’s okay. He’ll be back soon.”  
  
Alec was the only one of the kids who wasn’t too confused about Noah’s morning sickness. He understood that having a baby would make you feel nauseous and so on, though he still didn’t know much about where babies come from, at least not in detail.  
  
“I take it Nathan took the news about the new baby well?” Dean asked Jayden as they waited for Noah to come back.  
  
Jayden nodded and gently guided Nathan back over to play with Marie and Jennifer again. “Yeah, he did. He was worried he couldn’t keep his toys though,” he chuckled.  
  
The others laughed at that.  
  
“I’d be worried about that too,” Alec stated.  
  
Lily laughed. “Yeah, you _were_ worried about that, young man.”  
  
Noah returned to the room again a few moments later. He looked a bit tired and unwell, but he had just thrown up so it wasn’t really a surprise to anyone.  
  
Lily gave her little brother a sympathetic smile as he came over to them. “Feeling a bit better?”  
  
Noah nodded. “Yeah, kind of. It was quite unpleasant, though…”  
  
“I’ll get you some water,” Castiel said, going over to the kitchen to pour a glass of cold water for him. Noah thanked him and watched him go.  
  
“How far along are you?” Lily asked then, stepping closer and letting her tail briefly touch Noah’s leg to reassure him.  
  
“Seven weeks,” Noah replied, smiling.  
  
“Are you showing yet?” Lily asked next with an excited grin on her face.  
  
Noah blushed shyly and put a hand on his stomach, rubbing it a bit. “Only a little bit. It’s not much yet.”  
  
“Well, I definitely feel a small bump already,” Jayden spoke as he stepped up behind Noah, curled his tail around his mate’s leg, and reached around him to place his gentle hands on Noah’s stomach possessively. He smiled at Noah, who blushed as Jayden hugged him from behind and touched his pregnant belly in front of the others.  
  
The others laughed softly and watched them with happy smiles.  
  
“You’re making Noah blush,” Lily told Jayden, looking at Noah with fond amusement.  
  
Jayden smirked. “I know.”  
  
Castiel came over with Noah’s glass of water, and Noah reached out to take it from him, thanking his papa before drinking. Jayden kept standing behind him, rubbing his belly tenderly in small circles.  
  
“Get a room, you two,” Dean murmured, rolling his eyes at them.  
  
Castiel bumped his wing into Dean’s to let him know he was being stupid or rude. “Don’t be like that, Dean. They’re sweet together.”  
  
“Yeah, and Alec could learn a few things from Jayden. You can show emotion and be sweet and still be an alpha,” Lily said, glancing down at her son with a firm look.  
  
“He doesn’t wanna play much with the twins because of their girl toys anymore,” Tony explained when the others looked confused.  
  
Alec fidgeted a bit. Many of his alpha friends had learned that alphas don’t cry, don’t whine, don’t giggle, don’t play with girl toys, and had to be tough and manly, so Alec had started trying to be like his friends too. It had gotten to the point where he didn’t want to play with his little sisters much anymore because that wouldn’t make him appear manly and because they had so many girl toys, but Lily and Tony had told him that it didn’t matter which toys he played with, since that wasn’t what would define him as a person.  
  
“Alphas can play with girl toys too,” Dean told Alec. “As long as you’re having fun, then it doesn’t matter.”  
  
“And I think your little sisters would like it if you play more often with them,” Castiel added.  
  
Alec glanced towards Jennifer and Marie, who were still playing around with Nathan. “Yeah, I guess. My friends just make fun of me sometimes because I play with them…”  
  
“Well, then you tell them that they’re bad brothers if they don’t play with their own little siblings like that too,” Jayden told Alec, still standing behind Noah and holding him close. “An alpha takes care of others, keeps them safe and helps them, and you make your sisters happy when you play with them or watch cartoons with them. An alpha who only cares about himself and not others is not an alpha; he’s just an arrogant person whom no one wants to be with. So don’t be like that.”  
  
Nathan, Jennifer, and Marie were running around the room now, squealing and having fun, while Alec stayed next to his parents and glanced up at all of them as they spoke. He considered their words, and a small smile appeared on his lips when he let Jayden’s words sink in. “So… Playing catch and stuff is okay? I’m not too old for that and it doesn’t make me a sissy?”  
  
“No, it makes you normal,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“Hey, _I_ play catch with you guys too sometimes,” Lily pointed out to Alec. “And so does your dad. You’ve never said that we were too old for it.”  
  
“You’re not old; you’re ancient…” Alec murmured quietly, rolling his eyes.  
  
“Hey, young man! Watch your mouth!” Lily warned with a playful tone in her voice.  
  
Alec laughed and jumped over to hide behind Dean as Lily glared him, and the others laughed. Dean shielded Alec from Lily’s glare with his wing, laughing at how his daughter hated being called old.  
  
Marie and Jennifer then came running over to Lily and Tony, while Nathan ran over to Noah.  
  
Noah smiled down at his son as the boy wrapped his arms around him and put his head against his stomach as he hugged him.  
  
“Hey, remember to be careful around mommy’s stomach now,” Jayden reminded Nathan.  
  
Nathan lifted his head from Noah’s stomach and glanced up at them. “Sorry, daddy…” He leaned back a little and smiled when Noah caressed his cheek with affection.  
  
“That’s okay. Just don’t hit me there, otherwise the baby could get hurt,” Noah told Nathan softly.  
  
Nathan nodded slowly. “Okay, mommy.”  
  
Castiel smiled as he watched Nathan lean into Noah’s touch. He then looked over at Jennifer and Marie, who were all hyper and were jumping around in front of Lily and Tony. Alec told them to stop jumping, but that didn’t help much.  
  
“I feel like the kids wanna go outside and play,” Dean spoke, also sensing how full of energy the little ones were.  
  
“Yay! Can we have water fights?” Alec begged, looking up at the adults with a hopeful look on his face.  
  
“If you don’t mind getting wet, then yeah,” Dean grinned.  
  
“Yes!” Alec cheered in excitement. He turned around to look up at Tony. “Will you play too, daddy?”  
  
Tony glanced briefly over at Jayden before looking at Alec again. “Yeah, I think Uncle Jayden and I will join your grandpa and make all of you guys so wet that you’ll have waterfalls coming from your ears.”  
  
Alec laughed and was all excited now, and Nathan and the girls seemed pretty excited as well.  
  
Lily crossed her arms. “Well, then Noah, papa, and I will join and help the kids make _you guys_ wet.”  
  
Castiel’s eyes widened. “I don’t know… I’m too old for that.”  
  
Castiel barely managed to finish his sentence before Dean suddenly swept him off the floor and held him bridal style. The angel squeaked in surprise and flapped his wings helplessly as he tried to get down.  
  
“You’re not old, Cas! And you’re joining, whether you want to or not,” Dean grinned. He refused to put his flailing mate down and instead began to carry him outside into the garden, holding him rather effortlessly.  
  
The others laughed at Castiel’s attempts to get free and followed after them, and Carrie too joined and barked happily.  
  
The kids quickly ran outside together, and Noah slowly followed them. He was a little startled when Lily suddenly slung her arm around his shoulders.  
  
“Come on, Noah. We gotta help the kids make the guys wet,” Lily grinned.  
  
“I don’t have clothes for that, though…” Noah murmured.  
  
“You can just let your current clothes get wet. You have extra clothes with you, right? I know I have some old clothes upstairs, so I can easily change mine, and Tony can just play in his boxers.”  
  
Jayden laughed at the small scowl on Tony’s face when Lily said he could play in just his boxers. Lily and Tony weren’t staying the night, so they had no extra clothes with them.  
  
“Well, fine. I look good in my boxers anyway,” Tony murmured as he and Jayden followed Noah and Lily outside on the terrace. They were met by a shining sun and warm weather as soon as they stepped out the door, and in the garden Dean was already getting the hose and water guns and buckets ready.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but giggle at Tony’s comment.  
  
Everyone got ready to have a water fight. They helped Marie and Jennifer out of their clothes so they could play in their underwear (with them being so young, it wasn’t a problem), and Alec too decided to play in just his boxers, like his dad, since he had no spare clothes. Noah let Nathan play in his underwear as well, though for himself he didn’t take any clothes off. He didn’t mind playing in his shirt and pants, since he had spare ones with him. Jayden took off his shirt and pants and played in his boxers like Tony, and Dean did the same. Castiel was kind of reluctant to take off too much clothes, like Noah, and didn’t take anything off. Lily didn’t either.  
  
Noah didn’t really know how to feel about having his family see Jayden in just his boxers. Jayden was really good-looking and attractive, but it was somehow weird to have them see his mate like that. Jayden didn’t seem to care much though, and Noah also found it weird to see Tony and his dad like that too. At least the guys were wearing underwear that were kind of loose and didn’t reveal too much, even when wet, but you could still see the outline of their junk. That was quite embarrassing, Noah thought, and he tried his best not to look at Tony or his dad.  
  
Everyone laughed and had fun in the garden as they splashed water on each other. There were several water guns and buckets which they let the kids use, but Dean had the water hose so he had the advantage at the moment. Noah, Lily, and Castiel helped the kids reload the water guns whenever they ran out of water. There were enough water guns for everyone, since Dean and Castiel had always had a lot due to their kids always playing water fights in the summer when they were young.  
  
The children were laughing and squealing and having fun, and Alec helped his sisters and Nathan with their water guns when they had trouble. The guys sometimes let them spray them full of water without resisting so that the kids wouldn’t be upset that they couldn’t hit them, and Carrie ran back and forth between them and enjoyed getting wet as well.  
  
Castiel, Noah, and Lily teamed up to get the water hose from Dean, thinking he’d had it for way too long. They charged at him at the same time, and Dean tried to defend himself by spraying them full of water. That didn’t make them back down, though.  
  
“Guys! They’re taking the hose!” Dean yelled at Jayden and Tony when Castiel and Lily almost managed to overpower him. He didn’t let go of the hose though, and he managed to grab Castiel and hold him still as he shoved the water hose into his mate’s shirt to make him back off.  
  
Castiel yelped and tried to get free, laughing and protesting as Dean kept the hose inside his shirt. “Dean, stop! It’s cold! Let go!” His clothes and skin were completely wet now, and the water from the hose felt cold as Dean kept the water running right down the front of his shirt.  
  
Dean just grinned and continued to hold Cas still. “Sorry, Cas, I can’t. Not letting go of the hose.”  
  
“Let him go!” Lily yelled before throwing herself at Dean, trying to yank the hose from his hands, and they laughed as they fought over the hose.  
  
Noah kept his distance because he didn’t want one of them to accidentally push him to the ground while they wrestled like that, but it was rather fun to watch them. Everyone was completely drenched with water. Their wings were wet and dripping, and Noah felt his wet clothes stick to his body. It was a bit embarrassing that his nipples could be seen through his shirt, but so could Castiel’s. The others had no shirts on, and Lily wore a bra, so hers couldn’t be seen.  
  
Jayden and Tony came over to help Dean, but the kids suddenly sprayed them with water. Tony playfully started chasing Alec and the twins around when they ran out of water, and the kids squealed and ran away with Carrie right on their heels.  
  
“More water,” Nathan spoke as he turned to look up at Noah, showing him his empty water gun.  
  
Noah glanced over at Dean at the others before looking at Nathan again. “Grandpa has the hose, so we can’t get more water right now.”  
  
Dean was the one that filled new water into their water guns with the hose, and whenever they needed a refill, Dean would go on timeout and (mostly) not spray them with water while they filled their guns and buckets. Right now he was busy fighting off Lily and Cas though, so they couldn’t get a refill.  
  
Nathan pouted before looking over at Jayden, who was approaching them while Dean, Cas, and Lily were still fighting over the hose. Nathan suddenly squeaked and hid himself behind Noah’s wing.  
  
Noah wondered what was wrong with Nathan, but he had only just looked up to see Jayden before the alpha suddenly threw a bucket of water at him. The bucket had been almost empty, but Noah still gasped as the cold water hit him right in the face. Nathan quickly jumped away and Jayden cracked up.  
  
“I got you,” Jayden grinned, cheering at himself for managing to surprise Noah like that.  
  
Nathan giggled and laughed behind them, finding it rather funny as well.  
  
Noah just stood there, completely drenched and taken by surprise. He soon lifted his gaze and glared up at Jayden, his wet hair dripping in front of his face. When Jayden laughed again, Noah growled and shook his wet wings, causing the water drops on his feathers to hit Jayden, who was now the one to get wet.  
  
Nathan laughed at how the water from Noah’s wings splattered onto Jayden’s skin and face, and he found his father’s face incredibly amusing as he stood there in surprise when Noah got his revenge.  
  
“Why, you!” Jayden warned playfully before running after Noah. The submissive squeaked and laughed as he ran away, but Jayden quickly caught him. He wrapped his arms around Noah’s body from behind, trapping him. Noah’s wings flailed helplessly, but they were stuck between Jayden’s arms and Noah’s body so they couldn’t do much.  
  
“Nooo! Connor!” Noah laughed, trying to free himself from the alpha’s grip.  
  
Jayden just grinned and pressed kisses to Noah’s cheek and neck as he held him, and Nathan watched them with an amused grin.  
  
Meanwhile Castiel and Lily had managed to get the hose from Dean, and Tony had stopped chasing the other kids around. They chuckled at they looked over at Noah and Jayden.  
  
“Hey, be nice to him! He’s pregnant,” Lily chastised Jayden, spraying some water on him with the hose.  
  
Jayden quickly shielded himself from the water, using his wings. “I know that, and I _am_ being nice, aren’t I?” He hugged Noah against his chest and smiled as he nuzzled his mate’s cheek with affection.  
  
Noah smiled and leaned back into him, relaxing more now and wasn’t trying to get away anymore. They were both drenched and wet all over, but Noah didn’t mind. He kind of liked feeling Jayden’s wet body against his own, and he did admit that he had stared a lot at his mate while they had played and had enjoyed the sight of Jayden’s muscles moving whenever he ran around. Jayden looked very attractive when he was wearing just his boxers and was all wet, and Noah had felt Jayden stare at him too when his clothes got wet.  
  
“More, more!” Jennifer and Marie cheered in unison, wanting to keep playing.  
  
“Yeah, I haven’t managed to hit dad properly yet,” Alec said, grinning up at Tony mischievously.  
  
“What are you talking about? You hit my feet earlier,” Tony argued.  
  
“Yeah, but I wanna hit you in the face!”  
  
Tony didn’t look very happy about that.  
  
“And it’s our turn to have the hose,” Lily spoke, holding the hose in her hands and smirking at the guys.  
  
Dean let out a displeased groan and shook his wet wings a little. “Alright, but play fair.”  
  
Lily smirked and aimed the stream of water at Dean, laughing when she hit her father in the face. “We will.”  
  
“That’s not playing fair!” Dean protested, rubbing his eyes after he got hit by the water.  
  
The others laughed and finally they went back to playing. Lily refilled all their water guns and buckets, and the kids soon started chasing the adults around and spraying them with water. Carrie got wet too, but she didn’t seem to mind much; she just enjoyed it that everyone was playing and having a good time.  
  
Everyone got wet as they attacked each other with water guns and buckets. It had been a long time since Dean and Castiel had had so much fun with their kids, and they did seem a little sad that not all five of them were there to be part of it.  
  
Another twenty minutes went by with playing, until finally they had enough. The kids wanted to keep playing, but all the adults were tired and really wanted to get some dry clothes on.  
  
“Shit, I don’t even have any spare underwear around,” Tony groused as they headed up on the terrace.  
  
Jayden chuckled at him. “Sorry; I only brought one extra pair, so I can’t lend you one. Guess you gotta put your pants back on and just not wear your underwear.”  
  
“I think my whole family has to do that…”  
  
Jayden laughed.  
  
“I don’t think I have any old panties left in my room, but I do think I have bras,” Lily murmured so that only Noah and Castiel could hear her. She was picking a bit at her wet clothes, feeling a little embarrassed that her pink bra was visible through her white shirt.  
  
They had all shaken their wings to get rid of most of the water, but the feathers were still dripping and leaving wet spots on the terrace. The hot sun hitting the bricks made it feel warm under their naked feet, but it was rather pleasant. The sun also helped them dry faster and feel warm again after having played with cold water.  
  
“You should go up and see what you have in your old wardrobe,” Castiel told Lily, brushing his wing slightly against hers as he smiled at his daughter.  
  
“Yeah, I will,” Lily smiled. She looked down at her girls then. “Come on, girls. Let’s go back inside and get some dry clothes on, shall we? You too, Alec.”  
  
“Yeah, okay,” Alec murmured.  
  
Marie grinned up at Lily and held up her arms, wanting to be picked up. Lily smiled and picked her up to hold her, and meanwhile Jennifer had Tony pick her up.  
  
Before going inside, Lily cast one more glance at Noah. She smiled as she looked at his wet t-shirt and saw a tiny little swell through it as it clung to Noah’s skin. “Oh, I can see a small bump there already,” she grinned. “At least I think so. Or maybe you just ate too much lunch before coming here.  
  
Noah glanced down at himself and moved a hand over the wet shirt. “Yeah, I do show a little…”  
  
Jayden grinned next to him and curled his tail around Noah’s leg, while Nathan was standing on Noah’s other side and leaning against his mother’s wet wing.  
  
“You should go inside and put on some dry clothes, Noah. You look cold,” Castiel told him, frowning a bit in worry.  
  
“Yeah. Don’t know if that’s bad for the baby or not,” Dean added.  
  
“I don’t feel that cold. But I do want to change my clothes,” Noah spoke.  
  
They all headed inside to get some new clothes on, but Dean let Carrie stay in the garden for a bit longer since she was very wet. The warm sun should dry her up very quick.  
  
They helped the kids put on their clothes again, but since Alec and the twin girls didn’t have any spare clothes with them like Lily and Tony, they would have to just wear their pants and shirts until they came home later. Noah had extra clothes for Nathan, and he and Jayden went up to Noah’s old room to put on fresh clothes and carry their bags upstairs.  
  
Nathan grinned as Noah rubbed his body and wings dry with a towel in the room, while Jayden got dressed behind them. Noah had already put on dry clothes, and he sat on the bed with Nathan standing between his legs while he dried him.  
  
“Did you have fun?” Noah asked his son as he rubbed the towel over his body.  
  
“Yeah, wanna play more!” Nathan chirped.  
  
“Maybe tomorrow. We won’t play more with water today.”  
  
Nathan pouted softly. He then glanced warily at Noah’s stomach before looking up into his eyes again. “Can da baby play wif water wif me too when it comes out?”  
  
Noah smiled and poked Nathan’s nose playfully before reaching for Nathan’s clothes on the bed. “Yeah, but first when the baby’s older.”  
  
Jayden smiled as he listened to them talking. He quickly pulled on some dry boxers while Nathan wasn’t looking and only turned around when he was decent. He watched as Noah helped Nathan put on his clothes and laughed softly when Noah tickled the boy a bit, making Nathan squeal and laugh.  
  
Noah was still getting Nathan dressed when someone knocked on the door. Jayden went over to answer it and saw Lily standing outside.  
  
“Um, can I come in?” Lily asked, still drying her wet hair with a towel. She had dry clothes on now, and Jayden could hear the twins babbling and Tony and Alec talking somewhere in the hallway outside, along with Dean and Castiel’s voices.  
  
“Sure.” Jayden stepped aside and let Lily in, wondering what was up.  
  
Lily quickly went over to Noah and smiled at Nathan when the boy glanced up at her curiously while Noah zipped up his shirt below his wings for him.  
  
“Um, do you have any wing products with you? My feathers are so goddamn messy,” Lily asked, still drying her wet hair.  
  
Noah blinked up at her. “Uh, I don’t think I’ve brought any with me…”  
  
“What, seriously?” Lily exclaimed, disappointed. “And papa says he’s run out of his…”  
  
Jayden chuckled a bit at Lily and felt kind of sorry for her. As soon as Nathan was dressed, the boy ran over to Jayden, who grinned and scooped him up so he could sit on his arm.  
  
“Sorry,” Noah told Lily, feeling a bit sorry for her because her feathers did indeed look kind of messy.  
  
“Argh, that’s just my luck,” Lily sighed, rolling her eyes. “Do you have any extra panties I can borrow then? I hate not wearing any…” She whispered the last part so that only Noah could hear it.  
  
Noah chuckled and gave her an apologetic smile. “Um, I don’t have a tail, remember?”  
  
“Oh my god, how could I forget that?!” Lily exclaimed, looking quite embarrassed. “Sorry. I could have tried them on to see if they fit if we don’t use the same size, but without a tail hole… Gosh, that’s not gonna work.”  
  
“Trying to borrow underwear from Noah?” Jayden asked with a chuckle in his voice. “Not easy when your anatomy doesn’t match…”  
  
“Yeah, no kidding,” Lily sighed, turning to look at Jayden as he spoke. “Do _you_ have any I can borrow?” she asked then, her lips tilting into a joking smirk.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Well, you can borrow the wet ones I just used, but I think they’ll slip down your ass.”  
  
“Yeah, and your stinky underwear doesn’t sound very attractive…”  
  
“Hey, they got washed during the water fight,” Jayden argued, laughing again. Nathan giggled on his arm.  
  
“They need to be boiled before I’d ever come anywhere near them,” Lily murmured.  
  
Noah chuckled at her, finding their conversation quite amusing.  
  
A loud thud and a scream from one of the twins crying in the hallway quickly caught Lily’s attention. She excused herself before going out to check what was going on, and Noah and Jayden went over to the door to see what was happening.  
  
Marie and Jennifer had been running around the hallway while Tony was talking to Dean and Castiel out there, and Marie had tripped and landed on the floor, hurting herself a bit. She was wailing and crying, and Lily and Tony quickly came over to see if she was okay. Jennifer stared at them and sobbed a bit because of her twin’s distress, but Castiel came over and calmed her down. Alec was there too, looking a bit worried about Marie as she cried.  
  
“She okay?” Nathan asked from Jayden’s arm as they watched the scene from the door to Noah’s room.  
  
“Yeah, I think she just hurt her arms a bit,” Jayden replied as he watched Lily and Tony soothing the crying Marie. The girl seemed okay; she hadn’t broken anything, but she was a bit sore and shocked.  
  
Nathan squirmed on Jayden’s arm, indicating that he wanted to be put down on the floor again. Jayden put him down, and he and Noah watched as Nathan first went into Noah’s room and then walked out and headed over to where Marie was still crying. The little girl looked up at him with teary eyes while her parents soothed her, but she brightened up when Nathan handed her one of his stuffed animals.  
  
“You may borrow him. He’ll make you feel better,” Nathan said, smiling as he handed her the toy.  
  
Marie smiled shyly and took the stuffed animal from him. It was a fluffy, white cat, and Marie stared down at its big, blue eyes and ran her hands over the soft, fake fur. Immediately she seemed to feel a bit better, and she hugged the stuffed animal close against her chest.  
  
“Aww, that was nice of you, Nathan,” Lily told him with a soft grin.  
  
The others agreed and smiled when they saw Marie feeling better already.  
  
Jayden and Noah came over to the others, smiling proudly at how attentive Nathan was. The boy turned to smile up at them, happy that his cousin was feeling better now.  
  
Alec looked very pleased with Nathan’s kind gesture as well. He didn’t like it when his sisters got hurt, even though he did find them annoying sometimes.  
  
“What made you think of letting her borrow your toy?” Jayden asked Nathan curiously.  
  
“’Cause you and mommy also let my toys comfort me when I’m sad or hurt,” Nathan replied, like it was obvious.  
  
Jayden chuckled and swept a hand through Nathan’s still wet hair. “Smart thinking, son.”  
  
The others smiled and were relieved that Marie was all happy now. Marie let Jennifer see the stuffed cat too, but she knew it was only a toy she had borrowed and would need to hand it back to Nathan later.  
  
  


***

  
  
In the evening after having had dinner, Lily and Tony left with their children and headed home. It had been a good day with family and fun, and the children had enjoyed playing together. Alec had played with some Legos with Nathan and taught him some more stuff. It was pretty clear that Nathan looked up to Alec, and he had been very happy when the older boy had played with him.  
  
Noah was a bit sad to say goodbye to Lily, but he knew he’d see his sister again soon.  
  
At 8pm, Nathan was getting sleepy. His energy level had dropped a lot after his cousins had left, and he seemed to feel a little sad that he couldn’t play with them anymore. Having Carrie around to play with had cheered him up, though.  
  
“We better brush your teeth and get you to bed,” Jayden told Nathan, taking the boy’s hand to get ready to head upstairs with him.  
  
Nathan resisted a bit, though. He glanced up at his dad, then over at Dean and Castiel in the living room, and then back at his dad. “Can I sleep wif grandma and grandpa tonight?”  
  
Dean grinned. “You wanna sleep in our bed?”  
  
Nathan nodded. He loved to sleep in Dean and Castiel’s bed when they babysat him for a night sometimes. Most of his cousins liked that too.  
  
“Sure. If your grandma and grandpa agree, then you can,” Jayden told Nathan with a soft smile.  
  
“Yeah, we don’t mind. As long as you don’t fart,” Dean told the boy and gave him a firm look. Nathan giggled at that.  
  
“Yeah, he’s gassy,” Jayden laughed.  
  
“Am not!” Nathan protested.  
  
Castiel laughed. “Yeah, you are not as bad as your grandpa.”  
  
“Hey,” Dean warned, bumping his wing into Cas’ in a soft warning.  
  
Jayden laughed at them before turning to head up the stairs. “I’ll go get Nathan ready for bed.”  
  
“I’ll go with,” Noah spoke. “I have to put his blanket and pillow into dad and papa’s bed.”  
  
“Alright. See you afterwards,” Castiel smiled, watching them go.  
  
Noah and Jayden went upstairs with Nathan to get him ready for bed. The boy had already said good night to his grandparents, and he followed Jayden into the bathroom to get his teeth brushed and use the toilet before bed. Meanwhile, Noah collected Nathan’s blanket and pillow from his old room and took them into his parents’ bedroom. He placed them on the bed between Dean and Cas’ own blankets and pillows. Luckily the bed was big, so there was enough space for the three of them, and Nathan usually didn’t mind getting a bit sandwiched when sleeping between them.  
  
After Nathan’s teeth had been brushed, Jayden helped him into his sleepwear and took him to Dean and Cas’ bedroom. He and Noah stayed by Nathan’s side for a bit until the boy was almost asleep, and then they finally left the room quietly.  
  
“Hope he won’t wake up too much when your parents come to bed,” Jayden spoke as he closed the bedroom door after them when they left.  
  
Noah nodded in agreement. He then suddenly turned around to face Jayden, and placed his hands on the alpha’s chest. He lifted his gaze to stared up at his mate, who looked a little bewildered by the gesture. “Can we go to my room before going downstairs again?”  
  
“Sure. Why?”  
  
“Nothing. I just want you so bad,” Noah murmured. He grabbed Jayden’s arm and slowly began dragging him towards his room on the other side of the hallway.  
  
Jayden felt blood rush to his dick almost immediately. “Are you horny?” he asked, teasing in his voice as he grinned at his mate.  
  
“Shh!” Noah shushed him, scared that his parents could hear them since they were walking right past the stairs. He quickly pulled Jayden with him into his old room, and the alpha happily went with him.   
  
They closed the door as soon as they entered the room, and Jayden had barely turned on the lights before Noah sank to his knees in front of him and started unzipping his pants.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted, his hand jumping up to grasp Noah’s hair as the submissive undid his pants and stared up at him with lust in his eyes. The submissive looked so hot when he was on his knees in front of Jayden and staring up at him with that hungry look.  
  
Jayden’s cock sprung free, erect and dripping at the tip, and Noah immediately began licking slow, teasing stripes up its underside. The alpha groaned, loving how Noah’s blue eyes stared up at him innocently while he licked his cock.  
  
“Is the pregnancy already making you get spontaneously horny?” Jayden asked, stroking his hand through Noah’s hair softly before gripping it again.  
  
Noah hummed and licked his tongue over the tip of Jayden’s cock, loving the taste of the precome. “I just like your taste…” he murmured before taking Jayden into his mouth and beginning to suck him.  
  
Jayden let out a pleased moan and tilted his head back as his mate pleasured him. It felt so good, and Noah’s mouth was all wet and warm. Noah was very skilled at giving him pleasure; he knew where to lick, suck, and touch, and Jayden felt his head go dizzy with arousal. He took a step back and felt his back and wings collide with the door. There was a thud when he did that and he hoped that Dean and Castiel hadn’t heard it. It was kind of dirty doing these things with Noah in the room when Noah’s parents were waiting for them downstairs. They had to be quick to not raise suspicion.  
  
Noah sucked Jayden the best he could, humming at the taste and weight of his mate in his mouth, and used his skillful hands to fondle Jayden’s testicles. He rolled the balls in his hand and squeezed them, and he hummed more when he could feel that Jayden was close.  
  
“Fuck, I’m gonna come,” Jayden warned, gripping Noah’s hair tightly and keeping him in place. “So good… You just love my cock, don’t you?”  
  
Noah nodded and whimpered softly when Jayden grasped his hair extra tight. The small whimper made Jayden thrust forward into his mouth by accident, causing him to gag a bit. Noah quickly pushed the alpha back with a hand on his thigh so he wouldn’t get choked again, but the action had already pushed Jayden into his climax. Seeing Noah gag on his cock like that was too much, and his cock pulsed as it started spurting fresh come into Noah’s mouth.  
  
Noah was a little surprised that Jayden came so fast, but he quickly swallowed the semen that flooded into his mouth and loved its salty, yet sweet taste. He stared up at Jayden’s face the entire time, listening to the alpha’s deep groans and moans of pleasure.  
  
When he couldn’t keep up with the coming flooding into his mouth anymore, Noah pulled back. Warm come hit his face, and Noah squeezed his eyes shut and stroked Jayden through the rest until finally it was over.  
  
“Mm, looks nice on you,” Jayden grinned, stroking his hand through Noah’s hair while he watched how his come was painting Noah’s face so prettily. It was on his cheeks, nose, and eyebrow, and Jayden’s dick twitched in approval as he looked at him.  
  
Noah finally opened his eyes and gave a small grunt. He licked his lips to catch some of the come that was on them. A shudder of arousal went through him at how he had been marked by Jayden’s seed, and the taste of it was very pleasant for his body when he was pregnant.  
  
Jayden tucked himself back into his pants, feeling sated and nice after his orgasm. He could smell Noah’s arousal, so he quickly pulled his mate to his feet and licked his face clean of his come before returning the pleasure. He gently turned Noah around so that the submissive’s back was against his chest.  
  
Noah was confused about why Jayden had turned him around like that. “J-Jayden, what are you—” His question was interrupted when he felt Jayden’s hand sneak its way into the back of his pants and into his underwear. Noah squeaked and jerked softly, but Jayden placed a gently hand on his chest and kept him still while his right hand was inside his panties.  
  
“Shh, I’ll be quick,” Jayden soothed him, nuzzling Noah’s head softly while he circled his fingers over the submissive’s leaking hole. The space was tight in Noah’s panties because Jayden had big hands, but it was manageable. He teased the entrance with his fingers for a few seconds before pushing one inside. The tight, slick walls sucked his finger right in, and he twisted it around for a bit before adding another.  
  
Noah was squirming and moaning in Jayden’s hold. He bit his lips to keep his noises down, but he couldn’t stop moaning as Jayden’s fingers moved around inside him.  
  
Quickly Jayden got on with it. He put his index finger and middle finger inside Noah and started fucking him with them. He curled his fingertips so that they were rubbed against the sensitive walls with every thrust, and he increased the speed of his movements to the point where the room was filled with sloppy, obscene sounds as Jayden fucked Noah’s wet hole with two thick fingers.  
  
“Ahh god, Jayden!” Noah moaned, squirming uncontrollably. He was completely at Jayden’s mercy, and the alpha didn’t hold back much with his strength as he kept Noah in place and fucked with him with his fingers. It felt so good and so dirty, and Noah soon felt his orgasm starting to pool in his abdomen.   
  
Jayden growled in approval when he listened to Noah’s muffled, dirty moans. He leaned down and started sucking on Noah’s bared neck to bring him over the edge. Noah was so aroused and sensitive right now that Jayden knew it wouldn’t take much to bring him over the edge.  
  
“I-I’m gonna…!” Noah didn’t manage to say more before he exploded in Jayden’s hold, coming hard into his panties. He bit his lip to hold back his cries, and he whimpered as Jayden continued to finger him through it and whispered soothing words in his ear.  
  
“Shh, that’s it. Good boy,” Jayden murmured soothingly, holding Noah close and feeling his mate’s body jerk with pleasure.  
  
Soon Noah began to relax in his hold, and Jayden slowly stopped his movements when Noah’s orgasm finally subsided. He slowly let go of Noah, who was a panting mess by now and almost couldn’t stand on his legs anymore.   
  
“I hope you have more extra panties with you,” Jayden chuckled and reached out to steady his mate.  
  
“I do,” Noah said, still panting. His body felt nice and sated now, but his panties were wet with slick and come. He cringed at the wet feeling as he slowly went over to the bed and began to take his pants and panties off to change them. Luckily he had brought two pairs of extra panties with him.  
  
Jayden came over and cleaned him up with a towel from one of their bags, since Noah’s butt and thighs were covered in slick, and Noah quickly pulled on a fresh pair of panties. Noah couldn’t change his shirt though, since he had only had one extra shirt with him, so he would have to go downstairs with a shirt that that was a bit wet with his leaking wing oil. He really hoped that his parents wouldn’t notice that.   
  
“I hope your parents aren’t getting suspicious yet,” Jayden murmured.  
  
Noah felt a bit alarmed when Jayden reminded him of that. He hurried up getting dressed, praying that his parents didn’t suspect anything.  
  
Jayden chuckled at him when he saw Noah looking a little panicked now. “Don’t worry; we’ll just tell them that Nathan took a while to fall asleep.”  
  
“But we smell of sex!”  
  
“Um, right.” Jayden looked around the room before going over to one of his bags. He pulled out a deodorant and quickly sprayed himself with it before spraying a bit on Noah too. “There. Problem solved.”  
  
Noah coughed at the sudden heavy scent of male deodorant in the room. “I don’t wear that, though. They’re gonna be suspicious.”  
  
“I’ll just tell them that I sprayed it on you for fun,” Jayden grinned. “Which I kind of did.”  
  
Noah looked more relaxed at that. He quickly put his dirty underwear into a small plastic bag and hid it away. “Um, I better go clean up in the bathroom,” he said then, feeling his face being a bit sticky with Jayden’s saliva after the alpha had licked his come off him.  
  
Jayden smiled and caught Noah in a back-to-chest hug before the submissive could leave. He held Noah tightly against his chest and nuzzled him with affection while roaming his hand softly over the swell on the submissive’s stomach. Knowing that Noah was pregnant and that their baby was growing inside him made Jayden so happy and possessive that he couldn’t stop showing his affection all the time.  
  
Noah flapped his wings a bit and tried to get free, but Jayden refused to let go. Eventually Noah let out a soft sigh and smiled as Jayden placed kisses on his cheek. “Connor, let me go,” he laughed. “I want to go downstairs already. And I have to pee.”  
  
“Mm, but you smell so good and I love touching your belly,” Jayden pouted, still holding him close and not letting go.  
  
“You can smell and touch me all night,” Noah kindly reminded him.  
  
“Yeah, ‘cause you’re all mine.” Jayden purred and nuzzled Noah again before finally letting him go.  
  
Noah chuckled and turned his head to smile at Jayden before going to the bathroom.  
  
Jayden smiled and stretched his arms after Noah had left. His body felt tired and yet very nice as it still tingled with the pleasant aftermath of his orgasm. He grinned to himself at the prospect of slipping into bed with Noah later and cuddle with him on the soft sheets. Noah’s bed wasn’t that big, so they always lay snuggled up against each other when they shared it, and having Noah lie with his head on his chest while sleeping was one of the best things Jayden knew. Luckily Noah’s baby bump wasn’t that big yet, so Jayden didn’t have to be too careful around him. Though, he still had to avoid accidentally hitting him in the stomach when he turned on the bed.  
  
After Noah was done in the bathroom, they headed downstairs together to hang out with Dean and Castiel for a few more hours. They had a few drinks together and played some cards, though Noah stayed away from alcohol while he was pregnant.  
  
The mood was good and they had a good time together, while Nathan was sleeping peacefully upstairs in his grandparents’ bed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’ve started an internship as a store assistant in a big supermarket (didn’t have time to find a place in an office, like I wanted). It’s very exhausting and I’m dead tired when I come home, so I’m sorry that I won’t get to write much during weekdays :( I will try to write a lot this weekend so that I can update soon next week!
> 
> Hope you liked this fluffy chapter :3 I do like writing about family times, and it’s my impression that many of you guys like reading about it. Soon, Noah’s belly will grow even bigger :D


	30. Chapter 30

**December 2053 (Noah is 27, Jayden is 29, Nathan is 4, Eden is 40, Lucy is 5, Lucas is 25, Leila is 55, Micah is 56, Laura is 18 years old).**  
  
“So you finally found your dream house?” Lucas asked Noah during their break as they stood in the kindergarten’s kitchen and did the dishes together.  
  
They had just finished eating lunch with all the kids, and they always placed jugs with water and juice on the tables for the children to drink from. There were about twelve jugs that needed to be cleaned, and Noah and Lucas had volunteered for that job while the other teachers tended to the kids, who were playing outside before classes began. Lucas washed the jugs in the water and cleaned them with soap, and Noah was the one that dried them and put them into place.  
  
Noah rubbed his baby bump with one hand and smiled at Lucas. “Yeah, and it’s not all that far away from where our parents live. The neighborhood is nice and has many kids in it, and David and Millie live just two streets away, so Nathan will get to play with Emily more often again.” He moved his hand away from his stomach to take the next jug from Lucas’ hands and dry it. He was already four months pregnant and his belly had a nice bump on it. Noah liked the size of the bump a lot at this stage, at four to five months. Not too big, not too small. Perfect. Except that it did give him some back pains sometimes and he was going to the bathroom more often, but it wasn’t that bad yet.  
  
Lucas grinned and cleaned the next jug. “I’m glad you found a place. You found it pretty fast, actually. Is there room enough for the new baby and maybe more?”  
  
“Yeah, there’s lots of room; there’s five bedrooms,” Noah replied as he put the jug into the cabinet where it belonged. “And the living room and kitchen are nice and big too. Jayden was very obsessed with the kitchen…”  
  
Lucas laughed. “I can imagine. I wish Caleb could cook like Jayden can…”  
  
“I think he cooks fairly well, and so do you. I can’t cook very well at all…”  
  
“I’m not that good, really,” Lucas spoke with modesty. “Caleb says I’m awful at cooking rice, and Nina doesn’t like my pancakes as much as my mom’s…”  
  
Noah chuckled and smiled at him, taking the next cleaned jug from Lucas’ hands to dry it. He was happy for Lucas that he had settled down and lived a domestic life with Caleb now. After everything Lucas had been through, he deserved that. He had a wonderful family that had adopted him, had a cute, little daughter, and a very loyal and loving mate. Lucas still had times where he’d feel bad and depressed and it would likely always be like that, but he wasn’t as shy and sad as he used to be. He was more open, especially around children and his friends, but he didn’t like confrontations much.  
  
They both looked up when a group of five kids ran through the hallway next to the kitchen, screaming as they chased each other. Two little girls ran into the kitchen to them to hide from a beta demon boy whom they were playing with. One of them was Eden’s daughter Lucy, who had been attending the kindergarten since August. She was five years old now, and along with her was a red-haired human girl who was one of her best friends at the kindergarten. Noah and Lucas quickly figured that they were playing tag, and the girls laughed and squealed as they tried to use them as barriers when the boy tried to tag them.  
  
“Nuooo, you’re cheating!” the boy accused, frustrated that he couldn’t get to them so easily now.  
  
Noah chuckled at them and held his stomach as Lucy hid behind him. She avoided touching his wings as she stood behind him, knowing that you shouldn’t do that without permission. “How about you guys go outside and play? You can’t play in the kitchen, you know that.”  
  
“Okay…” the kids said in unison, turning to leave.  
  
The boy saw his cue to tag the red-haired girl when the girls both emerged from their hiding places, and the girls gasped in surprise. The boy quickly made a run for it though, laughing as he ran away.  
  
“Miiike! That’s unfair!” the red-haired girl shouted after him, looking quite annoyed.  
  
Noah and Lucas laughed, and Noah glanced down at Lucy when she turned to look at him.  
  
“When’s your baby coming out, Noah?” Lucy asked, staring at his belly with interest. She had asked him that before, a few weeks ago, but she had already forgotten about it again.  
  
“In May next year, so that’s just before you finish kindergarten,” Noah told her patiently. He rubbed his belly and smiled down at his curious niece.  
  
A lot of the kids seemed curious when one of the teachers was pregnant – mostly it was the girls and the submissives (Noah had only seen four submissives during the time he had been working there) that thought it was fascinating and interesting. The boys mostly only stared for a while before turning their attention elsewhere – they generally weren’t quite as interested in dolls and babies as the girls were, though with some exceptions. The kids would always stare at the bump, ask about the baby’s gender, and some asked questions about what babies ate and whether or not they cried all the time. It wasn’t everyone who had younger siblings, so they wouldn’t know.  
  
Lucy looked up at him with a small frown on her face. “Won’t it hurt when it comes out?”  
  
“Yeah, but the baby has to come out eventually. And it doesn’t hurt all that bad,” Noah told her. It _had_ hurt a lot when he had had Nathan, but he didn’t want to freak his niece out. Besides, the pain had been manageable. It wasn’t enough to stop him from having another baby, even if he didn’t look forward to the birth itself.  
  
The red-haired girl looked over at Lucas, who was still working on the dishes but was glancing at them most of the time. “Do you have a baby in your tummy too?”  
  
Lucas chuckled and shook his head. “No, but I did once. It was a girl.”  
  
The girls looked very fascinated, but the sound of their friends having fun soon made them turn to leave.  
  
“Bye, Auntie Noah!” Lucy chirped as she and her friend ran off to play.  
  
“Bye,” Noah smiled back, listening to Lucy and her friend squeal as they ran back to play with the others again.  
  


 

***

  
  
The rest of the day went by rather quietly. It was December 1st, so the teachers gathered the kids together in their biggest room and let them produce Christmas decorations to hang up in the kindergarten. They were cutting paper decorations, painting on drawings of Christmas creatures like reindeer, elves, and Santa, and did various other small decorations. It was much fun for the kids and for the teachers, and the children couldn’t wait to show their parents how they had decorated the kindergarten when they came to pick them up later.  
  
The time was nearing 5:30pm, and most kids had been picked up already. Noah and Lucas stayed in one of the rooms with a group of children who hadn’t been picked up yet, while their colleagues were either in the kitchen or outside with some of the kids.  
  
Noah watched the children play and said goodbye to the ones who got picked up. He rubbed his stomach absently as he walked around, and eventually he went over to the corner where seven children were sitting around, playing with toys and waiting for their parents. Lucy was there too, since Eden and Jason were working until 5pm that day.  
  
Noah was talking with the kids in the corner when suddenly he heard the loud voice of an angry father. He glanced over towards Lucas to see what was going on.  
  
Lucas was standing in front of an alpha angel, who was about forty years old, and the guy seemed very upset. Next to the alpha was a young alpha angel boy, who was in one of Noah’s classes.  
  
“Are you telling me that it’s _my_ fault that my kid lost his toy here, under _your_ supervision?” the alpha father roared. He took a threatening step closer to Lucas, who seemed very panicked and frightened about the situation, even though he was trying to act professional.  
  
“Um, well, we do tell children to take care of their own toys if they bring them here. We cannot keep track of which toys belong to who, and it is the child’s responsibility to take care of their toys if they bring them here,” Lucas spoke, quivering a bit as he stared up at the angry alpha. His wings were lowered to show that he did not want to engage in a fight, and his tail was resting between his feet in a frightened manner.  
  
The alpha growled in frustration, his wings spreading a bit. “That toy was expensive as hell! You better find it.”  
  
“I-I can’t promise that we will find it, but we will look. Please don’t let your son bring his toys here anymore if he ends up losing them.”  
  
“You don’t tell me what to do, you sub!” the alpha snapped, stepping forward again and getting aggressive.  
  
The little boy quickly pulled at his dad’s arm, trying to get him away from Lucas, whose eyes widened in terror when he had such an aggressive alpha right in front of him. “No, daddy! Not Lucas’ fault! I won’t lose my toys anymore, I promise!”  
  
Noah immediately got up and went over to help, sensing that the situation was getting out of hand. He could see that Lucas was about to have a panic attack, so he needed to come help him out before the alpha got any closer.  
  
“Hey! Please back off, sir,” Noah said in a very firm voice and put himself between Lucas and the alpha father. He felt Lucas grab some of his feathers and his shirt to seek comfort with him as he trembled behind him in fear and panic, and Noah spread his wings a little to shield his friend while glaring up at the alpha.  
  
The children in the room gasped and gathered in the corner, feeling a bit scared about what was going on.  
  
The alpha took a cautious step back when Noah got in front of him, and his eyes quickly flickered down to stare at Noah’s pregnant belly. That seemed to make him calm down a bit. However, as soon as he took in Noah’s unusual wings, his expression changed again. “And _you_ certainly don’t get to tell me what to do, you filthy crossbreed!”  
  
Noah tried not to flinch at the insult and instead kept glaring back at the alpha. He knew he had to calm that alpha down right away to not upset the children any further. “Please calm down, sir. We will look for the toy and hopefully find it, but you are scaring the children and your own son right now, so please stop raising your voice.”  
  
Finally the alpha glanced around the frightened children and at his own son. He fidgeted a bit before stepping back and turning to leave. “Come on, Luke,” he told his son and grabbed his hand as he left with him. Luke glanced back over his shoulder at Noah, Lucas, and the other children as his father dragged him out of there. He didn’t look very happy.  
  
As soon as the alpha was gone, Noah let out a deep sigh of relief. He quickly turned around to look at Lucas to make sure that the other submissive was alright. Lucas was trembling and taking deep breaths to calm down, and Noah gently put his hands on Lucas’ shoulder and looked him in the eye.  
  
“Shh, just breathe. It’s okay,” Noah said, trying to stop Lucas from hyperventilating.  
  
Lucas slowly began to calm down, but not much, so Noah had to pull him into another room and away from the children to not upset them further.  
  
“It’s okay, children. Lucas is fine,” Noah told them, flashing them a quick smile before taking Lucas back into the kitchen.  
  
The kitchen was just down the hallway after they exited the room, and Lucas kept quivering as they walked there. He was breathing fast and unevenly, and Noah could tell that he was very affected by what had happened just now.  
  
“Oh god, what happened?” asked their colleague Kia when they came into the kitchen, where she had been cleaning up a bit. Kia was the female angel that had helped Noah a lot when he started working in the kindergarten, and she got along well with him and Lucas. She could immediately tell that Lucas wasn’t feeling so well and that he was distressed about something.  
  
“Some asshole father,” Noah murmured, still trying to calm Lucas down. “Can you go to the room and look after the children? All the others are outside…”  
  
“Sure.” Kia gave them both a worried look before leaving the kitchen to go be with the children, who were still waiting for their parents to come.  
  
Noah gently guided Lucas over to sit down on a chair after Kia had left, and he pushed another chair over next to Lucas’ and sat down on it so that they were facing each other. He kept his hands on Lucas’ shoulders and tried to make him breathe properly again.  
  
Lucas was more calm now that they were alone and away from that alpha. His breathing began to slow down and get a bit more relaxed.  
  
“I-I’m sorry. That guy… I was so scared,” Lucas stuttered, glancing up at Noah with eyes that were full of shame and fear. He didn’t do very well with confrontations, and Noah knew that. Lucas didn’t like it when people raised their voice or got threatening when talking to him, because it reminded him a lot of his abusive father.  
  
“It’s okay. He’s gone now,” Noah told him, squeezing Lucas’ shoulder a bit. He started to feel nausea beginning to build in his throat, but he swallowed it back for now. He needed to keep his focus on Lucas.  
  
Lucas nodded and stared into his lap as he took a deep breath to calm down. “T-Thanks for helping me. The kids got quite scared, though…”  
  
“We all did. That alpha was out of line and I’m pretty concerned for Luke, actually…” Noah murmured.  
  
They did meet upset parents sometimes, and Noah had encountered hostile alphas before because they didn’t approve of his heritage, but that alpha had been more threatening in his posture than most. He had scared Noah a lot too, and he had had to gather all the courage he had to not back down as the alpha stood in front of him like that. It was not pleasant at all.  
  
“I hope the kids are alright…” Lucas murmured, feeling more concerned for them now than himself.  
  
“I think Kia will reassure them. And I don’t think that they really understood what was going on…”  
  
Lucas took a few more controlled breaths until finally he was breathing normally again. He still trembled a little, though.  
  
Noah slowly leaned back when he felt that Lucas was okay again. He smiled at his friend before suddenly feeling more nausea building in his throat. His expression quickly changed when he felt the urge to vomit, and he hurried over to the sink and threw up in it.  
  
Lucas got up fast to see if he was okay. “Are you alright?”  
  
Noah heaved once more, groaning at the awful taste of bile. He still had morning sickness sometimes, so it happened that he had to leave while teaching a class so that he could go to the toilet and vomit. It was very annoying, but his boss was very understanding about it, at least. He turned on the water in the tap to clean out the mess he had made in the sink. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just morning sickness…”  
  
Lucas cringed in sympathy and gently ran a hand up and down Noah’s back to comfort him, avoiding his wings.  
  
Noah cleaned out the mess before taking a paper tissue to wipe his mouth with. His nausea was pretty much gone now, and he slowly turned to look at Lucas. “Are you feeling better?”  
  
Lucas gave a short nod. “Yeah, thank you. I’m sorry I got like that, though…”  
  
“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.”  
  
Lucas looked away and bit his lip guiltily. Noah stared at him for a few seconds before pulling him into a hug and rubbing his back for comfort. Lucas hugged him back, careful not to press against Noah’s baby bump. He let out a small, content sigh which made Noah smile.  
  
They stood like that for a few moments before pulling away. Noah felt a small kick inside him as they pulled apart.  
  
“Oh. Hello,” Noah chuckled fondly at his stomach and placed his hand there to rub it in gentle circles.  
  
“Did the baby kick?” Lucas asked, smiling broadly.  
  
“Yeah, he or she is moving around a bit,” Noah grinned, running his hand over his stomach to see if he could feel the movement on his hand. He was 17 weeks pregnant, but Charlie wouldn’t be able to tell the gender of the baby until he was about 20 weeks in, so he and Jayden had to be patient for a bit longer.  
  
Lucas grinned, feeling excited for Noah. “I like it when you can feel your baby moving. Nina moved a lot…”  
  
Smiling, Noah kept rubbing his belly and staring at it with a loving expression on his face. “Yeah, this one moves a lot too. A bit more than Nathan did at this stage, I think. Or maybe I have just gotten better at sensing it when it moves…”  
  
Lucas smiled and reached out his hand to touch Noah’s belly. He hesitated and waited for Noah’s approval before putting his hand there, and when he did his smile widened. He couldn’t feel much though, but it was a nice, trusting moment between him and Noah.  
  
The two submissives stood in the kitchen for a bit longer until finally going back to the room where the remaining children were. The children had calmed down, and they came over to see if Lucas was alright when he entered the room again. Lucas was touched by their concern and reassured them that he was fine now.  
  
A minute after they had returned to the room, Eden showed up to pick up Lucy.  
  
“Noah!” Eden beamed, coming over to hug her little brother. Noah happily hugged her back, and afterward she grinned at his belly in excitement. “I like coming here every day to pick up Lucy so I can see how your pregnancy is progressing.”  
  
Noah chuckled and shifted shyly. “Yeah, the little one is growing quite fast.”  
  
“Do you remember to take your prenatal vitamins?”  
  
Noah rolled his eyes fondly at how much Eden was acting like a big sister now. “Yeah, and Jayden won’t let me forget to take them, anyways. He always reminds me of it.”  
  
Eden let out a soft laugh. “Yeah, he’s very caring and wants to make sure that you and the baby are alright.” She looked at Noah with a fond smile before glancing around the place. “Wow, you guys made so many pretty decorations!”  
  
Lucy grinned proudly. “Yeah, and I made that one!” She pointed up at a drawing of Santa’s reindeer on the wall.  
  
“Oh, you’re getting good,” Eden grinned, proudly brushing some of Lucy’s sandy-colored hair back behind her ear. Lucy smiled at that, but then her expression suddenly changed.  
  
“Um, mommy?” Lucy said, pulling at Eden’s shirt a bit with a worried frown on her face. “There was a bad man here earlier…”  
  
Eden frowned and looked up at Noah. “A bad man? Does she mean another one of those stupid racists?”  
  
“Um, kind of,” Noah began. “There was an alpha angel here earlier, who was yelling at Lucas because his son lost a toy. And he wasn’t very nice to me either… He scared us and some of the kids with his aggressiveness.”  
  
“Yeah, he scary and said mean things…” Lucy murmured.  
  
“Argh, what a stupid asshole!” Eden growled. “Don’t pay attention to guys like him. You too, Lucas,” she added as she looked over at Lucas, who was standing somewhere behind Noah.  
  
Lucas nodded a bit. “Yeah… Thanks.”  
  
“Well, I gotta get home now. Jason, Daniel, and Luna are waiting in the car,” Eden said, holding Lucy’s hand. “Greet Nathan and Jayden from me,” she told Noah, smiling at him.  
  
“Yeah, greet Nathan!” Lucy chirped with a wide grin, eager to follow her mom home.  
  
“I will,” Noah smiled.  
  
Eden and Lucy left, and Noah waved goodbye at his sister and niece. Afterwards he stayed a bit longer with Lucas, Kia, and two others until all the children had been picked up.  
  


 

***

  
  
Jayden was having another busy day in the restaurant. Orders kept coming in, and he and the two other chefs in the kitchen at the moment hurried to fill the orders on time. Being quick was important, but at the same time the food had to be of perfect quality – both in taste and appearance – so that the customers would have nothing to complain about. The two other chefs in the kitchen at the moment were an alpha angel in his late thirties named Alex, and a blonde female demon named Louise, who was 24 years old. Louise was new, so Jayden and Alex were busy teaching her some of their routines while cooking the food at the same time.  
  
Jayden kept glancing up at the clock, which read 6:23pm now. He was off at 6:30, as soon as his replacement arrived to take his shift. He couldn’t wait to come home and spend time with Noah and Nathan and finally be able to relax. Unfortunately their SUV was in for repairs, so Jayden had had to take the subway to work that day and had plans to take the subway home as well. He hated public transport, but he had told Noah that he didn’t have to pick him up that day. Noah had seemed kind of tired lately because of his pregnancy, so Jayden didn’t want him to drive around too much when he could rest instead.  
  
While Jayden was busy reminding Louise about where the pork meat was in the freezer, one of the waitresses suddenly came into the kitchen.  
  
“Jayden, your mate and son are here,” the waitress said, smiling at him.  
  
Jayden blinked over at her in confusion, and he was surprised to see her leading Noah and little Nathan into the kitchen.  
  
“Daddy!” Nathan exclaimed happily. He ran over to Jayden, who had to step away from the stove when the boy wrapped his arms around his waist and hugged him.  
  
“Whoa, what are you guys doing here?” Jayden asked, grinning at them. He was happy to see his mate and son, but he was rather surprised to see them back in the kitchen.  
  
Noah smiled and came over to Jayden, who leaned down so they could share a quick kiss while Nathan was still hugging him. Noah stepped back afterwards and was careful not to touch anything in the kitchen because of hygiene regulations. He wasn’t actually allowed back there and neither was Nathan, but the waitress had led them into the kitchen anyway, telling them not to touch anything.  
  
“We’re picking you up,” Noah replied, chuckling at how confused Jayden looked.  
  
Jayden stroked a hand through Nathan’s hair as the boy still hugged him. Nathan didn’t seem to care much that Jayden’s chef clothes were kind of stained with food. He was just happy to see his dad again after a long day in the daycare, and yesterday they hadn’t seen each other at all because Jayden had come home late from work.  
  
“I told you that you didn’t have to…” Jayden spoke, looking at Noah, who just smiled and shrugged his shoulders a bit.  
  
“Oh, so that’s your mate and kid,” Alex spoke, grinning as he looked at Noah and Nathan. “Nice to meet you. I’m Alex.” He reached out to shake Noah’s hand, which Noah accepted.  
  
“Aww, he’s cute,” Louise grinned when she saw how little Nathan was still leaning into Jayden.  
  
Nathan slowly pulled away from his father and looked up at the female demon with a small, shy grin. He fidgeted a bit before going over to Noah and leaning a bit into his mother’s comforting wing.  
  
Louise then approached Noah. “Hi,” she smiled and reached out to shake his hand next. “I’m Louise. I’m new here, so Jayden and Alex are helping me get used to this kitchen.” She stared a bit at Noah’s pregnant bump, but it only made her smile broaden.  
  
“I see,” Noah smiled, shaking her hand back. “I hope that Jayden is not that troublesome to work with.”  
  
“Hey,” Jayden protested softly. He glared at his colleagues when they laughed.  
  
“Nah. He’s quite helpful, despite his and Alex’s lame jokes sometimes,” Louise said, smirking at the two.  
  
“It’s alpha humor. Get used to it,” Alex laughed.  
  
Noah chuckled and absently rubbed his belly as he looked between them. Nathan stood next to him and grabbed his free hand while staring around the kitchen, taking in everything he could see from his height.  
  
Alex glanced down at Noah’s belly before looking over at Jayden. “Oh, so you _are_ gonna be a daddy again, huh? You didn’t tell me that your mate is so cute and hot, though…” There was a playful, teasing tone in his voice, but it wasn’t rude or anything. He looked at Noah then with a smile that said that he hadn’t meant anything bad by it at all; he was just messing around with Jayden. He even gave Noah a small wink to tease Jayden further, and it worked.  
  
Jayden had to hold back a possessive growl at Alex’s words and gesture. “Hey, don’t flirt with my mate. He’s _mine,_ okay?” He scowled over at Alex, who cracked up when he saw the glare on his face. He was always uneasy when others looked at Noah with interest or tried to flirt with him, even though it was just to tease him like Alex was doing right now. It poked at Jayden’s protective and possessive instincts, and Alex knew that damn well – he had a mate too.  
  
“I’m just kidding, man,” Alex laughed, stirring in the potatoes he was cooking while sending Jayden a smug smirk. “I already have a mate, you know.”  
  
Noah blushed a bit at how Alex had flirted with him for fun. He wasn’t upset about it; he actually felt a little bit flattered, and he thought that it was kind of funny to see how Alex was trying to tease Jayden with it. He could tell that Alex had no real interest in him, so there was no need for him to feel alarmed about it.  
  
Nathan didn’t quite understand what they were talking about. He just stayed close to Noah and glanced around the kitchen curiously. He tried to walk over to investigate some of the stuff, but Noah held his hand and kept him in place to make sure that he didn’t contaminate anything.  
  
Louise giggled at them. “Men are so weird sometimes.”  
  
“Yeah,” Noah agreed, snickering.  
  
Jayden just chuckled and quickly turned the meat around on the pan in front of him. He had almost forgotten to keep an eye on the food. “My replacement isn’t here yet, but he should be here any moment now.”  
  
“That’s okay. We can wait,” Noah spoke. He glanced down at Nathan, who still seemed quite interested in kitchen. It was the first time that Nathan was visiting his dad’s workplace, and Noah hadn’t been in the kitchen since Jayden started working there. It was nice to meet some of Jayden’s colleagues and see how Jayden spent his day at work. The heavy smell of food in the kitchen made Noah begin to feel a little nauseous, though. Some scents affected him more than others during his pregnancy, and the kitchen scent was starting to become too much for him. He didn’t want to leave just yet though, since he wanted to wait for Jayden to be ready.  
  
Jayden, Alex, and Louise quickly went back to work to ensure that they were on time, and Noah and Nathan watched as Jayden went from pan to pan to take care of multiple orders at the same time. Noah thought it was kind of interesting to see Jayden in his work environment and get an idea of what he was doing during the day.  
  
“Whose food is dat?” Nathan asked curiously as he pointed at the pans Jayden was working at.  
  
“This is for the customers in the restaurant,” Jayden explained to him patiently. “I make food for them so that they can have something to eat. This is how daddy earns money.”  
  
“Oh.” Nathan observed Jayden and the others for a bit before looking up at Noah. “Mommy, I’m hungry… I want food too.”  
  
Noah let out a soft chuckle. “I know. We’ll eat as soon as we get home.”  
  
The backdoor to the kitchen suddenly swung open, and they looked up to see that Jayden’s replacement had finally arrived. The beta demon who arrived was a little surprised to see Noah and Nathan there, but he came over and greeted them politely before letting Jayden go home for the day.  
  
Noah watched as Jayden explained to the beta which orders he was currently working on and what needed to be finished, and after that Jayden said goodbye to his colleagues before leading Noah and Nathan out the backdoor. Everyone said goodbye to Noah and Nathan as well, and Noah was very satisfied with how kind and open everyone had been towards him and Nathan. It was nice that Jayden had good colleagues who weren’t racists.  
  
Jayden quickly got out of his chef clothes before he, Noah, and Nathan began heading home. They walked through the heavily crowded mall together to head out to where Noah had parked their Hyundai outside, and Nathan persuaded Jayden to let him sit on his shoulders as they walked. Nathan held on tight to Jayden’s head, while Jayden wrapped his hands around the boy’s legs, which were dangling against his shoulders.  
  
“Easy with that tail, Nathan,” Jayden chuckled, feeling how the small appendage kept swishing back and forth and hitting his back sometimes.  
  
Nathan just grinned and accidentally moved his hands over Jayden’s eyes as he held on to him.  
  
“Hey! If you make me blind, I’m gonna walk into a wall and then you’ll fall off,” Jayden laughed, warning Nathan gently.  
  
“Sorry, daddy,” Nathan giggled and put his hands elsewhere.  
  
Noah chuckled at them and tried to keep up with Jayden as the alpha sneaked his way through the masses to head outside. The mall was crowded and noisy just before Christmas, and Nathan wanted to stop at every toy store he saw so he could look at toys. Noah and Jayden didn’t really have time for that, though; they just wanted to go home.  
  


 

***

  
  
After coming home, they began making dinner while Nathan played with some toys in the living room. Noah helped out Jayden in the kitchen for a bit by keeping an eye on the pasta, get the table set and ready, and hand Jayden the stuff he needed. They were having pasta with meatballs – one of Nathan’s favorites.  
  
Jayden could tell that Noah was kind of tired today as well. When Noah was pregnant, he usually had days where he was more tired than others, but Jayden also sensed that there was something else on his mate’s mind. He didn’t really have time to ask him about it though, since Nathan interrupted them all of sudden.  
  
They shared dinner together as a family, and Nathan was very happy that Jayden was eating with them tonight. There were some nights where the alpha wasn’t home at all while Nathan was awake, and he missed his dad a lot on those nights.  
  
When dinner was over, Noah and Jayden did the dishes while Nathan played with the cat, and after that the family sat down in front of the TV for a while until it was time for Nathan to go to bed. They took Nathan to the bathroom to brush his teeth before going with him to his bedroom to get him into bed. They let him dress himself in his sleepwear, but before Nathan lay down in his bed, he walked over to Noah and placed his hands on his mother’s belly.  
  
“Good night, mommy, and good night, little bruhder or sister,” Nathan spoke, pressing a kiss to Noah’s baby bump.  
  
Noah smiled at Nathan and swept a hand through the boy’s hair. “Good night, Nathan. Sweet dreams.”  
  
Nathan grinned up at him before jumping over to his bed and getting in. He pulled his Spiderman toy close, hoping he would protect him from bad dreams.  
  
Jayden tucked him in and read him a small story, until Nathan fell asleep and he and Noah could finally leave the room.  
  
“I’m gonna go take a shower and then go to bed too. I’m sleepy…” Noah spoke after they had closed Nathan’s door and stood in the quiet kitchen outside.  
  
“Alright.” Jayden ran a hand through Noah’s feathers and followed him with his eyes as the submissive left the room.  
  
Noah took a shower and then went to bed afterwards. Jayden took a quick shower as well after Noah was done. Jayden washed the smell of the kitchen out his hair, skin, and feathers before joining Noah in the bedroom. It was only 8:50pm, but both of them had felt kind of tired the whole day.  
  
Noah was still awake when Jayden entered the room. He sat up against the headboard, dressed in a t-shirt and panties, and watched TV while his hands moved idly over his baby bump. All the lights were off in the room except for the small lamp on Noah’s bedside table, and TV illuminated the room as well.  
  
Jayden smiled at the sight of his mate rubbing his belly before undressing himself. “Did it just start?” Jayden gestured at the TV.  
  
Noah glanced over at him, briefly running his eyes down his mate’s naked chest before looking at his face again. “No, it’s over half-way through.” He turned his attention back to the TV then.  
  
“Ah, damn.” Jayden quickly got out his pants and went over to climb into bed, dressed in just his boxers. It was kind of warm in the room, despite it being winter, and he was grateful that they had such a good heating system.  
  
Jayden sat down next to Noah and watched the last part of the show with him. It was a mid-season finale episode and it seemed very dramatic. They sat quietly next to each other and watched, and Noah grabbed one of the excess pillows and hugged it against his chest as the episode titled towards its end. There was some moment between the main couple in the series, and Noah was quite touched by the sad scene after the girl’s father had died.  
  
Jayden looked at Noah out of the corner of his eye and let his wing touch Noah’s as they sat there together. He thought it was cute how Noah was getting all teary, but he didn’t say anything. He wanted to let Noah watch the scene undistracted, and he knew his mate would get mad if he made any comments about it now. Noah could be quite touchy when he was distracted by one of his favorite TV shows and when he was pregnant.  
  
Finally the episode ended and Noah turned off the TV. The submissive lay down on the bed and wrapped his blanket around him, and Jayden did the same. Noah’s lamp was still on, casting a bit of light around the room.  
  
“You’re so quiet today,” Jayden spoke after a few seconds of silence, watching Noah as they lay there, facing each other. “Did something happen at work?”  
  
Noah sighed and pulled the blanket closer around himself. “There’s some boy in kindergarten whom I’m worried about… His name’s Luke. His dad came in to pick him up today and he started scolding Lucas because Luke had lost his toy. Lucas almost had a panic attack, and Luke seemed very upset as well. I don’t think that alpha is a very good father to him… Luke has been acting kind of depressed lately, actually, and I know that he doesn’t have a mother.”  
  
“Maybe you should report the father to the social services,” Jayden suggested, frowning a bit in worry.  
  
“Yeah, maybe I should… For Luke’s sake. I just hope that the guy won’t make another scene in front of Lucas and the children again. He was so aggressive and scary…”  
  
“Man, that guy sounds like an ass. Is Lucas okay?”  
  
Noah nodded. “Yeah, Lucas is alright. I helped him out, but that alpha wasn’t very nice to me either…”  
  
Jayden let out a small, angry growl. No one should talk to his mate in a disrespectful manner. It pissed him off when they did. “I’ll happily kick his ass.”  
  
Noah chuckled. “I know.”  
  
Jayden watched his face silently and reached out to sneak his hand in under Noah’s blanket. He found his mate’s arm and rubbed it in small, soothing motions, hoping to comfort him. Noah purred and closed his eyes for a few moments, letting himself be distracted.  
  
After a few minutes of silence and comfort, Noah pulled his blanket aside and sneaked in under Jayden’s blanket. He rolled around until he was on top of Jayden and was straddling him under the blanket.  
  
Jayden blinked up at him and placed his hands on Noah’s hips as he stared at his mate. His dick began to harden in his boxers when Noah’s ass was just inches above it.  
  
Noah smiled at him and leaned down to kiss Jayden softly on the lips, mewling when the alpha’s grip on his hips tightened with possessiveness. He kissed Jayden and let the alpha bite gently at his lips while he slowly began to rub his ass against Jayden’s hardening cock. “I want you…”  
  
The alpha let out a pleased growl before reaching down and starting to pull Noah’s panties off. Noah helped him out a bit and was just about to roll over on the bed so they could make love, but Jayden stopped him. Instead, the alpha guided him up to straddle his head so that Jayden had free access to Noah’s leaking hole and his little dick. He immediately began to lick at Noah’s opening, teasing it with his tongue and cleaning up the slick that poured from it.  
  
“Ah, Jayden,” Noah moaned, trying to balance himself and not shove his ass down into Jayden’s face too hard. He was only wearing his t-shirt now, but since the room was warm he didn’t feel cold. He closed his eyes and moaned in appreciation as Jayden teased and played with his hole. It felt so good and it was embarrassing how wet he got from the attention.  
  
Jayden pushed a finger inside and twisted it around, rubbing the sensitive walls and stimulating Noah to produce more slick. He loved listening to Noah’s sweet noises as he pleasured him, and the submissive’s slick tasted so delicious that Jayden couldn’t get enough of it. He buried his tongue inside Noah and fondled his balls gently at the same time, knowing how much Noah liked that.  
  
“Oh god, so good,” Noah moaned, biting his lip at the pleasure. “P-Please don’t stop. Oh!”  
  
Jayden just smirked, feeling his confidence grow at how well he was at pleasing his mate. He knew he could make Noah come right now if he wanted, but he wanted to drag it a bit so he could keep having fun with him.  
  
The alpha continued to fuck Noah with his tongue and touch his balls. He pushed a finger or two into him every now and then to fill him up more, and was rewarded by Noah’s sweet moans and by how he tried to press his ass down into his face. Noah’s wings spread out and flapped unconsciously, and Jayden could tell that Noah was getting more and more desperate for release.  
  
“Please,” Noah begged, needing to come so badly.  
  
Jayden smirked and sucked hard on Noah’s hole to make him come. He reached up and circled his thumb over the head of Noah’s dick, knowing it would bring him over the edge.  
  
Noah came almost instantly, holding back a cry as he twitched and jerked through his climax and shot his wet release over Jayden’s hand. Some of it hit the headboard in front of him, but they could clean that up later.  
  
Jayden helped Noah through his climax and continued to rub the pink pucker afterwards. Noah made a soft noise at that, since he was beginning to feel a bit overstimulated.  
  
“Mm, that was hot. You taste so nice,” Jayden hummed, blowing softly at Noah’s hole and watching it twitch and tighten in response.  
  
Noah let out another small noise, sounding sated and tired.  
  
Jayden smirked and patted Noah’s butt gently before sliding out from under him. Noah glanced back at him, but obediently let himself be guided onto his hands and knees when Jayden was ready to fuck him. Jayden’s cock was aching for some action because he got so turned on from eating Noah out, and Noah licked his lips when he caught a glimpse of how hard and throbbing it looked. The alpha had stretched him earlier while he was playing with his hole, so Jayden just had to take off his underwear and push into him.  
  
“Ready for me?” Jayden asked, nudging his cock teasingly over Noah’s hole without pushing in. The pucker twitched in response, as if it was impatient for Jayden to push inside so that it could swallow him up and give him pleasure.  
  
Noah moaned and lowered his wings more. “Yes. Please put it in me.”  
  
“Mm.” Jayden teased Noah a bit more with his cock, loving how he was making his mate beg for it even though Noah had just come. When Noah let out an impatient, small growl, Jayden pushed into him, going all the way inside on the first thrust.  
  
Noah let out a keen cry when Jayden’s cock finally slid into him and filled him up. He grasped the sheets with his hands and mewled as he pushed back into his mate to meet his thrusts.  
  
Jayden’s hands quickly encircled Noah so that he was hugging him and touching his stomach while he pounded into him. He rubbed the swollen belly tenderly while pushing his hips against Noah’s, moaning he buried himself inside his mate over and over.  
  
“You’re so beautiful,” Jayden purred, nuzzling the back of Noah’s neck tenderly. Their wings were spread out and touched sometimes as they moved together. Noah moaned every time their wings touched and sent shivers of pleasure up his spine, and Jayden too found it very pleasing when their wings made contact. “Love how swollen your stomach is already. Makes you look so feminine and maternal, and I like that.”  
  
A small smile twitched on Noah’s lips, and he gently pushed his wings up to let them touch Jayden’s larger ones. “I like it too.” And he did like it. He liked being somewhat feminine and seeing Jayden get off on it. And he liked carrying their baby inside him and feeling it grow until it was ready to face the world. The baby was a testimony to them being biologically compatible, and that he was able to take Jayden’s seed to create life from it.  
  
Jayden hummed and rested his head near Noah’s shoulder as he continued to thrust into him. His balls slapped against Noah’s butt every time he bottomed out inside him, and his cock was rubbing nicely against the tight walls inside Noah’s ass, pleasuring them both. He could feel Noah’s oil glands leaking and him getting some on his chest as they moved together, but that only turned Jayden on more. He tried to put as much pressure as he could against the glands to stimulate Noah better. When he succeeded, Noah cried out in response and gripped the sheets tighter.  
  
“Please, please, please! I’m gonna come again,” Noah moaned out, biting into his lip so that he wouldn’t be too loud. Nathan could suddenly be standing outside their door, and Noah didn’t want him to hear them. He had heard Jayden lock the door earlier, so he didn’t need to worry about their son suddenly coming inside, at least.  
  
“Already? Jeez, you’re so insatiable. Or I’m just hella good,” Jayden said with a cocky smirk behind Noah’s back. He shifted a bit before pounding into Noah harder, having to put one hand on the bed to steady himself as he increased the speed and hardness.  
  
Noah rolled his eyes at Jayden’s cockiness, but cried out when the alpha suddenly pounded into him with more force. He moaned and begged, soon feeling his climax pool in his abdomen. He could tell that Jayden was close too, judging from the alpha’s small grunts and growls of pleasure and desperation.  
  
Jayden roamed his hand over Noah’s belly before moving it up to touch his nipples. He rubbed and pinched them gently, which was what pulled Noah over the edge.  
  
Crying out and shaking, Noah came hard for the second time that night, spilling his release over the sheets under them. His tightening muscles pulled Jayden with him, and he moaned when he felt the alpha’s warm semen enter him.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted, pumping Noah’s body full of his seed. He kissed and nuzzled the back of Noah’s neck and shoulder as he trembled through his orgasm, and he left a small bite on the delicate skin too to show his claim.  
  
Noah shuddered at the bite but didn’t protest. It was on his shoulder, which could be covered with a shirt anyway if it left a bruise.  
  
They panted for breath as the climax subsided, and Jayden slowly pulled out of Noah and helped his mate lie down afterwards. Noah was tired and exhausted, and Jayden made sure he was comfortable before collecting a towel from one of the drawers to clean them both up with. After they were clean, Jayden finally climbed back onto the bed with his mate.  
  
Noah smiled as Jayden settled himself on his stomach between Noah’s spread legs and touched his baby bump lovingly.  
  
“Hey, little one,” Jayden spoke in a soft voice, pressing a kiss to the swollen skin. He had pushed Noah’s t-shirt up a bit to have access to his skin. “I hope I didn’t wake you up too much, I just had to borrow your mom for a bit. He was being kind of needy…”  
  
“Jayden!” Noah complained with an embarrassed whine and gave Jayden a small kick with his foot.  
  
Jayden just laughed at him before turning his attention to his mate’s stomach again. He smiled and trailed his fingers over the soft skin. “I’m curious to see whether we’re having another beta, or if we’ll have an alpha, a submissive, or a girl…”  
  
“Mm, yeah,” Noah agreed, staring up at the ceiling for a bit while enjoying the way Jayden was touching his belly. “I kind of want a girl…”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Yeah, you’ll be so good at doing hair and buying skirts.”  
  
Noah gave Jayden another small kick when he sensed a hint of teasing in his voice. “So what? Most girls like having pretty hair and wearing pretty dresses and skirts. Some boys do too.”  
  
“Yeah, that’s true. I wasn’t trying to be mean.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
“Besides, you also look good in skirts,” Jayden added and gave Noah a lewd smirk. “Love when you let me fuck you when you’re wearing that school girl’s skirt…”  
  
Noah’s face blushed heavily. While he was in college, Jayden had bought him a school girl’s skirt and stockings to make things a bit kinky. Noah had to admit that he looked very good in that and that he liked wearing it, and he loved how it turned Jayden on when he wore it. Unfortunately he didn’t wear it very often, though.  
  
“You should wear it more. It would look sexy on you while you’re pregnant,” Jayden spoke and pressed more, small kisses to Noah’s belly.  
  
Noah squirmed and tried to not to get aroused by the idea. “You’re a pervert…”  
  
“Would be boring if I wasn’t,” Jayden grinned.  
  
Noah sighed and had to agree with that.  
  
There was a moment of silence as Jayden kept paying tender attention to Noah’s belly, curiously studying the nice swell on it and murmuring soft words to the baby. He put his ear against the skin as well to see if he could hear anything, but he wasn’t sure if it was the baby’s heartbeat he could hear or if it was Noah’s. Either way, it sounded nice and soothing, and he almost couldn’t stop listening to it.  
  
Noah broke the comfortable silence after a few minutes. “Remember Laura’s birthday on Thursday.”  
  
Jayden froze. “Shit, I almost forgot. Good thing I have you to remind me. We can’t really go see her on Thursday ‘cause I’m working late, so how about we go there over the weekend?” He lifted his head a bit so he could see Noah’s face better.  
  
Noah nodded, smiling. “Yeah, that sounds good.”  
  
“I’ll let you buy the present. I don’t know what a girl wants for her eighteenth birthday.”  
  
Noah rolled his eyes and snorted out a small laugh. “You would be lost without me, wouldn’t you?”  
  
“Totally and completely,” Jayden smirked, rising up on his elbows to give Noah a derpy grin.  
  
Noah chuckled, and Jayden moved up the bed to steal another kiss from him before they went to sleep.  
  


 

***

  
  
On the following weekend, Noah, Jayden, and Nathan went to visit Jayden’s parents and Laura to celebrate Laura’s birthday a bit late. Laura had hung out with her friends on her birthday and on Friday to celebrate, and over the weekend it would be just Noah, Jayden, Nathan, and Laura and Jayden’s parents and grandparents around to celebrate it.  
  
They arrived at the house at 2pm, and Jayden parked the car in the driveway as usual. There was something off, though. There was a strange, black car parked right in front of the garage door. A car that Jayden did not know. He wondered if his parents got a new car or if it belonged to Laura. Maybe she had bought a car or had been given one for her birthday?  
  
Noah noticed the car too and froze a bit.  
  
“Wonder whose car that is,” Jayden said, frowning at it as they sat in their SUV and stared at the black Chevrolet in front of them.  
  
Noah shifted nervously. When he had spoken on the phone with Laura on her birthday, Laura had told him that there would be another guest coming to the house on the same day as them – she had gotten a boyfriend. A 19-year-old beta demon, it seemed. She had asked Noah to keep quiet about it to Jayden for now because she didn’t want him to start being all protective and worried for her. She wanted Noah and Jayden to arrive at the house before her boyfriend, so that she could tell Jayden the news and have him calm down a bit before her boyfriend arrived, but it seemed like the boyfriend had arrived earlier than planned now. Great.  
  
“Um…” Noah started, but Jayden already began getting out of the car.  
  
Noah sighed and quickly got out too. He walked around the car and watched as Jayden helped Nathan get out from the child seat in the back. The boy was all excited to see his paternal grandparents and his aunt again, and he seemed quite impatient to go inside.  
  
“Um, Jayden…” Noah began, trying to get Jayden’s attention.  
  
“Hm?” Jayden turned to look at him before leaning into the car to get Nathan’s bag with his toys. “What is it?” he prompted as he leaned across the backseat and pulled out the bag.  
  
“I, um… There’s something I have to tell you before we go in.”  
  
Jayden pulled out the bag before turning to look at Noah with a confused frown. “What is it?” he asked, sounding worried all of sudden.  
  
“Laura didn’t want to tell you this on the phone because she knew you might overreact to the news, but I better tell it to you now before anything happens…”  
  
Jayden’s frown only deepened, as did the worried look on his face. “What? Just spit it out, please?” he said, impatient from worry as Noah just stood there and shifted nervously.  
  
“Um, well… Laura’s got a boyfriend,” Noah blurted then.  
  
Jayden stared back at him in complete shock. That was _not_ what he had expected to hear. It took him a few seconds to react before he finally exclaimed, “She got a _what?!_ ” He didn’t sound mad, just very much in disbelief and shock.  
  
“A boyfriend,” Noah repeated, standing firm. He watched as all kinds of thoughts flickered across Jayden’s eyes before the alpha let out a loud groan and ran a hand through his hair roughly.  
  
“My sister got a boyfriend. That’s… Oh god, when did that happen?” Jayden murmured mostly to himself as he started pacing around a bit.  
  
Nathan glanced between his parents in confusion, not quite understanding why his dad looked so distraught all of sudden.  
  
“As in… a boyfriend you have sex with?” Jayden asked then, looking over at Noah as if he hadn’t fully accepted it yet and was looking for confirmation.  
  
Noah rolled his eyes a bit and nodded. “Yes, _that_ kind of boyfriend. She told me that he’s really nice and that she loves him, so please don’t start acting embarrassing around him when you meet him. I know he’s dating your little sister, but Laura sounded happy when she told me about him…”  
  
Jayden was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his baby sister had a boyfriend. A boyfriend whom she might already have had sex with. He saw all his memories of Laura as an innocent, little girl flash before his eyes, and he was kind of in shock when he realized just how grown up she was now.  
  
“So… That’s the boyfriend’s car?” Jayden slowly asked, turning his head to look at the strange, black car parked in front of the garage. He took in its appearance to try to assess what kind of person this guy was. The car was in good shape, but had a tiny bit of dust and dirt on it, like it hadn’t been cleaned for a couple of days. That told Jayden that this guy wasn’t someone who was all about image and appearance and wanted his car to be shiny all the time. It was probably a down-to-earth kind of guy who lived a normal life and hopefully wasn’t too cocky or arrogant.  
  
“Yeah, it would seem so,” Noah said, glancing at the car as well.  
  
“Is he an alpha?” Jayden asked then, blurting the question out right after Noah had finished speaking. His wings spread just slightly in a cautious manner, as if assessing if something was a threat or not. Alphas were more likely to use others for sex and see them as something to be owned than betas were, which was why Jayden would be extra protective around Laura if she was dating an alpha.  
  
Noah shook his head. “No, she told me he’s a beta demon.”  
  
Jayden’s posture immediately relaxed.  
  
Nathan was still glancing up at them in confusion. “Is it bad that Auntie Laura has a boyfriend?” he asked, fisting one hand in the hem of Noah’s shirt as he stood next to him. He didn’t really understand what a boyfriend or a girlfriend was, only that it was someone you loved very much and would have a family with. He didn’t understand why his dad was so distraught about it.  
  
“No, not at all. Your dad is just being silly and overprotective,” Noah told Nathan. He smiled at the boy before raising his head to look at Jayden, smirking at him a bit.  
  
Jayden looked somewhat offended about that. “Why sorry that I worry about my baby sister.”  
  
“She’s not a baby anymore,” Noah reminded him kindly. “And I think we better head inside now…”  
  
“Yeah. And that guy better be nice,” Jayden mumbled, picking up Nathan’s bag of toys and locking the car before heading up to the front door.  
  
Noah sighed and held Nathan’s hand as they followed Jayden up to the door.  
  
Jayden was quite anxious to see what kind of guy was dating his sister, and Noah too felt a little apprehensive about it. They both cared a lot about Laura, so of course they wanted her boyfriend to be someone who treated her right and with respect.  
  
It was Laura who opened the door, but the beam on her face when she saw them was somewhat overshadowed by a look of panic. “Hi, guys,” she smiled, glancing nervously at Jayden and then at Noah.  
  
“I already told him,” Noah said when he could see the question in Laura’s eyes.  
  
“Oh.” Laura didn’t manage to say more before Jayden pulled her into a tight hug, lifting her feet off the ground as he did so.  
  
“Hey, sis. How are you?” Jayden grinned, finding it funny how Laura’s wings flapped behind her when he lifted her like that.  
  
“Jayden!” Laura scolded kindly while she laughed. “I’m good. Please put me down.”  
  
Jayden just chuckled before putting her down on the ground again and entwining tails with her.  
  
Nathan then came forward and hugged Laura too, grinning up at her. “Late happy birthday!” he chirped.  
  
“Thank you, Nathan,” Laura grinned, hugging him back.  
  
Leila and Micah finally appeared in the entrance hall and smiled as they came over to greet them. Jayden’s grandparents hadn’t arrived yet, so it was just them in the house – and Laura’s boyfriend, who was still not in sight.  
  
Laura hugged Noah next before Leila and Micah came over to greet them too. Nathan happily hugged his grandparents and squealed when Micah picked him up to sit on his arm.  
  
“Ohh, your stomach is growing so nicely, Noah,” Leila smiled, taking in the sight of him. “You have such a wonderful shine to you when you’re pregnant. It suits you well.”  
  
Noah smiled shyly and rubbed his belly a bit. “Thank you.”  
  
Meanwhile, Laura searched Jayden’s face questioningly after having greeted Noah, waiting for him to say something. She was a bit nervous about what he had to say about her having a boyfriend.  
  
“So where’s your boyfriend?” Jayden then asked, looking at Laura. He said the word ‘boyfriend’ like it wasn’t a word he was used to, but not with contempt or anything.  
  
“I told him to stay put until I’m sure you won’t kill him,” Laura replied.  
  
Jayden frowned. “I won’t kill him. Not unless I have a reason to, at least.”  
  
“Yeah, it’s probably my fault that Laura told him to hide for now. She was not impressed with my behavior when I first met him,” Micah murmured behind them.  
  
“Yeah, you scared that poor guy,” Leila said, scowling at Micah. “You questioned him like he was a criminal.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I said I was sorry,” Micah murmured, rolling his eyes. “I only asked him about where he was from, about his family, and about how he treats Laura.” Nathan was still sitting on his arm, looking a bit confused about what was going on.  
  
“And it was an interrogation,” Leila argued, crossing her arms as she looked at Micah in disapproval. Micah grumbled a bit in response.  
  
Laura scowled over at her dad before looking at Jayden. “He’s in the living room. Please don’t kill him. He’s actually very nice and he takes good care of me.”  
  
Jayden looked a bit unconvinced and started taking off his shoes and jacket along with Noah. Micah put Nathan down so that he could take his off too, and afterwards they all headed to the living room together.  
  
Noah could tell that Jayden was a bit uptight as they walked towards the living room where Laura’s boyfriend was hiding. He brushed his wing against Jayden’s to calm him down and reassure him, and he immediately felt Jayden relax through their bond.  
  
When they reached the living room, they saw a young beta demon standing behind the couch and petting Mr. Giggles a bit. The cat was standing on top of the couch, purring and stretching his neck as he was pet. The beta demon was a quite handsome guy with light brown hair and hazel eyes. He turned to look at them when they came over, smiling at Leila and Micah when he spotted them, but his expression turned a bit nervous when he saw Jayden and Noah. He immediately straightened up a bit and coughed nervously before approaching them.  
  
“Um, hi. I’m Nicholas,” the guy said, reaching out his hand to greet Jayden. Nicholas was one of the somewhat taller betas. Most betas were about 170cm (66.929 inches) to 181cm (71.260 inches), whereas alphas were 181cm and above, and Nicholas was 180cm (70.866 inches) tall. He was a bit shorter than Jayden and Micah and not quite as bulky or muscled, but he looked strong and lean.  
  
Jayden politely reached out and shook the guy’s offered hand, studying him somewhat warily. “I’m Jayden.” He watched as Laura went over to stand next to Nicholas and lean against him, as if to make sure that Jayden would be calm around him.  
  
Nicholas smiled and pulled his hand back. “Yeah, Laura has told me a lot about you. Your parents too.”  
  
Jayden looked at his sister, who giggled a bit next to Nicholas. He suddenly wondered what exactly Laura and his parents had told him.  
  
Nicholas’ attention shifted to Noah and Nathan then, when the two appeared behind Jayden. “Hello,” he smiled, reaching out to shake Noah’s hand.  
  
Noah was a bit embarrassed when Jayden’s wings spread a bit in a possessive and wary gesture when the beta wanted to shake hands with him, and he felt Jayden’s tail curl around his leg as he reached out to shake Nicholas’ hand back. “Hi, I’m Noah. Nice to meet you,” Noah smiled, squeezing the guy’s hand before pulling his hand back and placing it on his belly. He rolled his eyes a bit at how Jayden was practically marking his territory around him, without even being fully aware of his actions. Still, it was kind of sweet how protective Jayden was, and Noah couldn’t deny that he liked his mate’s attention.  
  
Nathan leaned against Noah’s side and stared up at Nicholas curiously. “Hi,” he said, smiling up at Nicholas and curling his tail shyly.  
  
“Hey, big guy,” Nicholas greeted Nathan with a friendly grin.  
  
The words immediately made Nathan like the guy, and he grinned widely up at the beta. Noah chuckled and ruffled Nathan’s hair fondly.  
  
“Oh, he definitely likes you already,” Leila laughed.  
  
“Yeah,” Laura agreed, leaning into Nicholas and smiling down at Nathan. She then looked up at Jayden. “And I’m really surprised you haven’t eaten Nicholas yet.”  
  
“I’m not gonna eat him,” Jayden quickly protested, snorting.  
  
“Yeah, like you haven’t threatened to castrate any guy who dates me, just like dad,” Laura spoke with sarcasm in her voice as she gave both her dad and her brother a dark scowl.  
  
“I feel like shots are being fired here,” Micah murmured. The others laughed, and Micah smiled over at Laura when his daughter gave him another scowl.  
  
Nicholas just laughed. It was a somewhat nervous laugh, but he also did seem pretty amused by it. “I get it. I have a little sister, so I kind of know what it’s like…”  
  
The mention of Nicholas having a little sister immediately relaxed Jayden somewhat. His possessive and cautious posture softened, but his tail was still wrapped around Noah’s leg and rubbing it in slow, loving motions. “You have a sister? Do you live nearby, or…?”  
  
“I live pretty close to our high school,” Nicholas explained and curled his tail around Laura’s as they stood together. “And yeah, I have a little sister who’s 12 and a beta brother who’s 14.”  
  
Jayden nodded, feeling more comfortable around Nicholas now. The guy seemed decent and polite, and the way Laura was standing so close to him and smiling up at him told Jayden that his sister was comfortable around him. It kind of hurt to see his sister so big and grown up, but he’d just have to deal with it. Laura could take care of herself, he knew that.  
  
“Well, I’m glad that no one’s died yet,” Leila joked, clapping her hands together as she smiled around at everyone. “Now I will go prepare some cake so we can celebrate Laura’s eighteenth birthday together, and wait for the rest of the guests to appear.” Jayden’s grandparents would be arriving any time soon, so they had to prepare.  
  
Micah laughed at her words and joined her, while Jayden, Noah, Laura, and Nicholas stayed in the living room. Nathan had run over to the TV with his bag of toys and had started playing on the floor while cartoons rolled across the screen.  
  
Laura smiled at Noah after her parents were gone and stepped a little closer to him. “How’s the little one doing? Is he or she moving yet?”  
  
Noah followed her glance down to his belly. “Yeah, the baby’s moving around sometimes. Quite a lot, actually.”  
  
“That’s so exciting,” Laura grinned. “I can’t wait to see if it’s gonna be a boy or a girl, and what kind of male it will be if it’s a boy.”  
  
“Yeah, but we can’t see that before the baby is born, though…”  
  
Nicholas looked over at Jayden while Noah and Laura were staring at Noah’s pregnant bump. “I heard you guys are moving into a house soon…?”  
  
“Yeah, on the 15th January we can move in,” Jayden confirmed.  
  
“That sounds nice. Laura told me that you guys bought a pretty big house.”  
  
“Well, we gotta have space for the kids,” Jayden grinned, wrapping an arm around Noah’s waist and putting his other hand on his mate’s belly. Noah blushed a bit at that. “We still gotta pack all our stuff, though…”  
  
“Well, then you better get started,” Micah spoke as he suddenly appeared behind them. He was coming into the dining room to set the table so that it would look nice before the grandparents arrived.  
  
“Yeah, we will.” Jayden glared a bit at his dad for making him sound lazy, and the others snickered a bit at him.  
  
“I bet Nathan will like all the new space,” Laura said, smiling at over at her nephew, who was playing by himself on the floor.  
  
“Yeah, he’s very excited,” Jayden grinned. “The house has a nice, big garden, so he’s definitely looking forward to that.”  
  
“And you’ll take Midnight with you, right?”  
  
“Of course,” Noah said, like it was obvious. “I’m not leaving our cat behind.”  
  
Jayden chuckled and brushed his wing against Noah’s.  
  
They talked back and forth until Jayden’s grandparents arrived. They got to know Nicholas a bit better and learned that he and Laura had only been dating for two weeks now (they had known each other for about a year, though). Noah quite liked the guy; he seemed nice and sweet towards Laura, and he was a pleasant person. They also gave Laura her late birthday present – her favorite perfume, which was a bit expensive and thus not something she could really buy for herself. She was very thrilled to receive the present and hugged Noah and Jayden tight to thank them.  
  
When Jayden’s grandparents arrived, they were all over Noah and Nathan, whom they didn’t see very often. They were a bit wary of Nicholas for the first few seconds, but quickly warmed up to him when they saw how nice he was. Nathan enjoyed the attention from his grandparents and great-grandparents, and Noah found himself being questioned a lot about the new baby’s development and how the pregnancy affected him. He had to excuse himself a couple of times because of morning sickness, but everyone was very understanding, and Jayden was there to help him through it.  
  
Although Jayden was still a bit wary of Nicholas since he was dating his little sister, he quickly started warming up to him. He was on alert every time Nicholas spoke to Noah though, but he wasn’t acting too embarrassing.  
  
Being with family was nice, and Noah was proud to see how mature Jayden was acting around Nicholas, even though the alpha had always said that he didn’t look forward to the day where his sister got a boyfriend.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for the long wait! I just haven’t been in the mood for writing lately because I’ve been so tired and busy, but I’m hoping it’ll be better this week.
> 
> Very soon Noah and Jayden will be moving into their new house. I will of course make a layout of the house so you can get a mental picture of it, that will make it a lot easier when you guys read about it.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! :)


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jayden and Noah are moving into their new house in this chapter. I have layouts of the house for you to see: House [outside](http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/b534/Luciel89/Noah%20and%20Jaydens%20house%20outside_zpswj9gvl5m.png~original), [first floor](http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/b534/Luciel89/Noah%20and%20Jaydens%20house%20first%20floor_zpsi4tyw0lb.png~original), [second floor](http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/b534/Luciel89/Noah%20and%20Jaydens%20house%20second%20floor_zps28nhmmqh.png~original). Don't trust my scaling skills; some things might be bigger or smaller in the scaling. And because Photobucket kind of sucks, click "view image" in the small tool bar that shows up when your cursor is over the image to see the image in full size.  
> You can also find all my previous layouts and descriptions on my [Fanfiction.net profile](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/672874/Luciel89).

**January 2054 (Noah is 27, Jayden is 29, Nathan is 4, Castiel is 64, Dean is 65 (almost 66), Eden is 40, Adrian is 37, Isaac and Lily are 33, Jason is 41, Daniel is 14, Kaylen is 28 (almost 29), Tony is 34, Eliza is 4, Leila is 55, Micah is 56, Laura is 18 years old).**  
  
On Saturday the 17th of January, Noah and Jayden were finally moving into their new house. Their parents and siblings would be helping them, since there was a lot of stuff to be moved, and they had been busy buying new furniture which had been dropped off at the house. They just needed to unpack and reassemble the new furniture and put the old and new furniture into place. Noah and Jayden had already painted most of the house, but it would need some cleaning, which their families would help them with. It was normal for them to help each other moving. Whenever someone in the family was moving, the others would come over and help them out, and in return the hosts would provide snacks, drinks, and food for everyone during their stay. It usually involved a lot of fun while working, since for once they would all be together and get to share the latest news with each other.  
  
“Are we not coming back?” Nathan in a somewhat sad voice as he, Noah, and Jayden cast one final look around their now empty apartment. Everything had been cleared out and all their furniture was in the moving truck outside. It looked empty and kind of abandoned there now, and the place smelled of cleaning products and fresh paint after they had been busy cleaning everything up and repainting the walls before leaving.  
  
“Yeah, we’re moving into a house now, so this will be the last time we’ll see the apartment,” Jayden spoke, holding Nathan’s hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. They were standing in the hallway and glancing around into the empty living room and kitchen. Noah and Jayden’s parents and siblings were outside, waiting for them, except for Dean, who was helping them carry the last few boxes down with the elevator.  
  
Nathan glanced around the place that had always been his home, looking somewhat sad. He then glanced up at his parents again. “I’ll have my own room at da new house, right?”  
  
Noah chuckled softly. “Of course. You’ll have a big room, just for you.”  
  
Nathan grinned and he suddenly didn’t seem all that sad anymore.  
  
Noah reached down to pick up the carriage where Midnight was inside and got ready to leave. The cat was glancing out the small openings in the cage curiously, obviously quite confused about what was going on. She wasn’t used to being in the cage because she hadn’t needed to go to the vet or anything before, at least not since they got her.  
  
As Noah picked up the carriage, he let out a small, pained sound, which immediately drew Jayden’s attention.  
  
“Hey, how about I carry that?” Jayden offered, letting go of Nathan’s hand to take the carriage from Noah.  
  
“But you already have a box to carry,” Noah argued as he reluctantly let Jayden take the carriage. He hated how the pregnancy was making his back hurt sometimes.  
  
“Just let him be a gentleman, Noah,” Dean spoke from the front door and sent them a small smirk.  
  
Noah looked over at his father, having almost forgotten that he was still there. “Fine,” he pouted and reached down to take Nathan’s hand instead.  
  
Jayden smirked in victory and carried the box he was holding under his arm and the cat cage out of there. They all glanced around the place one final time, feeling a bit sad about leaving their home and moving into a new one. They had many good memories in the apartment, so of course it was hard to leave. However, now they were starting a new chapter in their life; they were finally going to have their own house and have lots of room for their future children. One more baby was on its way and there might be more to come later.  
  
They stepped outside into the stairwell and Jayden locked the door for the final time.  
  
Dean had his hands full of boxes, and he gave Noah a comforting smile when he saw his son looking a bit sad. Reaching out his tail, he slowly rubbed Noah’s leg, hoping to comfort him. It worked, and Noah turned to look at his father with a soft smile, appreciating the gesture.  
  
They rode down on the elevator together, and Noah had to tell Nathan to stop peeking into Midnight’s cage since it was starting to make the cat uneasy. When they came down on the first floor in the lobby, Jayden dropped the apartment keys off into the renter’s mail box, like he was supposed to.  
  
The sun was shining when they came outside, and Dean went over to the moving truck and put the last few boxes inside. Jayden put his box inside too, but Midnight would be driving with them in their SUV. Their Hyundai was already at the house, after Jayden had driven it there the other day with Noah.  
  
Their families were gathered outside, ready to drive off in their cars and reunite with them at the house. Not everyone was there, though; just Dean, Castiel, Eden, Jason, Daniel, Adrian, Lily, Tony, Isaac, Kaylen, Eliza, and Jayden’s parents and Laura. Most of the kids were being babysat while their parents were away to help Noah and Jayden move, since there would be too many people around if they were there as well. Daniel was there though, since he was old enough to help out and because he wanted to give them a hand. Isaac and Kaylen couldn’t find a babysitter for Eliza that weekend, so they had brought her along. Then Nathan would also have someone to play with while the adults were busy.  
  
Eliza ran over to Nathan when she spotted him, eager to play. Nathan grinned and met her half-way, and the two 4-year-olds began running back and forth between the adults in the parking lot.  
  
“Ready to move?” Eden asked, smiling when she saw how Noah was rubbing his belly tenderly.  
  
“Yeah, we are,” Noah replied with a smile. His now 24-weeks pregnant belly had grown a bit bigger over the past month and a half, but it was still a size that Noah quite liked. Though, he knew it would only be a few weeks until his stomach grew uncomfortably big and would cause him more back pain, more visits to the toilet, and more trouble sleeping.  
  
“You look ready,” Kaylen stated, watching Noah with a smile. “And it’s good that we’re so many people here to help you, especially in your current condition.” He looked at Noah’s belly as he spoke.  
  
Noah glanced at his stomach and rubbed it a bit when he felt the baby shift inside of him. “It’s not that bad… My back only hurts when I strain it too much, and the bump isn’t uncomfortably big yet. It’s not like I can’t move or work.”  
  
“Still, I’m not letting you strain yourself too much,” Jayden said. He smiled at Noah as he curled his tail around his mate’s leg, not caring that all the others were watching.  
  
Isaac started making gagging noises somewhere behind Kaylen. “Ew! Get a room, guys!”  
  
Noah blushed and Jayden laughed out loud.  
  
“We _are_ getting a room. A whole house, actually,” Jayden retorted, amused by Isaac’s disgust.  
  
Adrian gave Isaac a rather rude shove and rolled his eyes at him. “You are such a brat, Isaac.”  
  
Isaac swirled around and gave Adrian a shove too. “So what? _I’m_ not the one who recently wore a princess dress!”  
  
Adrian blushed, trying desperately to keep straight and retain his manliness. He and Natalie had taken their kids to some fair last summer, and Maya and Ashley – who had been 11 and 2 years old at that time – had wanted to dress up as princesses at some costume event at the fair. Parents had to dress up too, so they had managed to get Adrian into some princess skirt and had painted his cheeks pink with some make-up powder, while Natalie got dressed as a fairy. Adrian had been very reluctant about it, but had ended up doing it anyway to please his daughters. Aaron hadn’t wanted want to dress up in bright colors of pink, yellow, purple, etc., so he had dressed up as Batman.  
  
The others laughed, since they had seen the photos too after Natalie had sent them some on email to tease Adrian. Jayden’s parents and Laura didn’t know anything about it, though.  
  
“A princess dress?” Leila asked, staring at Adrian in disbelief. She had to stop herself from giggling when she imagined tall, handsome, and manly Adrian in a princess dress.  
  
“It wasn’t a dress, it was a skirt,” Adrian clarified, coughing awkwardly as he tried not to blush.  
  
“Who cares! It was hilarious!” Isaac said, laughing his ass off. “God, what I wouldn’t have given to be there and see it for myself!”  
  
“Shut up,” Adrian growled, flushing furiously, and gave his annoying little brother another shove.  
  
“Yeah, the things you wouldn’t do for your daughters, huh?” Dean said, laughing too.  
  
“I think it looked good on him,” Eden grinned. She reached up to pinch Adrian’s lightly stubbled cheek to tease him further, only to have him swat her hand away and give her a grumpy glare.  
  
The others continued to laugh, and Adrian wasn’t too happy when Lily and Tony patted his shoulder to comfort him, since he felt like it was just to ridicule him further.  
  
Noah and Jayden were also laughing, and Noah felt a bit sorry for his big brother at the moment.  
  
Nathan and Eliza were still running around between them, playing tag with each other and using their families as things to hide behind, and Noah and Kaylen kept a watchful eye on their laughing children as they ran around.  
  
“Hey, I’ve worn a pink princess skirt too once,” Jayden pointed out. “Laura made me wear it.”  
  
“Oh right! I remember you mentioned that once!” Isaac exclaimed. He looked over at Laura then. “Damn, you rock, girl! Making your alpha brother dress up like a girl!”  
  
Laura laughed. “Yeah, and he looked so pretty.”  
  
“I prefer the word ‘handsome’,” Jayden murmured. Noah chuckled at that.  
  
“Or that one time in Laura’s kindergarten when they were doing face paints and she persuaded the teachers to paint you too, and then you walked around the rest of the night with a big, pink butterfly on your face,” Micah said, smirking over at Jayden because he knew that him telling everyone this would annoy his son.  
  
The others burst out laughing, and Jayden’s cheeks reddened a bit.  
  
“Well, it made her happy…” Jayden murmured, coughing a bit in embarrassment.  
  
“Awww,” Laura exclaimed, grinning at Jayden as she bumped her tail into his in a loving manner.  
  
Noah couldn’t stop smiling as he imagined a teenage Jayden letting someone paint a pink butterfly all over his face just because it would make his baby sister happy. Jayden was such a loving and caring person, and sometimes Noah wondered how he could possibly deserve him.  
  
Daniel glanced between Adrian and Jayden, looking like he didn’t know what to think. “You guys are supposed to be alphas. It’s so weird that you let yourself get dressed up like that.” Daniel was 14 years old now and had grown quite tall after he hit puberty. He was already 5’5’’ (170cm) tall and was still growing. His wings, which resembled Eden’s a lot, had gotten more muscled, and he had a few half-sharp feathers in them.  
  
“Don’t pay attention to stereotypes,” Jason told him, giving Daniel a small nudge on the arm.  
  
“I think most girls and subs prefer alphas like them over the more egocentric and cocky types,” Lily argued. “Well, Isaac’s egocentric too, but that’s not quite how I meant it…”  
  
“Hey! Stop calling me that!” Isaac protested, crossing his arms and giving his twin a sharp scowl.  
  
“Yeah, he prefers being called ‘self-centered’,” Kaylen spoke, suppressing a giggle when Isaac turned to look at him.  
  
“God, not you too!” Isaac groused, feeling like everyone was making fun of him. “Papa, help me out here,” he whined, glancing over at Castiel for help.  
  
The others laughed out loud, and a few other residents from the apartment block passing by stared oddly when they saw a group of mixed-species people laughing in the middle of the parking lot, but everyone ignored them.  
  
Castiel chuckled at Isaac and gently shook his head. “Sorry. You are not a baby anymore, Isaac; you can stand up for yourself.”  
  
“Oh, but he _is_ a baby,” Adrian smirked, a teasing tone in his voice.  
  
“Look who’s talking!” Isaac quipped back.  
  
“Guys,” Dean sighed and got between them so that things wouldn’t get out of hand. No one was being mean – it was all just for fun, and even Isaac knew that – but once Isaac and Adrian got started on this, it could take a while before they stopped.  
  
“Perhaps we should get going and help Noah and Jayden into their new home?” Eden suggested, still chuckling at her younger brothers and their childish behavior.  
  
“That sounds like a good idea,” Leila agreed. “There’s so much to do and it’s already 11:30.”  
  
“We have all day,” Micah kindly reminded her and curled his tail around Leila’s. Leila smiled at him and returned the gesture.  
  
Castiel quietly stared at their entwined tails and felt a bit of sadness go through him. He was still a little upset sometimes that he didn’t have a tail to do those things with Dean with, and he was sad that Noah didn’t have one either. That was the problem of interspecies mating; the anatomy of the partners would always be a bit different. Dean picked up on his mood and curled his tail around his leg. That comforted Castiel a bit.  
  
Everyone got ready to leave and drive off to the house. Dean had rented the moving truck cheaply through some connections he had, so he and Cas had arrived with the moving truck and would be the ones driving it. Adrian had driven to the city from L.A. with Isaac, Kaylen, and Eliza, so he would be driving with them, while the rest of them had their own cars.  
  
Nathan and Eliza were a bit upset when they could no longer play, but knowing that they could keep playing at the house cheered them up. They separated to go with their parents, and Jayden helped Nathan get into the child seat in their car before driving off.  
  
  


***

  
  
When they arrived at house they started unloading stuff from the moving truck and getting them into the house. Noah had a pretty good idea of where to put the different things, but his sisters and Castiel helped him a little when he wasn’t sure where the furniture should be. Jayden interfered a couple of times too, but he had faith that Noah would be able to furnish the house nicely, since he felt that Noah had a better taste in furnishing than he did.  
  
Everyone worked hard and had fun as they moved stuff around and cleaned the place up. Nathan and Eliza were playing outside some of the time, while one of the adults looked after them, but they also got to come inside when it got too cold. They were having fun in the playhouse and in the sandbox, and their snowsuits kept them warm in the chilly January weather.  
  
They worked for three hours until they decided to have a break. Jayden had bought some fresh bread, sodas, juice, etc. so everyone got to have something to eat and drink before they would get back to work.  
  
The family was gathered in the dining room and in the kitchen while eating and were chatting with each other. Nathan and Eliza stayed close to their parents, but sometimes ran around and played. Midnight had been locked in an empty room upstairs for now. She was quite uneasy and frightened by everything that was going on, so they had put her in the empty room, given her some food, water, a litterbox, and some old blankets she could sleep on.  
  
“Damn it, Isaac,” Adrian growled at his brother and swatted him on the leg with his tail when Isaac had just sneaked up behind him and pulled at his tail to tease him. They were standing in the kitchen with most of the family after having finished eating, and Adrian had been busy talking to Jason and Tony without realizing that Isaac was behind him.  
  
Isaac barked out a laugh and jumped away from Adrian’s tail. “I scared you, I scared you!” he sang in a teasing, cheerful manner. He jumped away again when Adrian let out an annoyed growl and threatened to smack him.  
  
“You are supposed to be a responsible adult, Isaac,” Lily spoke and crossed her arms while giving her twin brother a look of disapproval and hopelessness.  
  
“Life’s too boring if you gotta be responsible all the time,” Isaac argued.  
  
Noah chuckled at his brother while running an affectionate hand through Nathan’s hairs when the boy came over to him. Nathan leaned into his side and played a bit with some of Noah’s feathers, staring at them in fascination as he ran his fingers gently over them. Eliza was over by Kaylen now, who was standing next to Noah in the kitchen.  
  
“Isaac isn’t Isaac if he isn’t being childish,” Eden sighed.  
  
Eliza giggled. “Daddy’s funny!”  
  
“Daddy’s silly,” Kaylen corrected her with a gentle smile. Eliza giggled again and leaned into Kaylen, smiling when he brushed some of her blonde hair behind her ear.  
  
“No, I’m funny!” Isaac cut in, grinning widely. He nudged Eliza with his tail to show that he supported her statement, and his daughter grinned up at him in response.  
  
“Crazy is a better word for it,” Jason argued. “At least that’s the word I’ve always used in my head to describe you.”  
  
“Hey!”  
  
The others laughed, making Isaac glare at them all for it.  
  
“I still can’t get over how big your house is,” Laura said, looking over at Noah and Jayden with a smile.  
  
“Well, it isn’t really any bigger than mom and dad’s, or Dean and Castiel’s,” Jayden pointed out. “But I’m definitely gonna have to get used to all the space we have now, compared to the apartment.”  
  
“I’m sure Nathan will appreciate the space too,” Leila said, smiling down at the boy, who was still leaning against Noah. “And the new baby probably will too when he’s born.”  
  
Noah stared down at his belly with a warm smile, running a hand over the swollen area. He could feel the baby move around inside him a bit, probably shifting his position a bit to get comfortable.  
  
“Isn’t it a boy?” Eliza asked, staring up at Noah and tilting her head a bit.  
  
“Yes, it is,” Noah confirmed, smiling at her.  
  
Noah had had an ultrasound scan of the baby just before Christmas, and Charlie could see that he was having another boy. Noah had kind of wanted a girl, but he didn’t mind having another boy. Jayden was all excited about it when he heard it, and Noah could tell that Jayden was kind of hoping that the next baby would be an alpha. It was still very common for alpha fathers to want alpha sons, since for centuries it had been a sign of good genes in the family if you had an alpha son. They had always been more valued than betas, females, and submissives up until the 1900s when equality starting coming along.  
  
“I’m starting to think that Jayden can only make boys,” Eden joked and gave Jayden a teasing smirk.  
  
Jayden laughed at that. “Well, it _could_ be a submissive, so that wouldn’t count a hundred percent as a boy.”  
  
“Charlie doesn’t think it is, though. The baby seems a bit too big to be a submissive, she said…” Noah pointed out.  
  
“You gotta show us the pictures, Noah. Lily and I haven’t seen them yet,” Tony grinned, referring to the images Charlie had printed for them of the baby in the ultrasound scan.  
  
Noah smiled. “I will.”  
  
Meanwhile, Eliza listened to them talking before suddenly looking up at Kaylen and patting him on the arm to get his attention. “Mommy, I want a lil’ bruhder too…”  
  
Kaylen’s eyes widened, and the others laughed at Eliza’s innocent words. Kaylen’s cheeks flushed a little.  
  
Isaac couldn’t help but laugh at his daughter. “What, you want a little brother? That can be arranged…” He smirked lewdly over at Kaylen, who reached out and slapped him on the arm in embarrassment.  
  
“Keep that dirty smirk to yourself, you stupid donkey-face!” Kaylen chastised, his cheeks all red.  
  
The others laughed out loud at them, and Noah felt a little sorry for Kaylen because of Isaac’s inappropriate behavior.  
  
Isaac found Kaylen’s red cheeks and his insult very amusing, which only irritated the submissive demon further.  
  
“I think Cas and I already have enough grandkids…” Dean chuckled as he wrapped an arm around Castiel’s waist.  
  
Castiel smiled and leaned into Dean, and saw how Eliza and Nathan were pretty confused about why Kaylen was suddenly so embarrassed and upset with Isaac.  
  
Lily patted Kaylen on the shoulder to comfort him. “You know Isaac; he always only wants to embarrass other people…”  
  
Kaylen relaxed a bit, still glaring over at Isaac for finding it amusing. “Yeah, he’s a dick.”  
  
“Oi!” Isaac objected.  
  
“What’s a dick?” Nathan asked, a confused frown on his face. The word was unfamiliar to him and he said it cautiously, as if concentrating on saying it right.  
  
“Nothing. Auntie Kaylen just said a bad word, which you aren’t meant to say,” Noah said, hoping to brush it off and make Nathan forget the word before he could learn it.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
“Sorry,” Kaylen said, giving Noah an apologetic look for having used a bad word in front of Nathan. Eliza hadn’t really seemed to pick up on the word much; she had been busy playing a bit with Kaylen’s tail.  
  
“It’s okay,” Noah told him, smiling. Jayden chuckled next to him and rubbed Nathan’s leg with his tail. The boy looked somewhat offended that his mom wouldn’t tell him what the word meant.  
  
“Better not teach him those kinds of words,” Micah murmured. “I’m also pretty sure I heard Eliza say the word ‘ass’ earlier.”  
  
“Isaac uses it a lot. Can’t be helped that she picks up on it.” Kaylen gave Isaac another glare, and the beta shrunk a little in guilt.  
  
“What? Not my fault that she’s got ears like a dog!” Isaac exclaimed.  
  
“Yeah, and soon she’ll have a mouth like one too,” Micah commented. The others laughed at that.  
  
“Yay! I’ll be a dog!” Eliza exclaimed raising her hands in excitement and not really understanding what the adults actually meant.  
  
The others laughed out loud, but didn’t tell Eliza what was actually meant by it. Isaac laughed at her and ruffled her hair fondly, and the girl grinned up at him in response.  
  
Eden suddenly turned to look at Noah. “How about we help you clean some of the rooms upstairs after our break, Noah?” she offered, glancing at her brother’s pregnant belly, which would make it difficult for him to clean by himself.  
  
“Yeah, you can’t really do it yourself, and Jayden shouldn’t do all the work,” Lily pointed out.  
  
Noah glanced between his sisters with a grateful smile. “I… If you don’t mind, then it would be great. Thank you.”  
  
Eden returned the smile. “I think papa, Kaylen, and Leila and Laura want to give us a hand too,” she added when she saw how their heads poked up with interest.  
  
“Yes, the more, the better,” Leila grinned. Castiel, Lily, Kaylen, and Laura nodded in agreement.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah said, smiling at them. “I could really use some help with it while the guys fix the new furniture. There are a lot of rooms, after all, and Jayden and I haven’t managed to clean the ones upstairs at all yet.” They had painted the rooms, but hadn’t had time to clean them.  
  
“Well, at least this house isn’t quite as big as ours, so I think we’ll be finished with it today,” Kaylen spoke.  
  
“Yeah, your living room is like three times as big as ours,” Jayden replied with a small chuckle.  
  
After Isaac had earned a lot of money from his acting career, he and Kaylen had moved into a big house together. Isaac had always wanted to have a large house with a swimming pool, and they even had to rent a maid to help clean it for them once in a while.  
  
“How is your acting career going, by the way?” Leila suddenly asked Isaac, looking genuinely curious.  
  
Isaac’s face lit up when the conversation was suddenly about his career. “It’s pretty great! Got to be in some pretty cool series and movies, though it’s not really everyone that wants to hire me, you know. Stupid racists… But at least most of the fans love me. But hey, how could they _not_ love me?”  
  
Adrian gave Isaac a sharp shove when a smug, cocky grin plastered itself on his face. “Stop being so boastful, Isaac. It brings bad luck.”  
  
“Bleh, it already has brought me bad luck, so I’m not so afraid of that anymore,” Isaac muttered. They all knew what he was hinting at. Last summer one of his movies had its premiere, and a group of protesters had arrived with signs saying things like ‘Angel/demon hybrids are the spawn of Satan’ and other very disturbing and racist things. Isaac himself had received some pretty nasty messages from hateful fans, as had some of his co-stars, and it had had a negative effect on the cast and crew. Luckily, the movie had still been successful. Many of the people supporting angel/demon couples and their rights had gone to see the movie to show support, which had counteracted the racists’ attempts to have the movie have less revenue. A lot of debate about angel/demon hybrids and couples had been going on – and was still going on because of it – which was both beneficial for them and also kind of bad. More people came forward to support their rights, but also more people came forward with messages of hate and disgust.  
  
“Well, I think you are brave that you show yourself on TV, despite the many haters out there,” Leila spoke, smiling at Isaac. “I know that _I_ wouldn’t dare do that.”  
  
Isaac shifted a bit, feeling almost sheepish at being called brave. “Well, I still gotta have bodyguards around because of it…” His eyes glanced over at Eliza, and a worried look formed on his face. Him receiving hate from some of the fans could affect Kaylen and Eliza too, and he didn’t want that, of course.  
  
“I think many celebrities do,” Micah said.  
  
“Yeah, and Isaac likes the attention, so I don’t think he’d stop acting because of those racists,” Adrian spoke and reached out to ruffle Isaac’s hair.  
  
“Hey, stop that!” Isaac groused, quickly pulling away from Adrian’s hand. He glared at his brother when Adrian just smirked at him.  
  
Castiel watched the boys with a smile. He liked when they were all together and he could see his children behaving almost like in the old times when they were kids. Sometimes, it was like they hadn’t changed at all, even though they all had families of their own now.  
  
“Should we get started again?” Daniel asked, glancing at his dad and at the other guys. He was obviously getting impatient and wanted to get back to work after their long break.  
  
The others agreed, and everyone went back to work. They had to clean up and move furniture around, as well as assemble the last few pieces of furniture.  
  
  


***

  
  
Afternoon became evening and finally the house was starting to look habitable. The rooms had been cleaned and most of the furniture was in place. Their new furniture fit in well in the house, and Gabriel had donated his old foosball table to them, which was now in the living room. They would put all the books, movies, paintings, framed photos, etc. into place later, as well as the clothes in the drawers and wardrobes.  
  
“Thank you so much for your help,” Noah told Eden, Lily, Castiel, and Laura after they had just finished cleaning all the rooms upstairs. Kaylen and Leila had helped them out too, but right now they were downstairs with the kids to look after them. The guys had come up to help them put the beds and drawers and stuff into place, and the master bedroom and Nathan’s room were pretty much done being furnished now. The nursery still needed some work, as did the guestroom, and the final bedroom was being used for storage of unopened boxes for now. There were still a lot of things to do, but most of it was over.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Castiel told him, smiling as he ran a gentle hand down Noah’s arm.  
  
“Yeah, you’re welcome, Noah. We had fun,” Eden smiled.  
  
Lily grinned and brushed her tail against Noah’s leg. “It’s always nice to have some girl time together.”  
  
Noah smiled at them, and they began heading downstairs together. Noah had to use the bathroom before that, but the others went ahead. The baby was pressing against his bladder again. He was moving around a lot inside Noah – a bit more than Nathan had – and Noah had the feeling that this baby would be a rather restless one.  
  
The upstairs bathroom was nice and big. It had a bathtub, shower, and a spa. Jayden had made a lewd comment about them going to have a lot of fun in the spa, which had made Noah blush. But it was nice to have a house now and not just an apartment. They had all the space they needed, and lots of room for the new baby and perhaps a few more. This was where their future was, and Noah saw many happy years ahead of them.  
  
After having finished in the bathroom, Noah stepped into the upstairs hallway. He was still getting used to thinking of the house as being his home now, and he smiled when he could hear the voices of his family downstairs. Adrian, Isaac, and Jayden were talking, he could hear, and he smiled at how well his brothers got along with Jayden.  
  
“Hi,” a voice next to Noah suddenly spoke.  
  
Noah flinched in surprise and turned to look at Laura, who giggled a bit when she saw how startled he was. He let out a deep sigh when he noticed that it was just her. “You scared me…”  
  
“Sorry,” Laura giggled.  
  
“Do you have to use the bathroom as well? There’s one downstairs too, you know.”  
  
“I know. I was just waiting for you to finish.”  
  
Noah tilted his head a bit, sensing that there was something Laura wanted to talk to him about. “What is it?”  
  
Laura’s cheeks reddened in embarrassment, and she turned her head to the side and gave a nervous cough before speaking. “I-I wanted to… No, never mind. It’s stupid.” She turned to leave, but Noah stopped her.  
  
“No, you can tell me,” Noah told her in a patient voice, wondering what was on Laura’s mind.  
  
The young demon girl turned to look at him again, looking a bit nervous and uncertain. “Well, I’m kind of scared of talking to my mom about this… I’ve tried, but dad keeps showing up or she gets distracted all of sudden, and I feel weird asking my friends about this at school… It’s really awkward.”  
  
Noah glanced towards the stairs. He was pretty sure that no one downstairs could hear them, but he still stepped a bit further away from the stairs, just in case. “You can tell me, even if it’s awkward.”  
  
Laura blushed and stared at her feet for a bit. “Um well, you know I’ve been together with Nicholas for two months now, right? Well, we haven’t really done… _it_ yet.” She glanced up at Noah, her cheeks reddening further.  
  
“Oh.” Noah finally understood what it was she wanted to talk about. It was indeed awkward, but he’d gladly listen to her and answer her questions, even if it meant that he’d be blushing like hell. He got along well with Laura and she had always looked up to him and thought of him as the big sister she never had, so he wanted to be there for her.  
  
“Well, we’ve done _things,_ but haven’t gone all the way yet,” Laura explained further, shifting a bit on her feet. “And, um, I’m pretty scared about it, you know? Everyone in school says that it’s just something you gotta do and that it’s not a big deal, but I’m just so afraid that it will suck or that I do something wrong… Most of all I’m afraid that it’ll hurt.”  
  
“I know what you mean. I was pretty scared of that too,” Noah told her. “But you shouldn’t listen to what the others say; only to what your body and feelings tell you. I think most first times are kind of, um, awkward, but that shouldn’t matter if you like your partner a lot. He’ll probably feel as awkward about it as you, you know.”  
  
Both were blushing a lot now, feeling more awkward than ever. Laura was Jayden’s little sister, so it was extremely weird for Noah to talk to her about these things.  
  
“Yeah, you’re right…” Laura murmured. “But does it, um, you know… hurt?” Her eyes flicked up to look at him. “I know our anatomies are different, but still…”  
  
Noah blushed and had to look away for a bit. “Um, for me it did hurt a bit, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. Jayden was, um, very gentle and patient… And he used lots of lube to make it go easier.”  
  
“Ugh, don’t give me nasty images in my mind!” Laura exclaimed, lifting her hands up to cover her face and eyes in disgust. “I don’t wanna picture my brother having sex with you! Ugh!”  
  
“ _You_ were the one asking me about this!” Noah hissed out a hushed voice, blushing and feeling paranoid that someone would hear them.  
  
“Yeah, I know… Oh god.”  
  
“Just… Don’t be scared, or it’ll hurt more. And take your time; it shouldn’t be rushed. And you can always tell Nicholas that you aren’t ready anyway. There’s no shame in that.”  
  
Laura nodded, taking in Noah’s advice. “Yeah, thanks. I’m feeling a little more reassured now.”  
  
Noah smiled. “I’m glad. I’m sure you will manage just fine.”  
  
Laura’s blush deepened a bit. “Yeah, I hope so. He’s very sweet and patient with me, so I think he’ll try to make sure that it won’t hurt. And he’s a beta, so he’s not extremely big like an alpha, you know.” She giggled awkwardly.  
  
Noah had never really considered that, because he had only ever been with Jayden, and Jayden was an alpha. He knew there were alphas out there with bigger dicks than Jayden, but Jayden was pretty well equipped for an alpha and he wasn’t ridiculously big. Noah certainly couldn’t complain about Jayden’s size or girth; it was perfect and very stimulating for him.  
  
Thinking of his mate’s cock made Noah feel a sudden shiver of arousal go through him. He immediately tried to shake it off and think of something else, because he didn’t want to get wet and hard around Laura. It was difficult since his pregnancy hormones made him aroused so easily and increased his sex drive, but he still managed to get it under control before Laura could smell anything.  
  
“So, um, lots of lube and foreplay then?” Laura asked, sounding uncertain.  
  
Her voice brought Noah out of his thoughts. “Yes, lots of it. It will make things go easier, trust me. And, uh, it might hurt a bit or feel weird the first few times, but it gets better.”  
  
Laura’s brows furrowed in concern. “It hurt for you the first few times?”  
  
“A bit. It wasn’t that bad, though, and I, um, quickly got used to it. Now it doesn’t hurt at all.”  
  
“Good. Otherwise I will have to publically execute my brother,” Laura said, a small growl in her voice.  
  
Noah laughed, but still felt awkward and weird about the whole thing. “Jayden has never hurt me, don’t worry.”  
  
Laura smiled. “Good.” They stared at each other for a few seconds before she spoke again. “Anyway, thanks for the talk. Sorry it was awkward.”  
  
Noah chuckled. “You’re welcome. And we both survived, so it’s fine.”  
  
Laura chuckled in response. She then reached out and hooked her arm around Noah’s and began leading him down the stairs, giving him a wide smile. Noah laughed at how she was acting like some gentleman, and he let her lead him down the steps and help make sure he didn’t fall, even though he really didn’t need any help walking. Their wings touched a bit behind their backs, but it was fine. It wasn’t an intimate touch, so it wasn’t inappropriate.  
  
Jayden passed by the stairs in the entrance hall when Noah and Laura were almost at the end of it, and he gave them a weird look when he saw them walking like that together. “Hey, are you stealing my mate?” he asked Laura in playful tone.  
  
“Yep, Noah wants to be _my_ mate now. Sorry, bro,” Laura joked, grinning at him.  
  
Jayden laughed and came over to them once they reached the floor. “No way. Give him back.” He chuckled and went over to reclaim Noah, putting his hand behind Noah’s head and leaning down to steal a possessive kiss him from.  
  
“Ew.” Laura wrinkled her nose in disgust when she saw her brother kissing Noah hard and possessively on the lips. She knew Jayden was making a scene out of it, and she was kind of amused – but also a bit disgusted – by that.  
  
Noah melted into the kiss, craving contact with his mate after such a busy day moving. Arousal went through him again, so he had to push Jayden back a little before things got embarrassing.  
  
“God, you guys are gross!” Isaac complained when he saw them from the doorway to the living room. He had heard their voices from the living room and had gone to see what they were doing.  
  
“Well, get out of my house then,” Jayden chuckled, sending Isaac a smug smirk.  
  
Isaac just groaned and turned on his heel to go back into the living room, where everyone else was.  
  
Jayden then turned his attention back to Noah and placed both of his hands on his mate’s pregnant belly. He smiled at the bump and touched it gently. “Hey, little guy. Wonder if you got any sleep while your mommy has been so busy all day.” He rubbed the swollen area tenderly, his voice soft and gentle as he spoke to the unborn baby.  
  
Noah smiled and stared down at his stomach. “I don’t know. I’ve felt him moving around a lot today, actually.”  
  
“Yeah, you say he moves a lot,” Jayden spoke, still rubbing Noah’s belly slowly. “You’re a little asskicker, aren’t you?” he chuckled at the baby.  
  
Laura smiled at them as she watched them quietly. She slowly walked around them and went into the living room, where the others were chatting and talking, to give them some time alone.  
  
Jayden leaned down and pressed a kiss to Noah’s forehead, letting his lips linger there for a bit. “Gosh, you’re so sexy when you’re pregnant.”  
  
Noah blushed. “Stop saying that when the others can hear you…!”  
  
The alpha chuckled against Noah’s forehead and rubbed his belly in small circles. “And you’re cute when you’re paranoid.”  
  
Noah smacked Jayden on the chest, his cheeks feeling flushed and warm.  
  
They heard Isaac’s sharp laughter from the living room along with the others’ voices as they chatted and talked in there. Noah and Jayden decided to go back to the others and thank them for their help before their guests would leave. It was already 6pm, so the others needed to go home and have dinner soon.  
  
“Daddy! Mommy!” Nathan chirped happily when he saw them, and immediately ran over to hug both of them. He squealed when Jayden picked him up and sat him on his hip.  
  
“I think you guys can handle the rest on your own now, right?” Adrian spoke.  
  
“Yeah, most of the hard work is done,” Jayden confirmed, smiling.  
  
Castiel came over to Noah, looking a bit worried. “Just be careful if you start working on the flowers in the garden.” He glanced at Noah’s belly to let him know what he meant.  
  
“Yeah, I will,” Noah promised. “Though, I may kind of need your help with that… I haven’t really tried taking care of garden flowers before.”  
  
“I will gladly help,” Castiel grinned. “And I think you need some more plants anyway. I didn’t see that many bee friendly flowers in your garden…”  
  
Dean rolled his eyes. “You and your bees, Cas.”  
  
Cas shot Dean a glare over his shoulder. “Shut up. Bees are important and we all couldn’t live without them.”  
  
The others laughed at that and Dean groaned softly.  
  
“Papa has always liked bees so much,” Eden giggled.  
  
“Oh, but they _are_ fascinating,” Leila said. Micah sighed next to her, making Dean chuckle.  
  
“I don’t see what’s so cool about bees. They always sting me on the hands, face, or butt when they come near me,” Isaac muttered, a displeased and annoyed frown covering his face.  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes. “That’s because you like to poke at them with a stick when you see one just to tease it, and because you sat down on top of one once. So I’d say that justice is served.”  
  
Lily gasped in horror. “Isaac! Why would you do that? Those poor bees…”  
  
“’Cause they won’t go away from my drinks till I poke them or wave them off!” Isaac argued. He turned to glare at Kaylen then. “And you didn’t have to mention that, you traitor.” Kaylen just flashed him a big grin, and Eliza laughed at them.  
  
“I feel like stinging you too sometimes, so I can’t blame them,” Adrian said, deadpan in his voice.  
  
“Hey!”  
  
Laughter filled the room, and Isaac grumbled at the way Adrian was smirking at him now.  
  
“Anyway, we should get going,” Micah said, glancing at Leila and Laura.  
  
“Yeah, us too,” Dean agreed.  
  
“Yeah, it’s been a long day and we really need to go home and get some dinner,” Eden spoke, stretching her tired limbs. Jason had to step back to not get hit by her wing, and Daniel snickered at that.  
  
Lily glanced at Tony and then back at Eden. “I think Tony and I will just order some take-out for us and the kids,” she smirked.  
  
“What?! I want that too!” Daniel exclaimed, looking at his parents like his life depended on eating take-out food rather than home-cooked food.  
  
“Yeah, I could eat that too…” Jason admitted.  
  
Eden rolled her eyes. “Fine. Take-out it is. Thanks for making me fat, Lily.”  
  
Lily giggled at her sister. “Sorry.”  
  
“You won’t get fat from that,” Dean laughed.  
  
“Oh, I don’t know. I can already see a bit of fat building right there…” Isaac commented, looking over at Eden’s stomach with squinting eyes. Eden had a normal body-build, so she wasn’t fat at all, but Isaac knew exactly how much it annoyed his sister when he teased her like that.  
  
Eden gasped at her brother’s rudeness. “Isaac, you little ant!” she scolded angrily.  
  
The others laughed out loud, and Nathan and Eliza couldn’t stop giggling at how silly Isaac and their aunts were. Castiel felt a bit embarrassed by his children, but Leila, Micah, and Laura just all laughed and found it amusing.  
  
Afterwards, everyone got ready to leave, and Noah and Jayden thanked them all for their help. Isaac rushed off to the bathroom real quick before going, and it took a few minutes for the others to finish talking before leaving. They were all satisfied with the work they had done and were confident that Noah and Jayden and little Nathan would settle in well in their new home.  
  
They were all putting on their shoes and jackets in the crowded entrance hall when Isaac finally returned from the bathroom.  
  
“Ah, that was nice,” Isaac sighed, patting his stomach in relief. There was a wide, satisfied grin on his face.  
  
Adrian grimaced at him. “You’re gross, Isaac.”  
  
Isaac snorted. “Bite me.”  
  
“Where’d you go?” Nathan asked, standing next to Jayden and glancing up at everyone as they got dressed.  
  
Isaac grinned down him. “Oh, I just had to put a few boat refugees into the sea, that’s all.”  
  
Nathan frowned in confusion, not understanding the metaphor. The others had mixed reactions of groans and laughter when they got it.  
  
“Isaac! That’s freaking gross!” Eden groused in disgust.  
  
Laura laughed out loud. “So the boat refugees are your poop and the sea is the toilet water, or what?”  
  
Isaac grinned and nodded. “Yep.”  
  
More groans of disgust filled the room.  
  
“Isaac, I swear to god, sometimes you are _not_ my son,” Castiel muttered while glaring over at Isaac. Isaac just barked out a laugh at that.  
  
“That’s quite creative, though,” Daniel laughed.  
  
“Actually it was Kaylen who started saying that, so he should take the credit,” Isaac said, grinning as he slung his arm around Kaylen’s shoulders.  
  
The others stared at Kaylen in disbelief.  
  
“I didn’t think you’d come up with a thing,” Eden spoke, gaping at Kaylen.  
  
Kaylen laughed and shrugged a bit. “I’m ‘grossly’ creative sometimes.”  
  
Isaac just grinned proudly at his mate and curled tails with him.  
  
“Sometimes I forget why you two are such a good match,” Lily said, snickering as she smiled at them.  
  
“Are you kidding me? They’re a _nightmare_ together,” Jason said. “Earlier when I was helping Jayden and Dean assemble the big book shelf, I had _both_ Isaac and Kaylen trying to distract and annoy me by trying to pull my pants down when I bent over. And I swear Isaac was pretending to hump me from behind too!”  
  
Daniel laughed hysterically. “That was so awesome!”  
  
The others laughed out loud, and Noah almost couldn’t believe that Kaylen would participate in such a thing.  
  
“But you have such a nice butt, Jason!” Isaac laughed.  
  
“You’re so gay sometimes, Isaac,” Adrian chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. Jason had always been sort of like a brother to them because he had been Eden’s closest friend since birth, so that only made it even more weird.  
  
“So what? I _am_ bi, you know,” Isaac reminded him. “But, nothing can beat Kaylen’s sweet bum…” He wrapped his arm around Kaylen’s shoulders again and smirked at his mate. Kaylen’s cheeks flushed a bit.  
  
“Well, I think Kaylen better get his sweet bum home along with yours before this gets outta hand,” Dean spoke.  
  
Isaac barked out a sharp laugh at that and let go of Kaylen.  
  
Everyone finished laughing and started getting ready to leave, and Noah and Jayden hugged their families goodbye and thanked them once more for their help.  
  
“Take care, Noah. Just let Jayden do all the hard work around here if you feel too tired for it,” Adrian told him as he hugged Noah goodbye at the door. He glanced over at Jayden with a small smirk.  
  
Noah chuckled and hugged him back. “Thanks. I will. And greet Natalie and the kids from us, okay?”  
  
“Sure.” Adrian pulled back and smiled at Noah.  
  
“Don’t worry. I’ll gladly do all the hard work around here,” Jayden said, wrapping an arm around Noah’s waist while he looked at Adrian.  
  
Adrian just grinned and left the house to drive home with Isaac and Kaylen.  
  
Eliza turned around and looked at Nathan in the door when she was about to leave with her parents. She gave him a somewhat sad look. “Bye, Nathan. See you.” She went forward and pulled her cousin into a small hug.  
  
“Bye,” Nathan told her, hugging her back. Their tails touched briefly as they hugged.  
  
The adults smiled at the cute hug between the two children, and Eliza waved at Nathan and at Noah and Jayden before running over to her parents. Isaac picked her up and slung her over his shoulder playfully, and the others laughed as Eliza squealed and kicked her legs while laughing hysterically.  
  
Noah and Jayden laughed at them from the doorway, and waved as their families got into their cars and drove off. They would see their parents soon again, since Castiel and Leila wanted to help with the garden, but it still felt a bit like they were moving out from their childhood homes all over again and were left alone in a new place to call home.  
  
After everyone had left, Jayden closed the front door and let out a sigh. It was already dark outside, and the house felt big and sort of unfamiliar to them at the moment now that the others were gone. It was a strange feeling.  
  
Nathan glanced up at his parents, who had been quiet for a few seconds now. “Cans I have ice cream?” he asked with a hopeful look on his face.  
  
They both glanced down at him and chuckled softly at their son.  
  
“Yeah, but first you gotta eat some real food,” Jayden told him, sweeping a hand through Nathan’s hair.  
  
Nathan pouted. “But I want ice cream…”  
  
“You’ll have ice cream afterwards. Don’t worry,” Noah told him with a soft smile.  
  
Noah grabbed Nathan’s little hand, and the family walked through the dining room and into the kitchen together. Nathan looked like he was trying to make a mental map of the house in his head. He was still unsure of where each room was, and during the day he had gotten lost repeatedly inside the house. There were so many rooms and he wasn’t used to that – only when he visited his grandparents, but there he’d mostly stay in the living room, kitchen, and the master bedroom where he’d sleep.  
  
“I think our neighbors are pretty nice,” Jayden spoke as he started pulling out ingredients to make macaroni and cheese. Macaroni was quick and easy to cook, and neither of them felt like waiting too long for their food to cook anyway. They didn’t have much in the fridge or cupboards, but Jayden had brought some of the food they had left with them from the apartment. “I met some of them when I was carrying furniture inside with the other guys earlier,” he continued.  
  
“Oh?” Noah said, interested in hearing more.  
  
Nathan started walking around the kitchen and opening the cupboards to see what was inside. He was trying to get familiar with the place, but Jayden hadn’t put all the kitchen equipment into the drawers and cupboards yet. Noah kept an eye on the boy as he wandered off into the laundry room next.  
  
“Apparently an older demon couple lives next to us on the left side, and on our right lives a young human couple with two kids. They seemed pretty nice when they greeted me today, but I did get a few odd looks from other neighbors across the street. Apparently it’s not that common to see so many species and hybrids in one place,” Jayden said, sounding a bit bitter as he said the last part.  
  
Sadly, Noah had to agree with that. “Yeah… I just hope that we’ll be safe here.”  
  
Jayden started putting the macaroni into the heated pot on the stove, and glanced back at Noah. “We will be. It’s a quiet neighborhood and many families with children live here. And we have an alarm in the house, just in case.”  
  
The house had been equipped with an alarm when they moved in. All doors and some of the windows on the ground floor were secured, as was the garage, so if any racists decided to break in to harass them, they’d know.  
  
“Yeah, that does make me feel safer.” Noah glanced down at his belly and rubbed it absently. The baby was moving again; kicking a bit against Noah’s organs and his bladder.  
  
Jayden watched him and suddenly smirked. “You know, I can always see from the look on your face when the baby is moving. He really is a restless one, huh?”  
  
“Yeah, at least when he’s awake,” Noah chuckled, still looking at the bump with a tender smile.  
  
Jayden turned and walked over to Noah. He placed his hands on the bump and tried to feel the movement inside. “Hmm, I think we’ll have our hands full with his one. He’s so eager to come out and keep us busy. I just hope he won’t cockblock me too much…”  
  
Noah blushed and gave Jayden a small smack on the chest. “Gosh, is that all you can think of?!”  
  
Jayden laughed out loud and curled his tail around Noah’s leg. “Now, who’s the one who is in an eager mood for it lately, hm? And you can’t really blame me; it’s not m _y_ fault that my mate is so sexy that I get inappropriate needs.”  
  
Noah’s blush deepened, mostly at being called sexy and have Jayden tell him that he was the reason why the alpha was as horny as he was sometimes. Hormones and sex drive were part of it too, him but being around Noah only increased it.  
  
They pulled apart abruptly when they heard a sudden, loud crash coming from the living room. It sounded like something heavy had fallen to the floor, and they could hear the unmistakable sound of glass splintering. It sent chills up their spines.  
  
Jayden and Noah stared at each other for a second before running through the laundry room and into the living room, worried what something had happened to their son.  
  
“Nathan?!” Jayden called, rushing into the room to see what was going on.  
  
They both stopped when they entered the living room and saw Nathan standing next to a pile of boxes that had been put behind the couch earlier, containing books, candle holders, picture frames, and some paintings that they hadn’t managed to put up yet. There were three boxes stacked on top of each other, but the top one had fallen down and was lying on the floor now. That had been the source of the loud crash they had heard.  
  
Nathan just stood there – unharmed, but in shock – and stared at the fallen box with a surprised face before turning to look up at his parents. His wings lowered and tightened behind his back in guilt and shame, especially now that he had been caught. “I-I’m sorry. I wanted to see what was inside…” he said in a small, shaky voice.  
  
Both Jayden and Noah let out deep sighs of relief when they saw that their son was unharmed. They had been both been afraid that he had gotten himself hurt somehow.  
  
“Nathan… You know mommy and I told you to stay away from the boxes,” Jayden said, his voice strict but not unkind as he gave Nathan a firm look.  
  
“Sorry, daddy,” Nathan said, looking like he was about to cry.  
  
Noah went over and pulled Nathan close, and the boy buried his face in his mother’s hip and clung to him. “Don’t do that again, okay? You could get hurt.”  
  
Nathan nodded against Noah’s hip. “O-Okay, mommy…”  
  
Jayden bent down to inspect the box. He pried it open and looked inside, noticing that the glass on one of the picture frames inside had been smashed. The picture had been wrapped in paper to protect it, but Jayden could tell that the glass was broken when he touched it. “The glass broke…” he murmured and turned his head to look at Nathan. “No ice cream or any of your favorite snacks for you for a week. You’ll get your ice cream tonight because we just moved in, but that’s it.”  
  
Nathan whined in protest, but his parents wouldn’t budge about their decision.  
  
Jayden went back to the kitchen to attend to the cooking food, while Noah tried to reassure Nathan. The boy was a bit shaken up over the loud crash.  
  
“I just wanted to see what’s inside,” Nathan murmured as he slowly followed Noah back to the kitchen. He held onto the hem of Noah’s shirt and wouldn’t let go because he was still a bit shaken up.  
  
“I know, but when mommy and daddy tell you not to touch something, then you can’t touch it. Otherwise, bad things can happen. Do you understand?” Noah glanced down at his son with a serious face.  
  
Nathan looked up at him and nodded. “Yes. Sorry, mommy…”  
  
Noah ran an affectionate hand through Nathan’s hair before going over to Jayden to help him get dinner ready.  
  
Meanwhile, Nathan hid himself behind the kitchen counter that was in the middle of the kitchen. He played a bit with a small toy soldier of his, obviously still feeling a bit ashamed that he had broken something and upset his parents.  
  
  


***

  
  
When Nathan got to eat dinner and his precious ice cream, he started cheering up more after what had happened earlier. He was even happier when he heard that Emily would be coming over to visit soon. Jayden had called David and Millie, who lived just two streets away from them now, and they had arranged that they could come over and see their new house tomorrow.  
  
After a long day of moving and trying to get used to the new house, Nathan was tired. They put him to bed at 8pm and tucked him in in his new room.  
  
“Is there monsters here?” Nathan asked as he lay in bed with his blanket tucked up under his chin, glancing around his new, unfamiliar room warily.  
  
Jayden chuckled from where he was sitting next to him on the bed. “No. This house is monster-free, I promise.”  
  
Noah stood in front of the wardrobe next to the bed and smiled as he watched them. He rubbed his belly slowly and watched as Nathan’s eyes scanned the room for any signs of monsters.  
  
“Why can’t I sleep in your bed?” Nathan asked, staring at his dad with a small pout.  
  
“’Cause you’re a big boy and big boys sleep in their own beds,” Jayden told him, tucking the blanket around Nathan’s body to make sure he was warm.  
  
The small lamp on the night stand next to the bed shone light around the room, which had almost been completely furnished now. Some of Nathan’s posters weren’t on the walls yet (posters from his favorite cartoons), and not all of his toys had been put into the drawers, boxes, and shelves. Noah wanted to do that on the next day and make sure that Nathan’s room was tidy and organized and that the boy liked it.  
  
“Besides, mommy and I aren’t that far away, so if you get scared you can just run over to our room, okay?” Jayden added.  
  
Nathan nodded and seemed to relax a little. “Okay.”  
  
Jayden smiled and started to read him a small bedtime story. Noah sat down with them and listened, because Nathan always liked it best when they were both there when he went to sleep.  
  
Nathan listened for as long as he could until his eyes began to flutter shut. He was tired and drained from energy, and eventually he fell asleep.  
  
Noah smiled and placed Nathan’s favorite plush toy next to him to keep him safe during the night, and then he and Jayden slowly retreated from the room. They had promised Nathan to leave his door open just a crack, so they did that after having turned off the lights.  
  
Jayden and Noah shared a small smile before heading towards their new bedroom together. They didn’t want to sleep just yet, but watching a movie in bed sounded like a nice idea.  
  
“I hope that Nathan adjusts to the house soon. Midnight too,” Noah murmured as he and Jayden entered the master bedroom together. The room was nice and big and the walls were painted in a beige color, giving the room a light appearance, but without being a plain, white color. Noah had wanted it to be painted in a shade of red, but Jayden hadn’t been sure about that, so they had settled with beige. Noah kind of hoped that Jayden would change his mind later about the color.  
  
“They’ll be fine. We all just need some time to get used to it,” Jayden assured him.  
  
Midnight had been let out of the room she had been locked in. She was now wandering around the house, exploring her new surroundings and getting familiar with it. They had put all the boxes into the empty room upstairs and closed the door so that she wouldn’t knock them over while exploring. Jayden didn’t want to clean up anymore broken glass.  
  
Noah sighed, knowing Jayden was right. He walked around in the bedroom and tried to get used to the change of scenery. They had put up the curtains and everything, so it looked nice and ready to be used, and Noah found himself liking the room quite a lot.  
  
Jayden began changing out of his jeans and putting on some more comfortable clothes. Watching movies in bed with jeans on wasn’t very comfy, so he started pulling on a pair of sweatpants and clean t-shirt. Noah was wearing stretchy maternity clothes, so he didn’t need to change to feel more comfortable.  
  
Jayden had just pulled on his sweatpants and t-shirt and was about to zip up the zipper on his shirt under his wings, when suddenly Noah came up behind him. The submissive grabbed Jayden’s hands gently, stopping him from zipping up his shirt. Jayden stopped his movements and tried to glance at Noah over his shoulder.  
  
“What? You have something against my shirt?” Jayden asked, playfulness in his voice.  
  
Noah didn’t reply. He just let go of Jayden’s hands and snaked his own hands in under the unzipped part of Jayden’s shirt so that he was touching his back. The alpha bit back a moan as Noah’s soft, small hands started roaming over his skin and muscles and moving up towards the sensitive base of his wings.  
  
Jayden’s wings and shoulders slumped a bit, and he let his wings spread out to give Noah more space as the submissive ran his pretty hands over his back like that. Noah’s touch was gentle and loving, and Jayden closed his eyes and hummed as he enjoyed feeling his mate’s hands on him like that. The hands moved up to the base of his wings and started rubbing a bit against the sweet spot there. Arousal shot through Jayden, and the alpha let out a long, pleased moan at the touch. “Fuck. What are you doing?”  
  
Again, Noah didn’t answer, but instead stepped a little closer. Jayden’s feathers instantly softened as Noah leaned in and began to press his nose against them, breathing in their scent. The feathers smelled musky and so much like alpha. The wings trembled a bit as Jayden’s arousal increased, and Noah could see the muscles in the wing bones flexing as testosterone started spreading through the alpha. It was very entrancing to watch.  
  
Noah wanted his mate so bad, he was going nuts with it. He was wet and horny from his pregnancy hormones, and seeing Jayden’s alpha traits and attractive muscles only made him wetter. He leaned forward and pressed his face into Jayden’s softened feathers, breathing in the fascinating scent of Jayden’s arousal through them, which his made his body tingle.  
  
“Fuck, you drive me crazy,” Jayden said, his voice gruff with arousal and sounding kind of out of breath. He had to fight the instinct to sharpen his feathers as a result of being aroused, because he didn’t want to hurt Noah. He had to let them stay soft.  
  
“Please. I want you…” Noah whimpered, pressing himself against Jayden’s back and let his erection rub against the back of Jayden’s thighs for friction.  
  
Jayden let out a dominant growl and swirled around to face Noah. He loved how his mate’s wings lowered in submission and only made Noah seem like he was begging Jayden more to be taken care of. He reached out and caressed Noah’s cheek gently with his hand, watching his mate lean into his touch. He smirked. “Only if you do what I want, though.”  
  
Noah let out a small, displeased whine and scowled up at Jayden with impatience. “What do you want?” he asked, his voice shaky with need and arousal.  
  
Jayden’s smirk grew wider. Slowly, he leaned down closer to Noah so he could whisper to him. “I want you to put on that school girl outfit of yours and let me fuck you in it.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened, and Jayden could see his pupils dilating with lust. “B-But it won’t fit! I can’t button up the shirt properly because of the bump.” He gestured at his five months pregnant belly.  
  
“Who says you need to button it up all the way? Just put it on, or I won’t make you come tonight.”  
  
Noah groaned, giving Jayden a small glare for making him have to do that. He liked dressing up in the school girl outfit and wear the pretty skirt and stockings, but he felt a bit insecure about it when he was pregnant. He wasn’t sure if he would look sexy in it with that bump being in the way. He knew that Jayden was turned on by his pregnancy – his mate had expressed that many times before – but usually when he wore the outfit, Jayden was aroused by how slim and innocent he looked in it. This time he wouldn’t be slim, nor would he really be innocent, considering that his pregnancy was not really from an act of innocence. Still, Jayden insisted that he wear it.  
  
“Fine.” Noah went over to the big wardrobe, where he had put their boxes with naughty things in them earlier that day without the others seeing it.  
  
Jayden smirked and went over to the bed. He moved the blankets aside and sat down, leaning against the headboard while waiting for Noah to get dressed.  
  
The submissive quickly gathered the outfit in his hands and shot Jayden a small glare for making him have to drag out the time like that when he was so horny. The alpha just smirked at him, and Noah went over and stood in the corner over by the door so that Jayden couldn’t see him from the bed.  
  
While Noah was putting on the outfit, Jayden began taking off his clothes and throwing them to the floor. His cock was hard and aching in anticipation of sex, and he gave it a few lazy strokes as he waited for Noah. He could hear Noah ruffling around with the clothing, and it seemed to take a bit longer than he had expected a first.  
  
“Are you finished soon?” Jayden asked when three minutes had passed. He didn’t want to act impatient, but he was kind of was. He couldn’t wait to see how Noah would look in that cute skirt when he was pregnant.  
  
“Give me a second,” came Noah’s reply, followed by more shuffling and tiny, barely audible moans and grunts.  
  
Jayden sighed and waited a bit longer, playing a bit with his own cock as he waited.  
  
Finally, when Noah had put on the outfit, he emerged from the corner and stepped into Jayden’s line of sight. Jayden turned his head to look at him, curious to see his mate in that sexy outfit again.  
  
The sight of Noah almost made Jayden choke. He looked gorgeous. He was wearing white stockings reaching up to just above his knees, which looked good on his slim and feminine legs, and the skirt he was wearing was a dark blue plaid-patterned one. It was very short and clung tight to his pretty hips. And then there was the shirt; a white shirt with buttons all the way down, but because of the baby bump, only the top buttons had been closed. The shirt was open around Noah’s stomach, showing off the beautiful swell of his pregnancy in a way that made Jayden squirm as he struggled not to come at the sight alone. On top of that, Noah was wearing a blue tie that matched the blue shade of his skirt, and the way he stood there – shy, insecure, but also with a look of lust and seduction in his eyes – was just almost too much for Jayden.  
  
Noah shifted sheepishly when he saw how Jayden was eyeing him and how his tail was curling in interest, and he couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride when he saw just how turned on his mate was by the sight of him. He shifted a bit, noticing how Jayden’s lust-filled eyes followed the movement of his hips and the way his wings were kind of lowered and wrapped a bit around himself shyly.  
  
“Fuck. Come here,” Jayden rasped, unable to stop staring at Noah.  
  
Noah grinned sheepishly before walking around to the foot of the bed. He then slowly began crawling onto the bed, making his way up to Jayden on all fours and spreading his wings. The way his wings were spreading was angel and demon language for a female or submissive, who was ready to copulate with their mate, and Jayden growled in arousal when he recognized it.  
  
As soon as Noah was close enough, Jayden reached out and grabbed him by the tie, pulling him into his lap. Noah gave a surprised yelp, but obediently climbed into his alpha’s lap and straddled him. Immediately Jayden placed his hands on the naked skin on his thighs, his fingers digging into the skin to leave bruises and mark him. Noah moaned.  
  
“Fuck, how can you look so hot in a skirt and stockings? You’re fucking gorgeous,” Jayden said, growling softly as he leaned forward and nibbled at Noah’s neck.  
  
Noah bared his neck to give Jayden more space, moaning as the alpha nibbled him there and started sucking small bruises into his skin. It sent pleasant shivers up his spine, and he loved feeling owned like that.  
  
Jayden sucked harder on Noah’s neck and roamed his hands over Noah’s thighs and up under the skirt. He felt the fabric of Noah’s panties and had to lean back and sneak a quick peek at them to see which ones Noah was wearing. He bit back a moan when he saw Noah was wearing one of his cutest pairs – pink ones with lace at the top, and with two small, black ribbons. The submissive’s erection was straining against the front of the panties, looking cute as it was trapped inside and started spreading a damp spot on the fabric.  
  
“Shit, that’s hot.”  
  
“Is it? I’m not too old for this, am I?” Noah asked as he let Jayden mouth press against his neck again. Insecurity spread through him and made his chest knot up a bit.  
  
Jayden pulled back and looked at him again, his hands tightening as they grabbed Noah’s upper thighs. “No. And stop saying you’re old – you’re _not._ You are the most gorgeous, sexy thing on this planet and I don’t even deserve you.”  
  
Noah stared back at him before slowly reaching up and cupping Jayden’s face in his hands. He looked him straight in the eyes with the gentlest smile on his lips. “But you _do_ deserve me. My alpha. My mate.”  
  
Jayden stared back into Noah’s eyes for a couple of seconds, searching the blue orbs, before letting out a growl and pulling Noah in for a kiss by pulling at the tie again.  
  
Their mouths crashed together, and Noah immediately submitted into the kiss, whimpering and moaning as the alpha claimed him. He squirmed on Jayden’s lap and grinded their erections together, until Jayden growled and finally reached out to pull Noah’s panties to the side. When he had access to Noah’s most secret place, Jayden quickly worked a finger inside, only to find the channel stretched and ready for him. He pulled back and stared at Noah with a startled look.  
  
“You naughty, little thing. So that’s why you were taking so long to put on that outfit,” Jayden said, grinning at Noah and twisting his finger around inside him.  
  
Noah moaned and squirmed as he felt Jayden’s finger tease his walls. “I don’t have the patience to wait for you to do it tonight, so I stretched myself. I _want_ you.” He placed his hands on Jayden’s shoulders, staring into his mate’s eyes with determination and want.  
  
“Shit.” Jayden hastily pulled out his finger and grabbed Noah’s hips to guide him into place. He moved Noah further up his lap so that he was hovering over his cock, and kept a hand on the submissive’s butt to keep prying the panties to the side to expose his hole. Finally his cock was lined up with that warm, gorgeous hole, and Noah helped him go the last step as he began pushing himself down onto Jayden’s dick.  
  
They moaned in unison as Jayden’s cock was slowly enveloped by Noah’s tight hole. Noah’s body allowed Jayden further and further inside until Noah was sitting firmly on his lap with Jayden’s entire cock buried inside him. They both shuddered and moaned at the complete feeling that overwhelmed them, and finally they began moving together.  
  
Jayden kept one hand on Noah’s butt to keep the panties away, and his other hand was placed firmly on his hip to guide him as the submissive began bouncing on his cock. Jayden thrust up into him the best he could, moaning every time he bottomed out inside him and felt the snug walls wrap around his cock. The skirt bounced in rhythm with the thrusts, giving Jayden a nice view of the pink panties and Noah’s trapped dick every now and then.  
  
“Ah, ah! So good,” Noah moaned, leaning his head back so Jayden had all the access to his neck that he wanted. The alpha didn’t let that invitation go unnoticed and immediately leaned in and kissed, nibbled, and sucked on the delicate skin.  
  
“Mm, you’re so warm. So good for me, baby,” Jayden grunted, obsessed with marking up Noah’s neck to show him that he was his.  
  
Noah whined and bounced harder on Jayden, shifting a bit to have the alpha’s cock nudge his sweet spots better. When it finally started ramming into the bundles of nerves inside him just right, Noah howled in pleasure and felt his orgasm starting to pool and tug in his abdomen.  
  
“C-Connor, I’m gonna—”  
  
Noah held on tight to Jayden, like he was clinging to him for dear life, and the alpha responded by getting more aggressive with his thrusting and the way his hands were grabbing him.  
  
Jayden leaned down and bit Noah playfully in the place between his neck and shoulder, which finally pushed Noah over the edge. The submissive cried out as he came untouched, spilling his release into his panties and making them wet. Jayden held him through it and felt every part of his mate’s body tremble and quake as he rode out his pleasure. When the walls tightened painfully around him, Jayden came too, growling out his release against Noah’s neck and filling him with several loads of his come until it was flowing out of him.  
  
They panted and moaned together as they calmed down from their highs. Their bodies filled with sated relief, and Noah buried his head in Jayden’s shoulder and went limp against him.  
  
Jayden started running soothing hands over Noah’s back and touching his feathers. He placed small kisses on Noah’s neck and cheek as the submissive rested against him, and Noah shuddered and whimpered softly when his fingers brushed his oversensitive oil glands, which had made the back of the white shirt wet.  
  
“Mm, be careful not to press your stomach too hard against me,” Jayden reminded him kindly when he felt the baby bump pressing against his stomach as Noah leaned against him.  
  
Noah shifted a bit to take the pressure off his stomach, and he let out a small moan when he could still feel Jayden’s cock inside him. It was starting to go soft, and Jayden’s semen was leaking out when the ‘plug’ was getting weaker.  
  
They both stared down at the swollen bump and touched it together. Noah hummed, loving to have Jayden touch the naked skin of his baby bump.  
  
Gently, Jayden picked Noah up a little so that his dick could slide out of him, and he placed the submissive on his leg afterwards. “Your panties are all wet against my leg now,” he commented with an amused snort.  
  
Noah grunted and gave Jayden an annoyed shove before moving off of him. He was about to stand up, but then Jayden gently grabbed him and guided him onto his hands and knees on the bed. Noah was about to protest because he wasn’t sure if he had the energy for another round just yet, but then Jayden leaned down behind him, pulled his panties down his thighs, and started licking out his own semen from Noah’s hole.  
  
“Ah!” Noah grasped the sheets tightly and moaned at the feeling of Jayden’s tongue licking him clean down there. The alpha licked up his slick and the come flowing from him, and Noah shuddered at the nice feeling. “J-Jayden.”  
  
Jayden just hummed in response and continued to lick Noah clean. His tongue lapped eagerly at the fucked-out hole, and he purred as the taste of Noah’s sweet slick filled his mouth.  
  
Noah was starting to get aroused again by the ministrations, but then Jayden pulled away and patted his butt a few times to let him know he was done.  
  
“I couldn’t resist licking that up,” Jayden smirked.  
  
Noah grunted and got up, only to have Jayden get up with him and grab a gentle hold of his wrist. The alpha turned him around until they were face-to-face, and Noah watched as Jayden stared at his stomach and reached out to touch it tenderly.  
  
“I really hope that we’ll be happy here. All of us,” Jayden said, still staring at Noah’s belly. “This seems like a good neighborhood to raise our kids, don’t you think?”  
  
Noah leaned into Jayden’s touch and smiled a bit. “Yes, I do. I just hope that all our neighbors are nice, but I’m not putting my hopes up too high…”  
  
“Well, let’s just try to be optimistic.”  
  
Noah hummed in reply. He tried to entangle himself from Jayden’s hold to head to the bathroom, but the alpha playfully held on to him and laughed as Noah’s attempts got more determined. “Connor! Stop being such a child and let me go! I have to pee!”  
  
Jayden just leaned his head back and laughed. He was standing there completely and utterly naked, whereas Noah was still wearing the school girl outfit. “Sorry. You’re just so cute to look at when you get annoyed with me.”  
  
“Assbutt,” Noah growled at him, hitting him on the arm to get free.  
  
“Cutie pie,” Jayden retorted with an amused grin.  
  
Noah blushed and continued to try to pry Jayden’s hand off his wrist. “Jayden, it’s not funny… I gotta use the bathroom. The baby is so restless and is pressing on my bladder again.”  
  
Finally, Jayden let go. “It’s almost like he has a personal grudge against your bladder since he keeps kicking it.” He gave Noah’s butt a playful slap as the submissive passed him, smirking at how the skirt moved.  
  
“It’s because we woke him up,” Noah said, giving Jayden a small glare before hurrying out of the room. He was as quiet as possible as he entered the hallway, as he didn’t want to wake up Nathan in the other room.  
  
Jayden just chuckled and watched him go, checking out Noah’s outfit before he disappeared out of sight.  
  
After Noah left, Jayden stretched out his limbs and hummed at how sated he felt after their previous activities. Sex with Noah was always the best, but he looked forward to cuddling with him on the bed in a few minutes while watching a movie – he loved that just as much.  
  
Things were going well in their new house so far, and they had a very good feeling about it. Jayden knew this was where he wanted to live with Noah for the rest of his days and raise a happy family with him.  
  
A few minutes later Noah returned to the room, and the two of them sat down in bed together and cuddled against the headboard as they put on a movie to watch. They were both tired after a long and busy day, and cuddling made them both feel better.  
  
The baby settled down too as they watched the movie. There was just about 17 weeks left until the baby would be born, and Noah and Jayden couldn’t wait to see the new addition to their family.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My updates will probably continue to come a bit later than they did once, seeing as I have a lot of internships going on. I will of course never abandon the story! The birth of the second baby is in the next chapter, so I hope you guys are excited for that :)
> 
> Also, thank you very much to those who still read the story. I appreciate you guys very much! :3


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s a birth going on in this chapter. I’ve tried not to be too graphic about it, but I want to give you guys a heads up. Enjoy reading :)

**May 2054 (Noah is 28, Jayden is 29 (almost 30), Nathan is 4, Castiel is 64 (almost 65), Dean is 66, Eden is 40 (almost 41), Adrian is 37, Isaac and Lily are 33, Kaylen is 29, Eliza is 4 (almost 5), Leila is 55 (almost 56), Micah is 57, Laura is 18, Charlie is 66 years old).**  
  
It was a Tuesday morning on the 19th of May, and Noah had been feeling small abdominal pains all night, as well as an odd feeling in his stomach that told him that the birth was approaching. The baby was coming soon. Noah could feel it. The uncomfortable feelings had kept him awake all night, making him turn and shift without end as he had tried to get comfortable, but his huge stomach made it difficult to find a good sleeping position. Jayden had been woken up a lot because of Noah’s restlessness, but he had managed to sleep more than him.  
  
It was now 7:39am and Noah lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling. He was sleepier than ever and so exhausted. He hated how he couldn’t sleep properly when his stomach was this huge and inconvenient. His back hurt whenever he moved, and the weight in his stomach felt uncomfortable if he wasn’t lying right. He had to stack books under the mattress to lift up his upper body, taking the pressure off his spine and organs when he was lying on his back. He stared up at the ceiling as he lay there, praying that this would be the last night he’d have to spend in his current state.  
  
The clock hit 7:40 and Jayden’s alarm went off on the nightstand. The alpha woke up with a loud groan and reached out to kill the noise, slumping back onto his pillow afterwards. He lay there for a few seconds, trying to wake up, until he finally turned around to face Noah.  
  
“Hey. How are you?” Jayden asked in a raspy voice and rubbed his eyes to wake up.  
  
“How do you think?” Noah murmured grumpily, still staring at the ceiling. “I can’t sleep when it hurts all the time…”  
  
Jayden’s brows furrowed. “Contractions?”  
  
“Some. They aren’t very strong and there’s a long time between them, so I don’t think I’m in labor yet… But my back hurts whenever I turn, and this odd sensation in my stomach won’t go away. Charlie said it’s normal, though.”  
  
Jayden gave his mate a sympathetic look before inching closer. Gently, he pulled the blanket aside and tugged Noah’s shirt up to expose his stomach, before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss on the submissive’s large belly. Noah was wearing one of Jayden’s old t-shirts, which was way too big on him, but Jayden loved the way it looked on him. It was hot as hell. He pressed another kiss on the swollen skin and ran his hand over it tenderly. “Let’s hope the little guy decides to come out today, then. Then you can finally sleep without your back hurting so much…”  
  
Noah hummed and glanced down at the alpha as he kissed his stomach. “Why do you have to work today? I don’t want to be alone when the birth is so close…”  
  
Jayden sighed and pulled away. “Sorry. I wish I could stay at home with you and make sure you’re okay, but I can’t take time off work until the labor starts. I don’t really have any days off anymore; just my paternity leave, which I’ll have when the baby comes out.”  
  
Noah pouted, feeling very disappointed and annoyed that his mate couldn’t be at home with him when he needed him.  
  
“And today we have this important employee meeting at 9:30 and I gotta be there, so I really can’t stay at home unless it’s an emergency,” Jayden went on, sitting up on the bed and touching Noah’s large bump absently.  
  
“I hate your boss.”  
  
Jayden laughed at that and gave Noah a smile before moving off to the bed to get dressed. He reached out and helped Noah sit up, since the submissive had a hard time moving when he was as heavily pregnant as he was.  
  
Noah murmured a thanks to Jayden and slung his legs over the side of the bed, planting his feet on the floor. He took a few breaths as he sat there, feeling so full that it was kind of uncomfortable. The baby was a little bigger than Nathan had been, which was why Noah felt like this pregnancy was a bit harder than the first one.  
  
After collecting some strength, Noah got up and pulled on his maternity pants. They were leggings, which were very comfortable to wear, and he kept Jayden’s old t-shirt on because he didn’t want to bother putting on another one. Besides, he liked how this shirt still smelled of Jayden and his lovely alpha scent.  
  
“I think Nathan should stay home with you today,” Jayden spoke as he got dressed. “Then I won’t have to rush over to the daycare to pick him up before they close if your labor starts around that time.”  
  
“Yeah… And I’d be more comfortable if he’s here with me. In case anything should happen,” Noah said. If he should suddenly fall, faint, or otherwise not be able to move, Nathan would be there to help. The boy had been taught to call 911 if something bad like that happened, and he knew which buttons to type on their home phone to call both Noah and Jayden’s parents.  
  
“Don’t say that. You’ll be fine.”  
  
They finished getting dressed before heading downstairs together. Jayden helped Noah down the steps because he was a little unsteady on his legs, and they tried to be quiet so they wouldn’t wake up Nathan.  
  
They headed to the kitchen where Jayden began preparing some lunch for himself, while Noah rummaged through the fridge in search for some food. He was craving pickles and ketchup so much, and he wanted to have a slice of the strong cheese that Jayden often ate from. He found the pickles and the ketchup, but he couldn’t find the cheese. Frustrated, Noah rummaged through the fridge with more aggression and impatience, almost panicking when he couldn’t find it.  
  
“W-Where’s the cheese?”  
  
Jayden looked over at Noah, who was standing with his face inside the fridge and was practically trembling because he craved that cheese so much. Jayden came over to look, but couldn’t find it either. “Uh, I think you ate the last bit of it yesterday…”  
  
“What?! And you didn’t buy more?” Noah exclaimed, almost accusingly. He stared at Jayden like he had just told him about the worst disaster in the universe, and all his hormones and emotions started overflowing inside of him.  
  
“Whoa, hey,” Jayden began, reaching out to place his hands on Noah’s slim shoulders when he saw his mate’s eyes prickle with tears and could feel Noah’s sudden distress through their bond.  
  
Noah let out a small sob and buried his face in his hands when all the emotions inside him became too much. He was crying now and trembling as he tried to control himself. “Why am I crying?” he murmured out, not understanding his own feelings anymore. It was like his whole world had shattered when he couldn’t eat the cheese he craved so desperately.  
  
“Hormones,” Jayden explained softly, pulling Noah against his chest and wrapping his arms around him to calm him down. “You’ve been moody a lot lately, and you being so close to giving birth now is probably just making it worse…”  
  
Noah buried his face in Jayden’s shirt, almost not caring that he got snot and tears on it.  
  
“Sorry I didn’t buy another cheese… I thought there was another one in there, but I guess you ate it already. You eat like a hamster lately.” Jayden chuckled and rubbed a soothing hand up and down Noah’s back as he held him close. The submissive’s wings trembled, but Jayden could see them lowering a bit, indicating that he was starting to feel more comfortable and relaxed at his touch.  
  
“But I need the cheese so much…” Noah murmured, grasping Jayden’s shirt as he leaned into him.  
  
“Yeah, I know, baby. But the ketchup and the pickles will have to do,” Jayden answered, kind of amused by Noah’s desperate cravings. He rubbed Noah’s back and stroked his feathers for a bit longer until his mate was calm.  
  
They had just pulled apart when they heard Nathan call out for them at the stairs.  
  
“Mommy? Daddy?” Nathan’s voice sounded worried and scared, like he was afraid that they had left the house without him when he couldn’t find them upstairs.  
  
“In the kitchen,” Jayden called.  
  
Small feet ran through the dining room until finally Nathan made it to the kitchen. He looked relieved to see them, and whined as he ran over and hugged his dad tightly.  
  
“Hey, buddy. What’s up?” Jayden asked when he sensed Nathan being a bit upset.  
  
“Had a bad dream, daddy…”  
  
Jayden frowned in sympathy and picked Nathan up, sitting the boy on his hip and looking at him. “Really? What was it about?”  
  
Noah reached out and stroked Nathan’s arm gently, trying to comfort him.  
  
Nathan looked at Jayden with a sad face. “I dreamed that da new baby was born and that you and mommy forgot about me…”  
  
Jayden was mildly stunned by that. “What? No way. How could mommy and daddy forget about you when you’re so ticklish? Who are we gonna tickle if you weren’t here?” He grinned playfully and tried to tickle Nathan on the stomach, and the boy squealed and squirmed in response, trying to get away. Jayden grinned wider and pulled Nathan further up so he could pepper kisses to the boy’s face, and Nathan’s laughter and squealing only got louder.  
  
Noah chuckled as he watched them, loving to see Jayden act so fatherly and silly around Nathan.  
  
“Daddy, stop! It tickles!” Nathan squealed, laughing so much from Jayden’s ministrations.  
  
Jayden finally stopped and was pleased that Nathan was in a much better mood now. He reached up his free hand and corrected some of his son’s messy hairs. “Don’t worry about mommy and daddy forgetting you. We certainly won’t. You’re our big boy, after all.”  
  
“Yes, and when the new baby comes we’re going to need your help,” Noah added, smiling as he corrected Nathan’s sleepwear a bit when he saw the shirt was riding up his stomach after Jayden had tickled him. “We need you to help us keep the baby safe, and when he gets older then you have to help us make sure that he doesn’t eat stuff he can’t eat and so on. Big brothers are very important.”  
  
Nathan’s face lit up. Having responsibilities was something he quite liked. It meant that he was big and that he was important. “Okay!” he chirped. “But I dun gotta clean his poop, do I…?” His nose wrinkled in disgust.  
  
Jayden laughed out loud. “No, buddy. Mommy and daddy will do that.”  
  
Nathan looked very relieved about that, and he jumped down on the floor when Jayden put him down.  
  
“Go upstairs and get dressed. I’ll make you breakfast,” Noah told Nathan.  
  
“Okay, mommy,” Nathan grinned before running out of the room and up the stairs.  
  
“How about I make it? You need to sit down,” Jayden spoke after Nathan had disappeared.  
  
Noah grumbled a bit over that before slowly walking over to the small table in the kitchen, where he sat down and began eating a piece of bread with pickles and ketchup.  
  
Jayden shuddered in disgust at Noah’s weird breakfast, but couldn’t help but be amused about his mate’s cravings. He quickly put out some cereal and milk for Nathan, and got him his favorite spoon and bowl. He had just returned to the kitchen counter again afterwards when he spotted Midnight on the table. “Midnight! Get down!” He waved the cat down and glared back at her when she gave him a look as if she was insulted that she couldn’t be on the kitchen counter. Jayden mumbled under his breath because he hated when the cat was on the counter, but at least he had already wrapped up his lunch, so she couldn’t have contaminated or eaten from it.  
  
Noah giggled from the table, finding Jayden’s annoyance amusing. He snapped his fingers gently to attract the cat’s attention, and when the cat came over to him, he leaned down the best he could to pet her. Midnight purred and leaned into his touch, and her pointy tail bumped against some of Noah’s feathers.  
  
Nathan came down again and ate his breakfast by the table along with Noah. Jayden joined them, having to eat breakfast too before he was off to work.  
  
  


***

  
  
After Jayden went to work, Noah was left alone at home with Nathan. Midnight was there too, of course, and Noah spent some time with her on the couch where he pet her while watching something on TV. Nathan was mostly playing by himself or drew some drawings that he proudly showed Noah. He was very good at entertaining himself, but sometimes he felt the need to tell his parents some stuff or have them play with him.  
  
The day went by quietly, though Noah did feel a lot of small pains in his stomach. Charlie had said it was normal, and as long as he wasn’t having big, painful contractions, he wouldn’t call Jayden to have him drive him to the hospital. Noah rubbed his stomach whenever he felt the pains or felt the baby move inside him. He hoped that the baby would decide to come out today so that he could finally sleep more comfortably on the bed.  
  
Castiel called during the day to ask if it was okay that he dropped by for a visit at around 4pm to see how Noah was doing. The baby was supposed to come out any time soon, and Castiel was off work earlier that day, so he really wanted to come by and keep Noah company. Noah didn’t mind; he was very happy that his papa would be coming over and spending some time with him and Nathan.  
  
At 3pm Nathan persuaded Noah to go outside for a bit. He wanted to ride on his bike up and down the sidewalk, so Noah got off the couch and walked outside with him. Nathan couldn’t ride a normal bike with two wheels yet, so he had two smaller wheels attached on the back to support the bike and help him keep his balance. He loved riding on it and would often beg his parents to take him outside so he could have fun on it.  
  
The sky was full of clouds that day, but the sun managed to shine through every now and then. The trees were green and birds were tweeting, and Noah loved the smell of spring in the air.  
  
It was quiet on the street, and Noah liked that about their neighborhood. Most of the neighbors were very nice. There were a few people further down the street who would wrinkle their nose in disgust when they saw him and Nathan, but Noah ignored them. Jayden had gotten pissed off a few times about it, though. He didn’t like it when people treated his mate and kid like that.  
  
“Stay on the sidewalk, and don’t go further away than four houses, you hear?” Noah told Nathan as the boy was about to climb on his bike.  
  
Nathan glanced down the sidewalk, slowly counting each house so he would know when to stop. He could count quite well already, but he couldn’t really do math or read much yet. “Okay!” he chirped, getting up on the bike to ride off. Noah reached out and helped steady him before the boy finally rode off, grinning happily as he rode on his bike.  
  
Noah watched with a smile as Nathan cycled down the sidewalk with a big grin on his face. He rubbed his large belly absently while keeping an eye on his son, and he was proud to see that Nathan stopped exactly four houses away.  
  
A suddenly sting of pain in his stomach distracted Noah, though. He gasped as the pain shot through him, and he knew he was having a somewhat stronger contraction now. He took deep breaths to get through it, and after ten seconds it finally passed. It was just a single contraction, so Noah wouldn’t call Jayden about it just yet. It could be hours before he’d feel the next one, or it could be minutes, so he decided to wait until he felt more contractions. He didn’t want to have Jayden leave his work earlier than necessary.  
  
“Are you alright?” came a voice behind Noah.  
  
Noah jerked in surprise and turned around to see their next-door neighbor standing a few feet away from him. Next to them lived a young human couple in their thirties, and the woman – who was named Marianne – sometimes had a day off during the week. She stood with her purse and her car keys in her hands, looking like she was about to drive off to buy groceries or maybe run some errands somewhere. She gave Noah a concerned look as she stared at him.  
  
“Ah, I’m fine. Just had a contraction,” Noah told her, giving her a grateful smile. He and Jayden got along well with their human neighbors, and they always kept an eye on each other’s houses when they knew their neighbors were out. The couple had two kids – a boy who was 8 and a girl who was 5. Nathan sometimes played with them and they got along pretty well.  
  
“Oh!” Marianne exclaimed. “Maybe you should call Jayden?”  
  
“I think I’ll wait until I feel more of them. This one wasn’t all that strong…”  
  
“Ah, I see. Well, I’m heading out now, so I can’t even help you if the baby is suddenly on his way. So take care, and good luck with it!” Marianne grinned at him friendly, giving him a small wink as she wished him good luck.  
  
“Thank you,” Noah smiled, watching as she turned and walked over to her car.  
  
Nathan returned just then, stopping his bike next to Noah and glancing up at him in worry. “You okay, mommy?”  
  
Noah turned to look at his son, blinking. “Yes, I’m alright. It just won’t be long till the baby comes, that’s all.”  
  
“Hmm.” Nathan stared at Noah’s belly and reached out a small hand to place on it. He rubbed it gently, like he was afraid it was going to break if he touched it too hard. “You think he wants to play?” he asked as he stared up at his mother.  
  
A small chuckle escaped Noah. “Yes, I think he does. But he won’t be able to play much while he’s still little. Just like Emily’s little sister Jenny couldn’t right after she was born.”  
  
“She still can’t play much… She can’t even draw.”  
  
Noah laughed softly at that. “Yeah, but she’ll learn. You also couldn’t draw or play much when you were that small.”  
  
Nathan seemed to consider that for a bit before he got up on his bike again. This time, he rode down the other side of the sidewalk, and he waved at Marianne when the woman drove off in her car.  
  
  


***

  
  
Noah and Nathan stayed outside for another twenty minutes until some rain droplets began to fall from the sky. Noah took Nathan inside then and got him out of his shoes and jacket before they went to the living room.  
  
Noah made a beeline for the couch. He was so tired and his feet were kind of swollen from his pregnancy. He just needed to sit down. A sigh of relief escaped him as he finally sat down on the soft couch, but his back hurt a little. He hadn’t felt any stronger contractions since the one earlier, but he had felt some smaller pains in his stomach. He stared at his belly and rubbed it slowly, wondering when the baby would decide to finally come out.  
  
Nathan grinned as he climbed onto the couch with Noah, and Noah let the boy lie down beside him and press his ear to his stomach. Nathan really loved putting his ear to his mother’s pregnancy stomach. He liked how he could hear the heartbeats of his mom and little brother, and how the baby sometimes kicked him on the cheek as he lay there.  
  
“Can he hear us?” Nathan asked, listening intently to Noah’s belly.  
  
Noah chuckled, and Nathan could hear and sense the vibrations as he had his ear pressed against his stomach. “Yes, he can. He probably can’t really understand what we’re saying, but he knows our voices.” He gently moved some of Nathan’s hairs away from his forehead, watching his son with a fond smile.  
  
“Hmm. I wanna hear his voice too…”  
  
“You will, someday.”  
  
Nathan stayed like that for a big longer until he grew bored with it. He jumped down from the couch and sat down on the floor to play with his toy soldiers and cars, while Midnight walked back and forth. He whined in protest whenever the cat carelessly walked through his carefully placed toys and made them fall over, but the cat didn’t care one bit.  
  
Meanwhile Noah leaned back into the couch and placed a pillow behind his back and one behind his head. He closed his eyes to rest for a bit, feeling tired after barely having gotten any sleep for the past few weeks now.  
  
However, only three minutes after he had closed his eyes, another contraction went through his body. The strong pain made him grunt and clutch his stomach, and he waited for it to subside.  
  
“M-Mommy?” Nathan’s small, worried voice came from the floor when he heard Noah’s pained grunts.  
  
“I-I’m okay. Don’t worry,” Noah told his son, flashing him a forced smile to reassure him. Nathan stared at him before going back to playing with his toys, and Noah slumped against the couch when the pain was finally over. That contraction had been a bit more painful than the first one and had lasted a bit longer. He wondered whether to call Jayden now or wait until another contraction appeared. Castiel would be coming over any minute now, so if the baby suddenly decided to come then Castiel could drive him to the hospital. Noah decided to wait.  
  
Grunting, Noah got up from the couch when he felt the need to pee. Getting up was a struggle, and he hated how big and inconvenient his stomach was at nearly 42 weeks pregnant. He told Nathan he was going to the bathroom before slowly padding out of the room. He supported himself against all the walls he made contact with on his way out, until he finally reached the bathroom. He left the door unlocked as he went inside, just in case he should fall over or something so that Nathan would be able to get to him.  
  
The baby was moving around and being very active, which wasn’t very good for Noah’s poor bladder.  
  
After having finished and washed his hands, Noah took a moment to stare at himself in the mirror, which was just outside the shower stall. He turned to the side and stared at how big he looked. He couldn’t help but think it looked odd that such a small guy like him had such a huge belly. Slowly, he ran his hands over the bump, still staring intently at his reflection. A smile twitched on his lips as he thought about the baby. He just couldn’t wait to see his new son and hold him in his arms.  
  
Noah was just about to leave when another contraction hit. This one was pretty strong, and Noah almost collapsed as the pain shot through him. He tried to hold back pained cries and grunts, and he clutched his stomach with both hands. It was agonizing and he prayed that it would be over soon.  
  
After thirty seconds, the pain subsided, but just when Noah was about to feel relief, he suddenly felt a gush of fluid escaping him. His water had broken.  
  
Now was _really_ the time to call Jayden.  
  
Quickly, Noah reached into his pocket to get his phone (which Jayden had made him wear on his person at all times) and dialed his mate’s number. It was disgusting to still wear the wet leggings, but Noah put up with it for now. The phone rang four times and Noah shifted impatiently on his feet until finally Jayden picked up.  
  
 _“Hello?”_  
  
“Jayden!” Noah exclaimed, his voice a mix of relief and slight panic. “You gotta come home. My water broke, and I think the baby is coming!”  
  
 _“Oh! I’ll be there in twenty minutes, tops!”_ Jayden said, sounding somewhat panicked as well, and Noah could hear him putting pots away to get ready to leave.  
  
They quickly said goodbye and hung up, and Noah slowly began making his way back towards the living room. He hoped his papa would show up soon, because then _he_ could just drive him to the hospital, but he didn’t know exactly _when_ Castiel would be there, only that it was at around 4pm. It was 3:57 now, so Castiel should be there any minute, he hoped.  
  
Nathan was still playing with his toys in the living room, oblivious of his mother’s active labor. He lay on his stomach and imitated crashing noises as he played with his soldiers and cars. When Noah appeared in the doorway to the laundry room, however, he looked up.  
  
“Your father is coming home soon. The baby is coming, so we’re going to the hospital as soon as he or your grandma comes,” Noah told him, supporting himself with one hand on the doorframe and looking kind of scared as he stood there.  
  
“Okay…” Nathan sat up and stared at Noah, frowning a bit. He didn’t like the slightly scared look on Noah’s face. He hadn’t seen his mom look like that before and it made him kind of scared too.  
  
Noah took a deep breath to calm down his nerves and fear. The birth scared him a lot, since he knew how painful it would be, and he was kind of worried that he wouldn’t make it to the hospital in time. He turned around to head back into the laundry room to change into some clean pants, but then suddenly another contraction hit. He was stunned that it appeared so soon after the other one, and he could feel his body preparing for the birth. This was bad. At this rate Jayden or Castiel wouldn’t manage to drive him to the hospital before the baby comes.  
  
Taking deep breaths and trying to control his breathing, Noah rode of the painful contractions. Once they subsided, he tried getting out of his leggings, finding it very hard to get them off when he couldn’t bend down without his back or stomach hurting. It took a few minutes until finally he got his leggings and panties off, and he quickly threw them in the laundry bin before putting on some clean sweatpants. That was difficult too, which was why he didn’t bother putting on underwear as well.  
  
What was taking Jayden and Castiel so long, Noah wondered. He knew it would be around fifteen or twenty minutes until Jayden could be there, but it felt way too long to wait. The baby wouldn’t wait. He cursed himself for not having called Jayden earlier, but that couldn’t be helped now.  
  
“Mommy?”  
  
Noah used his wings to hide his lower regions from Nathan as he struggled to get the sweatpants up. “What is it?”  
  
The boy was standing in the doorway behind Noah, looking kind of confused and wary about the unfamiliar situation that was going on. “What should I do?”  
  
“Just go get the plastic bag with diapers and formula up in mommy and daddy’s room, okay? Can you do that?”  
  
Nathan nodded before disappearing from the room and running up the stairs. Noah was grateful for the fact that Nathan was home and could go fetch him the bag that he and Jayden had prepared for going to the hospital for the birth. That way Jayden wouldn’t have to do it when he arrived and waste valuable time.  
  
Nathan soon returned with the bag, and Noah made his way over to sit on the couch. More contractions appeared, making Noah grunt and groan in pain.   
  
Nathan didn’t like seeing his mother in pain at all. He was clearly freaked out and he even began crying, so then Noah had to comfort him as well as dealing with contractions and stress over the fact that neither Jayden nor Castiel were there yet.  
  
Suddenly, Noah heard the doorbell ring. Relief washed over him when he knew that Castiel was finally there.  
  
“Nathan, can you go open the door for grandma?” Noah asked the boy, biting back a pained grunt at the pain in his stomach.  
  
The boy nodded and quickly ran over to the door to unlock it.   
  
Castiel stepped inside, somewhat alarmed by the look of fear on Nathan’s face. “Where’s your mommy?” he asked the boy.  
  
Nathan pointed to the living room. “On da couch. He’s hurting…”  
  
Castiel quickly took off his shoes and made his way into the living room, where rushed over to Noah on the couch.  
  
“Papa! Finally…” Noah sighed in relief.  
  
Castiel looked down at Noah with concern, seeing that Noah’s labor was probably more progressed than he had thought. “How are your contractions? Should I drive you to the hospital?”  
  
“Yeah…” Noah got up, knowing that driving with Castiel to the hospital would go faster. But as soon as he got up, he was hit by the worst contraction yet – _and_ a sudden, familiar need to push. The color drained from Noah’s face when he realized what was happening. “I… The baby is coming!”  
  
Castiel stared back at him in shock. “N-Now?” he stammered, glancing quickly at Noah’s belly before looking at his face again.  
  
“Yes, now!” Noah insisted, crying out and almost collapsing into Castiel’s arms. The angel held on tight to him and tried to soothe him through it, but he seemed to be almost as panicked as Noah was.   
  
Nathan was crying again now, not really understanding what was going on, and he was very upset to see his mother cry out like that. Castiel tried to soothe him at the same time that he was trying to help Noah through the pain and handle the sudden emergency they found themselves in. There was no doubt that the baby wouldn’t wait until they had arrived at the hospital.  
  
“Okay, we need to get you into the right position for the birth,” Castiel told Noah in a rather serious voice.  
  
Noah stared back at him in shock. “I’m not having the baby _here!_ I can’t…”  
  
“Yes, you can,” Castiel insisted, holding onto Noah’s arms tightly and looking him in the eye. “Your body is built for it and you _can._ Now, let’s get you down on the floor.”  
  
“Not in here!” Noah protested, taken over by complete panic. “T-The laundry room…” He didn’t want to give birth at home. He wanted Charlie and doctors around who could help and assist him in case something went wrong. This was not how he had imagined having his baby, and he certainly didn’t want to have it on the wooden floor in the living room. The laundry room’s tiles were much easier to clean.  
  
“Alright.” Castiel began guiding Noah into the laundry room, which proved difficult since the pregnant submissive could barely move. “Nathan, go watch TV in the living room. Your mommy is going to be fine,” he told the boy when he heard him crying in distraught behind them.  
  
“B-But he’s hurting!” Nathan said, sobbing and sniffing and being very panicked about the unfamiliar situation.  
  
“Yes, I know, but it’s just because the baby is coming. He’s going to be fine. Now do as I say,” Castiel said in a kind but strict voice.  
  
“D-Do what grandma says,” Noah spoke, looking over at Nathan while Castiel helped him into the laundry room.  
  
Nathan stared at them. He knew he should do as they said, but he was so scared that something would happen to his mom. Finally he gave a small nod and went back to the living room to watch cartoons, though he wasn’t very happy about leaving his mother’s side.  
  
Castiel had just gotten Noah into the laundry room and was about to help him down on the floor when Jayden finally came home.  
  
The alpha quickly opened the front door and shut it behind him before rushing into the living room. “Noah?” he called out desperately. He saw Nathan on the couch, and the boy seemed very happy to see him. But he couldn’t see Noah anywhere. Panic was about to spread through him until he finally heard a voice.  
  
“In here,” Castiel replied from the other room.  
  
Jayden was there in a second, and a look of confusion flashed across his face when he saw them trying to settle down in the laundry room. “What are you doing? Aren’t we going to the hospital?”  
  
“N-No, the baby is coming now,” Noah groaned out, holding his stomach tightly and feeling his body prepare for the birth.  
  
At any other time, Noah would have found the shocked expression on Jayden’s face amusing, but the situation really wasn’t funny at the moment.  
  
“What, _now?_ You mean _here?_ ” Jayden asked, his eyes wide and somewhat scared.  
  
“Yes, we don’t have time to drive him to the hospital. The baby has decided to come out now,” Castiel explained, looking over his shoulder at Jayden. “Can you please take over for me and get him onto the floor? I will go get the towels then. We are going to need a lot of them.”  
  
“Y-Yeah, sure.” Jayden was at Noah’s side in heartbeat, holding on to him tightly and trying to get him down on the floor without hurting him. Noah cried out when another contraction hit, and Jayden’s heart ached him for when he saw in how much pain he was.  
  
Everyone was in unfamiliar territory. No one in the family had dealt with a home birth before, and even though they knew how babies were born and what to do, they didn’t know what to do in case things went wrong.  
  
“Daddy,” Nathan cried, appearing in the doorway and looking very distraught.  
  
“Shh, it’s okay, Go back to the TV. I’ll take care of mommy,” Jayden told Nathan.  
  
Once again Nathan looked a little reluctant before he nodded and went back to the TV.  
  
“It hurts so bad, and I can feel him coming out soon,” Noah sobbed, grabbing such a tight hold of Jayden’s arms that it was going to leave bruises later.  
  
“Shh, you’ll be okay. You can do this; you’ve done it once before, remember? Just trust your body,” Jayden soothed him, finally getting Noah to sit down on the floor.  
  
Castiel got towels from the bathroom and laid them out under Noah, all over the floor. “I’ve just called an ambulance here to help us, so help should be coming soon.”  
  
“Yeah, thanks,” Jayden said, feeling very grateful that Castiel was around to help them.  
  
Noah cried out at the next contraction and started pushing when his body told him to.  
  
Jayden realized what was going on and reached out to take Noah’s pants off him, since he couldn’t give birth with the garments being in the way. Noah flinched a bit away from him, all too aware that Castiel was there too. It was very awkward to have his papa see his private parts and he didn’t quite like it.  
  
“I have to take them off,” Jayden told him in a soft voice.  
  
Castiel picked up on Noah’s embarrassment and just gave his son a small smile to let him know that everything was okay.  
  
Noah calmed down, and Jayden could finally take his pants off and throw them aside. Noah was sitting there in just a t-shirt now, and he felt a bit embarrassed and exposed in front of Castiel, even though his papa had seen him naked hundreds of times before when he was a kid.  
  
“You should probably be on your hands and knees, since this is not like the bed at the hospital,” Castiel kindly suggested.  
  
In the hospital, the bed would be good for giving birth on the back if you were a submissive, since it had nice back support that helped keep the pressure off the backside so the baby could come out, but the laundry room floor was different. The tiles were hard, cold, and unforgiving, so Noah would have to give birth while being on his hands and knees so that that there wouldn’t be any pressure on his lower back.  
  
Noah grunted before slowly trying to get up and turn around on his hands and knees. He was still having contractions and feeling the baby about to come out, so every move he made was exhausting and painful. Jayden put some towels under his knees to make it comfortable, and kept running a soothing hand up and down Noah’s arm to reassure him.  
  
Just as Noah had gotten into position, another strong contraction hit. He cried out and lifted himself up on his spread knees a bit so that his ass was facing down more, making it easier for the baby to make his way out. It hurt so much, but Jayden’s soothing words and his touch helped.  
  
“You’re doing so well. Just keep pushing and help the baby come out,” Jayden told him, doing his best to praise Noah and show him that he was there for him.  
  
“Yes, just push the best you can when your body tells you to,” Castiel spoke, getting down on his knees behind Noah to catch the baby when he would come out. Noah had his wings spread so that he could flap them in response to his pain and so that Castiel could see if the baby was visible or not.  
  
“I don’t wanna do this,” Noah sobbed out, wishing it was all just over. Everything hurt, and the baby felt much bigger than Nathan had. He wondered if he’d be able to do this. He was so scared.  
  
“Just breathe,” Jayden told Noah when he saw the way his mate was panicking. He was on his knees in front of Noah and reached out to grab Noah’s arms while the submissive held on to his. Noah’s grip was tight and it hurt a little, but Jayden didn’t complain. He started showing Noah how to breathe; inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, and the submissive began to follow his lead. “That’s it. You’re so good.”  
  
“It fucking hurts,” Noah grit out, digging his nails into Jayden’s arms while he pushed the best he could. He cried out at the pain, but he could feel that the baby was on his way out, so hopefully it would all be over soon. He prayed that the paramedics would arrive soon to help him, and that his body would be able to deliver this baby without hurting either of them.  
  
“Yeah, I know. I wish I could trade places with you, but you’re gonna have to do this on your own. Just keep pushing and breathing,” Jayden told him, squeezing Noah’s arms as he held onto them.  
  
Noah kept pushing and grunting in pain, determined to get through it. His knees were hurting a bit because of the position he was in, but it was nothing compared to the contractions. He couldn’t help but be worried about Nathan, who was still in the living room like he had been told to. The door was almost closed between the laundry room and living room, but Nathan could without doubt still hear his pained cries and grunts.  
  
“You’re doing so well, Noah. I can see the head now, so keep pushing! You are almost there,” Castiel spoke behind Noah, getting ready to grab the baby once he was out.  
  
“Nrrrugh, it hurts!” Noah cried out. “I-I can’t…”  
  
“Yes, you can! Come on!” Jayden encouraged him, not letting Noah give up just yet.  
  
With the last bit of his strength, Noah cried out and pushed hard when his body told him to, holding on tight to Jayden’s forearms and not caring that he was hurting his mate by grabbing him so hard. Jayden continued murmuring soothing and praising words at him, and Noah’s wings flapped on their own accord to get him through the agony, until finally the baby slipped out of him.  
  
Castiel quickly grabbed the baby; putting one hand under his head and the other under his back, guiding him a bit away from Noah, who almost collapsed from exhaustion.  
  
Wails filled the room as the baby immediately began to cry, and Castiel used a towel to clean fluid off the baby’s mouth and nose.   
  
The baby looked strong and healthy. He had a small demon tail, and his small, downy wings were red with a bit of grey in them. He was rather big, so it was almost certain that the boy was an alpha.  
  
Castiel grinned down at his little grandson, tearing up at the sight of the newborn. It was amazing to help a baby into the world like that, and Castiel was so proud of Noah that he had done so well through the whole thing.  
  
Hearing the cries of his baby immediately relaxed Noah. He let out a deep sigh of relief when it was finally over, and Jayden grinned in happiness and pressed a kiss to Noah’s sweaty forehead.  
  
The paramedics finally arrived then, knocking hard on the front door before coming inside, and Jayden called out for them so they could follow his voice to the laundry room.  
  
“You did so well,” Jayden grinned at Noah, his eyes teary from pride, relief, and happiness. The exhausted submissive gave him a tired smile, and Jayden leaned forwards and pressed their foreheads together, before he gently helped Noah turn around so he could lie down on the floor and see their new baby.   
  
The baby was crying and wailing in Castiel’s arms when the two female paramedics came into the room. He was still attached to Noah by the umbilical cord, which the paramedics would cut off soon.  
  
“Fuck, we’re glad you guys finally came,” Jayden told the paramedics, slumping back on his knees and shins and letting Noah rest his head in his lap after the submissive had been turned over so he could lie down. Castiel had quickly put a towel over Noah’s lap to hide his modesty, knowing how embarrassed his son was about such things.  
  
“Oh, the little guy is out already,” said one of the paramedics, smiling as she kneeled down to have a look at the baby that Castiel was holding. She was an angel female, like the other paramedic. When the emergency services received a call about a submissive giving birth, they always sent out females or submissives to help. This was because most submissives were most comfortable with that, and because their alpha mates could get very territorial and protective if a male paramedic was called on scene to help. Alphas generally did not like other males getting anywhere near their mates when they were giving birth, since their mates were so vulnerable during that time, which increased an alpha’s protectiveness.  
  
The other paramedic began tending to Nathan in the other room, trying to reassure him because he was so distraught over the whole situation, and Noah, Jayden, and Castiel didn’t have time to comfort him at the moment.  
  
All of Noah’s pain and tiredness seemed to fade away when he glanced over at his little baby, who was crying in Castiel’s arms. The little boy was dirty from blood and birth fluids, but Castiel had cleaned him a bit with the towel he was holding him in. The paramedic quickly checked the baby’s airways while Castiel held him, until she gave the okay for Noah to finally hold the baby.  
  
“I think the little guy should get to lie on his mother’s chest now,” the paramedic smiled.  
  
Castiel smiled, all teary from the dramatic but happy situation, and gently handed the baby over to Noah.  
  
Tears formed in Noah’s eyes as he let Castiel place his newborn on his chest. The baby was still sobbing, but wasn’t crying as much anymore. Noah gently helped his baby into place so he was lying on his stomach on Noah’s clothed chest. He touched his baby gently, smiling from utter happiness as he finally got to see the baby he had been carrying inside him for the past nine months. Although the newborn was dirty and wet, Noah didn’t care. This was _his_ baby and he was glad that he could finally hold him.  
  
Jayden grinned down at the baby as the little boy rested on Noah. He carefully reached down and caressed his new son’s cheek gently, feeling so proud of Noah that he had pulled through it and done such a good job.  
  
“Hey, little guy. It’s so nice to finally see you,” Jayden spoke in a soft voice, touching the baby with gentle affection. “You did so well, baby,” he told Noah, leaning down to press a kiss to his mate’s head.  
  
Noah smiled and couldn’t stop staring at the dirty baby on his chest. His little wings were wet and sticky with fluids, but they would be cleaned out soon. The paramedics were just letting them bond for a bit until they would cut the umbilical cord and clean up the baby before taking them to the hospital.  
  
“Yes, you did well, Noah,” Castiel spoke, smiling as he watched them both from where he was perched in front of Noah’s legs.  
  
“Thanks. And thanks for helping,” Noah said, glancing up at Castiel.  
  
Castiel gave him a gentle smile. “You’re welcome.”  
  
Nathan appeared in the doorway then, peeking inside with the other paramedic standing behind him. He was still a bit shaken up and confused, but now that Noah wasn’t in pain anymore, he was much calmer. The others looked up when they spotted him in the doorway.  
  
“Hey. Come see your little brother,” Jayden said, smiling as he reached out for Nathan.  
  
Nathan stared in awe at the sobbing baby on his mother’s chest and slowly walked over. He took Jayden’s hand while keeping his eyes on the baby. “He’s small. And dirty…” He tried not to step on Noah’s wing, which was half splayed out across the floor from exhaustion.  
  
There was chuckling in the room when Nathan spoke.  
  
“Yeah, all babies are like that when they’re born,” Jayden told him with patience.  
  
Nathan continued to stare at his little brother in awe and fascination, until he shifted his gaze to look at Noah. "You okay, mommy…?”  
  
Noah gave his older son a small smile and a nod. “Yes, I’m fine. Just tired.” The birth had left him sweaty and exhausted, and he wasn’t sure if he had the strength to move anytime soon. His backside hurt a lot, but the soft towels under him and him lying with his head in Jayden’s lap made him feel comfortable enough.  
  
Nathan stepped a little closer and stared at the little baby again. “What’s his name?”  
  
“We don’t know yet, sweetie. We need to get him and mommy to the hospital first and then we’ll find a name for him,” Jayden spoke.  
  
The baby let out a grumpy noise and shifted a bit on Noah’s chest. He opened his little eyes and stared back at Noah, who couldn’t help but grin softly when he made eye contact with his baby. The pains of the birth were all worth it now that he had his newborn in his arms, and his heart melted as he looked into his son’s eyes.  
  
After a few moments of bonding with the baby, the paramedics decided it was time to cut the umbilical cord. Castiel took Nathan into the living room while the paramedics helped Noah with the placenta and then get him on his feet afterwards. They needed to go to the hospital, where Charlie would check the specifics of the baby’s gender and make sure that he was healthy.  
  
Jayden didn’t leave Noah’s side at all. He supported him as he got on his feet and kept caressing and kissing him softly to make sure he was okay. Noah smiled at his alpha’s tenderness and let him help him outside and into the ambulance with the baby.  
  
Castiel drove with Nathan to the hospital to meet them there, and grabbed the two plastic bags with stuff for the baby. Jayden joined Noah and the baby in the ambulance, refusing to leave their side just yet.  
  
  


***

  
  
Charlie was there to greet them when they arrived at the hospital. She helped Noah into a room and had a female doctor help look him over to see how he was doing and if the birth had damaged his lower regions. Luckily he was doing just fine except for feeling sore, and the baby too turned out to be as healthy as they could want.  
  
Jayden stayed with Noah, who was now lying on a comfortable hospital bed to rest. The alpha sat next to him on the bed and held his hand, pressing small kisses to it every now and then. Castiel was also with them. He sat on a chair on Noah’s other side with Nathan on his lap, while Charlie cleaned up the new baby and took a few blood tests.  
  
“Here you are,” Charlie spoke as she finally returned with the baby in her arms. “Your baby is all healthy and strong, and he’s eager to be with his mommy and daddy again.” She grinned as she gently placed the baby in Jayden’s arms when the alpha reached out to take him.  
  
“Thanks,” Jayden told her, giving Charlie a grateful smile before turning his attention to the newborn in his arms. The baby was all cleaned up now and wrapped in a white, soft towel. His little hands were fisted, his eyes were closed, and there was a grumpy frown on his face like he was about to cry soon. Jayden grinned in happiness as he held his new son for the first time. He gently rocked the baby, who started making a few noises of complaint when he was getting hungry.  
  
Noah sat up a bit and smiled at the baby in Jayden’s arms. He jerked a bit at the pain that shot through him when he put too much weight on his sore butt, but he quickly found a comfortable position to sit in.  
  
“A nurse is preparing some milk for the baby as we speak,” Charlie spoke. “Then the little guy can finally eat for the first time.” She smiled over at Jayden and Noah and how they were both staring at the baby with mesmerized eyes.  
  
“Thank you, Charlie. I think he really needs that,” Castiel spoke, giving her a grateful smile.  
  
Charlie grinned and placed her hand on Castiel’s shoulder as she stood next to him. “Noah was really lucky that you were around to help out, Castiel. Good thing that you and Dean had so many babies that you know how it’s done.”  
  
Castiel blushed a bit at that, and Jayden let out a small chuckle. Nathan jumped off Cas’ lap and crawled over on the bed to sit with his parents, and Noah let him sit by his legs so he could see the baby better.  
  
“Well, it wasn’t all that difficult. I was only worried that there could have been complications…” Castiel said. “But Noah pulled through it just fine.”  
  
Charlie grinned and glanced over at Noah. “Yes, little Noah is a tough one.”  
  
Noah blushed as they spoke about him, but couldn’t help but smile and feel pride. Jayden just grinned and leaned in to press a kiss on his head, while the baby grunted in his arms. When the alpha pulled back, the baby suddenly started sobbing and beginning to cry.  
  
“Why’s he crying?” Nathan asked, looking a bit alarmed.  
  
“Because he’s hungry. He hasn’t eaten at all yet,” Jayden told him patiently. He rocked the newborn gently and tried to soothe him.  
  
“The formula should be done soon,” Charlie said. “And so should the test – then you can finally find out whether to give him an alpha or beta name. I’m betting a hundred bucks that he’s _not_ a submissive. He’s quite big, after all – 8.37 pounds! (3800 grams)” She then looked down at Castiel, giving him a small nudge with her elbow and grinning at him. “Wanna bet twenty bucks that he’s an alpha?”  
  
Castiel looked at her in amusement. “A moment ago you said you were willing to bet a hundred.”  
  
“Yeah, but I don’t think _you_ are,” she chuckled.  
  
Castiel laughed at that and shook his head at her offer. “Well, no thank you. I also have the feeling that he is an alpha, so I’m not betting anything with you.”  
  
“Argh, and I thought I was gonna win some money here!”  
  
They laughed at Charlie. Her funny nature immediately helped Noah feel better after all the stress and pain earlier, and he smiled as he leaned a bit into Jayden and stared down at their little baby.  
  
“Maybe Dean wants to bet. When is he coming anyway?” Charlie asked, looking at Castiel.  
  
“He should be here soon, and so should Jayden’s family,” Castiel replied.  
  
Just then did the nurse come into the room with a fresh bottle of milk for the baby.  
  
Jayden gently shifted the crying baby into Noah’s arms, wanting him to be the first one to feed him. Noah smiled and carefully took his baby into his arms, settling him so that he was lying comfortably before gently pressing the bottle to the infant’s lips. The baby immediately began to suckle, finally quieting down as he fed eagerly from the warm milk. Nathan stared at his new little brother, and his tail curled as he grinned down at the infant.  
  
Charlie and the nurse left the room for a bit, giving them some privacy to feed the baby. Castiel too got up and left for a bit, saying he wanted to call Dean and hear when he’d be able to come to the hospital and be with them. Dean was working a bit late that night, and it was already 5:19pm now.  
  
“I’m also pretty sure that he’s an alpha,” Jayden spoke as they all watched the baby eat.  
  
“Yeah, probably. I’m not willing to take a bet with Charlie either,” Noah said, chuckling softly and not taking his eyes off his baby.  
  
Nathan looked a little unhappy about his little brother being an alpha. “But alphas are so loud and mean. Jack in daycare always pushes me…”  
  
“Not all alphas are like that. Jack just has bad parents,” Jayden told his son. “Seems I’ll have to talk to Jack’s father again about his behavior…”  
  
Nathan had complained a few times that an alpha boy named Jack was being kind of mean to him and some of the others in the daycare. The boy was very wild and full of energy, and it seemed like he was used to being allowed to do whatever he wanted at home, which meant that he hadn’t really learned to respect others much. The owner of the daycare had complained to Jack’s alpha father a few times, but the guy didn’t seem like the type that took critique well. Jayden had also confronted the guy one time when they both came to pick up their sons at the same time, but the guy had quickly gotten defensive and had avoided a conversation.  
  
They continued to stare at the baby and stroke his head gently. Nathan too was allowed to reach out and touch his hand a bit.  
  
A few minutes later, Charlie returned along with Castiel.  
  
“Hey, guys. Got the results!” Charlie grinned as she came into the room. Castiel was right behind her and made his way over to sit down in the chair again.  
  
Noah and Jayden looked up in anticipation.  
  
“Really? What is it?” Jayden asked, excited to finally know.  
  
“Well, your baby is a healthy alpha boy,” Charlie grinned. “I would have won that bet!”  
  
Jayden grinned at the news and his tail flicked in excitement. He was pleased to hear that their new son was an alpha like him, even though he hadn’t expected otherwise when he saw how big the baby was. Usually betas were a bit smaller at birth. Nathan had been a little smaller than the new baby, but had been on the bigger scale for a beta.  
  
Noah had also expected the baby to be an alpha, but he was quite glad to have it confirmed. He glanced down at the feeding baby, thinking that he didn’t look that much like an alpha right now. He was so adorable and sweet, and he made the cutest noises as he drank from the bottle. Noah knew that the boy would change later, but right now he was so small and innocent, and Noah adored him just as much as he had adored Nathan (and still adored him, of course).  
  
“He doesn’t look like an alpha…” Nathan spoke, tilting his head a bit as he studied his little brother.  
  
Castiel laughed softly. “He will when he grows up.”  
  
Nathan turned his head and glanced over his shoulder at his grandmother. “Was Uncle Adrian also this small once?”  
  
“Yes, he certainly was,” Castiel smiled. “All babies are born small. Your father was small too once.”  
  
Nathan now stared up at Jayden, almost skeptically, and the alpha couldn’t help but laugh at his son’s perplexed face.  
  
“Daddy’s not small; he’s big!” Nathan exclaimed. “Mommy is smaller…”  
  
Noah chuckled and lifted his gaze from the baby to look at Nathan. “Yes, but I was even smaller than your little brother once.”  
  
“No way!”  
  
They laughed at how Nathan just couldn’t understand that all people were so small once. To him it was very strange to imagine his parents as babies.  
  
Finally Dean and Jayden’s family arrived at the hospital to see the new baby. They quickly came into the room to congratulate them, and Charlie slowly disappeared to give them privacy.  
  
“Oh, so this is the impatient, little guy, huh?” Leila spoke, staring down at the baby in Noah’s arms with a big grin. “Hey, little guy,” she cooed at the baby, who was still feeding peacefully from the bottle. Micah stood next to her, studying the baby with equal interest, and grinned as he wrapped an arm around Leila’s waist.  
  
“You really gave birth to him at home?” Laura asked, gaping at Noah and the baby in disbelief.  
  
Noah blushed a bit. “Yes. He suddenly wanted to come out and he wouldn’t wait… We didn’t have time to go to the hospital.”  
  
“Whoa. You did great, Noah,” Dean grinned, reaching out to pat Noah on the head proudly.  
  
Noah smiled up at his dad sheepishly before glancing at the baby again.  
  
“You too, Cas,” Dean continued, turning to look at Castiel, who had gotten up from his chair. “So glad that you were there to help our kid out.” The angel gave him a smile at that, and Dean curled his tail around Cas’ leg.  
  
“Yeah, I’m glad you had Castiel and Jayden around to help,” Micah spoke, looking at Noah.  
  
“Yeah, me too…” Noah glanced down at the baby, who was almost finished with the bottle already. “I couldn’t have done it alone.”  
  
Jayden smiled and caressed Noah’s cheek gently with his hand. “Of course you could have. But I’m also glad that we were there to help.”  
  
“Nathan was very distraught, though,” Castiel spoke, frowning in worry as he reached out and ran a gentle hand through Nathan’s hairs. The boy smiled at his touch, but kept staring at his little brother, watching curiously as he ate.  
  
“Yeah, I can imagine that,” Dean said, cringing a bit. “But you’re all fine now, aren’t you, big guy?” He grinned down at Nathan as he gave him a small nudge.  
  
Nathan turned his head and grinned up at his grandpa. He gave a small nod. “Yes, and mommy’s better too! It was so scary…”  
  
Noah was sad that he had made Nathan so worried and scared. He wanted to pull the boy into a hug to comfort him and tell him that he was sorry, but he couldn’t do that while the baby was in his arms.  
  
“Aww. But your mommy is just fine now,” Leila told Nathan kindly. “You have nothing be scared about. It always hurts when a new brother or sister is coming.”  
  
“Why does it hurt?” Nathan asked, his wings drooping sadly. He didn’t want his mommy to be hurt. He wanted his little brother to be born without it hurting.  
  
“You’ll know when you’re bigger,” Micah told him, smiling.  
  
Nathan didn’t look very happy to be told that he should be older to know more about it. He hated when the adults told him that.  
  
Laura giggled a bit at the look on Nathan’s face before turning to look at Noah and Jayden and the baby. “So what’s his name?” she asked excitedly, gesturing at the baby.  
  
Noah and Jayden shared a look.  
  
“Well, we did discuss a few possible names in the past few weeks, but we haven’t agreed on one yet…” Jayden spoke, glancing at Noah for help. They had discussed many names while Noah was pregnant, but had decided not to name the baby until he was born. They wanted to know first that kind of male he was and then also give him a name that seemed to suit him.  
  
Noah glanced back at Jayden, smiling softly. “I think you better find him a name. You’re an alpha and so is the baby, so I will leave it to you.”  
  
“Hmm.” Jayden glanced down at the baby, who had just finished drinking his milk. Noah put the bottle away and rocked the baby gently afterwards, and Jayden reached out to stroke his newborn son’s head while he tried finding a suitable name for him. He was aware that the others were waiting for him to come up with a name, but he didn’t let himself be pressured by that.  
  
After thinking about the many names that he and Noah had previously discussed, Jayden finally had a good one in mind. “Well, I think Derek is a good name. He kinda looks like a Derek, doesn’t he?” He stroked his head over the baby’s head and the few thin hairs there.  
  
Noah considered the name and found himself liking it quite a lot. “Yeah. I like it.”  
  
“That’s a good, strong alpha name,” Micah commented.  
  
Jayden snorted. “Yeah, I can pick them better than you can.” He sent a small scowl in the direction of his parents. He still hated them for naming him Connor when he was born.  
  
Dean burst out laughing, as did Laura, while Leila and Micah looked offended. Noah was kind of amused by Jayden’s comment, but he didn’t think he was right; he had always liked the name Connor for him.  
  
“Connor is a very acceptable name for an alpha. My grandfather was also named Connor, but for his middle name,” Micah said, looking at Jayden in disapproval for disliking the name in the first place.  
  
“Poor him,” Jayden murmured bitterly.  
  
Nathan laughed. He didn’t fully understand the details, but he thought that the looks on his dad’s and grandparents’ faces were funny.  
  
“Stop being so hostile about your name! Even Noah likes it a lot,” Leila groused, crossing her arms.  
  
“Yeah, and you like it when he calls you Connor,” Laura added, trying desperately to hold her giggling back.  
  
“Shut up!” Jayden’s face flushed at his sister’s comment, and he gave her a sharp glare for embarrassing him like that.  
  
“Yeah, he _only_ likes his name when it’s Noah using it,” Micah chuckled, smirking at his son as he teased him.  
  
Jayden seemed to grow more embarrassed as Dean and Castiel laughed, and Noah just giggled softly and watched his mate with a smile.  
  
“So… His name is Derek, then?” Laura asked, getting back on topic.  
  
Noah smiled up at her. “Yes.” He turned his head to look at Jayden again, finding the alpha smiling at him with pride and joy.  
  
“I like it!” Nathan exclaimed, throwing his arms up with a happy grin.   
  
Jayden laughed. “Well, I’m glad you do, buddy.”  
  
“It’s a good name for an alpha. I approve,” Dean said.  
  
Castiel rolled his eyes. “Even if you did not approve, it is _their_ decision, Dean.”  
  
“Jeez, I know that, Cas!” Dean groused softly, rolling his eyes too.  
  
Leila and Micah laughed at them, and the four grandparents stared proudly down at the newborn.  
  
“He’s calming down,” Jayden commented, touching Derek’s head gently. The baby looked like he was about to fall asleep, but his little wings jerked in the blanket every once in a while.  
  
Noah just smiled and slowly brought Derek up so he could place a soft kiss on his baby’s forehead. The baby cooed softly and snuggled into the blanket, and Noah watched him in adoration.  
  
Seeing that the bay was falling asleep and that Noah himself was very tired and exhausted from the birth, the others decided to retreat from the room for now.  
  
Jayden stayed with Noah, but Castiel grabbed Nathan’s hand and made him go outside with them so that Jayden and Noah could be alone for a bit with the new baby. Nathan complained a little, but when his grandparents promised him that he could eat candy in the cafeteria, he was all eager to follow them. Noah’s siblings would be arriving soon as well to see the baby and congratulate him, so he needed some rest before they all came.  
  
After the others had left the room and closed the door, Jayden lay down on his side beside Noah and stared at the sleeping baby with him. Noah’s wing was a bit in the way, but Jayden just played a bit with the feathers and pressed kisses to the wing every now and then.  
  
“Mm, I’m so happy that our baby is here,” Jayden spoke, smiling as he looked at little Derek. “You did such a great job with the birth. You’re amazing for being able to do that.”  
  
A sheepish blush and smile covered Noah’s face. “It still hurts all over, though. I don’t want to have another baby for a while…”  
  
“Oh, so you _do_ wanna have more later then?”  
  
The excitement and lewdness in Jayden’s voice made Noah hit the alpha softly with his elbow while he blushed. “Yes, later. But not until Derek is older…”  
  
Jayden smiled, unable to stop his tail from curling in excitement and happiness. He leaned in and kissed Noah on the cheek. “Mm, I’m glad to hear that. Wanna have lots of kids with you…”  
  
Noah giggled shyly as Jayden kissed him on the neck, but he had to gently push the alpha back before it got out of hand. He was not in the mood for anything too serious. He was tired and wanted rest, and the baby was sleeping in his arms.  
  
Noah settled down on the bed with Derek still in his arms, while Jayden snuggled into him and used his wing to keep both of them warm. The alpha watched over Noah and the baby as they rested, using his own body warmth to keep them warm and comfortable on the bed.  
  
  


***

  
  
Eden, Adrian, Lily, Isaac, and Kaylen arrived in the early evening to see the new baby and congratulate Noah and Jayden. Jason, Tony, and Natalie were at home with the kids, but would come over soon on a weekend to see Derek too. Eliza was with Isaac and Kaylen at the hospital, where she and Nathan got to interact and play for a bit.  
  
“Ooh, he’s adorable!” Eden squealed when she saw little Derek for the first time.  
  
Noah and Jayden were slowly getting ready to the leave the hospital room soon, but first Eden and the others had to see little Derek. Noah was allowed to leave the hospital that night with the baby, since there was no reason for them to stay overnight since this was his second birth and Derek was as healthy as he could be.  
  
Noah smiled at Eden’s words and held Derek in his arms on the bed, while the others gathered around him to see. He was tired as hell and couldn’t wait to come home and rest as soon as he and Jayden were ready to leave.  
  
“Can’t believe you gave birth to him on the floor in your house!” Lily said, looking at Noah in amazement. “I’m so glad papa was there to help. I would have freaked out if it were me!”  
  
“Damn, Noah, you always surprise me,” Isaac spoke as he stared down at Derek in awe.  
  
“Yeah, that’s awesome, Noah,” Adrian spoke. “Good job.” He smiled and nudged Noah lightly on the arm.  
  
Noah smiled sheepishly and rocked Derek when the baby grunted a bit. “Well, it wasn’t particularly fun. I hope I won’t have to do it at home again…”  
  
“Oh, you’re gonna have more babies?” Kaylen asked, grinning knowingly at Noah and Jayden.  
  
Jayden laughed from where he was standing next to the bed, while Noah blushed a bit. “Yeah, maybe in a few years.”  
  
“Daddy, daddy!” Nathan chirped, pulling at Jayden’s shirt as he stood next to him. “Open for me?” He reached up a small bag of candy that Leila and Micah had bought for him in the cafeteria. Eliza had her own candy bag, which she had made Laura open for her earlier when her parents were too busy.  
  
Jayden glanced down at his older son. “You sure you wanna eat it now? You can also save it for later…”  
  
“No, want now!”  
  
Isaac barked out a laugh at that. “Yeah, eat it now, kiddo, before your daddy eats it for you.”  
  
A small look of panic spread across Nathan’s face, and he quickly took the bag from Jayden’s hands after his dad had helped him open it. Jayden laughed at how Nathan turned away from him to eat his candy, as if he was afraid that Jayden would do it before him.  
  
“Don’t be so mean, Isaac. Jayden wouldn’t eat it,” Lily said, looking unimpressed with how worried Isaac had made Nathan with that comment.  
  
Adrian snorted. “Yeah, chances are that _you’ll_ eat it, not Jayden.”  
  
“Hey, I wouldn’t do such a thing,” Isaac said in defense, but he didn’t sound or look very convincing.  
  
Kaylen shot Isaac a sharp glare. “Yeah, right. You already stole a few pieces from Eliza’s bag, you thief.”  
  
“Yeah, daddy’s mean!” Eliza exclaimed, pouting up at Isaac and clutching her candy bag tightly.  
  
“Hey, _I_ paid for it, so I get to steal a few pieces,” Isaac argued, his expression softening as he looked at his daughter.  
  
“No!” Eliza denied stubbornly. “Buy your own!”  
  
Isaac looked almost offended at that, and the others couldn’t help but laugh.  
  
“She has a good point,” Laura snickered.  
  
“She’s just as greedy as Isaac is. Won’t share her candy under any circumstances,” Dean chuckled. He reached out and ruffled Eliza’s hair fondly when she walked past him on her way over to Nathan.  
  
Castiel let out a soft chuckle and smiled as he watched Nathan and Eliza talk quietly and even share some of their candy with each other, even though it was the same kind.  
  
Meanwhile, Eden reached down and gently touched one of Derek’s fisted hands, smiling at the baby, who was all curled up in the blanket in Noah’s arms. “I really like his name. And he looks kinda like Jayden, doesn’t he?”  
  
“Yeah, he does,” Noah agreed, watching his newborn with a motherly smile.  
  
“Of course he does; he’s mine, after all,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Adrian laughed. “You sound very certain of that.”  
  
“I am,” Jayden insisted with a small smirk. He stepped a little closer to the bed in a possessive gesture towards Noah.  
  
Leila rolled her eyes. “Please. I’m drowning in alpha testosterone and arrogance in here. Four adult alphas and one baby alpha are too many alphas.”  
  
“Yeah, and combined with Isaac the air gets stuffy in here,” Kaylen commented.  
  
“Oi!” Isaac warned in offense.  
  
Castiel chuckled at them before speaking. “Perhaps we should get going. I’m pretty sure that the nurses want us to leave the room soon…”  
  
“Yeah, they do,” Jayden said. He glanced at Noah, who handed him the baby so he could get up from the bed. Jayden had made Castiel take the portable baby carrier with him in his car when he drove to the hospital, and the angel had just been outside to fetch it from the car so that they could put Derek into it. Jayden carefully put the carrier on the bed and placed little Derek inside, making sure that the newborn baby was comfortable. They had had clothes and diapers with them in their bags, so Derek had been dressed in a blue and green shirt and pants, which had once belonged to Nathan when he was little. The baby complained a bit when he was moved, but calmed down rather quick.  
  
“How about we all go get something to eat in the cafeteria, now that we’re all gathered together?” Eden suggested. She looked at her siblings, parents, and at Jayden’s parents and Laura too.  
  
Laura beamed. “Yeah, I vote for that! I’m starving!”   
  
“Then I better call Tony and tell him to feed the kids without having to wait for me,” Lily grinned.  
  
“I like the idea too. Then we can catch up with each other again,” Leila said, looking mostly at Dean and Castiel. They got along well, but it was rare that they had time to visit each other and spend time together.  
  
Castiel smiled. “That would be lovely.”  
  
Adrian reached out to steady Noah when the submissive almost lost his balance when he got on his feet again. “You joining us too?” he asked, holding on to Noah’s arm for a bit to make sure he was okay.  
  
“I guess so.” Noah looked over at Jayden to see if he was alright with it as well.  
  
“Yeah, for a bit. Gotta get you home to rest soon,” Jayden said as he let his tail brush Noah’s leg in slight worry.  
  
“Can I has French fries then?” Nathan asked eagerly when he learned that they were all going to have dinner at the cafeteria. He went over to Jayden and pulled at his dad’s shirt to beg him.  
  
“Yeah, me too!” Eliza chirped, getting all hyped up.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, you little French fry eater,” Isaac said, chuckling fondly at he ran a hand through Eliza’s hair. The girl grinned up at him and curled her tail in excitement.  
  
“Yeah, you can have French fries,” Jayden told Nathan, amused by his son’s love for them.  
  
“Yay!” the kids cheered in unison, but were quickly shushed by the others when Derek ended up grunting in complaint. Jayden quickly tended to him, and the baby soon calmed down again.  
  
“We have a lot to catch up on,” Lily spoke, looking at her siblings and smiling in excitement that they were all together again now.  
  
“Yeah, I wanna hear more about your concerts, little sis,” Eden said, grinning as she gently poked Lily in the side with her elbow. Lily laughed at that.  
  
“I’m amazed that Laura has agreed to it. She usually doesn’t want to go out for dinner with us old folks anymore; she prefers the company of her boyfriend lately,” Micah said, smirking at Laura and ruffling her hair fondly.  
  
“Dad!” Laura groused, embarrassed as the others laughed.  
  
Dean snorted softly. “I don’t think ‘old’ really fits your description; you’re ten years younger than me, and _I_ can still walk and my hair is barely grey yet.”  
  
“But your hearing is bad…” Isaac murmured behind a suppressed snicker.  
  
Dean turned to look at him with a frown. “What?”  
  
They all burst out laughing, and Dean smacked Isaac on the leg with his tail for being such a jerk. It only made them laugh more, which caused little Derek to start crying again.  
  
“Sorry,” Lily said, cringing in guilt because she knew that her laughter had been particularly loud.  
  
“It’s okay,” Noah reassured her, giving her a small smile before turning his attention to Derek and walking over to help Jayden soothe him. They rocked the baby carrier and shushed him gently, but Derek kept on crying. Noah eventually took him out of the carrier and placed him in his arms to make him calm down.  
  
It was time to head to the cafeteria now, so Micah grabbed the empty carrier while Jayden got the bags with the baby stuff inside. Noah was still trying to calm down Derek, and Nathan watched curiously as his mother carried the newborn and rocked him slowly in his arms until the crying began to subside.   
  
They all left the room so that someone else could stay in it next. Laura waited up for Jayden, who was picking up the bags while the others were leaving the room. Jayden gave his sister a grateful smile when he saw she had waited, and he bumped into her gently as they walked out into the hallway together, walking a few feet behind the others. The hospital corridor was quite wide, and they were passed by a few pregnant mothers, who were taking a walk while waiting for their next contraction to hit.  
  
“Hey, kiddo. How are you and Nicholas?” Jayden asked, using the time to catch up with his sister. He let his tail touch Laura’s briefly as they walked side by side.  
  
Laura smiled and curled her tail; happy to spend some time with her brother. “We’re good. He’s still treating me well, in case you wonder.”  
  
“Good, otherwise you tell me.”  
  
Laura rolled her eyes fondly. “Yeah, yeah, I will, but I don’t think that Nicholas has it in him to treat me badly.”  
  
“Hmm.” Jayden looked at his sister intently as they walked behind the others, trying to read her face as she smiled quietly to herself. He bumped into her again, gently. “Just don’t mate with him until you’re sure he’s the one.”  
  
A deep blush covered Laura’s face, and she bumped back into Jayden a bit harsher than he had. “Of course I won’t! Jeez.” Jayden laughed, and Laura found herself smiling at her brother’s amused face. She touched his tail with her own as they walked before saying, “Remember to take good care of Noah now, okay? He needs rest…”  
  
Jayden blinked at his sister before curling his lips into a smile. “Of course I will. I’ll be the one on baby duty for the next two weeks, mostly. I’m gonna make sure that Noah gets his strength back before I let him take baby duty too often.”  
  
Laura grinned and bumped into him again. “Good.”  
  
The families headed towards the cafeteria together, chatting on the way and catching up.  
  
Jayden and Noah stayed with the family for as long as they could, but little Derek needed to sleep. They stayed with the family for half an hour before deciding to go home.   
  
Noah was very glad that his siblings and parents had taken their time to show up. It was just a tradition in the family to show up when someone had had a baby to congratulate them and share the moment of happiness. It was a tradition that all of them cherished. But he was sad that he couldn’t be more social with them because of the baby and him being so tired. He was especially sorry that he couldn’t spend more time with Adrian, who was the one that he saw the least often, but Adrian had assured him that he wasn’t offended, though.  
  
The family parted ways, and Dean and Castiel drove Noah, Jayden, Nathan, and Derek home, since they had arrived with the ambulance earlier, so their cars were at home.  
  
A lot of sleepless nights waited ahead with the new baby in the house, but they were still happy. Nathan too was very thrilled about the new baby. He looked forward to telling his friends in the daycare about his new brother and take on the role as a big brother.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the new baby is here! :D Soon I’ll be exploring how Nathan will be as a big brother and his dynamic with little Derek. I’m looking forward to writing about that :) And this is the first time I wrote about a homebirth, but I felt like something different needed to happen.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! :)


	33. Chapter 33

**July 2054 (Noah is 28, Jayden is 29 (almost 30), Nathan is 4, Derek is 8 weeks old, David is 31, Millie is 29, Emily is 4, Jenny is 1, Christie is 28, Matthew is 28, Lucas is 26, Caleb is 25, Nina is 1 (almost 2) years old).**  
  
Jayden woke up early on a Saturday morning. A pressure in his abdomen told him that he needed to go use the bathroom, so he gathered strength to wake up before slowly getting out of bed. Noah was still sleeping next to him, lying on his side with his back facing him. Jayden stared at his mate for a few seconds, listening to his soft breathing and watching how his chest heaved softly with every breath. He ran a gentle hand through some of Noah’s grey feathers, admiring their slightly rough but also smooth feel before getting up.  
  
He was still very sleepy and groggy, so he walked towards the door on wobbly legs while rubbing his tired eyes. Derek had woken up two times since he and Noah went to bed last night, so he hadn’t really gotten much sleep. Derek woke up rather often compared to Nathan when he had been a baby. In the first couple of weeks, Derek had seemed to wake up all the time, but now he was waking up once, sometimes twice a night, and once he was awake it took some time before he went to sleep again.  
  
Jayden opened the door as quietly as he could before entering the hallway outside. There was light shining in from outside, which told him that it was morning already. He had been too sleepy to check the clock earlier.  
  
The house was quiet, indicating that everyone was still asleep.  
  
Jayden padded towards the bathroom, scratching his naked back and shaking his wings a bit as he walked around in just his boxers. He walked past the stairs when suddenly he stepped on something hard, making him yelp and flinch in pain. “Jesus!” he exclaimed, immediately looking down to see what he had stepped on and saw one of Nathan’s car toys lying on the floor. He mumbled a curse under his breath and reminded himself to have a talk to his son about leaving his toys all over the house, before he finally went into the bathroom to do his thing.  
  
When he was done and reentered the hallway, everything was still quiet. No baby crying, no noises of play from Nathan’s room, and no cat meowing. Jayden appreciated the silence before walking back to the master bedroom, entering it as quietly as he could and slipping carefully into the bed.  
  
Noah shifted a bit as Jayden lay down behind him. The alpha froze when he realized that he had woken his mate, and he tried to be as quiet as possible as he got settled in under the covers again. He finally glanced at the clock, which read 7:17am. It wouldn’t be long until Derek woke up. The baby always woke up around this hour.  
  
Sighing, Jayden moved closer to Noah and snuggled up behind him. The submissive was awake anyway, so Jayden allowed himself to spoon him from behind and wrap an arm over his waist as he held him close. Noah made a small noise, which Jayden couldn’t tell if it was from complaint or content. Maybe it was both.  
  
Ever since Derek’s birth, Noah and Jayden had been too busy with the baby to really maintain their relationship. They hadn’t had sex since the birth, except for a few blowjobs and hand jobs, but that had only happened two or three times. It didn’t surprise Jayden, because it was like that when Nathan was born too, and he knew that Noah’s body was still sore. The fact that Jayden was working again, after having had only had two weeks of paternity leave, meant that they didn’t get to spend much time together during the day. When Jayden came home, Noah was either dead tired or had already gone to sleep. Plus, Jayden had to spend most of the time he had at home with Nathan and Derek, which left even less time and energy for him and Noah when they were finally alone. Jayden hated that. He wanted so badly to cuddle, kiss, and make love to his mate before sleep, but Noah was often too tired for that. Only sometimes did they cuddle and spend some time kissing before going to sleep.  
  
Noah let a small sigh as Jayden rested his face near his neck, and his body began to relax in Jayden’s hold.  
  
Jayden smiled. It was so nice to have time to cuddle with Noah that morning and smell the gorgeous scent of his mate. He smelled like cinnamon, rain, and sweet freshness, and Jayden buried his face further in Noah’s neck and rested his wing over their bodies. He couldn’t help that the bond and his body reacted to their closeness with arousal. Being so close to his mate and scenting him made his sex-deprived body glow in satisfaction, which Noah could without a doubt smell.  
  
The submissive froze a bit when he picked up on the scent of arousal coming from Jayden. He started trying to push Jayden back a bit. “Jayden, I’m not in the mood for that… I’m so sleepy…”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but feel disappointed, even though he could understand Noah’s lack of mood. Last night had been very stressful because Derek had been unusually fussy, so of course Noah was tired.  
  
“Sorry, I just can’t help it. We’ve barely been together lately and it’s killing me,” Jayden spoke, sighing against the back of Noah’s shoulder and rubbing his mate’s stomach a bit over his clothes.  
  
Noah was already back to his normal body shape again, thanks to exercising a bit at home and eating healthy. Jayden hadn’t been bothered much when Noah still had some fat left from his pregnancy, since it was a natural thing, but Noah himself hadn’t liked it much.  
  
“I know, and it’s okay. I’m sorry that I don’t want to do that right now…”  
  
“Hey, don’t apologize.” Jayden pressed a kiss to Noah’s clothed shoulder. “I’m just a horndog, that’s all.” He chuckled lewdly against Noah’s shoulder and heard Noah laugh a bit at that too.  
  
They rested in that position for a while. Jayden snuggled closer into Noah, holding him close and reveling in his scent. His semi-hard dick poked a bit against Noah’s butt and thighs through their clothes, and he felt Noah shift a bit. At first the submissive tried to lean away a bit to avoid the touch, but then his butt gently bumped into Jayden’s dick, making the alpha moan at the stimulation. It was clear that Noah wasn’t in the mood to take it further, but the touch still felt nice.  
  
Their moment was interrupted when the sounds of Derek crying came from the baby monitor on Noah’s nightstand. They groaned in unison when they realized that they couldn’t sleep or rest anymore now.  
  
Noah disentangled himself from Jayden’s hold and sat up on the bed. He sighed before getting up and leaving the room to tend to their baby. It was his turn to take care of Derek now, since Jayden had done it earlier that night.  
  
Derek’s cries could be heard in the hallway outside too, but Nathan was a deep sleeper, so he usually didn’t get woken up from it. Sometimes he woke up when Noah or Jayden carried a crying Derek downstairs at night to take him to the kitchen and warm some milk for him, but he usually fell asleep again rather fast.  
  
Noah felt like a zombie as he walked into the nursery to take care of his crying baby. He was so sleepy that he could barely walk, and his entire body felt drained from lack of proper sleep. Still, he smiled at little Derek when he walked over to the crib and gently picked up his alpha son.  
  
“Hey, sweetie. Are you up already?” Noah asked the baby in a soft voice as he picked him up and settled him against his shoulder. Derek continued to cry and wail, and Noah gently rocked and shushed him. “Shh, it’s okay. Mommy will go make food for you now.” He checked Derek’s diaper first to see if it needed to be changed, which it did, so he carried the crying baby over to the changing table to put him in a fresh diaper before taking him downstairs.  
  
Once he was placed on the changing table, Derek calmed down a bit. Small sobs continued to come from him while he watched as Noah gently took off his pants and the diaper. His little tail moved slowly and got a bit in the way as Noah tried to clean him up, and he kicked his legs sometimes too. Noah chuckled at that.  
  
Noah was still busy cleaning up Derek when Jayden entered the room. The alpha had already gotten dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, whereas Noah was still dressed in a baggy t-shirt and light blue panties.  
  
“Hey, how is he?” Jayden asked, scratching his neck a bit because of an itch as he walked over to see how the baby was doing.  
  
“He’s good. Just wide awake and hungry,” Noah replied. He tickled Derek’s tummy a bit, making the baby squeal softly, before he threw the dirty wipes away and grabbed a new diaper from the pile on the changing table.  
  
“Good thing his tail isn’t very mobile yet. Then it doesn’t constantly get in the way,” Jayden commented with a soft chuckle as he watched Noah put the diaper on Derek. The baby just stared around at them and at the surroundings while making small noises.  
  
Noah snorted lightly. “Yeah, but it won’t be long until it does. Tails are so annoying…”  
  
“You don’t usually complain about _my_ tail, though.” Jayden gave Noah a lewd smirk, which made the submissive blush.  
  
“Shut up…”  
  
When Derek had been dressed in a new diaper and pants, Noah picked him up and held him against his shoulder again. Once more Derek began crying, letting them know that he was hungry, and the two parents left the room to head downstairs together. Jayden quickly went to their bedroom to grab a pair of sweatpants for Noah, though, since the submissive wasn’t wearing any pants.  
  
Noah tried his best to quiet Derek down as they descended the stairs with him, since he was worried that Nathan was going to wake up. He went down as fast he could without tripping and made his way into the kitchen, where Jayden helped him get the formula ready.  
  
Getting the formula warm and ready took a few minutes, so Noah sat down with the baby by the small kitchen table and tried soothing him until Jayden finally came over with the bottle. Once he got to eat the delicious, warm milk, Derek calmed down and practically melted into Noah’s arms.  
  
“He’s a greedy one, isn’t he?” Jayden chuckled, watching the scene from where he was standing next to Noah.  
  
“Mm.” Noah just stared down at Derek, smiling at him and keeping eye contact to keep the baby calm.  
  
They watched the baby for a few moments until suddenly they heard small footsteps behind them. They turned to see Nathan standing behind them in the kitchen, already dressed in his pants and his Spiderman t-shirt. He was holding his socks in his hands because he sometimes had trouble putting them on, and Noah could see right away that the t-shirt he was wearing was turned inside out. He chuckled at that.  
  
“Hey, buddy. Did Derek wake you up?” Jayden asked, feeling a bit sorry for his older son.  
  
Nathan glanced over at Derek with a grumpy face before nodding. “Yeah… He so noisy.” His lips formed a disgruntled, thin line as he looked at little Derek, who was completely unaware that he had woken up his older brother with his crying.  
  
Jayden laughed softly and gestured for Nathan to come over to him. “Yeah, babies are like that.” Once Nathan was over by him, Jayden bent down and made Nathan lift his feet so that he could help him get his socks on.  
  
“Did you sleep well?” Noah asked Nathan.  
  
Nathan nodded, watching as his dad put on his socks for him. He tried his best to keep his balance on one foot at the time. “Yeah, until Derek cried… Why babies always cry?”  
  
“Because they can’t talk yet, so they cry in order to communicate and tell us if there’s something they need,” Jayden explained with patience.  
  
“Hmm…”  
  
Noah finally couldn’t hold back his amusement over Nathan’s shirt. “Jayden, can you help Nathan put on his shirt right? It’s inside out,” he chuckled.  
  
Both Jayden and Nathan glanced down at the shirt and noticed that he was right.  
  
Jayden laughed and reached out to pull Nathan’s shirt off him. The boy couldn’t zip his shirts up so well under his wings yet, so often he let his parents do that for him after he had put on his shirt by himself. However, he was getting better at zipping up his shirts or using the Velcro that was on some of them. The ones with buttons, he still had trouble with, though.  
  
“Jeez, Nathan. Spiderman is all inside out here. He won’t be happy about that,” Jayden said as he gently pulled the shirt off of his son.  
  
Nathan let his father pull the shirt off, looking a bit guilty about having put it on wrong. “Sorry, Spiderman…” he told his shirt.  
  
Jayden chuckled at him and helped Nathan get the shirt on right this time. After it was on, the boy turned around and let Jayden zip it up for him, spreading his small wings a bit to give him space.  
  
Nathan’s wings were quite the opposite from Derek’s. His wings were grey with some red feathers in them, whereas Derek’s wings were red with some grey in different nuances in them. Nathan’s feathers were still quite soft because he was a child, but it was likely that he would be able to turn them half-sharp once he entered puberty and had his first full molt. Derek’s would be able to turn fully sharp once he was a teenager, since he was an alpha.  
  
“Can I play wif Emily today?” Nathan asked with an eager voice after he had turned around to look at his dad again. He grinned up at Jayden with a hopeful face.  
  
Jayden was a bit stunned to suddenly be asked that. “Uh, sure, if she has time. But remember we’re having guests later today, so you can only play for a few hours.”  
  
Nathan frowned. “Who’s coming?”  
  
“Christie and Matthew are coming, and so are Lucas, Caleb, and Nina, remember?”  
  
“Ohh!” Nathan’s face lit up at the mention of their names. Nina was only barely two years old, so it was limited how much she could play, but she and Nathan still got along very well. Nathan also loved it when Christie and Lucas were visiting. They were always so nice to him.  
  
Jayden let out a soft chuckle at Nathan before going over to start preparing breakfast for them. On weekends they usually had bread, scrambled eggs, or pancakes for breakfast, so he pulled out the fresh bread and began slicing it up, after having wiped off the counter in case Midnight had been walking on it during the night.  
  
When Midnight realized that Jayden was making food, she jumped up on the counter, thinking that she was going to get a bite too. She had jumped up right next to Jayden, and almost managed to walk on the bread he had sliced before he stopped her.  
  
“Midnight! Down!” Jayden scolded the cat, pushing her off the counter when she didn’t move.  
  
The cat jumped down on the floor and turned her head to look up at Jayden. She meowed pathetically, as if begging him to feed her already.  
  
“Midnight, come here!” Nathan chirped from the kitchen table, making some clicking noises with his tongue to attract the cat, like he had seen his parents do sometimes.  
  
Noah smiled as the cat walked over to Nathan and the boy bent down to stroke her fur gently. Sometimes he got a bit too rough with her or touched her in places she didn’t like, but then the cat would just hiss a small warning at him and walk away. He was getting better at petting her now, though.  
  
Jayden grumbled a bit over the cat before going back to slicing bread. He loved Midnight, but he hated when she came into the kitchen and walked all over the counters while he was making food. The incident turned Jayden’s mood kind of foul, and he felt irritation itch inside of him. Lately he had been quite agitated in his body. Lack of intimacy with Noah and not being able to get proper sexual release made testosterone build up inside him, which caused him to get more snappy and irritated. He tried to fight it by giving himself some release in the bathroom twice a day and being close to Noah whenever he could to calm his alpha instincts, but sometimes it just built up inside him. But working 41-46 hours a week, plus the baby crying and keeping him awake at night sometimes didn’t really help making his body relax.  
  
Because of his irritation and pent-up hormones, Jayden’s tail started swishing slowly behind him as he worked on preparing the breakfast. Nathan noticed this. The boy didn’t fully understand yet that the movement meant that his dad was feeling a bit agitated, but instead interpreted it as him being in a playful mood. The movements were kind of similar, which was why he couldn’t really tell the difference yet.  
  
Nathan grinned as he sneaked up behind Jayden, his own tail swishing back and forth in excitement, before he launched forward and grabbed a tight hold of his dad’s tail to play with him. Accidentally, he ended up tugging pretty hard on his father’s tail.  
  
The hard and painful tug at his tail took Jayden by surprise and immediately triggered his defensive instincts. He growled in pain and sharpened his feathers on instinct before turning around fast, practically pushing Nathan back. “Ow! Stop that, damn it!” he growled out loud, angry because of the painful throbbing in his lower back.  
  
Nathan flinched back so hard that he fell backwards on his butt with a small ‘uff!’. He stared at his dad with wide, frightened eyes, and his wings wrapped themselves around him bit to shield him. His father had never shouted at him like that before, and he was completely stunned by it.  
  
In a second, Jayden realized what he had just done. His wings immediately softened and lowered themselves behind him, and his eyes widened in horror when he saw Nathan starting to cry. Panic and guilt spread through him.  
  
“Shit, I’m so sorry, Nathan! I didn’t mean that!”  
  
Nathan cried from shock and guilt, and he couldn’t help but flinch a bit away when Jayden kneeled down in front of him and tried to pull him into a hug. However, as soon as he felt his dad’s gentle touch on his arm, he let himself be pulled in for a tight hug.  
  
“What’s going on?” Noah demanded, getting up from his chair with Derek still in his arms and looked at them in alarm.  
  
Jayden didn’t reply right away. He was busy holding Nathan close and trying to make things good again. “Shhh, don’t cry, sweetie. Daddy’s really sorry; I didn’t mean to yell like that. It just really hurt when you pulled my tail, so I got kind of surprised and mad.”  
  
“I-I’m sorry, daddy…” Nathan sobbed, grasping Jayden’s shirt tightly as he trembled in his father’s arms. “I thought you wanted to play…”  
  
Jayden let out a small laugh at that. He finally sat down on the floor so he could pull Nathan into his lap and hug the boy close as he comforted him. “No, Nathan. That’s not what my tail was saying.”  
  
“Oh…”  
  
Noah stared at them in worry. He hadn’t seen what had happened since his back had been facing Jayden, but he knew that Nathan had done _something_ to piss Jayden off. Still, he couldn’t help but feel angry at Jayden for snapping at their son like that. They never snapped at Nathan; they only used strict and firm voices when he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to do.  
  
Jayden continued to hold Nathan close and press small kisses to his head while running a hand up and down his back. Nathan began to calm down, and Jayden sighed in relief.  
  
“Just don’t pull my tail that hard again, okay? It really hurts, you know,” Jayden told his son in a calm but firm voice.  
  
“Yes. Sorry, daddy…” Nathan murmured, sobbing a bit.  
  
Jayden pressed one last kiss to Nathan’s head before letting the boy go and getting up. Nathan clung to him, which was a good sign for Jayden. It meant that he wasn’t scared of him, at least.  
  
“Did he pull your tail?” Noah asked, staring at Jayden in a mixture of worry, confusion, and mild anger because of the way he had shouted earlier.  
  
“Yeah…” Jayden said, straightening his clothes after he got to his feet. “He doesn’t know his own strength.” He gave Nathan a playful smirk, which the boy grinned at, before going back to making breakfast.  
  
Noah cringed in sympathy. He didn’t have a tail of his own, but he knew that if you pulled a tail hard, then it hurt a lot. He also knew that Jayden was quite sensitive at the place where his tail connected with his body. The alpha always let out soft, pleased moans when Noah touched the place with gentle hands.  
  
“Cans I give Midnight food?” Nathan asked, his voice still a bit raspy from crying.  
  
“Sure. But only half a can,” Jayden told him and went over to get a can of cat food from one of the cupboards.  
  
Nathan eagerly took the can from Jayden’s hands after he had opened it for him and went over to pour it into Midnight’s bowl. The cat was immediately there and buried her face in her bowl to eat the food that Nathan was pouring for her. The boy chuckled and stroked her fur before going over to Jayden to give him the half empty can back.  
  
Noah was glad that Nathan seemed cheerful again. He rocked Derek in his arms and removed the bottle from the baby’s mouth when it was empty. Derek started squirming and sobbing, and Noah gently hushed him and placed him against his shoulder to burp him. After a few pats on the back, the baby burped, which made Nathan crack up.  
  
“So funny when he burps!” Nathan exclaimed, laughing at his little brother.  
  
Noah laughed and continued to pat Derek gently.  
  
“Yeah, he’s a little pig, just like you,” Jayden remarked, smirking at Nathan over his shoulder as he finished taking stuff out from the fridge.  
  
“And you!”  
  
“Oi.”  
  
Noah laughed at them, finding it funny how Jayden pretended to be offended to be called a pig. Fact was that he burped louder than anyone in the house, so clearly Nathan was right about his statement, even though the boy had rarely heard his dad do such a thing.  


 

***

  
  
After having had breakfast, they walked Nathan over to Emily’s house so that they kids could play for a few hours. They had called David and Millie in advance to ask if they had time to have Nathan visit them that day, which they had.  
  
They walked there together, since it was just two streets away, and Derek was lying in the baby carriage. The baby needed to get some fresh air anyway, so it was ideal to take him with them for a small walk.  
  
The neighborhood was mostly quiet that Saturday morning. A few people were washing their cars in their driveway, and in some gardens there were kids playing with water and having fun. It was a typical American suburb, and Noah and Jayden both felt quite safe living there, even though there were a few assholes living in the area.  
  
Derek was lying in the baby carriage, moving his little limbs sometimes and staring up at them as Noah pushed the carriage. Some toys dangling over his head kept him occupied so that he wouldn’t cry, and it was clear that he quite enjoyed coming outside in the fresh air.  
  
Nathan was very excited about going to play with Emily again. They still went to daycare together and played all the time there, but they were best friends, so for him there was always room for more play.  
  
They were half-way at the house when Nathan suddenly exclaimed, “Look, daddy! A kitty!” He pointed over at a tree, where a small cat was walking around and rubbing itself against it. The cat was a big kitten, grey with some black stripes and white fur here and there, and it looked over at them when it heard Nathan’s voice.  
  
The boy immediately ran over to the cat, eager to pet it.  
  
“Whoa, not so fast, Nathan! You’ll scare it off,” Jayden told him, joining his son in walking over to the strange cat.  
  
Derek made a few grumpy noises and sobs in the carriage, so Noah stopped the baby carriage and reached in to pick up the baby and soothe him. He glanced over at Nathan and Jayden, who had managed to get close enough to the cat to pet it. He smiled as he watched Nathan’s excited face. Nathan loved animals a lot, and he always wanted to pet cats and dogs that he saw. Noah wasn’t very comfortable with Nathan trying to pet strange dogs, and they always asked the owner beforehand if it was okay that he pet the dog.  
  
Noah picked up Derek and placed him against his shoulder, rocking the crying baby gently. “Shh, it’s okay.” Derek’s little tail moved a bit, but he still didn’t have much control over it, nor could he really use his wings yet either. Derek calmed down a little as Noah held him, but continued crying softly against his mother’s shoulder.  
  
“Hey!”  
  
Noah flinched at the sudden, loud voice behind him, and turned to see a familiar alpha angel and a pregnant female angel standing on the sidewalk right behind him. The couple lived a few houses away from him and Jayden, and the alpha – whose name was Michael – had caused them problems a few times before. He didn’t like angel/demon couples or hybrids at all. Noah was pretty sure that the guy had been a couple of grades above him at his school once, but he didn’t know for certain. He couldn’t remember the faces of everyone at his school, after all.  
  
“Move out of my way, freak. You’re taking up all the space,” Michael said, giving Noah a mocking smirk as he and his pregnant mate made their way around him and the carriage.  
  
The female angel suppressed a giggle, and Noah felt kind of humiliated at the way they stared at him and walked in a big circle around him as if he was contagious.  
  
Noah put on a glare and stared back at them while he continued to rock Derek gently, grateful that his baby was unaware of the situation around him.  
  
“Whatcha looking at?” Michael sneered when he saw the way Noah was glaring at him. His muscled wings spread, as if he was daring Noah to say something against him.  
  
Noah didn’t manage to speak or act before suddenly Michael was being grabbed harshly by the collar of his shirt by a very angry Jayden.  
  
Jayden growled into the alpha angel’s face, his wings sharpened and spread as a warning to back off. “Get the fuck away from my mate,” he growled, threateningly.  
  
Jayden was very on edge lately because of his pent-up hormones and it didn’t take much to set him off. Seeing Michael talking to his mate like that made Jayden burst with anger.  
  
Michael stared back at Jayden in complete surprise, before letting out a growl and swatting Jayden’s hand off him. The two alphas growled and stared each other down while their wings spread out as if battling for dominance.  
  
Noah was almost shocked by the look of aggression in Jayden’s face and stance. He didn’t usually get _this_ angry or aggressive around Michael, and it concerned Noah a bit.  
  
Nathan squeaked in fear before going over to Noah and hiding behind him. Derek cried against Noah’s shoulder now, and all Noah could do was try to calm the children down while staring at the scene in front of him.  
  
“Michael, stop. Let’s just go,” the female angel pleaded as she tried to pull her mate away from his staring match with Jayden. She looked very uncomfortable about the situation, which was understandable considering she was about seven months pregnant.  
  
Jayden didn’t back down. He kept his feathers sharpened and pointed at the other alpha while glaring him down. When Michael finally lowered his wings a little and began moving away, Jayden continued putting himself between the other alpha and his family, not allowing him anywhere near Noah and the kids.  
  
Michael sneered at them one last time before getting out of there with his mate.  
  
Jayden followed the other alpha with his eyes until the guy was a proper distance away. Only then did he soften his feathers a bit and lower his wings.  
  
The tension in the air vanished and was replaced by relief.  
  
“Dat man is always so scary…” Nathan murmured, slight fear in his voice. He slowly reemerged from behind Noah now that the danger was over.  
  
“Yes, he’s not a very nice man,” Noah agreed. Derek was calming down too, and Noah kept running a soothing hand up and down the baby’s back.  
  
“He’s getting on my nerves with his stupid comments,” Jayden grumbled, flexing his shoulders as he folded his wings behind his back. “And I’m tired of him throwing litter into our property.”  
  
Michael had thrown a few used beer cans and other pieces of litter into their garden a few times. It was his own childish way of bullying them and letting them know that he didn’t like them. Jayden hadn’t been able to prove that it was him who did it, so he couldn’t take the matter to the police unless he managed to catch the guy on video.  
  
“I have the feeling that he’s not the only one who’s doing that…” Noah said. He hated how some people just couldn’t leave them alone. He couldn’t ask for everyone to like and accept them, since that was unlikely to ever happen, but he wished that at least people would just leave them alone about it. Noah had lived with that all his life, so he was pretty used to it, but it still upset him a lot.  
  
Jayden let an annoyed grunt since he knew that Noah was right.  
  
After Derek had calmed down more, Noah put him back into the carriage and they walked the rest of the way towards Emily’s house together. Nathan seemed a little unhappy about the incident earlier, but as soon as he saw his friend’s house, he lit up like a Christmas tree.  
  
Nathan practically ran up to the house and rang the doorbell eagerly, while Noah and Jayden were a few feet behind him.  
  
The door was opened by Millie, and immediately Emily appeared in front of her mother and grinned when she saw Nathan. “Nathan!” she chirped, jumping in excitement over him coming over to play.  
  
The adults laughed fondly as Emily practically pulled Nathan into the house so they could play.  
  
“Wow, someone’s eager to play,” David commented as he appeared behind Millie in the door. Nathan and Emily had already disappeared into the house.  
  
“Yeah, I’m still surprised how they sometimes act like they haven’t seen each other for days when they’ve been spending the whole week together,” Jayden said with a chuckle. He and Noah were standing outside the door, while Derek was cooing softly in the carriage.  
  
“You wanna come inside?” Millie offered, smiling between them.  
  
“Nah, we gotta head home soon. Derek needs his nap,” Jayden spoke and glanced back at the baby.  
  
“Aw, maybe next time then. And how is the little guy?”  
  
“He’s good,” Noah smiled. “But he’s very demanding. And he tires me out…”  
  
Millie was about to comment on that when her youngest daughter Jenny appeared next to her and tugged at her skirt. The little girl cried softly and pointed at something inside the house. She was only a year old, so she couldn’t really speak yet.  
  
“Yeah, I know that Emily won’t let you play with her and Nathan, but that’s because you always take her toys, young lady,” Millie told Jenny and gently picked her up. She rocked the crying girl and tried to calm her down.  
  
“Whoa, what happened to her?” Jayden asked, staring at a nasty bruise on Jenny’s forehead.  
  
“She walked into the couch table,” David explained and reached out to rub the bruise with a gently hand. Jenny shied a bit away from his touch when it hurt a bit. “You gotta watch out for kids all the time, or they get hurt…”  
  
Noah cringed in sympathy, feeling bad for little Jenny. Nathan had gotten hurt a few times too when he was younger, but he had always been a quite careful boy. He wondered if Derek would be the same or perhaps the total opposite.  
  
They talked for another minute until Noah and Jayden left again. Nathan was already inside the house, having fun with Emily, so they just yelled a quick goodbye at him and agreed with Millie and David to pick Nathan up in about four hours. Their guests were coming at 1pm, so they needed to be home for that later.  
  
Afterwards, Jayden and Noah walked back home with little Derek, who was starting to fall asleep in the carriage. They didn’t speak much, since they were both kind of tired, but Jayden talked a bit about some stuff at his work while Noah listened.  
  
When they came home, they took Derek up to the nursery together. The baby had woken up again and demanded a diaper change, so Jayden quickly put a new diaper on him before laying him down into the crib. A few minutes later, Derek was asleep.  
  
Noah sighed and left the room quietly, and Jayden followed.  
  
“I hope he sleeps for a few hours. I want to take a nap…” Noah murmured, rubbing his sleepy eyes.  
  
“Yeah, I think he will,” Jayden spoke. He reached out and grabbed Noah’s hand before the submissive could walk over to the bedroom. Noah let out a small noise of protest as Jayden pulled him closer and leaned down to kiss him. The bond flared in satisfaction at the physical and loving contact between them, and Jayden reveled in the feeling as he kissed Noah and teased his lips a bit.  
  
Noah kissed him back, moaning softly in the back of his throat, until he suddenly pulled away – way too soon, in Jayden’s opinion.  
  
“I’m going to take a nap.” With those words, Noah turned around and walked towards the master bedroom, making Jayden let go of his wrist.  
  
Jayden felt a surge of disappointment that the contact between them was broken so soon. It had happened too often lately that Noah wouldn’t let him kiss or touch him for very long, and it was utterly frustrating. “Okay,” he murmured, watching his mate disappear into the bedroom and shut the door.  
  
The house was uncomfortably quiet now. Derek was asleep, Nathan wasn’t home, and Noah had gone to bed. There was no sound at all, only loneliness.  
  
Jayden stared forlornly at the bedroom door, which separated him from his mate. He stood in the hallway for a few moments, trying to suppress the negativity he felt inside. He didn’t like it when Noah rejected his touches, even the ones that weren’t necessarily sexual, but he knew that his mate was tired and needed some space. Still, it frustrated him to the core, and his own lack of sleep and the stress at his work only felt him feeling more negative.  
  
Sighing, Jayden turned and walked down the stairs, intending to sleep on the couch for a bit so that he could spend some time alone.  


 

***

  
  
Noah and Jayden both managed to catch a nice nap, which did improve their moods a bit. Jayden still felt a deep longing for his mate, though.  
  
At 12:30 Jayden went to pick up Nathan from Emily’s house, while Noah got tidied up a bit at home. Derek woke up a bit before 1pm, so when their guests finally arrived, Jayden was busy preparing the formula for the baby while Noah soothed him.  
  
The doorbell rang and Noah went over to answer the door while holding a crying Derek in his arms. When he opened the door he was kind of surprised to see both Christie and Lucas in it. It seemed that they had arrived at the same time. Behind them were their mates Matthew and Caleb, along with Lucas and Caleb’s little daughter Nina.  
  
“Hey, Noah,” Christie grinned when he answered the door. She glanced down at Derek, who was crying and squirming in Noah’s arms. “Whoa, the little guy sure is upset, huh?”  
  
“Yeah, he’s hungry,” Noah said, chuckling a bit before letting them inside. They all greeted him with smiles as they passed him, and Christie and Lucas gave him a small hug while trying not to upset Derek further.  
  
“Did you leave Jayden on formula duty?” Matthew asked with a small chuckle as they all entered the entrance hall and started taking off their shoes.  
  
“Yeah, he’s in the kitchen.”  
  
“Daddy Jayden is making food for you, so don’t be so fussy, young man,” Christie cooed at little Derek and tickled his stomach lightly. The baby made a soft squealing noise and squirmed in Noah’s arms, staring up at Christie for a few seconds to study her.  
  
The others laughed softly, and Noah smiled down at little Derek and brought him up so he could press a kiss to his head. The baby started sobbing and crying again, though.  
  
The guests were taking off their shoes when Nathan suddenly padded into the entrance hall.  
  
“Whoa, you got big!” Caleb exclaimed at Nathan, who just giggled shyly at him.  
  
“Yeah, he gets bigger every time I see him,” Lucas remarked, giving Nathan a friendly smile before going back to taking off his shoes.  
  
Nathan just grinned proudly, liking it when people told him he was getting bigger.  
  
Little Nina was hiding a bit behind Lucas, grasping his pants tightly and using his wing to hide under. She was quite shy sometimes when she came into a new house. However, as soon as she saw Nathan she softened up a bit and emerged from behind Lucas.  
  
While the guests were taking off their shoes, Noah couldn’t help but stare a bit at Christie’s growing belly. She had announced to them in late May that she was finally pregnant with her and Matthew’s first baby. They had mated last year after having dated for three years, and Christie was four months pregnant now.  
  
“Damn, soon it’ll be me standing with a crying baby in my arms,” Christie said, gazing over at Noah and little Derek with a soft smile.  
  
“I think it’s about time,” Noah told her, giving her a small smirk.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I know I’m slow. But Matthew and I wanted to be ready first,” Christie spoke, smiling as she entwined her fingers with Matthew’s, who had a proud smile on his face.  
  
“Yeah, I for sure wasn’t ready to be a parent until recently. Wanted to do some traveling first,” Matthew said, smiling at Christie as he spoke. They both worked as teachers at a local elementary school, which was where they had met, and in their holidays they had done some travelling together to see the world. They had been to a few countries in Europe, satisfying their needs to see the world for a bit before settling down and starting a family.  
  
Lucas smiled at them and reached out his tail to entwine it with Caleb’s, while Nina was interacting a bit with Nathan next to them. Nina couldn’t speak as well as Nathan yet, but that didn’t stop them from interacting.  
  
Noah led the guests into the living room, and Jayden soon showed up with the bottle for the baby.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Jayden greeted them with a grin before going over to Noah. The others greeted him back, and Noah shifted Derek into Jayden’s arms, since it was his turn to feed him. Jayden carefully got Derek settled in his big arms and tried to calm him down before giving him the bottle.  
  
“Being a daddy still suits you, Jayden,” Christie told him, grinning softly as she watched him with the baby.  
  
Jayden grinned and glanced down at Derek, who was feeding eagerly from the bottle. “Thanks. But this guy is already more demanding than Nathan was.”  
  
“Yeah, I can see from the look on your faces that he’s wearing you out…”  
  
“I have the feeling he’ll still wear us out when he learns to walk and touch things,” Jayden remarked, rocking Derek gently as the baby ate.  
  
Matthew chuckled. “Probably.”  
  
They all stood next to the couch, watching as Derek fed from the bottle. Nina couldn’t see anything, though, so she whined and pulled at Lucas’ pants. Lucas smiled at his daughter before picking her up and settling her on his arm so she could see the baby. She stared curiously at the smaller baby, as if she hadn’t seen one this small before.  
  
Nathan wasn’t all that interested in seeing the baby eating, but he stood with a proud grin as everyone looked at his little brother.  
  
“Baby!” Nina exclaimed suddenly, grinning and pointing down at Derek.  
  
“Yes, that’s a baby,” Lucas confirmed, smiling as he rocked her gently on his arm.  
  
“Nathan must be all proud to be a big brother now, huh?” Christie looked down at Nathan and gave him a soft chuckle.  
  
Nathan’s face lit up. “Yeah, I’m no longer the baby in da house now!”  
  
The others laughed softly at his words, before finally walking over to the couch to sit down. Noah turned on the TV so the kids could watch some cartoons while the adults were talking, and Nina joined Nathan on the beanbags in front of the TV. The volume was kept low, though, so that the sound wouldn’t bother them.  
  
Jayden was sitting next to Noah on the couch, Lucas sat on Noah’s other side, and then it was Caleb, Christie, and Matthew. They began talking a bit back and forth about the latest news, and Christie kept running a hand over her baby bump as they talked.  
  
“Do you know yet if Luke has been put in a good foster family?” Noah asked Lucas when they started talking about how things were going in the kindergarten. Noah was still on maternity leave and would be so until the autumn, so he asked Lucas from time to time how things were going.  
  
After having seen that Luke’s alpha father wasn’t treating him right and that Luke was becoming more withdrawn, they had reported the father to the social services. The social services had investigated the case and taken Luke away from his father, intending to find him a better home. It had turned out that after Luke’s mother had died when he was three, his alpha father had had a hard time coping with the loss of his mate. He found it overwhelming to raise a kid on his own, and he had begun drowning himself in work, alcohol, and had started neglecting his little son. It was a sad story, and Noah and Lucas both felt very sorry for Luke that his father had decided to withdraw himself from him rather than helping him through the loss.  
  
“Yeah, he has. He was put in a home with two beta angels, who also have an adopted angel/human hybrid girl. I’ve met them a few times when they’ve come to pick him up from kindergarten, and Luke is really happy to live with them,” Lucas replied, smiling widely.  
  
Noah was relieved by the good news and he couldn’t help but grin. “That’s great.”  
  
“And I think it’s great they’ve started letting homosexual couples adopt and take in foster kids,” Caleb said. “Now they just need to do the same with angel/demon couples…”  
  
“I seriously don’t get why some people think that homosexuals and angel/demon couples shouldn’t be allowed to raise children,” Christie murmured. “They are just as loving as any other couple. Well, of course there can be assholes among them, but every demography has assholes in it; it doesn’t depend on race, species, or sexual orientation whether you’re good or bad.”  
  
“People are just prejudice. We live in a cruel, unfair world,” Matthew murmured bitterly, wrapping an arm around Christie’s waist under her wings.  
  
“Yeah…” Noah agreed. He glanced over at Nathan, who was grinning at something on the TV and being oblivious of most of the cruelties happening in the outside world. He was sad that he couldn’t protect his children from racists forever. Sooner or later both Nathan and Derek would have to live with being called nasty words like ‘freaks’, ‘abominations’, and ‘crossbreeds’. Noah had grown up with that and it hadn’t been pleasant, but he had never blamed his parents for it. Dean and Castiel had done nothing wrong; it was everyone else who were wrong and cruel for not accepting their love.  
  
“Well, let’s just be happy that Luke is with a better family now,” Jayden spoke, sensing how the subject kind of made everyone a bit tense. “No kid should live with a dad like his father was. That guy really sounded like a jerk.”  
  
“Yeah, he wasn’t very pleasant,” Lucas agreed, staring into his lap. “He came to the kindergarten about a month ago to confront me. He thinks it’s my fault that Luke was taken from him, since he knows that it was Noah and me who told our boss about it and had the social services look into the case.” He shuddered in slight fear, but Caleb reached out to rub his back and calm him down.  
  
“What an asshole,” Matthew muttered.  
  
“If he comes back, file a restraining order against him,” Christie advised.  
  
Both Lucas and Noah nodded at that.  
  
Derek started crying and squirming in Jayden’s arms, leaning away from the bottle, which wasn’t quite empty yet. The alpha gently shushed and rocked him, and after a few moments the baby was ready to finish eating.  
  
“He’s so adorable,” Christie grinned, watching Derek with a fond smile.  
  
“Hey, he’s an alpha. He won’t be ‘adorable’ for long,” Jayden reminded her, chuckling.  
  
Noah rolled his eyes at that, and the others laughed.  
  
“Wonder what gender our kid will be,” Matthew mused, smiling at Christie’s baby bump and rubbing it gently.  
  
Caleb looked at them. “You don’t know yet?”  
  
“No, I’m only 17 weeks in,” Christie explained, rubbing her belly together with Matthew.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Christie suddenly lit up. “Oh, by the way, I’m not the only one who’s pregnant.” She looked mostly at Lucas and Noah, an excited grin covering her face.  
  
Lucas blinked at her. “Who else is?”  
  
“Well, I saw Niko the other day in the supermarket and he’s pregnant – with twins. He’s only three months in, but it looks like four or five months.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened at the good news. It had been a while since he last spoke with Alfie and Niko. They had kind of lost contact in the past four years, but Noah had been planning to reach out to them again. However, because of work, Nathan, and the new baby, he just hadn’t had the time to arrange something with his old college friends.  
  
“That’s good news,” Noah grinned.  
  
Christie smiled. “Yeah, it is. Also, Brandon just had a little daughter recently, so it’s total baby boom amongst us.”  
  
“Oh, he’s a dad now?” Jayden asked, almost surprised. He had always been kind of wary about Brandon since the guy was an alpha and had been hanging out with Noah at college sometimes. Brandon never had any interest in Noah, Jayden knew that, but he couldn’t help his possessive instincts whenever he saw his mate interacting with another alpha. Still, he liked Brandon. He was a good guy. Jayden was happy for him that he had managed to start a family and settle down.  
  
“Yeah, he sure is,” Christie grinned. “Met him in a park about a month ago. His little girl is so adorable, I could eat her up.”  
  
“You better not,” Matthew chuckled and gave Christie an affectionate nudge with his wing.  
  
“Whoa, everyone is having kids… Makes me feel kinda old,” Caleb said. He leaned back into the couch a bit and played with some of Lucas’ feathers in an innocent manner.  
  
“You’re not old,” Lucas told him softly, turning his head to give Caleb a gentle smile.  
  
“Mm, true. You’re older than me.”  
  
Lucas slapped Caleb on the thigh for indirectly calling him old, while the others laughed at them.  
  
Noah couldn’t stop smiling as he watched Lucas and Caleb interact. Caleb had been really good for Lucas; he had helped him come out of his shell more, had given him the love and support that he needed when he had his bad days, and the way Lucas and Caleb looked at each other with such love was very touching.  
  
As Noah watched them, he suddenly became aware of the distance between himself and Jayden. They weren’t sitting as close as usual, and not once had either of them tried to touch the other while they had been sitting there. Noah swallowed back a guilty lump in his throat, knowing that it was his fault for having distanced himself from Jayden lately.  
  
Noah was brought out of his thoughts when Derek finished the bottle and began crying.  
  
The baby wailed and squirmed, and Jayden gently shushed him and tried to calm him down. He could tell that Derek’s diaper wasn’t heavy, so it wasn’t because he needed a new one that he was crying. He was probably just tired after eating.  
  
“Should I take him?” Noah offered, reaching out for the baby. Sometimes Derek would calm down if he was shifted into someone else’s arms.  
  
“Yeah, thanks.” Jayden shifted Derek over into Noah’s arms, where the baby continued his crying. Noah gently put him against his shoulder and patted his back to make him burp. Jayden smirked at that. “It’s funny how he always wants to burp on your shoulder rather than mine. When I do it he takes a long time to burp, but with you he does it almost right away.”  
  
“I guess Noah just makes him feel like burping,” Christie giggled.  
  
Noah shot them both a glare and the others too for laughing.  
  
Jayden chuckled at Noah’s glare before getting up to get everyone some snacks to eat. He had baked some pie with Nathan last night and the two of them had had fun in the kitchen together. Their guests would be staying for a few hours, so a snack was the least Jayden could give them.  


 

***

  
  
Hours went by and the friends had fun catching up on the latest news. Nathan and Nina got along well, and the two of them spent their time watching cartoons, playing with toys, and going outside in the garden for a bit. The weather was kind of gloomy and cloudy, so they didn’t go outside much. Nina imitated almost everything Nathan did and followed him around the house when he walked. It was nice for Noah and Lucas to see that their kids got along so well, but they had to constantly keep an eye on Nina, since she would try touching anything she found interesting and sometimes put it in her mouth.  
  
The adults decided to have some fun as well and ended up challenging each other for a foosball game. Noah, Christie, and Lucas teamed up against the guys and fought to defeat them, but the guys had some pretty advanced foosball skills compared to them. Derek was asleep upstairs in the nursery and the door to the entrance hall was closed, so he probably wouldn’t be able to hear the noise.  
  
“Damn it!” Christie cursed loudly when the ball went past her goalkeeper and into the goal. She glared over at Caleb, who cheered as he managed to get the ball past her.  
  
Jayden and Matthew cheered and high-fived him, leaving their mates to glare at them.  
  
“Don’t be so cocky. We can still beat your butts,” Christie told them with determination. Her being pregnant didn’t stop her from participating in the game, but she was careful about the movements she made and to not get hit in the stomach by someone’s elbow. Noah and Lucas were also being extra careful around her.  
  
“It’s 1-8. Your chances are pretty low,” Matthew said with a smirk on his face.  
  
It was their third game already. The guys had won the first game at 6-10, but Noah, Christie, and Lucas had won the second game at 9-10.  
  
“Let’s switch places,” Noah suggested to Christie and Lucas. His friends nodded, and Noah ended up at the goal while Christie and Lucas were in the field. Noah was pretty good at controlling the goalkeeper, or at least so he thought himself. He preferred it over the more aggressive role to control the players in the field and kick the ball around.  
  
Nathan observed the game with interest, but he could hardly see what was going on because he was too short. He used a footstool belonging to the armchair to be able to see better sometimes, but he wasn’t watching all the time because he also wanted to watch cartoons and play with Nina. Nina wasn’t very interested in the adult’s game anymore. She had been at first, but now she was getting kind of sleepy and just wanted to watch cartoons. Midnight too wasn’t paying much attention either; she just sat on her cat castle and observed them quietly.  
  
The guys switched places too, so that Jayden was no longer goalkeeper but was in the field, while Caleb took over at the goal. Jayden and Caleb’s demon tails moved as they concentrated on the game, as did Lucas’, which Noah thought was kind of funny to observe.  
  
Matthew and Jayden were good players, and Christie and Lucas fought to stop them from getting the ball and kicking it into the goal. The few times the ball was kicked there, Noah managed to block it.  
  
The guys continued their tactics, and eventually they managed to score one more goal. However, Christie and Lucas had scored two in the meantime, which meant that the match read 3-9 now. One more goal and the guys would win.  
  
Noah could feel sweat on his forehead as he concentrated on the game and fought to keep the ball out of the goal. Everyone was hyped up and had lots of fun as they played, but they also wanted to win.  
  
Noah got distracted when he heard Nathan yelp softly behind him, and the moment he turned his head to check on his son, Matthew scored a goal.  
  
“Yes!” the guys cheered in unison, grinning all over their faces, while Christie and Lucas groaned in defeat.  
  
Nathan had just almost tripped over a toy on his way over to the TV and Nina, making him yelp. Noah was relieved that his son was okay, but disappointed and annoyed that his distraction had made the guys win the game. He scowled at them as they high-fived in victory.  
  
“Damn it, Noah. You were so good until you were not,” Christie said, giving Noah a small nudge on the arm. There was no accusation or blame in her voice, just a bit of playfulness, and she gave Noah a small smile when he looked up at her.  
  
“Sorry…” Noah murmured, feeling a bit like he had failed them. But it was just a game.  
  
“You did well, though, Noah,” Lucas told him and offered him a small smile.  
  
“Yeah, he was pretty good as a goalkeeper. But not good enough,” Caleb grinned.  
  
Jayden looked over at Noah with a proud smile. His mate was getting better at the game. Playing the game with their friends had definitely improved their moods, but they hadn’t really spoken or looked at each other much the whole day.  
  
A cry from the baby monitor told them that Derek had woken up from his three-hour nap. Noah excused himself before going upstairs to attend to the crying baby, while the others were still calming down from the adrenaline of the game.  
  
“Who won?” Nathan asked excitedly as he jumped over to stand next to Jayden.  
  
Jayden grinned and ran his hand through his son’s hair. “We did. Mommy’s team lost.”  
  
“Yeah, but we won last round!” Christie reminded him.  
  
“Only barely,” Matthew chuckled.  
  
“So what? We still won.”  
  
They talked a bit about the game, and Matthew and Caleb teased their mates a bit about having lost. Lucas and Christie just glared at them and teased them about other things in return.  
  
A few minutes later, Noah came back downstairs with a crying Derek in his arms, hushing and rocking the baby. “I’ll go change his diaper…” he announced and made his way towards the bathroom.  
  
“Oh, I’ll come with!” Christie said, quickly following after him.  
  
Lucas too decided to go with them, leaving the guys alone in the living room with the kids.  
  
Christie and Lucas went with Noah into the bathroom and watched as he gently put Derek down on the table there and got ready to change his diaper. Fresh diapers and cleaning wipes were placed in a neat stack on the table, ready for use whenever necessary.  
  
“Um, can I try?” Christie asked somewhat carefully when he saw Noah pull Derek’s pants off him and get ready to take off the diaper next. “I kind of want to practice for when my own baby comes, you know?”  
  
Noah blinked at her before curling his lips into a smile. “Sure.” He stepped aside and let Christie be the one to change the diaper. He gave her instructions on how to do it, while Lucas watched. Noah was quite protective of his baby around other people, but with family and friends he was more open. He trusted Christie not to hurt Derek, so he was calm as he let her take over. He still kept a watchful eye, though.  
  
While Christie was changing the diaper and gently tickling Derek’s stomach to calm the crying infant down, Lucas suddenly turned to look at Noah with a somewhat concerned face. “Is everything okay between you and Jayden? You guys seem a little different…”  
  
Noah blinked at him in wonder, not quite understanding what he meant. “Um, yeah, we’re okay. Why?”  
  
“Just… I can sense that Jayden is kind of tense. His tail moves a lot in an agitated manner, even though he tries to hide it, and his shoulders are a bit tense too. Also, usually when you guys sit next to each other, he wraps an arm around your shoulders or waist, or touches your feathers, which I haven’t really seen him do at all today. It made me wonder if something’s wrong?” Lucas’ eyes suddenly widened when he realized he was being kind of nosy. “I-I don’t want to intrude on something that’s not my business! I just—”  
  
“No, it’s okay,” Noah assured him. He looked away a bit and thought about it for a moment. “Well, we haven’t had a fight today or anything, just… We’re both so tired because of Derek and how demanding he is, so I guess we don’t talk or hang out as much as we usually do.”  
  
Christie glanced at them while cleaning up Derek, who was squirming a bit and making small grunts. “No sex, then? Poor Jayden is probably getting pretty frustrated; that explains his tail. Alphas are such sex addicts…”  
  
There was more to it than just sex, they all knew that. It was also about alphas craving intimacy with their mates to calm their instincts, and the bond constantly demanding that could take a toll on an alpha too.  
  
Noah blushed and had to look away at the mention of his and Jayden’s sex life being on a pause at the moment.  
  
“Oh,” Lucas said when things started clicking into place for him. He too started blushing a bit.  
  
“Well, I _have_ kind of been pushing him away lately…” Noah admitted, staring guilty at the floor.  
  
“Not your fault. You just had a baby,” Lucas told him, placing a friendly hand on Noah’s shoulder for reassurance.  
  
“But I miss him. Even though _I’m_ the one pushing him away because I don’t have the energy to be with him… I just wish things would go back to normal soon.”  
  
“Maybe you guys need to let one of your parents babysit the kids for a night so you can have some awesome, steamy and hot sex together all night long,” Christie suggested, giving Noah a smirk before turning her attention back to Derek. She was about to put the new diaper on him, but found herself being confused about how to get the little tail through it.  
  
Noah’s blush grew deeper, and Lucas almost died from second-hand embarrassment.  
  
“Why are we talking about Noah’s sex life in the bathroom while you’re changing Derek’s diaper? That’s not right,” Lucas said, still twitching with awkwardness. He was glad that the door was closed so that the guys couldn’t hear them talking.  
  
Christie laughed. “Would you rather talk about it in front of our mates? Besides, Derek can’t really understand us yet anyway. And _how on earth_ do you get this tail through the hole?!” she asked in frustration, switching the topic abruptly.  
  
Noah chuckled and came over to help. Derek stared up at him and grinned in happiness when he recognized his mother. Noah smiled at him and pulled his little tail through the hole before fastening the diaper and picking Derek up. He grinned fondly at his baby as he held him in front of himself, and the baby stared at him as he let their noses bump together.  
  
Christie and Lucas watched the scene with happy smiles, and Christie found herself rubbing her belly as she watched Noah with little Derek.  
  
Although it had been awkward to talk about such intimate things with his friends, Noah was very glad that he had friends whom he could talk about anything with. Not everyone was that fortunate, sadly.  
  
The three of them returned to the living room, where the guys were busy chasing Nathan and Nina around the foosball table to entertain the kids. The children squealed and laughed as they ran, and Noah watched as Jayden caught Nathan and picked him up. The boy laughed and kicked to get free, but getting out of Jayden’s strong arms was impossible. The alpha grinned and kissed Nathan’s head and cheeks, until he finally let him go again.  
  
When Nina spotted Lucas, she immediately ran over to him, almost tripping on her unsteady legs. She grinned and buried her face in his pants, but her grin faltered when she was overcome by tiredness.  
  
“You need to go home and sleep, don’t you?” Lucas asked his daughter in a soft voice, smiling as he ran a hand through her blonde hair. The girl cooed and snuggled closer to him, her wings and tail curling closer to her body. It was already 5pm, so it wasn’t a surprise that Nina was getting tired when she hadn’t really napped much that day.  
  
The guests decided it was time to leave. Noah felt a bit sad about that, but at the same time he felt tired from being social, so he was kind of relieved as well. They had enjoyed four and a half hours together already, and it had been nice to catch up on each other’s lives.  
  
Noah and Jayden followed the guests out to the door, where they talked for a bit longer until they were ready to leave. They wished Christie good luck with her pregnancy, and in return she wished them good luck with little Derek, who was already quite a handful.  
  
Noah, Jayden, and Nathan waved goodbye to their guests in the door as they watched them drive off, and as soon as they had left, they went back inside and closed the door.  
  
Noah soothed Derek, who was crying again. He rocked him and pressed kisses to his head before taking him upstairs to put him to bed.  
  
“Derek does nothing but cry…” Nathan murmured after Noah had gone upstairs with the baby. He and Jayden were standing in the entrance hall together, listening to Noah humming a song to Derek somewhere upstairs as he walked the baby into the nursery.  
  
Jayden just smiled and ran a hand through Nathan’s brown hair. “Babies do that. Some babies cry more than others, and your brother is quite fussy.”  
  
“But he’s an alpha. Don’t they cry less?”  
  
“Not as babies, they don’t. And crying is the only way he can communicate now. Maybe when he gets older he’ll just talk a lot instead? Who knows.”  
  
“Hmm.” Nathan considered that before walking back into the living room to watch the rest of his cartoon show. Jayden joined him, thinking that Noah could easily handle Derek on his own.  


 

***

  
  
Twenty minutes later, Noah walked back downstairs, relieved that Derek had finally fallen asleep again. His body felt tired from poor sleep lately, and the fact that Derek had been pretty hard to make fall asleep had kind of tired him out as well.  
  
Walking into the living room, Noah found Jayden sitting on the couch and watching cartoons with Nathan. The alpha was slouched into the couch, looking kind of lazy as he idly watched the children’s program with Nathan, who was sitting next to him and looking a lot livelier than him.  
  
Noah frowned, not used to seeing Jayden sitting in such a lazy position. He walked further into the room to go rest on the couch as well, but then suddenly realized that that living room floor was full of toys that Nathan and Nina had scattered around earlier. There was also still a small coffee stain on the wooden floor, because Jayden had spilled coffee by accident earlier when serving it for their guests. It seemed the alpha had forgotten to clean it up. Noah grunted in annoyance, since he hated when the floor was messy. He made his way over towards the couch to let Jayden know that it wasn’t okay to leave the floor as messy as that, when suddenly he stepped on one of the toys. He let out a loud, pained yelp and cursed at himself for having stepped on it. The pain only fueled his annoyance and frustration.  
  
“Why didn’t you tidy this up? The whole floor is full of toys, and there’s coffee on it too!” Noah exclaimed, accusation and annoyance in his voice as he addressed Jayden. “I hurt my foot,” he added in a grumbling mutter.  
  
Jayden turned his head and stared at him, surprised by Noah’s angry outburst. Then he turned defensive. “I did tell Nathan to tidy the toys up, but he said he wasn’t done playing with them yet, so I let them lie. And I’m sorry I forgot about the coffee spill; I’ll clean it up in a minute.”  
  
The look on Noah’s face turned more annoyed. He scowled over at Jayden and muttered out, “You mean whenever you get your butt up from the couch, right?”  
  
The negativity in Noah’s voice only agitated the hormonal alpha further. Jayden clenched his jaw and turned his head once more to look at his mate, this time with a glare on his face. “Oh I’m sorry I’m sitting down for a bit to relax. Apparently that’s not allowed.” Angry sarcasm clouded his voice, fueling a more negative conversation and energy between them.  
  
Nathan shrunk into the couch and glanced from one parent to the other as he sat in the crossfire. He hugged his legs close to his body and watched his parents with dread. He wasn’t used to them fighting or speaking to each other in such a tone. It scared him and it made him uncomfortable. It didn’t make it better that he felt like this was all his fault, since _he_ was the one that had left his toys all over the floor and gotten his mom angry.  
  
“I didn’t say that!” Noah snapped defensively.  
  
“That’s _exactly_ what you said!”  
  
The tension was rising in the room, and when Noah was about to open his mouth to say something else, Nathan finally had enough.  
  
“Please stop fighting! Please!” Nathan cried, tears rolling down his cheeks as he curled into the couch and glanced between his parents.  
  
Both Noah and Jayden immediately closed their mouths and came back to their senses. They had almost forgotten that Nathan was there, since they had been so busy letting out their frustration on each other.  
  
“Nathan…” Jayden began, reaching out a slow hand to touch him, but Nathan flinched away. The boy stared between his parents with a quivering lip before getting up from the couch and storming out of the room, crying.  
  
Guilt and shame immediately spread through both Noah and Jayden when they watched their son storm out of the room like that. They heard his little footsteps run up the stairs as he sobbed and cried.  
  
Noah felt sick. How could he have gotten so snappy? It wasn’t like him, and it wasn’t like Jayden either. He glanced over at the alpha, who had the same look of guilt on his face as Noah. Their bond had closed itself off due to their fight and annoyance with each other, but it still radiated with negative and sad emotions.  
  
After a few moments of silence, where they had tried not looking at each other, Noah finally turned to leave the room, heading upstairs to check on Nathan.  
  
Jayden let out a frustrated grunt and buried his hands in his hair as he sank back into the couch. His hormones and emotions were racing inside him, and he felt nauseous at how he had made Nathan get so upset.  
  
When Noah came upstairs, he lingered a bit outside Nathan’s room before gently knocking on the door. He could hear Nathan sobbing inside, but even though he didn’t get a reply, he entered the room slowly and made his way over to Nathan.  
  
The boy was lying face-down into his pillow, crying and shaking. When he felt Noah sit down on the bed next to him, he curled up more.  
  
“Nathan…” Noah began, reaching out to run his hand soothingly up and down Nathan’s back. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to upset you…”  
  
Nathan sniffled and slowly lifted his head from the pillow to look at Noah. His eyes were red and teary from crying. “Why you and daddy get mad at each other? I dun like that…”  
  
“I know. I don’t like it either,” Noah said, watching his son ruefully. “It’s just that your dad and I are very tired lately, so that makes us very easily irritated, and sometimes we end being kind of mean to one another…”  
  
Nathan stared at him, trying to understand. “So you not mad at _me_ …?” A small hiccup shook his body, and Noah let out a soft chuckle and reached out to wipe Nathan’s tears away.  
  
“No, I’m not mad at you, and neither is daddy. But you still have to clean up your toys when you don’t play with them, okay? Daddy and I hurt our feet when we step on them.”  
  
“Yeah, okay. I’m sorry…” Slowly, Nathan got up and crawled over into Noah’s lap. The submissive smiled and hugged him close, pressing a kiss to Nathan’s head to calm him down. Nathan buried his hands in Noah’s shirt, still shaking a bit. The scent and warmth of his mother helped him calm down, and he snuggled closer into Noah.  
  
The two of them sat there for a bit until Nathan wasn’t that upset anymore. Noah was relieved that Nathan was alright now, and he stayed for a bit with him in the boy’s room until they were ready to head downstairs.  
  
Jayden was in the kitchen when they came down. He purposefully ignored Noah when he entered the kitchen with Nathan, but instead focused on his son and smiled at him when the boy came over. “Hey, buddy. Hope mommy and I didn’t scare you too much.”  
  
“I dun like it when you fight…” Nathan said, staring up at Jayden with furrowed brows.  
  
“Yeah, I know. I don’t like it either,” Jayden told him, briefly glancing at Noah before smiling down at Nathan again. “So, what do you say? Wanna have spaghetti and meatballs tonight?”  
  
“Yay!” Nathan jumped and down in excitement. He loved Jayden’s meatballs more than anything. “Can Derek have some too?”  
  
Jayden laughed. “No, he’s still too young for that. His stomach can’t digest it yet, nor can he chew it since he has no teeth.”  
  
“Oh. When will he have teeth?”  
  
“In a few months.” Jayden ruffled up Nathan’s hair with affection before getting started on dinner. He didn’t look at Noah, even though he could feel the submissive staring at him with guilt. Everything inside Jayden was a mess, and he was afraid that he’d end up in another fight with Noah if they spoke right now. So he ignored him and tried to get his feelings under control.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but feel sad and upset that Jayden avoided looking at him. Their bond was mainly closed between them, but the small snippets of Jayden’s emotions that he received told him that his mate was fighting back a lot of emotions and feelings, so Noah guessed that it was better to wait until later before they talked. He still felt a bit upset inside too, so it was for the best.  
  
Nathan was very excited about having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, but he still sensed that things weren’t entirely right between his parents yet. He kept glancing at them in worry until Noah walked him into the living room to watch cartoons until dinner was ready.  
  
At dinner, Noah and Jayden did their best to avoid talking to one another. Instead, they talked to Nathan and asked him about what he had been doing at Emily’s house that day and about the small trip that was coming up in the daycare soon. The daycare owner wanted to take the kids out to some small park where the kids could play, and Nathan was very excited about that.  


 

***

  
  
Derek woke up right after they had finished dinner. It happened sometimes that he woke up rather soon after having been put to sleep. Noah gave him some milk, which helped calm Derek down. The baby stayed awake for about an hour until he was put back to sleep, and this time he fell asleep almost right away.  
  
Nathan was put to bed at 7:40pm when he got sleepy, and Jayden walked upstairs with him to tuck him in.  
  
“Daddy?” Nathan asked as he and Jayden walked up the stairs together. The boy had already said goodnight to Noah, who wasn’t going to come upstairs with them because he and Jayden wanted to give each other some space.  
  
“Yes, Nathan?” Jayden replied, holding Nathan’s hand as they ascended the stairs and reached the hallway upstairs.  
  
“When will you and mommy talk again?”  
  
Jayden let out a sigh and lowered his voice as they passed by the nursery. “Soon, sweetie. We’re probably gonna be good friends again tomorrow.” He wasn’t sure about that, though, but he had to tell Nathan something. He didn’t want to worry his son further.  
  
“Can’t you just give mommy a kiss and then everything is okay again?”  
  
A small laugh went through Jayden at that. “Yeah, I wish I could, but I think it requires more than just a kiss to make us both happy again.”  
  
“Hmm.” Nathan pondered about that and tried to understand it.  
  
Jayden walked Nathan into his room and tucked him into bed. He spent a few minutes talking to Nathan about what he wanted to do tomorrow. Nathan was eager to go to the park and have Emily join them, so they talked a bit about that. Then, Jayden read his son a small bedtime story before quietly leaving the room once the boy was asleep.  
  
When Jayden came back downstairs, he avoided the living room where he knew Noah was busy reading a book in. Instead, he went into the kitchen and cleaned up a bit, finding it to be a good distraction from his foul mood.  
  
After half an hour, he finally walked into the living room, where Noah was sitting in one of the chairs by the small, round table in the corner. The submissive’s legs were pulled up against his chest and he used his knees to lean his book on as he read. Noah’s wings were squeezed behind him and hugging his body closely. Jayden couldn’t help but think it was kind of cute.  
  
“I’m going to shower,” Jayden announced, finally breaking the silence between them. Noah looked up from his book, watching him. “I’m gonna do it downstairs so that Nathan won’t have to run downstairs to use the toilet if he should wake up while I’m in the shower. I know the lock is broken, but I’ll get that fixed soon.” He said the last part as if he was expecting Noah to bring up the subject of the broken lock again and demand that he fix it. The lock on the downstairs bathroom had been broken for about a week and Jayden hadn’t had time to fix it yet. Noah had expressed some impatience about it, since he didn’t like using the toilet downstairs when Nathan could suddenly walk in, and they had gotten a bit snappy with each other whenever the topic was brought up.  
  
“Okay.” Noah watched as Jayden walked into the laundry room and then disappeared into the bathroom to take his shower. He sighed.  
  
Meanwhile, Jayden was relieved to finally be alone for a bit. He closed the bathroom door behind him and undressed, eager to get under the hot water. His body was tense and he knew that it was craving some sexual release. His dick was already hardening from the aspect of getting release soon, and as soon as Jayden stepped in under the hot water, he was fully hard.  
  
The alpha sighed, supporting his hands on the tile walls and dipping his head under the warm stream of water. Showering always helped him calm down from stress and tension, and it felt so nice as the water ran down his body and tickled his skin so nicely.  
  
Jayden quickly washed his hair, using a product with a nice, masculine scent in it, which also helped bring out his own scent more. He washed his hair thoroughly before moving on to his wings. He wasn’t in the mood to spend too much time cleaning them, since he was pretty horny, so he just poured some products into them and washed them under the shower. The water hitting his wings only increased his arousal, though, and he let out a small growl of impatience before finally snaking his hand down and grasping his cock. It would have been so much more pleasing had it been Noah’s hand touching him, but his own hand would have to do for now. He teased his thumb over the head of his cock, biting back a pleased groan, and started to slowly stroke himself.  
  
His body began to relax as he got some sexual stimulation, but it still craved physical contact. Every cell in him wanted to hold Noah close, breathe in his scent, and feel his love through their bond, but he couldn’t do that. Disappointed, Jayden tried to focus on the sensations that spread through his body as he touched himself rather than thinking about how much he craved Noah’s touch. It helped a bit, and he soon lost himself in the pleasant sensations of masturbating.  
  
Small moans and grunts filled the water-damped room along with the sound of the shower running, and he didn’t even hear it when someone else came inside and closed the door quietly.  
  
Jayden’s breathing got faster and more labored as he approached climax. He was so full of testosterone and need for release that it didn’t take long to get him to the edge. His tail swished back and forth behind him, curling and becoming restless as pleasure spread through his body. He was _so_ close.  
  
Suddenly the glass door to the shower stall was opened slowly, and Jayden felt familiar, small hands move up his back and come to a rest on his shoulder blades, near the base of his wings. He flinched in surprise and quickly turned his head to see who it was, even though he already knew.  
  
Noah was standing behind him, naked in the shower with him, and his eyes met Jayden’s when the alpha turned to look at him. His wings lowered a bit, telling Jayden he did not want a fight and that he was there with friendly intentions. A small, gentle smile twitched on Noah’s lips, and Jayden found himself blinking at him in surprise. The alpha had already stopped his ministrations and was just staring at Noah now.  
  
“N-Noah? What are you—”  
  
“Shh,” Noah cut him off gently, stepping closer. He leaned himself against Jayden from behind and rested his head in the space between Jayden’s wings. He felt the alpha’s muscles tense a bit before they eventually relaxed. “I’m sorry that I started a fight with you earlier.” He traced a finger over the base of Jayden’s wings, watching the movement as he rested his head against his mate. “And I’m sorry that I’ve been pushing you away. I’ve just been so tired and I get stressed so easily when I’m tired… But I miss being with you. I miss us talking together, I miss the touches we share, and I miss being your _mate._ ”  
  
All the pent-up emotions and frustration inside Jayden seemed to vanish in a second. His shoulders and wings slumped as he let out a deep sigh of content. “I’ve missed you too. And I’m sorry that I snapped at you earlier…”  
  
Noah smiled, rubbing soft circles into Jayden’s skin. Slowly, he pulled his head away from the alpha but placed a small kiss on Jayden’s spine first. Then he put both of his hands on the base of Jayden’s wings, rubbing them gently against the sensitive area.  
  
Jayden’s wings and tails twitched and poked up slightly at the sexual stimulation Noah was giving him. A small, pleased growl rumbled in his chest before he finally turned around to face Noah. Water hit him on the back of the head now, and some it hit Noah as well, but he didn’t care. With a long suppressed growl of possessiveness, he reached out and grabbed Noah by the back of the head, pulling him in for a deep kiss.  
  
Noah mewled and melted into the kiss immediately. He had missed this so much, and his hands moved up to touch Jayden’s face tenderly as they kissed. Their tongues battled inside their mouths, but Noah let Jayden keep dominance. The alpha pulled him closer, making Noah moan in appreciation and reach out one hand to grip Jayden’s bicep tightly and dig his nails into the skin.  
  
Their desire spread like fireworks through their bond. They held on tight to one another, deepening the kiss as if it would be their last, and not caring that the shower water hit them and drenched them completely.  
  
Suddenly, without warning, Jayden pulled back and stared at Noah with wide, panicked eyes. “W-What about the baby?”  
  
Noah blinked at him before chuckling. “I put the baby monitor on the sink, so we’ll hear it if he wakes up.” He watched Jayden’s face with amusement as relief washed over it, before pulling him down for a kiss again, feeling a deep need for their lips to be connected. Jayden immediately leaned into his touch and kissed him back, while his left hand moved down Noah’s chest to feel his skin.  
  
Noah shuddered in pleasure and felt Jayden’s tail rub his wet leg softly. He moved his lips against Jayden’s and finally snaked his hand down towards his mate’s erection. Jayden was rock hard and leaking, already so close to coming, and Noah quickly wrapped his hand around the throbbing member and stroked it. The sound Jayden made sent shivers of arousal up Noah’s spine. He had missed that sound so much. The alpha bucked into his hand with a low whine of need, his hand cupping Noah’s cheek possessively as he continued to kiss him.  
  
The alpha was already on the edge of his orgasm, and he had to pull his lips away from Noah’s to pant and grunt as his climaxed closed in on him. Noah was stroking him firm and fast, using his thumb to rub the head of his cock and slit, which made Jayden’s knees tremble slightly. His wings spread under stream of water and he growled lowly in pleasure as every cell in his body moved him towards release. It took only a few more seconds until he was pushed over the edge violently.  
  
The climax shook Jayden to the core, and he let out a loud grunt as he bucked forward into Noah’s hand and came harder than he had for months. Wave after wave of pleasure rippled through him, making his vision flash, and his dick spurted thick, white stripes of come over Noah’s hand. The sweet scent of his mate intensified the experience and made him gasp for breath.  
  
Noah continued to stroke Jayden through his orgasm, smiling as he listened to his mate’s pleasure and felt his body shake through it. Water from the shower quickly washed away the alpha’s seed from Noah’s hand, pulling it down the drain and out of their sight.  
  
Jayden panted heavily and leaned down to rest his head on Noah’s shoulder, standing bent over as the last part of his orgasm rippled through him and left him feeling weak and incredibly sated for a few moments. The alpha nuzzled into Noah’s neck, and the submissive smiled as he nuzzled him back as he kept stroking him until the last drop of come had been squeezed from his cock. It was such an intimate moment; one that had been craved by them both for weeks.  
  
Jayden’s body went kind of limp once it was over, and Noah smiled as he listened to the pleased huffs of breath coming from Jayden as the alpha tried to catch his breath. Noah could tell that he had helped Jayden reach a powerful orgasm and that the alpha was much more relaxed now. That pleased him.  
  
Slowly, Noah moved his other hand up and grasped Jayden’s hair gently, stroking it with affection while he waited for Jayden to recover from his pleasure.  
  
“Mhmm.” Jayden purred softly at the touch and nuzzled Noah’s neck once more. He could smell Noah’s own arousal, which made his nostrils flare in approval and stopped his cock from going soft. After a few moments he slowly pulled back to look at Noah. “Mm, thanks.”  
  
Noah just smiled. “You’re welcome.”  
  
The scent of Noah’s arousal teased Jayden’s nose. It was so sweet and entrancing, and his body immediately responded to it. He couldn’t let his mate stay unsatisfied, so he slowly pulled Noah closer and leaned down to kiss possessively at his neck. Water kept hitting them, making their wings and hairs wet, and he loved how beautiful Noah’s skin looked when it was full of water droplets.  
  
“Oh!” Noah gasped softly when Jayden sucked on one of the most sensitive spots on his neck. He shuddered and felt slick beginning to run down his wet thighs. His dick had been hard for a while now, and he slowly began rubbing it against Jayden’s thigh for friction.  
  
A growl of arousal escaped Jayden, and he quickly moved one hand down behind Noah to inspect his hole. He prodded it gently and with caution, knowing that his mate could still be sore from the birth. He felt sticky wetness when he touched the hole with a probing finger, which was a good sign for him. “Are you still sore down there?”  
  
Noah bit back a gasp when he felt Jayden’s finger circle his hole. “O-Only a bit. I haven’t checked for a few days, but I think I’m over it. You can touch me there.”  
  
Jayden allowed his finger to enter the hole then, starting to tease Noah’s inner walls and keeping a close eye on Noah’s reactions.  
  
“Oh god.” Noah shuddered heavily and leaned into Jayden, pressing his head against the alpha’s chest and mewling softly as Jayden touched him down there. It felt so good; like he had been thirsting for Jayden’s touch for a very long time. He panted and used Jayden as a pillar for balance when his knees got weak from the stimulation.  
  
The alpha let out a pleased growl about Noah’s response. He held Noah close and continued sucking, kissing, and biting Noah softly on the neck and jugular while he buried his fingers inside him and pleasured him with them. Noah was so wet and warm inside, and every little twitch and mewl the submissive was making only pleased Jayden more.  
  
Soon, Noah was a squirming, mewling mess against Jayden. He bucked back onto Jayden’s fingers while rubbing his erection against his thigh, completely lost in the wonderful sensations. His nails scratched the alpha’s arms and sides, desperate to come already, while Jayden’s ministrations only increased.  
  
Small syllables of ‘oh!’ and ‘ah!’ kept escaping Noah’s lips until Jayden’s fingers finally pulled him over the edge. He came with a cry, bucking against Jayden and shooting his release across the alpha’s leg. Jayden held him tight and continued to fuck him with his fingers until it was over. Only then did the alpha slowly let go of him.  
  
Noah tried to catch his breath and lifted his head slowly to look up at Jayden. The alpha was shielding him from the stream of water coming from the showerhead, but some droplets still hit him. Their eyes met and Noah offered Jayden a satisfied smile.  
  
Jayden grinned softly and ran an affectionate hand through Noah’s feathers. “That didn’t hurt, did it?” There was a hint of worry in his voice.  
  
Noah gently shook his head. “No, it was nice. I missed that…”  
  
Jayden’s tail wrapped itself around Noah’s thigh, tight and possessively. “Mm, me too. And how come you’re in the shower with me anyway?” he finally asked.  
  
“Well, I needed to take a shower, like you did, so I thought we could just shower together,” Noah answered simply. He then lowered his gaze a bit and stared at one of the faint scars on Jayden’s chest while moving a finger over the wet skin, almost thoughtfully. “And… I wanted us to get along again.”  
  
Jayden gave him a soft smile, touching Noah’s cheek and using his hand to gently lift Noah’s head and make him look at him. “I love you. You know that, right?”  
  
Noah blinked at him. The sound of the shower running became almost inaudible as all of Noah’s focus was on Jayden now. Shyly, he smiled back at Jayden and gave a short nod. “Yes. I love you too.”  
  
Jayden’s lips curled into a wide grin. He leaned down to claim Noah’s lips again, kissing him passionately and feeling him respond. Kissing and feeling Noah again was the most wonderful thing in the world, and the way their bond was throbbing with bliss and delight made Jayden happier than he had been for weeks now.  
  
Unable to resist teasing Noah now that they got along again, Jayden turned and shifted Noah so that the submissive was suddenly standing directly under the shower and getting hit by all the water. The submissive pulled away from him with a loud gasp of surprise and hit Jayden in the chest when the alpha laughed.  
  
“You jerk!” Noah growled, glaring at Jayden while his wet hair clung to his forehead.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, I know.” He grinned and pulled Noah in for a kiss again, turning so that the water was once more hitting him and not Noah.  
  
They kissed and explored each other with their hands. Noah let out soft mewls when Jayden’s hands brushed his leaking oil glands and touched his wet wings. Not having been touched for two months left them feeling extra sensitive, and Noah quickly got aroused again as Jayden stimulated them.  
  
Jayden too was getting increasingly aroused again; his dick was throbbing between his legs and his tail was swishing back and forth under the shower.  
  
“There’s so much more I wanna do to you…” Jayden murmured, nuzzling Noah’s jaw softly and biting his earlobe playfully. “We have a lot to catch up on.”  
  
The submissive shuddered and bared his neck to the demon. A wicked smile covered his lips as he said, “Show me what you have in mind, then.”  
  
With a growl of arousal, Jayden launched forward and pinned Noah against the wall, attacking his neck with possessive bites and kisses while his hands roamed over the soft body in front of him.  
  
Noah laughed and giggled at Jayden’s ministrations, baring himself to his mate and accepting everything he wanted to do with him. It had been so long since they had acted like real mates – both sexually and romantically – and Noah felt happy when they finally got to be like that again.  
  
A night full of love-making, cuddling, and kissing waited ahead of them. Their bond, which had been starved from those things for two months already, flared inside them and filled them with happiness as they bonded with each other again. There would still be nights and weeks where they wouldn’t be as close and get into small fights, but for now they were happy.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very long chapter, sorry about that. I just wanted to write about how Noah and Jayden are dealing with their new baby and the mood swings it causes. In the next chapter there will be a time jump of about a year, so Derek will be one and half years old then :) Finally I can start exploring Nathan and Derek’s relationship as brothers more.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I always love hearing about what you like and what you'd like to see more of, so if you have any comments just hit me with them! :)


	34. Chapter 34

**September 2055 (Noah is 29, Jayden is 31, Nathan is 5 (almost 6), Derek is 16 months old, Castiel is 66, Dean is 67, Isaac is 34 (almost 35), Kaylen is 30, Eliza is 6, Jake is 2 months old, Mary is 90, Lucas is 27, Emily is 5 (almost 6) years old).**  
  
“Derek, stop that!” Noah scolded his son, who was sitting in the baby chair by the kitchen table. Noah himself was busy putting some more scrambled eggs into Nathan’s plate as they had breakfast at the table. Jayden was standing by the stove and cooking eggs. Usually they had cereal or bread for breakfast on workdays, but today Jayden was making an exception.  
  
Derek whined when he got scolded and stared at Nathan with a grumpy look. He had been throwing some of his food at his older brother, thinking it was fun.  
  
“He always does that!” Nathan complained, glaring at his little brother before shoving another forkful of food into his mouth. They had to leave in fifteen minutes, so Nathan had been told to hurry up and finish his breakfast soon.  
  
Noah sighed and put the pan with the eggs away. “I know.” He walked over to the sink to clean the pan, while listening to Derek whining some more because he was upset that he couldn’t have fun.  
  
Jayden chuckled as Noah passed him in the kitchen, sensing that his mate was feeling a bit stressed. “More food throwing?” It was not uncommon to see Derek throwing his food around sometimes when he ate; he had started doing that a few weeks ago. Usually he did it when he was getting full and couldn’t eat more, and simply thought it was more fun throwing the food around than to eat it. He especially liked to throw it at Nathan, who did most certainly not approve of that.  
  
“Yes… I swear that he often thinks that a ‘no’ means a ‘yes’,” Noah murmured, quickly cleaning the pan in the sink and drying it with a dishcloth.  
  
Jayden let out a small chuckle while watching the eggs he was boiling at the stove. He was cooking them so they could put eggs in their lunch. He was already done making the scrambled eggs, which Nathan and Derek were now busy eating, but there was still some left on a plate for him and Noah to eat. “Yeah, he’s a bit disobedient. But mostly I think he just has a filter in his head where he only hears the words he _wants_ to hear and just filters out any ‘no’ he gets.”  
  
“Yeah.” Noah put the pan away where it belonged and sighed as he turned to face Jayden. “I’m glad you got up early to help me with the kids.” He glanced up at the alpha with a grateful look.  
  
Noah always left home in the mornings at 7:25 so he could drop off Derek in the daycare and then drive to the kindergarten with Nathan. Jayden was still working on different shifts, and today his work was from 3pm to 11:30pm, but he had decided to wake up early that morning to help Noah with the kids and then go back to sleep after they had left.  
  
Nathan had just started in kindergarten last month and he was in one of Noah’s classes. It was weird for Noah to teach his own son, but Nathan had been very reassured about it at first, since he had been a little nervous when starting in kindergarten. The other students didn’t have a problem with it; they thought it was kind of cool that one of the teachers was Nathan’s mother. Last year, Nathan had been attending the pre-kindergarten that was attached to the kindergarten, so Noah was getting used to having Nathan around him when he was at work. Noah hadn’t been at the kindergarten the whole time when Nathan had been to the pre-k; he had had his maternity leave until early December last year, so he had only been working for ten months now since Derek was born.  
  
Jayden smiled and reached up to cup Noah’s cheek with his hand. “You’re welcome. I know how much the mornings stress you out, and I don’t want you to be late for work again, like you were yesterday.”  
  
Noah groaned at that reminder. “Yes, that was awful. I’m glad my boss was very understanding about it, but it was still bad.”  
  
The alpha chuckled. “I know.” He leaned down to kiss Noah, humming softly when their lips met. The kiss was soft and their lips moved together gently, letting them savor the other’s taste.  
  
“Mommy! Derek’s chewing on one of his feathers again!” Nathan suddenly yelled from the table.  
  
Noah’s eyes opened in a flash and he immediately ran over to the kitchen table where the kids were. He quickly yanked the feather from Derek’s small hands before the baby could chew more on it. “No! You can’t eat your feathers, Derek, you know that!”  
  
Sometimes one of Derek’s small, still soft feathers would fall out naturally and land somewhere within his reach. And like any other baby, he would chew on whatever looked interesting. Feathers could be dangerous for babies to chew on, though; they could choke on them. This was why Noah and Jayden were being extra careful about removing all fallen feathers around the house before Derek could get to them, and they made sure that his wings were brushed well before bed so they were less likely to shed any feathers during the night.  
  
Derek stared back at Noah until his lip began quivering a bit. He started crying and slammed his little hands down on the baby chair, making a scene because he had been told no. Noah didn’t give in, though; he just walked away with the feather, making Derek cry louder and reach out towards it. “Tea-tar!” he whined, almost demandingly.  
  
“No, you’re not getting that feather,” Jayden told him, walking over to the table and giving Derek a firm look. “Now eat up or you won’t get more food.”  
  
Derek still cried, insulted that he couldn’t get his feather.  
  
Nathan just continued eating, trying not to pay too much attention to the tantrum his little brother was throwing. Derek was especially edgy in the mornings when he was still tired, so his crying could go on for a few minutes.  
  
Noah disposed of the feather in a small bag they used to keep their fallen feathers in, before he went over to the kitchen counter and began preparing Nathan’s schoolbag there. Their lunch had already been made, so he just had to add the eggs and then put the lunchboxes into their bags and get them ready.  
  
“Hurry up; you and mommy are leaving soon,” Jayden told Nathan and ruffled his hair fondly as they boy ate at the table.  
  
“I’m eating, I’m eating,” Nathan told him, chewing fast on his food so he wouldn’t slow down his mom again and make them be late. He glanced up at Jayden. “When are you coming home tonight, daddy?”  
  
“Long after you’ve been put to bed, buddy,” Jayden replied, giving his son a small smile. He kept an eye on Derek, who was mostly just poking around in his food now. The baby’s chin and cheeks were dirty because he got food smeared all over himself when he ate, and the small table attached to the baby chair was pretty dirty too.  
  
Nathan’s wings slumped a bit. “I hate it when you work late…”  
  
“Yeah, I know, but that’s just how it is. I always try to get earlier shifts so I can be home with you, Derek, and mommy, you know that. But sometimes I just have to work late.”  
  
Nathan’s wings continued to be slumped, and he gave Jayden a sad look before eating up the remaining food on his plate. Next to him, Derek was starting to let out grumpy sounds and grunts.  
  
“You done eating, Derek?” Jayden asked, picking up the moist cloth that Noah had put on the kitchen table earlier and wiped Derek’s face clean with it.  
  
Derek grunted and leaned a bit away from the cloth as his dad cleaned him. The boy nodded at Jayden’s question and looked up at him with his blue/grey eyes. His eyes had been a lot more blue once, but they were slowly turning more and more greyish. His ability to speak was also improving with every day that passed, but he still couldn’t say many words. When he spoke, his words were often clumsy and difficult to understand, so they had to strain their ears to understand what he was saying.  
  
Jayden finished cleaning Derek’s face and his hands before picking him up under the arms and putting him down the floor. “Okay, down you go.”  
  
Derek squealed happily as he was put down, and he immediately started running around the kitchen on wobbly legs. There were baby gates on almost every door downstairs so Derek couldn’t leave the kitchen. He still ran around, though, exploring everything he could and trying to open cupboards and drawers and peek inside. Luckily, Jayden kept his most dangerous kitchen tools out of the children’s reach, so Derek couldn’t really grab anything that could hurt him.  
  
Nathan finished up his breakfast while Jayden cleaned the dirty baby chair and went over to Noah afterwards. The submissive was getting ready to leave the house soon so he could go to work and drop the kids off.  
  
Jayden placed himself behind Noah, who had just finished packing Nathan’s bag and was now standing by the big kitchen counter that was in the middle of the room. The alpha hugged Noah from behind and snaked his arms around his waist.  
  
“Mm. I wish I didn’t have to work late tonight. I just wanna cuddle with you in bed all night, watch a movie, and groom your gorgeous wings,” Jayden murmured, placing a chaste kiss on the crook of Noah’s neck.  
  
Noah smiled and leaned his head a bit to the side to give Jayden access. “Me too. But it will have to wait till another day, I guess.” He giggled when Jayden pulled him close and blew a raspberry on his neck. “Stop that, silly!”  
  
“But you like it,” Jayden grinned, not letting go of Noah even though the submissive was trying to get free.  
  
Nathan had finished eating and walked over towards the sink with his plate. He stopped abruptly and watched his parents with a small tilt of his head, studying what they were doing and how Jayden was making Noah giggle and squirm in his arms. He was brought out of his staring when Derek suddenly tackled him behind and almost made him drop his plate on the floor. Luckily it was a plastic plate, so it wouldn’t have broken if he had dropped it (safety precaution that Noah had taken when he realized that plates often got knocked to the ground when Derek was around).  
  
“Dereeek!” Nathan scolded, turning to glare at his little brother. “I almost fell over!”  
  
Derek just grinned; wild, innocently, and playfully, before tackling him again, knocking the air out of Nathan when he bumped into his stomach. The plate dropped to the floor this time, and the steel fork that was on it clattered as it hit the tiles.  
  
The loud noise immediately attracted Jayden and Noah’s attentions.  
  
“Hey! Don’t be so rough with your big brother, Derek,” Jayden scolded.  
  
Derek didn’t really listen, though. He was still full of energy and had a big, playful grin on his face. He tried to tackle Nathan again to get him to play, but Nathan carefully dodged him and tried to hold him back.  
  
Jayden sighed. “I hope he burns off energy at the daycare today…”  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Noah said before going over to the kids. “Come on, we’re leaving now. Nathan, go to the bathroom if you have to pee before we leave while I get Derek ready.”  
  
“Yes, mommy.” Nathan turned to leave and walked over to the baby gate that separated the kitchen from the laundry room. He knew how to work the gate open and was always careful not to let his brother see how it was done. ‘Monkey see, monkey do’ was a phrase Jayden had taught him. He didn’t fully understand the metaphor yet, though.  
  
Meanwhile, Noah took Derek to the entrance hall, where he helped him get into his shoes and jacket. Noah had just gotten the shoes on him when Derek suddenly announced in a very clumsy manner that he had pooped. Then, Noah had to pull off his shoes again, take him to the bathroom after Nathan was done, clean him up and change his diaper, and go back to the entrance hall to put on his shoes for the second time.  
  
It was getting very stressing since the time was 7:24 already. Jayden helped Noah get ready by putting everyone’s bags out into the car, making sure that Nathan got dressed, and then helped Noah getting the kids into the baby seats in the car. They only managed a quick goodbye kiss before Noah got into the car and drove off, hoping he’d make it to the kindergarten in time and that traffic wouldn’t be bad.  


 

***

  
  
After dropping Derek off in the daycare, Noah managed to arrive at the kindergarten just in time. He helped Nathan find his classroom before he went to teach English to another class in a different classroom. Noah also had an English class with Nathan, as well as art. For math, Nathan had Lucas as a teacher, and for P.E. he had one of the male teachers – a human male named Ryan, whom he liked a lot.  
  
It was a normal day in the kindergarten, but Noah still looked forward to coming home in the evening. He was off at 4pm that day and not at 5:30 like he was on some days. On the days where he worked late, he sometimes met at work later when he didn’t have to teach a class at 8am, but since he had to drive Nathan to the kindergarten for his 8am class every morning, he often ended up staying. Only sometimes did he drive home again or go somewhere else until he had to be at work at either 9 or 10am.  
  
At 12pm there was lunch break. All the children gathered in the big room with tables for eating at, and as usual Nathan sat down next to Noah. Emily sat on Nathan’s other side; they were still almost inseparable, so they sat together whenever they could.  
  
“Did you have fun in math class?” Noah asked Nathan while they ate. Noah had made them sandwiches last night for lunch – one with ham, one with cheese, and one with a different kind of ham. There were also pieces of their favorite fruit and vegetables in their lunch, and Nathan ate eagerly from it.  
  
There was a lot of noise at the tables as the kids and the teachers were eating and talking. Some children were louder than others, and it did happen that some of them yelled or suddenly threw a tantrum for whatever reason.  
  
Nathan lit up at the question about his classes. “Yeah! Lucas said I’m getting better at plussing.”  
  
Noah chuckled. “It’s called ‘addition’.”  
  
“Why not plussing? You say ‘one plus one’ and not ‘one addition one’,” Emily murmured, thinking it made no sense at all.  
  
“That’s true, but it’s called ‘adding’ when you add a number to another number, and that’s where the word comes from,” Noah explained patiently.  
  
“I think substation is much difficultier!” a human boy sitting across from them suddenly blurted.  
  
“It’s called ‘subtraction’, Jamie,” an angel/human hybrid girl next to him corrected gently, giggling a bit.  
  
“That’s what I said!”  
  
There was laughter and giggling around the table as the others heard it, and Noah couldn’t help but laugh too.  
  
Suddenly, Noah felt a gently tug on his sleeve coming from his other side. He turned to look at the red-haired human girl sitting next to him.  
  
“Noah? Cans we go outside and play now?” the girl asked, making a small gesture at herself and the demon girl sitting next to her. She looked at Noah with pleading eyes.  
  
Noah glanced at the girl’s lunchbox, seeing it was empty already. He then looked at her again. “You can’t go outside yet, Maria. Not until most of the other kids and the teachers are done eating.”  
  
Maria and her friend pouted, wanting so badly to go outside and play in the kindergarten’s big yard. There were so many places and things to play with out there and the children really loved using the equipment.  
  
Noah felt Nathan shift a bit closer to him and rest his wing against his. Nathan always felt kind of jealous when the other children sat down next to his mother at the lunch table or talked him. Noah was his mother and he didn’t want to share him. Noah couldn’t help but think it was kind of cute and amusing, but he did understand what Nathan was feeling. When he had been a kid, Noah had seen Castiel interact with a few strange children when they walked around in the neighborhood or the nearby park, and he hadn’t quite liked it when the children had acted too familiar around his papa.  
  
Lunch went on, and Nathan and Emily interacted with each other and with some of their classmates while eating. Noah was glad to see that Nathan had made a few new friends since he had started in kindergarten. Hopefully they would still be his friends if they ended up in the same class in elementary school one day.  
  
After the children were done eating, they were sent outside to play in the nice weather. Nathan disappeared outside with Emily and his friends, while Noah stayed inside and started cleaning the tables together with Lucas. The other teachers were either outside to watch the kids or were preparing for their next classes.  
  
Noah and Lucas were helping each other gathering the juice jugs and cleaning the tables with some wet rags, when Lucas suddenly spoke. “Hey, um… How are you and your family doing, after what happened?” He regarded Noah carefully, as if afraid that his question was unwanted.  
  
Noah swallowed back a small lump in his throat.  
  
In early August, Dean’s father John had passed away from old age. He had been 91 years old – which was the average age for a male demon to die at. Female demons usually lived a bit longer, until the average age of 93, where angel males usually lived till the age of 92 and females till the age of 93, like demons. Some angels and demons lived until they were over 100 years old, more often than humans.  
  
John’s death had been hard for the whole family. Dean and Sam especially had taken their father’s death pretty hard, but Castiel and Jess had supported them and helped them through it. Mary had it worse, though. She had lost her mate, and the impact it had on her to feel their bond being broken had left her very depressed. She too was slowly dying from old age as her body was beginning to give up. Things weren’t very easy in the family because of that, and the funeral had been full of tears, sadness, and loss. But they had supported each other and tried to see it from the bright side; John had lived a long, happy life, and now he was finally at peace. He had even gotten to die peacefully in his sleep at the hospital, after having been admitted there when his heart started getting weaker.  
  
“Y-Yeah, things are going a bit better now,” Noah spoke, staring at the table as he absently cleaned it one more time with the rag. “My grandma is still very sad, though. She’s feeling a bit better now, but you can tell that she’s pretty depressed and is slowly getting weaker. I don’t know how much time she has left…”  
  
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lucas told him, sincerely. “Are you gonna go see her soon…?”  
  
“Yeah, Jayden and I plan to visit her at the elderly home she’s at now either on this weekend or the next. She can’t live alone anymore because she can’t do anything by herself, so they put her in a home a few weeks ago.”  
  
“Maybe that’s for the best…”  
  
“Well, she _has_ started feeling better after beginning to talk to some of the other people there, at least. But I still think she’s very sad because of my grandpa.”  
  
Lucas gave Noah a sad smile and reached out his hand to put it on Noah’s shoulder. He gave it a gentle squeeze. “If you want to talk, then I’m here. But I don’t really know what it’s like to lose a grandparent, though…”  
  
Noah looked back at him with a grateful smile. “Thanks. And that’s alright. I just appreciate the offer.”  
  
Lucas smiled. “You’ve helped me a lot with dealing with all the stuff with my father and my low self-confidence, so I owe you.”  
  
Noah just smiled at him, grateful that he had such a good friend like Lucas.  
  
They turned to leave the room and head for the kitchen with the jugs when suddenly a couple of kids came running inside. The children were playing and chasing each other, and one of the angel boys accidentally tripped on the threshold as he entered the room. He fell to the floor and hurt his wrists on the hard, cold floor. A loud, pained scream came from him, and Noah and Lucas immediately hurried over to help.  
  
“Whoa, are you okay, Robert?” Lucas asked, kneeling down beside the boy along with Noah.  
  
Noah and Lucas both reached out to help Robert on his feet, and the boy cried and sniffled as he carefully got up. The four other children he had been with stared at him in worry, and one of the human girls came a little closer to see how he was doing.  
  
“It hurts,” Robert cried, tears running down his face as he looked at them with his little, grey wings drooping behind him.  
  
Noah inspected Robert’s wrists as he kneeled in front of him, checking for injuries. He assessed that nothing was broken and that the boy was okay, aside from some bruising and a shock. “Shh, it’s okay. Nothing bad happened. You’re gonna be fine, Robert.”  
  
Robert continued to cry and sniffle, and Noah reached out to rub the boy’s arm for comfort.  
  
“He okay?” asked one of the other boys, looking at his friend with a worried face.  
  
“Yeah, he’ll be okay,” Lucas reassured them with a smile. He looked at Robert then. “Do you want to go with Noah and me to the kitchen? Maybe some ice will help.”  
  
Robert nodded and grabbed Lucas’ hand as they headed for the kitchen.  
  
Some frozen bags with food in the kindergarten’s freezer should help the ache in Robert’s wrists a bit, so they put them on his skin for a few minutes. Even if it might not help all that much, at least the boy thought it would and that made him feel better.  
  
Robert’s friends joined them to see what they were doing, but after a few minutes they ran outside again.  
  
Noah was about to remove the frozen bag from Robert’s hands, when suddenly Nathan came into the room. The smile on Nathan’s face kind of faltered when he saw his mommy comforting someone else and holding some frozen bags against the boy’s hands.  
  
“Hi, Nathan,” Noah greeted him, flashing him a smile before taking the bags away from Robert’s hands. “There you go, Robert. You’re all fine now.”  
  
Robert stared down at his hands with curiosity. They felt cold, but it had helped. After having finished staring at his hands, he looked up at Noah and Lucas with a wide smile. “Thank you!” He then cheerfully turned to leave, passing by Nathan, who gave him a small glare, which the boy didn’t notice.  
  
Noah got up after Robert had left and put the frozen bags away. Both he and Lucas turned to look at Nathan when the boy slowly walked over to them. Nathan’s tail was rubbing against his own leg, like demons often did when they were feeling sad or worried.  
  
Noah frowned in worry when he saw that something was on Nathan’s mind. “What is it?”  
  
The boy avoided his eye and fumbled a bit with the hem of his shirt. He hesitated a bit before speaking. “Why do you have to be everyone’s mom? Can’t you just be mine?” he mumbled, glancing up at Noah from under his eyelashes.  
  
Noah was taken aback by that.  
  
“You always have to comfort Derek or the other kids here at kindergarten… And they always wanna sit next to you when we eat. And one time, Jasmine called you ‘mom’ by accident…”  
  
It took a second for Noah to realize that Nathan was being jealous. He let out a soft chuckle before going over to his son and kneeling down in front of him so they were level. “But I’m still your mom, Nathan,” he told the boy softly, reaching up to gently put a finger under Nathan’s chin to make him look at him. He smiled when their eyes met. “I’m Derek’s mom too, but I’m not anyone else’s mom. Just because I comfort one of the other children doesn’t mean that I’m _their_ mom too.”  
  
Nathan stared back at him, still a bit upset. “Promise?”  
  
“Yes, Nathan, I promise. In the kindergarten, I’m just _your_ mommy, no matter how much I have to interact with the other children, or if they accidentally call me ‘mom’. Sometimes they call Lucas, Kia, or one of the other teachers ‘mom’ too, but that doesn’t make them their mom.”  
  
Nathan let out a relieved sigh before wrapping his arms around Noah’s neck and hugging him tight. Noah smiled and hugged him back, running a soothing hand up and down his son’s back. He felt Nathan lean further into him and bury his face in his shoulder.  
  
Lucas watched them quietly with a smile. He had already cleaned the dirty jugs and was ready to clean up the rest in the eating room once Noah was ready.  
  
After a few moments of hugging, Nathan finally pulled back, looking much happier. He grinned at Noah before looking at up Lucas. “When can me and Nina play again?” he asked eagerly.  
  
Lucas laughed softly at the question. “Maybe on the weekend? She’s been asking to play with you too.”  
  
Nina was now three years old, and she and Nathan still got along well whenever they were together. Nathan got along with most kids, including his cousins and the children of his parents’ friends. Isaac and Kaylen had recently gotten their second child; a beta boy named Jake, and Christie had given birth to a little girl named Elsa in December last year, so there were constantly new babies arriving and more kids for Nathan to interact with.  
  
Nathan cheered up at prospect of maybe getting to play with Nina soon, but when some of his friends called for him in the other room, he quickly waved goodbye at his mom and Lucas before disappearing again.  
  
Noah and Lucas watched him go, smiling.  
  
“Are they still fighting at home? Nathan and Derek, that is,” Lucas asked Noah once they were alone again.  
  
“Sometimes,” Noah replied. “Derek likes to test boundaries, especially when it comes to Nathan. Sometimes he steals some of Nathan’s toys, which makes Nathan mad and then they start arguing… It drives me crazy.”  
  
Lucas laughed softly at that. “That’s what siblings do, right? I always wanted a sibling when growing up… And yet I didn’t, because I didn’t want them to suffer too…” He glanced at the floor and swallowed back a lump in his throat when he was reminded of his childhood once again. His wings lowered and his tail rested between his legs; indicating he was sad and upset.  
  
Noah reached out and put his hand on Lucas’ shoulder, rubbing him gently with his thumb. “But you had Jeremy after you met your adoptive parents…”  
  
A smile appeared on Lucas’ lips. “Yeah, that’s true. He stole my stuff too. He was such a brat.”  
  
Noah laughed at that and Lucas laughed too. They were always good at cheering each other up when one of them got upset.  
  
They gave each other a smile before moving on with their day; they still had kids to look after and classes to teach.  


 

***

  
  
On the following weekend, Noah and Jayden took the kids to a nearby park. The park was ten minutes’ walk away from their house; much unlike when they lived in the old apartment, where there had been a park just across the street.  
  
It was a late Sunday morning, and the park was already quite busy with people. Lots of joggers ran by for a morning run, people were there with their children and their dogs, and the birds were tweeting in the trees. The environment was very nice and relaxing to be in, especially since it had been a busy week for the small family. Jayden had worked late most of the week, and the house was always full of action now that it had two children in it.  
  
“Derek, stay here!” Jayden shouted at Derek, who had suddenly decided to take off running across the lawn. The boy had spotted some birds on the lawn and wanted to run over to them, so Jayden had to run after him to stop him. He didn’t want to let Derek run around on his own in case one of the dogs in the park started running after him, or that he somehow got himself hurt.  
  
Noah was pushing the stroller around with Nathan walking beside him, and they both watched as Jayden had to chase after Derek and catch him.  
  
It didn’t take long for Jayden to catch up with the small boy. He quickly swept Derek up by grabbing him with a hand under his stomach and then pulled him up so that Derek’s back was against his chest. Derek whined and kicked his little legs in protest, hating to be picked up and interrupted like that. He wanted so badly to check out the birds, and he watched forlornly as they flew off when the commotion had scared them.  
  
“Burds!” Derek whined and started to cry as Jayden carried him back over to the path where Noah and Nathan were.  
  
“No, you’re not playing with the birds. You’ll just scare them off anyway,” Jayden told him.  
  
Derek cried and squirmed in defiance, and Jayden had to hold him for a bit even after he had reached Noah and Nathan again.  
  
“He’s such a brat sometimes,” Nathan murmured and scowled a bit at Derek.  
  
“Oi, where’d you learn that word?” Jayden asked, frowning at Nathan. He hadn’t heard his son use that word before. Derek was still kicking and crying against him, but Jayden just held him and let the boy calm down from his tantrum.  
  
Nathan grinned. “That’s what Uncle Isaac always calls me and Eliza when we tease him.”  
  
“Ah. Figures you got that from him.”  
  
Noah chuckled and kept pushing the stroller as they walked slowly through the park.  
  
There were many other families with children in the park, and it happened sometimes that Noah ran into children he knew from the kindergarten. Eden and Lily lived nearby too, so sometimes they also used the park to take a walk in. Every now and then, they made arrangements together where they’d meet up in the park and spend an afternoon there together with the children.  
  
Derek eventually started calming down while they walked, so Jayden put him down on the ground again. The boy held his hand as they walked towards a playground, and he got very excited once it was within his view.  
  
There were a few other children in the playground, and they looked up in curiosity when Nathan and Derek came over to play there too. Jayden went with them into the sand-covered part and helped Derek onto one of the slides. Nathan was old enough to get around on his own, so Noah and Jayden only needed to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn’t get hurt.  
  
“Are we gonna visit great-grandma Mary later?” Nathan asked as he climbed around on a net of ropes in the playground. Noah was standing next to the robes and keeping an eye on him and the stroller, which he had left over by the bench a few feet away.  
  
“Yes, we are,” Noah confirmed, smiling. It had been about two weeks since he last saw Mary, and he felt like it was time to see her again. After John’s passing, he and the others in the family were visiting her frequently to make sure she was okay and to keep her company. No one knew for how much longer she was going to live, so they wanted to visit her as often as possible.  
  
“When we come home, can I makes a drawing for her?”  
  
Noah smiled. “Of course you can. I’m sure she’ll be happy to receive that.”  
  
“Too!” Derek chirped when he heard what they were saying. He was still on the small slide with Jayden, a few feet away from Noah and Nathan.  
  
Jayden chuckled and helped Derek down the slide. “You wanna draw for great-grandma too?”  
  
Derek eagerly nodded his head before running around the slide to get back up on it again.  
  
“But all he can draw is lines and messy stuff,” Nathan murmured, rolling his eyes. He was still climbing around on the net of robes, and he gracefully moved from one end to the other.  
  
Noah laughed softly. “I’m sure that your great-grandma won’t mind that.”  
  
“What are you gonna drawn, Nathan?” Jayden asked curiously. He held on to Derek as he put the boy back up on the slide, making sure that he didn’t fall over the side.  
  
“I dunno… Maybe I’ll draw Midnight. And a dog. It’s fun to draw dogs,” Nathan grinned.  
  
“And you’re getting good at it,” Noah told him, giving him a proud smile.  
  
Nathan grinned and curled his tail as he climbed around.  
  
Two more kids came into the playground to use it, and one of the human boys climbed up on the ropes where Nathan was. The two boys stared at each other curiously before they began climbing around together, and Noah smiled as Nathan interacted with the strange boy. The boy’s mother was over by the bench, and she too seemed glad that her kid was interacting with someone else.  
  
Derek was having a lot of fun on the slide. Every time he arrived at the bottom, he immediately got up and ran around the slide to climb back up. Jayden thought it was kind of amusing that such a simple slide could entertain Derek so much, but at least the hyper boy got to burn off some energy.  
  
After twenty minutes they decided to move on.  
  
“Come on, Derek. We’re leaving now,” Noah told his youngest son, who was very reluctant to leave the playground and the slide. They had tried to grab his hand and make him follow them, but he had gotten mad and stubborn and just refused to leave.  
  
Derek whined and clung to the slide, staring back at his parents in defiance.  
  
“Well, mommy and daddy are leaving, and so is Nathan. You can stay here alone if you want,” Jayden said and began walking away. Of course they weren’t going to leave Derek alone there, but every time they told him so and began walking away, Derek would change his mind and come running after them. The boy was terrified of being left alone somewhere.  
  
Noah and Nathan joined Jayden as the alpha began to walk away from the playground, and Nathan glanced back over his shoulder at his little brother, who was still standing by the slide.  
  
Derek watched them closely, and when they were past the bench and still walking away, he started twitching nervously.  
  
Jayden smirked as he looked over his shoulder briefly and saw Derek getting increasingly insecure. After two more seconds, the boy finally whined and ran after them as fast as he could.  
  
Derek whined and cried as he ran towards them, but they couldn’t make out the words he was babbling while crying. Just when Derek was almost by their side, he suddenly tripped over his own small feet and landed on his stomach on the ground. It wasn’t a very hard fall, and the soft grass had lessened the impact.  
  
“Ow. Up again,” Jayden told him, stopping to make sure that Derek was alright.  
  
Derek got back on his feet, sniffling somewhat, and then ran over to Noah with a loud whine.  
  
Noah gave Derek a small smile when the boy came over and clung to his leg. He buried his face in Noah’s pants and grasped the clothing tightly with his hands. He was wearing shorts, so his knees had gotten a little bruised and green after landing on the grass, as had his hands. But other than that, he was fine.  
  
“Be careful when you run,” Noah told him softly and ran a hand through Derek’s brown hair. The boy cried a bit, so Noah squatted down in front of him and pulled him into a small hug. The boy leaned into him and continued to sniffle for a few seconds. Noah was glad that Derek was still small and didn’t mind being hugged. He had the feeling that Derek would soon start feeling more independent, like most alphas, and thus not really like being hugged and cuddled that much. Actually, Derek was already starting to pull back from hugs sooner than he had before.  
  
Derek quickly recovered from his crying and pulled away. He put on a big grin and ran over to Nathan, bumping into him hard and grinning up at him playfully.  
  
Nathan picked up on his little brother’s playful mood and started running down the path, making Derek chase after him with a laugh. Playing chase was one of the games they played most often with each other. Derek loved running, and Nathan liked how his little brother could rarely catch up with him. He had to let Derek catch him sometimes, Noah and Jayden had said, otherwise Derek would just start crying in defeat.  
  
Noah and Jayden chuckled and watched as their kids played around. The path wasn’t very crowded, so it wasn’t a problem that they were running around.  
  
Jayden reached out and grabbed Noah’s hand, giving him a soft smile before the two of them started walking down the path and keeping an eye on the kids in front of them. It was nice to enjoy some time together as a family in the park, and the good weather made it more enjoyable.  
  
The idyllic scene was soon about to change, though.  
  
They were heading towards the park’s small water fountain so the kids could look at the fish (the fountain had a fence around it so little kids couldn’t fall in). Lots of families were sitting on the benches around the fountain, and there was an ice cream shop under one of the big trees.  
  
Jayden, Noah, and the kids were walking down the path in the direction of the fountain, and Jayden was searching his pockets to find his wallet so they could buy ice cream. Derek and Nathan were a few feet in front of them, busy staring up at a tree where a bird was sitting on one of the upper branches.  
  
“Shit, I forgot my wallet… Do you have yours?” Jayden asked, looking at Noah.  
  
Noah let go of the stroller and searched for his own wallet in his pockets. “Yeah, I have mine. How could you forget your wallet?” He looked at Jayden with a frown.  
  
“Sorry,” Jayden chuckled. “Happens sometimes.”  
  
They were just about to keep going when Jayden heard a familiar voice talking to them.  
  
“Hey, look who’s here.”  
  
Noah looked up, blinking at the strange alpha demon, who was suddenly standing in front of them. He wondered who the guy was, especially when he saw him staring at Jayden like he knew him.  
  
Jayden quickly snapped his head up and looked, feeling a cold shiver run down his spine when he saw none other than his old enemy Chris standing in front of him and Noah. Chris was just standing there, looking cocky and confident, and his eyes roamed over Noah’s body. His eyes narrowed in disgust, but his cocky smirk was still on his lips.  
  
Instantly, Jayden went from domestic to being a protective mate and father. He growled at Chris and spread out his wings as a warning as he stepped in front of Noah to shield him. His growl immediately alerted Nathan, who glanced over to see what was going on. He and Derek were standing rather close to Chris, and when Nathan picked up on his father’s aggression towards the stranger, he immediately grabbed Derek’s hand and pulled him over towards Noah, who was already gesturing at them to come over. The children moved to stand behind their parents, watching the scene anxiously and in confusion.  
  
“What the hell are you doing here, Chris?” Jayden asked the other alpha, gritting out the name in contempt. He kept his sharpened wings spread to protect his family while glaring at the other alpha in front of him. Chris was a threat, and Jayden wasn’t going to let him anywhere near his family.  
  
Noah – who had been totally confused at first, but alarmed by Jayden’s sudden aggression – finally understood what was going on. His eyes widened when he heard the familiar name and began to understand that the creepy guy in front of them was the alpha Jayden had once told him about. Someone who had hurt Jayden and others once. The threat made Noah spread out his own wings to shield Nathan and Derek behind him, and he glanced back at them to make sure that they were safe.  
  
Chris just huffed and turned his glare towards Jayden. “This is a public place; I’m allowed to be here.” His eyes flicked towards Noah before they focused on Jayden again. “And I’m surprised I didn’t run into you sooner, considering that I’ve been living here for three years now.”  
  
That information made Jayden’s blood run cold. He did not like the idea of his worst enemy living in the same city as him and his family.  
  
“And why did you move _here,_ of all places?” Jayden asked, not hiding his contempt for Chris as he spoke.  
  
Chris just kept standing there; calmly and almost nonchalant, though his wings were raised in cautious gesture as Jayden had his sharp feathers pointing at him. “My mate grew up in a nearby town, so we moved here with the kids,” he explained, dismissively. His eyes hardened again and his gaze flickered briefly towards Noah. “And that must be your mate and kids, huh? The blood traitor that you are, I’m not surprised you mated with _filth_ like him.”  
  
The sneer of disgust and the hard glare Chris sent him made Noah flinch a bit. The alpha in front of him was certainly not a nice person, Noah could tell that. If it wasn’t for Jayden’s presence, he would have been scared to death to have someone like Chris standing right in front of him. The alpha’s eyes were colder than anyone’s he had seen before and that scared him.  
  
The comment made Jayden see red. He let out a loud snarl and pushed Chris back harshly by slamming his hands into his chest, warning him to back off.  
  
Noah let out a loud gasp of horror when Jayden took the confrontation to a physical level. He had never seen Jayden look so angry and aggressive before. Every part of Jayden was on alert; his feathers were standing out like knives, and his tail was moving back and forth behind him in quick, big movements, like a cat that was pissed off and ready to pounce.  
  
Chris growled as Jayden shoved him. He sharpened his wings and raised them into an aggressive posture, trying to get them higher than Jayden’s, but Jayden was taller and his wings were stronger.  
  
The two alphas glared each other down, and the tension grew.  
  
Nathan was still holding Derek’s hand as they hid behind Noah, and Derek was starting to cry in fear because of the intense situation. Neither of the children really understood what was going on, and Noah had to pull them both closer to himself to calm them down a bit.  
  
The air was almost crackling as the two alphas stood just inches from each other, glaring the other down. Jayden didn’t want to be the one to throw the first punch, so he waited for Chris to back off and get out of there. Chris, however, didn’t look like he was about to leave them alone just yet, though.  
  
After what felt like minutes, something finally distracted them from their staring match.  
  
“Daddy! Come play!” a little girl’s voice suddenly sounded from several feet away.  
  
Chris looked over to the lawn, where a female demon and two small children were waving at him. Grunting, he finally folded his wings behind his back and stepped away.  
  
Jayden didn’t relax his posture, though. He kept shielding his family and glaring Chris down.  
  
Chris turned to send them one final glare. “Toodles,” he said, giving Jayden a malicious smirk before stalking out of there.  
  
Jayden just sneered at him and followed him carefully with his eyes as he watched Chris going over to the female demon and the two small kids. One of the children was a boy, about seven years old, and the other was a little girl, who was about three or four years old. They appeared to be Chris’ mate and children.  
  
It was kind of surreal to see such a cold, hateful alpha like Chris walk over and completely change his demeanor as he joined his family. He grinned at the kids before walking away with them, not sparing Jayden and the others another glance. It wasn’t unusual that racist guys like Chris were only hateful towards people of another species or the so-called ‘blood traitors’.  
  
Finally, Jayden lowered his wings and relaxed his posture again, and Noah let out a deep sigh when it was over. Chris and his family were already out of their sight now.  
  
Derek was sobbing a bit, feeling confused and distressed, while Nathan just glanced up at Jayden with a worried frown.  
  
“Who was that?” Nathan asked, looking at his father.  
  
“Someone very bad that I used to know,” Jayden murmured and turned around to face Noah and the kids again.  
  
Not many people around them in the park had noticed what had gone down. Most had been busy with other things, and the ones who had seen it hadn’t interfered. Some of them were still staring at them in concern and confusion, but were now brushing it off and going back to minding their own business again.  
  
Noah looked up at Jayden in worry. “Are you okay?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jayden murmured, sighing a bit. “I just really don’t like him showing up all of sudden…”  
  
Noah stared at him with a concerned face, until he finally turned his attention to Derek. He gently shushed the frightened boy and squatted down in front of him. “Hey, it’s okay. Daddy was just protecting us from a bad guy,” he said in a soothing voice and ran a gentle hand through Derek’s light brown hair.  
  
The small boy sniffled and stared back at Noah. It wasn’t until Jayden came over and picked him up that he calmed down more.  
  
“Hey, everything’s alright, buddy. No need to cry,” Jayden told Derek. He smiled at the boy and placed a kiss on his cheek before looking at Noah. “Let’s get out of here.”  
  
“Yeah,” Noah agreed.  
  
They went over to buy the ice cream and glanced at the fish in the fountain for a few minutes before leaving. Jayden wasn’t comfortable staying in the park for too long when he knew Chris was there too. He just wanted to get his family home where it was safe.  


 

***

  
  
In the afternoon they went to visit Mary at the elderly home.  
  
Jayden was still very on edge after the encounter with Chris earlier. Noah could sense it and it made him feel a little worried about the whole thing as well. From what Jayden had told him about Chris, he was a serious danger to people around him – especially angels and hybrids, whom he despised.  
  
Derek had calmed down after the incident, but Nathan was a little uneasy because he too could sense that his parents were a little upset. He was quiet as they drove in the car towards the elderly home, whereas Derek was happily babbling to himself and playing with his toys in the baby seat.  
  
When they arrived at the elderly home, they helped the kids out of the car and prepared to go inside. Noah kept sending worried glances at Jayden, whose tail revealed that he was feeling very uneasy. The bond was also full of conflicting emotions, and Noah could tell that Jayden’s mind was in another place.  
  
“Please don’t worry so much about him,” Noah told Jayden as they started walking up towards the entrance of the home. Nathan and Derek were walking in front of them, fooling around and running over to the automatic door to play in it.  
  
“Yeah, sorry. I can’t help it,” Jayden murmured, stopping a few feet from the entrance so they could talk. “Out of all places, he lives _here._ I don’t feel safe with him around.”  
  
“But he’s lived here for three years and you’ve only run into him twice,” Noah pointed out. “The chances of us running into him should be rather small, no?” Noah tried to think reasonably, but he too was a bit scared by Chris’ presence in their city. If Jayden said the guy was bad, then he was indeed bad.  
  
“Yeah, I guess you’re right… But I still don’t like it. I don’t want him to hurt you, ‘cause I know he’d have no hesitations doing that. Racists don’t get more hardcore than him.”  
  
Noah reached out and grabbed Jayden’s hand, squeezing it. “I’ll be okay, and so will the kids. We have you around to protect us. And if you aren’t around, I will kick that Chris guy in the balls myself if he ever comes near us.”  
  
Jayden leaned his head back and laughed at that. “Yeah, I know you would.” He looked at Noah with a fond, amused grin and gave his hand a tight squeeze.  
  
Noah just grinned.  
  
They made the kids stop fooling around at the door and finally headed inside to find Mary’s room and visit her.  
  
As they walked down the halls, they passed by several older people – demons, angels, humans, and hybrids. There weren’t that many hybrids of the older generation; interspecies mating had been quite limited until the 1960s, and seeing an angel/demon hybrid older than 70 was a very rare thing. Most of the elderly in the home were 85+ since angels and demons aged slower, but some of the humans were around 72 years old. They were sitting in the common rooms, in their own rooms, or walking down the hallways with their walkers, and some of them smiled when they saw Nathan and little Derek walking down the hallway. Seeing little children always made the old people smile.  
  
Nathan glanced around the place curiously, whereas Derek was a little more occupied with his plush toy. They were walking right in front of Noah and Jayden so they could keep an eye on them.  
  
They were almost at Mary’s room when suddenly an old angel female grabbed Noah’s arm gently. Noah flinched a bit in surprise and turned to look at the woman, blinking at her when she just smiled at him.  
  
“I just wanted to say that it’s so lovely to see such a beautiful hybrid like you,” the woman said, smiling gently behind her wrinkles. She was about 90 years old, and her white and grey wings looked tired from age as they were drooping slightly behind her back. The wings had a thin and fragile appearance, but she still had feathers, although there seemed to less of them than there had probably been once.  
  
Noah was stunned to have an old angel lady tell him that. He blinked at her for a second before smiling. “Thank you.” Jayden had stopped too, watching the scene with a soft smile.  
  
The woman’s smile grew wider, and she patted Noah gently on the arm before letting go of him. “I was in love with a demon/human hybrid once, but my father did not approve; ‘bad blood’, he said. Had it been my choice, I would have mated with him and spent the rest of my life by his side.”  
  
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that…” Noah instantly felt bad for the lady, especially when he could see the sadness in her eyes.  
  
The woman laughed softly and waved it off. “Well, that was a long time ago. Society changes. Seeing a hybrid like you walking here with a mate and two wonderful children just makes me happy. In my youth, people would have mugged you on every street corner if they saw you.”  
  
“Well, luckily it doesn’t happen that often anymore,” Jayden said, smiling as he grabbed Noah’s hand and entwined their fingers.  
  
“Oh yes, but it does still happen, doesn’t it?” The woman sighed and shook her head softly. Then she reached out and grabbed Noah’s free hand gently, lifting her head to look at him. “Take care of your little ones. There will always be those around who do not approve of people like you. It’s such a shame.”  
  
Noah gave the old lady a smile and nodded. “I will. Thank you.”  
  
The woman flashed them another smile before letting go of Noah again. She waved at them as they continued walking, and her smile grew wider when both Nathan and Derek waved back at her as they walked down the hallway.  
  
After they were out of earshot, Jayden turned to look at Noah, whose hand he was still holding. “That was a nice old lady.”  
  
“Yeah,” Noah smiled. “I feel sad that she couldn’t be with the one she loved…”  
  
Jayden squeezed his hand. “I’m glad that _I_ got to have that privilege, though.”  
  
Noah turned his head to the side to look up at Jayden, who was grinning and letting their wings touch. Noah blushed shyly. “Same.”  
  
Jayden’s wings flared briefly with happiness, and his tail curled itself possessively around Noah’s leg as he leaned further into him.  
  
They finally reached Mary’s room, finding the door closed.  
  
They knocked once before coming inside, and Noah was surprised to see Dean and Castiel there as well. They were sitting by Mary’s side as she lay in her bed, and Dean was holding her hand while they talked. They looked up when Noah and the others came inside.  
  
“Oh. We didn’t know you guys were here,” Noah said, feeling a bit sorry for interrupting the conversation between his father and grandmother.  
  
“Hello, Noah,” Castiel said, smiling as he looked over at them. “And hello, Jayden, Nathan, and Derek.”  
  
“Hi, grandma!” Nathan chirped, grinning at him before running over to Mary’s side. “And hi, great-grandma!”  
  
“Oh. Hi, guys,” Mary smiled. She looked very weak as they lay there on the bed, but she lit up at the sight of them. “Have you come to see an old lady?”  
  
“We missed you!” Nathan told her as he arrived on the other side of the bed so he could stand next to her. Derek followed him and glanced up at Mary while sucking on his pacifier.  
  
“Hey, boys,” Dean greeted them with a smile. He let go of Mary’s hand and got up to greet Noah and Jayden along with Castiel, while Mary talked a bit with Nathan and Derek. He went over and pulled Jayden into a hug, looking happy to see the both of them again.  
  
Jayden hugged Dean back, while Noah and Castiel hugged.  
  
“It’s good to see you again,” Castiel said, smiling at Noah as they pulled back. “How are things?”  
  
“Good,” Noah smiled. “Nothing much has happened since last we spoke.”  
  
“No news is good news,” Dean chuckled, moving over to hug Noah next while Jayden and Castiel hugged.  
  
After the hugs, Noah went over to give Mary a soft hug as well. His grandmother smiled and hugged him back tight, but Noah could sense that she was feeling very weak and tired. It saddened him to see his grandmother like that.  
  
Jayden went over to greet Mary as well and help Derek up on the bed to sit when Mary asked him to give the boy a hand. Mary enjoyed having her little great-grandkids by her side, and both Nathan and Derek sat next to her on the bed now. They pulled out the drawings they had made and showed them to her.  
  
“Oh my, you guys are so good!” Mary exclaimed, smiling at the drawings. She coughed a bit and her voice was weak.  
  
Derek grinned and almost lost his pacifier. He was sitting right next to Mary’s legs and occupied himself by grasping at the sheets curiously.  
  
“Derek just draws lines and circles, though,” Nathan murmured.  
  
“Well, he’s not that old yet,” Mary reminded him kindly, still smiling at the drawings. “Oh, and you drew a cat and a dog, Nathan. Is that Midnight?”  
  
Nathan grinned and curled his tail happily when Mary recognized the cat. “Yeah! And that’s great-grandpa in Heaven.” He pointed at a figure at the top of the drawing of what looked like a man with red wings and a tail.  
  
Mary smiled at that and touched the figure gently. Her face got kind of sad as she looked at the picture of John that Nathan had made.  
  
The mention of John made them all go quiet and lower their gazes a bit. They missed him a lot, still.  
  
Mary thanked the boys for their drawings before looking up at Dean, who was standing at the foot of her bed. She gave her son a weak smile. “Your dad was very proud of you, you know,” she began. “On his last days, he kept repeating how happy he was that you ended up with Castiel. He said that in spite of him raising you to be loyal to blood, you still followed your heart and didn’t let his teachings stop you from doing what’s right. He was very happy that you and Castiel met and that you stayed with him, even though it wasn’t always easy – and even though he himself did not approve at first.”  
  
Mary’s words made Dean’s breath hitch a bit. Knowing that his father had said that before he died touched Dean very much, and he felt tears threatening to prickle in his eyes. Castiel gently reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder as Dean was overwhelmed by emotions.  
  
“He did?” Dean croaked.  
  
“He sure did,” Mary confirmed with a small grin.  
  
Dean had to take a deep breath to control his emotions, and Castiel’s comforting touch helped.  
  
Noah felt his eyes prickle with tears. He reached up and wiped his eyes before the tears could fall, watching silently as his father was so overwhelmed by what John had said before he passed.  
  
Derek didn’t fully understand what they were talking about or why they looked kind of sad. Nathan understood most of it, though, but he didn’t say anything. He just glanced around at them in slight worry, hoping they would cheer up again soon.  
  
“Damn it. No more crying. I refuse to be a chick,” Dean mumbled, wiping his eyes and straightening up.  
  
Castiel rolled his eyes and let his hand fall from Dean’s shoulder. “Crying does not make you feminine, Dean. _All_ people cry.”  
  
“Yeah, I know that, Cas. But I still hate crying.”  
  
Jayden chuckled a bit at them, but didn’t make a comment.  
  
To switch the topic, Dean turned to look at Jayden. He studied him with a look of worry before looking him into the eyes. “And what happened to you? You look unusually tense and agitated.” He had picked up on how Jayden’s tail was still twitching and moving behind him because of the worry that was on his mind.  
  
Jayden let out a small grunt. “Nothing. We just ran into some asshole earlier whom I know from before. It wasn’t very nice…”  
  
Castiel’s brows furrowed in worry. “Did anything happen?”  
  
“Just a confrontation. Hope I won’t see the guy again,” Jayden muttered lowly.  
  
“That man was scary,” Nathan said from Mary’s bed. “He called mommy a nasty word and daddy got really angry at him and pushed him… And I didn’t like his eyes.”  
  
Both Dean and Castiel’s eyes widened, and they turned to look at Noah in worry. Noah’s wings pulled closer to his body as he lowered his gaze a bit.  
  
“Are you okay?” Dean asked, sounding worried.  
  
“Yeah, I’m alright. It just wasn’t pleasant,” Noah said.  
  
“I’m sorry that such things happen to you,” Castiel spoke, reaching out to touch Noah’s arm for comfort.  
  
“Don’t worry about it, papa. It isn’t your fault.” Noah tried to give his papa a reassuring smile to let him know that things were okay. He didn’t like it when Castiel blamed himself for what sometimes happened to Noah and his siblings.  
  
“Still…”  
  
“Kick his ass if he shows up again, you hear?” Dean told Jayden in a serious voice.  
  
“Yeah, I will,” Jayden promised.  
  
Dean bumped his tail into Jayden’s and gave him a pat on the arm; a gesture of trust and acceptance.  
  
Mary smiled as she watched how Dean was putting his faith in Jayden and being very accepting of him as Noah’s mate.  
  
“And you guys just missed Sam,” Mary spoke, making them turn to look at her. “He was here earlier along with Jessica, Kaylee and Aria.”  
  
“Oh.” Noah felt kind of disappointed that he had missed them. “How are they?” He glanced at Dean and Castiel for an answer, seeing as Mary was kind of weak and should rest a bit.  
  
“They’re good,” Dean replied. “Kaylee was here with her girlfriend – an angel/human hybrid, so there’s more of our family mixing up the species,” he grinned.  
  
Castiel rolled his eyes. “They can’t have children together, though.”  
  
“I know that! But they’re still in a relationship.”  
  
“That’s nice,” Jayden smiled. “Too bad we missed them.”  
  
“Yeah…” Noah agreed.  
  
Meanwhile, Derek was starting to feel a bit bored while the adults talked about stuff that he didn’t really understand. He decided to crawl across Mary’s legs to go see if there was anything interesting on the other side of the bed, but Castiel quickly stopped him when he saw what he was doing.  
  
“Derek! Don’t crawl on your great-grandmother’s legs!” Castiel scolded lightly and picked Derek up before he could hurt Mary too much. The boy whined and squirmed in protest over being picked up, but calmed down a bit when Castiel held him and rocked him.  
  
Mary just chuckled and coughed a bit as she did so. “Just let the boy, Castiel. He’s bored.”  
  
Castiel glanced at her, unconvinced, and continued to hold and rock Derek a bit as the boy squirmed.  
  
“I’m sorry about that. He’s always so restless,” Noah said, cringing a bit in guilt.  
  
“It’s alright,” Mary said with a small laugh.  
  
Dean chuckled. “Yeah, he’s always been full of energy, huh? Even before he was born.”  
  
“Yeah, no kidding,” Jayden laughed. “Noah used to say that he could always feel it when the baby was awake while he was pregnant with him.”  
  
“And he was eager to come into the world,” Castiel chuckled, reminding them of how Derek had arrived so fast that Noah couldn’t even make it to the hospital. He rocked and smiled at little Derek, who was starting to calm down more, before handing him to Noah when the boy reached for his mother.  
  
Noah blushed a bit at the mentions of his pregnancy with Derek before taking the boy into his arms.  
  
“It’s wonderful that you were there to help bring little Derek into the world, Castiel,” Mary said from the bed, smiling at him. “Let’s hope Noah will also have help if it should ever happen again.”  
  
Noah’s blush grew redder at the indirect hint of him having more babies someday. Castiel laughed softly at his face, as did Dean and Jayden.  
  
Nathan felt a bit neglected that they were talking so much about Derek, but when Mary turned to tell him that she had some candy for him in one of her drawers, his face lit up like a Christmas tree.  
  
Although Mary was quite talkative and smiled at them as they kept her company and told her about the latest news in the family, it was clear that she was still very sad after John’s passing. No one could blame her, of course. She had lost her mate, and that was something that no one could ever recover from fully. Her old age made her tired and weak, which only added to her probably not having a long time left to live.  


 

***

  
  
They spent about an hour with Mary. Dean and Castiel had gone home ten minutes before Noah and Jayden did because they had an appointment with Damian and Tobias that night, but Noah and Jayden had stayed a bit longer because Mary had wanted them to.  
  
It was about 4:35pm when Noah and Jayden left the elderly home with the kids, but they had only just gotten outside when they ran into some familiar faces.  
  
“Oh, look who it is! My favorite little brother and his handsome mate!” Isaac exclaimed as he approached them with Kaylen and Eliza by his side. His and Kaylen’s new baby – a beta boy named Jake, who was two months old now – was also there; safe and warm in Kaylen’s arms.  
  
Noah blinked at Isaac in surprise, and didn’t manage to say a word before Isaac pulled him into a breath-taking hug. “I-Isaac. What are you doing here?”  
  
Isaac patted him on the back before pulling away and giving Noah an offended frown. “Visiting grandma, of course. She’s still alive, right?”  
  
“Yeah, of course she is.”  
  
Isaac sighed in relief. “Good.”  
  
“Nathan!” Eliza exclaimed when she spotted Nathan. She immediately ran over to him to play, and Nathan grinned at the sight of her. Derek stayed by Jayden’s side and watched them quietly; he was starting to feel a little tired because he hadn’t napped that day, so he wasn’t much in the mood to play anymore.  
  
“Good to see you guys again,” Kaylen told them with a smile.  
  
“You too,” Jayden smiled. He glanced down at little Jake, who was leaning against Kaylen’s chest and sucking on his pacifier. “Oh, he’s so big already.”  
  
Noah looked at Jake as well, amazed by the boy’s growth since he last saw him a few days after John’s funeral (which Jake hadn’t attended). “Yeah. He’s so cute,” he grinned.  
  
Kaylen beamed and rocked Jake gently when the baby made some soft grunts against him. “Thanks.”  
  
“But he’s a real pain in the butt, though,” Isaac said, slinging his arm around Kaylen’s shoulders with affection. He then smirked down at Kaylen when he realized what he had just said. “Well, for you it was quite literally…”  
  
Kaylen sent Isaac a dark, disapproving scowl and jabbed him in the side with his elbow.  
  
Isaac pulled away with a pained grunt. “Ow!”  
  
Jayden laughed out loud at them. “That’s what you get for making such comments.”  
  
“Yeah. Don’t mess with new mothers,” Isaac murmured, rubbing the sore spot on his side while glancing warily at Kaylen.  
  
Eliza and Nathan giggled when they saw what happened, but then ran over to the small garden area next to them. There were small trees, bushes, flowers, and a tiny fountain with goldfish. Derek went over to see too, and both Noah and Jayden kept a watchful eye on them to make sure they didn’t have any accidents around the water. The water level was very shallow, though, so it wasn’t like they could fall in and not get out again.  
  
After rubbing his side for a few seconds, Isaac turned to look at Noah with a more serious and worried look on his face. “So, uh, how is grandma…?”  
  
Noah sighed. “She’s okay, under the circumstances. But she’s very weak and tired… I’m worried about her.”  
  
“Yeah, she didn’t look like she has much time left…” Jayden said, lowering his gaze a bit.  
  
Isaac chewed on his lower lip. “Well, shit. Can’t people just live forever?”  
  
It wasn’t very often that they got to see Isaac looking concerned or sad. Mostly he was always cheerful and full of mischief, but when John had died he had been very quiet. At the funeral he had cried a bit along with the others, and he hadn’t cracked jokes like he usually did. He _had_ told one little joke about something John had once said, in order to honor the memory of his grandfather and cheer the mood up a bit, but his smile had faltered pretty fast after that.  
  
“Do you think she’s in a condition for visitors? Or should we wait?” Kaylen asked, looking at Noah with a worried frown.  
  
“I think maybe you should wait an hour…” Noah replied.  
  
Kaylen nodded in understanding and rocked Jake when the baby got a little fussy.  
  
“Heh. Guess we gotta spend some time together with you guys, then,” Isaac grinned. “Eliza and Nathan are already inseparable, so we don’t have a choice.”  
  
They all glanced over at Eliza and Nathan, who were getting along so well. They didn’t see each other often, so they were always upset when they had to separate.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Yeah, looks like it.”  
  
“Let’s go have a lunch dinner then!” Isaac blurted, throwing his arms up with an excited grin on his face.  
  
Noah frowned. “Lunch dinner?”  
  
“Well, it’s only 4:30, so it’s not gonna be lunch and not dinner either, but since it’s right in between the two, I guess it’s a lunch dinner.”  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes with a helpless sigh. “That’s lame.”  
  
Isaac turned his head and gave Kaylen a lewd smirk. “That’s not what you told me last night, though.” He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.  
  
Kaylen gave him a dark scowl, while Noah and Jayden tried not to laugh. “No… I remember saying ‘That’s the wrong position!’ and ‘You’re forgetting the foreplay, you dumbass!’”  
  
“Oi! You didn’t say that!”  
  
Jayden burst out laughing, and Noah just stared at Kaylen in mortification when he heard him say such things.  
  
“Do I even wanna know what was going on?” Jayden laughed.  
  
“No,” Kaylen told him before scowling at Isaac again.  
  
Isaac scowled back at him, twitching in light irritation. “Jeez, man. Don’t tell them such things.”  
  
They all watched as Kaylen’s lips curled into a smug smirk. “Oh, as if _you_ never do?”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but find it incredibly amusing to see Isaac shrink a bit when he got a taste of his own medicine. Kaylen was very good at making Isaac come down from his high horse sometimes and tease him back when needed.  
  
Isaac coughed and switched the topic back to the original one. “So, you guys wanna go grab a sandwich or something? It’s on me.”  
  
“Sure. Since you’re offering,” Jayden grinned.  
  
“I’d like that. But we need to go home and put Derek to bed soon afterwards,” Noah said, smiling at Isaac before glancing down at Derek, who was once more by Jayden’s side. The boy was leaning against Jayden’s leg, looking sleepy and tired, while Eliza and Nathan were playing around nearby.  
  
“Wow, he’s actually sleepy for once! He’s usually such a firecracker,” Isaac exclaimed, staring down at Derek in amazement.  
  
“I guess even firecrackers run out of energy,” Kaylen said with a soft chuckle.  
  
Jayden and Noah both chuckled at that.  
  
Before they could turn and leave, Jake suddenly started crying and squirming. Kaylen tried to calm him down, but had to hand him over to Isaac for a bit while he went to get a bottle with pre-prepared formula from the car.  
  
Isaac cooed softly at his son and lifted him up in the air to calm him down. The baby started giggling and gurgling in between his crying as Isaac lifted him up and down in the air.  
  
To Noah it was nice to see the fatherly side of Isaac. He could be very gentle and sweet with his children, but also playful and silly, which made him very popular with the children in the family. He was always ready to play rough and silly with them, and join them for water fights in the summers.  
  
They finally turned to leave and go find a place where they could enjoy some sandwiches together. Kaylen sat with Jake in their car and fed him, so that the baby wouldn’t be too fussy when they went out to eat.  
  
It was in the back of everyone’s minds that they wouldn’t have Mary for much longer, but they tried to appreciate still having her around for now and give her the love and company she deserved on her last few days or weeks.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slow update, guys. So much has been happening. My grandpa died last week... which is ironic since I wrote the thing about John just before that... And my aunt is very sick with cancer, so things aren't easy in my life :( Of course I will use whatever free time I have to write on the story, but there are days where I'm just not in the mood. I hope you guys understand that.
> 
> And as some of you might know, I have had to delete Dedicated from Fanfiction.net. Some group called Critics United has been harassing me because I'm not allowed to write explicit content on that site. They think they have the right to play police, and they harass authors who break Fanfiction.net's rules, even for things as simple as gramma and spelling errors, or use of song lyrics. They don't stop until you take your story down, and because I refused at first, they reported me to the admins. I had to delete the story to avoid having my account deleted, but I don't know if the admins will still delete it or not. So if I disappear from Fanfiction.net, you know why.  
> I hope that most of my Fanfiction.net readers have followed me here to AO3. I'm sorry for the trouble, guys... I didn't really have time to post a proper notice about it before deleting the story, since I had no idea when an admin would be looking at it.
> 
> And about Chris' reappearance in the story, then don't worry; there won't be all too much drama. I don't plan to have him kidnap anyone or something XD; He'll just stir up the racism a bit, and I don't plan to have him around for the rest of the story.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading :) Comments are welcome!


	35. Chapter 35

**August – September 2056 (Noah is 30, Jayden is 32, Nathan is 6 (almost 7), Derek is 2, Eden is 42 (almost 43), Lucy is 8 years old old).**  
  
It was early morning in August, and things in the house were quite stressful as everyone got ready for the new day. Today wasn’t just any normal day, though; it was Nathan’s first day at school.  
  
Nathan had spent the entire summer being excited about school, and now that the big day was finally there, he ran around the kitchen to get ready for his first school day. He ate his breakfast quick, made sure that he brushed his teeth and hair, and was overly excited about going.  
  
“When are we leaving, daddy? I wanna go already,” Nathan nagged when he felt like everyone was taking their sweet time getting ready. Noah was packing their lunchboxes into their bags, Jayden was feeding the cat in the laundry room (they had moved the cat’s food and water bowls in there because Derek kept distracting her from eating when she was in the kitchen), and Derek was just running around and following Nathan wherever he went.  
  
“Impatient much?” Jayden chuckled, pouring cat food into Midnight’s bowl and petting her as she started eating. He glanced over at Nathan, who was standing in the kitchen on the other side of the baby gate and leaning against it with a small pout on his face because he was so impatient.  
  
“But I wanna be in school already…”  
  
“I wanna school too!” Derek blurted behind Nathan, raising his hands and grinning.  
  
Nathan glanced back at Derek over his shoulder with annoyed frown on his face. “You can’t go to school yet. You’re too small.”  
  
Derek scowled up at Nathan in defiance, shaking his head. “Am not.”  
  
“Yeah, you are. You’re still in diapers, silly.”  
  
Sensing that his older brother was making fun of him, Derek grunted in anger and reached out both hands to pull at Nathan’s feathers. Nathan let out a loud yelp and pushed Derek back in retaliation, making the smaller boy fall on his butt. Derek started crying and looking up at Nathan with anger, while Nathan just glared back at him.  
  
“Hey, what’s going on?” Jayden demanded when he noticed the commotion. He went over to the baby gate to look at the scene on the other side.  
  
Noah too was alerted by Nathan’s loud yelp and Derek’s sudden crying. He abandoned the bags and lunchboxes on the kitchen counter to go over to the children.  
  
“What are you doing, Nathan?” Noah scolded at his oldest son because he had pushed Derek over and made him cry. He kneeled down next to Derek, who was still crying (mostly out of anger) on the floor, to check if he was okay.  
  
“He pulled my feathers!” Nathan said, glaring down at Derek in annoyance and anger.  
  
“That doesn’t give you the right to push him over,” Jayden told him in a firm voice and stepped over the gate to get into the kitchen. His feathers bumped against the gate behind him, sliding over the back of it until he was standing in the kitchen.  
  
Midnight was just eating her food in the laundry room; she was too used to all the noise coming from the kids to really care, and she knew she was safe on the other side of the gate.  
  
“But it hurt!” Nathan complained, still upset.  
  
Noah sighed and picked up Derek from the floor. The boy continued to look at Nathan in disapproval, but his crying was slowly getting weaker. He sat on Noah’s arm for a few seconds to let him mother comfort him until he began squirming, indicating he wanted to be put down again.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but feel a stab of rejection inside as he let Derek down on the floor again when the boy demanded it. Nathan had never minded being picked up and comforted – he had actually always really liked it, and he would cling to him and Jayden for minutes to receive love and comforting physical contact, but Derek wasn’t like that all. Derek didn’t like being picked up and held for too long, and when he was hugged he would pull away pretty fast too. He was in many ways the exact opposite of Nathan. Where Nathan had always been calm and playful and listened to what he was told, Derek was wild and disobedient.  
  
Nathan and Derek glared briefly at each other until Derek ran off to play with some of the toys that were on the floor. His attention span was rather short, so he always found new things to do.  
  
Jayden sighed heavily. Both he and Noah were getting used to their children fighting every now and then, but it was still stressful when they did.  
  
“Nathan, go use the bathroom. We’re leaving soon,” Jayden told him.  
  
Nathan nodded and headed into the bathroom, leaving Noah, Jayden, and Derek alone in the kitchen. Derek was busy playing with his toys and making loud sounds as he did so, while Noah just sighed.  
  
Jayden sensed that Noah’s mood wasn’t as cheerful as it was a few moments earlier. He went over to him and gently put a hand under his chin, making him lift his head to look up at him. “Hey. What is it?”  
  
“Nothing…” Noah murmured, looking away.  
  
Jayden wasn’t convinced. “Is this about Derek not wanting you to hold him again?”  
  
Noah glanced briefly over at Derek, who was too busy burning off energy as he played to really listen to what they were saying. He sighed again and lowered his eyes a bit. “I just don’t know why he won’t let me hold him…” He wanted so bad to be a good mother to Derek and be the one to comfort him. It was so nice to hold his children close and give them love, but Derek just wouldn’t really let him.  
  
Jayden’s lips curled into a reassuring smile. “He doesn’t mean anything bad by it. He’s just quite independent and full of energy, and you know he can’t really sit quietly in one place for very long. He always wants to move around and do things, and I guess he just feels a bit trapped when someone’s holding him.”  
  
“Yeah, I guess…”  
  
Noah still looked a little upset, so Jayden smiled and leaned down to press their lips together. He wrapped his arm around Noah’s waist, and the submissive melted into the touch as they kissed.  
  
Jayden’s hand began moving a bit lower while their lips were busy. Noah was so caught up in the entrancing feel of their lips touching and playing that the sudden feel of a hand groping his ass made him jump.  
  
“Connor!” Noah hissed, blushing a bit as Jayden just laughed at him and rubbed his hand over his butt.  
  
“What? Your butt is like a magnet.”  
  
Noah just scowled at him, his face red from embarrassment and shyness. He squirmed out of Jayden’s hold before the alpha could take things too far.  
  
Jayden just chuckled at him before speaking. “Let’s drive the kids to daycare and school now, shall we?”  
  
Noah nodded and went over to finish packing their bags.  
  
Nathan soon reemerged from the bathroom and went to put on his shoes. Jayden helped Derek put on his shoes in the entrance hall, and together the family walked out to the car and got inside. Jayden had the day off work because he had worked on the weekend, so he decided to drive them all to daycare, school, and work. They took their silver Hyundai, because the baby seats were already inside and Jayden didn’t feel like moving them into their SUV, which was the car that he usually drove to work in.  
  
  


***

  
  
Nathan was bursting with excitement as they drove towards the school. Derek didn’t really understand why his older brother was so excited and was squirming impatiently in his seat, but he was quite curious about it. He kept glancing at Nathan while playing with some of his toys in the seat.   
  
They drove by the daycare to drop Derek off first, since he wouldn’t be going with them for Nathan’s first day at school.  
  
As soon as Derek saw that they had brought him to the daycare and would be leaving him there, he started to whine in complaint. He cried angrily and almost refused to be taken out of his seat when Jayden tried to pick him up.  
  
“Jeez, Derek, don’t put up such a fuss. You’re going to the daycare, whether you like it or not,” Jayden told him, picking up the small boy and holding him against his chest while trying to ignore the protests and the heavy squirming.  
  
“Nooo!” Derek cried, struggling and twisting in his father’s arms.  
  
Noah was a bit concerned when he saw how reluctant Derek was to go to the daycare.   
  
They were parked outside the facility in the parking lot, and few other parents glanced at them when they heard the commotion Derek was making. Nathan was still inside the car, watching quietly as his parents were standing outside and struggling with Derek.  
  
“Why don’t you want to go inside, Derek?” Noah asked him, his brows furrowed in worry.  
  
Derek murmured some words that they couldn’t really understand. He was still learning to speak long sentences and put words together, and he had a habit of murmuring sometimes.  
  
Jayden sighed. “Derek, I don’t understand what you’re saying…”  
  
Derek grew more frustrated and patted his hands against Jayden’s chest in frustration. “Hooome!” he whined loudly.  
  
“No, you’re not going home. Not yet. And why don’t you wanna be here? You always like to run around in the daycare’s big playground and play with the other kids inside.”  
  
“Mah bun!” Derek grumbled, still looking upset and irritated.  
  
Jayden and Noah didn’t really understand what he meant until Nathan spoke up from inside the car. The car door was open, so they could easily hear each other. “I think he means that he forgot his favorite toy at home and wants to go home again.”  
  
“Oh.” Things started making sense to Jayden now. He let out a small chuckle and rocked Derek. “What, you forgot Captain Bunny at home?”  
  
Captain Bunny was a brown stuffed rabbit that Derek loved. It was long and thin, and its big ears reached almost all the way down to its feet. Derek had had it since he was born; it had been a gift from Mary and John, who had both passed away now. Mary had died in late October last year, just two and a half months after John had passed. Dealing with the loss had been difficult, but they all knew that she was in a better place, along with John.  
  
Derek nodded at that and glanced at Jayden with a forlorn look on his face. “Yeah. Want Capt’n Bunny…” He usually always brought Captain Bunny with him to the daycare, so he was quite distraught that they had forgotten his toy that morning.  
  
Noah was relieved that it wasn’t anything more serious than that that had made Derek so upset. He smiled softly at the boy and reached out to rub his arm for comfort. “You’ll see Captain Bunny again later, don’t worry.”  
  
The sad look didn’t go away from Derek’s face, though. He squirmed to make Jayden let go of him, and the older alpha finally let him go and put him down on the ground.  
  
They walked Derek up to the daycare’s entrance while Nathan waited in the car. It only took a few seconds for Derek to cheer up more, and as soon as they came inside, he ran off into the big play room to be with the other kids. Jayden and Noah chuckled softly as they watched Derek tumble around wildly with some of the other boys. There were a few other alpha boys in the daycare, and their playing could get quite wild.  
  
The adults in the daycare greeted them with smiles and acceptance. They had picked the daycare carefully back when Nathan needed to go to one; they wanted to find a daycare that accepted all species and where the staff was not racist. Eden and Lily had recommended this one, since this was there their kids had gone too, so Noah and Jayden had decided to choose it as well.  
  
  


***

  
  
Arriving at the elementary school was the highlight of Nathan’s day. Noah and Jayden couldn’t help but be amused by their son’s excitement, and they were both going inside with him for his first day. The elementary school was the same one that Noah and his siblings had attended as children, and also where Christie her mate Matthew were working.  
  
Nathan jumped out of the car, looking excited and happy, and his tail swished back and forth behind him as he couldn’t wait to go inside and meet his new classmates. He had proudly put on his schoolbag and was all ready to go inside.  
  
Noah felt a little less excited than Nathan and Jayden did. Worried thoughts kept haunting him, because he remembered his own school years very well. There had not been one day where he hadn’t been glanced at with hate and disgust, and he didn’t want that for Nathan. He suddenly understood how worried Dean and Castiel must have been each time they sent one of their children to school.  
  
While Noah was lost in his worried thoughts, Jayden was pretty amused and happy about how excited Nathan was. He watched his son with a smile and ruffled the impatient boy’s hair.   
  
They were about to head from the parking lot and into the school when Jayden suddenly noticed Noah looking kind of distracted. Noah was biting his lower lip softly, and Jayden could feel through their bond that his mate was very nervous and worried.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden said softly, grabbing one of Noah’s hands as they stood beside the car. He made Noah snap out of his thoughts, and Jayden watched him with a concerned look on his face. “Don’t be worried. Everything’s gonna be fine. Nathan makes new friends easily.”  
  
Noah bit his lower lip again, averting Jayden’s eye. “Yeah, I know…” He was still worried, though.  
  
Jayden gave Noah’s hand a tight squeeze, and they were just about to head up to the school when they heard someone call for them.  
  
“Noah! Jayden! Over here!”  
  
They both turned to look who was calling for them and were rather surprised to see a grinning Eden making her way over towards them. Her youngest daughter Lucy was trailing after her, her eyes glued on Nathan and her lips curling into a wide smile when she made eye contact with him. Nathan too grinned at the sight of his slightly older cousin.  
  
“Eden?” Noah asked, staring at his sister in surprise.  
  
Eden just grinned and pulled him into a tight hug in the middle of the busy parking lot, not caring that others were staring at the gathering of hybrids there.  
  
“Oh, you’ve been driving Lucy to school this morning?” Jayden asked, smiling as he went forward to hug Eden too after she had pulled away from Noah.  
  
“Yeah, it’s my day off, so I spared Lucy from the school bus and drove her here,” Eden explained.  
  
Meanwhile Nathan and Lucy were standing in front of each other, both clutching the shoulder straps of their schoolbags and smiling at one another.  
  
“Hi, Nathan. You starting in school too?” Lucy asked, eyeing her cousin curiously. Lucy was eight years old and was staring in the third grade. She resembled Eden a lot with her sandy-colored hair and her red wings with some white and grey in them. She didn’t have a tail, though.  
  
Nathan grinned and curled his tail shyly beside his leg. “Yeah. My first day.”  
  
The two children talked a bit while the adults were having their own conversation.  
  
“I’m glad I ran into you guys,” Eden grinned. “Been a few weeks since we last saw each other.” She glanced down at Nathan then. “And this is your first day at school, Nathan?”  
  
Nathan paused his conversation with Lucy to look up at Eden with a proud grin. “Yep!”  
  
Jayden chuckled and reached down to ruffle Nathan’s brown hair fondly. “Yeah, it’s all he’s been talking about all summer.”  
  
“Oh, kids… So ignorant about all the pain that’s awaiting them in school…” Eden sighed. “Daniel and Luna are both in high school now. Daniel is a senior and Luna is a freshman. My babies are all grown up.” She was about to add something else when Lucy suddenly cut in.  
  
“Yeah, and Daniel’s got a girlfriend!” Lucy blurted, giggling up at the others.  
  
Jayden and Noah’s eyes went wide like saucers. They had both not expected to hear that.  
  
“He… He has a girlfriend?” Noah asked, looking at Eden with a dumbfounded face. He could not believe that his oldest nephew was already old enough to be dating and having sex. Daniel was seventeen now, but sometimes Noah still thought of him as a little kid.  
  
“Whoa,” Jayden laughed.  
  
Eden smiled, though she did look kind of sad too. “Yeah, he does. The girlfriend’s name is Sasha and she’s really nice. She treats him well, and he her. But gosh, my boy is grown up already! I’m getting old…” Her wings slumped a bit behind her as she sighed heavily.  
  
“I’m getting old too…” Noah murmured, not liking that confession at all.  
  
Jayden hit Noah gently on the leg with his tail, giving him a look that said that he didn’t agree at all. “You’re not old. Stop saying that. You’re gorgeous as always.” He let his tail curl around Noah’s leg in a possessive gesture, rubbing it gently.  
  
Noah blushed when Eden laughed softly.  
  
“Aw. You’re always so sweet to him, Jayden,” Eden said, watching the two with a soft smile. She chuckled when she noticed how red Noah’s face was by now. “And Jayden’s right; you’re not old, Noah. You’re in your best age, and you have many more babies to make.”  
  
Jayden laughed when Noah’s face went impossibly red and how he started squirming in embarrassment.  
  
“Why does everyone think it’s fun to embarrass me?” Noah muttered, glaring at Eden and at Jayden for laughing.  
  
“’Cause you’re always so cute when you’re embarrassed,” Eden giggled.  
  
Noah shot her a glare, which didn’t seem as intimidating as he wanted because his face was so red.   
  
Jayden just chuckled at Noah and looked at him in adoration. He curled his tail a little tighter around his mate’s leg.  
  
Noah looked away to hide his red face before saying, “We should go inside…”  
  
“Oh right! I’m holding you guys back; I’m sorry.” Eden gave them an apologetic look.  
  
“That’s okay,” Noah smiled.  
  
“Maybe we’ll meet Alec inside too. Isn’t he at this school as well?” Jayden spoke.  
  
“Yeah, he is. He and Lucy sometimes run into each other,” Eden said, glancing down at Lucy briefly. “He’s helped her deal with some stupid boys in her class.”  
  
“Yeah. They were mean,” Lucy murmured. “But Alec is an alpha and he scared them all off! He’s so cool.”  
  
“Derek’s an alpha too, but he doesn’t scare anyone…” Nathan murmured.  
  
The others laughed.  
  
“Well, he’s only two years old,” Jayden reminded Nathan, chuckling as he ran a hand through Nathan’s hairs. “When he’s older he’ll be different.”  
  
Nathan leaned his head back and stared up at his tall dad. “You mean he’s gonna stop pulling my feathers?”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Well, probably not.”  
  
Nathan made a displeased grimace while Eden, Noah, and Lucy laughed and giggled.  
  
It was time to head inside for Nathan’s first class, so Eden hugged them goodbye and waved at Lucy as the girl followed them inside. Eden had an appointment with her doctor soon, so she couldn’t go in with them.  
  
The school was crowded with children from grade 1-7. The noise was deafening, and when they entered the busy hallways, Nathan almost seemed frightened. He held on tight to Noah’s hand as he walked beside him, glancing around with wary eyes.  
  
“There are so many kids…” Nathan murmured as they walked down the hallways.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Yeah, this is a school; most schools are crowded like this. You’ll get used to it, buddy.”   
  
Lucy was still walking with them, though her classroom was somewhere else. “I don’t like the crowds either… I always walk with my friends; then I dun notice the crowds and the mean looks so much…”  
  
Jayden was walking in front of them, and he glanced over his shoulder and down at Lucy. “Where are your friends?”  
  
“Probably inside the classroom. I didn’t ride with them on the bus today…”  
  
Nathan glanced at her. “I wish we could go to the same class…”  
  
Lucy stared back at him with a sad smile. “Me too.”  
  
Children were running down the corridors and screaming and talking loudly. Noah had almost forgotten how loud a school could be. He kept glancing around, hoping to spot Christie or Matthew somewhere, since they were working at the school, but he couldn’t see them anywhere. He felt a bit disappointed about that.  
  
They passed by a staircase, where Lucy told them she had to go up and find her classroom. They parted ways with her, and she pulled Nathan into a small hug before disappearing up the stairs to find her classroom and her friends.  
  
The three of them continued their walk through the corridors, trying not to bump into anyone as they headed for the classroom that Nathan was supposed to be in. Noah knew his way around the school, so he led the way.  
  
A few of the older children looked Nathan up and down funnily when they passed them in the corridor. They could tell he wasn’t a full blood demon because his wings were grey with red feathers, and the tail he had indicated that he wasn’t a full blood angel either. They didn’t say anything, though, but their staring made Nathan a little nervous. The younger children didn’t spare him much of a glance; they either didn’t care or were too young to understand that Nathan was a hybrid with angel _and_ demon blood in him.  
  
Finally they arrived in the classroom, where most of Nathan’s fellow classmates had already gathered.  
  
Nathan stood in the door and scouted the room carefully, taking in the new faces while trying to locate Emily somewhere. Finally he spotted her, and he grinned as he ran over to his best friend.  
  
David and Millie were there as well to be there for Emily’s first day at school, and they smiled when they spotted Noah and Jayden. The friends went over to greet each other, while Nathan and Emily grinned in excitement.  
  
The teacher welcomed them and asked the children to find a seat while their parents could stand over by the walls and listen to her introduction.  
  
Noah felt the eyes of several of the other parents on him. They were studying him curiously because he was a hybrid, and he felt himself lean back against Jayden as he stood in front of him, seeking some refuge in him. Jayden picked up on his uneasiness and discretely curled his tail around Noah’s leg to reassure him. Both were anxious about how the other parents would perceive them and Nathan. They were hoping that none of the parents would encourage their kids to treat Nathan badly because of what he was.  
  
“Now, how about we all get to know each other a little better?” the female teacher spoke as she smiled at everyone. She was a blonde human in her late twenties, and Jayden and Noah had a good feeling about her already. “Let’s have the children switch seats and introduce themselves to the new person they’ll sit next to, and the adults can move around as well.”  
  
Some people were a bit wary about the introduction game, but the children quickly started switching seats like the teacher had instructed so that they got to greet every one of their classmates. They were twenty-five children, so it would take a while.  
  
Meanwhile, the parents had to move around and greet each other too. Mates stayed together and went around to greet the other couples.  
  
Noah hated these kinds of games. People would always look at him funnily when it was their turn to greet him, and some would ask uncomfortable questions about his heritage. Jayden was right by his side, though, and that reassured him. The alpha squeezed his hand tightly before they moved around to greet the other parents, while the children did the same.  
  
The first two couples that Noah and Jayden greeted were one angel couple and one human couple. The female angel had shaken Noah’s hand like it was going to poison her if she touched his skin too much, and her lips had been curled in disgust. Noah tried not to feel hurt and humiliated by the coldness she was displaying, but a small sneer from Jayden had made the female flinch and start acting more polite for the rest of the conversation. Still, Noah could feel that he wasn’t very welcome in her sight.  
  
The third couple they met were a human male and an angel/human hybrid female. The female introduced herself as Casey and the man was named Thomas. Casey’s eyes widened when she looked at Noah’s unusual wings while shaking hands with him.  
  
“Oh my gosh, are you an angel/demon hybrid?” she blurted, staring at Noah like she couldn’t believe he was real.  
  
Noah stared back her in surprise. “Um, yes…” He shifted uncomfortably on his feet.  
  
“That’s _so great!_ ” Casey grinned, taking Noah completely by surprise. “I’ve always been trying to fight for angels’ and demons’ right to mate with whoever they want, and I’ve even attended some demonstrations to support their rights. Hybrids like you are so rare and I haven’t met one before.” She continued to stare and smile at Noah like he had just made her day so much better.  
  
Her human mate Thomas laughed. “Excuse my wife; she’s just very obsessed with this stuff. She studies genetics.”  
  
Both Noah and Jayden were rather surprised to meet someone who was so excited to see an angel/demon hybrid. That was a very rare thing.  
  
Casey rolled her eyes at her mate’s words. “Yes, so what; I’m a nerd.” She looked at Noah again, smiling, before glancing around at the children. “So which one is yours?”  
  
Noah took a look around the room to spot Nathan somewhere among the many children. It didn’t take him many seconds to find him, because a group of five or six children had gathered around Nathan and were giggling and smiling as they curiously examined his peculiar wings. Nathan didn’t look like he minded it, though. It looked like he was enjoying the attention and how his new classmates told him that his wings looked really pretty and cool. Emily was standing right next to him, holding his hand almost possessively as some of the other children – including girls – gathered around him like that.  
  
“He’s over there,” Noah said, smiling as he pointed over at Nathan. Seeing Nathan smile shyly at the attention and compliments he was given relaxed Noah, and it was even more relieving that most of the other children were so interested in Nathan, rather than treating him like he didn’t belong there.  
  
Some of the other parents had noticed the sudden interest the children had in Nathan as well. Most of them smiled and gently told her kids to not touch Nathan’s feathers because it wasn’t a nice thing to do unless you asked for permission, while four of the other parent couples (who were full blood angels and demons, as far as Noah and Jayden could tell) did not seem to approve much.  
  
“Oh! And I see the other kids already like him, including my little Zoe,” Casey said, watching with a smile as the children talked to Nathan and asked him various questions.  
  
Jayden chuckled and looked at Nathan with pride. “Yeah, I’m glad to see that. Usually he and Noah don’t get many compliments…”  
  
“Aw, that’s too bad. Angel/demon hybrids and their kids often have some of the most fascinating wing colors.”  
  
“Indeed they do,” Thomas agreed, grinning.  
  
Noah smiled shyly, finding it very strange to get complimented for once. It was a nice change.  
  
They had to switch conversation partners again, so Jayden and Noah moved on to the next couple. It was a pity, because talking to Casey and Thomas had been really nice.  
  
The introduction game took about half an hour, and after that the teacher talked a bit more about the school and explained some practical stuff to the parents.  
  
Nathan was already talking to another boy in his class, whom he was sitting next to, but he was still sticking close to Emily.  
  
The general reaction to Nathan had been positive among the kids and their parents, which really relieved both Noah and Jayden. They knew that there were at least four sets of parents who did not really approve, but none of them had really uttered any mean words yet, nor had they made a scene out of it. And if those parents should ever complain about having a hybrid like Nathan in their kids’ class, both and Jayden and Noah were ready to defend their son.  
  
  


***

  
  
A few weeks passed and things were going well in the family. Nathan did well in school, where he had made new friends. None of the kids in his class had treated him badly so far, though he did get odd looks by the older students and a few of the teachers in the hallways. Noah and Jayden were relieved that things were going well so far, and that the teachers were very supportive.  
  
With the new school year also came new students for Noah to teach in kindergarten. Every year he had to learn new names and faces, but the job remained the same.  
  
It was Friday and Noah was looking forward to going home and spending the weekend with the kids and Jayden. Jayden had to work on Sunday evening, though, but Noah was used to his mate being away on the evenings and on weekends sometimes.  
  
“So, um, how’s Nathan doing in school?” Lucas asked curiously as he and Noah were cleaning up the mess the children had left behind in the big playroom. The playroom had tables for the children to sit at and draw, paint, and be creative, and there were boxes with toys and books for them to use. It was near the entrance to the kindergarten, so often parents came to that room to pick up their kids.  
  
It was 4:45 and most children had been picked up already; only three were left. It was just Lucas and Noah there; the other teachers had gone home already. Most of the teachers left at 4pm, but there were always two or three of them who would stay until the kindergarten closed at 5:30. It varied who was on shift.  
  
“He’s doing well,” Noah smiled, picking up toys and throwing them into the boxes by the walls. “He’s already making new friends, but I think Emily is still his favorite. I’m just a bit worried about the other parents, though… A few of them have complained to the teacher about Nathan’s presence.”  
  
Lucas cringed. “I’m not really surprised… Those racists and haters are so unreasonable. I don’t understand how they could have a problem with a _child._ ”  
  
Noah shrugged lightly, his head lowered a bit as they talked about the sensitive subject of racists. “People are always afraid to have hybrids like me and my children around their kids… I just wish things could be different.” He avoided looking at Lucas, but he could feel his friend’s worried stare on him.  
  
Lucas was about to speak when a little demon girl named Jane walked over to them.  
  
“Why you looking so sad, Noah?” she asked, looking up at Noah with a concerned frown. She was a full blood demon girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, and she had a few freckles on her nose and cheeks.  
  
Noah hadn’t even realized that his depressed expression had been noticed by some of the kids. He was about to say something to reassure her, but Lucas beat him to it.  
  
“He’s just a little upset that not everyone likes hybrids like him,” Lucas explained to the girl and gave her a soft smile.  
  
Jane’s eyes widened. “Why would they not like you? _I_ like you! You so nice and teach us stuff! I told my daddy about how nice and sweet you and Lucas are!” She grinned up at Noah and came over to hug him lightly, trying to cheer him up.  
  
Noah was a bit startled to have Jane hug him. He had only known her for three weeks, after all. But he smiled and hugged her back, feeling a swell of happiness inside that the girl appreciated him. “Thank you, Jane. You’re very nice too.”  
  
Lucas too was smiling because Jane had also mentioned him, and his tail curled shyly beside his leg.  
  
Jane pulled away from Noah and looked up at him with a wide smile. “Hee hee, thanks. And when my daddy comes, I’m gonna show him how nice you are!”  
  
Noah laughed softly at that. “Okay. I’d like to finally meet your dad. Is he picking you up today? Usually your mom picks you up, doesn’t she?”  
  
“Yep! But mommy’s sick, so daddy’s gonna pick me up.”  
  
The kids could always cheer Noah up when he felt down, which was one of the things he liked about his job. Some of the kids liked him more than others, and Jane was one of those that really liked him a lot. He just hoped that her father wouldn’t have a problem with that. Jane always talked about all the fun stuff she did with her dad and it seemed like they were very close, but she had also mentioned that he had told her not to make friends with any angels or angel hybrids. Noah was a bit concerned about that.  
  
Lucas and Noah continued cleaning up a bit, and Jane and two other kids decided to help. They had fun helping each other, and the children fooled around a bit and started chasing each other around one of the tables. Lucas and Noah just let them. The children were tired and impatient to be picked up, so they just wanted to make time pass faster.  
  
They were almost done cleaning up all the toys and wiping the tables clean when the door opened.  
  
“Daddy!” Jane chirped, running over to her father with a wide grin on her face.  
  
Noah smiled to himself when he heard the happiness in Jane’s voice. He stood with his back to Jane and her father and was bending down to pick up one of the last toys. He threw the toy in the box before turning around, curious to see Jane’s father. However, when he turned and saw the alpha demon who Jane was smiling up at with such adoration, his blood went cold instantly.  
  
 _Chris_ was standing there, looking down at little Jane with a smile on his lips whilst still oblivious of Noah’s presence. _He_ was Jane’s father. Noah could hardly believe it.  
  
A million thoughts went through Noah’s mind. How could the father that Jane had described to him as being playful and awesome be _Chris?_ The same Chris that had once participated in bullying an angel girl into suicide, and had beaten Jayden senseless in an alley once. Noah’s mind flashed back to when he had met Chris in the park about a year ago along with Jayden, and how he had seen him walk over to his mate and two kids and suddenly act totally different. He almost didn’t know what to think.  
  
Lucas quickly picked up on something being wrong. He saw Noah standing there, staring at the alpha demon like he had just seen the Devil, and that concerned him. “Noah? You okay…?”  
  
Noah snapped out of it and looked over at Lucas, panic on his face.   
  
Should he run and hide? Call Jayden? Or just pretend like he didn’t recognize him and that nothing was wrong? He barely had time to make up his mind before Jane’s eager voice distracted him.  
  
“Daddy, daddy! Come meet Noah and Lucas whom I told you about! They so nice!” Jane chirped, grinning up at Chris and being totally oblivious of what was going through Noah’s mind.  
  
Chris huffed and let his daughter drag him by the arm towards where Noah and Lucas were standing. “Yeah, so you keep saying.”  
  
Noah took a quick step back when Chris came closer, and he watched in horror as the alpha finally lifted his head and stared right back at him.  
  
Instantly Chris’ expression changed from fatherly and amused to one of shock. The color and the kindness drained from his face the moment he recognized Noah, and a cold, disgusted look appeared on his face. He stood completely frozen and glared back at Noah while briefly glancing at Lucas, refusing to move another step forward even when Jane tried dragging him closer. His fists curled and uncurled, and his tail grew restless beside his leg. He looked like he didn’t know what to do and like he _certainly_ didn’t want to be there right now.  
  
Noah just stared right back at him, refusing to back away and let Chris know that he was feeling somewhat scared. He would not give him that satisfaction. Instead, he just met his glare and stood his ground.  
  
Jane seemed confused that her father didn’t want to step closer, and Lucas too was starting to feel the sudden tension between them.  
  
“Oh. It’s you,” Chris finally spoke, sneering in disgust.  
  
Noah’s eyes hardened as he kept staring back at the alpha in front of him. He didn’t say anything, but he could feel Lucas’ worried look on him.  
  
“Why you not wanna say hi?” Jane asked her father, tugging at his arm with an offended pout.  
  
Chris fidgeted a bit, and his eyes landed on Lucas for a moment, narrowing as he took him in. He did not have a problem with other full blood demons, but he was the type to judge those who hung out with angels and angel hybrids. To him they were blood traitors, like Jayden was in his eyes.  
  
Lucas flinched slightly when the alpha’s cold eyes landed on him. He knew something was going on, though he didn’t quite know what, but he _did_ know that the alpha was making him very uncomfortable.  
  
The tension was rising in the room, but the other two children had started playing in the corner, so they didn’t really pick up on it much.  
  
“Noah is my English teacher, and Lucas teaches me math!” Jane continued, still smiling and sounding very enthusiastic about her father finally meeting them. “Noah helped when dat mean boy took my toy last week.”  
  
Last week some demon boy had taken a toy right out of Jane’s hands while she was playing with it and had refused to give it back. He had gotten very upset and aggressive when she tried to grab it back, and he had even gone as far as hitting her, so Noah had to step in and calm the situation down. After a small but serious talk, the boy had finally returned the toy to Jane, and she had been very grateful for Noah’s help.  
  
“ _These_ are the teachers you’ve been talking about?” Chris asked, pointing a finger at Noah and Lucas while staring down at his daughter with a disgruntled look on his face. “Honey, that thing is a _crossbreed._ You don’t talk to those.” Chris’ voice was getting more agitated, likely because he had a very hard time accepting that his daughter liked a hybrid teacher like Noah so much, and because he had been put in a very uncomfortable situation.  
  
Noah flinched. Being referring to as ‘that thing’ hurt more than any racist words anyone could have called him. Being called ‘disgusting’ and ‘wrong’ was nothing compared to being referred to as something that was not even a person.  
  
Jane frowned at the word ‘crossbreed’. She didn’t understand that word at all. “You dun like Noah and Lucas…?” Her voice broke as she stared up at her daddy, and she curled in on herself a bit. She was obviously very confused about why her father was acting this way, especially when she had told him about how nice Noah and Lucas were.  
  
Something in Chris’ posture relaxed a bit at her hurt voice, but only a second later he had recovered. “We gotta go, honey. Hurry up and pack your stuff.” He started ushering Jane out of there and trying to avoid the subject. He cast one final glare over his shoulder at Noah and Lucas before he pulled a very confused and distraught Jane out of the room.  
  
“Byeee!” Jane called, waving at Noah and Lucas before she was dragged out the door by her father, who was in a hurry to get out of there.  
  
Noah and Lucas waved back, although with a little less enthusiasm.  
  
“Bye-bye, Jane,” Lucas smiled.  
  
“Bye, Jane. See you on Monday,” Noah told her, trying to offer her a smile to reassure her. He heard Chris growl slightly before he was out the door and out of their sight, and Noah could hear their voices as they walked down the small hallway outside towards the exit. Chris obviously didn’t like having Noah talking to his daughter, but Jane was innocent in all this. It wasn’t her fault that she had someone like Chris as her dad, and Noah didn’t want her to feel sad if he didn’t reply to her.  
  
Finally the tension was lifted, and Noah let out a deep sigh once Chris was gone. His knees shook a bit from adrenaline, but he was glad that nothing really bad had happened. He had almost expected Chris to attack him and get right up in his face while calling him nasty words, but he hadn’t; likely because Jane was there, and Chris was decent enough to not want to make his daughter feel uncomfortable.  
  
Slowly, Lucas turned his head to look at Noah. “What was that about? Do you know him…?”  
  
Noah swallowed back a lump. “No… Well, kind of. He’s someone that Jayden used to know.”  
  
Before Noah could explain anything, two parents came into the room to pick up their children. Noah and Lucas greeted them and chatted with them for two minutes while the kids got ready to leave, and after that they followed them out to the front door.  
  
Now all kids had been picked up, and it was finally time for Noah to explain things to Lucas. Lucas was quite shocked when he heard about the story with Chris.  
  
“I can’t believe that someone can be so cold! That’s… God, how awful.” Lucas’ eyes were watering when he learned what had happened to that angel girl at Jayden’s previous school. He was so shocked that he just stood there, trembling. “But Jane always talks about how much she loves her father. I don’t get it…”  
  
“Yeah… I guess people are just different depending on who they are with,” Noah said, his head lowered as they talked about the sad story.  
  
“Yeah, I guess…” Lucas murmured. “And I can’t believe that Jayden was beat down like that… That’s scary.”  
  
Noah nodded quietly. “I-I don’t really know what to do. He certainly did not seem to like having me be one of Jane’s teachers. What if he comes and threatens me? Threatens _Jayden?_ Or my _kids?_ ” The realization that Chris was suddenly so close to him scared him. A lot. He didn’t want someone like Chris in his life, and he was worried about what Jayden would do when he found out that Chris’ daughter was now one of Noah’s students. It was a direct reason for Chris to show up at their doorstep one day to complain and make threats. Noah didn’t want a dangerous man like Chris around his children, and he didn’t want Jayden getting into a fight with him either.  
  
“Hey.” Lucas placed his hands on both of Noah’s shoulders when he could see how afraid he was. He made Noah look at him before speaking. “Please don’t start worrying so much; that’s not good for you. Just… treat Jane nicely so that this Chris guy has no reason to complain, and let Jayden know what’s happened.”  
  
“Of course I will treat Jane nicely. It isn’t her fault; she’s just a little girl.”  
  
“I know that, but still… I don’t like this either,” Lucas murmured and lowered his eyes a bit. “T-That alpha really scared me.”  
  
Noah put a hand on one of Lucas’ outstretched arms, trying to comfort him back.  
  
They had to close the kindergarten and go home, so they slowly began cleaning up the rest and getting ready to leave. Noah had to pick Nathan up from the after school facility and pick up Derek from the daycare soon, so he was in quite a hurry.  
  
A million thoughts and worries went through Noah’s mind, and he was nervous about telling Jayden about what had happened. It was not a situation that was easy for him to explain, considering Jayden’s past with Chris, but he had to tell him.  
  
  


***

  
  
Jayden was working until 8pm that evening, so Noah was alone with the children until then. He tried not to let Nathan or Derek know how concerned he was about the situation that had suddenly appeared. Luckily, the boys were very busy playing and watching cartoons, so they didn’t pick up much on how quiet Noah was tonight.  
  
“Derek, get down from the couch!” Noah scolded when he entered the living room. They had just had dinner, and Noah had been in the kitchen to do the dishes while the boys went to the living room to watch TV before bed. It was 7pm, so it wouldn’t be long before Derek would be put to bed.  
  
Derek was trying to climb over the top of the couch, which he wasn’t allowed to do. He could fall over the edge and hurt himself, plus he had a habit of holding on to the fabric very tightly with his hands and using his nails, leaving marks on the couch.  
  
“Yeah, Derek, get down,” Nathan mumbled from the other end of the couch, where he was watching TV. He scowled over at his disobedient little brother.  
  
Derek just shook his head and kept trying to climb up, so Noah made a frustrated grunt and went over to grab him.  
  
“Noooo!” Derek whined loudly and starting squirming as Noah grabbed him and pulled him off the couch. “Stop, mommy!”  
  
“No, _you_ stop it. You know not to climb on that couch,” Noah growled softly and put Derek down on the floor. He got kicked in the stomach by Derek as he squirmed and fought back violently because he was being defiant, but he was getting kind of used to that.  
  
Derek was not happy. When he was on the floor, he started crying and went over to Noah to grab at his clothes and stare up at him with begging eyes.  
  
“Derek, stop that. I’m not giving in,” Noah told his son firmly. Derek’s disobedience was utterly frustrating sometimes. Noah could tell him no a hundred times in a row, but Derek did it anyway. The boy even had the nerve to act like it was _Noah_ who was doing something wrong when he was denied something.  
  
Realizing that his mom wouldn’t give in, Derek pouted and padded his way around the couch towards Nathan. He climbed up on the soft cushions of the couch and crawled over to his brother, who was busy watching cartoons and eating some candy. It was Friday evening and they always had candy then.  
  
Nathan was sitting with his legs crossed under him and with his side turned to the back of the couch, leaving lots of free space behind him. He glanced briefly over his shoulder when he felt his little brother crawling up behind him, but the cartoon show was too interesting to take his eyes off. He let out an annoyed grunt when he felt Derek push at his wing as he tried to climb his way around him to sit on him.  
  
“No, I don’t want you to sit on me. Sit somewhere else,” Nathan complained, scowling at his brother.  
  
Derek grunted in annoyance and grabbed at Nathan’s feathers. He studied them curiously and ignored the annoyed grunt from the older boy.  
  
“Ow!” Nathan yelped when Derek tugged too hard. He growled and turned his head to glare his brother. “Stop that, or I will pull at yours too!”  
  
Derek made a noise of complaint and hit Nathan on the arm, making the older boy hit him back. Derek tried to hit him again, but Nathan quickly grabbed his hand and then pushed him onto the couch. Derek yelped in surprise, but he soon started to laugh and giggle as Nathan climbed on top of him and started tickling him.  
  
Noah had been pretty close to scolding them for hitting each other, but his anger died the moment he saw his sons laughing and rolling around on the couch as Derek got tickled. Nathan was grinning and having a lot of fun getting back at Derek, who just squealed and tried to kick him off. Their laughter and squealing made Noah smile. It was nice when they had fun together instead of fighting, even though the tickling was kind of like a fight too.  
  
The boys continued laughing and kicking on the couch while Nathan tickled Derek senseless, until suddenly Nathan froze. “Ew, Derek! Why did you poop?!” He pulled away in disgust when he could smell it.  
  
Derek just lay on his back, giggling and laughing at Nathan’s disgusted face.  
  
“Mooom! He smells!” Nathan complained, bringing up his hand to pinch his thumb and index finger over his nose so he couldn’t smell anything. His tail swished and curled in on itself in disgust behind him.  
  
Noah laughed and went over to get Derek. “Come on, let’s go change that diaper. And I think you need to go to bed too. You’re tired, aren’t you?”  
  
Derek just cooed and glanced up at Noah before finally rolling off the couch. He climbed under the couch table first to drag the time before bed.  
  
Noah sighed. “Derek, come on… Daddy will be mad at you if you’re still up when he gets home.”  
  
“But wanna see daddy…” Derek murmured from below the couch table, peeking out slightly to look up at Noah.  
  
“Yes, I know, but you’ll see him tomorrow. Now, come on.”  
  
Derek continued to sit under the table for a few more moments, pouting. He missed Jayden on the nights where his dad wasn’t home.  
  
Noah urged him to come out again, so Derek finally began crawling out from under the table. He forgot to wait until he was all the out from below the table before standing up, which resulted in him banging his head against the table. The impact sent him right back down on his butt, and he sobbed a bit at the pain.  
  
Nathan cringed in sympathy. “Ouch, you dummy.”  
  
“Are you okay, Derek?” Noah bent down to see if Derek was alright, frowning in worry. Derek always managed to hurt himself somehow, either by banging his head on something or falling over while running.  
  
Derek rubbed his head, sobbing softly, before nodding and climbing out. He was sobbing a bit from complaint, but he wasn’t really crying.  
  
Noah took the boy to the bathroom where he changed his diaper and got him ready for bed. Getting Derek to bed could be troublesome sometimes, especially if he didn’t want to go. Tonight, Derek seemed pretty sleepy, though, so getting him into bed was rather easy.  
  
Nathan was big enough to stay downstairs on his own while Noah put Derek to bed, so the boy just watched cartoons and played a bit with Midnight until Noah returned twenty minutes later.  
  
“Your brother’s asleep now. You should go to bed too, Nathan,” Noah told him.  
  
Nathan whined and glanced over his shoulder at him. “Nooo! I wanna be here when daddy comes home!”  
  
“But he’s not going to be here until at least 8:20, maybe later. You sure you can stay up that long?”  
  
Nathan nodded determinedly.  
  
“Okay, fine, but after he comes home, you go to bed. Understand?”  
  
Nathan grinned. “Yep!”  
  
Noah sighed and walked over to sit down on the couch. He was tired from a long day, and the thing about Chris filled so much in his mind. He was really worried about how Jayden would react to the news.  
  
After Noah had sat down on the couch, Nathan turned around and started crawling over to him. The boy climbed into his lap, and Noah smiled as he wrapped his arms around his son and let him watch cartoons from his lap. Nathan snuggled into him and kept his little wings wrapped tightly around himself so that Noah could easier wrap his arms around him.  
  
Noah was happy that Nathan liked being cuddled. It was so nice to sit with his son and hold him close, and he wished that Nathan would never grow too old for it. It still saddened him that he couldn’t do that with Derek as well. Cuddling and hugging was not really Derek’s thing, unfortunately.  
  
  


***

  
  
Noah and Nathan were still sitting on the couch and watching cartoons together when Jayden finally came home.  
  
“Hey, guys. Anyone home?” Jayden called from the entrance hall after he had entered the house. He tried not to talk too loud, since he wasn’t sure if the kids were sleeping.  
  
Nathan grinned and gently climbed off Noah’s lap to run out into the entrance hall to greet his dad. “Daddy!” he chirped, running over to Jayden and wrapping his arms around his waist in a hug.  
  
Jayden grinned and hugged him back, happy to see his son again. “Hey, buddy. Are you still up at this hour?” It was 8:30 already, and Nathan usually went to bed at around 7:45.  
  
Nathan lifted his head from Jayden’s stomach and grinned up at him. “Yeah, mommy let me stay up so I could be here when you come home.”  
  
“Oh? That’s nice of him.”   
  
Jayden gave his son a wicked grin before picking him up and placing him on his hip. Nathan squealed and grinned widely, and he wrapped his arms around Jayden’s neck to hold on to him.  
  
“Gosh, you’re getting heavy,” Jayden commented. “In a few years I can’t lift you anymore.”  
  
“Yes, you can! You’re strong!”  
  
Jayden laughed at that. “Yeah, that’s right. I’m strong.” He buried his face in Nathan’s neck and tried to ‘eat’ him, making the boy squeal and laugh against him.  
  
Midnight walked by them and glanced up at them like she thought they were crazy. She then quickly padded into the living room, passing Noah’s legs as the submissive appeared in the doorway to greet his mate.  
  
“Hi,” Noah smiled and came over to kiss Jayden.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden grinned, bending down a bit so they could share a quick kiss.  
  
“Eww,” Nathan complained and wrinkled his nose in disgust as his parents kissed. He was still sitting on Jayden’s hip and holding on to him, and the fact that they were kissing right in front of his face made him look disgusted.  
  
Jayden and Noah just chuckled and pulled away, and Jayden had to shift Nathan a bit to get a better hold on him. He was about to say something when they suddenly heard Derek crying upstairs and calling for them. The boy had obviously heard Jayden coming home and them talking downstairs, and now he wanted to greet his daddy too.  
  
“Oh. Seems like we woke him,” Jayden chuckled. He looked at Noah. “I’ll go up and tuck him in again.” When Noah nodded, he turned his gaze to Nathan next. “And you better go to bed too, bud.”  
  
Nathan pouted and clung his dad. “Don’t wanna… Wanna be with you.”  
  
“You’ll be with me all day tomorrow. Now, come on. I’ll tuck you in too.”  
  
Noah smiled as he watched Jayden put down Nathan again and then walked upstairs with him to check on Derek. Noah was feeling very tired, so he decided to stay downstairs and let Jayden spend some time with the boys.  
  
Jayden and Nathan walked up to Derek’s room, where the boy was crying to get their attention. When Jayden entered the room, Derek was jumping in joy in his crib.  
  
“Daddy!” Derek chirped, raising his arms and begging to be picked up.  
  
Jayden grinned and picked up the boy, placing a kiss on Derek’s cheek. Sometimes when Derek was sleepy, he’d let them hold him for a bit. “Hey, Derek. Why aren’t you sleeping?”  
  
“Wanna see daddy…”  
  
“Yeah? I missed you too, buddy.” Jayden placed another kiss on Derek’s head and rocked him. Derek leaned into him for a few moments, enjoying the soothing hand that his father was running up and down his back, until eventually he got tired of being held. Jayden put him down again when he started squirming. “Did you guys behave well tonight?” Jayden asked, looking mostly at Nathan, while he placed Derek in the crib again.  
  
Nathan nodded. “Yeah, but Derek was being a brat. He was making so much noise while playing, and he kept running around. He’s got fire in his butt, like Uncle Isaac says…”  
  
Jayden chuckled at that. “Yeah, he does.” He reached into the crib and ruffled Derek’s hair, chuckling when the boy leaned away from his hand with a small squeak.  
  
Jayden stayed with the boys in Derek’s room for a few minutes until he got Derek to sleep again. After that he went into Nathan’s bedroom and got his bed ready for him to sleep while Nathan went to brush his teeth.  
  
“Daddy? Can’t I sleep with you and mommy tonight?” Nathan murmured softly when he entered his bedroom and made his way over to the bed. Jayden was standing next to the bed and arranging Nathan’s stuffed animals, which he always slept with.  
  
“You’re six years old, Nathan – almost seven. Aren’t you a little too old for that?”  
  
Nathan put on a displeased pout and padded over to the bed, climbing inside. “But I like your bed…”  
  
“Well, it’s mommy’s and daddy’s bed, and we want to sleep in it alone sometimes, you know,” Jayden told him kindly. He let Nathan get settled on the bed before pulling the covers over his son.  
  
“Why?”  
  
The question made Jayden stare at his son in surprise. He hadn’t expected to be asked why, and he suddenly had to come up with an appropriate reason that he could tell Nathan. “Well, because moms and dads like to be alone sometimes, and not having little kids farting in their bed.”  
  
“ _You_ fart! Not me!” Nathan exclaimed, giggling innocently.  
  
Jayden laughed and sat down on the edge of the bed, making sure the blanket was covering Nathan properly. “Well, the point is that you gotta learn to sleep on your own. Only come to our room if you’ve had a bad dream or something, okay?”  
  
Nathan nodded quietly and still looked a little disappointed that he couldn’t sleep in their bed tonight. He liked to cuddle between his parents, and sometimes they had tickle fights in bed, which Nathan thought was a lot of fun. Derek liked to sleep in their bed sometimes too if he had had bad dreams, but it didn’t work out if Nathan was also there; then they would just argue about who should sleep where.  
  
  


***

  
  
After putting the boys to bed, Jayden finally walked back downstairs. His feet felt heavy as he walked down the steps, and he couldn’t wait to crash on the couch and be with Noah.  
  
The house was so quiet now that the children were asleep, and Midnight was playing around in her cat castle in the living room. It wouldn’t be long until she would take a nap and curl up on the soft pillows she had.  
  
Noah was sitting on the couch when Jayden entered the living room, absently watching some documentary on TV about ancient Egypt. Jayden walked over to him and collapsed on his butt next to Noah, sighing heavily as he did so. “Fuck, what a long day. Been so busy…” He groaned and lifted his hands his rub his tired eyes while slouching back against the couch.  
  
Noah was sitting one with leg crossed under him and the other dangling over the edge of the couch. He was too short for his feet to reach the floor when he sitting with his back straight against the back of the couch. He turned his head to look at Jayden, giving him a sympathetic look. He knew how stressful working at the restaurant could be for Jayden sometimes, and the alpha had been working since 10:45am that day.  
  
Noah remembered that he had to tell Jayden about what had happened at the kindergarten today. He swallowed nervously and feared what Jayden’s reaction would be. Hopefully the alpha wouldn’t make too much of a deal out of it and start confronting Chris for no reason. The guy hadn’t actually _hurt_ Noah, after all.  
  
Before Noah could speak, though, Jayden spoke again.  
  
“I’m glad that Nathan is doing pretty well in school… He seems happy about it. I just hope that things will continue going well for him.”  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Noah said, watching Jayden quietly, but the alpha’s gaze was mostly on the TV. He wasn’t really watching it, though. “I’m glad he has Emily, at least. They’ll always be friends.” A smile tugged on his lips when he thought about how close she and Nathan were.  
  
Jayden smiled. “Yeah. I hope they won’t grow apart eventually…”  
  
“Mm,” Noah agreed.   
  
There was silence for a bit, and they both enjoyed the feeling of their wings touching as they sat next to each other. Jayden’s tail was twitching lightly on the couch, until it moved a little closer to Noah’s leg and rubbed it slowly.  
  
Finally Noah gathered his courage to tell Jayden about the incident earlier. “Um, Jayden?” He shifted a bit so that he was facing Jayden a bit more. “S-Something happened today.”  
  
Jayden turned his head to look at him, his expression immediately turning worried, and Noah could see that he had Jayden’s full attention. “What? What happened?”  
  
Noah glanced down at Jayden’s tail to have something to look at while he tried to find the right words. “Um, there’s a little girl whom I’m teaching this year, her name is Jane. She’s really sweet and she’s a full blood demon. She’s been a bit reluctant to mingle with the angel children, because she says her father told her not to, but eventually she started doing it anyway. I didn’t really think too much about it until I met her father today…” He lifted his gaze to meet Jayden’s, swallowing a bit. “I-It was Chris.”  
  
Jayden froze. He stared back at Noah in horror and disbelief, trying to process what Noah had just told him. At first he thought that Noah was talking about his friend Chris from their high school, but then it dawned on him that Noah meant the other Chris – the _bad_ Chris. Immediately his posture turned protective and worried. “ _What?!_ Chris was there?! What happened? Did he hurt you?”  
  
So many thoughts and scenarios ran through Jayden’s mind when he learned that Chris had been near Noah. It was the most terrified he had felt for a long time, knowing that a threat like Chris had been talking to his mate and Jayden hadn’t been there to protect him. He did not like that at all.  
  
“No, he didn’t hurt me,” Noah told him calmly, although he felt pretty uncomfortable about the whole Chris situation. “He just called me some nasty words and hurried out of there with Jane. I don’t like the way he was glaring at me and Lucas… It was really scary…”  
  
Jayden growled and his feathers puffed out slightly. “That fucking asshole. If he ever touches you, I’ll _kill him._ ”  
  
Jayden’s protectiveness reassured Noah, even though he didn’t want his mate to ever have to confront Chris in any way. He didn’t like conflicts, and he didn’t want Jayden to get hurt.  
  
Jayden turned to face Noah more, looking at him with a serious expression on his face. “Did he follow you home? ‘Cause the last thing I want is for him to know where we live and come over while I’m not home.” The idea alone sent shivers up Jayden’s spine.  
  
Noah shook his head at that. “No, he left with his daughter pretty fast and I didn’t see any cars following me home. I was careful, so I kept an eye out for suspicious cars on the way home.”  
  
Relief washed over Jayden’s face. “Good. Fuck, I don’t like this one bit,” he grumbled, running a hand down his face. “I don’t want him anywhere near you or the kids.”  
  
“Yeah, me neither. He’s not a very nice man. But it’s strange how kind he seems with Jane… She always talks about how much she loves her dad…”  
  
Jayden looked at him again, his expression firm. “Don’t let that fool you; he’s _not_ a nice person.”  
  
“Yes, I _know_ that…” Noah mumbled.  
  
The news about Chris’ reappearance continued to unsettle Jayden. Thoughts of worry kept racing through his mind, making his head hurt, and he had to stand up from the couch to calm down. “Fuck,” he grumbled, trying to calm himself down. If Chris’ daughter was one of Noah’s students, that would give Chris reasons to approach Noah with hatred and racist slurs. Plus he’d be seeing Noah when picking up his daughter. Jayden did not like that at all, and he felt helpless that he didn’t know what to do about it. How could he possibly protect Noah in such a situation? He couldn’t ask him not to go to work, and he couldn’t confront Chris without making things worse, unless the other alpha actually _did_ something to Noah.  
  
Noah sensed the worry that went through Jayden’s mind. He slowly stood up and approached his mate, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder while Jayden’s back was facing him. “Hey. I’ll be okay… I won’t let him get to me.”  
  
“That’s not what I’m worried about. I’m worried about him _hurting_ you,” Jayden said, growling at the idea. He kept facing away from Noah until he finally sighed and turned to look at him. “Why is this happening? Can’t we just be happy and not have those mean people around us? Why do racists and fanatics always have to ruin things?” He slowly lifted his hand and wiped some of Noah’s hairs away from his forehead.  
  
Noah looked up at him, offering him a small, sad smile. “I don’t know.”  
  
“I don’t want you or the kids getting hurt,” Jayden spoke, his voice barely audible, and stared down at Noah’s face with a forlorn, almost vulnerable look.  
  
Slowly, Noah lifted his own hand and placed it on top of Jayden’s, which was now resting on his cheek. He gave his mate a small smile, finding it a little odd to see so much vulnerability on Jayden’s face. He didn’t speak, but instead just gently moved Jayden’s hand towards his mouth to place a small kiss on it, silently reassuring him that they’d be alright.  
  
Jayden smiled at that and leaned down to press their foreheads together. “You know, it should be _me_ kissing _your_ hand, and not the other way around.”  
  
Noah laughed softly at that and let Jayden pull him into a hug. He rested his head against Jayden’s strong chest, breathing in his scent and feeling his body calm when his alpha wrapped his protective arms around him. Jayden pressed a kiss to the top of his head and held him close, running a hand up and down his back soothingly.  
  
“Just promise me you’ll stay safe, okay? Don’t ever let yourself be alone around Chris,” Jayden murmured while he held Noah close.  
  
Noah snuggled into Jayden, hearing the alpha’s heart beat as he rested his head against his chest. “Yeah, I promise.”  
  
Jayden placed another kiss on top of Noah’s head, chastely.  
  
They continued to hold each other close for a few minutes, reveling in the comfort it gave them.  
  
At times like these, it was good that they had each other, and they weren’t about to let Chris bother their daily life without putting up a fight. Though, hopefully the alpha wouldn’t be too much of a problem to them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another late update. Shit has been piling up around me. I just lost my aunt to cancer, just two weeks after losing my grandfather, so things have been quite a mess and my writing mood hasn’t been good. Hopefully things will brighten up soon, even though I’m still busy with work.
> 
> I think Chris will have a similar role to Castiel and Dean’s neighbor Brad in this story. I don’t plan to keep him around for the rest of the story, but for now it creates a bit of tension. He’s a profound asshole, but I still think it’s interesting to explore how a bad person can have good in them, at least around their own family.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope that I will be able to deliver the next update to you a little faster.


	36. Chapter 36

**September 2056 (Noah is 30, Jayden is 32, Nathan is 6 (almost 7), Derek is 2, Emily is 6 (almost 7), David is 33, Millie is 31 (almost 32) years old).**  
  
The alarm clock went off at 6:30am, waking up both Noah and Jayden.  
  
Noah groaned and reached out a lazy hand towards his nightstand to shut it off, finally killing the offending noise. His head immediately dropped back down on his pillow, and he curled into a fetal position while wrapping the blanket and his wings closer around himself.  
  
Jayden grunted next to him, rolling over onto his back and trying to wake himself up as he stared up at the ceiling with blinking eyes. The room was dark, but a bit of sun on the other side of the curtains lit it up somewhat. He was lying naked in the bed, like he often did, whereas Noah was wearing a pair of blue panties and nothing more. He liked sleeping this way; then he could feel Noah’s skin touch his own when he snuggled up behind him.  
  
Usually they woke up a bit earlier on weekdays, but Derek had been sick with a cold for three days now, so Noah had to stay home with him today. Jayden had stayed home for the past two days to take care of the sick boy, and the day before that Derek had been in the daycare for most of the day until they had called Noah and asked to pick him up because he was so sick. Even though Derek was sick and wouldn’t be going to the daycare, Nathan still had to go to school, so they had to get up early that morning to drive him there for his 8am class.  
  
Noah was already starting to fall asleep again, despite having just been woken by the alarm. He always had trouble getting up in the mornings, and Jayden chuckled softly when he noticed that his mate had fallen back asleep. The alpha rolled over onto his side and pulled their blankets a bit aside to spoon up behind Noah and hold him close. Noah let out a grumpy grunt when he was woken up once more, but he didn’t try to push Jayden off. Instead, he leaned into the feeling of their skin touching.  
  
“Mm. You have to get up, sleepy-head,” Jayden murmured into Noah’s ear and nuzzled him gently. All he got in response was an annoyed grunt and a small push when Noah moved his wing, which was trapped between them. Jayden just let out a soft laugh, finding his mate incredibly cute when he was sleepy and grumpy in the mornings. Jayden had always been more of a morning person, but Noah was certainly not.  
  
Jayden held Noah close for a few minutes and listened as his mate’s breathing became more even, indicating that he was once more about to drift off to sleep. He chuckled fondly and burrowed his nose in Noah’s neck, his hands snaking their way under the blanket and Noah’s wing to touch the soft skin on his stomach. Noah stirred a bit, but didn’t protest, and Jayden’s hand started rubbing small circles into Noah’s skin.  
  
To Jayden, it was utter happiness to wake up next to Noah every morning. He loved spooning up behind him, to move his hands over his mate’s soft, warm skin, and listen to him purr at the touch. He liked how Noah’s hair was always messy and untamed in the mornings, and how his feathers would stick out in odd angles. Those were things that made Noah who he was, and Jayden smiled as he continued touching his mate’s flat belly with a gentle hand.  
  
The distracting but pleasurable touch made Noah whine softly and push back against Jayden, feeling a bit annoyed that his mate kept him from sleeping more. The movement made his butt rub up against the alpha’s growing erection, drawing a pleased growl from him.  
  
Jayden’s erection and arousal increased fast, until his cock was standing proudly between his legs. Feeling Noah’s warm body against his own in the early morning always aroused him, and he nuzzled his nose against Noah’s neck while he snaked his hand into Noah’s underwear next.  
  
The submissive gasped softly when Jayden’s bigger hand moved into his panties and started rubbing and fondling his dick. He was getting hard, and he squirmed when he felt his ass slicking up. “Jayden,” he whined softly in complaint, involuntarily pushing his butt back against Jayden’s erection once more.  
  
The alpha placed a soothing kiss on Noah’s neck before pulling the submissive’s panties down so that they were caught around Noah’s thighs under the blanket. Noah squirmed, finding himself unable to move much because of the underwear that was keeping his legs locked together, and Jayden took advantage of his mate’s limited mobility. He moved his hand along the skin of Noah’s thigh, over his hip and buttock, until he reached his ass. His fingers quickly found their way to Noah’s wet hole and started teasing the rim softly.  
  
Noah quickly began letting out soft, pleased gasps and pushing himself back onto Jayden’s fingers when they slipped inside him and started stretching him.  
  
With skilled fingers, Jayden began to stretch Noah’s hole, feeling it getting wetter and gripping him tightly as he stimulated the walls inside. He leaned down and bit playfully at Noah’s wing bone when Noah wrapped his wing more around himself to give him more space behind him. Noah shuddered and bucked at the touch, and it didn’t take long before he was ready to take Jayden inside him.  
  
Jayden gently pulled out his fingers and licked them clean of Noah’s sweet slick, before he wrapped an arm around his mate and finally pushed into him. He felt the tiny hole give way to the intrusion, allowing him to push inside the warm channel inch by inch. Noah whimpered softly in his arms, and Jayden shushed him gently and placed kisses on his neck while he continued pushing further into him.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted, feeling Noah’s muscles gripping him tight as he pushed inside. Once he was all the way inside with his balls resting firmly against Noah’s ass, Jayden sighed in content and nuzzled Noah lazily. “Mm, you feel so good.” He slowly started moving, and placed a hand on Noah’s abdomen to keep him in place while he thrust into him from behind. He started out slow and gently, but increased the pace and hardness more after each thrust.  
  
“Nruughh, please be quick,” Noah said while biting his lip in pleasure, letting out soft gasps every time Jayden’s cock nudged his sweet spots inside. He stayed limp in Jayden’s hold, letting the alpha be fully in control and take pleasure from his body. He was still too sleepy to move much anyway, and he enjoyed relaxing in Jayden’s hold while the alpha took care of him.  
  
Jayden grunted in response, letting him know that he understood. They had to wake up Nathan soon and get him prepared for school, so they didn’t have much time to lie in bed and have sex.  
  
The thrusts increased and got harder, and Noah moaned as Jayden pounded into him mercilessly from behind. His legs were still trapped in his panties, making him unable to spread them or move them much, but it only turned him on more. This way he could feel Jayden’s cock much better, because his legs were closed tightly and he couldn’t buck into him because the alpha was keeping him in place with a hand on his abdomen. All he could do was moan and accept the pleasure, and he could feel Jayden’s breath coming out in heavy puffs against the back of his neck. He closed his eyes and tried to let the sensations and Jayden pounding his ass hard wake him up more.  
  
After a few minutes, Jayden felt his orgasm starting to pool in his lower stomach. He growled and tightened his hold around Noah, biting his wing bone gently in a possessive and dominant gesture that he knew turned Noah on a lot.  
  
Noah shuddered in his arms in response, a small gasp spilling from his lips at the feel of Jayden nipping his delicate wing bone. Jayden’s thrusts were getting more desperate, and the way his arms were tightening around him told Noah that the alpha wouldn’t last much longer.  
  
“Ah, please don’t come inside,” Noah spoke when he sensed that Jayden was about to come soon. He found it embarrassing how his voice was shaking because of Jayden’s hard thrusts.  
  
Jayden let out a disappointed grunt behind him, his pace slowing a bit. “Why not?”  
  
“B-Because I don’t want to feel it leaking out for the rest of the day!” Noah argued, still struggling to speak while Jayden moved inside him.  
  
Jayden grunted and buried his nose in Noah’s neck. “Alright, I’ll try,” he murmured against Noah’s skin. Disappointment flowed through him, because he liked coming inside Noah and watching his mate squirm for hours afterwards when he could feel Jayden’s come leaking out of him. He tried to bite back the disappointment and instead focus on the pleasure that was filling his body.  
  
The bed creaked, and Jayden’s breathing was getting faster. He was so close to coming, and he could tell that Noah was too. He wanted to let Noah come first, so he used his hand that was on the submissive’s abdomen to start rubbing against Noah’s erection.  
  
“J-Jayden,” Noah croaked, jolting at the sudden touch. He bit his lip and tried to hold back his moans as Jayden rubbed his balls and stroked his dick the way he liked it best, pushing him towards the edge. The sensations of being all filled up and having Jayden touch and fondle his genitals were too much for him to handle. Seconds later he came hard over Jayden’s hand, biting into his pillow to muffle his cries of pleasure.  
  
Jayden smirked in satisfaction when his mate climaxed in his arms. He continued touching Noah’s softening member gently while he thrust into his shaking body, feeling his hand being all wet with Noah’s release. He once more buried his nose in his mate’s neck, and his arms tightened around him. The submissive was like jelly in his arms now; limp and pliant, and panting from his climax.  
  
Heat was pooling in Jayden’s abdomen, and he finally let it consummate his body and gave into it. Three more hard thrusts and he was coming, shooting his release deep inside Noah with a loud, deep growl.  
  
“Ah, not inside!” Noah protested, but it was too late. He shuddered when Jayden just tightened his arms around him and rode out his orgasm, shooting warm sperm into his ass. The sensation made Noah shudder and moan, and Jayden’s hips kept pushing against him in hard, slow movements until he was spent.  
  
Jayden went limp after that, finally sated after coming so hard. He panted for breath against the back of Noah’s neck, still holding his mate close. “Sorry. I forgot to pull out…”  
  
The alpha didn’t sound all that sorry, and Noah growled in irritation when he heard a smirk in Jayden’s voice. He jerked his wing and almost hit Jayden in the face with it, making the alpha laugh as he dodged it quickly. “You’re such a jerk!”  
  
Jayden laughed out loud. He moved his hand back up to Noah’s stomach and started rubbing it in apology. “Sorry, I just got too caught up. Though, honestly I’m really not that sorry at all; I like coming inside you.”  
  
“It’s not funny! Now I’m gonna feel it leaking out of me for _hours,_ and I have an appointment with the dentist today!” Noah grumbled, still very displeased that Jayden had let himself get carried away like that and wasn’t even sorry for what he had done. He scowled over his shoulder at Jayden, who was still spooning him from behind with his dick buried in him.  
  
“Sorry,” Jayden chuckled, feeling somewhat guilty. He placed a chaste kiss on Noah’s shoulder and met his eyes with a kicked puppy look.  
  
Noah softened up when Jayden gave him that look, and he sighed as he dropped his head back down on his pillow.  
  
“I hope it was still nice…?” Jayden asked cautiously, placing another kiss on Noah’s shoulder and gently petting his wing.  
  
“Yes, it was nice. But now I feel even more tired…” Noah murmured. Sex always made his body feel tired, which kind of annoyed him right now because they _really_ needed to get out of bed and get Nathan ready for school.  
  
“Sorry.” Jayden apologized again, but this time with a small chuckle in his voice. He leaned up and gently pulled out of Noah, who gasped at the sudden loss.  
  
Jayden got Noah a towel to clean up with and helped the lazy submissive get on his feet. Sex had made them fall behind on their schedule, so Noah hastily started pulling on some clothes while Jayden went to wake up Nathan after having dressed.  
  
Noah grumbled to himself while pulling on his clothes. The panties he was wearing were getting ruined with come even after having cleaned most of it, and the sensation made him squirm while he pulled on the rest of his clothes. He hated Jayden for having a kink for filling him up during morning sex and then watching him squirm for the rest of the morning.  
  
After pulling on some clothes, Noah left the bedroom and stepped into the hallway outside. He could hear Jayden and Nathan talking in Nathan’s room, and could tell that Nathan was just as grumpy as him about being woken up. He smiled to himself before going into Derek’s room, being as quiet as he could as he entered it.  
  
Derek’s room was dark, and Noah quietly walked a bit further into the room to check on his son. He could hear that Derek was fast asleep in the crib, though his breathing showed clear signs that he had some trouble breathing properly through his nose because of his cold. The cold should be better today than it was yesterday, but the boy still needed to stay at home.  
  
After making sure that Derek was okay, Noah quietly left the room again and stepped out into the hallway.  
  
“Morning, mommy!” Nathan suddenly chirped from behind Noah, almost startling him.  
  
Noah turned and saw Nathan standing behind him with a grin on his face. The boy was still dressed in his sleepwear, which surprised Noah a bit. “Good morning, Nathan. Shouldn’t you put on your clothes?”  
  
“Yeah, but I gotta pee so badly!” The boy shifted on his feet and crossed his legs a bit to hold it in.  
  
Jayden laughed from the doorway to Nathan’s room. “Then go, silly.”  
  
Nathan nodded and ran towards the bathroom, while Noah walked over to Nathan’s room to get some clothes ready for him. Noah cringed and tried to walk normally when he felt the mess in his underwear getting worse.  
  
Nathan stopped on his way over to the bathroom and glanced back over his shoulder at Noah with a curious frown on his face when he noticed the way Noah was walking. “Do you have to pee too, mommy? You walk funnily…”  
  
Noah’s face turned bright red, and Jayden couldn’t contain his laughter when he saw it.  
  
“I, um…” Noah stammered, not knowing what to say. He couldn’t really tell Nathan that his come-filled panties and sore butt were bothering him. “Yeah, but I’ll go after you,” he finally said, still blushing.  
  
“Oh. Okay.” Nathan ran off towards the bathroom, quickly going inside and shutting the door.  
  
Noah glared daggers at Jayden for thinking it was funny, and he slapped the alpha hard on the arm before going into Nathan’s room. He tried to walk as normally a possible so that Jayden didn’t have anything to be amused and smug about anymore.  
  


 

***

  
  
Jayden drove Nathan to school that morning (he wanted to be social with him in the car rather than have the bus pick him up) while Noah stayed home to take care of Derek, who had woken up just when Jayden and Nathan were about to leave. The boy was still snotty and was coughing a lot, but it wasn’t as bad as the days before.  
  
Noah’s dentist appointment was at 10am, so he had left the house with Derek at 9:35am. Jayden had to be at work at 10:15 for a morning meeting, so they had left the house at the same time, but in separate cars. His dentist appointment was just a normal check-up to see how his teeth were doing. He had to take Derek with him since he couldn’t leave the boy alone at home or in the car.  
  
Derek was mostly calm at the dentist’s office. He was coughing and his nose ran a bit, but he still had energy enough to be curious. He walked around in the waiting room and explored things, and while Noah was sitting in the patient chair with the dentist looking at his teeth, Derek was walking around and opening all the cupboards in the room to see what was inside.  
  
Noah was utterly embarrassed with his son’s behavior, but the dentist just laughed softly at it. She was an angel female around Noah’s age, and Noah liked her a lot. He had had trouble going to the dentist when he was younger because he had had some pretty uncomfortable dentists, but this one was very nice. She always told him what was going to happen and did her best to make sure that he was comfortable.  
  
After having had his check-up and being told that everything was fine with his teeth, Noah left the clinic with Derek to go shopping for some groceries. He didn’t plan for it to take that long, seeing as Derek was sick and should be home in bed to rest.  
  
“Derek, stay here with mommy,” Noah told his son when they entered the supermarket together. Noah was pushing the cart in front of him, while Derek was walking by his side. The boy had refused to be placed in the seat on top of the cart and instead wanted to walk around and explore things, as usual.  
  
The supermarket wasn’t too crowded, but there were several other people in there; mostly older people and others who had a reason to not be working that day.  
  
As always, Derek wasn’t really listening. He was too busy running over to the nearby shelf to look at the stuff on it, and sometimes he’d grab things he liked or that looked interesting to him and then walk over to the cart with them.  
  
It was a challenge for Noah to concentrate on getting the things he needed in the supermarket and at the same time keep an eye on Derek and make sure that he didn’t get lost or break anything. It was easier when he and Jayden did shopping together, but today Noah was all alone.  
  
Noah squirmed a little when he felt some wetness in his underwear, and he cursed Jayden for what he had done that morning. He had felt it in the dentist’s office too, and it was difficult to relax in the dentist chair when your panties were wet with your mate’s come. He had paid a quick visit to the dentist’s toilet afterwards to clean himself, but he couldn’t do it properly because had had to be quick since he had left Derek waiting outside the stall for him. At least now he was more or less clean down there.  
  
“Mommy, mommy! This!” Derek chirped, coming over to Noah with a bar of chocolate in his hands. He looked up at his mom with a hopeful expression on his face.  
  
Noah sighed. “No, no chocolate. We have chocolate and candy at home, and we don’t need more. Put it back where you found it, please.”  
  
Derek whined and pouted up at him in offense. He waved the chocolate bar in his hands to let Noah that he wanted it. “But I wanna!”  
  
“And I said _no,_ ” Noah spoke in a firm voice, giving Derek a look to let the boy know that the subject was not up for discussion.  
  
Derek pouted up at him before letting out a defeated grunt, followed by a sniffle because he was snotty. He threw the chocolate bar on the floor and padded over to check out another shelf that seemed interesting to him.  
  
“Derek!” Noah scolded, sighing in frustration at how Derek had just thrown the chocolate bar on the floor in defiance. He let out another sigh before picking up the chocolate and going over to put it back on its place. An older human lady chuckled at him, and it made him feel a bit embarrassed.  
  
Returning to his cart, Noah continued shopping and told Derek to stay close to him. The boy obeyed for once, and kept walking next to the cart while glancing around at all the interesting stuff on the shelves. Noah deliberately stayed away from the toys section.  
  
A few people in the supermarket would stare at them oddly, but Noah was accustomed to ignoring them and their whispering. At least no one had confronted them with remarks so far, for which Noah was grateful.  
  
When they entered the area with the frozen foods, Derek shivered at the cold and took refuge under Noah’s wing, letting it warm him. “Mommy, ‘s cold…” the boy murmured, glancing up at Noah from under his wing.  
  
Noah chuckled softly at him and wrapped his wing around his son. “Yeah, I know. But the food here has to be frozen, you know, otherwise it goes bad.”  
  
Derek made a small noise and continued walking close next to Noah so that he could stay warm under his wing. He played a bit with some of Noah’s feathers, and he sniffled and coughed once in a while. Noah knew he had to get Derek away from the cold fast, so he tried to hurry up and find some food to buy.  
  
Noah went over to the refrigerated displays to look at the meat in there. He picked up a few packages, contemplating what to buy.  
  
Derek grew increasingly impatient to get away from the cold area, but seeing his mom holding those packages made him curious too. He started moving around to Noah’s front and pawing at him to make him show him what he was holding in his hands. By accident, his hand hit right against Noah’s crotch while begging him to show him what he was holding, making Noah yelp. Noah was sensitive down there like betas and alphas were, though his junk didn’t have the same functions.  
  
Noah’s yelp of pain didn’t go unnoticed. A couple of beta angels and an alpha angel standing at the displays near them snickered when they saw what had happened, and Noah felt completely humiliated. They were ogling him in inappropriate ways, because seeing a submissive yelp when getting hit between the legs was perceived differently than if a male got hit there. It was like seeing a female getting hit in the boobs and complain from the pain, because it reminded males of their sensitivity in a sexual way. A submissive’s penis and balls were not perceived as masculine because they were smaller and didn’t have the same functions, except for being sensitive, and thus they were sexualized in a different way. It was utterly sexist how those guys were reacting to it, and Noah hated how they were staring at him because of it now.  
  
“Derek, don’t hit me,” Noah told his son, still wincing in pain and blushing from having those males stare and smirk at him like that. He lowered his hands a bit so that Derek could see the packages of meat he was holding.  
  
Derek was oblivious of what had happened. He stared at the packages and calmed down when his curiosity was sated. He then let out a sudden sneeze, and Noah was lucky that he managed to remove the packages before they got hit by the wave of bacteria coming from Derek’s mouth.  
  
“Derek, what have I told you about catching your sneezes with your hand or arm?” Noah said in a gentle voice. He pulled out of a tissue from his pocket when he saw Derek’s nose running, and he squatted down in front of the boy to wipe his nose for him.  
  
“Sorry…” Derek murmured, sniffling because of his cold. He resisted a bit when Noah wiped his nose, but eventually he let his mom help him and complied when Noah told him to blow his nose into the tissue.  
  
“You need to go home in bed soon, don’t you?” Noah said, smiling softly at Derek while wiping his nose. Being this close to Derek’s face, Noah couldn’t help but study his young son’s features. He looked a lot like Jayden, and Noah knew that Derek would one day grow up to be a handsome alpha like his daddy. It made him smile as he imagined it.  
  
Derek lifted his gaze and stared back at Noah with his grey eyes before nodding a bit. He was quite calm now, like he often was when Noah squatted down to level with him. It seemed to relax him, somehow.  
  
Noah gave his son a soft smile, but then suddenly felt someone bump into his wing while he was squatting in front of Derek. The person only hit some of his feathers, but it still made Noah shudder in violation. He looked up and saw an angry-looking older beta angel walk past him.  
  
“Keep your snotty half-breed at home before he infects us all,” the guy muttered, shooting Noah a warning look before he disappeared into another aisle.  
  
Noah glared at the man and tried not to be affected by the cruel words. Derek didn’t really understand what the guy had meant, so he just looked to Noah with confusion. A few other people had heard what the guy had said, but no one intervened. Luckily they weren’t laughing at it either, which did happen sometimes.  
  
After recovering from the insult and having had someone walk into his wing like that, Noah got up and proceeded with shopping. He quickly found some meat and dragged Derek away from the cold freezers, leading him towards the area with body products.  
  
Noah remembered that he needed to buy some shampoo and Jayden’s usual shaving cream, so he went over to look at some on one of the shelves. There were many products to choose from, and sometimes it was difficult to decide which shampoo to buy.  
  
A small screen on top of one of the shelves was showing some commercials for some of the products, and Noah wrinkled his nose a bit when it showed a naked submissive demon using a body shampoo in the shower. It didn’t show any genitals or intimate parts, of course, but the commercial was still utterly sexist because of the sensuality and excessive amount of skin display as the submissive showered. The commercial ended with a fully clothed alpha demon coming over to the sub afterwards, smirking almost lewdly while running a hand down the sub’s soft-looking arm, while the sub was shirtless. The way the submissive’s glistening wet wings were folded neatly behind his back and opening a bit when his mate got close to him was a clear sign of sexual submission. Although submissives were known to like submitting to their partners, it still made the commercial quite sexist.  
  
Sometimes Noah wondered when the sexist display of females and subs would ever end. It was uncomfortable to see big posters of half-naked submissives in the stores’ windows, and how they were displayed as sexual objects. The media was always full of stories about sexy female and submissive celebrities, and even gave betas and alpha tips on how to make a sub be a good little boy for them in bed. It was disgusting, Noah thought, but he was grateful that Jayden thought so too.  
  
Noah was so busy watching the commercial that he forgot to look out for Derek. He was brought out of his thoughts when suddenly he heard a loud crash and a cry coming from behind him, making him flinch and swirl around to see what was going on.  
  
His eyes widened when he saw Derek sitting next to a pile of shampoo bottles that had been placed in a tall pile on a table to be on display. Derek had somehow managed to bump into the table so hard that the bottles on it lost their balance and had fallen down, and they were now lying around all over the floor.  
  
“Derek!” Noah gasped, somewhat angrily, and rushed over to his son.  
  
Derek was sitting on the floor after having been hit by the falling shampoo bottles and had lost his balance. He cried, mostly from shock, and he let Noah help him up from the floor.  
  
Noah was busy checking Derek for injuries when a store employee came over, watching the scene in front of him in horror.  
  
“Is he alright?” the young human employee asked, looking at Derek with worry.  
  
“Yeah, I think so,” Noah said, standing up and facing the employee. “I’m so sorry! I turned my back on him for a second and then this happened… I’m really sorry.” He was utterly embarrassed by the commotion Derek had caused, and he blushed and lowered his head a bit when several people stared at him.  
  
“Uh, no problem. It happens,” the employee said, giving Noah a forced, reassuring smile. He was clearly a bit annoyed that he now had to clean the mess up, but he still looked very understanding of Noah’s situation.  
  
Noah apologized again before leading Derek away from the scene, hating how he could feel people stare at him.  
  
“Gosh, why do you always do such things, Derek? I’ve told you not to touch things in the store!” Noah scolded the boy in a hushed voice.  
  
Derek looked up at him with a sorry look on his face. “Sorry, mommy… Wanted to see…”  
  
Noah sighed and shook his head softly.  
  
Derek always got himself into trouble like that, and Noah swore it was going to give him grey hairs early.  
  


 

***

  
  
That day, Jayden was off work at 5:45pm. It was one of the days where he had to work fewer hours than usual, and he was looking forward to be able to spend the night with his family rather than being at work.  
  
He drove by David and Millie’s house to pick up Nathan on his way home, since Noah had called him earlier and asked him to pick up their son, who had been playing with Emily at her house after school that day. Sometimes Nathan and Emily played with together at each other’s houses after school, and Nathan always called his parents beforehand to ask permission when he wanted to go to Emily’s house for a bit.  
  
Today hadn’t been all that stressful at Jayden’s work, but he still felt a little tired when he arrived at David and Millie’s house. The pair greeted him at the door, and Nathan grinned when he saw that his daddy had come to pick him up.  
  
“Hi, daddy!” Nathan chirped, running over to hug Jayden.  
  
“Hey, squirt,” Jayden grinned, hugging his son back and ruffling his hair a bit. “Ready to go home?”  
  
Nathan nodded before turning around to say goodbye to Emily. “Gotta go now… Maybe you wanna come to my house on the weekend? Uncle Isaac is coming, so we’re gonna have water fights!”  
  
Emily grinned in excitement and curled her tail. “Okay!”  
  
David laughed at that. “Careful he doesn’t throw you guys in the inflatable pool again.”  
  
Last time Emily had been at their house while Isaac was there, Isaac had grabbed them both and put them in the small, inflatable pool while they still had all their clothes on. Jayden had had to call David and ask him to bring some dry clothes for Emily afterwards, since hers had been all cold and wet after the encounter with Isaac.  
  
Jayden chuckled and looked down at the kids. “He probably will.”  
  
“That wouldn’t surprise me,” Millie chuckled.  
  
“Then we’ll throw him in too!” Nathan blurted in determination, looking up at Jayden, since he’d need his dad’s help to throw Isaac into the pool.  
  
“Yeah, we’ll do that,” Jayden spoke, smiling and ruffling Nathan’s hair fondly.  
  
Nathan turned to say a final goodbye to Emily, and the two shared a small hug before Nathan pulled on his shoes, jacket, and picked up his schoolbag on his way out.  
  
“I’m glad you guys are still such good friends,” David spoke, smiling down at Nathan and Emily while running an affectionate hand through his daughter’s hair. Emily’s little sister Jenny was standing behind Millie, looking a bit shy in Jayden’s presence.  
  
Nathan frowned up at David, puzzled. “Why wouldn’t we be?”  
  
“’Cause sometimes boys and girls stop being friends when they get older.”  
  
Nathan and Emily shared a look, both looking a bit confused and somewhat scared.  
  
Millie laughed softly at that. “Well, it’s not always like that. Don’t worry.”  
  
Jayden chuckled at Nathan when he saw how scared his son was to lose his best friend. He gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before saying goodbye to David and Millie, and taking Nathan out to the car.  
  
It was still light outside, but the sun was setting. Things were rather quiet in the suburban neighborhood, where most families were having dinner right now, and a few people were walking their dogs on the sidewalks.  
  
“Wanna sit on the front seat?” Jayden asked as they walked over to the car, smirking at Nathan because he knew exactly what his answer would be.  
  
“Yay!” Nathan cheered, immediately running up to the passenger door and getting inside. He had to sit in a special seat for children, but when they were driving only from Emily’s house back to their own (which took about two minutes), Jayden sometimes allowed him to sit on the front seat anyway. The speed limit was very low in the area, and Jayden always drove carefully.  
  
Jayden chuckled at Nathan’s cheerful expression and got in from the other side. They waved at Emily and her family as they drove off, and Nathan giggled a bit when Emily used both her hands to wave back.  
  
When they couldn’t see the house anymore, Nathan turned and stared out the windshield. The sun was setting, but the houses shielded it from his eyes. There was silence for a moment until he turned his head to look at Jayden. “Dad? Do you really think that one day Emily and me won’t be friends no more?”  
  
Jayden glanced at him with a worried frown, but concentrated on driving. “No, of course not. You guys are best friends, right?”  
  
“Yeah. But then, why do some girls and boys stop being friends?”  
  
The question made Jayden sigh softly. “Well, that’s mostly because some of the other boys start teasing the boy about being best friends with a girl. Same if the boy is friends with a submissive.”  
  
Nathan’s frown deepened as he tried to understand it. “So… It’s because they become boy- and girlfriends…?”  
  
“Not exactly; other kids just tease them with being it. And there are boys who think it’s shameful to hang out with a girl, so they mock other boys who have girls or subs as friends.”  
  
“Because they think that the boy and girl are kissing?”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh a bit at that. “Yeah, I guess so. Some kids think it’s disgusting, so they tease others with it.”  
  
“It _is_ disgusting,” Nathan argued, wrinkling his nose. “You and mommy are gross when you kiss so much…”  
  
“Hey, that’s not gross,” Jayden argued and let out an amused laugh. “It’s just a way that mates show that they love each other. It’s not gross at all.”  
  
Nathan watched his dad curiously, tilting his head a bit. “So it feels nice?”  
  
Jayden was starting to squirm a bit in his seat now. The conversation was getting out of hand. “Well, yeah, it does… But you’re way too young to hear about that just yet. Ask me when you get older.”  
  
“Bah.” Nathan pouted in offense and shrunk into his seat a bit. He hated being told that he wasn’t old enough for something.  
  
They were almost home now. Jayden used that time to start another conversation with Nathan. “So, how was school today?”  
  
Nathan’s tail twitched next to him on the car seat, and his posture tensed a bit. “Good.”  
  
Jayden turned to look at him. He could tell that Nathan was lying. “What’s wrong?”  
  
Nathan shifted uncomfortably and started playing a bit with his own tail. “Oscar was being mean again…” he finally mumbled, not meeting Jayden’s eye.  
  
Jayden stepped on the brakes a little too hard when they arrived at their driveway. His jaw clenched when hearing that his son was once again having trouble with a boy in his school.  
  
For the past two weeks, some alpha boy named Oscar, who was in Nathan’s parallel class, had been harassing him sometimes. He had called Nathan some nasty words that he had likely heard his parents say about him, and he had pushed him around a bit. He hadn’t done much other than that, but Nathan was very uncomfortable whenever the other boy got near him.  
  
Jayden carefully pulled the car into the driveway and drove it into the garage. The garage door opened automatically when Jayden used the remote for it. He drove the car into place before turning off the engine and finally meeting Nathan’s eyes. “I’ll talk to his parents again, okay? I’m not letting him get away with it.”  
  
Nathan nodded quietly and swallowed. “But what if he gets meaner ‘cause of it…?”  
  
“Hey.” Jayden reached out and placed a big hand on Nathan’s shoulder, squeezing it softly. “It’ll be okay. I’ll take care of it.”  
  
Jayden’s reassuring smile relaxed Nathan, and he gave his dad a small nod before they exited the car together.  
  
Jayden stretched his limbs after getting out of the car, feeling some of his bones crack a bit. He sighed in satisfaction before walking out of the garage with Nathan. “Now let’s head inside. I bet mommy and Derek are starving already.”  
  
Nathan laughed and jumped up towards the front door. “Yeah, ‘cause mommy’s cooking isn’t as good as yours!”  
  
Jayden laughed but quickly got more serious. “Hey, you better not tell him that. You know it hurts him a bit.” He followed Nathan up to the door, which was locked as usual.  
  
A guilty look spread across Nathan’s face, and he gave a short nod. “Yeah. Sorry…”  
  
Jayden smiled and ruffled Nathan’s hair gently before unlocking the door for them. “No worries. Just be sure to give mommy a big hug and tell him you love him, okay? I’m sure that’ll make him happy.”  
  
Nathan grinned and nodded eagerly before entering the house.  
  
The entrance hall had been kind of a mess that morning because Derek had ravaged the shoe shelves, and because Nathan’s boots had been full of mud yesterday when he came home, after having spent lots of time outside in the rain, but now everything looked clean. Jayden could tell immediately that Noah had spent the afternoon cleaning up the house a bit while looking after a sick Derek, and the scent and look of a freshly cleaned house was nice to come home to.  
  
“Mommy! We’re home!” Nathan shouted out loud, like he always did when coming home from school. He quickly kicked off his shoes and let Jayden take his jacket before he ran off into the living room, where he knew Noah would be.  
  
And true enough, Noah was sitting on the couch and watching TV, while Derek was asleep next to him.  
  
Noah blinked when Nathan came running over to him with a big grin on his face, and then the boy jumped up on the couch and crawled over to give him a tight hug. “Hi, Nathan. What’s up?” he asked, a bit bewildered to have Nathan rush over to hug him like that.  
  
“Nothing,” Nathan murmured against Noah’s chest as he leaned into him. “Just love you…”  
  
Noah smiled and held Nathan close, pressing a soft kiss on his head. The boy smelled a bit like Millie’s perfume, and Noah chuckled when he could guess that he and Emily had been playing around with it at their house. “I love you too, sweetie.”  
  
Jayden entered the living room, smiling as he watched Noah and Nathan hugging on the couch.  
  
Derek had woken up when his big brother had barged into the room like that, and he groggily sat up on the couch and glanced around. His face lit up when he saw Nathan, and he immediately put on a big grin and crawled over to him.  
  
Nathan squeaked when Derek suddenly tried climbing up on his back and was pulling a bit at his wings while he was hugging Noah, and he gently tried to shake his brother off. “No, Derek! You’ll snot all over me!”  
  
Derek didn’t really listen, though. Seeing his brother made him burst with new energy, and he kept trying to get Nathan to play with him. Nathan was too tired, though, and kept trying to push him off, creating a smaller fight between them even though both were laughing.  
  
“Derek, you’re stupid!” Nathan laughed, turning around so that he was lying on his back in Noah’s lap and using his legs to gently kick Derek off.  
  
“ _You_ stupid!” Derek retorted, laughing and squealing as he tried to lie down on top of Nathan, only to have his brother push him off with his legs. Nathan’s tail was swishing back and forth on the couch, and Derek grabbed it sometimes, only to have Nathan squeak and push at him with his feet to make him let go.  
  
Noah was getting a bit squeezed with Nathan lying on his lap and flapping his wings against him, almost hitting him in the face sometimes. He chuckled at his sons and rolled his eyes at how hyper they suddenly were.  
  
The boys continued to wrestle on Noah’s lap; squealing, laughing, and being noisy and rather violent as they played. Noah tried to push them off him, but it didn’t really succeed. He _could_ raise his voice and tell them to get off him, but one the other hand he quite enjoyed watching the two of them play.  
  
“Hey!” came Jayden’s voice behind them all of sudden.  
  
Nathan and Derek immediately stopped and glanced up at their dad, thinking he was mad at them, but when they looked up they saw Jayden grinning down at them.  
  
“You two naughty boys! Get off your mommy!” the alpha warned playfully and reached down to pick up both of the kids.  
  
Derek shrieked when Jayden picked him up and placed him over his shoulder, and Nathan laughed and tried to kick Jayden’s hands away when the alpha reached for him next. Jayden was clever, though; he managed to reach Nathan’s stomach with his hand and tickle him, making the boy lose his focus and giving Jayden the chance to grab him next. Nathan squealed when Jayden pulled him up and threw him over his other shoulder, so that he now had two little boys screaming and kicking on his shoulders.  
  
Noah laughed as he watched the scene in front of him. It was nice seeing Jayden fool around with the boys, and the alpha grinned as he held on to their sons and refused to put them down.  
  
“Daddy! Let go!” Nathan laughed, hitting Jayden on the back with his hands. His wings flapped helplessly and bumped against Jayden’s head a bit, but he was careful not to hurt his dad.  
  
Jayden’s own wings were lowered and spread to have more room for the boys on his shoulders, and to make it more difficult for them to grab his feathers. He had of course softened his feathers so that the kids wouldn’t be hurt if they managed to grab some of them. He knew that Nathan wouldn’t pull his feathers too hard, but Derek was another story. The boy was too young and too reckless to consider that it might hurt Jayden if he did that.  
  
Jayden refused to put them down just yet, though. He roared playfully and spun around a couple of times, making the boys laugh even more. Derek was coughing between his laughter, though, but he was still enjoying himself a lot. His cold was beginning to subside already.  
  
Noah shook his head fondly at them and watched as Jayden took the boys with him towards the kitchen. Noah could hear their screams and laughter all the way there, and he slowly got up to follow them.  
  
Midnight had darted inside her castle to hide when the commotion started. The louds screams and squeals of the kids made her feel wary, and her castle was a safe place for her.  
  


 

***

  
  
The family shared dinner, helped each other with the dishes, and after that they spent a while in the living room together, watching TV and fooling around on the couch.  
  
Nathan and Derek were both eager to play a bit with their dad and kept trying to annoy him, though Derek wasn’t as active as usual because of his cold and him getting tired. They tumbled around on the couch, squealing, laughing, and tickling, until Noah told them to stop because he was tired and wanted to relax on the couch. The boys then settled down on the floor and played a bit together with Legos and some of their soldier figures.  
  
Jayden inched closer to Noah on the couch now that they had it all to themselves. Noah smiled when he saw what he was doing and moved closer as well, curling up next to Jayden with his legs folded in front of him. Their wings were a bit squeezed on the couch, and Jayden slung an arm over Noah’s shoulders and played absently with some of his feathers that were within his reach.  
  
“Should I stay home with Derek tomorrow? Or will you?” Jayden asked while they both stared at the TV. Some series was airing that neither of them knew that well, so it was difficult to figure out the plot.  
  
“Only if he’s still not well enough to go back to the daycare. I think he’s doing better today, so maybe he’ll be ready to go back tomorrow?” Noah replied.  
  
“Hm, true. We’ll just have to wait and see how he’s doing,” Jayden spoke, still playing a bit with Noah’s feathers. He liked how it made his mate purr absently. “How are things going with Jane, by the way? I totally forgot to ask you yesterday. Is she still trying to ignore you?”  
  
Ever since Noah had encountered Jayden’s enemy Chris in the kindergarten, Chris’ daughter Jane had kept her distance from him. She had said that her daddy had forbidden her to speak to him, except for when she needed his help in class, and it was pretty clear to Noah that the little girl didn’t quite understand why. She seemed very upset that her father didn’t seem to like Noah and didn’t want her speaking to him, but there wasn’t much that Noah could do about it. He didn’t want to anger Chris by making Jane break his ‘rules’, but on the other hand it was important for Jane’s success in kindergarten that they got along. Noah found himself in a dilemma that he did not know the solution for.  
  
“Yeah… I don’t know what to do,” Noah admitted, leaning a bit further into Jayden with a sigh. “I don’t want to make Chris have a reason to confront me by talking to Jane, but on the other hand it’s clearly upsetting her that her father is telling her she can’t talk to me or make friends with the angel children. I feel kind of sorry for her… She’s a nice girl, and she doesn’t understand what’s going on.”  
  
“Mm…” Jayden stroked his hand through Noah’s feathers while thinking about what his mate was telling him. “I don’t want Chris to get pissed either. I don’t trust that guy one bit, and the last thing I need is for him to get upset with you and possibly hurt you. Fuck, I hate this whole situation. Why doesn’t he just make his kids attend a demon-only kindergarten and school if he’s such a damn racist?” He grit his teeth as he spoke, feeling anger rise inside him whenever he thought of his old enemy.  
  
“Because all public schools are mixed schools nowadays, and it costs more to have your kids attend species divided schools… Besides, there are almost none of them left.”  
  
“Yeah, I know.” Jayden let out a deep, frustrated sigh. It was a good thing that the species divided schools were dying out, because that meant that angels, demons, and humans got along better, but in the case with racists like Chris it was a disadvantage. Jayden just really wished that Chris would fuck off and send his kids to a demon-only school so that he wouldn’t harass other parents or teachers for not living the way he thought was right. The guy had no regard for other people’s welfare, and Jayden did _not_ want him to be anywhere near Noah.  
  
Jayden was about to speak again when Derek suddenly padded over to them.  
  
“Mommy, daddy. Nathan stupid…” Derek murmured, sending a scowl in Nathan’s direction before looking up at Noah and Jayden, who were quite startled by that statement.  
  
“No, _you’re_ stupid!” Nathan protested, getting up from the floor and walking over to Derek with a glare on his face. “He’s just angry that I won’t let him destroy my Lego castle!” he said, pointing over at the tall Lego sculpture he had built. He was getting better at putting Legos together and building stuff, but he was still training.  
  
“ _You_ stupid!” Derek snapped, shoving Nathan hard in the chest in anger.  
  
Nathan growled and was about to push back when Jayden stopped him.  
  
“Hey!” Jayden said in a very loud voice that immediately made both of the boys straighten up and look at him. “Stop calling each other stupid. And Derek, you know not to destroy your brother’s stuff, and if he says you’re not allowed to do something, then you’re not. End of discussion.”  
  
Derek whined and scowled up at his dad, who was looking back at him with a very firm expression on his face. Next to him, Nathan was smirking in triumph.  
  
Feeling defeated and sullen, Derek grumbled slightly and crawled up to sit on Noah’s other side on the couch, coughing a bit from his cold. He crossed his arms and tried to look offended because his big brother once more got a bigger say than him.  
  
Noah gave Derek a sympathetic smile and stroked a hand through the boy’s hairs. “You look sleepy. Wanna go up to bed?”  
  
Derek nodded a bit and started coughing once more. Noah quickly reached for a tissue on the table to wipe Derek’s nose with when he got snotty again.  
  
“Hope he won’t infect me,” Nathan said, cringing.  
  
“If you were to get infected, he’d have infected you already. They say that a cold only infects other people just before the symptoms show,” Jayden said, smirking at Nathan when the boy looked up at him in horror.  
  
Noah rose from the couch and told Derek to jump down as well. “I’ll go put Derek to bed.”  
  
“Okay. Good night, Derek,” Jayden said, smiling at Derek and opening his arms so his son could get a hug.  
  
Derek grinned and let Jayden hug him very quick. After that he turned to Nathan. His brother stared at him before reaching out and ruffling his hair.  
  
“Night, baby,” Nathan giggled with a teasing tone in his voice.  
  
Derek let out an irritated grunt and hit Nathan on the arm, but his older brother just laughed at him. “Stupid!”  
  
“Shh, stop fighting,” Noah chastised and reached down to pick up Derek. The sleepy boy leaned into him for once and let him carry him upstairs to the bathroom to get ready for bed.  
  
Meanwhile, Jayden decided it was time to call Oscar’s parents and let them know that their son was still harassing Nathan in school sometimes.  
  
He knew it wouldn’t be an easy call, since Oscar’s parents believed in blood purity and did thus not like hybrids very much. He told Nathan to stay in the living and watch cartoons in the living room while he went to make the call in the kitchen.  
  
Last time Jayden had called Oscar’s parents to talk about their kids’ behavior, it had gone pretty bad. Oscar’s beta angel father was not a guy who wanted to listen to reason, and not even the teachers had been able to get across to him. It annoyed Jayden when people were as stubborn and narrow-minded like that guy.  
  
Oscar’s father was the one who picked up the phone when Jayden called. He sounded kind of angry when he realized it was Jayden calling him for the second time about his son’s behavior. He did not like being called by an alpha demon and have the person criticize his son. Jayden wasn’t afraid of the guy, though, and he maintained a firm tone throughout their conversation.  
  
_“My son hasn’t done anything wrong,”_ Oscar’s father insisted. _“He hasn’t_ hit _your boy, has he?”_ The question was asked with a snarl, showing clearly how irritated he was.  
  
Jayden had to clench his jaw and keep his tone firm to stop himself from snapping at the beta. The guy was being very uncooperative and it was pissing Jayden off. “No, but he’s pushing my son and calling him names, and I won’t put up with that. If you don’t get him to stop, I’m taking this matter to the principal.”  
  
_“Yeah, go ahead and whine about it to him! Maybe you just shouldn’t let your freak boy attend a public school in the first place!”_  
  
Something snapped inside Jayden at those words, and he let his anger get control of him for a moment. “Maybe you should teach your boy how to treat other people, so he won’t grow up to be an a-hole like his father!” he snapped, growling into the phone. He took a deep breath before adding, in an annoyed voice, “Get your boy under control, or I will complain to the principal. Nathan’s not the only boy who’s been bothered by Oscar, you know. Goodbye.” He hung up the phone abruptly, not having the patience or control to listen to the guy talking badly about Nathan again. He’d had enough of that already.  
  
Jayden put the phone away on the kitchen counter and rubbed his temples in circles, trying to calm down and get a grip of himself again. It was frustrating to meet people like Oscar’s father, who just wouldn’t listen and had no decency to treat other people nicely. Hating people was one thing, but ignoring your kid harassing others and being an asshole about it was just not right, and really got on Jayden’s nerves.  
  
“Daddy…?”  
  
Jayden looked up and spotted Nathan standing in the door to the laundry room, staring at him with worried eyes.  
  
Jayden then realized that his wings were all tense and sharpened from frustration, and that his tail was swishing back and forth violently in agitation. It had made Nathan feel a bit uneasy to see him like that.  
  
“Hey, bud,” Jayden smiled, trying to pretend like everything was fine. “Shouldn’t you be in bed soon?”  
  
“Yeah… But I wanted to see what you were doing.” Nathan walked towards Jayden with wary steps, sensing that something was bothering his dad.  
  
Jayden just smiled and pulled Nathan into a small hug when the boy came over to him. “Was just calling Oscar’s dad. He was being stupid, but I’ll make sure that something is done about Oscar, okay?”  
  
Nathan nodded against Jayden and lifted his head to stare up at him. “Okay.” There was trust in his voice and in his eyes, like he knew Jayden was going to make sure that this matter was handled, no matter what.  
  
Jayden smiled. “Now, go get ready for bed.” He gave Nathan a gently pat on the butt to usher him towards the bathroom.  
  
Nathan shrieked and giggled before running off towards the bathroom, and Jayden chuckled before going back to the living room. He had just made it to the couch when Noah returned, after having put Derek to bed.  
  
“Did you call Oscar’s parents?” Noah asked, walking over to Jayden and giving him a cautious look.  
  
Jayden let out a deep sigh and slumped back against the couch. “Yeah. His father was being an asshole. _Again._ ” He looked up at Noah and gestured for him to come closer. The submissive did so, and Jayden gently pulled him down and made him straddle his lap.  
  
Noah blushed a bit when he found himself straddling Jayden on the couch, and his cheeks got a bit redder when the alpha placed his hands on his ass and pulled him even closer.  
  
“Mm, you smell so nice,” Jayden hummed, leaning forward to nose at Noah’s neck and breathe in his scent. It distracted him from the frustration he felt, and it helped relax his instincts and make him calm down.  
  
Noah smiled and bared his neck to him, purring softly while letting Jayden hold him close. The big hands on his butt felt nice, and he let more of his weight rest on his shins to get comfortable. His hands were on Jayden’s shoulders, feeling the muscles flex beneath the shirt.  
  
A sudden press of Jayden’s lips against his bared neck made Noah’s breath hitch softly, and he let out a soft purr when he felt the alpha’s right hand travel up his back towards his wings. Jayden let his fingers brush over Noah’s oil glands, which were covered by his shirt, and Noah couldn’t help the loud, pleased moan that escaped from his lips. It felt so good being touched there, and Noah’s wings slumped behind him like a docile cat being pet.  
  
Their moment was interrupted when they suddenly heard Nathan’s voice saying, “What are you doing?”  
  
Noah flinched and turned his head to stare at Nathan, who was standing next to them and looking at them with a confused but curious frown on his face. His cheeks flushed in embarrassment over having been caught by their son.  
  
“Why are you touching mommy there? You’re not supposed to touch oil glands!” Nathan scolded Jayden, gasping in horror when he saw where Jayden’s hand was.  
  
Jayden just let out an amused laugh. “Hey, I can touch him there. He’s my mate, so I’m allowed.” He pinched Noah’s oil gland through the shirt to state his point, loving how Noah let out a loud squeak and flinched at the unexpected touch.  
  
“Connor!” Noah growled, blushing furiously while hitting Jayden hard on the shoulder to make him stop. He glared daggers at Jayden for being such an asshole, but the alpha just laughed at him.  
  
Nathan just stared at them with curious interest and bewilderment. “So… mates can touch each other wherever they want?”  
  
The question made Noah’s cheeks go impossibly red, and he hid his face slightly in Jayden’s shoulder while the alpha laughed.  
  
“Yeah, mates can touch each other wherever they like. Of course only if they both feel comfortable with it, like mommy and I,” Jayden answered.  
  
“So it’s true that mates sleep naked in bed together? Do you and mommy do that?” Nathan stared between them and wrinkled his nose a bit in disgust.  
  
“Yeah, we do.”  
  
The look of horror on Nathan’s face was priceless. “ _Ew!_ I’m _never_ gonna come into your bed again!”  
  
Jayden burst out laughing, while Noah’s embarrassment only grew stronger.  
  
“Hey, we always put on clothes when you and Derek come into our beds. Usually we keep our door locked when we’re naked, so you don’t get to see us; don’t worry,” Jayden said, still finding Nathan’s disgust pretty amusing.  
  
Nathan continued to look horrified and disgusted, until Noah finally removed himself from Jayden’s lap.  
  
“Let’s get you to bed now,” Noah spoke, trying to change the topic. He got up and grabbed Nathan’s hand to lead him upstairs.  
  
Nathan’s nose was still scrunched up, but he nodded at his mom’s words.  
  
Jayden chuckled at that and got up from the couch to follow them upstairs. It was his turn to read Nathan a bedtime story tonight, so he had to go with them.  
  
The embarrassment was quickly forgotten when Nathan climbed into his bed and read a bedtime story together with his dad. He was almost seven years old, but he still liked hearing stories before bed. His favorite ones were about pirates and superheroes, so Noah and Jayden had bought a few books about that.  
  
It probably wouldn’t be long until Nathan grew out of it – maybe only a few weeks or months – but for now both Noah and Jayden enjoyed reading stories with him, and sometimes with Derek.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again a slower update. I guess you can expect more of those, because I’m kinda busy lately. I still hope you enjoyed the chapter :) I like writing about Nathan and Derek, and there’s so much more to explore with them as they grow up. Also won’t be that long until another kid appears ;) I still have not made up my mind entirely about how many children Noah and Jayden will have. At least 4, but I don’t know if there will be more. It could be.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading! :)


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Halloween in this chapter and they are all dressed up. I have described all the costumes, but if you want to see what Noah's costume looks like, click [here](http://images.halloweencostumes.com/products/9794/1-1/womens-fairy-costume.jpg). His costume looks like that, but is in a light blue color and doesn't have the wings (he has his own wings), and his shoes are more flat :)
> 
> All character and verse desriptions can be seen [here](http://luciel89.livejournal.com/62063.html).

**October 2056 (Noah is 30, Jayden is 32, Nathan is 6 (almost 7), Derek is 2,** **Lucas is 28,** **Adrian is 40, Isaac is 35 (almost 36), Natalie is 38 (almost 39), Maya is 14, Aaron is 10, Ashley is 5, Kaylen is 31, Eliza is 7, Jake is 1 years old).**  
  
It was an ordinary Wednesday morning. Jayden had the day off, so he had offered to drive the kids to school and daycare and then drop Noah off at work. That way he could get their Hyundai to a mechanic (Dean, of course) to have it looked at during the day, since Noah wouldn’t be using the car.  
  
Dropping off Derek and Nathan went smoothly, and Nathan was excited when he said goodbye to them and ran into his school. He was looking forward to seeing Emily and his new friends again, though he didn’t particularly like getting homework in school.  
  
Noah usually always drove Nathan to school in the morning, except for when his work started later than 8am, then he’d let Nathan take the school bus so that he didn’t have to drive to Nathan’s school and then back home before going to work and dropping Derek off as well. Derek had no specific time that he needed to be in daycare, so Noah or Jayden could just drop him off whenever they wanted.  
  
After dropping off Derek and Nathan, Noah and Jayden were alone in the car, and Jayden proceeded to drive towards Noah’s workplace next. The mood was good, and Noah appreciated the sight of the morning sun casting pretty shades across the clear sky.  
  
“When will you be off work today?” Jayden asked as he approached the kindergarten and got ready to pull into the parking lot.  
  
“Um, at 4pm,” Noah replied, checking his work schedule on his phone just to be sure.  
  
“Alright. I’ll pick you up then.” Jayden pulled the car into a parking space and set the engine on standby, before turning to face Noah more. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at Noah with a worried but serious expression on his face. “Take care of yourself today, alright? With you guys going on a small trip with the kids and all that…”  
  
Noah knew it wasn’t the only reason why Jayden was telling him to take care. The alpha was still worried to death about Chris doing something to Noah. “I will,” he smiled. He let Jayden claim his lips in a short, chaste kiss before he grabbed his bag and got out of the car.  
  
Jayden watched from the car as Noah went into the kindergarten, and they waved at each other before the alpha drove off to get the car fixed at Dean’s work.  
  
Noah hurried into the kindergarten and greeted some of his colleagues when he came inside. Everyone greeted him with smiles, and they were always happy to see each other in the mornings. However, there was one colleague that Noah was especially eager to see that morning, and that was Lucas. Lucas hadn’t been to work for almost two weeks now, and Noah was pretty sure he knew why his friend had taken such a long vacation in October.  
  
Some of the children had already arrived in the kindergarten and were having fun outside until classes began. Most of the teachers were there as well, getting ready for a new workday.  
  
Noah made his way to the teachers’ kitchen to put his lunch in the fridge, and that was where he found Lucas. The other submissive was also putting his lunchbox into the fridge, and over by the sink stood one of their male colleagues (a human guy), who was sipping from his coffee.  
  
Noah beamed when he saw his friend. He greeted his human colleague before turning to Lucas. “Hi, Lucas.”  
  
Lucas blinked and looked up at him after having had his face buried in the fridge, and a wide smile appeared on his lips when he saw Noah. “Hi, Noah. Nice to see you again.”  
  
Noah smiled and came forward to hug Lucas.  
  
Their human colleague gave them a small smile before leaving the room, letting the two be alone in the kitchen. Classes started in ten minutes, so they all had to be ready soon.  
  
“Did you have a nice vacation?” Noah asked after they pulled back from the hug. He couldn’t help but smirk knowingly at Lucas, who blushed furiously at that question. Noah remembered Lucas telling him a few months ago that he and Caleb wanted to have a second child, so Noah knew that the past week and a half (which included weekends) had been spent riding out Lucas’ heat.  
  
“I… That’s…” Lucas stammered, completely red in the face. He cleared his throat and looked away from Noah while twitching in embarrassment. “Yes, it was nice… Stop giggling!” he chastised when he heard Noah giggle at him. He sent his friend a sharp glare, but he was too flustered to make it look serious.  
  
Noah stopped his giggling and looked at his friend with a smile, fumbling absently with his lunchbox in his hands, which he had yet to put in the fridge. “Sorry. I’m just happy for you and Caleb that your family will be expanding soon, if everything went well last week.”  
  
“I-Is it that obvious?” Lucas stuttered, utterly embarrassed. He shifted and twitched sheepishly, and his tail was curling and uncurling by his leg in a restless manner.  
  
“Yeah, it kind of is…”  
  
Noah knew exactly how embarrassing it was to take a vacation from work in order to ride out a heat. Heats were supposed to be private, but when you had to suddenly take 1-2 weeks off work outside the usual holidays, people could always guess _why._ The previous two times that Noah had taken time off work to make a baby with Jayden, he had been met by knowing smiles and looks by his colleagues when he had returned to work, and that was quite embarrassing. Of course none of them had been mean about it or made fun of it, but it was still something that made him feel pretty shy and self-aware. He didn’t need everyone to know that he had spent the last week on his knees with his mate knocking him up.  
  
Lucas groaned and hid his blushing face in his hands. “Gosh, this is embarrassing…!” His wings unfurled and tried to shield him so he could hide.  
  
Noah chuckled in sympathy and reached out to place a friendly hand on Lucas’ shoulder. “I know, but it’s nice for you guys. I can’t wait to see your new baby.”  
  
Slowly, Lucas peeked back at Noah from behind his hands, smiling shyly. “Thanks. Me too, if it succeeded… Are you and Jayden planning to have more kids as well?”  
  
Now it was Noah’s turn to feel embarrassed. “Um, we haven’t talked about it much yet, but I do think it’s something that we both want. I want to, at least…”  
  
Lucas smiled. “If I know Jayden right, then he wants that too.”  
  
Noah smiled and shifted sheepishly. He didn’t know when it would be a good time to have another baby, but he did want one someday, preferably soon. He had always wanted to have a big family, and he wanted to try for a girl next time he and Jayden decided to expand their family.  
  
A few screaming kids running by close to the kitchen reminded Noah and Lucas that they needed to hurry and get to their classes soon. Noah quickly put his lunch in the fridge before walking with Lucas towards their classrooms, getting ready to teach the kids for a few hours before the fieldtrip that day.  
  


 

***

  
  
The fieldtrip was to a small museum nearby the kindergarten, which was targeting children and had some nice activities for them to do. They were only gone for about two hours, but it was rather stressful keeping an eye on so many kids. Only half of the kindergarten classes had gone, since otherwise it would be too many kids to handle.  
  
Noah liked the fieldtrips. It was fun to hang out with the kids outside the classroom and the kindergarten’s playground, and it was nice to see how curious and fascinated they all were when they entered the museum. He had taken his English class with him on the trip, which Jane was a part of. Jane was still trying not to talk to Noah, like her dad had ordered her to, but he could sense that she really wanted to talk to him like all the other kids. He saw her glancing at him with a sad look sometimes, and could tell that it was fear of her father’s reaction that kept her from talking to him. Noah didn’t suspect that Chris was abusing Jane or anything like that, but the girl still respected him and didn’t want to displease him.  
  
They returned to the kindergarten at 3:30, after which Noah only had thirty minutes left of work until Jayden would come to pick him up. It had been a long and fun day, and he looked forward to going home and spending time with his family.  
  
Noah was sitting inside and looking after some of the kids who were playing around on the floor, when Lucas suddenly came over to him. The other submissive sat down on the chair next to Noah, who was a bit startled since he had been so occupied with watching the children play.  
  
“Um, Jane came over to me and told me that she forgot a shirt of hers at the museum,” Lucas spoke, looking at Noah somewhat warily.  
  
Noah frowned at him. “She talked to you?”  
  
Chris had made it clear that he didn’t like Lucas either, since he and Noah were so close, so he had also forbidden Jane from talking to him. Noah was quite surprised that Jane had talked to him anyway, but on the other hand, Chris didn’t hate Lucas much as he hated Noah.  
  
Lucas nodded. “She had asked Kia, but she didn’t know anything about the shirt since Jane is in your class and you were looking out for her the most, and I told her I don’t know either. So, have you seen her shirt somewhere? It’s a grey outer shirt with a cat on its back, she told me. Maybe you saw her taking it off somewhere?”  
  
Noah searched his memory of the museum, but couldn’t recall seeing the shirt lying anywhere. There had been a wardrobe at the museum, where people could take off their coats and shoes, and kids had left their jackets there. Jane must have taken her outer shirt off as well, but Noah couldn’t recall seeing it. In fact, he couldn’t recall seeing her having worn that shirt at all.  
  
“I think maybe she left it here? I don’t think she had it at the museum…” Noah got up and went to check the kindergarten’s wardrobes, hoping to find the shirt there. Lucas followed him.  
  
There were wardrobes and lockers for the children to leave their jackets, shoes, and bags behind in while staying at the kindergarten, and sometimes they would leave a shirt there if they felt too warm during the day.  
  
Noah and Lucas walked around and checked the wardrobes to see if the grey shirt should be there somewhere, hoping it wasn’t inside one of the lockers, which they couldn’t get into without the key.  
  
The wardrobes were a mess, since some of the children had been rather reckless with their own stuff, and because a group of boys had played in there earlier and had scattered some of the shoes and jackets around the room.  
  
Noah and Lucas walked around and tidied up a bit until they finally spotted what they were looking for.  
  
Noah sighed in relief and picked up the grey shirt, which he remembered having seen Jane wear once before. “Oh, here it is. I’ll go bring it to her.” He was utterly relieved that he had found it and that he wouldn’t have to face an angry Chris if the guy found out that one of Jane’s shirts had gotten lost on his watch. He had the feeling that even the slightest thing could piss him off, especially if it was _Noah_ who was involved.  
  
Lucas too was relieved, and together they went back to the playroom to find Jane and return her shirt to her.  
  
Jane was playing with two demon girls on the floor, laughing and having fun with them. They were playing with animal figures, and Jane was especially fond of one of the pony figures that the kindergarten had.  
  
Noah smiled at the scene and went over to give her back the shirt, but stopped for a second when he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to talk to her. He hesitated for a few seconds until he decided it was fine; Chris wasn’t around anyway, and he was just returning her shirt to her. It was completely harmless.  
  
“Jane?” Noah spoke as he came over to her. He watched as her head whipped around to look up at him, and saw fear and caution flash across her face. He put on a friendly smile to calm her down, and held out her shirt towards her. “Is this yours?”  
  
Jane’s eyes landed on the shirt, and they immediately widened in happiness. With a big grin, she jumped up from the floor and went over to take the shirt from Noah’s hand. “Thank you so much! I love this shirt. I was scared it was gone!” She grinned happily up at Noah and held her shirt close.  
  
Noah smiled and chuckled softly. “You’re welcome. It was by the wardrobes, so make sure you look there next time you lose something.”  
  
Jane nodded and beamed up at Noah while her tail curled beside her leg in a happy gesture. She flashed him a grateful smile before going back to playing with her friends.  
  
The small interaction with Jane made Noah smile. He was glad that she didn’t seem to hate him. Chris hadn’t managed to corrupt her that much – _yet,_ he thought bitterly.  
  
Afterwards, he and Lucas then started cleaning up the room a bit, since there were toys lying everywhere and it was looking messy. A few parents came over to pick up their kids, but most of them usually came after 4pm.  
  
Everything seemed peaceful and ordinary in the kindergarten, until just before 4pm, when Chris came to pick up Jane.  
  
Noah ignored Chris on purpose when he saw him entering the room, and he stayed as far away from him as possible. He cleaned up a bit in the other side of the room, and Lucas joined him, since he too didn’t want to be near Chris.  
  
He hated the days where Chris was the one who came to pick up Jane. Usually her mom picked her up, but sometimes it was Chris who came over. Noah never spoke to Chris or his mate when they came to pick up Jane. Chris’ mate was a pure blood fanatic as well, as far as he could tell, but she wasn’t nearly as mean or strict as Chris.  
  
“I hope he doesn’t find another reason to get upset with you,” Lucas murmured to Noah while they cleaned up together. He cast a wary glance over his shoulder to look at Chris.  
  
“Yeah…” Noah agreed, glancing over at Chris and Jane as well. He saw Jane telling Chris something and smiling up at him, until suddenly the mood changed completely. Chris looked furious all of sudden, and a look of horror spread across Jane’s face when her father suddenly stalked in Noah’s direction. Noah was unprepared by the sudden confrontation.  
  
“Hey!” Chris growled, stomping up to Noah with a very pissed off look on his face. “I told you not to talk to my daughter and you do it anyway?!” He spat out the words in anger and contempt, and Noah felt a shiver of fear run up his spine.  
  
Noah tensed when Chris suddenly stood right in front of him, looking angry and very agitated. The alpha’s wings were spread and sharpened, and it was quite frightening. He felt Lucas flinch and hide slightly behind him, since he didn’t do well with these kinds of confrontations at all.  
  
Noah found himself glancing at Jane, who shrunk a little behind Chris and looked back at him with a guilty face. She must have told her father that Noah was the one who had found her shirt when it got lost and had returned it to her.  
  
“I-I didn’t really talk to her. I just returned her shirt, which she had lost,” Noah told Chris, staring back at him and trying to remain calm and unafraid. He refused to shrink down in fear in front of him, even though his knees were weak with anxiety.  
  
“ _You_ don’t talk to her!” Chris just snarled in return, pointing an angry finger in front of Noah’s face and was growling in contempt.  
  
“Daddy, stop!” Jane whined behind him, grabbing at Chris shirt to calm him down. “Please dun yell at Noah…”  
  
Chris didn’t stop, though. He let out another growl and kept glaring at Noah with a look that sent cold shivers up Noah’s spine.  
  
Lucas was getting quite frightened. Noah could feel him shaking behind him, and he tried to reassure his friend by reaching out a hand behind himself and placing it on Lucas’ arm for comfort. That seemed to help a little.  
  
“I haven’t talked to her,” Noah insisted, glaring back at Chris. “And please back off; you’re frightening everyone.” He glanced briefly at the five other children, who were watching the scene in horror. They didn’t understand what was going on, but they sensed the tension, and the aggression in Chris’ voice and stance scared them.  
  
“Don’t. Give. Me. Orders,” Chris growled, his wings rising as he only got more and more agitated and aggressive.  
  
The way those sharp feathers were starting to point more towards him now was making Noah quite nervous. He was just about to snap at Chris to make him back off, when suddenly a very angry Jayden came over and gave Chris such a hard shove that the other alpha almost fell to the ground.  
  
Everyone in the room gasped, and Noah stared wide-eyed as Jayden growled in anger and spread his sharpened wings at Chris, who was trying to regain his balance.  
  
It had been a long time since Noah had last seen Jayden looking so pissed off, but the sight of his mate looking strong and dominant in front of Chris immediately made Noah feel more reassured. He wondered for a moment why Jayden was even there, until he remembered that it was 4pm now and Jayden had come to pick him up.  
  
“Daddy!” Jane gasped when she saw her father getting shoved like that.  
  
“Stay _the hell away_ from my mate!” Jayden snarled at Chris, clenching his fists and teeth in anger.  
  
Lucas grabbed the opportunity and sneaked out from behind Noah to go over and take the other kids somewhere else, so that they wouldn’t be more frightened than they already were. He was also going to alert some of their other colleagues, who were in the other room.  
  
Chris whirled around to face Jayden, and his expression darkened when he saw him. He snarled at him, but didn’t dare to shove Jayden back. Instead, he pointed another accusing finger at Noah and said, “Your freak of a mate was talking to my daughter. I _told him_ I don’t want him talking to her!”  
  
“He’s her _teacher,_ you dumbass! Communication can’t be avoided!” Jayden snapped back. He was getting utterly fed up with Chris’ behavior towards Noah, and he wouldn’t tolerate the way he was speaking to and about him. It pissed him off, and he had a hard time controlling himself around Chris when all he wanted was to punch him and tell him to never speak to Noah ever again.  
  
“What did you call me?!” Chris snapped, growling as he took a step towards Jayden, who didn’t even twitch.  
  
Jane was crying in distress, not liking the raised voices and her dad being angry at all. Noah wanted so badly to soothe her, but he knew that if he talked to or tried to approach her in any way, Chris would only get more pissed off. Besides, he had to pass Chris to get to Jane, and he was too scared to do that.  
  
“You heard what I called you,” came Jayden’s cool reply, standing in front of Chris like a rock that wouldn’t budge or back down.  
  
Chris let out a snarl and glared back at Jayden like he wanted to kill him, but Jayden still refused to step back and be intimidated.  
  
The tension in the room was so strong that you could cut it with a knife, and Noah felt himself swallow nervously while taking a small step closer to Jayden. His own wings were raised in a defensive stance to make Chris back off, but most of Chris’ attention was on Jayden right now.  
  
Finally Lucas returned to the room with his and Noah’s human boss Elizabeth, who came over to calm the situation down.  
  
“Sir, I will have to ask you to lower your voice and take Jane home now,” Elizabeth said, her voice calm and unthreatening as she looked at Chris. “Your daughter is clearly upset, and so are the other children, so please… Take her home.”  
  
Chris finally glanced down at Jane, who was crying and looking up at him in slight fear. His wings immediately relaxed and folded themselves behind his back, and he looked sort of guilty all of sudden. He reached out a hand towards Jane, who flinched a bit at the motion. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s go home now. Daddy’s sorry that he scared you…”  
  
Jayden watched Chris carefully, finding it exceptionally odd to see Chris’ face soften up as he looked down at little Jane. Jayden’s own wings were still raised, mostly out of instinct to protect his mate, but they lowered a bit once Chris took a less threatening stance.  
  
Jane sniffled and nodded before taking Chris’ hand.  
  
Chris gave his daughter a soft smile and proceeded to leave, but when he passed Jayden he shot him a dark, sharp glare. “Get your sub under control,” he bit out, only for Jayden to hear, before rudely pushing past him and leaving.  
  
Jayden’s lips curled into a small snarl, and he continued glaring at Chris until the guy was out of his sight. Chris’ sexist words only pissed him off more, but he didn’t want to show that in front of the innocent children, who were watching them from the doorway to the other room. Lucas was standing a few feet behind Elizabeth, still looking rather freaked out by the whole situation.  
  
Everyone sighed in relief once Chris was gone, and the children seemed much calmer now.  
  
Elizabeth sighed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “This is getting out of hand. That man just won’t listen to reason – and believe me, I’ve _tried._ ” She had heard about the problem with Chris from Noah and Lucas, and she had witnessed once before how Chris had acted like a jerk when he saw Noah.  
  
Jayden folded his wings behind his back and turned his head to look at Noah’s boss. “Yeah, he’s always been like that. And I’m sorry that I’ve caused such commotion in the kindergarten… I just had to protect Noah from him.” He glanced towards Noah, who was standing by his side now. The submissive gave him a small, grateful smile in return.  
  
“I understand, but please be less ‘alpha’ about it next time. I don’t want the children to get scared while they’re here, and violence is certainly not tolerated at this place.”  
  
“Understood. I’ll try.” Jayden let out an uneasy chuckle before gently reaching out to grab a hold of Noah’s hand to reassure him. Taking Noah’s hand and feeling it squeeze his own made Jayden feel more relaxed as well.  
  
Elizabeth nodded and seemed pleased, and she gave Lucas a reassuring pat on the shoulder before going over to the children to comfort them next. She sat down with them and tried to explain to them what had happened, so that they would feel more reassured and less confused.  
  
Meanwhile, Lucas twitched uneasily on his feet, and Noah could tell that his friend wasn’t doing that great.  
  
“Hey,” Noah spoke softly, letting go of Jayden’s hand to go over to Lucas. He reached out and ran his hand up and down Lucas’ arm to comfort him. “You okay?”  
  
Lucas stared back at him, and Noah could tell that he was still a bit freaked out. The submissive demon nodded once. “Y-Yeah, I’m okay. I just don’t like this…”  
  
Noah pulled him into a hug. Lucas immediately relaxed, and he slowly buried his face in Noah’s neck and moved his arms up to hug him back.  
  
Jayden watched them with a small smile and gave them some space. He was angry that Chris was so blinded from his hatred towards hybrids that he was acting careless when he got aggressive towards one. He felt sorry for Jane that she had to witness her own father act like that.  
  
After a few moments, Lucas pulled away from the hug and inhaled deeply to calm himself down. “I-I’m okay now.”  
  
Noah gave him a smile. “Okay. Otherwise, let me know.”  
  
Lucas nodded at that and offered Noah a small smile.  
  
“And, uh, I’m sorry if I made you even more scared earlier,” Jayden spoke, rubbing his neck guiltily while gazing at Lucas.  
  
“No, no! You didn’t,” Lucas insisted. “I would have been more scared if you hadn’t come to stop him.” He offered Jayden a sincere and grateful smile, which made the alpha feel a little less guilty about it.  
  
“Still, I know you don’t like violence and such…”  
  
“It’s fine. You were just protecting Noah,” Lucas spoke, smiling.  
  
Jayden smiled back, and Noah felt himself blush a bit despite smiling.  
  
After Lucas was feeling better and promised them that he was fine, Noah and Jayden left the kindergarten and went out to their car. They had to pick up Nathan and Derek from the after school and daycare and then go home.  
  
It was still light outside, but the air was kind of chilly and the sky was rather cloudy. It would be nice to come home and sit in a warm room while relaxing with the kids.  
  
Noah was very relieved that he hadn’t had to confront Chris more than he had. Jayden had showed up at just the right moment. He held Jayden’s hand as they walked towards the car, feeling utterly grateful that Jayden had come inside the kindergarten to pick him up instead of waiting for him outside.  
  
“Are you okay?” Jayden asked, casting a worried look at Noah as they walked over to the car. Their wings touched a bit as they walked side by side and held hands. “Things were getting pretty bad before I showed up…”  
  
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Noah promised, smiling up at Jayden. “You got here in time.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m a bit scared of what he would have done if I hadn’t showed up…” Jayden confessed as he unlocked the car. He placed himself by the driver’s door, and Noah stood in front of him.  
  
Noah thought about that for a second. “I don’t think he would have harmed me directly,” he said, although with some doubt in his voice. “I don’t think he’s stupid enough to do that, ‘cause he knows that he can be charged with assault if he did, but he was getting pretty threatening… If he had stepped any closer, I would have kicked him in the crotch.”  
  
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at Noah’s last words. “Yeah, you do that if he ever gets near you again. Kick the hell out of him and don’t let him overpower you.”  
  
Noah chuckled and smirked up at his mate. “I will.”  
  
The alpha let out a fond, amused chuckle and ruffled Noah’s hair in affection before gesturing at him to get into the car. He was glad that Noah seemed pretty okay after what had happened, but Jayden was still very unsettled. He feared that things with Chris wouldn’t get any better.  
  


 

***

  
  
A couple of weeks passed without incident. Jane was still not talking much to Noah, but she had started asking for his help a bit more often during class. Noah always tried to be as professional as possible to not make Jane feel too guilty about disobeying her father’s orders of not talking to him, and he was trying not to give Chris another reason to get upset with him. He figured that if he helped Jane become a better student, then maybe Chris would cool off a bit.  
  
At the end of October was Halloween, and Noah, Jayden, and their kids headed to L.A. to visit Isaac and Kaylen for the spooky event. October 31st fell on a Tuesday that year, but Isaac had persuaded them to come over anyway. School didn’t start until 9:30am the next morning (they could thank for schools for letting the kids sleep in a bit longer, since they’d be out trick-or-treating all night), and Noah and Jayden’s work also started pretty late the next day, so it wasn’t much of a problem for them to sleep over in L.A.  
  
Noah had been looking forward for a few days to spend Halloween at Isaac’s fancy house in L.A. He didn’t get to see Isaac and Kaylen that often, and Isaac had also invited Adrian and his family over, so Noah was excited to be spending time with both of his older brothers that evening.  
  
Isaac’s house was as big as they remembered when they arrived; it was more than twice as big as Noah and Jayden’s own house, and it had an indoor as well as an outdoor pool. There was a big wall all around the property, and at the gate you had to press a code in order to enter.  
  
“I’m always wondering if Isaac is compensating for something when we come here and see the big house he has,” Jayden spoke with a chuckle as he, Noah, and the kids walked up to the front door. He was holding Derek’s hand to make sure that the boy didn’t run off and got lost in the big garden, which was full of flowers, bushes, and trees.  
  
Noah rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help but be amused. “I don’t really want to think about it…”  
  
Jayden laughed.  
  
“Daddy, daddy! Can I ring the doorbell?” Nathan asked, jumping eagerly as they headed up to the door.  
  
“Sure, but I think they already know we’re here. We got through the gate, after all,” Jayden told him with a chuckle.  
  
And he was right. They had just gotten to the steps by the front door when Isaac swung the door open and grinned at them.  
  
“Hey, guys! Welcome to my big palace!” he grinned, making gestures with his arms as if introducing the place.  
  
“Jeez, Isaac. We’ve been here before,” Noah groaned, rolling his eyes at his silly brother.  
  
“So what?”  
  
Isaac grinned as he came forward to hug Noah, and he bumped tails with Jayden afterwards to greet him.  
  
“Aw, I didn’t get to ring the doorbell,” Nathan pouted sulkily, bumping lightly into Noah’s wing as he stood next to him.  
  
“Oh, you can ring it,” Isaac told him. “Just ring the crap outta it – I love how it annoys Kaylen,” he grinned.  
  
With a big, excited grin, Nathan reached up and rang the doorbell, snickering as the noise of the bell echoed through the house.  
  
“Me too! I wanna try!” Derek whined and came over to stand next to Nathan. He reached up to ring it too, but he was too short to reach it since it was placed pretty high. Frustrated, he whined and tried standing on his toes to reach. “Nooo, can’t reach…”  
  
Jayden and Noah laughed at the boys.  
  
“Come on, I’ll help,” Nathan offered and moved to stand behind Derek. He then reached his arms around his little brother and squeezed him tight while lifting him up so he could reach the doorbell. It was a bit difficult for him, and he tried not to hurt Derek’s wings as they got squeezed between his chest and Derek’s back. At least they were still pretty small and not so much in the way.  
  
Derek squealed in joy when he could finally reach, and he kept pushing the button over and over while grinning.  
  
_‘Dingdong-dingdong-dingdong’_ echoed through the entire house, and the funny noise made both Nathan and Derek snicker uncontrollably.  
  
“Jeez, guys. You’re too easily amused sometimes,” Jayden chuckled with a fond shake of his head.  
  
Isaac laughed his head off when he saw how much fun they were having, while Noah couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for Kaylen, who hated the sound of that doorbell.  
  
“ _Isaac!_ Will you stop making all that noise!” came Kaylen’s voice from somewhere inside the house, making Isaac and Jayden laugh out loud.  
  
“It’s not me who’s doing it!” Isaac yelled back, still laughing.  
  
“Come on, guys. Stop it already,” Noah told his sons and gestured at Nathan to put Derek down again.  
  
Nathan nodded and did as he was told, whereas Derek started to whine and cry in complaint.  
  
“Nooo! I wanna ring!” Derek complained, staring up at them as if they had just burned his favorite toy or something.  
  
Jayden chuckled and ruffled Derek’s hairs fondly. “You can ring it again later.”  
  
“But I wanna ring nooow!”  
  
“No, you can ring it later,” Jayden insisted.  
  
Derek pouted and sulked for a bit, but he didn’t argue any further.  
  
Isaac finally invited them inside, and that was when Kaylen, Adrian, Natalie, and the kids came over to greet them.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Adrian grinned as he came over to pull Noah into a hug. “Sorry we showed up so slow. We got caught up in a discussion, until the doorbell started cooking our brains.”  
  
The kids all giggled at that, and the others laughed.  
  
Noah smiled as he hugged Adrian back, feeling joy at seeing his oldest brother again. Adrian was the sibling that he saw least often, unfortunately. It felt nice as Adrian wrapped his strong arms around him and ruffled his hair fondly like he always did.  
  
After the hug, Adrian moved on to greet Jayden by sharing a more manly hug with him and bumping tails.  
  
Meanwhile, Noah greeted Kaylen, Natalie, and the kids, who were all gathered in the big entrance hall of Isaac’s house.  
  
Kaylen was standing with little Jake on his arm, and he beamed when he and Noah greeted each other.  
  
“Hi, Jake,” Noah smiled at the baby after he had greeted everyone. He reached out and shook the boy’s tiny hand gently, watching him with a smile. “You got so big.”  
  
“Yeah, he grows like a weed!” Isaac said, poking little Jake gently in the stomach and making a funny pop noise with his tongue as he did so. Jake giggled and leaned into Kaylen, while his little wings wrapped a bit around himself. Like his sister Eliza, Jake had red demon wings with some brown in them, although Eliza had a bit of white in hers as well.  
  
“I think Derek’s grown a lot too,” Natalie commented, glancing down at Derek with a soft smile. She watched as Derek walked around and took in the place with curious eyes after Jayden had helped him out of his shoes and jacket. “Is he still wrecking your house?” she asked, looking up at Noah and Jayden.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Yeah, sometimes. He’s always running around, and all his damn toys are all over the house. Poor Midnight is scared of him ‘cause he always wants to pull her tail.”  
  
“Yeah, he’s mean,” Nathan murmured and glared lightly at his little brother.  
  
Maya snickered. “All little brothers are.”  
  
“Hey!” Aaron complained, shooting his older sister a glare for saying that. Aaron was Adrian and Natalie’s alpha son and he had just turned 10 years old the day before. Maya was 14 already, and their younger sister Ashley was 5.  
  
Derek wasn’t listening much to them. He had gone over to investigate a big plant near the front door, and he was staring to grab the small pebbles at the bottom of the plant and throwing them on the floor.  
  
“Derek!” Noah scolded when he saw what his son was doing. He quickly went over and grabbed a hold of both of Derek’s curious hands, stopping him from doing more harm. “I’m sorry about that,” he told Kaylen, turning his head to look at him.  
  
Kaylen laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I forgot to secure the house against small Dereks anyways.”  
  
The others laughed, and Derek whined softly as Noah kept holding on to both of his hands while leading him back over to the others so he wouldn’t do anymore bad things.  
  
Maya chuckled as she watched the grumpy frown on Derek’s forehead grow as Noah kept his hands restrained in a gentle hold. “He’s so cute.”  
  
“No cute! Am alpha!” Derek protested, looking up at Maya with a firm face.  
  
Everyone laughed at that, but Derek just continued to look serious.  
  
“Oh, I like his confidence!” Isaac laughed, always finding Derek’s actions and words very funny.  
  
Nathan was a bit embarrassed by his silly little brother, but when he saw that everyone was amused by it, it helped.  
  
They headed inside to the living room, which was rather big. Isaac had a huge flat screen TV in one end of it, surrounded by couches and chairs, and in the other end was a big pool table. Around the room were paintings, shelves and cupboards with movies, books, and other stuff, and a few family photos from both Isaac and Kaylen’s family. Just outside the terrace door was the outside pool, which Noah and Jayden both kind of envied them for having.  
  
Jayden, Noah, and Nathan were staring around the big room when Nathan suddenly flinched. Isaac and Kaylen’s black lab dog had just walked over to him and butted his wet nose against Nathan’s hand, startling him.  
  
“Roy, don’t scare our guests,” Kaylen told the dog firmly when he heard Nathan squeak in surprise.  
  
Nathan giggled at the dog and petted him gently.  
  
“Ah, I almost forgot you got a dog,” Jayden chuckled, petting Roy as well when the dog came over to him next.  
  
“Yeah, but he’s naughty,” Eliza said. “He eats our plants and upsets mom.”  
  
Isaac barked out a laugh. “And he eats shoes too!”  
  
“You know you can train the dog to stop doing that, right?” Adrian said, raising his eyebrow at Isaac in an unimpressed manner.  
  
“Yeah, yeah. We haven’t even had him for that long. Only like two years.”  
  
“Two years is more than enough time.”  
  
“Yeah, which is why I’m calling a dog trainer next week to help. You surely aren’t good at training anyone,” Kaylen told Isaac with a roll of his eyes.  
  
“Hey!” Isaac protested, hearing the others laugh.  
  
Roy walked around to everyone and received lots of petting and pats. Derek and Ashley were especially eager to pet him, and Noah was careful to keep an eye on Derek to make sure that he didn’t try to pull the dog’s tail or something.  
  
“So, what are you guys dressing up as tonight?” Adrian asked, looking around at everyone as they gathered near the couches.  
  
“I’m dressing up as a skeleton!” Eliza chirped excitedly. “And mommy and daddy are both gonna be pirates.”  
  
“Pirates?” Jayden repeated, looking at Isaac and Kaylen in mild surprise.  
  
“Yep! I’m the pirate king and this is gonna be my naughty pirate queen,” Isaac grinned, snaking an arm around Kaylen’s waist and pulling him closer.  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes and rocked Jake lightly on his arm. “Or; I’m the pirate queen and you’re my bitch.”  
  
“Oi!”  
  
The others laughed out loud as Isaac shot Kaylen an offended look.  
  
“What about you guys?” Jayden asked then, looking Adrian and his family.  
  
Adrian glanced at Natalie before speaking. “Well, the kids bought me a Thor costume, so I guess I’ll be going as him. And Natalie will be a bloody nurse.”  
  
“Yep. Ashley thought the costume would look good on me, so bloody nurse it is,” Natalie chuckled, glancing down at her and Adrian’s five-year-old daughter Ashley.  
  
Ashley curled her tail and grinned. “Yep! And Imma be a princess!”  
  
“Ohh, a princess,” Noah smiled. “I bet you’ll be beautiful.”  
  
Ashley giggled sheepishly and hid a bit behind her sister Maya while looking up at Noah with a shy smile.  
  
Maya smiled and ran a hand through Ashley’s hair before saying, “And well, I’m going as Black Widow. Love the Avengers, and my dad is Thor anyway, so we’ll make a nice team.”  
  
“Yeah. Daddy’s girl,” Natalie teased her daughter and gave her a gentle nudge on the arm. Maya just snickered and glanced at Adrian, who chuckled.  
  
“Sounds pretty cool,” Jayden said. He looked at Aaron then. “What about you, big guy?”  
  
Aaron looked pleased to finally be asked, and he grinned almost slyly. “I’m going as an archer, with bows and arrows and stuff.”  
  
Everyone looked a bit surprised at that, so Adrian explained, “Aaron recently starting practicing archery after school. Natalie and I wanted him to do some sports, and he chose archery.”  
  
“Oh wow, that’s cool!” Nathan exclaimed, staring at his alpha cousin in awe.  
  
“Whoa! Gotta watch out for flying arrows then!” Isaac said, taking a cautious step back.  
  
Aaron laughed. “Yeah, or I’ll shoot one in your butt, Uncle Isaac.”  
  
“Damn, you better not! _No one_ shoots things at my butt! I love my butt!” Isaac placed both of his hands on his ass, acting like he was trying to protect it. His used his wings to provide a better shield, and his tail curled around his leg as he playfully tried to act scared.  
  
Everyone laughed out loud, and the kids found Isaac’s comment incredibly amusing.  
  
“What about you guys?” Adrian asked next, looking at Noah, Jayden, and their kids.  
  
“I’ll be Spiderman!” Nathan exclaimed in excitement, grinning up at Adrian as he spoke. “And Derek will be a knight. We bought some fake armor and sword for him.” He glanced at Derek, who grinned in excitement about dressing up.  
  
“Oh, sounds pretty cool,” Maya smiled.  
  
“Good thing that sword is fake, otherwise I’d really need to watch out for my butt tonight,” Isaac murmured.  
  
“Jeez, Uncle Isaac,” Maya laughed.  
  
The others laughed as well, especially the kids.  
  
After the laughing was over, it was Jayden’s turn to tell what he was dressing up as. “And well, I’m going as a vampire. Nathan made me pick a vampire costume at the shop, so I guess I have no choice.” He glanced down at Nathan and ruffled his hair fondly.  
  
Nathan grinned up at his dad. “Vampires are cool!”  
  
Eliza stared up at Jayden with expectant eyes. “Does your costume have sharp teeth too?”  
  
“Of course,” Jayden grinned.  
  
“Yeah, can’t be a vampire without the teeth,” Adrian chuckled and gave Jayden’s tail a small bump with his own.  
  
“And what about you, Noah?” Kaylen asked, looking at Noah next. “Did you decide yet?” Last time they had spoken, Kaylen had asked him about what he wanted to dress up as, but Noah hadn’t been sure yet.  
  
A big blush suddenly spread across Noah’s cheeks, and he shifted uneasily as everyone directed their expectant stares at him.  
  
Jayden smirked when he noticed how embarrassed Noah was, so he decided to speak for him. “Well, he lost a bet with me, so I got to choose his costume this year.”  
  
“Oh? So what will he be going as?” Isaac asked, sounding increasingly curious.  
  
Jayden grinned smugly at Noah, whose blush deepened, but Nathan beat him to answering Isaac’s question.  
  
“Mommy is going as a fairy!” Nathan grinned, all excited. “And his costume is so pretty! It’s like a dress!”  
  
Noah almost died from embarrassment when everyone stared at him with small gasps.  
  
“Noah’s wearing a _dress?!_ ” Isaac blurted, gaping at Noah before collecting himself again. “Damn, I gotta take photos of that!”  
  
Noah grimaced at the mention of photos. He hated having his photo taken.  
  
“Ohh, I bet you’ll look pretty,” Natalie grinned.  
  
“Um, thanks,” Noah murmured, feeling his cheeks flush even harder.  
  
Jayden grinned and wrapped his tail around Noah’s lower leg. “Yeah, it _does_ look good on him, I think. Managed to catch a small glimpse when he tried it on, but he shut the door in my face before I got a good look at it.”  
  
Kaylen laughed. “Aww, don’t be embarrassed, Noah. I’ve always pictured you to look pretty in a dress. Certainly much prettier than _me._ ” Kaylen was a little bit more boyish than Noah, and wearing dresses and girly things in full public wasn’t really his thing. He’d only wear them when he was alone with Isaac.  
  
“That’s not true,” Noah argued softly, still twitching in embarrassment.  
  
Most submissives wore gender neutral clothes, but also sometimes wore either more masculine or feminine clothes. A submissive wearing a dress was not something that was made fun of like if a male did it, but it wasn’t something that you would often see them wearing in public. Most submissives avoided wearing dresses because it often provoked catcalls and unwanted comments or touches from males. On Halloween, at private parties, or at home it was not entirely unusual for submissives to wear more feminine clothes, though.  
  
“Man, can’t wait to see you in that,” Isaac laughed.  
  
Noah shot Isaac a glare for finding it funny that he’d be wearing a fairy dress for Halloween. Noah didn’t mind wearing a dress, but it was a bit embarrassing. His legs and shoulders would be pretty exposed, and the fact that the dress was rather feminine made him feel very self-conscious when wearing it. Still, he was pretty excited about it. He liked the dress a lot, even if it was girly.  
  
Adrian’s lips curled into a smug smirk as he glanced at Jayden. “Yeah, I bet Jayden can’t wait either.”  
  
That comment almost killed Noah. He wanted so badly for the floor to swallow him then, especially when the others laughed at it.  
  
“Yeah, you got me there,” Jayden grinned.  
  
Nathan frowned as he glanced between the adults in confusion. “Why? It’s just an outfit.”  
  
“You got so much to learn about adult stuff…” Aaron murmured, looking a bit awkward as he listened to what the adults were talking about. Next to him, Maya laughed, while Ashley was more busy interacting with Derek and the dog rather than listening to the adults talking.  
  
“Oh, you know about adult stuff already, Aaron?” Isaac asked, suppressing a snicker.  
  
“Yeah, mom and dad told me last year,” Aaron replied, standing with his arms crossed and looking rather confident as he straightened his back. Alpha boys often started acting more proud and less childish around the age of 10-12. Though Aaron still played with toys sometimes, he was already starting to act less and less like a child and instead take interesting in more challenging and mature things, like archery.  
  
“What’s the adult stuff you’re talking about?” Eliza asked, looking just as confused as Nathan.  
  
“Whooooa.” Isaac quickly came over to stand behind Eliza, reaching down to cover her ears. “You’re waaaay too young to know that yet, sweetheart! It’s nasty stuff and it’ll give you nightmares.”  
  
Eliza just leaned her head back and frowned up at her dad, looking completely lost about what they were implying.  
  
“Yeah, way too young,” Kaylen agreed.  
  
“Oh wow. I never thought I’d see a day where Isaac _isn’t_ eager to tell someone about the birds and the bees,” Adrian spoke, crossing his arms while smirking teasingly over at Isaac.  
  
Isaac shot his older brother a glare and stepped away from Eliza, brushing her tail with his own. “Bah. Shut up, goat butt.”  
  
“Nice, Isaac. Very mature,” Adrian chuckled.  
  
Isaac stuck his tongue out at Adrian, who just laughed at him.  
  
The others laughed too, and Noah was a bit embarrassed by his childish brothers. The kids, however, were extremely amused – except for Ashley and Derek, who were too busy running around the room and playing with the dog because all the talking bored them.  
  


 

***

  
  
In the evening they all shared dinner together in Isaac and Kaylen’s big dining room. Kaylen had prepared lots of lasagna for everyone, and there was ice cream for dessert. Pumpkin heads with candles inside had been placed around the room to set a certain mood during the dinner, and the kids loved it. It was Isaac, Kaylen, and Eliza who had helped each other carve the pumpkins. No one was surprised to see that Isaac had carved the shape of a butt into the back of one of the pumpkins. He made jokes about fire in the butt for the rest of the night.  
  
At 7:30pm it was time for them to head out and go trick-or-treating with the kids.  
  
Everyone was excited to go out together, and they quickly put on their costumes. They helped each other do the make-up that was needed, though it wasn’t all of them who’d be wearing any.  
  
Noah and Jayden had been placed in one of the guest bedrooms upstairs to sleep in for the night, and Eliza had agreed to have Nathan sleep in her room. Derek would be sleeping on a mattress in Noah and Jayden’s room with them (unless he climbed up into their bed during the night, which he sometimes did, even though he didn’t like cuddling much).  
  
Noah stood in front of the mirror in the bedroom and kept turning to see himself in the fairy costume. He was alone in the room, after having told Jayden to wait outside until he was done changing. Jayden had to help Nathan and Derek with their costumes anyway.  
  
The dress looked good on him, Noah thought, as he looked at himself in the mirror. It had a pretty, light blue color and reached to his knees, and the edges of the dress were uneven and gave the costume a nice touch. From the waist to the chest it looked like a corset, except it wasn’t tight, and it looked different at the chest area. He had bought the submissive version and not the female version of the costume, so the chest area was tighter since subs didn’t have boobs. His shoulders were exposed as only thin shoulder straps covered him there, and on his arms were some additional parts of the costume. As for shoes, he’d be wearing open shoes with a tiny heel on them – they looked rather feminine, but not overly so.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but feel glad that the dress suited him so well, but on the other hand, wearing such a short dress made him feel a bit shy and overly self-conscious. It was good that he had nice, feminine (but nicely toned) legs that looked pretty good in the dress, so he wasn’t ashamed to show them off. He was just a bit worried that the wind would blow his dress up and expose his panties.  
  
A sudden, gentle knock on the door made Noah snap out of it, and he gasped when the door was opened.  
  
“Noah? You done yet?” Jayden asked, peeking into the room and spotting Noah over by the mirror.  
  
Noah blushed and tried to cover up with his wings, but Jayden had already caught a glimpse of him in the costume.  
  
Jayden’s jaw almost dropped at the sight of his mate. “Whoa! You look gorgeous in that!” He stepped inside the room and closed the door somewhat to give them privacy. He was wearing his vampire costume, which consisted of dark pants, a white shirt, a black coat, and a set of fake vampire teeth. He wasn’t wearing the teeth right now, though.  
  
Noah’s cheeks reddened, and he glanced down sheepishly. “Thanks…” Once again he looked at himself in the mirror, taking in his appearance. “It feels pretty nice to wear it,” he admitted, his lips tilting into a pleased smile.  
  
“And it looks good on you,” Jayden said, smirking and keeping his eyes on Noah’s gorgeous appearance as he walked over to him. He could feel his dick reacting to the sight of his mate in a fairy dress, and he tried to will it down for now. He grinned lewdly as he leaned down and pressed a kiss on Noah’s cheek, loving how the submissive blushed and twitched shyly. “So sexy…” He nosed lovingly at Noah’s cheek and ear, inhaling his scent.  
  
Noah shied away from Jayden gently. “Jayden! We can’t. Not now.”  
  
“Mmhm, later then. I’ve just _gotta_ fuck you while you’re wearing that. The sight is driving me crazy.” The alpha purred and nosed at Noah again, letting his mate catch a whiff of his arousal.  
  
“You’re such a horndog,” Noah murmured, almost accusingly, and continued to shrink shyly as Jayden nuzzled his nose into him.  
  
“Mm, yep, and you love it,” Jayden grinned cockily, laughing as it earned him a small shove from Noah, whose face was adorably pink by now.  
  
“You’re a jerk.”  
  
“Not as much as Isaac, though.”  
  
Noah chortled softly and looked at himself in the mirror again. Jayden was standing very close to him, and the alpha’s body posture indicated that he was in quite a possessive mood. Noah couldn’t help but smile and feel pleased about that.  
  
“Hope you don’t mind me biting your neck when we’re out tonight. Gotta play a vampire, after all,” Jayden smirked as he once more leaned in and nosed at Noah’s neck. He nibbled at the skin playfully.  
  
Noah shuddered and tried to lean away from him. “Don’t be embarrassing!”  
  
Jayden just laughed, and after Noah had made sure that the costume was sitting as it should, they headed downstairs to reunite with the others.  
  
Coming down the stairs and having everyone look at him made Noah blush again, and he tried to walk as closely to Jayden as he could to relieve his shyness.  
  
“Whoa! You look good!” Isaac exclaimed when he saw Noah. He was wearing his pirate costume, and Kaylen and Eliza had helped painting a small beard and some scars on his face. Kaylen had some scars too, but no beard.  
  
Noah’s cheeks reddened at the compliment, and the others too told him that he looked nice in the costume.  
  
“I was right about feminine clothes looking good on you,” Kaylen remarked with a smirk as he eyed Noah up and down. Jake had been placed in a baby sling around Kaylen’s chest so that he could rest and even sleep against Kaylen while they walked around. Jake wasn’t wearing a costume, but they had put him in a shirt with a jolly roger on it, indicating that he was the pirate king and queen’s baby.  
  
“I didn’t know you had such pretty legs, Noah,” Natalie said with a smile, making Noah squirm even more in embarrassment. She was wearing her bloody nurse costume, and next to her was Adrian in his Thor costume, complete with a fake Mjolnir and all.  
  
“Don’t make him explode. His face is already redder than a tomato,” Isaac remarked.  
  
Noah reached out and slapped Isaac on the arm, making the others laugh.  
  
“Can we go now?” Eliza asked, pulling impatiently at Kaylen’s shirt because she wanted so badly to go trick-or-treating already.  
  
“Yeah, I wanna go get candy too,” Aaron spoke. Maya, Ashley, Nathan, and Derek all nodded in agreement.  
  
“Alright then! Let’s head out and scare people!” Isaac roared, making his way towards the door.  
  
Kaylen chuckled and followed, holding little Jake against him.  
  
“Yay!” the other kids cheered and eagerly went over to the door as well, leaving only the dog behind.  
  
Everyone left the house and began heading out to the street so they could walk from house to house. It was getting dark outside, but the street lights helped them see. The kids didn’t mind the darkness – it only contributed to the scariness on Halloween’s Eve.  
  
They were a pretty big group, but it was just the kids who had bags for treats – the adults were just tagging along to have some fun. It was a rather rich neighborhood, so they got lots of treats at the houses they went to. The houses in the neighborhood were big and fancy, but it wasn’t all of them that they could enter because of security gates at the front. They only went up to the houses with more easy access, and those who had opened their gates and had a sign in their yard saying that trick-or-treating was welcome at their property.  
  
Many other families were trick-or-treating in the area, and Isaac and Kaylen occasionally greeted people they knew. Some of the other adults they passed were also wearing costumes, and a few of the guys they saw were dressed up as females – likely because their daughters had persuaded them to. Ashley and Eliza were mesmerized by how pretty the guys looked as princesses, whereas Aaron thought it was kind of weird (he didn’t judge them, though).  
  
Noah was starting to feel more comfortable in his costume. It felt odd to wear a dress in public, but he liked the feeling, and seeing a couple of males wearing female clothes as well made him feel more reassured. He liked feeling the air against his thighs, legs, and shoulders, but he used his wings to shield himself a bit when they passed someone on the street. The air was a bit cold, though, but he’d survive.  
  
The kids were all getting along very well. Eliza and Nathan were pretty much the same age so they talked a lot, and they talked well with Aaron too. Ashley and Derek hung out with them as well, while Maya kept an eye on them and talked a bit with the adults sometimes.  
  
Even on Halloween, Derek was as annoying and mischievous as ever. He used his fake sword (made out of a rubber-like material) to stab Nathan in the back when his brother walked in front of him, thinking it was funny to annoy his big brother. He poked the adults with it too sometimes, but teasing Nathan was always more fun to him.  
  
“Derek, stop that!” Nathan complained after having put up with it for a few minutes. He glared over his shoulder at Derek, who just giggled in amusement and poked him in the butt with the sword. Nathan let out an annoyed growl and turned around to grab the sword from his brother.  
  
“Noooo! Not mah sword!” Derek whined, trying not to let Nathan take his sword.  
  
“Then stop hitting me with it!” Nathan managed to take the sword from Derek’s arms, and the alpha boy cried in anger and gave him a harsh shove in response.  
  
“Guys, stop fighting!” Jayden chastised and pried the boys apart.  
  
Everyone stopped, since both Derek and Nathan had stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk to have their fight. There was another family on the other sidewalk, but they didn’t pay much attention because they were too busy talking and laughing.  
  
“But he keeps hitting me with it!” Nathan protested, sending Derek another annoyed look. He was still holding the sword, but handed it to Jayden when his father reached for it.  
  
“Yeah, I know.” Jayden looked at Derek then and gave him back his sword. “Here. But if you poke Nathan with that sword again, I’m taking it from you and you won’t get it back until later.”  
  
Derek pouted grumpily and glared at them both.  
  
Natalie laughed softly at them. “Oh, being brothers is tough… I’ve read that having two boys is the most inharmonic sibling combination – especially if one or both of them are alphas.”  
  
“Eh, Adrian and I always got along. Didn’t we, Adrian?” Isaac smirked.  
  
Adrian rolled his eyes. “Well, we had other siblings too, remember? Besides, I can recall lots of episodes where you’ve pissed me off. Like when you drew on my face while I was sleeping.” He sent Isaac a disapproving glare.  
  
Isaac barked out a laugh at that. “Oh, I remember that! You got so pissed ‘cause it was right before we had to go to school!”  
  
“That’s just mean,” Kaylen murmured, and joined Adrian in looking at Isaac in disapproval.  
  
“Oh, but it was funny!”  
  
Adrian snorted at that, and the others laughed.  
  
Jayden turned to look at Noah, smirking. “Did he paint on your face too?”  
  
Noah thought about it for a moment. “I don’t think he ever did… I don’t remember.”  
  
“Oh, I did! When you were a baby and too little to care,” Isaac snickered.  
  
“Yeah, I think I can recall him drawing a heart on your cheek once,” Adrian spoke. “Papa was furious, but dad thought it was kinda sweet.”  
  
“That’s cute!” Eliza laughed.  
  
Noah’s cheeks reddened as the others laughed. Jayden took pity on him and chuckled as he leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. The alpha’s arm was wrapped around Noah’s waist, and he couldn’t help but try to bite gently at Noah’s neck with his vampire teeth.  
  
“ _Eeek!_ Connor!” Noah chastised, quickly shoving Jayden off him when he felt what he was doing.  
  
Jayden laughed out loud and regained his balance before he bumped into a tree on the sidewalk after Noah had shoved him away. “What? I’m a vampire.”  
  
“No, you’re a _jerk._ ”  
  
Eliza frowned and glanced over her shoulders at them. “Who’s Connor?”  
  
“That’s Jayden’s real name. He hates it, though,” Isaac snickered.  
  
Jayden grunted and shoved Isaac in response. “It’s my _first_ name, not my _real_ name. And no one gets to call me that.”  
  
“Except Noah, obviously,” Adrian chuckled.  
  
“Awww,” Natalie cooed, giggling at them along with Maya.  
  
Jayden glared at them playfully for finding it amusing, and Noah couldn’t help but chuckle.  
  
Nathan blinked up at them before looking at Eliza, whom he was walking next to. “I always forget that parents have real names…”  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Eliza said.  
  
“You guys are talking so much that we’re forgetting to go up to the houses for candy,” Aaron spoke, sounding mildly annoyed.  
  
“Ah, shoot!” Isaac exclaimed. “Let’s go into that one!” He pointed at a nearby random house, and the family went up to it to see if the owners had some treats for the kids.  
  
The elderly angel couple in the house gladly filled some candy into the kids’ bags, but Derek started throwing a small fit when he thought that Nathan got more candy than he did. He was quickly calmed down by Jayden and Noah, but he kept glaring at Nathan for a bit longer.  
  
They continued walking, and Derek moved to walk closer to Noah because he was still a bit jealous and a little tired. After having felt his mom’s wing brush him for reassurance a couple of times, he started feeling better.  
  
“So how are things going with that Chris guy?” Adrian asked Jayden as they walked towards the next house. He glanced briefly at Noah too, who tensed a bit at the mention of the name.  
  
Jayden sighed and tensed up a bit in frustration. “Okay, I guess. He’s just pissing me off so much that I’m afraid I’ll do something stupid next time I see him.”  
  
Adrian gave him an understanding look and bumped his tail into Jayden’s to show support. He’d heard the story about Chris, and Noah had told him that the guy wasn’t being very nice when they met each other in the kindergarten. “If you ever need any help getting rid of him, I’ll gladly give you a hand.”  
  
Jayden laughed and gave Adrian a grateful smile. “Yeah, thanks, man.”  
  
Adrian nodded and patted Jayden on the shoulder. They chatted for a bit longer until Adrian let Jayden get a few steps ahead of him so that he could have Noah catch up to him. It had been a while since Noah and Adrian had hung out together, and he wanted to chat a bit with his little brother.  
  
Adrian smiled as he gently bumped his wing into Noah’s as they walked side by side. “You look pretty nice in that.” He gestured at the fairy costume.  
  
Noah blushed sheepishly. “Thanks. You look good in your costume too.”  
  
Adrian grinned and lifted his Mjolnir to look at it. “Thanks, but this thing is getting a bit heavy to carry around.”  
  
“That just means you’re not worthy of holding it!” Isaac said from a few feet ahead of them.  
  
Adrian shot him a glare. “Shut up, Isaac.” He turned his attention back to Noah again. “So have you heard from Lily and Eden lately?”  
  
“Yeah, I spoke to them on the weekend. They’re doing fine,” Noah said, turning his head to smile at Adrian. He heard Nathan and Derek bicker again, but Jayden handled it, so Noah kept on talking. “Nothing much has happened since we saw them for your birthday a couple of weeks ago.”  
  
“Right. Gosh, don’t mention birthdays… I’m getting old.”  
  
Noah laughed. “You’re not that old.”  
  
“You’re thirty and _you’re_ already complaining about being old,” Adrian pointed out, chuckling when he saw Noah close his mouth again. He then glanced at Noah’s exposed shoulders and legs and frowned in worry. “And aren’t you cold, walking around like that?”  
  
“Yeah, a bit. But I’ll live.”  
  
“Jayden will warm you up later!” Isaac quipped from in front them and shot Noah a lewd, teasing smirk over his shoulder.  
  
Noah’s face turned impossibly red, and he tried to hide a bit behind his wings.  
  
“Jeez, shut up, Isaac!” Adrian yelled back and shot his younger brother a glare.  
  
Isaac just barked out a laugh, and the others laughed a bit as well. Maya and Aaron were the only ones of the kids who knew what Isaac had meant, and Maya couldn’t help but giggle.  
  
“Ignore him. He’s stupid as always,” Adrian murmured at Noah, brushing his tail against the submissive’s bare leg to comfort him.  
  
Noah squeaked and jumped back a bit. “That tickles!”  
  
Adrian laughed out loud at that. “Oh, I’m sorry. I already forgot that you aren’t wearing any pants.”  
  
“Don’t make it sound dirty,” came Isaac smug remark.  
  
“Would you _shut up_ already!” Adrian growled at him, getting increasingly annoyed with how Isaac kept butting into their conversation.  
  
The others laughed out loud, and Adrian continued to glare daggers at Isaac for being such a stupid wisecracker. Even Noah couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw that.  
  
“Oh, you guys never grow up,” Natalie said, smiling over her shoulder at Adrian as she walked with the kids in front of him.  
  
“Growing up is boring. Right, guys?” Isaac looked at the kids for support.  
  
“Yeah! We’ll never grow up!” Eliza chirped and grinned up at her dad.  
  
“That’s my girl!” Isaac grinned and made Eliza give him a high-five.  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes fondly at Isaac, and rocked little Jake when the baby made a grumpy noise against him.  
  
They went up to the next house, where the kids got their bags filled with new sweets and candy once more.  
  
The human couple that opened the door were very nice, and the kids stared a bit at the woman’s pregnant belly.  
  
“Are you having a baby?” Nathan asked her, tilting his head as he looked at her curiously. Eliza was standing next to him and looked just as curious, whereas Derek and Ashley didn’t fully understand it.  
  
The blonde woman smiled and rested her hand on her belly. She was standing by the door with her husband by her side, and they could all hear a small dog barking somewhere inside the house. “Yes, I’m having a little boy in two months.”  
  
“How do you know it’s a boy?” Nathan asked next, frowning.  
  
“’Cause that’s what the doctors told us,” the woman replied with patience, chuckling at the kids’ awed expressions.  
  
“Yeah, they have a machine that can see inside your stomach and tell you which gender your baby will be,” Kaylen elaborated for the kids. “Like they did when I had Jake inside my stomach.”  
  
Eliza stared up at Kaylen and tried to let the words sink in.  
  
Derek just stared at the woman’s stomach, looking like he didn’t really believe that there was a baby in there. Ashley looked a bit skeptical too.  
  
The human man smiled at them before suddenly looking over at Isaac. “Oh, aren’t you that angel/demon hybrid actor that lives a few streets away?”  
  
“Yep! That’s probably me,” Isaac grinned with cocky attitude. Adrian swatted him on the leg with his tail for that.  
  
The guy didn’t seem to mind the cockiness, and continued talking. “Your acting is great, by the way. Totally love the characters you play. I hear you’ve become quite an idol for young angel/demon hybrids across the world.”  
  
Isaac’s cockiness turned slightly into sheepishness as the guy told him that, but he quickly recovered from it. “Well, I try my best. Gotta let those poor souls know that ain’t nothing wrong with being what we are, and that people who have something against us can go kiss a monkey’s ass.”  
  
The human couple and the others laughed at that.  
  
“Ewww!” the kids exclaimed between laughter.  
  
“Don’t worry; he’s always like that,” Kaylen told the couple when he saw the woman looking a bit surprised to hear Isaac say such things around the kids.  
  
“A cheerful soul in a dark world is always needed,” the man chuckled.  
  
They parted ways with the human couple and thanked them for the candy. The kids waved at them as they left, and the couple waved back before disappearing into their house again.  
  
They continued down the sidewalk, headed for another house, and the kids stared into their bags to see how much candy they had gotten already.  
  
“Look, mommy! So much!” Derek chirped up at Noah, grinning as he presented his bag to his mom.  
  
Noah smiled and peeked into it. “Oh yeah, it’s almost full. You’re gonna get so many cavities because of that.” He stroked a gentle hand through Derek’s hair.  
  
Derek didn’t seem to care that it was bad for his teeth. His tail swished back and forth happily, and he grabbed a piece of candy every once in a while to eat, like the others did.  
  
The children were all excited about their candy and going trick-or-treating. Noah and Jayden watched Nathan and Derek with smiles, and held each other’s hand as they walked together.  
  
They still had a few houses to visit before going back home.  
  


 

***

  
  
After two hours on the streets, they finally returned home to Isaac’s place.  
  
Trick-or-treating had been lots of fun, and the kids came home with big bags full of candy, chocolate, and other sweets. The adults had to confiscate some of it for now so that they wouldn’t get a stomachache from that all candy.  
  
It was already 10pm when they came back home, and Kaylen put Jake straight to bed as soon as they got through the door. The other kids were tired as well and would soon be going to bed.  
  
Adrian and Natalie were sleeping over at the house in order to spend some more time with the family. They lived in the city, so it would be easy for them to drive their kids to school and themselves to work the next day.  
  
“Ready to go to bed?” Jayden asked Nathan in the living room, after the boy had just come back from changing into his sleepwear. The beds and mattresses upstairs had already been made so that they were ready to go to bed anytime soon.  
  
“Yep,” Nathan smiled, standing in his pajamas with Eliza next to him. “Me and Eliza are gonna share scary stories before we sleep.”  
  
“Yeah, I know some really good ones!” Eliza grinned, curling her tail. She was wearing her pajamas as well, and Roy kept walking around and trying to get them to pet him. She tried to ignore the dog because she didn’t want his drool all over her sleepwear.  
  
“Don’t get nightmares,” Noah said, feeling a bit worried about Nathan listening to horror stories just before bed.  
  
“Won’t,” Nathan promised cheerfully. “Good night!”  
  
Everyone said good night to Nathan and Eliza before the cousins ran up the stairs to Eliza’s bedroom to sleep. Nathan would be sleeping on a mattress on the floor next to Eliza’s bed, so they wouldn’t be sleeping in the same bed.  
  
“They get along pretty well,” Natalie smiled after the kids were gone.  
  
Jake had been put to bed already and so had Ashley, but Derek, Aaron, and Maya were still up. However, Derek had just passed out on the couch because he was so exhausted, and Aaron looked very sleepy as well.  
  
“Yeah,” Kaylen smiled. “I’m a bit surprised that Nathan doesn’t mind sleeping in a girl’s room. When I was that age, most of the boys in my class wouldn’t _dream_ of doing that.”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Well, he and Emily have sleepovers sometimes, so he’s used to it. And he gets along well with girls.”  
  
“Aww, am I sensing a childhood romance there?” Isaac grinned with a small snicker.  
  
The comment made Jayden laugh. “I don’t know. For now they’re just friends, and they might continue to always be friends. Who knows.”  
  
“Well, _I_ don’t wanna sleep in the same room as a girl,” Aaron murmured, crossing his arms and looking sleepy. “I’m not that gross.”  
  
Maya laughed and shoved her little brother lightly. “Jeez, don’t be like that. Girls and boys can share rooms and be friends without doing the naughty.”  
  
“Oh, so you wouldn’t mind sharing rooms with a guy from your class, then?”  
  
“ _No!_ I didn’t say that!” Maya exclaimed, smacking her brother on the arm and looking flustered.  
  
The adults laughed, and Noah finally turned his attention to the sleeping Derek on the couch. He smiled at his youngest son and went over to pick him up, trying not to wake him.  
  
“The little guy is all passed out, huh?” Adrian spoke when he saw how Derek wasn’t even waking up when Noah picked him up.  
  
“Yeah, it’s a rare sight to see him so quiet,” Natalie chuckled.  
  
Jayden laughed and rubbed Derek’s head gently when Noah walked over to him with the boy in his arms. “He’s full of energy during the day, but when he sleeps he’s out like a light.”  
  
“Yeah. I’ll take him up to bed,” Noah said, smiling softly down at Derek before quietly walking him out of the room to head upstairs.  
  
“Are you guys coming down again afterwards?” Isaac asked, when he saw Jayden following Noah out of the room. “We still gotta party!”  
  
“I don’t know. I’m really tired and I have work tomorrow,” Noah said in a low voice to not wake up Derek.  
  
“Yeah, same,” Jayden said, shooting Isaac and the others an apologetic look.  
  
Isaac pouted like a kid. “Party poopers!”  
  
“Just let them, Isaac. They’re tired. We all are,” Adrian said.  
  
Everyone said good night to Jayden and Noah as the two walked upstairs with Derek. It wouldn’t be long until the others went to bed too, and Aaron and Maya were already headed to use the bathroom before bed.  
  
Noah was as quiet as possible as he walked upstairs with Derek, and Jayden helped him get the sleeping boy into the guestroom and take his clothes off for bed. Derek stirred and grumbled a bit when they took off his clothes and put him in his sleepwear. His diaper had been changed just before he had fallen asleep on the couch, so there was no need to do it again. They had already begun potty training him, but he was still wearing diapers because he hadn’t quite learned not to use them yet.  
  
Soon after they had changed his clothes and put him on the mattress on the floor, Derek passed out like a light once more.  
  
Noah sighed in relief before heading to the bathroom, which was connected to their guest bedroom. He wanted to get ready for bed and change into his sleepwear soon.  
  
It was a nice bathroom with a bathtub, a shower, a toilet, sink, and cupboards with towels and other bathroom things. The tiles were white with some image of a pretty flower on some of them, and it looked clean and light. There was a lot of space in it, but it wasn’t as big as the house’ master bathroom.  
  
Jayden saw his cue to be alone with Noah at last. He quickly took off his costume, leaving him in nothing but his boxers, and then followed his mate into the bathroom and closed the door behind them.  
  
Noah was a bit surprised to see Jayden enter the bathroom after him, and to see that he had undressed. He hadn’t locked the door because he hadn’t felt like it was needed, since it was just Jayden in the other room, and Derek was fast asleep. He shot his mate a questioning look before the alpha moved over to stand behind him.  
  
“Mm, you look so nice in that costume,” Jayden purred, wrapping his arms around Noah from behind and leaning down to kiss his neck.  
  
Noah squirmed a bit, and looked up to see their reflection in the big mirror above the sink. He shuddered a bit when he met Jayden’s eyes in it, and saw how possessively Jayden’s arms were wrapped around his body as he stood in nothing but his fairy costume. He blushed.  
  
Jayden looked away from the mirror to hold Noah closer and pay more attention to his mate’s bared neck. He kissed the skin tenderly and nibbled at his earlobe to get him in the mood for something more.  
  
“W-What are you doing?” Noah stammered, squirming a bit.  
  
Jayden smirked and nibbled Noah’s earlobe again, earning a full-body shudder from him. “I told you that I want to fuck you in that costume, didn’t I?”  
  
Noah’s cheeks reddened. Arousal spread through his body at the idea alone, but some part of him was feeling wary. “We can’t. T-This is Isaac’s house. What if we get caught? And Derek is sleeping in the other room!” He tried to keep his voice down as he spoke.  
  
“Derek sleeps like a rock; he won’t wake up. And the others can’t hear us, I promise. As long as you don’t scream too loud.” Jayden’s teeth and tongue teased over Noah’s skin as he spoke, and his hands were rubbing small circles against Noah’s flat stomach on top of his clothing. Noah’s wings were trapped in Jayden’s hold, and he liked how he could feel them trying to get free a bit. “Please? I want you so bad.”  
  
No longer able to come up with more excuses or suppress his own desires, Noah gave in. Knowing that his alpha was so turned on by seeing him in that costume aroused Noah as well, and he wanted so badly for Jayden to take him right there and stake his eternal claim on him once more.  
  
When Noah’s body relaxed in his hold, Jayden smirked in triumph and immediately maneuvered Noah over to the nearby wall. He pushed him up against the wall, so that Noah’s chest was against it and he had to place both of his hands on the wall to steady himself. A small, surprised, but aroused gasp spilled from Noah’s lips, and it only stirred Jayden on more. Immediately he crowded his smaller mate up against the wall and leaned down to kiss his neck from behind, while his hands quickly found their way up the submissive’s back.  
  
Noah’s breath hitched when Jayden’s hands moved up his back and over his oil glands, which he started rubbing through his clothes to get him worked up. The sensitive buds started getting wet, and the touch sent thousands of small shivers through Noah’s body. “A-Ah, Jayden!” he gasped, shuddering against the wall.  
  
Jayden let out a pleased rumble and rubbed the glands a few more times. He appreciated the sight of Noah’s wings being spread and lowered just for him, and he soon felt wetness through Noah’s costume when the oil glands started to leak more oil.  
  
The alpha cast a look at his make, taking in how beautifully the costume fit him and suited him, before he moved his hands down and placed them on Noah’s pretty hips, under the dress.  
  
Noah let out a small whimper and pressed his cheek against the wall while pushing his ass back towards Jayden on reflex. Jayden rewarded him by rubbing his big hands tenderly over his hipbones, before he finally grabbed a hold of Noah’s panties and pulled them down his thighs.  
  
Jayden stepped closer, so that he was once more crowding Noah against the wall. He rubbed his mate’s perfect, round butt before starting to touch and prepare his hole with his fingers.  
  
“Jeez, you’re so wet,” Jayden purred in approval, leaning down to nuzzle Noah’s neck in reward while he pushed two fingers inside him.  
  
Noah squirmed and tried to push back onto Jayden’s fingers. “Please,” he whimpered, sounding so needy and desperate.  
  
Jayden let out a pleased growl and added another finger, twisting them around inside until he pulled them out and replaced them with his tail.  
  
The first sensation of the demon’s tail pushing into him made Noah yelp and jump in unsuspected surprise. Then the tail forced itself further into him and rubbed his inner walls perfectly, making Noah forget everything else but the pleasure he felt. Soon, he was a gasping and panting mess that pushed back onto the tail inside him, seeking ever more pleasure from it.  
  
Jayden grunted in approval and placed possessive hands on Noah’s hips while he pleasured him with his tail. He loved how his mate was a whimpering mess against the wall by now, and how his ass kept pushing back against him greedily.  
  
“You like my tail, don’t you?” Jayden purred into Noah’s ear, caressing the submissive’s hips with his hands.  
  
Noah nodded shamefully, but didn’t stop pushing back onto the tail inside him. “Yes, so good. Oh god, right there! _Ahhh!_ ”  
  
Jayden chuckled lewdly when the spike of his tail hit a sweet spot inside Noah, making the submissive go all limp and jelly-like in his hold.  
  
“You have no idea how good you look right now; wearing that girly costume and fucking yourself on my tail. So beautiful.”  
  
Noah whimpered and blushed at Jayden’s words, pushing himself into the wall so he could have Jayden trap him more against it. The sound of Jayden’s tail moving around inside his wet hole and making squishy noises made him blush even harder, but it actually just seemed to increase Jayden’s arousal.  
  
“Jesus. Your slick is running down your thighs. You really like this, don’t you?” Jayden said when he became aware of just how wet Noah was.  
  
Noah groaned and tried to bury his face in the wall. He yelped softly when the tail collided straight-on with his prostate and kept rubbing against it so much that Noah was about to come already. “S-So what? _Fuck._ ”  
  
Jayden chuckled and twisted his tail around inside Noah once more before abruptly pulling it out. Noah’s loud sound of protest amused him, and he quickly got out of his boxers so he could push his aching cock inside him. However, before he could manage to push his dick into his mate, Noah suddenly turned around and dropped to his knees in front of him.  
  
Jayden bit back his surprise when Noah blinked his blue eyes up at him and took his cock into his mouth. “Fuck!” he cursed, shuddering heavily as the submissive’s pink lips closed around the head. His hand jumped down to grasp Noah’s hair, drawing a noise from Noah that was muffled by the cock in his mouth. Jayden had not expected Noah to suck his dick all of sudden, but he certainly wasn’t complaining. It was always utterly hot when the submissive dropped to his knees and took him into his mouth without being told to do so.  
  
Noah sucked and licked his alpha hard, keeping his eyes on Jayden’s face the whole time. He purred at the fullness in his mouth and the salty taste of muskiness, and looking Jayden straight into the eyes while he sucked his cock sent pleasant shivers through him. He could tell by the dilation of Jayden’s eyes and the increase of Jayden’s virile scent in the room that his mate really enjoyed what he was doing, and it only made Noah feel more confident.  
  
Only a minute after Noah had begun sucking him off, Jayden gently pushed him back and forced his dick from his mouth. “As nice as it is, I _really_ need to fuck you now.”  
  
Noah blinked up at him for a second, before eagerly getting to his feet and resuming his previous position against the wall. He wiggled his butt in invitation, feeling impatient when Jayden took a moment to stare at it and at all the slick that was dripping from him.  
  
Then, Jayden was on him in a second, pushing his cock into Noah’s ass in one go while holding onto his hips.  
  
Noah bit back a howl, and his forehead dropped to rest against the wall as Jayden started pounding into him in abandon.  
  
It was fast and dirty, and both were so high on arousal that it made it hard to remember that they had to be quiet. The sound of Jayden’s hips slapping against Noah’s ass echoed through the bathroom, as did the sound of their gasps and moans.  
  
Noah’s forehead started to hurt because it was rubbed against the wall by the force of Jayden’s thrusts, so he turned his head and pressed his cheek against the cold tiles instead. His hands rested on the wall on either side of his head, while his ass was starting to ache pleasantly from the hard pounding he was given. His dick was hard and leaking, dripping small amounts of precome onto the floor and against the tiles in front of him.  
  
As Jayden got closer and closer to his climax, his thrusts increased in speed and slowed a bit in hardness. His fingers dug into Noah’s hips possessively, admiring their perfect, childbearing shape, and made sure that his touch would leave bruises behind on the skin. He leaned down and traced his teeth over the delicate skin on the place between Noah’s neck and shoulder, hearing his mate suck in a gasp at that. Playfully he bit him there, staking his claim without hurting him, and the sound of approval coming from Noah was what pushed Jayden over the final edge.  
  
In the last few thrusts, Jayden’s pace slowed down in favor of thrusting up hard into Noah; so hard that it made his mate yelp as he almost lost his footing. Three hard thrusts and he was coming, shooting his seed deep into Noah’s ass, and kept fucking into him as more waves went through him.  
  
Noah too came as soon as he felt his insides get flooded with Jayden’s warm release. He cried out and convulsed against the wall, painting it with his own release. It was so intense and so amazing, and when he came to a few seconds later, he could feel Jayden still fucking into him as the alpha rode out the last seconds of his own climax. The sensation of being fucked after his orgasm made Noah gasp softly, and his hole clenched and unclenched around Jayden’s cock. He was so wet everywhere, and he finally became aware of his slick was running down his thighs and starting to dry on them.  
  
Seconds later, Jayden went limp against him when his orgasm finally subsided. He panted from sated exhaustion and rested his chin on Noah’s shoulder as he recovered.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted, following by a small purr.  
  
“Mm,” Noah agreed, closing his eyes. His body felt weak, but the feeling of being sated made him smile. He clenched his hole around Jayden’s cock, which was still buried in him and keeping the alpha’s come inside him, trying to let Jayden know that he shouldn’t pull out yet.  
  
Jayden hummed in approval and placed a chaste kiss on the back of Noah’s shoulder. “That was incredibly nice. Nicer than it’s been for a while.”  
  
Noah nodded weakly, his eyes still closed as he rested his cheek against the tiles. “Yes, very nice…”  
  
“I think it’s because we’re in a new environment. Makes it a bit more dirty,” Jayden grinned, rubbing his hands over Noah’s hips to soothe him.  
  
Noah blushed and opened his eyes when he was reminded that they were in Isaac’s house. “Y-Yeah. Maybe.”  
  
“Plus, seeing you wearing that costume all night has made me super horny. What is it about you wearing feminine stuff that turns me on so much?”  
  
Again, Noah’s cheeks flushed, and he let out a small chuckle. “Um, because I’m the girl in this relationship?”  
  
“Mmhmm, yes, you are. But it’s more than that. You just generally look gorgeous, and your beautiful body gets complimented when you wear feminine stuff. It makes you look extra gorgeous.”  
  
Hearing Jayden call him gorgeous and beautiful made Noah blush shyly, and his lips twitched into a pleased smile.  
  
Jayden nuzzled his nose against Noah’s shoulder and was silent for a few moments while resting against him. His dick was softening, but it was still hard enough to not fall out. Feeling Noah’s hole clench around him kept it hard for a bit longer. “I think it went pretty well today with Nathan and Derek,” he spoke randomly. “Derek was being a bit troublesome and disobedient as always, but I think it went okay. Natalie is right that two boys can be very inharmonic together…”  
  
“Mhm,” Noah hummed in agreement. “They can get pretty wild together when you’re not around, you know…” Although the boys respected and listened to Noah, Derek just seemed to obey Jayden more than he did Noah. It was probably because Jayden came across as having more authority, being an alpha and all, and the part of Derek that was an alpha listened more to that than to Noah.  
  
Jayden hummed. “Yeah, I know Derek causes you some trouble sometimes…” His dick was getting softer and threatening to fall out, so he slowly started pulling out of Noah.  
  
Immediately, Noah whined in protest and reached behind himself to keep Jayden in place. “No, don’t pull out!”  
  
Jayden blinked at him before laughing. “What, you like me filling you up and making you feel stretched and full? Well, sorry, but I can’t stay inside you any longer, unless you wanna go for round two.”  
  
Noah pouted in defeat and let Jayden go so the alpha could pull away. “No, I’m too tired for that…”  
  
Jayden chuckled and stepped back, enjoying hearing Noah’s little whimper when he was left empty.  
  
Come immediately started flowing from Noah’s fucked out hole and running down his thighs. Jayden had pushed the dress up so that Noah’s ass was exposed, and his panties were still hanging around his thighs. Jayden stared at the sight and licked his lips in approval.  
  
Noah squirmed at the feeling and tried to hold it in, until Jayden finally grabbed some toilet paper and helped him clean up the worst of it before it reached the floor.  
  
Noah’s underwear was all wet and sticky from his slick, so he pulled them the rest of the way off and threw them to the floor, before Jayden crowded him up against the wall again. This time, Noah was facing him, and Jayden smiled as he reached out and cupped his mate’s cheek gently before leaning down to kiss him. Noah kissed him back right away, closing his eyes and humming as their lips touched and played together. It was slow and intimate, and Noah purred as he leaned back against the wall and reciprocated the kiss.  
  
Jayden’s tail moved slowly back and forth in happiness, and his wings twitched sometimes while they shared their kiss.  
  
After a few moments, Jayden pulled back so they could breathe, and he stared absently at Noah’s lips while tracing his thumb over their swollen shape.  
  
“You know, maybe Derek will become a little more quiet if there was another kid in the house,” Jayden spoke almost cautiously. He lifted his gaze to look at Noah’s eyes, waiting for his reaction.  
  
Noah stared back at him, blinking a few times in surprise. “Are you… Are you saying that you want another baby…?” He wasn’t sure if that’s what Jayden was implying, but it sounded like it.  
  
Jayden squirmed lightly, suddenly feeling a bit shy. He tried not to let that show. “Well, yeah. I want to have lots of kids with you.” He grinned and ran his thumb over Noah’s lower lip again while smiling at him.  
  
Noah’s cheeks reddened, and now it was his turn to squirm shyly.  
  
“But if you don’t want that yet, then it’s okay. I was just—” Jayden was cut off before he could finish his sentence.  
  
“No!” Noah exclaimed before he could help himself. “I-I want that. I’m ready to have another baby with you. Derek is still small, but I think a younger sibling would be good for him – especially if it’s a girl.” He looked up at Jayden from under his lashes, smiling shyly at him.  
  
A wide grin spread across Jayden’s face. “Great! I wouldn’t mind having a girl either, but I can’t promise that it’ll be a girl. Or a sub, for that matter. I don’t really have control over that.”  
  
“I know. I’ll love the baby no matter what its gender is,” Noah said, smiling up at his mate.  
  
Jayden grinned and stroked his thumb across Noah’s cheek in affection. “Yeah, me too. And I really can’t wait to have heat-sex with you again. Seeing you so wet and eager tonight really made me long to be with you during your heat again.”  
  
Noah gave Jayden an embarrassed push on the chest, feeling his cheeks flush. He suddenly became aware that Jayden was standing fully naked in front of him, while Noah himself was still wearing his costume. He didn’t really mind it, though.  
  
Happy and excited about the idea of having another baby soon, Jayden once more claimed Noah’s lips in a deep kiss. The submissive returned it and giggled when Jayden picked him up and pushed him against the wall, while Noah quickly wrapped his legs around the alpha’s waist and his arms around his neck.  
  
They giggled and smiled together, feeling nothing but happiness at the idea of a bigger family.  
  
As Jayden got hard again, his cock started poking against Noah’s member and his sore hole, making the submissive gasp.  
  
Noah had said that he didn’t want another round because he was tired, but now he felt renewed arousal spread through his body, so he allowed Jayden to get inside him once more.  
  
They made love against the wall; grasping hairs and feathers and reaching their climaxes together.  
  
It was a nice ending to Halloween’s Eve, and the bathroom would need some serious cleaning after they were finally done.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now it’s time for Noah and Jayden to have even more babies! Writing about pregnant!Noah is always a lot of fun, so I’m looking forward to that.
> 
> I feel for bad for not including Adrian that much, so I decided to have him and his family appear in this chapter. Hopefully I will get to write more about all the siblings soon, but it always takes a lot of time writing those family chapters and finding out what should happen. I hope that you guys enjoyed seeing Adrian and Isaac again :)


	38. Chapter 38

**December 2056 – January 2057 (Noah is 30, Jayden is 32, Nathan is 7, Derek is 2, Castiel is 67, Dean is 68 (almost 69), Lily is 36, Tony is 37, Alec is 11, Jennifer and Marie are 6, Leila is 58, Micah is 59, Laura is 21 years old).**  
  
“Why do we have to stay with Auntie Lily and Uncle Tony without you?” Nathan asked as they got ready to leave the house.  
  
It was Tuesday the 26th of December, the second day of Christmas, and Noah and Jayden were packing the kids’ stuff to drive them off to Lily’s house to stay there for a day. After one day at Lily’s place, Nathan and Derek would be staying with Dean and Castiel, as well as at Leila and Micah’s house until Noah and Jayden were ready to have them come home again. The reason for this was that Noah was about to enter his heat. He and Jayden had finally found some time to be alone and make another baby, which they had now been looking forward to for two months.  
  
They had spent Christmas at Dean and Castiel’s house this year, along with Eden and her family. They had stayed there from December 24th until yesterday, after which they had gone to visit Leila and Micah in the evening and had stayed the night. They had gone home at 11am that morning, and now (at 3pm) they were getting ready to head to Lily’s house.  
  
“Well, mommy and daddy need to be alone for about a week, so you and Derek gotta stay with some family until we’re ready to have you come home again,” Jayden explained, while helping Derek put on his shoes and jacket. Derek kept fidgeting and wasn’t being very cooperative because he wanted to play instead, so Jayden had to hold on to him and keep telling him to stand still.  
  
Nathan frowned, looking kind of distressed all of sudden. “Don’t you want us around…?”  
  
Noah immediately picked up on the hurt in his son’s voice, so he went over and squatted down beside him. “Hey,” he cooed, placing a hand on Nathan’s shoulder to reassure him. “It’s not like that… We love to have you and Derek around, but we have to, um, do something that requires both of you not to be here.”  
  
Nathan’s frown deepened as he tried to figure it out. Then, his face suddenly lit up. “Like a surprise?”  
  
Jayden laughed at him, finally managing to put Derek in his jacket. “No, not quite.”  
  
Nathan only looked even more confused now, and Derek was totally lost in the conversation.  
  
“When we come home?” Derek asked, staring at Jayden, who was now helping him put on his shoes. They were more or less level with each other now, because Jayden was kneeling in front of him to help with the shoes. Midnight walked by and rubbed herself against their legs and wings, and Jayden had to push her back a bit when she became distracting.  
  
“Soon. In about a week and a half. It’ll be sooner than you think,” Jayden promised. “And you guys are gonna have lots of fun with Auntie Lily and your grandparents.”  
  
“Yeah, you’ll get to draw, watch movies, play outside, and maybe have dessert every night if they let you,” Noah said, hoping to cheer the boys up.  
  
Nathan grinned excitedly. “Cool! But I still want you to be there…”  
  
Noah gave him a soft smile and hugged Nathan close before getting up. He quickly pulled on his own jacket and shoes, and made sure that all the bags with the boys’ stuff were ready.  
  
When everyone was ready, the boys said goodbye to Midnight before going outside to the car with Jayden and Noah to drive off to Lily’s house.   
  
  


***

  
  
Lily and Tony’s house was just ten minutes’ drive away. It was a cream-colored house that was a tiny bit smaller than Noah and Jayden’s, but it was a perfect size for them and their three children.  
  
Lily greeted them at the door when they arrived, smiling widely when she saw her little brother and his family. “Hi, guys! So glad to see you again! And Merry Christmas!” She moved forward and pulled Noah into a warm hug, curling her tail lovingly around his leg.  
  
Noah smiled and hugged his sister back. “Merry Christmas, Lily.”  
  
“Yeah, Merry Christermass!” Derek chirped with a big grin.  
  
Nathan laughed at how Derek couldn’t say it right, and greeted Lily and Tony after his parents had greeted them.  
  
They were invited inside, where Lily and Tony’s children greeted them as well. Alec, their alpha son, was already 11 years old, and Lily and Tony’s twin girls – Jennifer and Marie – were 6 years old.  
  
“Are you sure you don’t mind having both of the boys here until tomorrow?” Noah asked Lily cautiously. She already had three kids of her own to take care of, and he was surprised that she wanted Nathan and Derek to stay for the night. Dean and Castiel weren’t able to babysit until tomorrow, because they were visiting Adrian and Isaac in L.A., and Jayden’s parents were busy too.  
  
“Yeah, I don’t mind,” Lily said, chuckling a bit. “Nathan gets along so well with the twins anyway.”  
  
“Derek can be quite a handful, though,” Jayden warned, gently ruffling Derek’s hair as the boy stood next to him. He then began helping Derek out of his shoes and jacket, while Nathan got out of his jacket and shoes by himself.   
  
Tony laughed softly. “Yeah, we know, but I think Alec can handle him.”   
  
“I can handle anything,” Alec said with confidence. “But he probably doesn’t play soccer and baseball that well yet… But I guess Nathan does?” He looked at Nathan, who lit up when he was spoken to.  
  
“Yeah, I can play!” Nathan said, grinning widely.  
  
“Can play too!” Derek insisted, raising his arms.  
  
“Cool,” Alec grinned. “Then you can help me beat my dad.”  
  
Both Nathan and Derek grinned excitedly at that.  
  
“Hey, we wanna play too!” Jennifer spoke, shoving Alec for not inviting them to play. Marie looked a bit offended as well.  
  
Alec rolled his eyes at his sisters. “I hate playing ball games with you two; you cheat and you bicker all the time.”  
  
“Jennifer cheats. I don’t,” Marie murmured, and glared at her twin.  
  
Jennifer shot her sister an offended glare, and the others laughed at the siblings’ interactions.  
  
“I think we’ll be fine,” Lily reassured Noah and Jayden with a smile. “We were kind of your only option for babysitting anyway, since you guys need some time on your own for a while…” She looked at Noah with a knowing smirk and tried not to snicker.  
  
Noah’s face reddened heavily. Of course Lily knew that he was about to go into heat; he kind of had to tell her that when asking her if she could babysit Nathan and Derek for a bit. He would have asked Christie or Lucas, but everyone was busy during Christmas, and Lily and Tony were the only ones who had time.  
  
Tony laughed at Noah’s embarrassed face, while the children started going into the living room to play.  
  
“Aw, don’t blush, Noah,” Lily told him and slung her arm around his shoulders as she guided him into the living room. “It’s nice that you’ll be having more babies.”  
  
“Jeez, don’t make his face go any redder,” Tony told Lily and rolled his eyes at her.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, he’s about to explode.”  
  
“Shut up!” Noah hissed at them, flushing furiously. He hated that Jayden wasn’t as affected by it as him, even though he knew that his mate felt kind of awkward and embarrassed too.  
  
Lily giggled and gave him a sympathetic look before telling to take a seat on the couch.  
  
There were cookies and cake to eat, and the children eagerly gathered around and began eating.  
  
Jennifer and Marie showed off some of their presents to Nathan and Derek, who had also brought some of their own new toys along for their visit. The kids seemed to get along well, although sometimes Marie and Jennifer didn’t get along so well. Jennifer was more outgoing and talkative than her twin sister, which sometimes resulted in her acting a bit bossy towards her. Nathan and Derek too got into some quarrels every now and then, but today they were getting along rather well. Alec hung out with them a bit, but got bored by all their talk about toys. Instead, he sat down on the couch next to Tony and played some games on his phone.  
  
Noah and Jayden wouldn’t be staying very long. Noah was already dangerously close to his heat, and he was starting to feel the telltale weakness in his body. He suspected it would hit tomorrow or the day after, which meant that his heat should be gone a few days after New Year.  
  
They talked back and forth and shared their Christmas experiences together. Lily was eager to hear how Dean and Castiel were doing, even though she had seen them just before Christmas, and Noah asked her how things had gone with Tony’s parents, where she and Tony had been for Christmas.  
  
Christmas presents were something they had exchanged before the holidays, so they had already received their presents from everyone in the family.  
  
Lily’s cats started mingling with them when they got used to their presence, and Noah and Jayden both petted the cats whenever they came over to say hi.   
  
There were two cats in the house – a fluffy Persian cat named Cutie, and a Himalayan cat named Jolly. Both were females and about two years old. Noah and Jayden had to keep an eye on Derek, who was notorious for trying to pull cats’ tails when he got the chance. Sometimes when he did it, Nathan would pull Derek’s own tail in response to teach him that it was bad to do that. That usually ended in a fight between the two brothers, though.  
  
Today was one of those days where Derek just couldn’t help himself.  
  
When Cutie walked by and purred as she let the kids pet her, Derek reached out and pulled at her tail with a mischievous snicker. The cat immediately responded with a loud, angry hiss, and turned around to scratch Derek for having hurt her. Her claws only scraped his hand, leaving a few tiny cuts, but Derek screamed and flinched back.  
  
“Derek!” Noah scolded when he saw what had happened.  
  
“Stop pulling at the kitty’s tail!” Nathan exclaimed at Derek, who was crying and trying to get up from the floor while holding his injured hand. The cuts weren’t bleeding much; the claws had only scraped his hand, leaving some red marks, but it had frightened Derek a bit.  
  
Lily glanced at her cat in worry, but saw that Cutie was alright – if not a little agitated – after the incident. She then looked at Derek and winced when she saw him looking down at the cuts on his hand. “Oh, I’m sorry about that…”  
  
“Don’t be sorry; it was his own fault,” Jayden said, giving Derek a small glare to let the boy know that he had done something wrong.  
  
Derek cried and sniffled before making his way over to Noah. He lifted his hand and showed his mom the small cuts, which were bleeding a little.  
  
“Ow. That’s what you get for pulling at the cat’s tail. You _know_ not to do that,” Noah told him softly, and reached down to pick up his son. Derek sniffled and let Noah place him on his lap so that he could blow at the cuts. “Silly boy,” Noah said with a soft sigh, running a hand through Derek’s hair. “Shhh. You’ll be okay.” He soothed the crying toddler and kept blowing cool air on the cuts.   
  
“But tail so fluffy…” Derek mumbled, hiccupping a bit from crying. His little wings flared a bit behind him from distress, but otherwise he was sitting pretty calmly on Noah’s lap.  
  
“Yes, I know, but it hurts the cat when you pull it,” Noah replied in a soft voice, rocking Derek a bit on his lap to comfort him. “It hurts when someone pulls at _your_ tail too, doesn’t it?”  
  
Derek nodded quietly at that and kept staring at the cuts. He sobbed a bit more when he saw the red marks, so Noah tried to have him look somewhere else.  
  
“He’s always causing trouble, isn’t he?” Tony said, chuckling softly at little Derek.  
  
“Yeah, he doesn’t think much before he acts,” Jayden chuckled. “Nor does he ever listen to what’s said, and he never really learns his lesson either.” He reached over and patted Derek’s head gently, smiling at how the boy was letting Noah sit with him on his lap for once. Usually, Derek didn’t like that, but there were periods when he was a little less fussy about it.  
  
“I’ll go get him a band-aid. Maybe that will cheer him up a bit,” Lily announced, flashing Derek a reassuring smile before getting up from the couch.  
  
“Thanks,” Noah told her, and continued to offer his son some comfort.  
  
Lily returned a minute later with a band-aid, and Noah thanked her once more before unwrapping the band-aid and placing it gently over Derek’s hand where the cuts were. The boy stared at it for a few moments and stopped crying. He then grinned and jumped down from Noah’s lap, feeling much better now.  
  
“You’re such a dummy sometimes,” Nathan told Derek when his brother came back over to play with them on the floor.  
  
Derek pursed his lips in a grumpy manner. “You’re dummy too.”  
  
“Am not!”  
  
Jennifer and Marie giggled at them, while Alec chuckled softly to himself while playing games on his phone.  
  
The adults resumed their talking, and Lily brought in some more cake and sweets to eat.  
  
The cake and cookies were eaten pretty fast, and Noah consumed a lot of the juice that Lily had put on the table. His upcoming heat left him thirsty, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Jayden, who felt a small spark of excitement inside him. The alpha sat close to Noah the whole time, and his body language showed clearly that he was in a protective mode. His mate going into heat soon activated Jayden’s instincts to keep him safe and away from other males, so Tony deliberately kept some distance between himself and Noah during the visit.  
  
After about two hours, Jayden and Noah decided it was time to head home. Jayden wasn’t comfortable letting Noah be away from the safety of their home for too long in his current condition, so they decided to leave.  
  
“Why you going?” Derek asked, whining softly when he realized that his parents would be going without him and Nathan. He pulled at Noah’s pants to make him stay, not caring that he stood a bit in Noah’s way as he tried to put on his jacket in the entrance hall.  
  
“Let’s not go through this again,” Jayden sighed with a small chuckle. They had already discussed back and forth with Derek and Nathan earlier that they wouldn’t be coming home with them.  
  
“But whyyy?”  
  
Noah gave Derek an apologetic look and squatted down to level with him. He gently took Derek’s small hands in his own and looked him in the eye with a smile. “Because we need to be alone. And you’re a big boy, aren’t you? I’m sure that you and Nathan will be fine without us for a while.”  
  
Derek still looked a little sulky and displeased. He hadn’t really been away from his parents for more than a couple of days before, so he felt a little unsecure about them being away for so long.  
  
Noah squeezed Derek’s hands and got up to go over to Nathan, who still seemed a bit reluctant to be left behind as well. He ran a hand through Nathan’s brown hairs as he smiled at him. “Take care of your brother, okay? Make sure he behaves.”  
  
“Okay, mommy. I will,” Nathan promised, and came forward to wrap his arms around Noah’s waist in a hug. Noah hugged him back, which only made Nathan cling to him more.  
  
“And you better do as your big brother says,” Jayden told Derek, giving him a firm look.  
  
Derek put on a defiant look as he stared back at Jayden. “No! He no boss.”  
  
“No, but he’s older, so you’ll do as he says.”  
  
Derek folded his arms and looked angry, and the others laughed softly at him. He glared at Nathan when his older brother looked rather pleased to be left in charge.  
  
Jayden hugged Nathan goodbye afterwards, while Noah hugged Derek. Derek clung to his shirt for a bit before letting go, but he cheered up when Jayden picked him up and spun him around a few times before putting him back down.  
  
“Have fun,” Lily smirked as they waved goodbye to Noah and Jayden in the door.  
  
Noah blushed and shot his sister a small glare for being so annoying about it.  
  
Jayden’s cheeks reddened a bit as well before he laughed it off, and the two of them waved goodbye to their kids and Lily’s family before getting into their car and driving home.  
  
  


***

  
  
On the next day, Noah felt too weak to move around much. His heat was just about to come, and every part in his body tingled with it. His body was already starting to let out pheromones, which made Jayden unable to leave his side because he was overwhelmed by the instinct to be around his mate and protect him.  
  
Since Noah’s heat could hit any minute, Jayden had started making some preparations. He had carefully stretched Noah’s hole, which was already beginning to slick up faster and more than usual, and had pushed a plug inside him so that he’d be stretched and ready for Jayden’s cock as soon as his heat hit. Jayden also hoped that the stimulation from the plug in Noah’s ass would help induce the heat faster.  
  
They spent the evening sharing dinner and hanging out in front of the TV, waiting impatiently for Noah’s heat to hit. It seemed to take its time, though, and at 10:30pm they finally went to bed.  
  
Jayden was lying on his back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and waiting for Noah to come back from the bathroom. His tail curled under the blanket, mimicking his impatience as he waited for his mate to be fertile and for his scent to get stronger. The wait was like torture, when all Jayden wanted was to knock his pretty mate up as soon as he was fertile enough for it, and to satisfy his needs in every way possible.  
  
After a few minutes the door opened, and Jayden looked over when he heard Noah enter the room. The submissive walked around the bed to get to his side (Noah always slept by the window, furthest away from the door), and Jayden couldn’t help but smirk when he saw him walking funnily because of the plug inside him. Noah would make these small, little gasps of pleasure every time the pink plug rubbed just right against the entrance to his uterus, which was very sensitive when he was in heat or close to it. What was just as good about it was that Noah was wearing a black skirt, reaching to just above his knees – something Jayden had persuaded him to do because the sight turned him on, and because he’d then have easier access to his pretty butt once the heat started.  
  
“You look nice like that,” Jayden remarked, looking at Noah with hungry eyes and with a smug smirk on his lips. “Wearing that pretty skirt and limping because of the plug.” Jayden himself wasn’t wearing any clothes, but the covers hid his nudity from Noah.  
  
Noah blushed furiously and shot Jayden an embarrassed glare, which the alpha just laughed at. “Stop making fun of it.” He started taking off his clothes to get ready for bed, starting with the skirt.  
  
“I’m not making fun of it,” Jayden laughed, still lying on the bed and watching Noah. “I’m just saying that I enjoy the sight. Skirts suit you.”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but feel pleased that his mate thought so, even though it was mildly embarrassing. “Um, I quite enjoy it too— _Ah!_ ” As he stepped out of his skirt, the plug nudged right against his prostate and cervix, sending pleasurable shivers through his body and making more slick leak out from around the plug.  
  
Jayden grinned when he noticed what was going on. “I gotta put a plug in you more often.”  
  
“Pervert!” Noah hissed, flushing heavily, and quickly removed the rest of his clothes. He didn’t hide his nudity from Jayden much, seeing as how much the alpha loved to watch him without clothes on. He felt Jayden’s stare on his body, and Noah smiled shyly at that before climbing into bed, not bothering to put on any nightclothes.  
  
Jayden just smirked at his words, and pulled Noah over to cuddle with him once the submissive was on the bed. He rolled over on his side and wrapped his arms around Noah, while burying his face in Noah’s neck to inhale his scent. The submissive bared his neck for him, allowing him to smell his scent properly. The familiar, soothing scent of Noah entered Jayden’s nose, mixed with a stronger and sweeter scent of arousal and upcoming fertility. It sent blood rushing straight to Jayden’s dick, which hardened when he smelled how close his mate was to being able to make a baby with him.  
  
“Fuck, you smell so good. You taste good too,” Jayden purred, nuzzling Noah’s bared neck in affection.  
  
Noah smiled and closed his eyes as he enjoyed his mate’s affections and possessiveness. His right hand was on Jayden’s arm as the alpha nuzzled into him, and he rubbed it slowly over Jayden’s skin, enjoying how strong and muscled the alpha’s arms were. “I know. You’ve been tasting me for days now.”  
  
Jayden grinned wickedly at that, knowing that Noah was referring to how he had been eating him out daily since he stopped taking his suppressants.  
  
The alpha purred and nuzzled Noah some more, letting the scent of him blur his mind. Slowly, he moved his one hand towards Noah’s hip, enjoying its curved shape, until he moved further behind Noah. His fingers traced over Noah’s buttock until finally they reached his hole, which was clenching tightly around the plug that was inside him. He circled the rim with his fingers, feeling how stretched it was around the plug.  
  
Noah squeaked and pushed Jayden back a little. “Ah, that’s sensitive! Don’t touch.” His body was feeling very sensitive right now, and the plug inside him made his hole feel very overstimulated. It had been inside him for _hours_ already.  
  
Jayden laughed softly and leaned in to nuzzle Noah’s neck again. “Mm, love it when you’re so sensitive. It’s hot.”  
  
Noah snorted softly at that and let Jayden keep nuzzling him. Their snuggling and having Jayden nose and kiss at his neck made Noah start to feel a bit lazy and sleepy. He purred as he leaned into Jayden’s touch, but after a few minutes he was already starting to fall asleep. His body felt so tired and exhausted, and knowing that they wouldn’t catch much sleep in the following days just made him even sleepier.  
  
Jayden chuckled softly when Noah started to fall asleep in his arms. He had hoped they could have some sex before sleeping, but when he saw how tired Noah was, he decided it could wait.   
  
Jayden let his arousal die down before snuggling closer to his mate. He gently moved them into a more comfortable position before closing his eyes to sleep as well, knowing they’d need all the rest they could get before the heat started.  
  
  


***

  
  
Six hours after having fallen asleep, Noah was suddenly woken when he felt his body temperature rising. He let out a gasp as he opened his eyes, feeling a thin layer of sweat covering him and his hole dripping onto the sheets.  
  
His heat was finally there.  
  
Noah squirmed when he felt the plug still inside him. His muscles were clenching around it as if it were his mate’s cock, but knowing that it wasn’t made Noah whine in protest. The plug felt nice, but it was nowhere near the thickness or shape that he needed. He needed Jayden’s cock. Badly.   
  
He reached down and carefully pulled the plug from his ass and threw it somewhere on the bed, cringing when he felt a river of slick leaking out and messing up the sheets even more. He was so wet, and his now empty hole was desperate to have something fill it again.  
  
Slowly, Noah sat up on the bed and cast a look at Jayden, who was sleeping on his back next to him. The alpha was snoring softly, totally unconscious, and all Noah felt was _want._ His wings felt heavy and tingly, and his body was trembling with arousal.  
  
“Jayden,” Noah croaked, reaching out a hand to shake the sleeping alpha. No reaction. Noah growled. “Jayden, wake up!” When all he got in response was a sleepy moan, Noah grunted and crawled up on Jayden so that he was straddling him. _“Connor!”_ He smacked Jayden lightly on the chest to wake him up.  
  
Finally Jayden woke up, looking confused and groggy. He stared up at Noah with wide eyes, blinking a few times to realize what was happening. “What is it?”  
  
“I need you,” Noah whined, rubbing himself against Jayden’s soft cock, which already hardening as Jayden’s nose picked up on the scent of heat.  
  
Jayden’s entire body went into overdrive. The sudden smell of Noah’s arousal and fertility was overwhelming, and all his instincts screamed _mate, breed, mate_ inside him. In a second, he had them rolled around so that it was Noah who was lying on his back on the bed, completely trapped beneath Jayden as the alpha let out a loud growl of arousal.  
  
Noah’s wings lowered immediately to show submission to his alpha, and he gasped softly when Jayden grabbed both of his wrists in his hands and pinned them to the bed next to his head. Everything inside Noah urged him to surrender to his mate and let him breed him, and he whined softly as he bared his neck to Jayden; inviting him to fuck him and breed him up good. “Please.”  
  
With a pleased growl, Jayden buried his face in Noah’s neck and bit him gently to show his dominance, before he finally shifted and had his dick line up with Noah’s wet hole, which was overflowing with slick. There was plenty of access, since Noah had his legs spread and wrapped around Jayden to urge him on. Not a second later, Jayden pushed his cock into Noah’s already prepared hole in one, hard shove, making his mate cry out.  
  
Noah howled and squirmed violently as Jayden was finally inside him. It felt so _good,_ and all he could do was moan and gasp as the alpha fucked into him in hard, strong thrusts, leaving him completely helpless on the bed while his wrists were pinned and his ass was getting pounded.  
  
“Ah! Ah! _Please!_ Oh god,” Noah screamed, twisting and squirming under the alpha’s body. Jayden’s abdomen was rubbing against Noah’s dick, which was trapped between them, and his oil glands got rubbed into the sheets with every thrust, making him go wild as his body was overwhelmed by numerous sensations all at once. The heavy smell of alpha testosterone and musk filled his nose, making his biology go crazy as it sought to make a baby with the alpha on top of him.  
  
Seeing his mate go crazy from pleasure under him only made Jayden lose it more. He was caught in a mating frenzy because of Noah’s pheromones and the way his body felt below his own, and all he could do was pound into Noah and give his mate what he needed.   
  
“Mine. All _mine,_ ” Jayden growled, nibbling and sucking on Noah’s bared neck possessively and leaving marks. His hands tightened around the submissive’s wrists, which were still pinned on the bed, drawing a gasp from Noah. His wings sharpened as they rose behind him in a possessive and dominant posture, and his hips snapped forward into Noah violently, over and over.  
  
“Ah! Yes, all yours. _Please,_ ” Noah begged under him, whimpering with need because he needed Jayden’s release inside him so badly.  
  
Jayden grunted and buried his face in Noah’s neck, inhaling more of the scent that made his brain go crazy.  
  
Every smell and sense was heightened for them both, and it was nearly impossible for them to control themselves. Their mating bond pulsed inside them, urging them to give into their instincts and ensure that Noah was impregnated with his mate’s sperm.  
  
The pressure built and built inside Jayden, until he finally reached the edge. He growled as his orgasm hit, and left marks on Noah’s neck with his teeth as he emptied himself deep inside him. It was a mind-blowing orgasm, and he had to get himself under control so that he wouldn’t hurt Noah too much while riding it out.  
  
Noah gasped and shuddered under Jayden, and his own orgasm was forced from him when his insides were flooded by his mate’s semen. He cried out and shook violently as it went through him in waves, making him almost black out from the intensity. Jayden’s sharp grunts of pleasure as he fucked him through it made Noah stay focused, and he purred when he felt his alpha pumping even more come into him, satisfying his body’s and their bond’s needs.  
  
Their orgasms had seemed to last forever, but once they were over, it felt like it was way too soon.  
  
After several moments in total bliss, Jayden and Noah both started calming down from their highs. Jayden collapsed on Noah, but kept his weight off him, and together they panted for breath.  
  
Jayden slowly let go of Noah’s wrists and cringed when he saw that he had bruised them a bit. He started to gently rub them in apology. “Sorry. I kinda lost it…”  
  
Noah let out a small, soft chuckle under him. “That’s alright. I don’t mind a little bruising. It was worth it.”  
  
Still, Jayden felt sorry, and he gave Noah a small smile before bringing his wrists one by one up to his mouth to place kisses on them. Noah shifted shyly under him and watched him with a smile, which Jayden returned. The alpha then gently placed Noah’s hands on the bed again before leaning down to kiss the submissive on the mouth. Noah immediately wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him back, purring into Jayden’s mouth.  
  
The kiss was sweet, but still hungry and consuming. The taste of each other sent pleasant thrills through their bodies, and they clung to one another as they tried to deepen the kiss.  
  
When Jayden shifted forward a bit to kiss Noah harder, the submissive let out a surprised gasp when Jayden’s dick got pushed further into him and stimulated his insides. The alpha was still hard, which was a good thing, considering that Noah’s heat was already starting to flare up again.   
  
Soon, the air around them once more got heavy with Noah’s strong pheromones, signaling his eggs’ need for fertilization.  
  
“So… Seems like next round is starting already,” Jayden smirked, after pulling back to look at Noah.  
  
Noah whined and bucked up into Jayden when he felt his body tingle with need once more. “I hate this part… I never get to relax and recover.”  
  
“But that’s part of why it’s so hot. Love when you’re all desperate and horny for my cock.” Jayden gave Noah a wicked smile before slowly pulling out and then thrusting into him again, repeating the gesture over and over and going a bit faster every time.  
  
Noah arched his back and leaned his head back with a loud moan, digging his nails into Jayden’s neck and back as he still had his arms wrapped around the alpha’s neck. “Ahhh! Please.”  
  
“Shhh. I’ll take care of you,” Jayden soothed, placing a kiss on Noah’s stretched neck and thrusting his hips forward into him. “Gonna make you all swollen and heavy with our baby soon…”  
  
The words caused Noah to shudder and go more pliant under him from arousal.  
  
The second round was a little less desperate, but still wild and hormone-driven. They clung to each other, and Noah’s nails scratched marks into Jayden’s skin as he once more got pounded into the mattress so hard that they could hear it creaking and protesting all the time.  
  
Jayden’s body was busy producing more and more sperm to ensure his mate’s pregnancy, and his recovery time was still as fast as always during Noah’s heats.  
  
The sheets were ruined by the time Noah’s heat took a small break, after having flared up five times in a row. There would be lots of sheet-changing over the following week, but it was totally worth it.  
  
  


***

  
  
Day and night, Noah’s heat continued. They barely had time to relax and have something to eat and drink until they had to go at it again, and they were both getting increasingly sore. But they still enjoyed every minute of it, knowing that their couplings would most likely be successful and result in them having their third baby together.  
  
They took showers at least twice a day because of how messy it was to go through the heat. There was come and sweat everywhere, as well as oil from Noah’s glands, which wouldn’t stop leaking during his heat.  
  
It was early afternoon on the third day of Noah’s heat, when Noah padded over to the bed, completely naked with only his wings hiding some of his modesty. He had just been to the bathroom during the small break that his heat gave him, and he hadn’t bothered to put on any clothes. “Jayden, where did you put the toilet paper?” he asked, standing beside the bed to look at his mate.  
  
Jayden was lying on the bed, watching some TV while Noah had been in the bathroom. He turned his head to look back at Noah, who was staring down at him and waiting for an answer. He blinked a few times before saying, “Uh, inside the bathroom cupboards, where it always is. Did you check downstairs too?”  
  
“Yeah, I checked, and there’s only two rolls left. Please don’t tell me you forgot to buy more…”  
  
“Hey, I bought one package, like you told me to.”  
  
“No, I told you to buy _three!_ I told you one at first, but then I saw that we were running low on it, and then I corrected it to three!”  
  
“Well, I didn’t hear you say that.”  
  
Noah let out a frustrated growl. “Why didn’t you check it yourself, then?! You _know_ we need to buy extra toilet paper for this week!”  
  
“Hey, don’t get mad at _me. You_ were the one that told me to buy only one package at first,” Jayden said defensively, his tail flicking on the bed in light irritation.  
  
Noah was about to snap something back at him when his heat flared up again. Slick started running down his thighs, mixed with some remains of Jayden’s last release, which he hadn’t managed to clean out. The wet sensation made him shift, and the desperate burn in his ass and body made him whine in need.  
  
Jayden immediately picked up on what was going on; he could tell it just by looking at Noah, and he could smell it, of course. In a second, his dick was hard and ready to go, and he let out a small growl as he reached out and pulled Noah onto the bed.  
  
The submissive yelped softly and gave Jayden a small glare because he was still angry at him, but he still got into position so that they could fuck again. He turned around so that he was lying on his stomach on the bed, and he spread his wings and wiggled his ass to show his mate that he was ready for him. Jayden wasted no time before he covered his body with his own and pushed into him once more.  
  
They both grunted in pleasure at being joined again, and Jayden immediately started thrusting to get them through this round as well.  
  
“We still need more toilet paper,” Noah grunted, sounding irritated in between his small gasps and moans.  
  
Jayden rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I got that. Jeez.”  
  
“Don’t ‘jeez’ me!” Noah snapped, grasping the sheets tightly with his hands when Jayden’s cock was hitting his sweet spots straight on now. “Ohhhh, right there. Nrrrugh…!” Lying like this made his hole clench more, and he mewled at the sensation of Jayden’s length sliding in and out of him.  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but chuckle at Noah’s ramblings. “Look at us; fighting while having sex. That’s kinda funny.” He laughed softly against the back of Noah’s neck, placing a kiss there. Noah was smaller than him, so he had to bend his back and lean down a bit to reach his mate’s neck while keeping up his thrusts.  
  
Noah softened up a bit at Jayden’s words, and couldn’t help but laugh too at how his heat had ruined a serious situation. Now all he could think of was how nice Jayden’s body felt against his back, and how nicely his ass got filled by his mate’s cock.  
  
“But we can’t even go shopping for more…” Noah pointed out, his words muffled a bit because he was lying with his cheek pressed against the mattress. Soft gasps and grunts were forced from him every now and then when Jayden’s cock hit the right spots.  
  
“Ask Cas to do it for us and have him drop by with it,” Jayden suggested, rolling his hips to please Noah more. He was rewarded with a pretty gasp for that.  
  
“ _Ah!_ Okay…”   
  
Noah was mortified that he had to call his papa and have him drop by with supplies for them while he was in heat, but it was their only option. Castiel was the only person beside Jayden whom Noah wanted in their house while he was in heat, so it _had_ to be him, even though the last thing Noah wanted was for someone in his family to see him all sweaty and needy during his heat.  
  
The sounds of the creaking bed and their skin slapping together filled the room, but Noah’s gasps got louder when Jayden started paying attention to his wings. The alpha carded his hand through Noah’s smaller feathers on the wing bone, causing shudders and moans. He rubbed the bone with his thumb, being gentle but still making Noah feel it, and eventually leaned down to nibble at the wing bone with his teeth.  
  
Noah cried out and came then, spasming under Jayden as he came into the sheets that had been rubbing and caressing his dick during the whole act. The alpha followed right after him, growling as he filled Noah’s ass with more of his semen.  
  
Exhaustion took over then, and Jayden slowly moved his hand up to cover Noah’s. He was keeping as much weight as possible off his mate, and as his hand covered Noah’s smaller one, he let his fingers entwine with Noah’s.   
  
They both stared at their joined hands. Noah’s palm was facing the bed, and Jayden’s palm rested on the back of Noah’s hand, completely covering it. It was a simple form of physical contact, but it felt nice. It felt like home.  
  
“Feel good?” Jayden asked after a few moments.  
  
“Mm, yeah,” Noah replied, sounding tired. He kept staring at their hands while his cheek rested on the bed. “You’re a bit heavy, though. And you’re still a jerk for forgetting the toilet paper.”  
  
Jayden laughed at that and slowly moved off of Noah. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say.” He pulled out of Noah and gave him a small slap on the butt, smirking when he saw his mate yelp and more come leaking from him because he had flinched. The sight of Noah’s ass leaking his semen was totally worth the glare he got.  
  
  


***

  
  
A couple of hours later, the doorbell rang.  
  
Noah had called Cas during one of their breaks to ask him to go buy some toilet paper and some more food for them. It had been quite embarrassing for Noah to have to ask his papa to go buy supplies for them because they couldn’t go by themselves, but Castiel hadn’t seemed to mind it at all.  
  
Noah and Jayden were both downstairs when the doorbell rang, and luckily Noah’s heat had just taken another small break. He moved to answer the door, ignoring the wary growl coming from Jayden. The alpha did not like having anyone else in the house while Noah was in heat, and although Jayden knew that it was just Cas at the door, some part of him was still very much on alert, because there was always a chance that it could be someone else.  
  
Jayden followed Noah to the door, but stayed a few feet behind him. His tail swished back and forth in a wary gesture because he wanted to have it confirmed that it was in fact Cas at the door, and thus not a threat or competition.  
  
Noah peeked through the door spy to be sure that it was his papa, and sighed in relief when he saw Castiel standing outside. He quickly unlocked and opened the door, blushing as he faced his papa. “Hi, papa.”  
  
“Hello, Noah,” Castiel smiled, standing there with a shopping bag in his hand. He glanced at Noah’s appearance quickly. Noah was dressed a t-shirt and a skirt that reached to just above his knees. Castiel hadn’t really seen Noah wearing a skirt before (only a few times when he was a small kid), and he smiled a bit when he saw it. Noah’s wings looked a little unkempt and messy, as did his hair, but Castiel didn’t mind. He knew that going through a heat would do that to you.  
  
“Thank you so much for shopping for us,” Noah said, stepping aside to let Castiel in.  
  
The angel stepped inside, and Noah quickly closed the door.  
  
“You’re welcome. It was really not a problem,” Castiel said, smiling at Noah. He then looked at Jayden, who was now standing right behind Noah and looking very protective and possessive. The fact that Castiel was a submissive and Noah’s parent calmed Jayden down significantly, but he was still edgy because of his mate’s heat. “Hello, Jayden.”  
  
“Hi,” Jayden smiled, feeling a bit awkward. He knew that Castiel could smell what had been going on in the house; everything reeked of sex and of submissive and alpha pheromones. Not to mention that both he and Noah were covered in love marks and scratches.  
  
Castiel’s eyes rested on the marks on Noah’s neck for a bit, which only made Noah feel even more embarrassed.  
  
“So, here are your toilet paper and food,” Castiel spoke and handed the bag to Noah, who peeked inside to check. “You should have been more thorough when shopping before your heat started…”  
  
Noah blushed furiously and nodded quietly in response. “Yeah, sorry. Jayden forgot.”  
  
“I didn’t _forget,_ ” Jayden protested, curling his tail around Noah’s leg. “You just falsely informed me about how much to buy.”  
  
Noah shot him a glare, which Castiel chuckled at.  
  
“Oh, and Nathan told me to greet you,” Castiel spoke next.  
  
Noah whipped his head around to look at Castiel again. “How is he doing?”  
  
Nathan was currently staying alone at Dean and Castiel’s house, while Derek was staying with Leila and Micah. It was easier for the grandparents to take care of one kid at the time, especially since Nathan and Derek could be quite loud when they were together. They were taking turns with the boys, and tomorrow Dean and Castiel would be babysitting Derek, while Nathan would go to stay with Leila and Micah.  
  
“He’s doing well,” Castiel replied, smiling. “He misses you a lot, and he does not quite understand why he can’t be at home. He told us that he misses Derek as well, but that he likes to finally have his toys to himself.”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah, I can imagine that.”  
  
Noah chuckled before asking Castiel about Derek. “And how is Derek? Do you know?”  
  
“I spoke with Leila last night and she said that it’s going well,” Castiel replied. “Although he did break one of her vases and spilled all her eggs on the kitchen floor…”  
  
Noah cringed, while Jayden laughed. The boy always caused some kind of trouble, whether by getting hurt, breaking things, or annoying his brother.  
  
“Oh boy, my mom’s gonna kill me,” Jayden laughed.  
  
Castiel laughed softly. “She did sound a bit upset, but I could hear Micah laughing about it in the background, so it must have been amusing. Either way, Dean has secured our house so that Derek cannot get his hands on vases and stuff so easily when he comes over. Nathan has been very easy to babysit, though. He doesn’t get bored so easily, and Dean has been teaching him some car stuff.”  
  
Noah smiled at that. “Yes, he likes cars a lot, as well as learning new things.”  
  
“So, Nathan and Derek haven’t seen each other since they were at Lily’s place?” Jayden asked, trying not to show his impatience around Castiel. Everything inside him wanted him to be alone with Noah and take care of him during his heat, so he was pretty much just waiting for Castiel to leave again. He hated that he felt like that, since he really liked the angel and had a good relationship with Noah’s parents and siblings, but he couldn’t help it.  
  
Castiel looked up at Jayden to answer his question. “Oh, they have. Leila and Micah visited us yesterday with Derek so that the boys could be together for a bit. They did seem to like each other’s company, but I do think they enjoy spending some time apart.”  
  
“Yeah, I think they sometimes get a bit tired of sharing attention…” Noah murmured thoughtfully.  
  
Midnight suddenly came running over to them and started rubbing herself against Castiel’s legs. The angel smiled at the cat and bent down to pet her, listening to her pleased purrs.  
  
Noah smiled at the scene, until suddenly he felt the familiar warmth of another heat flare go through his body. He froze on the spot and clenched his ass to keep the slick inside, not wanting his papa to smell too much of it. Over the past few days he had been wearing the plug to keep Jayden’s come inside him, but he wasn’t wearing it now.  
  
Jayden immediately picked up on it and let out a small, possessive growl. He stepped closer to Noah and wrapped a wing around him, impatient to have their guest leave so that he could fuck his mate again.  
  
Castiel quickly realized what was going on. He straightened up and stared wide-eyed at the two of them, suddenly feeling a bit awkward. “Um, I should probably go now.”  
  
Noah could die from embarrassment to have his papa witness him having a heat flare. He was squirming and twitching because of the need in his body, and his wings kept furling and furling behind him. He knew that Castiel could smell the increase in pheromones, even though he wouldn’t be affected by the scent. Submissives were not drawn to the smells of other subs’ or females’ heats, although they _could_ find the scent to be nice.  
  
“I-I’m sorry,” Noah said, burying his face in his hands in utter embarrassment.  
  
“No, it’s alright. It’s natural,” Castiel reassured him, smiling as he waved it off and moved towards the door. He eyed Jayden, who looked like he was about to constipate himself from using all his willpower to hold himself back in Castiel’s presence. Castiel felt kind of sorry for him, but couldn’t help but chuckle awkwardly as he opened the door. “I will see you guys later, and good luck. I’ll call you after New Year, okay?”  
  
“T-Thanks,” Noah said, blushing even harder. “Greet dad from me.”  
  
“I will,” Castiel promised and stepped outside so they could do something about Noah’s heat flare in private.  
  
Noah let Castiel get outside before he quickly waved at him and shut the door.  
  
As soon as the door was shut and locked, Jayden was on him in a second. Noah barely had time to react before he the alpha spun him around and crushed their mouths together while his hands touched him _everywhere._  
  
Midnight had disappeared back into the living room. She could smell the increase in pheromones, and Jayden’s strong alpha scent during Noah’s heats always made her stay far away from them.  
  
Noah mewled when Jayden grasped his hair tightly and tilted his head back so he could kiss him harder.  
  
“I need to fuck you right now,” Jayden said between the possessive kisses and his groping. His voice was raspy from arousal, sending shivers through Noah. “Living room,” he ordered as he started maneuvering Noah into it. His hands kept groping at Noah’s ass, pushing up under the skirt to reach it, and his fingers quickly got covered in slick because Noah was leaking so much.  
  
Noah nodded and eagerly moved along, letting Jayden guide him all the way over to the couch, where the alpha unceremoniously pushed him face-first onto the cushions and climbed up behind him. Jayden quickly removed their clothes, which were only in the way right now.  
  
When he was naked, Noah spread out his wings and moved up on his knees and elbows. He pressed his upper body into the couch while pushing his ass up towards Jayden to let his mate see how wet and ready he was. He whined in need and wriggled his butt in invitation, feeling slick running down his thighs. “Please… Need you.” He was aware of Midnight sitting on the bookshelf, watching them with little interest, but he honestly couldn’t care less about the cat right now, and neither could Jayden.  
  
Jayden didn’t need to be told that twice. He placed a hand on Noah’s back between his wings, holding him down while he pushed his cock into him as far as he could go. Noah cried out in ecstasy to be filled like that, and he moaned as Jayden pounded into him hard and fast, filling the room with the sound of their skin slapping together.  
  
Noah mewled and moaned through it, clawing at the couch with his fingers in desperation. Jayden hummed behind him and kept pressing him down into the couch with a hand on his back, while his other hand was touching his hip.  
  
Noah was all tight, wet, and warm around him, and Jayden loved how the small hole clenched around his dick like a vice the whole time. Seeing Noah’s pink hole all stretched and full was a gorgeous sight, but still Jayden couldn’t resist filling him up more. He moved his hand from Noah’s hip and instead started to circle the stretched hole with his fingers, pushing them inside to prepare Noah for more.  
  
The submissive quickly picked up on what Jayden was doing and went wild under him. He pushed back onto Jayden’s cock and mewled as he clawed at the couch, while his wings started flapping lightly in excitement.  
  
“Jeez, so eager to have my tail in there again, aren’t you?” Jayden chuckled, smirking as he pushed two fingers in along with his cock and stretched Noah further. He had fucked him with both his tail and dick several times during this heat already, but Noah was always so eager for more.  
  
“I can’t help it. It feels so good,” Noah whined, feeling a bit embarrassed to act so needy and hungry to be filled up even more. It did hurt a bit when Jayden double penetrated him, but the feeling of being completely and utterly _full_ made it worth it. He liked how he could feel it for days afterwards when Jayden did that to him.  
  
Jayden let out a fond chuckle and removed his fingers from Noah when he was ready. He slapped the submissive’s butt playfully, saying, “Little slut.” It was kindly meant, and he loved how Noah always shuddered at being called such a dirty name. This time was no exception.  
  
The alpha slowed down his pace and moved his tail up to start pressing it into Noah. It was always difficult to push the tail inside along with his cock, because Noah’s ass wasn’t that big and his hole was all tight. But the excessive amounts of lubrication that Noah produced during his heat helped Jayden slide his way inside, and soon his tail was disappearing into the submissive’s body along with his cock.  
  
“Ahhhh!” Noah cried out, stilling completely and grasping the couch tightly with his fingers when he felt his hole stretch obscenely much to accommodate his mate. He felt a bit of pain, but he blocked it out in favor of feeling the stretch and fullness.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden grunted, moving his hands up to hold Noah’s hips to keep him still as he pushed further inside. He loved this part. Loved how warm it felt inside Noah, and how the submissive’s body was trying its best to accommodate him. Everything was so tight that it felt like he couldn’t move or that he was about to come already from the pressure alone, but Jayden held his climax back in favor of thrusting into Noah with both his tail and his cock.  
  
It started out slow at first, as Jayden had to find the right rhythm and wait for Noah’s channel to loosen up a bit. Soon after that, he started going faster, fucking hard into Noah and not showing any mercy at all. His balls slapped against the submissive’s ass with every thrust, and he twisted his tail around inside him to hit the right spots. Feeling his own tail pressed against his cock inside Noah was amazing, and he couldn’t hold back his pleased moans and grunts as he pounded into Noah with abandon.  
  
They never lasted long like this; the tightness and overwhelming stimulation was too much for both of them to handle.  
  
“Ah, ah! Connor, I-I’m gonna come,” Noah warned, moaning out the words and squirming desperately while Jayden continued to fuck him.  
  
“Then come,” Jayden rasped, running his hands over Noah’s hips to encourage him.  
  
And just like that, Noah came. He cried out his lungs as his orgasm rippled through him, leaving him shaking and trembling under Jayden, who had to hold onto him to keep him from collapsing. His muscles clenched down around Jayden, making it almost impossible for the alpha to move, and eventually forced Jayden’s own orgasm from him. The demon growled as he emptied his next load deep inside Noah, thrusting into him in small, hard moves as he pumped him full of his come.  
  
It was glorious to no end and took their breaths away.  
  
When Noah’s climax subsided, he went boneless under Jayden, moaning softly as he felt Jayden’s cock squirt out another load inside him. He shuddered at the feeling and closed his eyes to relax, waiting for Jayden to finish.  
  
Moments later, Jayden was done. He panted heavily for breath and struggled to stay on his knees behind Noah and still keep the submissive in place. He felt Noah’s muscles start to relax around him when the climax was over, but he was still warm and tight.  
  
“Mm, such a good boy. You took me so well,” Jayden praised, humming as he soothingly ran his hands over Noah’s hips and his butt.  
  
Noah whimpered softly, enjoying the praise he got from his mate.  
  
Jayden smiled and leaned down to press a kiss to Noah’s back, having to shift a bit in order to reach. His shifting made Noah gasp as his cock and tail moved inside him, but he knew that the submissive appreciated the kiss he got.  
  
Suddenly Noah became aware of where they were. “No! We’re ruining the couch!” He shot up so that he was on his hands and knees, staring down at the mess they had made with wide, panicked eyes. His own come was all over the couch under him, and Jayden’s semen was dripping from his hole and sliding down his thighs onto the couch. It was an awful mess.  
  
Jayden blinked at him before laughing. “Yeah, so what? I’ll clean it later, no problem.”  
  
Noah grunted in annoyance, hating himself for not having put a towel on the couch in advance, since he should have known that it was obvious that they’d be having sex there eventually.  
  
Jayden just chuckled at him before starting to pull out. As soon as Noah was empty, come started flowing out of him in large amounts, so Jayden quickly shoved the tip of his tail back inside to keep the worst of it in. “Let’s head back upstairs. Wanna use some toys now.”  
  
Noah shivered in arousal at the mention of toys, and nodded at Jayden’s words. He slowly moved off the couch, letting Jayden’s tail stay inside him the whole time.  
  
As soon as they were both back on their feet, Jayden unsuspectingly swept Noah up and held him bridal style in his arms.  
  
“Connor!” Noah yelped, immediately wrapping his arms around Jayden’s neck to keep his balance. He was absolutely stunned to suddenly be picked up like that, and felt Jayden’s tail quickly shoving its way back inside him after it had fallen out. His hole was all sore and puffy from use and being stretched so much, making him gasp at the tenderness when Jayden’s tail entered him again.  
  
Jayden just grinned smugly and started carrying Noah out of the room. “What? You’re tired from me fucking you, so I’m gonna carry you upstairs so we can continue.”  
  
Noah rolled his eyes and smacked Jayden on the chest. “Could you at least make it _sound_ romantic?” He glared at Jayden with red cheeks.  
  
Jayden laughed and held onto him tightly as he began ascending the stairs with Noah in his arms.  
  
The heat was starting to flare up again, and they made it to the bedroom just in time for it. Jayden had to put an already needy Noah down on the bed before collecting the box of toys, which he had left on the floor earlier.  
  
“Lie down on your stomach; wings spread and hands stretched over your head on the bed,” Jayden instructed, carrying the box with him over to the bed.  
  
Noah quickly complied and got into position, shivering at the feeling of come flowing from him now that Jayden’s tail was gone. He lay down on his stomach and stretched his arms out in front of him on the bed, waiting for Jayden to do something.  
  
The mattress dropped a bit as Jayden climbed onto it, and soon Noah felt his mate tying something around his wrists to keep them together. He shuddered in arousal and whimpered because of his heat.  
  
After Jayden had tied Noah’s hands together, he leaned back and appreciated the sight of Noah lying on the bed in front of him, his wings spread and his ass dripping come. He took a moment to run his hands down Noah’s body, starting from his shoulders and stopping at his ass. Then, he pried Noah’s legs apart and settled down between them, using his hands to pull Noah’s cheeks aside to expose his hole. It was all red and puffy from use, leaking semen as well as slick. The amazing scent that came from Noah made Jayden hum and his dick harden, but he resisted the urge to fuck him and instead leaned in to lick at the pink hole.  
  
Noah gasped and bucked when he felt Jayden’s tongue. His wings flapped in excitement, and he couldn’t help but shove his butt back into Jayden’s face to feel more of that tongue.  
  
“Lie still,” Jayden ordered gently, gripping Noah’s ass tightly with his hands and waiting for Noah to relax. When he felt Noah freeze and lie still, he smirked to himself before starting to lick at the hole again. Noah was very obedient. He liked that.  
  
Jayden hummed as the sweet taste of Noah’s slick hit his tongue when he licked him out. Tasting his own come was a bit different, but he liked it. The come had been used to inseminate and mark Noah with, and Jayden let out a small, possessive growl as he licked it from him and cleaned up the mess he had made of him.  
  
“Ah, J-Jayden,” Noah moaned, resisting the urge to shove his ass back against his mate again. He wanted to claw at the sheets with his nails, but with his hands tied together it was a bit difficult to do it properly. Instead he flapped and jerked his wings, while trying to keep the rest of his body still like Jayden had ordered him to. Having his hands tied together by Jayden and being ordered to lie still turned him on so much, and he had a very hard time trying not to squirm on the bed.  
  
“Mm, call me Connor. I like when you do that,” Jayden purred from behind him before lapping at Noah’s hole again.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but buck at that, feeling so stimulated that it drove him crazy.  
  
Jayden just smirked and continued to dig his fingers into Noah’s buttocks while eating him out. He wanted to leave bruises on the pretty skin to remind Noah of who he belonged to, and he could tell that Noah certainly wasn’t against that idea. He made sure to lick his mate the way Noah liked it best, and to leave as many marks as he could without hurting him too much.  
  
Lapping and sucking at the used hole, Jayden managed to clean up all the come and excessive slick. Noah kept producing new lubricant, so there was always more flowing out, but Jayden liked that. The taste made him dizzy and pleased something deep inside him, and he had a hard time pulling back when he was finally done.  
  
Noah whimpered in loss when Jayden pulled away from his hole. He was on the edge of coming from Jayden’s ministrations, but the alpha had pulled away before he could get there. He grunted in disappointment and tried to peek over his own shoulder to see what Jayden was about to do next, but was told not to look. Disgruntled, he dropped his head back down on the bed and waited for his mate’s next move.  
  
Jayden rummaged through the sex toy box for a bit until he found what he was looking for. He smirked as he swung his leg over Noah, so that he was supporting himself on his shins on either side of Noah’s hips, straddling him. He then brought two tiny vibrators up to Noah’s oil glands and placed them there. Noah stiffened at that, obviously trying to figure out what was happening, and Jayden kept the vibrators in place before turning them on.  
  
 _“Ah!”_ Noah cried out, bucking violently as his sensitive oil glands got assaulted with vibrations.  
  
The vibrations were only set to level one so far, but already Noah was bucking and squirming violently on the bed.  
  
“Ahh! C-Connor! That’s…” Noah lost his words and opened his mouth in a silent gasp, trying to control himself as he squirmed on the bed.  
  
Jayden smirked smugly and gently moved the vibrators in circles around the glands. “I knew you’d like it; you always do. I can always draw the most delicious orgasms from you like this…”   
  
“Ah, god! Please, please, please!”  
  
Jayden liked how he had reduced Noah to a squirming, begging mess. His tail flicked in behind him as he felt pleased with him, and his cock was leaking precome over Noah’s back as he watched his mate go crazy from pleasure under him. Noah was so beautiful like this, he thought.  
  
The submissive’s wings were flapping uncontrollably on the bed because he was so overstimulated and aroused. Jayden took pity on his desperation, and pressed the vibrators down a little harder before pushing the button to turn the strength up a level more.  
  
Noah downright howled, and his entire body stiffened as a powerful orgasm rippled through him. It was so strong and so intense, and all he could do was buck and scream his way through it.  
  
“Shhh.” Jayden soothed him through the intensity, using his tail (which was still a bit wet with slick and his own come) to rub gently against Noah’s leg to keep him calm. “That’s it. You’re so good… Just let it out.”  
  
Jayden’s praise and soft voice drew one final spasm from Noah’s climaxing body, until he finally went completely boneless on the bed. He panted and gasped for breath, feeling so fucked out that he couldn’t move or think.  
  
With a pleased smile, Jayden removed the toys from Noah and turned them off before putting them away. He then carefully placed his hands on Noah again, starting to run them gently over Noah’s shoulder blades and avoiding touching his oil glands, which were too tender to be touched right now. Noah’s skin was soaked in the sweet oil, and Jayden hummed when the scent filled his nose.  
  
“You okay?” the alpha asked after a few moments, offering Noah a small back rub to comfort him. His dick was aching from neglect, but he didn’t want to fuck Noah before the submissive was ready for it.  
  
Still panting softly, Noah nodded his head weakly. “Y-Yeah, I’m good. So tired, though…” His words were a bit muffled because his cheek was pressed against the bed, and Jayden could hear how tired he was.  
  
Jayden chuckled and continued to rub his back. “Mm, yeah, that was a pretty intense orgasm, wasn’t it?”  
  
Again, Noah nodded, followed by a small whine. “Why did you lick your come away? I need it…” His body demanded that he constantly be filled with Jayden’s sperm to ensure his pregnancy, and not feeling any of it inside made him feel like something was missing.  
  
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Hope I have another load, ‘cause your greedy, little hole has been milking me dry for three days now.”  
  
“You always have more loads…” Noah argued, trying not to blush (which he didn’t succeed at).  
  
The alpha laughed softly before moving off of Noah. He then helped Noah roll over onto his back, his hands still tied, and settled himself between his spread legs. Noah moved his tied hands up and hooked his arms around Jayden’s neck so that he could hold on to him during the act. They stared each other in the eyes as Jayden once more sank into Noah, filling him up and starting to thrust into him.  
  
Noah leaned his head back with a long moan, easily accepting Jayden’s intrusion, even though he was so tired and exhausted.  
  
“Gosh, you’re so beautiful when you get fucked. Did you know that?” Jayden spoke while doing a small roll of his hips as he fucked into Noah under him. His pace was steady and hard, but he went slower this time to take it easy on Noah.  
  
Noah’s cheeks turned bright pink, and he briefly looked away from Jayden’s eyes. “S-Stop being so embarrassing…”  
  
Jayden laughed and moved up on his elbows so that his arms were framing Noah’s head, while staring down at Noah as they made love. “You’re so cute.”  
  
“If my hands weren’t tied, I’d hit you!”  
  
Again, Jayden just laughed at Noah’s embarrassment. He smiled lovingly at his mate and leaned down to press their foreheads together, having to bend his back a bit in order to reach his smaller mate. “I can’t wait to see our next baby,” he spoke, randomly.  
  
Noah’s face was still red, so his new blush couldn’t really be seen. He let out a small gasp as Jayden cock nudged his g-spots just right, before speaking. “Me too. But we have to – _ah!_ – make it first.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m on it,” Jayden chuckled, speeding up just a little and grunting softly from pleasure. “Though, I think I might already have succeeded. Been three days, after all.”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but smile that, feeling very confident that their couplings had been successful.  
  
Jayden smiled back before capturing Noah’s lips in a deep kiss, while driving into him harder. They gasped and moaned together, and Noah tried to grasp the alpha’s hair with his tied hands to hold on to him.  
  
Although they were both high on hormones and the overwhelming scent of mating pheromones, they were much slower and more tender about it this time. Their wings rubbed together intimately, and they stared into each other’s eyes as they made love and rode through Noah’s heat wave.  
  
The thought of their future baby strengthened their intimacy and bond as they went through the heat together, and every coupling was mind-blowing and perfect; showing just how much they were meant for each other.  
  
  


***

  
  
The week of Noah’s heat finally ended, and the two of them had to pick up their children from Dean and Castiel’s house after it was all over. Leila and Micah had babysat Nathan for the past few days, but had driven to Dean and Castiel’s place with him so that Noah and Jayden could pick both boys up at the same time.  
  
“Mommy! Daddy!” Nathan cheered happily when he saw his parents enter the house. He ran over to them and greeted them both with tight hugs, grinning up at them in joy.  
  
Derek ran over to greet them too. He wrapped his arms around Noah’s waist and then Jayden’s, staring up at them with a big grin. He looked like he had missed them both a lot, and his tail swished back and forth in happiness.  
  
“Hey, boys,” Jayden grinned, hugging them back and stroking a hand through their hairs. “Did you have a nice time with your grandparents?”  
  
“Yeah, but why did we have to stay with them for so long?” Nathan asked, pouting a bit.  
  
Behind them, Dean, Castiel, Leila, and Micah were gathered, watching the reunion with smiles. Dean and Castiel’s dog Carrie was there too, panting happily as they took turns petting her.  
  
“We had our reasons,” was all Jayden said, coughing awkwardly when he felt his and Noah’s parents stare at them.  
  
Noah smiled at his sons and stroked a hand through Nathan’s hair. He had missed the kids so much, and he was glad to see that both Nathan and Derek had missed them as well.  
  
“Hope you guys had your fun, ‘cause I’m honestly getting too old to look after such a firecracker like Derek,” Dean said, smirking as he glanced down at little Derek.  
  
“Dean,” Castiel chastised softly.  
  
Noah blushed like mad about the ‘fun’ part, while Jayden laughed awkwardly.  
  
“Yeah, we know he can be tough to babysit…” Jayden spoke.   
  
The sound of someone walking through the living room drew Noah and Jayden’s attentions, and they were surprised to see Laura appearing in the door to the living room and joining them in the entrance hall.  
  
“Hi, guys,” she smiled, looking happy to see them.  
  
Jayden stared at her in surprise. “Whoa, how come _you’re_ here? Aren’t you supposed to be at college?” Laura had been attending college for two years now, studying to be a graphic designer. Her boyfriend Nicholas was studying to be a doctor at a different college.  
  
Laura grinned and absently petted Carrie when the dog walked over to her. “It’s still holidays, dumbass. Besides, I was home at mom and dad’s place for a bit to hang out with them and my little nephews. Nicholas is in Illinois to visit some family anyway, so I can’t hang out with him.”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but grin as he pulled her into a hug after she had finished speaking. He didn’t get to see Laura very often anymore, so it meant a lot to him that she was there. Laura seemed to feel the same, judging from how she hugged him back and entwined their tails.  
  
“Yeah, Auntie Laura has watched movies with me and stuff,” Nathan said, beaming up at her.  
  
“Too many movies for my taste,” Micah murmured. Dean and Castiel laughed at that.  
  
After having hugged Jayden, Laura turned to face Noah, looking at him with a big grin. “Hey, Noah. Good to see you again.” She pulled him into a hug, which he happily returned. When they pulled back, she gave him a teasing smirk and nudged his leg with her tail. “I hope you’ll have a girl this time.” She glanced briefly at his stomach, giggling at how Noah’s cheeks went all pink.  
  
Noah shifted sheepishly as the others laughed softly and looked at him as well. “Um, so do I.”  
  
“We’ll see about that,” Leila said, watching Noah and Jayden with an excited but loving smile.  
  
Noah looked even more embarrassed, and both Dean and Castiel took pity on their son, even though they too had participated in making him embarrassed in the first place because of the way they had been staring and smiling at him.  
  
“And don’t stand around in your jackets and shoes all day; it won’t make you look any prettier. Come inside and have a beer,” Dean said, ushering them further into the room before closing the door.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, thanks. I could really use one.”  
  
“No beer during the naughty times?” Laura asked with a teasing giggle.  
  
Jayden shoved his little sister gently and ruffled her hair to get back at her. “No, and no beer for you either.”  
  
“Hey! I’m 21!” she protested, shying away from Jayden’s hand to protect her hairstyle. She was wearing a ponytail today, and she didn’t want to have to redo it because Jayden had made her hair all ruffled.  
  
Derek gaped at her. “Twenty-one’s old…”  
  
No one could contain their laughter when Laura’s jaw dropped in mortification over having Derek call her old.  
  
“Old?!” she blurted. “I’m not old! I’m young and ready for life! It’s you who’s too young, little man.”  
  
“Am not little!” Derek protested back, hating to be called little.  
  
Nathan laughed at his brother. “Yeah, you’re little. Little, tiny Derek…” He snickered and giggled when Derek turned to look at him with a glare. The younger boy let out an annoyed whine and pushed Nathan harshly, but Nathan just laughed at him.  
  
“Hey, don’t fight,” Noah told them gently, trying to pry them apart.  
  
Derek pouted and glared at Nathan before moving closer to Noah. He fisted a hand in Noah’s pants and glanced up at him. “When we go home?”  
  
Noah ran a hand through Derek’s brown hairs and gave him a patient smile. “Soon. We’re gonna stay here with your grandparents for a bit, and then we’ll go home.”  
  
“Why not now?”  
  
“Jeez, young man. Are you telling us that you don’t wanna stay and have cookies and play catch with Carrie anymore?” Dean asked, looking at Derek as if he was disappointed.  
  
Derek’s face softened and lit up at the mention of cookies, and he slowly let go of Noah’s pants.  
  
“ _I_ wanna!” Nathan quickly said, raising a hand. “Are they grandma’s homemade cookies?” He looked up at Castiel excitedly.  
  
Castiel grinned softly. “Yes, I made them just before Christmas.”  
  
“Ohh, you bake, Castiel?” Leila asked, sounding both surprised and amazed.  
  
Castiel shrugged sheepishly. “Sometimes. My brother Gabriel taught me; he’s a better cook than me and can be quite nerdy about it.”  
  
“Yeah, he taught me some stuff as well,” Jayden smiled.  
  
“I honestly didn’t think such a non-serious guy like him could have such a talent for cooking,” Micah remarked, laughing about it.  
  
“Don’t be so prejudice, dad,” Laura chastised softly and gave Micah a small poke in the side with her elbow.  
  
Nathan and Derek were already heading back inside the living room because they were so impatient to have cookies, and they dragged Noah and Jayden with them by pulling at their arms.  
  
The adults finally went with the kids into the living room, and Castiel quickly prepared the cookies and something to drink for them.  
  
They spent several hours hanging out and talking, and they had some beer as well. Laura and Noah didn’t have any, since they’d be driving home. Noah didn’t like beer anyways, and kindly refused having wine instead, because of his (hopefully) pregnancy. He needed to take care of his body now that he was most likely expecting another baby, and Jayden had already bought prenatal vitamins for him to help him stay healthy.  
  
Nathan and Derek spent most of the time playing around, and Carrie kept them entertained a lot. They argued a bit about stuff like who should play with the dog, who should have which seat in front of the TV, and which toys to play with. Nathan was glad that Derek didn’t pose much competition when it came to receiving affection from their parents, because Derek was much less into sitting on their laps and stuff like that. Nathan didn’t do that so often anymore either, because he was already seven years old, but he liked sitting next to either Jayden or Noah and have them rub his back or touch wings with him. Derek didn’t really like that; his toys and the TV were much more interesting to him.  
  
Jayden stayed close to Noah the whole time, still feeling quite protective of him because of the heat he had just gone through.  
  
Staying with the family was nice, and both Noah and Jayden were happy that their parents got along so well. It was funny to see how drunk Dean and Micah got because they shared one beer after the other and were talking like brothers, and how annoyed Castiel and Leila got at them when the two alphas began getting loud. Laura was mingling with them as well; talking a lot to both Noah and Jayden, and playing with Nathan and Derek once in a while to socialize with them.  
  
No one really brought up the topic of heat and babies much anymore, for which Noah was grateful because he couldn’t handle the awkward embarrassment, but Laura did express a few times how happy she was for them.  
  
They stayed for hours, until finally heading back home, where they had to put two very tired boys to bed. Noah and Jayden were glad to have their kids back, after having missed them for a week, and they were just as happy to hopefully be welcoming their third baby sometime later that year, when it was ready to come out and greet the world.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally Noah is pregnant with the next baby! :D I’ve been writing so much heat sex that it gets difficult not to repeat some of the things, but I hope it was still enjoyable.
> 
> Thanks for reading! :)


	39. Chapter 39

**March 2057 (Noah is 30 (almost 31), Jayden is 32 (almost 33), Nathan is 7, Derek is 2 (almost 3), Castiel is 67, Dean is 69, Lucas is 28 (almost 29) years old).**  
  
The weeks following Noah’s heat had been full of impatience and excitement to have it be confirmed for sure that the submissive was indeed pregnant. Six weeks into the pregnancy, the test finally showed positive, and Noah and Jayden were both happy to be expecting their third baby together.  
  
Nathan had been pretty excited to know that he’d be a big brother again, especially when he was told that it might make Derek become a little less wild around him. Derek, on the other hand, didn’t really understand yet what it meant to have a younger sibling. He had been a little upset at first because he thought it meant giving away his toys, but when he learned that that wasn’t the case, he had calmed down.  
  
It was a Friday morning, and Jayden was busy getting Nathan and Derek ready for school and daycare. He didn’t have to work until 2pm on that day, but when he saw how difficult it was for Noah to get out of bed, he decided to get up early and help get the boys ready.  
  
Noah was still sleeping in their bed upstairs, having passed out again even after the alarm clock had sounded for the third time. Jayden had tried to wake him up, but had decided to let his mate snooze for a bit longer. Noah was always more tired than usual when he was pregnant, and he had woken up a couple of times last night with nausea and morning sickness, so Jayden took it upon himself to get the boys ready for the day.  
  
“Where’s mommy?” Nathan asked as he ate breakfast along with Derek at the table in the kitchen. “Shouldn’t he be up?”  
  
Jayden was sitting at the table end with the boys on either side on him, keeping an eye on Derek, who liked to throw food at Nathan and at the floor sometimes. Both boys were eating cereal, and Jayden was having a bowl as well. “Yeah, but he’s feeling very sleepy, so I’ve let him sleep for a bit longer. I’ll wake him up soon.”  
  
Nathan’s brows furrowed in worry. “Is it ‘cause of the new baby?”  
  
“Yes, it’s because of the baby,” Jayden confirmed, smiling softly. “It makes mommy very tired and a bit sick to have the baby inside him, so he needs to rest and take it easy sometimes.”  
  
“Is he gunna die?” Derek asked in a small voice, turning his head to look up at Jayden with a very nervous look on his face.  
  
Jayden was taken aback by that question. He blinked at his son for a moment before laughing. “No, silly. Your mommy won’t die.” He chuckled and reached out to pat Derek gently on the head.  
  
Derek sighed in relief, and Nathan rolled his eyes at his little brother.  
  
“Daddy, will you drive me to school today?” Nathan asked, poking around in his cereal while glancing at Jayden from under his lashes. “Mommy’s meeting at work later today and he usually puts me on the bus then, but I don’t wanna ride on the bus…” His wings tightened a bit behind him and he looked down at his plate, as if he was afraid. Jayden instantly became worried when he saw that.  
  
“Why? What’s wrong with the bus?”  
  
Nathan refused to meet his dad’s eye and just continued to poke at his food with disinterest. Next to him, Derek was eating eagerly and was splashing milk around in his bowl. He had already eaten all the cereal, leaving just the milk left, and he was slurping that now. The annoying slurping noise made Nathan scowl at his brother a bit.  
  
“Derek, eat nicely,” Jayden chastised Derek when the boy splashed too much milk out of his bowl. He then turned to look at Nathan again, still waiting for an answer and watching him with a worried frown.  
  
“I dunno… Just don’t wanna,” Nathan murmured, shrinking a bit into his seat.  
  
Jayden’s worry increased when he saw how Nathan was shrinking back into his seat and was not eating anymore, and he had the feeling that the boy was lying to him. “Hey.” He reached out and placed a gentle hand on Nathan’s shoulder, rubbing it for reassurance. “What’s wrong? Tell me.”  
  
Nathan contemplated what to say and kept glancing over at Derek, who was still eating across from him at the table, looking totally carefree. Nathan chewed on his lower lip for a few seconds before speaking. “Oscar splashed water on me on the bus the other day, and everyone laughed… Don’t wanna get laughed at again.”  
  
It was like the world froze for Jayden for a second when he learned that his son was getting bullied like that. Anger flowed through him, and he had to clench his jaw and control his wings so they wouldn’t sharpen and frighten the boys. It made him so angry that his 7-year-old son was afraid to ride on the school bus because of some spoiled brat like Oscar. It wasn’t right that a 7-year-old should have to be afraid of something like that.  
  
“You know what? I’m gonna drive you to school today, and then I’ll talk with your teacher. I’m getting so tired of that Oscar boy, and I won’t let him get away with it,” Jayden said, growling a bit in his throat.  
  
Nathan looked very relieved about that. He nodded quietly and added, “Oscar teases other kids too. He’s also called Emily some bad words… I don’t like him.”  
  
Jayden tried to contain his angry growl when he heard that. It pissed him off so much that Oscar’s parents didn’t bother to teach their son how to behave, and that they didn’t take it seriously when other parents complained about their boy harassing their kids. He was a bit surprised that he hadn’t heard anything from David and Millie about it, but he guessed that maybe Emily hadn’t told her parents that Oscar had been calling her names.  
  
“I’ll talk to Emily’s parents and your teacher about it, okay? We’ll figure something out.”  
  
Nathan nodded. “Thanks, daddy.”  
  
Jayden gave him a smile and ran a hand through his hair before getting up from the table. Derek was still slurping his milk and humming to himself, and Jayden rolled his eyes fondly when he saw that the boy had spilled a lot of milk on the table.  
  
“Derek, why can’t you just eat nicely for once?” Jayden sighed. He went over to get a cloth from the kitchen, and returned to the table to wipe up the milk from it. He wiped Derek’s mouth as well, which was all white from milk, and the boy whined as he tried to shy away from the offending cloth.  
  
Nathan giggled a bit at how grumpy Derek was, until suddenly a noise from the stairs drew their attentions. They all looked up to see a very freaked out Noah enter the kitchen, dressed in dark pants and still working on zipping up his shirt under his wings.  
  
“Oh my god, I overslept!” Noah exclaimed, looking panicked and stressed as he walked over to them. “Why didn’t you wake me, Jayden?!” He glared at Jayden in accusation and confusion, blaming him for having let him oversleep so much.   
  
Jayden laughed softly at him. “You were so sleepy, so I decided to let you stay in bed a bit longer. I can handle the boys by myself, you know.”  
  
“Oh.” Noah suddenly felt a bit guilty for having spoken to Jayden in such a rude tone when he realized that his mate actually had it all under control. He managed to zip up his shirt before reaching down to correct his pants a bit. His baby bump was finally becoming more visible now that he was 13 weeks pregnant, but his pants weren’t too tight yet (though, it wouldn’t be long until they would be).  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but stare at Noah’s growing belly. The shirt he was wearing was a little tight, showing off his pregnant bump even more. The alpha felt a surge of possessiveness and pride go through him. He had done that, after all.  
  
With a fond smile, Jayden went over to Noah and placed his hands on the submissive’s hips. Noah glanced up at him and returned the smile, before Jayden leaned down for a kiss. The touch of the other’s lips sent pleasant shivers through them, and Noah couldn’t contain his moan as Jayden moved a possessive but gentle hand over his baby bump.  
  
Nathan giggled from the table, while Derek wasn’t really paying attention to their parents’ display of love. Sometimes Nathan complained when he saw them kissing and touching each other too much, but he actually didn’t really mind it. He liked to see his parents showing affection for the other; it made him feel safe in the family, knowing that Noah and Jayden would never leave each other, or him and Derek.  
  
Jayden pulled back from the kiss and pressed his and Noah’s foreheads together. His hand was still on the submissive’s stomach, rubbing the swollen area tenderly. “How’s the baby? Still making you nauseous?”  
  
“Yeah, a bit,” Noah admitted, leaning into his touch. “Last night was pretty bad… I really hate the hormones in my body right now.”  
  
Jayden chuckled softly. “Mm, but I like them.”  
  
Noah blushed when he knew that Jayden was referring to him being more aroused than usual, and he smacked the alpha on the chest for being such an ass about it.  
  
Jayden laughed at him before getting more serious. “Is it today you’re having that parent/teacher conference with Jane and Chris?” He watched Noah with a worried frown, his hands tightening as he placed them on Noah’s hips again.  
  
Noah swallowed before nodding. “Yeah, it’s today…”  
  
All the teachers were supposed to have a conversation with their students’ parents about how their children were doing in the different subjects. There were about 22 students in each class, and Noah had three subjects that he taught. Each meeting took about twenty minutes, and they were spread across two weeks with three days per week where he had to meet with the parents. Luckily his math and art class consisted of the same class of students, so he only had to meet with the parents of those children once.  
  
Tonight was the third evening of the conference this week, and it was also the evening where Jane and her parents were coming. Noah was terrified at the idea of being alone with Chris, but Jane and her mother would be there too, so that kind of relaxed him. Chris’ mate seemed a little more polite than Chris himself, although Noah knew without a doubt that she did not like hybrids either.  
  
Jayden growled softly and curled his tail around Noah’s leg for comfort. “You’ll get through it, okay? You can do this. You just gotta tell them how Jane is doing and so on. Just try not to look at Chris like I told you; that’s only gonna make him more agitated.”  
  
Noah nodded and tried to calm himself down from his sudden panic. He had told his boss that he really wasn’t comfortable having that meeting with Chris, but she had assured him that she would try to be present for it as well, if she had time. He really hoped that she would.  
  
Sensing Noah’s increased panic, Jayden reached up to wrap his arms around Noah and pulled him against his body for a hug. “Hey, shhh. It’ll be okay. You’ll get through it.” He held Noah tight and tried to soothe him by petting his wings gently, but he could tell that Noah was still a bit scared. He couldn’t blame him. Chris was a very dangerous and uncomfortable person, and Jayden did not like him be alone with Noah. He hated that he had to work until 11:30pm that night, otherwise he would have come to the kindergarten to support Noah and stand guard outside the door or something.  
  
“What’s wrong?” Nathan asked from the table when he saw that something was bothering Noah. He sounded worried and scared, and Derek stopped eating when he picked up on it too.  
  
“Nothing. Everything’s okay,” Jayden reassured them.  
  
Noah pulled away from Jayden and corrected his clothes when he realized that their sons had noticed what was going on. He gave Nathan a forced smile, saying, “It’s nothing. I’m okay.”  
  
Nathan didn’t look quite convinced, whereas Derek wasn’t too concerned about it. Derek was a bit too young to really understand it anyway.  
  
“Come on, boys,” Jayden said, clapping his hands together and clearing his throat. “Let’s get ready for school and daycare. We’re leaving in ten minutes, so hurry up.”  
  
“But am eating!” Derek whined, still having some spoonful of milk left to slurp.  
  
“Hurry up, then,” Nathan told him, rolling his eyes as he jumped down from his chair to get ready for school.  
  
Noah smiled at them and ran a hand through Nathan’s hairs when the boy passed him. He then walked over to Derek. “Come on; let’s get you to the bathroom before you leave. You need to go to the potty, right?”  
  
Derek was getting used to going to the potty now, but still wore diapers sometimes – though, mostly only during the night and in the mornings, because that was when he had most ‘accidents’. He hadn’t been wearing diapers to the daycare for a couple of weeks now, but they always put extra clothes in his bag just in case he should have an accident and ruin his pants (which had happened once or twice recently). Derek was getting quite good at controlling his bladder by now, though, so they hoped that in a few weeks he would no longer need the diapers.  
  
Derek nodded at Noah’s words and climbed off the chair to go with him to the bathroom. He let Noah hold his hand on the way there.  
  
“Mommy, why the baby make you tired?” Derek asked as they went into the laundry room on the way to the bathroom.  
  
Noah was a little stunned by that question. He pushed the bathroom door open and led Derek into the room. “Well, that’s because it’s a bit hard on my body to have the baby inside me. My body has to make sure that the baby is okay and make it grow bigger and stronger, so it’s using a lot of strength doing that.”  
  
Derek frowned, looking a bit confused about it. “But why it’s in your body?” He stared at Noah’s belly with a puzzled look as he stood next to the toilet.  
  
Noah tried not to blush. He understood Derek’s curiosity and his confusion, but the boy was far too young to understand such things yet. “I don’t know. That’s just how it works. Now, let’s finish up in here and talk about it another time, okay?”  
  
Derek looked a little displeased to not get a proper explanation, but he didn’t argue.  
  
  


***

  
  
Noah dreaded the parents/teacher conference in the evening. The meetings with the parents took place from 6pm to 9pm, and since Jayden was working late too, they had had to ask Dean and Castiel to pick up Nathan and Derek and babysit them for the night. Dean and Castiel hadn’t minded, of course, and Noah was relieved that the boys would be safe with their grandparents while he himself had to go through the hell that was parents/teacher conference.  
  
Noah spent all day being nervous about the meeting with Jane and her parents, and that wasn’t something that went unnoticed by his colleagues – particularly Lucas.  
  
“Are you okay?” Lucas asked Noah as they stood in the kindergarten’s hallway together. It was 5:45pm, and many of the parents were already arriving for their meetings. The hallway connected some of the classrooms, and Noah and Lucas were standing there to offer each other some support before the meetings, and to greet the children and their parents as they walked by.  
  
Noah swallowed back a lump in his throat while shifting nervously. “No… Not really.” He lifted his head to glance up at Lucas, whose eyes filled with worry when he saw how scared he was.  
  
Lucas cringed and pulled Noah into a small hug. “It’ll be okay… Just don’t give that guy a reason to get upset with you.”  
  
Noah hugged his friend back and had to put some space between their stomachs so that their bumps didn’t touch too much. Lucas was already five months pregnant, and he was showing very nicely. The ob/gyn had told Lucas that he was having another girl, so he was really looking forward to that.  
  
The noise of children and parents talking and walking around behind them was blocked out as they shared the hug, and Noah was very grateful that he had Lucas to help him calm his nerves.  
  
Lucas gave Noah a final squeeze before intending to pull back, but it caused him to accidentally push a bit too hard into Noah with his stomach. He flinched back and gasped in shock. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!” He stared down at Noah’s smaller bump in horror, as if he was afraid that he had hurt Noah’s baby.  
  
Noah blinked at him before laughing. “No, that’s okay. Nothing happened.” He was pretty amused by how panicked Lucas was because of it, even though nothing had happened.  
  
Lucas still looked all flustered as he placed his hands on his swollen belly. “Sorry. I’m just still not used to being this big.” He smiled at his stomach as he rubbed it in tender circles. “Sometimes I bump it into things with it. Or people.”  
  
Noah chuckled. “I know what you mean. And I’m glad that I’m starting to show more as well.” He looked down at his own little bump and rubbed it gently. “Though, I’m a bit nervous that I will have to throw up during the meetings… I’m feeling so nauseous.”   
  
That wasn’t the only thing Noah was scared of. He was also scared of how Chris would react when he saw that he was pregnant with another hybrid baby. He hadn’t seen Chris since he started showing, and he wondered if Chris’ mate – who was called Rebecca, as far as he remembered – had noticed it when she had picked up Jane in the past few weeks, and if she had told Chris about it. He didn’t know.  
  
“Ugh, I know what you mean,” Lucas said, shivering a bit as he could relate to it. “I did that in January, remember?”  
  
Noah laughed when he was reminded of how Lucas had thrown up on the floor in the middle of a conversation with a parent a few months ago. He had been having a conversation with one of the boys’ father, when suddenly he had to throw up without warning. Lucas had been more embarrassed than Noah had ever seen him before, and Noah had felt pretty sorry for him. He had of course helped his friend clean up the mess. The father had taken it pretty well, although he was a bit shocked, and he had been very kind as he tried to reassure Lucas that it wasn’t problem. Even the children had taken it well, even though they had been a bit confused and worried about Lucas when they saw what had happened.  
  
“Yes, I remember that,” Noah chuckled, suddenly feeling a little better.  
  
Lucas glared him – cheeks pink and his lips tilting upwards a bit when he saw Noah laughing. “Shut up,” he murmured in a playful tone.  
  
Noah laughed softly, and smiled when he felt Lucas’ tail brush his leg in a friendly gesture.  
  
The two friends stayed together in the hallway for as long as possible, until they had to go into different classrooms and wait for the first parents to arrive with their child and talk to them about how their kid was doing in classes.  
  
This week, Noah had meetings with the parents of the students whom he taught English. Next week would be his math and art students, and because he had to tell the parents about their kids’ performance in two different subjects, it was likely that the meetings would take about 25-30 minutes each. That meant that he’d be working a lot next week – maybe more than he had this week – and he didn’t really look forward to it. He wanted to stay at home with his own children and be there for them, but he _had_ to attend these meetings. But at least he’d be earning more money for it.  
  
The first four students that came in with their parents were all happy to see Noah, and Noah did his best to let the parents know how their children were doing in his English classes. Most of the students were pretty good and had already learned the alphabet and such, whereas a few of them had a little more trouble – mostly the ones who suffered from dyslexia, which two of his students did. He had to talk with the parents about how they could best prepare their kids for elementary school, given the problems they had.  
  
Nausea continued to plague to Noah through the evening and the meetings, but he was able to make it through the first hour without having to throw up. Drinking water and trying not to stress himself helped a bit.  
  
After the first four meetings were over, it was finally Jane’s turn to come in with her parents and have a talk with Noah about her performance in the kindergarten. Unfortunately his boss couldn’t attend the meeting with him because she was busy, so Noah had to go through it on his own.  
  
His heart was drumming in his chest, and his nausea got worse as Noah followed the parents from his last meeting and their kid out the classroom and then turned to invite Jane and her parents in. They were sitting on the chairs that were placed outside the classroom, and Chris looked very disgruntled as he sat there with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Rebecca was busy with her phone, but they all looked up when they noticed Noah, and Jane smiled widely at the sight of him.  
  
Noah avoided looking Chris and Rebecca in the eyes, and he tried to hide his pregnancy by folding his hands in front of his stomach. His palms were all sweaty, and he couldn’t stop rubbing his hands together in an anxious gesture.  
  
“Please come inside,” Noah told them, flashing them a forced smile before going into the classroom.  
  
Jane grinned excitedly and jumped into the room, whereas her parents were less enthusiastic about it.  
  
Noah could feel Chris’ hateful glare on him as he walked over to the desk and sat down behind it, and he tried to ignore it. Jane and her parents seated themselves on the other side with Jane in the middle.  
  
Chris looked just as displeased about the meeting as Noah felt. He leaned back into the chair with crossed arms and spread legs; a dominant and non-interested posture. His hateful eyes rested on Noah for a while before he tried to look elsewhere, as if merely looking at Noah offended him. Rebecca, on the other hand, looked more relaxed, although Noah could tell that she’d also rather not be there.  
  
Noah tried to push away the awkwardness and discomfort he felt, and instead cleared his throat as he leaned forward and looked at his notes about Jane. He was glad that the desk shielded his pregnant bump from their views, and he hoped that he had managed to hide it from Chris. He didn’t want to hear him slur any more racist words at him.  
  
“So, um, Jane is doing pretty well in my English class,” Noah began, shifting awkwardly and nervously in his seat. He glanced up to see their reactions. Chris still sat with his arms crossed and leaned back into the seat, whereas Rebecca had a pleased look on her face. Jane was just grinning, as if excited to hear Noah tell her parents that she was a good student.   
  
Noah went on.   
  
“She’s learned the alphabet pretty fast, and her reading and writing skills are very good for a 6-year-old. She has some trouble with knowing when to put two of the same letters in a word and when not to, but we’re working on that. Jane also does her homework for each class, and I’m quite satisfied with the quality of it. She’s doing her homework better than some of her classmates, actually. ” Noah tried to sound as professional as possible, knowing that Chris didn’t like him having a close bond with Jane. By the way Chris only reacted with a pleased look on his face, he’d say he succeeded.  
  
Rebecca grinned proudly and ran a hand through Jane’s hair before looking at Noah again. “So your overall assessment of her is positive? There’s nothing negative?”  
  
“Um…” Noah glanced from Rebecca to Chris, who was watching him with a very dark and scrutinizing look, as if daring him to say something negative about his daughter. Noah quickly glanced elsewhere again, and his heart started beating faster when he knew he could risk Chris getting upset with what he had to say next. “She _has_ some trouble working in groups with the other children,” he began, being very cautious about his words. “She works well with some of the children, but when she’s in group with one of the, um, angels or hybrids, she starts to hold herself back from engaging in the assignment and from talking to the others. As a teacher, that makes me a bit worried.”  
  
Noah knew he was entering dangerous territory saying that, but he had to. It was for Jane’s own good.  
  
Jane started shifting uncomfortably in her chair and staring at the floor, while Rebecca blinked in surprise. Chris, of course, did not take the more negative comment about his daughter well.  
  
“She’s been told to stay away from nasty angels and hybrids. You can’t criticize her for doing as she’s told,” Chris sneered, glaring at Noah as if he wanted to murder him.  
  
“Chris,” Rebecca scolded lightly, glaring briefly at her mate before looking at Noah. She leaned forward a bit as she began to explain. “Please understand that we come from a different background than you. To us, keeping the blood pure between the species is very important, because it keeps the society healthy and strong.”  
  
Noah resisted the urge to scrunch his nose at how ignorant this woman was being, but held himself back because he didn’t want to get snapped at by Chris again. There was no proof that hybrids were less healthy, so he didn’t think that Rebecca had any reason to say something like that.  
  
“But I still want Jane to get along with people and make friends across the species,” Rebecca continued. “You can easily be a demon and have an angel as a friend without it being, um, sexual.” She glanced at Jane, who just looked a bit confused, seeing as she didn’t understand the word. “It’s just not something that Chris or I are used to, seeing as we’ve mostly attended demon-only schools and haven’t had any angel friends before. But I want Jane to have friends and get along with others, so I am a bit upset that working in groups with them gives her some trouble… Perhaps having her mingle more with the angel children will be good for her?”  
  
Chris interrupted Rebecca before he could go any further. “I’m sorry – you want her to be friends with _angel scum?!_ ” he snapped, looking at his mate in confusion and what looked like betrayal.  
  
Rebecca turned her head to give Chris a sharp glare. “Yes, I do, ‘cause over a fourth of the population are angels, Chris! Conversations can’t be avoided with them. And being friends with one doesn’t mean that she’ll _mate_ with one!”  
  
The raised voices made Noah a bit uncomfortable, and he could tell that Jane didn’t like it one bit either.  
  
“ _Fine!_ As long as it’s just girls, then,” Chris grumbled and leaned back in his seat once more.  
  
Rebecca gave him an unimpressed look before glancing at Noah again. “Sorry. He’s usually not such an ass at home. He just doesn’t like you very much.”  
  
Noah didn’t know if he should be offended by her honesty or not. It was an odd and extremely impolite thing to say that straight to his face, but he hadn’t really expected Rebecca to be a hundred percent polite around him, considering that she was a pure-blood maniac like Chris. Still, he was a little shocked by her bluntness.  
  
Rebecca’s latest comment made Jane get up from her chair and turn to stare at her parents in anger. “Stop being mean to Noah! He’s nice!” She stomped her foot in the floor to show that she was serious, and her brows were furrowed by an upset frown.  
  
Chris and Rebecca stared at their daughter in surprised shock, and Noah too felt a little surprised that Jane was standing up to her parents like that.  
  
“Being mean to someone isn’t nice, and Noah hasn’t done anything,” Jane continued, still giving her parents a firm and angry look for behaving like they did.  
  
“Honey… You know that hybrids like Noah are wrong and that we can’t be friends with them,” Rebecca said, her voice kind and persuasive as she tried to calm her daughter down and make her see sense again.  
  
 _“No!”_ Jane stated stubbornly. “Everyone else is friends with hybrids and angels! It’s _you_ who are wrong! The angels and hybrids in my class are so nice, and so is Noah; they are not ‘wrong’!”  
  
“Jane, sit down,” Chris said in a firm voice, giving his daughter a pointed look as he ordered her to take a seat again.  
  
Noah watched the exchange anxiously and swallowed as he looked from one person to the other. He wanted to intervene and calm them down, but he only managed to open his mouth without any words leaving it. Part of him was still overwhelmed with surprise that his 6-year-old student was standing up for him like that, but he had the feeling that it was something Jane had wanted to do for a while. It was very unusual for a child to do that, though, so he was very taken aback by it.  
  
Chris tried reaching for his daughter when she continued to disobey, but Jane whined and flinched away from his hand. Her eyes were tearing up and her lip was quivering as she stood in front of them. She then let out a distraught cry and turned to run out of the classroom as fast as she could, disappearing into the hallway outside.  
  
“Jane!” Rebecca called, distressed about the sudden rebellion she was experiencing from her daughter. She got up and grabbed her purse, shooting Noah a quick look before running out of the room to follow Jane.  
  
Chris growled in frustration and got up from his seat as well. “This is _your_ fucking fault,” he told Noah between gritted teeth before stalking out of the room to find his family.  
  
Noah didn’t really flinch at his words, but continued to be stunned by what had just transpired in front of him. He had expected the meeting to go bad, but he hadn’t counted on Jane to react like that. Though, deep down he wasn’t surprised. He had noticed how isolated Jane had become in class; more so since Chris had forbidden her to speak to Noah and her angel and hybrid classmates. Her seeing all the others mingle with each other and making friends across species must have seemed very confusing and unfair to her, so of course she would blame her parents for letting her be the odd sheep in the class. It _was_ their fault, after all.  
  
Chris and Rebecca’s voices were shouting Jane’s name as they rushed down the hallway outside, chasing after Jane.  
  
Noah got up and went out to see if he could spot them in the hallway. He saw them standing in the far end, and saw how Chris was ushering Jane and Rebecca out of there. Noah wasn’t surprised that Chris had no desire to continue the meeting, and he was honestly quite relieved by it.  
  
A few other parents with their children were sitting outside the classrooms in the hallway, whispering to each other about the episode they had just seen. None of them seemed to understand what had been going on, though.  
  
“What happened?”  
  
Noah flinched at the sudden voice to his left, and turned to look at his boss, who was staring at him in wonder and utter confusion.  
  
“Um, things went kind of bad,” Noah began. “Jane ended up getting upset at her parents for holding her back in her social life, and for the way they were speaking to me with disrespect during the meeting…”  
  
Elizabeth’s eyes lit up a bit as she started to understand the situation. “Ah, I see. This isn’t your fault, Noah. Just go on with your meetings and take it easy on yourself, okay? No reason for you to get upset; especially not in your current condition.” She gestured at his stomach and smiled as she did so.  
  
Noah blushed lightly, but smiled in gratitude at her words. “Yeah. Thank you.”  
  
Elizabeth gave him another smile. “We’ll sort this out, okay?” She patted his shoulder and turned to go back to her office.  
  
Noah nodded at her words. He was relieved that Chris was finally gone, but he couldn’t help but worry about Jane now. Surely Chris and Rebecca were not happy about her behavior.  
  
His worries were cut short when he was overwhelmed by nausea, and he quickly rushed to the nearest bathroom to throw up before his next meeting began.   
  
Emptying his stomach into the toilet and getting something to drink made Noah feel better. He hated the sickness that came with the pregnancy, but he was still happy that he was having another baby with Jayden. The thought of his baby made it easier for him to get through the rest of the meetings that evening, and he couldn’t wait to go home and get some sleep.  
  
  


***

  
  
It was past midnight when Jayden finally came home from work that night.  
  
The house was dark when he arrived, and he almost fell over Midnight when the cat rushed over to greet him when he came in through the door. Jayden quickly petted the cat and stroked her fur before shaking off his shoes and jacket and heading upstairs.  
  
Noah had called him during the evening to let him know how the meeting with Chris had gone. Jayden had been worried sick about how it would unfold and if Chris would hurt Noah somehow, and he was pleased to know that Chris’ daughter was finally standing up to him. It filled him with a sense of gloating that Chris’ way of raising Jane was finally coming back at him in a shit storm, so to speak, and he hoped that Jane would continue showing her daddy that his ways were wrong.  
  
After a quick visit to the bathroom, Jayden headed to the bedroom to crash on the bed after a long and stressful day at work.  
  
The door to the bedroom creaked when he opened it, and Jayden cringed when he heard Noah shift on the bed. He had woken up his mate.  
  
Quickly, Jayden shrugged off his clothes and slipped into the warm bed.  
  
Noah shifted and hummed sleepily, laying with his back to Jayden with his wing covering his body over the blanket. Jayden inched closer to him and spooned up behind him.  
  
“Hey. Sorry I woke you,” Jayden whispered, placing a soft kiss on Noah’s cheek as he got settled down behind him. His left arm rested over Noah’s body protectively, holding him close as they lay together.  
  
“Mm,” came Noah’s sleepy reply. The submissive snuggled back against Jayden and rested his head on his pillow like a lazy cat.  
  
Jayden chuckled softly at him and hummed as he rested his head behind Noah’s. They were both naked, like they often were in bed, and Jayden purred softly at how content it made him feel. “Are the boys sleeping over at Dean and Cas’ place?”  
  
Noah nodded sleepily. “Yeah, that’s what we agreed on, remember? Derek would already be asleep by the time I was off work, and you know how fussy he gets when you wake him up so suddenly…”  
  
“Yeah, I know,” Jayden chuckled. He rubbed small circles into Noah’s stomach on top of the blanket, smiling at how he could feel the bump. His alpha hormones went crazy inside him every time he was reminded of Noah’s pregnancy. He wanted to protect his mate in his vulnerable state and make sure that their offspring would survive. “How were the rest of the meetings?” he asked after a few seconds of silence.  
  
Talking about their day was something they often did when Jayden came home late and settled into bed with Noah at night. Sometimes he let Noah continue sleeping, but other times Noah was awake enough to have a conversation with him.  
  
“They were okay,” Noah mumbled in a sleepy voice, not bothering to open his eyes as he spoke. “Sometimes the overprotective parents really annoy me… One mom was pissed that we have swings in the playground. She’s convinced they were invented by the devil or something, and that it’s gonna get one of the kids killed…”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at that. It was so ridiculous that he just couldn’t contain his amusement. “Sounds like she got hit in the head by a swing once or something.”  
  
“Uh huh…”  
  
Jayden smiled and nuzzled his nose into the back of Noah’s neck, breathing in his scent. “I’m glad things didn’t go so bad with Chris today. I’m even more glad that the dick is finally getting some resistance from his own daughter. That’s what he gets for raising her like that and trying to isolate her from her classmates.”  
  
“Yeah, but I’m a bit worried about Jane…” Noah confessed. “This can’t be easy for her.”  
  
“Hey, it’s not your fault,” Jayden said softly, leaning up a bit so he could better see Noah in the darkness. “I’m sure Jane will be okay. She sounds like a strong girl. Maybe you just need to support her a bit in school? You’re so good at doing that.”  
  
“Yeah, but that’ll only piss off Chris…”  
  
Jayden growled and tightened his arm protectively around Noah. “Then let him get pissed. I’ll fucking beat his ass if he’s got a problem.”  
  
Noah snorted out a small laugh before settling down to sleep again. “I’m sleepy… Let’s talk tomorrow.”  
  
“Mm, okay,” Jayden agreed, nuzzling Noah once more. “Then we can have some nice sex tomorrow morning before picking up the boys…”  
  
Noah groaned and moved his elbow backwards to poke Jayden with it. “Perverted jerk. Just sleep already.”  
  
Jayden barked out a laugh before finally settling down to sleep, holding Noah tight as they closed their eyes together.  
  
  


***

  
  
The next morning was a Saturday, and as promised, Jayden gave Noah a very nice sex experience before they drove off to pick up their children from Dean and Castiel’s house.  
  
Jayden had finally shared with Noah that Nathan had told him yesterday that Oscar was still harassing him, and that he had spoken to Oscar’s and Nathan’s teachers about it. Noah was heartbroken that their son was going through something like that, and it made him even more impatient to see Nathan again and support his son.  
  
“Mommy! Daddy!” Nathan chirped happily when Noah and Jayden arrived at Dean and Castiel’s house to pick up him and Derek. He grinned widely and came over to hug them in the door. He greeted Noah first, who hugged him back with a wide smile, before hugging Jayden next.  
  
“Hi, Nathan,” Jayden grinned as he hugged his son back. “Did you guys behave well?”  
  
“Yeah, they’ve been good,” Dean said before Nathan could reply. He was standing in the entrance hall with Cas by his side and trying to hold Carrie back, who was always eager to jump outside whenever the door was open. “But Derek… Well, see for yourself.” He turned to look at Derek, and Noah and Jayden followed his gaze towards their younger son, who was standing in the doorway to the living room.  
  
Noah gasped when he saw a big, nasty bruise on Derek’s forehead. It looked red and painful, and he could tell that it had bled a bit. “Oh my god, what happened?” he demanded, coming over to kneel beside Derek and make sure that he was okay. The boy whined softly when Noah swept his hair away from his forehead to get a better look at the bruise, and Noah cringed at the sight.  
  
“Derek tripped on the sidewalk,” Nathan said in an unimpressed voice. He folded his arms in front of his chest and scowled at Derek, who was always very reckless and stupid in his mind.  
  
Jayden cringed in sympathy. “Ouch.”  
  
“Yeah, we were taking them for a walk last night because Derek was so full of energy, and he tripped over his own feet when he ran down the sidewalk,” Dean explained, still looking at Derek, who looked a little uncomfortable to suddenly have everyone stare at him like that.  
  
“You little dummy,” Noah said in a fond voice and gently patted Derek’s head. Derek made a small, disgruntled noise at that.  
  
“I’m sorry. We wanted to take care of the boys, and then this happened…” Castiel said, his wings drooping in guilt behind him. Having one of his grandchildren get hurt on his watch wasn’t something Castiel was very proud of. He felt that he had failed as a grandparent that something like that had happened.  
  
Dean quickly put a reassuring hand on Castiel’s shoulder when he sensed what the angel was thinking. “It isn’t your fault, Cas…”  
  
“Yeah, it isn’t your fault, papa,” Noah spoke, and ran a soothing hand up Derek’s arm as he looked at him. “And you should be more careful,” he told Derek firmly.  
  
Jayden sighed. “Well, at least he didn’t need to go to the hospital or anything. He just always gets himself hurt in the most stupid ways.”  
  
“Yeah, like when he cut his hand when he got a hold of the big knife last month,” Nathan spoke.  
  
Castiel gasped in horror. “He did that?”  
  
“Yeah, he somehow managed to get a hold of it, but luckily it was only a small cut. It could have been a lot worse,” Jayden spoke, and shot Derek a small glare for always doing stuff he knew he shouldn’t be doing.  
  
Derek scowled around at everyone. He didn’t like how they were talking about him as if he was a bad boy, even though he knew he sometimes did bad things. “Wanna go play,” he told Noah, tugging at the submissive’s pants after Noah had gotten to his feet again. He just wanted to get away from everyone’s stares and do something fun.  
  
Noah sighed and ran a hand through Derek’s hair idly.  
  
“You can go outside and play catch with Carrie if you want? She looks like she wants to play,” Dean offered, patting the dog, who was panting with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.  
  
Derek lit up like a Christmas tree, and he grinned as he went over and picked up Carrie’s favorite toy, which made a squeaky noise when you pressed it. That immediately caught Carrie’s attention, and the dog eagerly followed the toddler outside to play with him.  
  
Jayden gently nudged Nathan with his tail as they watched Derek go. “You better go with him and make sure he doesn’t get any more bruises, or destroys some of your grandparents’ garden stuff.”  
  
Nathan nodded and quickly followed after his brother. “Hey, wait for me!” he called as he ran through the house to get to the garden, where Derek and Carrie already were.  
  
“And don’t throw the ball anywhere near my flowers!” Castiel called after them.  
  
Dean and Jayden laughed at that.  
  
“You and your flowers, Cas,” Dean chuckled, and wrapped an affectionate arm around Cas’ waist.  
  
Castiel shot him a small scowl. “The flowers are very important for the bees, and there are so few left in this area…” Keeping their garden pretty and full of flowers was a hobby that Castiel had gotten after all the kids had moved away from home. He liked to spend his time in the garden, working with the flowers and plants, and he even grew a few vegetables and strawberries out there.  
  
An affectionate chuckle escaped Dean’s mouth, and he leaned in to press a small kiss to Cas’ cheek. The angel squirmed in light embarrassment as he did so.  
  
Noah watched his parents with a small smile. It was nice to see them still being affectionate and loving towards each other. It saddened him a bit that he could see that they were both getting older; Cas had a few grey strands of hair on his head, as did Dean, and their skin was starting to wrinkle a little. They were both still by good health, though, and that was most important.  
  
“We better go out and keep an eye on them too,” Jayden spoke. “I don’t trust Derek to be very gentle with your flowers, Cas.”  
  
Dean laughed at that, and Castiel too chuckled a bit.  
  
“Yes, I suppose that’s best,” Castiel admitted.  
  
“Um, can I have a glass of water first?” Noah asked. “My throat is acting up…” He swallowed back the feel of nausea in his throat, hoping that he wouldn’t have to go and throw up again anytime soon.  
  
“Of course,” Castiel said, eyeing Noah with slight worry. He glanced at Noah’s small baby bump and put a hand on Noah’s shoulder when Noah passed him on his way to the kitchen. The two of them walked there together, going through the living room with Dean and Jayden following them. “How is the baby? I can see you are already starting to show so nicely.”  
  
Noah blushed. “It’s still very small,” he said as he placed a hand on the bump. “And it’s going well. The nausea and morning sickness are killing me, though…”  
  
Dean chuckled and patted Noah on the other shoulder when they arrived in the kitchen. “You can handle it, Noah. And if you feel like you can’t, just puke on Jayden’s shoes – it’s _his_ fault, after all.”  
  
“Hey,” Jayden protested, glaring as the others laughed. “The idea of having the baby was very mutual, I promise you that.”  
  
Dean laughed and gave Jayden’s shoulder a couple of hard and approving pats. “I know. I’m just kidding.”  
  
Castiel rolled his eyes fondly at his mate and got a glass for Noah from one of the cupboards, which he quickly filled up with water for him. Noah was big enough to do it by himself, but Castiel liked taking care of his children once in a while, even though they were all grown up now.  
  
They started getting something to drink to bring with them outside, and Castiel grabbed a bowel of fruity snacks that he had prepared in advice, which they could take with them. But before they could go, however, they heard Nathan calling from the garden.  
  
“Daddy! Derek is running through the flowers and won’t stop when I tell him to!”  
  
Jayden’s eyes widened, and he quickly ran outside to make Derek stop before the boy would ruin Castiel’s pretty flowerbed.  
  
Dean laughed at the face Castiel made when he heard that Derek was wrecking his flowers. The angel’s face was pale and full of horror.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Noah said, cringing and lowering his wings in shame. “He never listens… I don’t know why.” His glass of water was still in his hands, and he moved his fingers idly over the cold glass. Drinking a bit of water had helped the nausea a bit, but not much.  
  
Dean laughed again and patted Noah’s shoulder for reassurance. “He’s an alpha; he doesn’t really answer to anyone. Besides, with all the fire he has in his ass, I’m sure he hasn’t got time to care about rules.”  
  
“Adrian wasn’t like that, though,” Castiel pointed out with a small scowl.  
  
“No, ‘cause he’s always been a very responsible and protective person, and Derek’s a bit different. But Adrian _did_ always have his own opinion about things, except he always respected others’ too and followed the rules. Well, most of the time, at least.”  
  
“Hm, that’s true.”  
  
Dean smiled and brushed his tail against Cas’ legs. “I’m gonna go outside with the drinks and snacks, and help Jayden keep the boys in check.”  
  
“And make Carrie stop digging holes in the garden,” Castiel murmured, glaring at Dean.  
  
Dean just laughed before taking as many glasses and drinks as he could and going outside with them. They could hear the happy laughter of the boys and Jayden outside, and Carrie’s eager barking as they played with her.  
  
After Dean had left the room, it was just Noah and Castiel left.  
  
Noah sipped from his water, and placed his free hand absently on his bump while drinking. Castiel watched him with a small smile.  
  
“I take it that your meeting with Jane and her parents went well?” Castiel asked.  
  
Noah quickly stopped drinking, having completely forgotten to tell his parents how the meeting had gone. “Um, not really, actually… They ended up in a fight with each other because Chris and Rebecca had different opinions about how Jane should socialize with angels, and Rebecca was being rude to me. Jane stood up to them, though.”  
  
Castiel’s eyes widened. “She did?”  
  
Noah nodded, smiling a bit. “Yes, she did. I think she’s been bottling up her frustration for a long time. She hasn’t been allowed to make friends with the angels and hybrids in her class, and it’s been hard for her to see the others making friends across the species. And I think she realizes that her parents are, um, hurting my feelings with their insults.”  
  
“Of course she does. Children are not stupid,” Castiel spoke softly, looking very thoughtful about what Noah was telling him.  
  
“At least I don’t think that Chris noticed my bump,” Noah murmured, staring down at his belly while rubbing it slowly. “I’m a little worried about his reaction…”  
  
“Your pregnancy does not concern him,” Castiel stated firmly. “As much as he thinks it’s wrong, he has no right or authority to tell you what to do and what not to do, and his opinion shouldn’t matter to you.”  
  
“Yeah, but he scares me when he’s angry,” Noah murmured, hating to admit it. The laughter and squeals coming from the garden were blocked out by his mind as he was deeply lost in his thoughts. “How did you handle it, papa? When seeing us getting harassed in school, and others looking at you strangely for having hybrid children…”  
  
Castiel let out a sigh and smiled at Noah as he brushed his wing against his. “Sometimes I had a very hard time handling it,” he admitted. “I think I only got through it because of Dean’s support, and because I know that it’s not _me_ who is messed up in my mind, but rather the racists. But seeing you and your siblings having a hard time being accepted by others always broke my heart, and it still does.” He eyed Noah cautiously when his son just nodded at his words and didn’t meet his eyes. “Is this about Nathan…?”  
  
Noah chewed on his lower lip before nodding. “He’s having a hard time too, and I don’t know what to do about it. Sure, people have become a bit more accepting of hybrids since I was little, but there are still so many fanatics out there, and children who bully the hybrids. I just feel so helpless and sad when I know that Nathan is scared to go to school because of some boy in his parallel class, and I hate it that I can’t do anything about it. The boy’s parents just won’t listen when Jayden and the teachers try talking to them.”  
  
Castiel started to run a hand up and down Noah’s arm to calm him down. “I know. What’s most important is that Nathan has your and Jayden’s support, and knows that there is nothing wrong with him. Things will clear up soon. I promise.”  
  
Noah let out a deep sigh and turned to hug Castiel, who wrapped his arms around him and held him close. Being in Castiel’s arms and smelling his familiar scent soothed Noah, and he was grateful that he had his papa by his side to support him and guide him.  
  
They were still hugging and sharing a moment when a tennis ball jumped into the room, followed by a very wild Derek. Carrie was straight at his heels, barking loudly as she ran over to get the ball, which had landed by Noah’s feet, causing Noah to yelp loudly when the dog rushed over to him to collect the ball.  
  
“Carrie! Out!” Castiel ordered, and glared at the dog, whose dirty paws had left imprints all over the floor. The whole hallway between the terrace and the kitchen were covered in them.  
  
The dog’s ears lowered a bit when one of her masters ordered her to leave, and she chewed the tennis ball between her teeth as she padded outside again.  
  
“Derek, go outside too! Your shoes are all dirty, so take them off before you go inside. How many times do I have to tell you that?” Noah growled lightly, and pointed at Derek’s shoes, which were full of dirt from the garden. It had rained recently, so the dirty got stuck to his shoes pretty easily.  
  
Derek just put on an offended look before turning to leave, but Nathan blocked his way when he made it to the doorway to the terrace. He scowled at his older brother, who was watching him with a disapproving frown.  
  
“Stupid Derek. Why you always gotta upset mommy and daddy?” Nathan spoke as he glared down at his brother.  
  
Derek stuck out his tongue at him in defiance. “Am alpha! Do what I want!” He pushed past Nathan to go back into the garden to play with Carrie, Dean, and Jayden, but Nathan smacked him on the head (lightly, but enough to make Derek feel it) before he could go.  
  
“You’re a jerk-alpha, nothing more!”  
  
Derek turned around and launched at Nathan with an angry whine, pushing his brother back. Nathan growled and tried to push him too, but their fight was dissolved when Jayden came over.  
  
“Hey! Cut that out!” Jayden ordered in his firm, authoritative voice, which quickly made the boys move away from each other.  
  
Derek crossed his arms in annoyance and walked past them into the garden again, while Nathan stayed on the terrace, where Jayden and Dean now were.  
  
“Sorry, daddy,” Nathan spoke in a small voice, glancing up at Jayden from under his lashes. “He’s just _so_ annoying sometimes!”  
  
Jayden chuckled and ruffled Nathan’s hair. “Yeah, I know. But if you insult him, it gets worse.”  
  
Nathan nodded weakly and wrapped his wings closer to himself. “I know. Sorry…”  
  
Dean chuckled at them, but was called back to the garden by Derek, who was very eager to continue playing. Dean quickly headed down into the garden again to keep Derek occupied and have some fun with him.  
  
Meanwhile, Castiel and Noah headed out on the terrace with the bowl of fruits, and Noah smiled when Nathan came over to him and hugged him tightly.  
  
“What’s that for?” Noah asked, sweeping his hand through Nathan’s hair while the boy hugged him around his waist. Nathan was already pretty big, and his head rested on Noah’s chest as he embraced him.  
  
“Nothing. Just glad you’re here,” Nathan murmured, nuzzling into Noah a little. “And please tell me that the new baby won’t be as loud and rude as Derek…”  
  
Jayden and Castiel couldn’t hold back their laughs at that.  
  
Noah chuckled and kept moving his fingers through Nathan’s hair in slow, affectionate moves. “I can’t promise that, but we’ll see.”  
  
“Why? Has he worn you out while you were staying at grandma and grandpa’s?” Jayden asked Nathan, and brushed his tail against Nathan’s smaller one.  
  
Nathan nodded and slowly pulled away from Noah. “Yeah. He came into my room at very early this morning and started jumping on my bed ‘cause he wanted me to play soldiers with him. He just wouldn’t stop, and it was _so early._ ” A disgruntled and grumpy frown appeared on his face as he spoke, and there was clear irritation in his voice.  
  
Nathan didn’t really sleep much in his parents or grandparents’ beds anymore, only sometimes. When he stayed over at Dean and Castiel’s house, he usually slept with Derek in Noah’s old room, with him using the bed and Derek sleeping on a mattress on the floor.  
  
Castiel laughed. “Oh yes, Derek woke up at 5:30am this morning. For whatever reason, he was ready to get up at that hour.”  
  
Noah gaped at him. “5:30?! He usually sleeps until 7 on weekends…”  
  
Jayden chortled. “You probably fed him too much candy and soda the night before.”  
  
“Um, yes, we might have done that,” Castiel admitted, cringing guiltily.  
  
“Well, please dun do that again,” Nathan mumbled. “He gets sooooo annoying when he eats candy.”  
  
Jayden laughed out loud, and Noah and Castiel couldn’t help but laugh at Nathan’s comment too.  
  
The tennis ball landed on the terrace and interrupted their conversation, and Nathan decided to rejoin the game with Carrie. He and Derek got along a little better now, and Dean made sure that they stopped fighting and instead started to cooperate when they had to beat him at soccer next.  
  
Jayden stayed on the terrace for a bit to satisfy his sudden need to act possessive around Noah. He wrapped his tail around his mate’s leg and kept touching Noah’s growing belly with gentle rubs. The bump was still quite small, but it was becoming nicely visible, and Jayden really loved that.  
  
Noah reveled in his mate’s attention, even though having Castiel be a witness to it was a bit embarrassing. His nausea still bothered him, but Jayden’s gentle and possessive touches made him stop thinking about it.  
  
They spent a few hours with Dean and Castiel, and let the boys play around with the dog.   
  
Noah enjoyed spending some time with his parents and seeing how much Nathan and Derek liked being there. His morning sickness got worse in the late afternoon, where he had to run to the bathroom a few times to throw up, but at least he wasn’t as embarrassed by it as he once was. Nathan and Derek were rather freaked out whenever they saw their mom being sick, but Jayden, Dean, and Castiel helped reassure them.  
  
Despite the sickness and nausea from the pregnancy, both Noah and Jayden couldn’t wait for Noah’s belly to grow and for their baby to arrive someday.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chris is really an asshole in the story, but I created him to be one, anyways.   
> The talk between Noah and Cas was kinda tough to write… Castiel is actually getting very difficult for me to write, because he’s old now and his opinions on life have changed a bit now that he has grandkids and stuff.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter! :)


	40. Chapter 40

**April 2057 (Noah is 30 (almost 31), Jayden is 32 (almost 33), Nathan is 7, Derek is 2 (almost 3), Lucas is 28 (almost 29) years old).**  
  
It was early Monday morning when the alarm clock woke them up. Noah was by far more annoyed by the noise than Jayden was, and immediately turned around to continue sleeping on his other side.  
  
Jayden chuckled when he saw how Noah just turned around and kept on sleeping. “Sleepy-head,” he teased with fondness, his voice rough from sleep.  
  
Noah grunted in response and curled up in a ball, clutching his blanket and wings tightly around himself.  
  
Jayden laughed softly at him and turned to look at the clock on his bedside table. It was 6:15am, and they had to get up soon.  
  
The evening of Noah’s breathing told Jayden that his mate was about to fall asleep again. He rolled over and gently pulled at Noah’s shoulder, guiding the sleepy submissive into lying on his back instead of on his side.  
  
Noah whined in protest and tried to resist, but Jayden just chuckled at him and pulled his blanket off once he was lying on his back.  
  
“Jayden!” Noah complained, kicking the alpha softly with his foot and trying to yank his blanket back into place. Jayden wouldn't let him, though, and soon Noah gave up and dropped his head back on his pillow with a deep, defeated sigh.  
  
Jayden’s tail curled in triumph, and he enjoyed the sight of an almost naked Noah lying in front of him. The submissive was wearing nothing but a pair of light blue satin panties, and his wings were spread across the bed for Jayden to see. He admired the sight and his mate’s beauty, until his eyes fell on Noah’s belly, which was getting more and more swollen from his pregnancy. There was a nice, round bump there now, though still small and cute. Jayden smiled at the sight and settled down to lie on his stomach between Noah’s legs with his face by Noah’s belly.  
  
Gently, Jayden started stroking his hand over the bump, and smiled as he thought about the baby inside. His wings flared a bit behind him before lowering as he got all domestic while touching his mate’s stomach.  
  
Noah lay perfectly still and watched as Jayden paid attention to his belly. He smiled as he watched the affection on the alpha’s face, and shuddered softly when Jayden started pressing long, loving kisses to his skin.  
  
“Hey, little one. How are you doing inside your mommy?” Jayden asked the baby in a soft, cooing voice, while still stroking and kissing the bump tenderly. His kisses left small, damp spots on Noah’s skin, and he liked how it seemed like he was marking Noah’s belly.  
  
Noah laughed softly and continued to watch Jayden. He reached down and ran his hand through Jayden’s hair, playing a bit with the strands of brown hair on his mate’s head. Jayden just let him and seemed to enjoy his gesture of affection. It made Noah smile that his alpha wasn’t too proud to let him do that. Most alphas would have claimed it wasn’t manly to be pet like that, but Jayden liked it.  
  
“How’s your morning sickness doing? Is it getting better?” Jayden asked Noah, lifting his head to look at him.  
  
Noah shrugged a bit. “Not really. I still feel nausea, and I throw up on most days…”  
  
Jayden cringed in sympathy. “Wish I could switch places with you.”  
  
“Me too,” Noah admitted, giggling a bit at how Jayden’s touches tickled somewhat.  
  
Jayden laughed and placed another tender kiss to Noah’s stomach.  
  
All of sudden there were sounds of small, fast footsteps outside their bedroom door, and they didn’t have time to react before Nathan burst into the room, catching them off guard.  
  
“Daddy! Please tell Derek to stop waking me up so early!” Nathan complained, and walked over until he could see them on the bed. He was still dressed in his sleepwear, and his feathers and hair were ruffled from sleep. He had clearly just gotten out of bed.  
  
Jayden quickly shielded his nakedness with his wing, while Noah grabbed his blanket and pulled it over himself before Nathan could see him.  
  
“Oh,” Nathan said stupidly when he realized he had walked in on something private. He stood still and stared between them with a dumbfounded look, blinking a bit.  
  
“Jeez, Nathan. Knock before you enter, remember?” Jayden told him, sounding firm but not angry.  
  
Nathan cringed guiltily and looked away. “I’m sorry; I forgot. But Derek came into my room again!”  
  
Derek sometimes barged into Nathan’s room in the mornings when he woke up early. He was always so full of energy and wanted his big brother to play with him, and he didn’t care when Nathan told him to stay out of his room. Unlike Derek, Nathan wasn’t very active or full of energy in the mornings.  
  
Jayden sighed deeply, while Noah was still clutching the blanket around himself and feeling pretty awkward right now.  
  
“Fine, I’ll go talk to him. Just go outside until I put on some clothes, okay?” Jayden said, still only shielded by his own wings, which were big enough to cover his body from Nathan’s view.  
  
Nathan screwed up his nose in disgust and turned to leave, deliberately not looking at them as he left. “Ew! Why do you sleep naked together?!”  
  
“’Cause that’s what mates do.”  
  
“Then I never want a mate!” Nathan shouted after he had left the bedroom. They heard him shut the door and say something to Derek out in the hallway, and Jayden laughed at his comment.  
  
“Well, guess we’re not getting naughty together this morning,” Jayden said, giving Noah a wicked smirk.  
  
Noah blushed and kicked at Jayden with his foot again. “Wipe that smirk off your face! And there wouldn’t have been time for it, anyway.”  
  
Jayden laughed, and Noah tried to kick him for it again. But the alpha easily got a grip on Noah’s smaller foot, stopping him from landing the second kick on him.  
  
Noah yelped when his foot got caught in Jayden’s strong grip, and he tried to pull it back and out of his grasp. Jayden just grinned at his attempt before placing soft, gentle kisses on his foot. The tender gesture made Noah shudder and gasp softly, but it was ruined when Jayden started to tickle his foot a little.  
  
“Nooo! Stop it!” Noah laughed, squirming violently on the bed because his feet were so ticklish. He tried to free his foot from Jayden’s grip, but it was almost impossible. Kicking Jayden with his free foot didn’t help much either.  
  
Jayden laughed and kept on holding Noah’s foot trapped. “You’re so adorable with you get tickled, you know that? And your foot is adorable too…” He hummed softly and placed another kiss on it, making Noah blush furiously.  
  
“Stop kissing my foot. That’s embarrassing,” Noah groaned, hiding his blushing face in his hands.  
  
Jayden laughed at that. “Why are you shy about your feet? They’re pretty.”  
  
Noah groaned loudly. “And I’m not sure if your foot fetish is adorable or disgusting…”  
  
“Hey, it’s not a foot fetish. I just like everything about you.”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but smile at that.  
  
Jayden pressed another kiss to Noah’s foot before letting go of it and getting off the bed to get dressed.   
  
They smiled at each other and brushed wings as they put on some clothes, and Noah almost lost his balance when Jayden gave him a playful shove when he was standing on one foot to put on his pants. Noah retaliated by pushing Jayden back harshly with an annoyed grunt, but he wasn’t strong enough to make the alpha budge much. Jayden just laughed at him and seemed to find his grumpiness very amusing, which made Noah glare at him more.  
  
  


***

  
  
Jayden drove everyone to school, daycare, and work that morning. He had a day off, so he decided to spare Noah from having to drive (Noah hated driving, but did it because he had to) by driving him to work, and dropping Derek off in the daycare and Nathan at school. Usually he dropped Noah off last, but the submissive had to be at work earlier this morning due to a staff meeting, so today Nathan was the one whom he dropped off last.  
  
“Daddy, I don’t wanna go on the fieldtrip today,” Nathan murmured as Jayden dropped him off in front of the school.  
  
The two of them were standing on the sidewalk next to the car, and were about to say goodbye to each other. Other parents were dropping off their kids as well, and there was noise all around them as the children headed into school to start their day.  
  
“Eh, how come? You usually like fieldtrips,” Jayden asked, blinking down at his son in bewilderment. “Is this because of Oscar?” His expression turned more serious, and his fist clenched slightly at his sides.  
  
Nathan lowered his gaze a bit and tightened his hands on the shoulder straps of his schoolbag, which was on his back. “Yeah. His class is coming as well.”  
  
Jayden clenched his jaw. Oscar was still a problem, despite Jayden having tried everything to talk to the boy’s parents and to the teachers. He had even spoken to the principal, but the guy seemed to take his time doing something about the issue. It wasn’t just Nathan who was bothered by that boy; it was also a lot of other children, whom Oscar and his friends harassed and teased sometimes.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden spoke softly and reached out to place a steady hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Don’t let anything that boy says or does get to you, okay? He’s not worth it. Just keep telling him off, and tell a teacher about it if he does anything, okay?”  
  
“But Mr. Hathaway always ignores it when Oscar teases me. I don’t think he likes me,” Nathan murmured lowly.  
  
Mr. Hathaway was the math teacher in Oscar’s class, and he was also joining them for the fieldtrip. He was a full blood beta angel, who didn’t care much for hybrids, and he always purposefully ignored it when he saw Oscar harassing some of the school’s hybrid children.  
  
Jayden let out an angry grunt, which was directed at Mr. Hathaway’s unprofessional behavior. “Well, tell one of the other teachers, then. You’ll be fine.”  
  
Nathan nodded and tried to look more confident. He glanced over his shoulder at the school to see the clock above the entrance. It was almost 8. “I gotta go inside…”  
  
“Yeah.” Jayden smiled and placed his hand on Nathan’s cheek, cupping it gently. “Have a nice day, okay? Greet Emily from me.”  
  
Nathan grinned and leaned into his dad’s touch. “Thanks! I will.” He quickly wrapped his arms around Jayden to hug him, and the alpha returned it. He buried his face in Jayden’s shirt for a few moments before pulling away and smiling up at him. “Bye!” he chirped, and began to run up to the school.  
  
“Bye. Take care,” Jayden smiled, waving at Nathan as the boy hurried inside the school along with all the other kids.  
  
Jayden watched his son disappear into the crowd of students, and his smile faded once Nathan was out of sight. The thing about Oscar really bothered him, and he hated how the principal wasn’t taking it seriously. It pissed him off so much.  
  
After a few moments of staring at the spot where he had last seen Nathan, Jayden snapped out of his thoughts and tried to shake off his worries. He had some grocery shopping to do before heading home, and he had plans to spend the day exercising and get some practical stuff done around the house. With that in mind, he got back into the car and drove off, hoping that Nathan would be alright on his fieldtrip.  
  
  


***

  
  
Jayden enjoyed his day off from work. Working at the restaurant could be quite stressful, so he liked it when he got to spend a day all alone at home without anything or anyone bothering him.  
  
He spent an hour jogging around the neighborhood to stay in shape, and when he came home he fixed himself something to eat and relaxed for a while before starting to prepare Derek’s new room.   
  
They had decided to make Derek’s current room a nursery for the new baby, and have Derek move into the bedroom that was between Nathan’s room and the bathroom, in the far end of the upstairs hallway. Derek had seemed very excited about getting a bigger room, and Jayden had begun to assemble some of the furniture they had bought for him recently. They had bought some shelves, a desk and a chair, a wardrobe, and some extra drawers for the room. Jayden had to assemble the new furniture and put it into place, which he didn’t mind doing on his own. He would need some help with the heavy wardrobe, but he’d get either Dean or Micah to help them next time they came by for a visit.  
  
Midnight kept Jayden company most of the day. She would often follow him from room to room, but didn’t always demand attention. Jayden didn’t mind. It was nice having the cat for company, even though she was getting a bit old and lazy.  
  
“Midnight,” Jayden chastised softly at the cat when she kept rubbing herself against him and demanding attention all of sudden. He was kneeling on the floor while assembling some parts of Derek’s new desk, and he was too busy to pay attention to the cat right now. Midnight usually gave him space, but right now she seemed to be in a social mood; she kept rubbing herself against his legs, wings, and bumping her nose against his hands while he worked. It was pretty annoying to feel the cat rubbing herself against his feathers all the time. He had to soften them to avoid hurting her somehow, and it only made his wings more sensitive.  
  
Jayden gently pushed the cat away after rubbing her head for a bit, but as soon as he tried to get back to work, the cat was back. This time she decided to go for his tail, which had been slowly swishing back and forth on the floor behind him while he was concentrated. Jayden let out a loud yelp when he felt the cat dig her claws into his tail, when she suddenly decided to see it as prey.  
  
“God damn it!” Jayden yelped, quickly shoving the cat back. “Don’t do that!”  
  
Midnight just stared at him with her yellow cat eyes, looking a bit confused. She meowed softly and went over to rub herself against him again.  
  
Jayden sighed, but decided to pet the cat for a bit to please her. “Gosh, you’re so demanding. Stupid cat.” His voice was fond as he spoke to her, and he smiled at how the cat leaned into his touch and purred loudly. “Let’s hope the new baby doesn’t pull at your tail as much as Derek does, hm? You sure don’t like that. I don’t like it either.”  
  
Talking to the cat wasn’t something Jayden did all that often, but he had caught Noah doing it a lot. Midnight couldn’t understand them anyway, but it felt kind of nice to talk to her despite that.  
  
Midnight continued to lean into his touch while purring in content, and Jayden chuckled softly at her. His thoughts drifted away while he pet the cat, and he suddenly started thinking about the new baby again. A smiled tugged at his lips when he thought about how Noah’s pregnancy became more and more visible with every day, and he couldn’t wait for his mate’s belly to grow bigger. There was something very relaxing and deeply profound about putting his ear to Noah’s fully pregnant belly and listening to the heartbeat inside. He couldn’t wait to do that again.  
  
Jayden was so busy petting the cat and thinking about the baby that the sudden noise of his cell phone ringing startled him. It was ringing and buzzing on the floor next to him, so he quickly reached out and answered it, noticing that he didn’t know the number.  
  
“Hello?”  
  
 _“Hi, am I speaking to Nathan Williams’ father?”_ came a female voice on the other end of the phone.  
  
Jayden frowned and slowly stood up. Midnight meowed pathetically when she was suddenly being ignored. “Yes. Who’s this?”  
  
 _“I’m his English teacher, Kelly. I believe we have met before?”_  
  
“Oh right. What’s this about?” Jayden had a grim feeling in his gut about this call.  
  
 _“Well, I’m calling to ask you and your mate to please show up at the school as soon as possible. Your son has been in a fight with a few other boys, and we’d like to speak with you. Please come to the nurse’s office as soon as you can.”_  
  
It was like someone had just slapped Jayden hard in the face. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and he felt overwhelmed by all sorts of emotions. Nathan never got into fights. What the hell had happened?  
  
“Y-Yeah, we’ll be over as soon as possible. Is he okay?” Jayden quickly asked. He needed to know that Nathan wasn’t hurt.  
  
 _“He seems alright after the circumstances, but we really need you here to talk this through with you.”_  
  
“Right. We’ll be right over.” Jayden hung up the phone before the woman could answer, his hand trembling a little as he put his phone into his jeans pocket.  
  
All sorts of questions and emotions flooded through him, and he knew he needed to go pick up Noah as soon as possible so they could head to the school and see Nathan.   
  
He left the room in a rush, leaving the rest of the furniture unassembled for now, and hurried out to the car to drive off and pick up Noah from the kindergarten.  
  
  


***

  
  
Noah’s day in the kindergarten was a pretty normal one. He spent it teaching his students, talking with his colleagues, and taking care of the children in between classes. Since the weather was very nice, most of the children’s free time was spent outside, where they played on the swings, on the slide, and in the small go-karts which the facility shared with the pre-kindergarten.  
  
There was one thing that was a bit different than usual, though, and that was Jane. Ever since the parents/teacher conference, she had begun talking more to her angel and hybrid classmates. They had been a little wary of her at first, because they were used to her not liking them (or so they thought, at least), but they had quickly started to reciprocate her interest and were now talking to her and dragging her around outside to play.  
  
To Noah, the change was very welcome. He was happy to see Jane mingling with the others and making more friends. He couldn’t help but wonder if Chris had actually agreed to this change, or if it was just Jane doing what she wanted to do and ignoring what her parents said.  
  
“Noah, Noah! What do you think of my drawing?” Jane asked, as she came rushing over to him with a drawing in her hands.  
  
Classes were over, and the children were playing for the rest of the day now. Noah and Lucas were watching over those who were sitting inside, and they had been helping some of the children paint and draw by the table, when Jane suddenly came over to their side of the table.  
  
Noah turned and looked at her drawing. It was a child’s drawing of one demon girl and two angel girls, holding hands and smiling. “That’s very nice,” Noah smiled. “Is that you in the middle?”  
  
Jane nodded and curled her tail proudly when Noah said that her drawing was nice. “Yup! And this is Jenny and Abigail,” she said, pointing at the angel girls on her drawing. “They’re my new friends. We’re drawing pictures of each other.”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but smile happily at that. “Oh, that’s nice. I’m glad you’re making new friends, Jane.”  
  
Jane gave him a wide grin before turning on her heels, which made her hair swing, and then walking back to the other side of the table to her new friends. Abigail and Jenny grinned as Jane rejoined them, and the girls started giggling as they made more drawings together.  
  
“I’m so amazed at how quickly she made friends with them,” Lucas spoke from Noah’s left side. They were sitting next to each other at the table, with eight children gathered around them.  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Noah spoke, smiling to himself.  
  
Lucas smiled, but then started squirming a bit. “I-I have to use the bathroom again. Sorry…” He blushed and rushed up from his chair, wincing when its feet scraped along the floor when he moved it, creating an awful sound.  
  
Noah laughed softly. “That’s okay. I know how that is.”  
  
“I really hate this part of being pregnant,” Lucas murmured before hurrying off to the bathroom, supporting his six months pregnant belly while he rushed out of the room.  
  
Noah chuckled and felt a swell of sympathy for his friend. It really was no fun when the baby was pressing against your bladder all the time.  
  
Smiling, Noah reached down and placed a hand on his own belly. The bump wasn’t nearly as big as Lucas’ yet, but Noah liked how it grew a little bigger every day. He was only 16 weeks pregnant, so it would be at least four more weeks until he would know the gender of the baby. He couldn’t wait to find out whether he was expecting another boy, or if it was going to be a girl this time.  
  
Lucas took his time in the bathroom, and meanwhile Noah helped the children with their drawings and paintings. They liked to draw on their own, but sometimes they asked him about what they should draw and which colors he thought were best. It was nice to see them having fun and being creative, even though none of them could draw like Michelangelo, of course.  
  
When Lucas returned, he and Noah chatted a bit about their children. Their colleague Kia came over to join, and the three colleagues had a nice time with the kids, until suddenly Jayden showed up.  
  
Noah was stunned to see Jayden enter his workplace almost an hour before he was off work. It was 2:54pm, and Noah wasn’t off until 4. The alpha had a very distraught and serious look on his face as he rushed over to him, and it scared Noah a little, since it wasn’t like Jayden to have such a look on his face.  
  
“Jayden? What—”  
  
Noah didn’t manage to speak another word before Jayden cut him off.  
  
“They called me from Nathan’s school,” Jayden spoke, gently grabbing Noah’s arm and helping him get up from his chair. “They said he got into a fight with some of the other boys, and they want us to go and have a talk.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in horror. Disbelief washed over him, mixed with worry and concern for their son. “W-What? But Nathan never gets into a fight with others!”  
  
“I know, but obviously something happened,” Jayden said, sounding just as freaked out and worried as Noah. “Come on, let’s go.” He slung his arm around Noah’s shoulders and guided him to follow him.  
  
Noah snapped out of his shock and glanced at Lucas and Kia, who were staring at them with stunned faces when they heard what had happened. “I-I gotta go. Please tell Elizabeth that I left a little earlier?”  
  
“Yeah, sure. We will,” Kia said, blinking from surprise.  
  
“I’ll call you later, okay?” Lucas spoke. He glanced from Noah to Jayden and then back at Noah again with a concerned frown on his face.  
  
“Yeah, okay,” Noah said, forcing a smile at him before following Jayden out of the kindergarten in a rush.  
  
They hurried outside and over to the car, which Jayden had parked close to the entrance.  
  
“Is he okay? Do you know?” Noah asked, feeling sick from worry knowing that Nathan had been in a fight. All sorts of scenarios went through his mind; was Nathan badly hurt? Had he started the fight? Exactly _what_ had happened?  
  
“They said he was fine, but he’s in the nurse’s office. Let’s just get there as soon as we can and see, okay?” Jayden quickly rubbed Noah’s back for comfort before walking around the car to get into the driver’s seat.  
  
Noah nodded and hurried inside the car as well.  
  
Both of them were overwhelmed with emotions as they drove off to Nathan’s school. The worry and angst hung in the air like a thick fog, and they couldn’t wait to get to the school and get some answers and make sure that Nathan was okay.  
  
Neither of them doubted that Nathan had just been defending himself, but they still wanted to know exactly what had happened and why.  
  
  


***

  
  
When they arrived at the school, they quickly headed towards the nurse’s office, where Jayden had been told to come when the teacher had called him about the incident. The fact that they had been told to go to the nurse’s office had only increased their worries, and they made it there in record time to see their son.  
  
“Nathan?” Noah called out in worry when they finally entered the nurse’s office. It was a small, white room with a bed, a couple of chairs, a sink, and some drawers with first-aid equipment. It smelled sterile in there, mixed with the scent of spring because one of the windows was open and was guiding a soft breeze into the room.  
  
Both Noah and Jayden stopped in their tracks when they saw Nathan sitting on the patient bed in the middle of the room. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and the nurse was busy putting a band-aid on a small cut on his side. He looked like a mess. His feathers were completely ruffled, as was his hair a bit, and his torso had a few nasty bruises and a couple of cuts on it. There was also a bruise on his cheek, which made Noah gasp in horror when Nathan turned his head to look at them.  
  
“Nathan!” Noah exclaimed, his voice breaking as he rushed over to see his son.  
  
“Mommy,” Nathan croaked, and threw his arms around Noah’s neck to hug him. Tears ran down his cheeks, and he held on tight to Noah as he buried his face in his shoulder.  
  
The nurse slowly sat back a bit to give them space.  
  
Jayden was in shock to see Nathan like that, and he immediately turned to look at the nurse. “What the hell happened?!”  
  
The nurse – a middle-aged angel female – jumped a bit at the anger in Jayden’s voice, but quickly recovered when she knew it wasn’t aimed at her. “I was told that he got into a fight with 3-4 other boys on the bus home from their fieldtrip. I’ve attended to some of the other boys’ wounds as well, but no one is seriously injured. They’ve all just received some bruises and a few cuts from their fight, and have lost a few feathers.”  
  
Noah held Nathan tight, and he couldn’t stop the tears that began running down his cheeks. He didn’t like the thought of Nathan being in a fight at all. It broke his heart.  
  
“I’m sorry…” Nathan murmured into Noah’s shirt, sniffling. “Oscar and his friends were being so mean. They were pulling at Emily’s feathers on the bus, and at her friend’s too, so I tried to make them stop. And then they all started to push me around and hitting me, and Oscar threw me on the floor…”  
  
Jayden bit back an angry growl. He was bursting with anger towards those boys and especially Oscar’s parents, for not taking matters seriously. He had to take a deep breath to calm down, and then walked over to stroke his hand through Nathan’s hairs for comfort. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s not your fault…”  
  
“But Mr. Hathaway got so mad at me…” Nathan sniffled against Noah’s shoulder, and lifted his head a bit to look up at Jayden. His arms were still slung around Noah’s neck in a hug, and his wings were trembling behind him.  
  
“Don’t mind that guy; he’s stupid,” Jayden spoke, growling softly. “You’ll be okay.”  
  
Nathan nodded quietly, and tried to keep on clinging to Noah, who slowly pulled back from the hug to look at him.  
  
“Are you alright?” Noah asked, cupping Nathan’s face between his hands and looking him into the eye with a worried frown.  
  
Again, Nathan nodded. His cheeks were still wet from salty tears, but he had stopped crying. “It hurts a bit, though…”  
  
“He should be fine,” the nurse spoke, smiling. “Nothing’s broken; I already checked.”  
  
“Yeah, thanks,” Jayden told her, and eyed Nathan once again to see how he was doing.  
  
The relief of seeing Nathan being okay after the circumstances was interrupted when Oscar’s beta angel father appeared in the doorway along with Oscar himself. The alpha angel boy, who was a few months older than Nathan, twitched a bit when he saw Jayden and Noah in the room, and he didn’t meet their eyes.  
  
“Hey,” Oscar’s father barked at the nurse. “It’s time to check my son now. You’ve already looked at that hybrid kid for longer than needed.” He spared Nathan, Noah, and Jayden a disgusted glance before looking at the nurse again.  
  
The nurse was about to retort something at him for being rude, but Jayden beat her to it.  
  
“Wait your turn. It’s your son’s own fault if he got himself a few bruises,” Jayden growled, trying desperately to keep his alpha side under control. Alphas became very aggressive when their family was hurt or in danger, and it could be difficult to control the urge to start a fight. Jayden wanted so badly to punch Oscar’s dad in the face, but he knew he couldn’t.  
  
“ _My_ son’s fault?!” Oscar’s father snapped, glaring at Jayden with hatred. He was rather snappy and aggressive for a beta, but wasn’t as tall or muscled as an alpha. “If it hadn’t been for that freak hybrid, this wouldn’t have happened!”  
  
“No, if it hadn’t been for your rude and ill-raised son this wouldn’t have happened,” Jayden corrected him and met his glare dead-on. His wings rose a little behind him to and sharpened to make the beta back the hell off.  
  
Oscar’s father growled, while Oscar just stayed perfectly still by his side. The boy glanced over at Nathan, who met his stare with a wary glare. Neither of the boys liked each other, but Nathan was raised too well to really let it show how much he disliked his classmate.  
  
“Please don’t start a fight,” came a firm, female voice from the hallway behind Oscar’s father.   
  
They all turned to look at her, and Jayden recognized the woman as being Nathan’s English teacher, Kelly. She was a human female in her mid-thirties, with long sandy-blonde hair and glasses.  
  
“How about we all head towards the principal’s office to talk about what happened? This matter clearly needs to be dealt with,” said Kelly, and looked mostly at Oscar and his father as she spoke.  
  
Oscar’s father growled, while Jayden was relieved that the teacher seemed to take their side in this and recognized Oscar as being the bigger problem.  
  
Noah helped Nathan put on his shirt again before they walked out of the room to head to the principal’s office. Oscar had to be looked over by the nurse first, whereas the three other boys involved had already been looked at.  
  
Nathan looked very nervous when they approached the principal’s office, where the other boys were already waiting. Emily and her friend were there too, though, as were their parents, and Nathan relaxed as he went over to hang out with his friends.  
  
Emily immediately asked Nathan about how he was doing and began to check him over, and Nathan blushed when his friend tried to lift up his shirt to see if he was hurt. He gently swatted her hand away and insisted that he was fine, and Noah and Jayden couldn’t help but chuckle at how tough Nathan was suddenly acting around Emily.  
  
  


***

  
  
It was 5:30pm when Noah and Jayden came home that afternoon with Nathan and Derek.  
  
The meeting with the teachers and the principal had taken quite a while, and they had talked today’s events through. Nathan, Emily, and Emily’s angel friend had all told them that they had been teased by Oscar and his friends during the whole fieldtrip, where the boys had pushed them sometimes when the teachers weren’t watching. On the bus home, Oscar had started to pull at Emily’s feathers, which had upset Nathan so much that he had shoved him away, resulting in the four boys pushing and hitting at him in retaliation. Oscar hadn’t denied it when he was questioned about it by the principal, but his father had refused to accept that his son had done anything wrong. Mr. Hathaway, who was the teacher that Nathan didn’t like much, had tried to defend Oscar’s actions, but in the end Nathan’s English teacher Kelly had very firmly told them that she had seen Oscar and the other boys’ behavior and that it wasn’t to be accepted. The principal had finally been forced to take the matters seriously, and he had suspended Oscar from school for the rest of the school year (forcing him to possibly retake the grade), while the other boys got suspended for four weeks. He had wanted to punish Nathan as well for having pushed Oscar away from Emily and thus starting the fight, but luckily Kelly had pointed out that Nathan’s actions were out of defense and not offense.  
  
Everyone except Derek was exhausted when they finally came home. The meeting had been tough, especially since some of the other parents – including Oscar’s father – weren’t very cooperative. Nathan was relieved that he hadn’t gotten punished, but he was still a bit quiet and sore after the fight.  
  
“Hi, Midnight,” Nathan smiled at the cat when she came to greet them when they stepped inside the house. He tried to bend down to pet her, but winced when it made the bruises on his stomach and side hurt. He still managed to bend down far enough to reach the cat and give her some attention, though.  
  
It was ruined when Derek came over to pet Midnight as well, and instead ended up scaring her away when he placed his hand on her too roughly. The cat yowled before running off into the living room, away from Derek, whom she didn’t trust very much.  
  
“Derek!” Nathan chided, and glared at his little brother for being mean to the cat.  
  
Derek just stared back at him with a grumpy look before trying to shove him, and Nathan let out a pained gasp when he was forced to jump back and felt his bruises hurt at the action.  
  
“Hey, cut that out,” Jayden told them firmly, while helping Noah unzip his jacket below his wings and take it off.  
  
Nathan just glared at Derek, who glared back before going over to Jayden.  
  
“Daddy. Want food,” Derek whined, grasping the lower part of Jayden’s shirt while staring up at him with a pout.  
  
“Yeah, I know. I’m gonna make us some dinner soon, okay?” Jayden spoke, stroking a hand through Derek’s hair, which needed to be cut soon. “How about you go and play in the living room until then?”  
  
Derek grinned and flared his wings excitedly before running off into the other room.  
  
Noah smiled at the boy before turning to look at Nathan, who looked a little depressed. Nathan had been very quiet all the way home in the car, and Noah couldn’t really blame him. He reached out and gently placed his hand on Nathan’s shoulder, letting it slide down his arm. “Do you want to rest for a bit?”  
  
Nathan nodded quietly and stepped a little closer to Noah. They could hear Derek squealing in the living room, and heard a loud crash when the boy spread all his Legos across the floor to play with.  
  
“Hey, cheer up,” Jayden told Nathan and nudged him softly on the arm. “You won’t be seeing Oscar for a while now, and I think Emily was very happy that you helped her out today. You did a good thing by helping her.”  
  
“Yeah, but I dun like how it hurts,” Nathan mumbled, and glanced up at his parents with a pained look.  
  
Noah cringed in sympathy. “I know. But it will go away soon. Just take it easy, okay?”  
  
“Can I skip my homework?” Nathan asked, his face lighting up with hope.  
  
Both Jayden and Noah couldn’t contain their laughter at that.  
  
“Yeah, but only today, you hear?” Jayden chuckled, ruffling up Nathan’s hair fondly.  
  
Nathan nodded and gave his parents a big grin. Looking more cheerful, he turned and walked into the living room, avoiding Derek as he made his way over to watch some TV. He wasn’t in the mood for playing rough with Derek when his body hurt everywhere, and thankfully Derek was too busy playing around alone to pay him much attention.  
  
Noah sighed once Nathan had left, and Jayden picked up on his worry. The alpha stepped over and wrapped his arms around Noah’s middle while standing behind him. Jayden’s large, comforting hands on his pregnant belly relaxed Noah, and he sighed softly as he leaned back into him.  
  
“It’s okay. Nathan is okay, and Oscar has been dealt with for now. You don’t need to worry,” Jayden spoke softly, leaning down so he could whisper into Noah’s ear and nuzzle him softly.  
  
“I know, but I can’t help but worry. The older our children get, the more they will be exposed to these kinds of things…”  
  
“Yeah, I know. I don’t like it either, but they’ll get through it. They’re strong.”  
  
Noah nodded and let himself revel in Jayden’s comforting embrace, until the alpha finally pulled away.  
  
“Gonna make dinner now,” Jayden spoke. “What do you wanna eat? Or rather, what are you craving right now?” He looked at Noah with a wicked smirk to poke fun at him.  
  
Noah sent him a dark glare and pushed him half-heartedly. “Don’t make fun of my cravings! And I don’t mind whatever you’re making, as long as it’s either a bit spicy or sour.”  
  
“Spicy or sour, huh? You’re gonna be farting all night,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Noah blushed and hit Jayden on the arm, but the alpha just laughed at him and brushed him gently with his wing.  
  
Jayden went to make dinner, while Noah went to the living room to be there for Nathan and keep an eye on Derek.  
  
Nathan ended up cuddling against Noah’s side and watching cartoons with him on the couch. They were mostly quiet while watching, and Noah tried not to hurt Nathan in his sore state as he rubbed his arm gently while they sat together.  
  
Derek was playing around by himself, but sometimes came over to make Nathan play too. He was rejected every time, though, and responded by giving his older brother a displeased glare before going back to playing on his own again.  
  
“Mommy?” Nathan asked all of sudden. He turned his head and looked at Noah, who looked back at him as he spoke. “When’s the new baby coming?” he asked curiously, and put a cautious hand on the bulge on Noah’s stomach.  
  
Noah blinked at him before softening his face. “In the beginning of October, so there’s still a long time until then.” He gently swept some hairs away from Nathan’s forehead, with the hand he had wrapped around his son while they were cuddling on the couch.  
  
Nathan’s eyes widened a bit. “So long? Why does it take so long?”  
  
Noah chuckled and felt kind of glad that Nathan seemed so impatient for the baby to come. “Because it takes a while for the baby to grow big. Babies need to stay inside their mommies for nine months, you know. With hybrids, it takes a little bit longer.”  
  
“Hmm.” Nathan pondered about that and glanced at Noah’s bump again. “But doesn’t it hurt? Having the baby in there?”  
  
“Not really. Only when it grows bigger; then it can hurt sometimes, yes, but that’s normal.”  
  
“I remember it hurting you when you had Derek in there. He’s so wild and stupid anyways, so I’m not surprised that it hurt.”  
  
Noah laughed out loud at that, while Derek’s head poked up at the mention of his name.  
  
Derek hadn’t heard Nathan calling him stupid, but when he sensed his brother talking about him, he padded over and gently pulled at Nathan’s tail. “Nathan, come play!”  
  
Nathan moved his tail out of Derek’s hold and whined as he curled up closer to Noah. “No. Play by yourself,” he murmured, not looking at Derek as he spoke. He was really not in the mood to play with Derek right now; it was too exhausting.  
  
“Noooo! Come play!”   
  
Derek tried to grab Nathan’s tail again, but his brother gently swatted him in the face with it before hiding it close to his body and curling up more.  
  
“Derek, Nathan is not in the mood for playing right now. How about you play alone, or watch cartoons with us instead?” Noah spoke, sensing that Derek was about to get very stubborn and demanding.  
  
Derek shot them both a grumpy look and glared at Nathan. “Why she dun wanna play?”  
  
“I’m a _he_ and not _she,_ stupid!” Nathan complained, swatting Derek lightly on the arm with his tail. Derek sometimes used the wrong pronouns by accident, and Nathan hated it when he called him a she.  
  
Derek glared at him and tried to grab Nathan’s tail, but then Noah spoke.  
  
“Hey, stop that! No fighting, you two.” Noah gave the boys a firm look, and was pleased when Derek backed off.  
  
Derek gave Nathan another glare for not wanting to play with him when he wanted him to, but when he saw his older brother having a kind of sad look on his face all of sudden, he became a little worried. He hadn’t seen Nathan looking like that before and it confused him. He eyed Nathan for a bit as the older boy curled up more and leaned into Noah, before Derek slowly turned and went back to playing alone. As soon as he was back to where his toys were, he quickly forgot all about his worries about Nathan again.  
  
  


***

  
  
When dinner was ready, they all sat down by the table and shared it together. Jayden had cooked rice and curry, which was a family favorite, and he and Noah were amused by how Derek always managed to get his entire face smeared in the curry sauce.  
  
Derek was very talkative and a bit hyper during the dinner. He kept babbling about his day in the daycare, but because he was still a bit clumsy with talking and because he was eating, they couldn’t understand everything he was saying. Nathan was a bit more quiet, but giggled a bit at Derek’s curry-smeared face and his funny stories.  
  
After they were done eating, Jayden took care of the dishes while Noah helped him out a bit. Nathan went with Derek into the living room to watch some TV, and they could hear the boys bicker a bit as they walked there together.  
  
“Gosh, what a day,” Jayden said while he washed their plates in the sink and handed them to Noah, who placed them all in the dishwasher. “At least I managed to assemble some of the furniture in Derek’s new room.”  
  
Noah smiled and put the plates into the dishwasher. “I hope he’ll like his new room.”  
  
“Of course he will; it’s a little bigger than his current one, so he should have lots of space. And it’ll be easier for us when the new baby moves into Derek’s old room; then we don’t have to walk that far when the baby wakes us up at night and demands food.”  
  
Noah chuckled softly and touched his stomach a bit. “Yeah.”  
  
“But I don’t look forward to being cock-blocked again, though…”  
  
“Connor!” Noah chided, slapping Jayden on the arm for making such a comment. He glared when all Jayden did was laugh at him.  
  
“What? You can’t blame a man for wanting to be with his mate… Especially not one as sweet and addicting as you.” Jayden purred softly as he leaned in and nuzzled gently at Noah’s neck, purposefully trying to tease and tickle him with his nose.  
  
Noah shuddered and tried to shy away from him. “You’re a jerk.”  
  
“Mm, yeah, I know.”  
  
Noah chortled softly and allowed Jayden to place a kiss on his neck. They had stopped doing the dishes in favor of being affectionate, but Noah didn’t mind. He liked it when Jayden got all sweet with him and started worshipping him with small kisses and nuzzling him with his nose.  
  
“Can we have sex tonight? I really wanna feel you all around me and bury my face in your gorgeous feathers. Gosh, I want that so bad…” Jayden murmured, shuddering as he breathed in Noah’s intoxicating scent. The submissive smelled so sweet when he pregnant, and Jayden loved it.  
  
Jayden’s words made Noah shiver slightly in arousal, and he let out a small, shy chuckle while baring his neck more to Jayden. “Yeah. I’d like that…”  
  
The alpha grinned in triumph and placed a tender kiss to Noah’s bared neck, hearing his mate purr in response.  
  
Their sweet moment was disturbed when the doorbell rang. Three times.  
  
Jayden sighed as he pulled away from Noah. “I’ll get it.”  
  
Noah nodded and felt a little disappointed when Jayden broke skin contact with him.  
  
The doorbell rang again as Jayden moved towards the door, and he frowned at the odd behavior. Who on earth would ring it so persistently, at this hour?  
  
Derek and Nathan got curious when they heard the doorbell ring so many times, and Jayden saw their heads poking up behind the couch when he glanced into the living room before answering the door.  
  
Jayden immediately regretted opening the door without checking to see who was there first, because he was met by a very upset-looking Chris.  
  
Jayden was shocked to see his old enemy at the door, and his wings immediately rose up in a defensive stance when he saw the look of hatred and anger on Chris face. How the hell did Chris even know where they lived, Jayden wondered.  
  
“What the hell are you doing at my house?” Jayden demanded, growling lowly and glaring at his unwelcome guest. He moved to the threshold of the door and tried to shut it slightly behind him when he could sense Noah coming over to see who was there. He quickly unfurled his wing and blocked the door, so that Chris couldn’t see Noah and unleash his anger at him.  
  
“Where is that abomination that you call a mate?!” Chris barked, ignoring Jayden’s question. His wings spread out in anger, and he growled as he took a small step closer. In his right hand was a piece of paper, which Jayden couldn’t see what was.  
  
Jayden growled and shoved Chris in the chest to push him away from the door. There were two steps at the front door, but Chris managed to keep his balance and instead walked away from the steps. Jayden followed him.  
  
“Don’t you _dare_ come to my house and say such things about my mate! I’ve had enough problems today, so don’t you add another one to it.”  
  
Chris wasn’t really about to back off, though, seeing as he was blinded from his own anger. “You _think_ I wanna come here?” he spat before continuing. “Just tell that little fuck to stop messing with my daughter’s head!”  
  
Jayden’s anger was half replaced by surprise. “ _He’s_ messing with her head?” He let out a loud snort at that. “The only one messing with her head is _you._ ”  
  
Chris growled and shoved the piece of paper he had been holding up in front of Jayden’s face. It was the drawing that Jane had made earlier that day. “Look what Jane gave me today! A freaking drawing of her and two angel girls! It’s that mate of yours who’s given her weird ideas about angels and hybrids, and I’ve had enough of it!”  
  
Jayden’s chest rumbled with an angry growl as he took one step closer to Chris, who took a small step back in reply. “You’re upset because your daughter drew a picture of her _friends?_ ” He spat the words in Chris’ face in disgust. “If you would just for one second get your head out of your ass and realize that species play no role in friendships, then _maybe_ Jane would live a happier life. Don’t you realize that your hatred for angels and hybrids is making your daughter feel lonely and sad?”  
  
Chris’ eyes were practically lit on fire from fury. “Shut your mouth about things you don’t understand!”  
  
“No, _you_ fucking _listen!_ ” Jayden barked, seeing Chris flinch slightly at the order. “Do you have any idea what it does to your daughter when you tell her to stay away from her angel and hybrid classmates? She spent most of her time in the kindergarten isolated from others because you’re being a racist ass. She probably feels like there’s something wrong with her since you’re _asking_ her not to make friends with the others. How do you think she feels about that? There’s no fucking difference between demons and angels, aside from a few physical things, and there’s absolutely no reason for us not to be friends with one another!”  
  
Chris’ jaw clenched, and Jayden could see him processing a lot of thoughts inside his mind. Then, without warning, the other alpha reached out and grasped the front of Jayden’s shirt angrily. “Don’t you fucking dare lecturing me! I beat your ass once and I’d do it again!”  
  
That threat flipped a switch inside Jayden. He let out a feral growl and swatted Chris’ hand away angrily, before poking his index finger hard into Chris’ chest, making the other alpha flinch and step back. “And don’t _you_ fucking dare threatening me!” Jayden snarled in rage. “Last time you had _five_ other guys helping you. I wonder how you’d do this time, all by yourself?” He resisted smirking in satisfaction when he saw doubt and fear flicker across Chris’ face for a second. Jayden was no longer the 15-year-old kid that Chris and his friends had beat up in an alley once; he was stronger and taller than Chris, and a lot better at defending himself.  
  
Chris stared back at Jayden without a word, but he didn’t break eye contact as they glared at each other. It was clear to Jayden that Chris was thoroughly thinking his choices through right now, and had probably regretted coming there. Chris was an impulsive type of guy, so he probably hadn’t really planned what to do when he got there, besides shouting and being angry.  
  
“And next time you wanna go blaming someone for Jane’s behavior or her not feeling well, how about you look in the mirror,” Jayden spoke, glaring Chris down as he spoke. “The only person in the world making her feel miserable is _you,_ and _you’re_ the one who’s supposed to protect her. Do you really want your own daughter to spend the rest of her life being isolated and full of hatred that you taught her, just because you cannot accept people who are a bit different than yourself? That girl _adores_ you, and you’re making her feel alone and miserable. What kind of fucking father would do that to their own kid?”  
  
Chris literally flinched at that, and Jayden knew he had managed to knock even just a tiny bit of sense into him. He watched as Chris’ body started to tremble a little, until finally the other alpha broke their glaring match and stepped back.  
  
Chris gave him a look which was quite hateful, but not as angry or full of disgust as it had been earlier. He then turned around and stomped away from the house in a fast pace, and Jayden watched as he headed over to his car, which was parked a bit down the street, and drove away so fast that the wheels screeched.  
  
Relief washed over Jayden once Chris was finally gone from his property, and he took a moment to breathe before turning around to go back inside the house. He was a little surprised to see Noah standing in the doorway, staring at him with a bewildered and amazed look on his face. Jayden hadn’t even noticed that Noah had been standing there the entire time.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden spoke softly, smiling at Noah as he walked up to him and placed his hands on his mate’s hips. “Didn’t realize you were there.”  
  
Noah leaned into his touch, and put his hands on Jayden’s chest as he stared back up at him. “Wow. I think you actually managed to get through his thick skull…”  
  
Jayden leaned his head back and laughed, before looking down at Noah in adoration again. “Maybe just a little. I don’t think he wants Jane to be unhappy, so hopefully he will think about what I said.”  
  
“Yeah, I think he will. He loves Jane, after all.”  
  
Jayden snorted. “Well, he’s got a funny way of showing it sometimes. That poor girl must be quite confused by all the signals he’s giving her.”  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
“I hope me getting angry didn’t upset you, though. I just can’t handle being near that guy. He’s such a fucking asshole.” Jayden’s fingers dug into Noah’s hips a bit more tightly, and his jaw clenched with anger as he thought about Chris.  
  
Noah gave him a reassuring smile, and rubbed soothing circles into Jayden’s chest with his hands to relax him. “You didn’t upset me. I was just a little nervous about if you were gonna start a fight or something…”  
  
Jayden opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted when Nathan and Derek showed up in the entrance hall behind them.   
  
“Daddy said bad word!” Derek exclaimed, giggling up at Jayden and curling his tail.  
  
Jayden and Noah turned their heads to look at the boys, blinking.  
  
“Yeah, I did. Guess that means I’m bad, huh?” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“Yeah! You go in prison!” Derek chirped with a big grin on his face.  
  
Nathan chortled and rolled his eyes at his little brother. “You’re so silly sometimes. You don’t go to prison for that.”  
  
“Daddy does!” Derek insisted, and scowled at Nathan for arguing with him.  
  
“And I’ll take you with me, ‘cause you’re such a little, hyper brat who drives us all crazy,” Jayden spoke in a playful tone and reached down to pick up Derek. He pressed the boy close to his chest, and kept holding on to him even when Derek squealed and started squirming and kicking against him.  
  
Noah took a cautious step back so that Derek wouldn’t accidentally kick him, and he laughed and watched the scene with a smile when Derek laughed and kicked in Jayden’s hold, trying to break free. The toddler’s squealing got louder when Jayden started blowing raspberries on his neck and cheek while he was holding him, but it was clear that they were both having a lot of fun.  
  
Nathan too laughed as he looked at them, but he didn’t try to help Derek get free like he often did when Jayden did that to him. He didn’t want to get hit by Derek’s flailing limbs.  
  
The family closed the door and headed back inside the house to spend some time together before it was bedtime for the kids.  
  
It had been a very dramatic day with everything that had happened, but in the end they were glad that Nathan was okay after today’s events.  
  
Noah was also grateful that he had gotten through the day without feeling much nausea and without having to throw up, so he hoped that his morning sickness would soon start to go away, or at least happen less often. He also hoped that Chris would take it easier on Jane from now, and finally put his daughter’s needs in front of his own racism. Only time would show that, though.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel really bad for putting Nathan through this… But they all won’t get through life without encountering bad people and getting a few bruises. Finally I had a bigger confrontation between Jayden and Chris, and I don’t think Chris will be appearing that much anymore (unless I can found out how and why). I’ll mention more of Jane, though :)
> 
> Gosh, this story is getting so long. I’m giving up on trying to estimate how long it will be – I will just write until I have nothing more to write XD And I still have to write that little story about how Isaac and Kaylen fell in love... I will try to get started on that soon, when I have more time.
> 
> Also, I’m going on vacation to Barcelona in two weeks with a friend and will be away for one week. I hope to update at least one more time before I go, but in case I don’t, then you know why updating will take me so long.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading :) Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small warning for those who have a trigger for children getting hurt. Derek has a little accident in this chapter and there is some blood. Just so you are warned.

**May 2057 (Noah is 31, Jayden is 32 (almost 33), Nathan is 7, Derek is 3, Emily is 7, David is 34, Millie is 32, Charlie is 69 years old).**  
  
Charlie’s clinic smelled as clean as always as Noah and Jayden sat down in the waiting room together and waited their turn. Nathan and Derek were both with them, since it was an evening appointment and the daycare and after school care would have closed by the time Noah and Jayden were finished at the clinic.  
  
Today Noah was having his 21 week scan. A scan that would hopefully reveal the gender of his baby, and if it was still as healthy and normal as it had been on the first scan he had had.  
  
Noah clutched Jayden’s hand as they sat next to each other, feeling excited and a bit nervous about the ultrasound scan. Jayden squeezed his hand to comfort him, which helped a lot.  
  
On Jayden’s other side sat Derek and Nathan, who were both looking at children’s comics to pass the time. Nathan could read already, but Derek couldn’t, so the smaller boy quickly grew a bit bored with the pictures and got up to play with the Lego set that was in the corner of the room. The Legos were much more interesting to him, and he squealed as he started to throw the pieces around so he could assemble them.  
  
“Derek, don’t be so loud,” Jayden chastised when Derek made too much noise.  
  
The other clients in the room didn’t look too bothered, though. There was a pregnant human woman sitting alone across from them, and two female angel/human hybrids, who seemed to know each other. Jayden was the only grown man in the waiting room, which surprised him a bit, since most women and subs usually brought their mates along for ultrasound scans. However, judging from how well the two angel/human hybrids got along and how they were holding hands, they were probably a couple. One of them was likely pregnant, but the pregnancy wasn’t showing yet.  
  
“Is that Charlie lady nice?” Nathan asked suddenly, turning his head to look at Jayden. Nathan always sat more politely in his seat than Derek did, but he was slowly swinging his legs back and forth under the chair, which was a bit too big for him.  
  
“Yeah, she’s very nice,” Jayden smiled. “She helped bring you and Derek into the world. And mommy too, actually.”  
  
Nathan’s eyes widened, and he leaned forward so that he could look past Jayden and see Noah. “Is that true, mommy?”  
  
Noah chuckled softly and nodded. “Yes, she helped your grandma bring me, Eden, Isaac, Lily, and Adrian into the world, and also most of your cousins.”  
  
“Wow.” Nathan looked really amazed and awed by that. “Is she God or something?”  
  
Jayden and Noah laughed out loud, and Nathan looked a little offended to be laughed at like that.  
  
“No, buddy. She’s just a nice lady who’s doing her job.” Jayden patted him lovingly on the head, and Nathan pondered over his words for a bit.  
  
As if on cue, the door to Charlie’s clinic room opened right then, revealing a now elderly, but smiling, Charlie in the door. “And now it’s Noah’s turn to come inside!” she chirped with a grin, and beamed when Noah and his family got up from their seats to go inside with her.  
  
“Derek, come,” Noah told his younger son, and reached out a hand towards him.  
  
Derek jumped up from the Lego corner to go inside with them. Noah put his outstretched hand on Derek’s head and he walked behind the boy to guide him into the room. Derek didn’t seem to mind that, even when Noah rubbed his head fondly before removing his hand again.  
  
“Wow, you boys got so big!” Charlie exclaimed when Nathan and Derek walked into her clinic room. She then shifted her gaze to Noah, and grinned at his belly. “And you got big too, Noah. Being pregnant has always really suited you.”  
  
Noah blushed a little and placed his hand on his belly. His bump was growing ever more, and he was already half-way through his pregnancy. He was already having some back pains and bladder problems, and his cravings had increased a bit.  
  
Both Nathan and Derek eyed Charlie curiously, before taking in the big, white clinic room around them. There was so much equipment that they didn’t know what was for, but it still fascinated them.  
  
“Yeah, he’s supposed to get bigger,” Jayden pointed out, and grinned as he shook Charlie’s hand.  
  
Charlie laughed and shook their hands before closing the door behind them. “Well, that happens when you want a bigger family.” She gave them both a wink, which made Noah’s cheek redden even more. “Are you guys ready to see your baby on the screen?” she asked while going over to the ultrasound machine and getting it ready.  
  
“Yeah, we’re pretty excited,” Jayden grinned, and kept an eye on Derek and Nathan, who were still taking in the room with curious eyes.   
  
Derek was already on his way over to some of the cupboards to check them out, but Nathan quickly grabbed his arm and told him not to be nosy. Derek wasn’t happy about receiving orders from his older beta brother, but a firm look from Jayden, when he glanced up at him for help, made him obey.  
  
“I’m a little surprised that you’re still working…” Noah admitted, and followed Charlie over to the machine where he had to lie down on the patient bed soon.  
  
Charlie pretended to be offended by that. “What, are you saying I’m an old hag?”  
  
“No! Of course not!” Noah quickly blurted in panic.  
  
Jayden and Charlie both laughed at him, and Noah glared a bit when he felt a little embarrassed.  
  
“I’m just kidding,” Charlie laughed, still fumbling with the machine. “Well, I _am_ an old lady – 69 years old already – but I love my job, and I’ll keep doing it until I can’t do it anymore. I really envy Cas and Dean for their angel and demon genes, ‘cause they look so much younger than me…” She let out a jealous sigh before gesturing at Noah to get up on the bed.  
  
“Nah, you still look good,” Jayden told her, smiling.  
  
Charlie laughed at that and waited for Noah to get settled on the bed before rolling up his shirt a bit. “Oh, you’re such a charmer. Just like Dean.”  
  
Noah chuckled, and watched as Charlie grabbed a tube of lubricant and spread it across his stomach. He shuddered at the coldness, and his wings jerked a bit at it.  
  
Noah’s reaction didn’t go unnoticed by Derek, who was a bit alarmed by it. “Whut you doing to mommy?” he demanded, and glared up at Charlie as he rushed over to see what was going on.  
  
Charlie looked a little surprised by Derek’s protectiveness, but was also pretty amused. “I’m just going to take a look at the baby inside. Don’t worry; it won’t hurt your mommy at all.”  
  
Jayden too was pretty amused by Derek’s sudden protectiveness, and he ruffled the toddler’s hair fondly before going over to sit down beside Noah and look at the screen with him.   
  
Nathan also came over to have a look, but unlike Derek, he knew that the procedure wouldn’t hurt their mother at all.  
  
Noah smiled down at the children before turning to look at the screen when Charlie finally started rolling the tool over his stomach. The lube already felt less cold, and he felt a spark of excitement go through him when he saw a vague image on the screen.  
  
“Oh, there it is,” Charlie smiled, looking at the screen while moving the tool around on Noah’s belly. “Two arms, two legs, two wings, and one tail…”  
  
Jayden was bursting with excitement, and he reached out to grab a hold of Noah’s hand, squeezing it tightly between his own while they both stared intently at the screen. His tail swished and curled happily behind him, because it was so overwhelming to see the image of the unborn baby that was inside Noah’s womb.  
  
“What’s that?” Derek asked, frowning at the fussy image on the screen. He hadn’t seen such a thing before, and had trouble making out what it was. All he saw was black and white mixed together in funny patterns.  
  
“That’s your new younger sibling,” Charlie explained patiently. She pointed at the screen with her free hand to show them what was what. “That’s the head, this is the body, and these are the legs, arms, and wings. And here’s the little tail, see?”  
  
Derek stared dumbfounded at the picture and had a hard time understanding it.  
  
Nathan, on the other hand, was very fascinated and excited about it. “That’s so cool!”  
  
“Yeah, isn’t it?” Charlie grinned, moving the tool a bit down to get a different angle. “And now let’s see…” She started staring more intensely at the image to see if she could determine the gender. “The legs are a bit in the way… Let’s see if the little one is gonna move a bit so I can get a clearer picture of what’s between the legs…”  
  
Derek gasped. “But looking between someone’s legs is bad!”  
  
They all laughed at that, and Derek didn’t understand why.  
  
“It doesn’t matter much when it’s a baby,” Jayden explained.  
  
“Oh…”  
  
Nathan snorted and swatted Derek gently with his tail. “You’re a dummy.”  
  
“Am not!”  
  
Noah chuckled at them and waited impatiently for Charlie to tell them what she saw. Jayden seemed impatient and excited as well, judging from the way he was clutching Noah’s hand tighter and caressing it softly with his thumb.  
  
It took about a minute until finally Charlie was allowed to see something. “Oh, there it is! Was just about to give up when the little guy finally moved juuust a little so that I could see.”  
  
“Well, what is it?” Jayden asked eagerly.  
  
Noah’s attention spiked up as well, wanting to know what Charlie saw on the screen.  
  
Charlie chuckled and turned to smile at them. “Well, you’re gonna have to wait a bit with buying dolls and pink clothes, ‘cause you’re having another boy.”  
  
Jayden and Noah’s eyes widened before looking at each other with happy smiles.  
  
“Another boy, huh?” Jayden said, chuckling softly as he moved Noah’s hand up to his mouth to kiss it.  
  
Noah chortled. “Yeah, you can only make boys, it seems…”  
  
“Hey,” Jayden protested, while Charlie laughed at them.  
  
Noah let out a soft chuckle and looked up at Jayden with a happy smile. “I’m still happy, of course.” He placed his free hand on the upper part of his belly, making sure it didn’t get in Charlie’s way during the scan. His eyes were getting watery with happy tears and because he felt so emotional right now. He wiped them away with his hand before placing it on his stomach again.  
  
“Yeah, me too.” Jayden grinned and placed another kiss on Noah’s other hand, making the submissive blush shyly in Charlie’s presence.  
  
Nathan, however, looked a little displeased about it. “I’m having _another_ little brother? Gosh, that’s gonna be annoying… Hope he’s not like Derek. And please don’t let it be an alpha…”  
  
Jayden laughed and found Nathan’s displeased face very amusing. “Sorry, buddy, but we don’t really have any control over that.”  
  
Derek ignored Nathan’s comment about him and furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at their parents. “Is he gunna take mah toys?”  
  
The fact that Derek was so worried about his toys made Jayden and Noah laugh.   
  
“No, but he might wanna play with them too, someday,” Noah told him softly.  
  
“So we can play together?” Derek asked, his face lighting up brightly at the thought of getting a new playmate.  
  
Jayden grinned. “Yeah, when he’s old enough.”  
  
Derek let out a happy squeal, and others laughed softly at him.  
  
“I’m gonna print some images of your baby now,” Charlie announced, and started clicking on some buttons on the machine. She turned her head to look at Noah while printing out the images. “Also, since your labor was pretty short when you had Derek, you can expect this baby to be born pretty fast as well. So as soon as you feel contractions and know that the baby is about to come, you must go to the hospital as fast as soon you can, or prepare for another homebirth, ‘cause this baby will likely not keep you waiting for long, just like Derek.”  
  
The mention of another homebirth made Noah’s face pale, and his eyes widened a bit. “I-I don’t wanna do another homebirth. That was really tough…”  
  
“Yeah, I know. My mate Gilda also did a homebirth once, and it really knocked the energy out of her. But you did so well last time, Noah, so I wouldn’t worry so much if it had to happen again.”  
  
Charlie’s words and her sincere smile reassured Noah a bit, but he still really didn’t want to give birth at home again. It was very painful without medication.  
  
“I thought it was scary when Derek was born,” Nathan murmured. He still remembered the incident quite clearly, and how afraid he had been that his mother was going to die or something. He glanced at Noah with worry, hoping that it wasn’t something he’d have to experience once more.  
  
“Aw, don’t you worry. Your mommy pulled through just fine, and he’ll be okay this time too,” Charlie said, giving Nathan a smile and a small wink to cheer him up. “Oh, the printing is done.” She removed the tool from Noah’s stomach, and noticed how disappointed he looked when the image on the screen disappeared. She gave him a smile and said, “Don’t worry; you’ll get to see your baby in the flesh in just a few months, Noah.”  
  
“Yeah, I know…” Noah had really enjoyed seeing the image of the baby on the screen, and he sighed when it was no longer there. His eyes were still moist with happy tears because seeing the baby made him so emotional, and he wiped them with his hand before taking the tissues that Charlie gave him and started to wipe his stomach clean. Jayden reached out to help him a bit, and Noah smiled when the alpha let his hand linger for a while on his belly.  
  
“But how can da baby live in dhere?” Derek asked Charlie when she went over to the printer to get the photos from the scan.  
  
Charlie chuckled and turned to look at him with amusement. She grabbed the images and put them into an envelope for Noah and Jayden to take home with them. “Well, babies are attached to their moms by a long string, called an umbilical cord. That’s how they get oxygen, food, and fluids from their mom so they can survive. It isn’t until they come out that they start to breathe, drink, and eat on their own.”  
  
Derek’s eyes widened in amazed disbelief. “I dun believe dat…” he announced with a small murmur, thinking that Charlie was just making up stories.  
  
Nathan chuckled. He had an easier time believing it than Derek did, but he still thought it was quite amazing that it was even possible.  
  
Jayden laughed at Derek’s comment, and helped Noah get up from the bed. Noah’s back always hurt a bit when he had to sit up when he was pregnant, and the weight of his wings didn’t make it easier.  
  
Charlie too thought that Derek was quite amusing, and she handed the envelope with the images to Jayden when he and Noah came over to her. “Here you go. Don’t lose them.”  
  
“We won’t,” Jayden promised, proudly taking the envelope from her hands.  
  
“Cans we go home now? Wanna play,” Derek whined, jumping on his feet in utter impatience.  
  
“Don’t be rude!” Nathan chastised and smacked Derek’s tail with his own.  
  
Derek glared at him and launched forward to tackle him playfully, making Nathan bump back into Jayden while Derek grabbed a hold of his clothes.  
  
“Ow! Derek!” Nathan complained, trying to shove his little brother away, who insisted on clinging to him and not letting go of his shirt just to annoy him.  
  
“Hey, behave yourself, Derek. We’re not at home,” Jayden spoke, letting his authoritative alpha voice make Derek listen.  
  
Derek’s wings lowered a bit when his dad ordered him to stop, and he looked displeased that he didn’t get to play around with Nathan in the clinic.  
  
“Oh my, you guys sure have your hands full,” Charlie commented, and watched the boys with a grin. “I wonder how adding another boy to the mix will change things…”  
  
“As long as he’s more like Nathan, I don’t think it will be so bad,” Jayden replied, absently ruffling Nathan’s hair as the boy stood by his side.  
  
Noah agreed with that, and really hoped that Nathan and Derek would both get along well with their new brother once he was born. He knew that Nathan would most likely get along with him, but he was a little worried about Derek and how he would act around their new brother. Derek tended to be very wild and demanding, after all.  
  
Charlie had more clients to see that evening, so they quickly finished their conversation with her before going home. As always, she told them to greet Dean and Castiel next time they saw them, and it made Noah smile that they had such a good relationship with Charlie. She really was the best ob/gyn in the world, and Noah was worried what he’d do once Charlie had to retire and Noah had to find someone else to be his ob/gyn. He preferred not to think about that just yet.  
  
  


***

  
  
A week passed, and Noah and Jayden had told most of their family by then that the new baby was a boy. They had been congratulated by their family members, and some had poked fun at them for only being able to conceive boys together. It was mostly Jayden who was blamed for that, since it was him who had to give Noah the right DNA material to make a boy or a girl, but he wasn’t bothered by the fun-making. He just couldn’t help it that he hadn’t managed to make a girl with Noah yet.  
  
It was Sunday, and Jayden had to go to work.  
  
Noah hated it when his mate had to work on the weekends, but it couldn’t be helped. He was just glad when Jayden managed to get a later shift, so that they were at least able to spend the morning and some of the afternoon together.  
  
Jayden was in the kitchen, fixing himself something to eat before having to go to work at 2:30pm (he was working from 3pm to 11:30pm that day). Nathan had just gone to take a shower, and Derek had passed out on the couch after having ravaged the house with his wild play all day. Nathan had recently started being able to shower alone, and no longer needed Jayden or Noah to help him wash his hair. He wasn’t allowed to lock the door or use the bathtub alone, though, in case something happened.  
  
Footsteps behind him told Jayden that he wasn’t alone in the kitchen anymore, and he turned his head to see Noah sneaking up on him.  
  
“Nooo! Why did you turn around?” Noah asked, dropping his wings in disappointment and scowling at Jayden.  
  
Jayden blinked at him before laughing. “Why? Were you trying to scare me?”  
  
The submissive’s lips moved into a pout. “Yeah, I was…”  
  
Again, Jayden laughed. He was so amused by Noah trying to scare the crap out of him and failing to do so because Jayden had heard him. “Come here,” he smiled, and grabbed Noah’s arm to pull him into a kiss.  
  
Noah immediately melted into the kiss and spread his wings a bit. Their lips moved and played together, and Noah whimpered softly when Jayden nibbled lightly at his bottom lip. Possessive hands moved over his body as Jayden held him tight, and he purred when Jayden placed one of them on his belly.  
  
“Mm, so nice and round,” Jayden commented, pulling back from the kiss to look at the bump. He grinned when he felt a tiny bit of movement beneath his hand. “Oh, he’s kicking me.”  
  
“Yeah, I can feel that,” Noah chuckled, smiling as he glanced down at his belly too.  
  
“How often do you feel him kicking?”  
  
Noah shrugged. “I don’t know. Every now and then. He doesn’t kick as much as Derek did, but I’m only 22 weeks along, so that might change soon… Mostly I feel it in the mornings or at work.”  
  
“Mm.” Jayden hummed and continued to stare at the bump and touch it tenderly. “And your cravings? Should I make you something to eat?”  
  
Noah shook his head and glanced up at him with a shy but wicked smile. “No, I want something else…” He placed his hands on Jayden’s chest and slid them down his body as he dropped to his knees in front of the alpha.  
  
Jayden quickly caught on, and his eyes widened. “Whoa! We can’t do that here! What about the boys?”  
  
Noah whined and glanced up at him in disappointment. “But I wanna taste you…”  
  
Jayden really had to try to control the boner he got when Noah said that. “Gosh, you’re so naughty when your pregnancy hormones take over.” He pressed the heel of his hand against his dick, which was painfully hard in his pants by now. His libido always went crazy when Noah got hungry for his cock. “Let’s go to the bathroom, then. Nathan’s showering upstairs, so the downstairs bathroom is free. We gotta hurry, though… I have to leave in twenty minutes.”  
  
Noah nodded and quickly got to his feet. They scrambled towards the bathroom together, making sure to be quiet so that they wouldn’t wake up Derek, who was still napping on the couch in an awkward position.  
  
They closed and locked the bathroom door behind them, and Jayden let out a dominant, aroused growl as he grabbed Noah and kissed him hard on the lips. Noah mewled and went submissive in his hold, which pleased the alpha a lot.  
  
After having kissed each other heatedly for several moments and groping at each other’s bodies, Noah once again dropped to his knees in front of Jayden, eager to take his mate into his mouth.  
  
Jayden hastily unzipped his pants for him and let Noah pull out his cock, which proudly popped free when the restrains were removed.  
  
The submissive eyed his mate’s member with a hungry look before leaning in and flicking his pink tongue over the head. Jayden gasped and supported himself against the sink as Noah started to lick him, and they kept eye contact as Noah’s tongue moved over Jayden’s cock and explored it.   
  
The sight of a pregnant Noah kneeling between his legs and licking at his cock while staring up at him with those pretty, blue eyes of his always made Jayden’s knees shake. He let out a small curse before grasping Noah’s hair tightly in his hand, watching every movement Noah did.  
  
Noah took a few moments to taste and tease the head of Jayden’s cock before finally taking it into his mouth. His lips stretched around the member, which barely fit in his mouth, even though only the head was inside, and he hummed as the delicious taste of Jayden overwhelmed him. When he was pregnant, he couldn’t get enough of tasting Jayden’s cock, which had a potent and very masculine taste to it. He knew it was his biology that was wired to be addicted to his mate’s scent and taste, but that didn’t make it any less good. His mouth watered as he sucked dutifully on Jayden’s cock, twisting and flicking his tongue against it while sucking the best he could. Jayden was trembling under his ministrations, and he loved listening to the breathless, little gasps that escaped from him every now and then.  
  
“Fuck, that’s it. So good. Ah!” Jayden babbled, forcing himself to stay still and resist the urge to buck into Noah’s mouth. Noah had a hard time not gagging as it was, and Jayden didn’t want to accidentally shove his cock too far into Noah’s mouth and make him choke. It was hot when it happened, because Noah looked so cute when he had to pull away and cough, but Jayden didn’t want to make him feel too uncomfortable.  
  
Noah smiled around Jayden’s member and continued to glance up at him from under his lashes. The look of pure pleasure and approval on Jayden’s face made him happy, and he decided he wanted to please his mate more. He reached up and fondled Jayden’s sensitive balls in his hand, rolling them and caressing them gently. They were quite heavy in his hand, and he felt them contract a bit when Jayden’s arousal grew stronger.  
  
“Ah, shit! I’m coming,” Jayden warned, growling as he fisted his hand in Noah’s hair even tighter to hold him in place.  
  
Hearing that made Noah work extra hard to get Jayden over the edge, and only seconds later he felt the alpha’s balls contract even further before his mouth was flooded with Jayden’s thick release.   
  
Noah immediately began swallowing every spurt of the precious semen he could catch, and he smiled when he heard the pure pleasure in Jayden’s deep grunts and moans as the alpha emptied himself into his mouth. Jayden’s hips bucked forward slightly with every wave of his orgasm, but he was careful not to choke Noah.  
  
Noah mostly couldn’t swallow or catch everything Jayden gave him, and he had to pull away when it became too much for him. He let the rest of the release paint his chin and cheeks, and squeezed his eyes shut when a stripe hit him on the nose as well. It felt warm and wet on his face, and his body responded to it with an aroused shudder. The scent of alpha arousal and virility tickled his nose, and only made the pool of wetness in his panties get worse.  
  
Jayden had reached down and grabbed a hold of his dick as he came on Noah’s face, and he squeezed it tight to force out the last few drops. He was breathless from the orgasm, and seeing Noah’s face all marked up with his come made his spent dick twitch painfully in his hand.  
  
Slowly, Noah blinked his eyes opened and stared up at Jayden once it was over. He smiled when their eyes met, and he let Jayden help him back up on his feet again.  
  
“Look at you; all covered in my spunk,” Jayden chuckled, leaning in to lick some of it off Noah’s cheek. “That was really great. Thank you.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Noah smiled. He was happy that Jayden always saw his sexual favors as a gift rather than a duty.  
  
“Or maybe _you_ should be thanking _me,_ since it was _you_ who wanted to taste my come,” Jayden teased, and licked more come off of Noah’s face while chuckling.  
  
Noah blushed and shoved Jayden lightly. “Shut up. Jerk.”  
  
Jayden laughed and licked Noah’s face clean, making the submissive giggle shyly and try to lean away, before gently maneuvering Noah over to the sink. “Now. My turn to taste _you._ ” He gave Noah a wicked smirk before sinking to his knees in front of his pregnant mate and pulling his sweatpants down.  
  
Noah let out a surprised but aroused gasp at that, having not expected Jayden to return the favor. “B-But you’ve got work!”  
  
“Don’t care. I wanna taste you too, or I’ll go crazy.”  
  
Noah leaned back against the sink and used his hands to support himself with, while Jayden pulled down his pink underwear and took his erection into his mouth without warning. Noah screamed, but quickly moved his hand up to over his own mouth when he remembered that they had to be quiet. He hated Jayden for smirking up at him for that, and soon he found himself having trouble staying on his feet while Jayden went down on him.  
  
“Ah! Oh! Jayden, that’s… Nrrugghh!”  
  
Jayden grinned around Noah’s member and placed his big hands on Noah’s shaking thighs to relax him and make him stay still. He couldn’t really see Noah’s face unless the submissive learned forward, because the baby bump was blocking most of his view. It was really hot, though, and Jayden enjoyed the view of the bump while he sucked hard on Noah’s dick.  
  
“Connor, please… You gotta – _ah!_ ” Noah stammered, losing his words in favor of moaning and squirming against the sink. His knees were like jelly and he wanted to slide down and sit on the floor, but Jayden wouldn’t let him; the alpha continued keeping him in place with his hands on his thighs.  
  
Jayden knew what he was asking for, but he didn’t want to give it. He pulled off for a moment to speak. “No, I’m not gonna touch your hole.”  
  
Noah whined pitifully at that, but Jayden continued.  
  
“I’m gonna see if I can make you come by just sucking your pretty, little dick. I think I can. I’ve done it lots of times before, after all.” Jayden smirked with confidence before swallowing down Noah’s member again. He had little trouble taking everything into his mouth, seeing as Noah wasn’t anywhere near as big as him.  
  
Noah yelped and bit into his hand to muffle his sounds as Jayden took him all the way inside his mouth. Jayden was so good at pleasuring him and making his brain pop fireworks, and Noah couldn’t do anything but squirm, moan, and buck against him.  
  
Jayden sucked him without mercy and started using his right hand to tease Noah’s little balls with. That was the final straw for Noah before he came into Jayden’s mouth, holding back a cry as he trembled and shook against the sink as his orgasm rippled through his body.  
  
Jayden swallowed everything, and hummed at the sweet taste of Noah’s fluids. It tasted much like his slick, except a little less sweet, but it was still good. It made his head spin pleasantly.  
  
Noah’s orgasm ended too soon for them. His wings slumped behind him as soon as it was over, and he panted for breath while leaning back against the sink. The strong orgasm was very welcome to Noah, who had been bursting with increased sexual desires lately.  
  
“See? You didn’t even need me to touch your pretty, little hole,” Jayden smirked, and rose to his feet again. He helped Noah pull his panties and pants back up.  
  
Noah glared at him, while his face was still all flushed from arousal. “You’re mean. You _know_ I need you to touch me there.”  
  
“Sorry. I’ll fill you up tomorrow, okay? I really gotta go now…”  
  
Noah let out a soft whine and reached out to grab Jayden’s arm to keep him there. His body was still tingling with post-orgasmic bliss, and he really wanted to be in his mate’s presence. “But I don’t want you to go…”  
  
Seeing Noah looking at him with such a lost look on his face made Jayden blink. He then smiled at his mate and pulled him into a hug, letting Noah’s head rest on his chest while he ran a soothing hand through his grey feathers. “Hey, I’ll be home again at midnight, okay?”  
  
It was one of the things that were included in Noah’s mood swings lately – feeling sad and distressed when Jayden had to leave for work and Noah didn’t. Of course Jayden felt sympathy for Noah that he was so distressed by it, but it was also a bit amusing how his hormones affected him.  
  
“Sorry. I’m being clingy again…” Noah murmured against Jayden’s shirt, realizing how he was acting.  
  
Jayden chuckled and placed a kiss on top of his head. “That’s okay. I’m actually a bit amused and flattered that you’re so sad to see me leave.”  
  
Noah snorted. “Jackass.”  
  
Jayden laughed and pulled away from the hug. He planted a chaste kiss on Noah’s lips before leaving the bathroom and getting ready to go to work. He had almost forgotten the snack he had been preparing before Noah had distracted him with a blowjob, so he quickly finished it and gulped it down before putting on his shoes.  
  
They shared another kiss before Jayden was out the door, leaving Noah alone to take care of their sons and the cat.  
  
  


***

  
  
The afternoon went by without any trouble at home. Derek was quite playful and full of energy, which exhausted Noah sometimes because he really wanted to just relax on the weekend instead of dealing with Derek’s never ending energy.  
  
Noah continued to feel sad and distressed about Jayden leaving for another half an hour after he was gone, until finally his hormones calmed down and allowed him to be rational again. He hated that he so often felt an almost life-important need to have Jayden around him while he was pregnant, and that being without his mate sometimes affected him like that. But he just couldn’t help it.  
  
Emily dropped by at 3:30 to visit Nathan, and the two of them played outside in the garden with Derek for most of the afternoon. They played soccer, hide and seek, and cowboys and Indians, which Noah found quite entertaining to watch. Noah provided some juice for them when they got thirsty from playing in the sun, and he also made sure that all three of them applied some sun screen on their skins before going outside.  
  
At 5:45, the kids were still playing cowboys and Indians, and Noah watched from the terrace how Nathan and Emily were running around in the garden, playing Indians who had to run away from the cowboy, which was Derek in this game. Noah smiled and laughed at the scene, and was glad that Nathan and Emily didn’t mind having Derek join their games every now and then. Though, sometimes they would retreat to Nathan’s room to play alone for a while, since playing with Derek could be quite exhausting. Derek usually hated it when he got excluded from their plays, but it was understandable that Nathan and Emily wanted to be alone sometimes and not be stuck with Nathan’s little brother.  
  
Nathan and Emily were doing their best to not get caught by Derek, who kept almost tripping over his own feet as he laughed and chased them around with his toy gun. Eventually Nathan let him catch him, and he squeaked loudly as Derek pushed him to the ground and climbed on top of him to ‘arrest’ him. The boys were laughing and Nathan was trying to break free, until Emily came over to help him as part of the game.  
  
Noah watched them quietly, and couldn’t stop smiling when he heard their happy laughter. Children’s laughter was one of the best things in the world, he thought.  
  
A small kick against his insides shifted Noah’s attention from the kids in the garden to the baby inside him. He looked down at his belly and rubbed it gently as he could faintly feel the baby moving within him. “You’re so eager to go play with your brothers too, aren’t you?” The baby didn’t answer, of course, but Noah enjoyed talking to him. He knew that the baby could hear his voice and even recognize it at this stage, and he and Jayden had begun speaking a lot to the baby whenever they lay in bed together.  
  
He looked up when he heard Nathan and Emily walking up to the terrace. They were smiling and sweating from having played out in the sun for two hours now.  
  
“Hi, Noah. Can I have more juice, please?” Emily asked, looking up at Noah with a polite smile.  
  
“Of course you can, Emily. Maybe you guys want to go inside and rest for a bit? You look tired, and you could really use a rest from the sun.”  
  
Emily and Nathan both nodded and began heading back inside.  
  
Derek ran up to the terrace too, and amazingly he didn’t even look half as tired as the others, even though he had been the one running around the most. Sometimes Noah really wondered where Derek got his energy from.  
  
“Wanna have juice too!” Derek blurted, grinning up at Noah while panting lightly from having run around so much.  
  
“Of course you can have juice too,” Noah chuckled, and swept his hand through Derek’s hair when the boy passed him. “You also need some more sun screen soon, if you’re gonna play outside again.”  
  
Derek’s nose scrunched up at that. He hated standing still and letting Noah pour the sun screen on his skin. He was too impatient and energetic to wait around for that.  
  
Noah guided Derek inside with the others before going to get them something to drink from the kitchen.  
  
When he got back, Nathan and Emily had ended up watching cartoons on the couch to relax for a bit, and they beamed when Noah came over with the juice. Derek still wasn’t tired, so he had started playing around with his dinosaur toys on the floor instead, making growls and noises as part of his play.  
  
“Can I have dinner with you?” Emily asked Noah shyly when the submissive put three glasses and a bottle of juice on the couch table in front of them.  
  
“Sure. If that’s okay with your parents,” Noah said. He poured up some juice for Derek in Derek’s plastic cup (which had images of one of his favorite cartoons on it) and handed it to the boy when Derek came over to grab it.  
  
Emily nodded. “Yeah, they said that if you think it’s okay, then it’s okay with them too.”  
  
“Alright. Then you can stay.”  
  
Nathan beamed, and he and Emily grinned at each other before continuing to watch their show.  
  
  


***

  
  
Emily stayed for dinner that night, which consisted of potatoes, vegetables, and a pork tenderloin that Jayden had bought in the supermarket the day before. Luckily all Noah had to do was to put the meat in the oven and warm the potatoes and vegetables; he was glad that he didn’t have to prepare a meal from scratch, since he was really bad at that.   
  
Derek was very picky with the vegetables, whereas Nathan ate most of them. It was a fight to make Derek eat them, and Noah had to threaten him with not being able to get any dessert if he didn’t eat at least five spoonfuls of vegetables. They didn’t always have dessert, but since Emily was there Noah had decided to let the kids eat some ice cream afterwards.   
  
Noah hated how he had a harder time making Derek obey than Jayden did. He guessed it had something to do with Jayden being an alpha like Derek, and thus having a higher authority in the young alpha’s mind. It wasn’t like Derek wasn’t listening to Noah at all; it was just that he tended to be a little more rebellious around him and intentionally not listening to him.  
  
After dinner and dessert, Nathan and Emily went back to the living room to play and watch some cartoons, and Noah told Nathan to keep an eye on Derek while he did the dishes in the kitchen. Nathan wasn’t happy about it, but he didn’t protest.  
  
“Derek! Stop climbing on the furniture!” Nathan chastised his brother, when Derek started walking around on the couch and even climbing up on the couch table. Nathan and Emily were watching something on TV, but Derek kept distracting them. They wanted to go to Nathan’s room and have some privacy, but they couldn’t do that as long as Nathan had to keep an eye on Derek.  
  
Derek ignored his brother’s comment and defiantly kept climbing around. Nathan let out a deep sigh at that.  
  
Emily giggled. “It’s funny when he won’t listen to you.”  
  
“No, it isn’t,” Nathan murmured, crossing his arms while glaring at Derek from where he was sitting. The younger boy was all hyper and wild after having eaten, and Nathan really hated the hour following dinner, since that was when Derek was at his worst.  
  
“Yeah, it is. Your face gets so grumpy,” Emily said, snickering at him.  
  
Nathan groaned at how Emily was making fun of him. “But he drives me crazy!”  
  
Emily laughed. “I know. Jenny is really annoying too, sometimes.”  
  
“But at least she listens…”  
  
“I’m a tiger! I’m a tiger!” Derek exclaimed all of sudden with a happy squeal, using his fingers as claws and crawling across the couch until he reached Nathan. He launched at his big brother with a big, playful grin on his face, and immediately tried to grab his tail.  
  
“Noooo! Stop that!” Nathan squeaked, and tried to kick Derek off when his brother managed to grab a hold of his tail.  
  
Derek just grinned and tried to climb on top of Nathan, who was trying to push him off, and Emily laughed when the two of them wrestled around for a bit. Derek only got wilder when Emily engaged in the play as well, and he squirmed and laughed loudly when she tickled him.  
  
Having had enough of being tickled, Derek retreated and instead started to jump around on the couch.  
  
“Thanks,” Nathan told Emily, who had helped him get Derek off him by tickling him.  
  
Emily just smiled at him, but yipped softly when Derek almost stepped on her tail as he jumped around on the couch.  
  
“Derek, stop jumping on the couch! You know mommy and daddy don’t want us to do that,” Nathan told him firmly, and got up to try and stop him.  
  
Derek whined and pushed Nathan off when his older brother tried stopping him. He was having too much fun to stop.  
  
“I’m gonna tell mommy!” Nathan threatened, glaring at his brother before turning to leave.  
  
“Stupid!” Derek yelled at him and stuck out his tongue in defiance.  
  
Emily saw Nathan getting increasingly annoyed at Derek, who hadn’t stopped jumping around on the couch. She glanced between them and got up to follow Nathan into the kitchen to inform Noah about Derek’s rebellious behavior.  
  
However, before Nathan and Emily could go, Derek accidentally placed his foot too close to the edge of the couch while he was jumping around, causing him to lose his balance and slip.  
  
It went so fast. One second, Derek was jumping around and having fun, and in the next second he was falling off the couch with a small yelp. Unfortunately his head scraped against the edge of the couch table as he crashed to the floor between the table and the couch, and Nathan and Emily gasped when they heard the loud thud.  
  
Then, the room was filled with a loud cry after Derek had finally landed on the floor.  
  
Nathan and Emily quickly rushed over to see if Derek was alright, but the sight they were met by made them call out for Noah very fast and loudly.  
  
“MOMMY!”  
  
Noah was almost done with the dishes in the kitchen when he heard Nathan’s loud, bloodcurdling scream. Noah had never rushed from the kitchen to the living room so fast in his life before as he did right then.  
  
“What is it? What happened?” Noah demanded when he arrived in the living room, spotting Nathan and Emily over behind the couch. The kids had a horrified look on their faces, and he could hear Derek crying loudly.  
  
“Mommy! Derek… H-He’s hurt!” Nathan said, turning to look at him in panic and shock.  
  
Noah rushed over to see what was going on, and he gasped when he finally saw Derek.  
  
The boy was sitting on the floor between couch and the couch table, crying while blood was running down from his right eyebrow. Noah immediately spotted a big, nasty cut just above the eyebrow from where it had collided with the table. The cut looked deep, and Noah was taken over by panic when he saw how bad it looked. Noah didn’t take well with looking at blood and injuries, and the sight made his insides curl.  
  
“Oh god, what the hell happened?!” Noah gasped, not caring that he was cursing in front of the kids. He immediately kneeled down in front of Derek (which made his sore back hurt a bit) and put his hands on his son’s shoulders while assessing the injury. The wound was bleeding quite a lot, and it definitely needed stitches.  
  
“H-He was jumping around on the couch and fell off,” Emily said and began to sob. Seeing Derek hurt and bleeding really distressed her, and after she had recovered from the initial shock, she started crying helplessly.  
  
Nathan wasn’t crying, but he was clearly in a state of shock and panic. He tried to reassure his crying friend by wrapping his tail around hers, and Emily responded by stepping a little closer to him and continued crying.  
  
“M-Mommy,” Derek cried, looking up at Noah for help while more blood poured out of his wound. His shirt and the floor were getting blood-stained by now, as was his face.  
  
The submissive tried soothing him, and quickly started pulling Derek’s shirt off him so that he could use it to press against the wound and stop the bleeding. Derek whined and shied away from the shirt because it hurt, so Noah had to hold him still and try to calm him down.  
  
“I’m sorry, mommy. This is all my fault,” Nathan said, his voice trembling and shaking.  
  
Noah glanced back over his shoulder at him, stunned. “What? No, this isn’t your fault, Nathan. Just… Help he get him into the car, okay? W-We have to go to the hospital.”  
  
Emily was still crying, and Noah tried to soothe her while also soothing both Derek and Nathan as they made their way into the entrance hall to leave. Noah knew he had to take Derek to the ER, and that he couldn’t leave Nathan and Emily alone. He would have to quickly drop off Emily at her house before driving to the hospital with the boys.  
  
Despite all the distress, panic, and freaking out, Nathan did his best to help Noah get Derek into the car and strip him into his child’s seat. Emily helped too, the best she could, and Noah quickly got dressed, got the car keys, and then rushed off in a hurry.  
  
Derek wasn’t crying that much anymore, but he was sobbing and was clearly in pain. Nathan had to sit beside him and press the shirt against his injury to stop the bleeding.  
  
Noah dropped by at Emily’s house first, and quickly got out to lead her up to the door. He rubbed her back for comfort as they walked up to the house, and he could feel her lean into his touch while she sobbed.  
  
It was Millie who answered the door, and her face quickly changed from a smile into a look of horror when she saw a crying Emily launching forward to hug her. “What happened?” she asked, staring at Noah in bewilderment while hugging Emily back.  
  
“Derek got hurt and is bleeding a lot. Emily was very distressed by it, but I didn’t have much time to soothe her because I gotta take Derek to the ER. I’m so sorry,” Noah told her, tripping back and forth on his feet from guilt and panic.  
  
Millie’s eyes widened. “Oh my gosh! That’s horrible! Thank you for taking care of Emily, and quickly get your boy to the hospital, okay? Please call me later and tell me what’s going on.”  
  
Noah nodded and said a quick goodbye to her and Emily before rushing back to the car. He also had to call Jayden about this, but he wanted to bring Derek to the ER as soon as possible. He’d call Jayden from there.  
  
  


***

  
  
Driving to the hospital seemed to take ages, and Derek’s pained sobbing from the backseat only made Noah more stressed. The submissive had to control the urge to exceed the speed limit to make it go faster, and he also had to calm himself down. Stress wasn’t good for the unborn baby, after all.  
  
Nathan helped him take Derek into the hospital when they arrived, but they had to wait for a few minutes in the ER’s waiting room before a doctor could have a look at Derek.   
  
Noah tried to sit with Derek on his lap while pressing the shirt against his wound, but Derek was squirming too much and almost ended up kicking Noah in the stomach, so he had to put Derek in the chair beside him and lean over to keep applying pressure against his eyebrow. Derek was in pain and was scared, which was why he was acting very fussy and squirmy right now.  
  
It was difficult for Noah to soothe and reassure both Nathan and Derek at the same time, as they were both rather upset, and he really wished that Jayden was there with him. He had called Jayden from the car as soon as they had arrived at the hospital, and had asked him to come there as fast as he could. Jayden had been quite shocked to hear about what had happened, and he had promised to be there as fast as he could. Noah hoped he’d make it there within fifteen minutes; he really needed his mate’s help in this stressful situation. Every time he looked at the blood on Derek’s face and at the deep wound, his insides curled and made him feel sick, and it made it a bit difficult for him to soothe and comfort Derek.  
  
After about five minutes of waiting, the doctor was finally able to see them.  
  
“I’m so sorry for the wait. We’re a bit low on staff tonight,” the female pediatrician said as she walked over to them. She was a dark-haired human female, who was fresh out of medical school. Her accent implied that she was a foreigner, but it was a quite charming accent she had.   
  
“T-That’s alright,” Noah said, although he didn’t really mean it. He was a bit annoyed that they had to wait, even though it hadn’t been for very long. He gently helped Derek off the chair, and Nathan helped him steady Derek, who was still sobbing from the pain.  
  
The doctor gave Noah an apologetic and understanding smile before looking at Derek. “Oww, and what did you do, little man? Let’s go have a look at that, shall we?”  
  
Derek nodded and sobbed once more, and Noah and Nathan quickly helped him into the room that the doctor led them into. The room was small and had lots of equipment and a bed, and on the walls were some posters from children’s shows and books to help children feel more at home when they entered the room.  
  
The doctor gestured at them to put Derek on the bed, and she quickly put on some gloves before going over and sitting down on a chair on the other side of the bed to have a look at him.  
  
“Owie, that looks quite painful,” she said, cringing as she took in the injury. “What’s your name, young man?”  
  
Derek was sobbing and sniffling too much to reply, so Noah did it for him.  
  
“His name is Derek.”  
  
“Ah, a real alpha name,” the pediatrician said, smiling lovingly at Derek, who stared back at her with a wary but curious gaze. “My name is Daria, and I’ll take good care of you, okay? Now, let me just look at your wound for a second, alright?”  
  
Derek whined and tried to shy away from her when the doctor gently put her hands on his face to assess the wound. Noah reached out and started rubbing Derek’s naked chest and stomach to comfort him, and it seemed to help a bit. Noah had to look away as the doctor started examining the cut, though, and Nathan didn’t really want to look at it either.  
  
“Well, the wound is quite deep, so he will need stitches,” Daria spoke. “How did this happen?”  
  
“Um, he was jumping around on the couch while I was in the kitchen, and my other son Nathan said that Derek had slipped and hit his head on the couch table,” Noah spoke, glancing briefly at Nathan, who was sitting next to him by the bed.  
  
“Ow.” Daria cringed at Derek in sympathy and reached into a drawer next to the bed and pulled out a small flashlight. “Well, in that case, I better look for signs of a concussion as well. Just look at the light, okay, Derek?” She lit him in the eyes with the flashlight, and Derek let out a small whine because it felt uncomfortable.  
  
Noah grabbed Derek’s hand and squeezed it tightly, and he told Derek to just stare at the light and take it easy.  
  
After a few seconds, Daria put the flashlight away. “Okay, he’s got a minor concussion, but it’s nothing bad. For now, the cut is our biggest concern. I will call in a colleague to help me stitch it up and hold him still, and once we’ve applied the stitches he should be fine.”  
  
The doctor got up and went to fetch her colleague.  
  
Noah sighed in relief and looked at Derek as he tried to soothe him. The boy was rather calm, even though he was squirming and sobbing a bit on the bed.  
  
“Mommy. Wanna go home,” Derek spoke, turning his head to look at Noah.  
  
Noah let out a fond chuckle and caressed Derek’s hand, which he was still holding. “Soon, okay? First the doctor has to treat you.”  
  
“Yeah. This wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t so stupid,” Nathan murmured, and scowled at Derek in disapproval. He was much more relaxed now than he had been earlier, after hearing that Derek was going to be alright.  
  
“Am not stupid!” Derek protested.  
  
“Yeah, you are!”  
  
“Shhh.” Noah shushed them when they got too loud.  
  
A couple of minutes later, Daria returned to the room with a female angel nurse and with Jayden.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened and he was filled with relief when he saw that Jayden was finally there. “Jayden!” He got up and went over to hug his mate when he entered the room.  
  
Jayden wrapped his arms around Noah and held him close. “Hey,” he smiled, running a hand up and down Noah’s back. “It’s okay. I’m here now.”  
  
“Daddy!” Derek chirped, but winced when him moving his facial muscles caused the wound to hurt.  
  
Nathan too was very happy to see Jayden, and he grinned up at his dad when Jayden gently let go of Noah and came over to see them.  
  
“Jeez, Derek. What the hell did you do?” Jayden looked at Derek’s nasty cut and cringed at the sight. His voice wasn’t angry, but it was enough to let Derek know that he disapproved of him being reckless and getting himself hurt.  
  
Derek didn’t reply. He just lowered his eyes a bit and whined when Daria came over and had to put a needle in him to give him some pain medication. Jayden reached down and helped keep Derek still and calm while Daria injected the medicine, and next she had to apply disinfectant to the wound, using cotton wool. The disinfectant stung as it made contact with Derek’s wound, and the boy cried out in response and tried to wriggle away, but Jayden held him still and murmured soothing words at him.  
  
After that, Daria and the nurse helped each other clean the blood off Derek’s face and body, and gave him some local anesthetic to help with the pain, before finally getting ready to do the stitches.  
  
Noah and Jayden both sat down beside Derek as Daria and the nurse got started on stitching him up. Nathan moved a bit to the background because he didn’t want to look at it, and Noah too tried not to look directly at the wound as it got treated. Jayden didn’t mind looking at such things, though, so he kept eye contact with Derek and tried to soothe him by quietly talking to him.  
  
Derek was wailing and squirming violently because he was scared and he hated being held down like this, so Jayden and the nurse had to hold him still so that Daria could stitch him up.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I know that I’m a bad, evil person, but it’ll soon be over, Derek,” Daria spoke, smiling a bit as she concentrated on doing her job.  
  
The stitching took only a couple of minutes, and after that Daria placed a big band-aid over the cut to cover it and prevent Derek from scratching at the stitches.  
  
“There, all done,” she smiled and stepped back. “Wasn’t so bad now, was it?”  
  
Derek just scowled up at her, and the others laughed a bit.  
  
“Will it leave any scars?” Jayden asked, looking at her while staying by Derek’s side.  
  
“I did my best to stitch it up nicely, but I can’t rule out that it won’t leave a faint scar. I don’t think it will be very visible, though.”  
  
Jayden nodded quietly. “And the concussion?”  
  
“Well, it’s only a minor one, so keep an eye on him and watch out that he doesn’t vomit or shows any signs of feeling sick and unwell. He will feel some nausea, but that’s normal. He’ll also likely be very sleepy, and it isn’t a problem for him to sleep, as long as you keep an eye on him and make sure that he doesn’t actually lose consciousness and can’t be woken up again.”  
  
Jayden and Noah nodded at that and finally helped Derek off the bed. The boy was a bit grumpy and fussy, which they couldn’t really blame him for.   
  
Noah was a little surprised when Derek walked over to him and wrapped his arms around his middle while sobbing quietly against him. Derek usually never needed to be comforted like that when he got hurt, but Noah supposed that the incident and the hospital had made him quite frightened, and now he needed to be comforted. “Shhh, it’s okay,” he soothed Derek, kneeling down in front of him and hugging him close.  
  
Jayden smiled at the scene, while Nathan looked stunned that Derek was actually letting their mom hug him like that.  
  
The hug didn’t last very long, though. Derek pulled away after a few moments and seemed to feel a little better.  
  
“I would like to take a quick look at you as well,” Daria told Noah before they could leave. “Just to make sure that you haven’t been too stressed out and that the baby is fine.”  
  
Noah blinked at her, but nodded in agreement.   
  
“Yeah, _I_ for sure would feel better knowing that Noah didn’t get too stressed,” Jayden spoke, and smiled softly at Noah as he gently guided him over to sit on the bed.  
  
“I think he’s fine, but I’ll check him just in case,” said Daria and smiled as she turned to tend to Noah next. She quickly checked his blood pressure, his pupils, and listened to his and the baby’s heartbeats.  
  
Nathan looked a little worried when Noah had to be examined as well, but luckily there was nothing wrong with him.  
  
“Your blood pressure is a little high, but that’s probably just because you’re very upset by the situation,” Daria spoke and put away the stethoscope. “Doesn’t look like the baby is in any distress, and I think you’re both gonna be fine. Just try to relax for the rest of the evening, alright?” She gave him a polite smile and gestured at him to rise.  
  
Noah nodded and got up from the bed. “Okay. Thank you.”  
  
Jayden smiled in relief and wrapped an arm around Noah’s waist as they walked out of the room together. Derek and Nathan followed.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh of relief once they were finally out in the hallway and about to head home. He was so glad that Derek was going to be alright, and that Jayden had shown up for support. “I’m so glad you came…” he told Jayden.  
  
Jayden rubbed his hand over Noah’s lower back, which he still had it wrapped around his waist. “I’m glad that I helped you feel a bit better. And I’m lucky that we were enough staff in the kitchen tonight, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to leave just like that.”  
  
“Do you have to go back to work?” Nathan asked, looking up at Jayden with a sad frown.  
  
Jayden chuckled and shook his head. “No, I took the rest of the night off. I figured that your mommy wouldn’t want to be alone with you guys after everything that’s happened.” He smiled at Nathan before looking at his other son. “And you’re such a little dummy, you know that, Derek? You scared your mommy and everyone else.” He gave Derek a firm stare, and saw the boy lowering his wings in guilt.  
  
“I’m sorry, daddy…” Derek murmured and sniffled a bit.  
  
“Hey, I’m just glad that you’re alright.” Jayden kneeled down in front of Derek and placed a hand on his shoulder. "But you’ve gotta be more careful. What if you had hurt your eye or something? You could have turned blind.”  
  
“But was having fun!” Derek cried, acting very upset to be scolded for just having had some fun on the couch.  
  
“Yeah, and look where that got you. There’s a reason why you’re not allowed to jump on that couch and have reckless fun.”  
  
Derek put on a sulky face, and Jayden grabbed a hold of his hand as they finally left the hospital together.  
  
Noah had to drive home in the car with the kids, while Jayden had to drive the other car. The submissive was quite reluctant to part ways with his mate already, but at least they would be seeing each other again when they got home.  
  
  


***

  
  
As soon as they were home, Noah rushed to the bathroom to pee because the baby was pushing against his bladder all of sudden. He had thought he was gonna burst in the car, but luckily he hadn’t. Jayden had been driving right behind him all the way home, and he laughed when they arrived at the house and he saw Noah rushing inside like his ass was on fire.  
  
Jayden took care of getting Derek out of the car and taking him inside. The boy would need some rest, so he put him on the couch for now and cringed a bit when he saw blood on the wooden floor from earlier. He let Nathan stay with Derek while he went to get a rag to clean the blood up with.  
  
Noah was just exiting the bathroom when Jayden came into the laundry room to find a clean rag.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden smiled at him. “How are you doing?”  
  
Noah sighed and rubbed his stomach in small circles. “Okay, I guess. Looking at all that blood and that cut made me feel so nauseous, though. I just threw up… But that might also have been because of the baby.”  
  
Jayden let out a sympathetic chuckle and went over to place his hands on Noah’s hips. “Blood is not your thing, huh?”  
  
“Wounds aren’t my thing,” Noah corrected him, and stared into Jayden’s chest absently before lifting his gaze to look at his face. “Why is it always _me_ who has to deal with it when Derek gets hurt? You’re so much better at handling that stuff than I am.”  
  
Chuckling, Jayden stepped a little closer to him and caressed his leg with his tail. “I don’t know. But I’m just glad that you’re okay. You shouldn’t be exposed to too much stress when you’re pregnant…” He moved one hand up and placed it protectively on the pregnant bump.  
  
Noah nodded a bit. “Yes, I know, but I was so freaked out and scared…”  
  
“I know. But Derek’s okay now. Let’s just keep an eye on him tonight and tomorrow, okay?”  
  
Noah hummed in agreement and leaned forward to rest his head on Jayden’s chest. Jayden was all warm and full of muscle, and Noah smiled when he could hear his strong heartbeat. He loved it when Jayden held him close and wrapped his strong alpha arms around him. It made him feel content and safe.  
  
They stood like that for a bit until Nathan appeared in the doorway. “Mommy? Derek says he don’t feel well…”  
  
Noah lifted his head from Jayden’s chest to look at their older son. He frowned. “What’s wrong with him?”  
  
“He says he wants to puke.”  
  
The doctor had said that Derek would experience nausea, but that they should be aware if he started vomiting. Derek saying that he wanted to puke didn’t necessarily mean that he was going to, but just that he was feeling nauseous.  
  
Noah slowly untangled himself from Jayden and went to check on Derek, while Jayden found a rag from one of the drawers in the laundry room and got it wet. The alpha glanced over at Nathan, who was looking over at where Noah was talking to Derek on the couch now.  
  
“How are you doing, champ? Was it rough seeing your clumsy little brother getting hurt?” Jayden asked him.  
  
Nathan turned and looked at him. “Yeah… All that blood scared me, and Emily started crying. I don’t like that.”  
  
Jayden gave him a sympathetic smile and went over to kneel in front of him. “Hey, she’ll be okay. We’ll call her parents and hear how she’s doing, alright? I’m sure she’s doing much better now.”  
  
Nathan nodded quietly.  
  
“If you need to talk about what happened, just so say, okay? It’s okay to be freaked out about what happened today.”  
  
Jayden knew that it had must have been a traumatizing thing for Nathan to see that awful gash on Derek’s eyebrow and watch all the blood flowing from it. He didn’t want Nathan to have nightmares about it or anything.  
  
“But if I had stopped him, it wouldn’t have happened,” Nathan said in a small voice, lifting his gaze to look at Jayden with a guilty and shamed look.  
  
Jayden’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? Whoa, hey.” He reached out and placed his hands on Nathan’s shoulders, squeezing them gently. He had put the rag on the floor for now. “It wasn’t your fault, okay? Things like that happen when Derek gets reckless and wild. You did everything you could to help mommy afterwards, and I’m proud of you for that; you did really great. But what happened isn’t your fault, you understand? Derek just needs to learn that his reckless actions have consequences, and that there’s a reason why you’re not supposed to jump around on the couch like that.”  
  
Nathan nodded and suddenly looked a little more reassured and cheerful. “Yeah. But he never really learns…”  
  
Jayden chuckled at him and pulled him into a hug. Nathan hugged him back tightly and buried his face in Jayden’s shirt.  
  
They hugged for a bit, until Jayden patted his son’s back for comfort a few times and got up to go over and clean up that blood.  
  
Derek was sitting with Noah on the couch, complaining that he was nauseous and tired and just wanted to sleep. Noah got him some water before starting to prepare him for bed. They were going to let Derek sleep in their bed tonight so that they could keep an eye on him and make sure that he was okay.  
  
Before bed, Noah called Millie and David like he had promised, and was pleased to hear that Emily was doing a lot better now and had mostly recovered from the shock. She would be relieved to know that Derek was going to be okay.  
  
Getting into bed later that night with Derek lying between them felt a little usual, but luckily Derek wasn’t awake for more than half an hour until he fell asleep. They watched him sleep for a while until they too lay down to close their eyes and catch some sleep. Nathan was sleeping in his own room, and Noah had made sure that he was okay before he had tucked him in and said goodnight to him.  
  
Derek slept like a rock, but Jayden still made sure that there was some space between the boy and Noah, in case he should wake up and start kicking. He didn’t want Derek to accidentally kick Noah in the belly and hurt the baby, after all.  
  
It had been a tough a day, but things were going to be alright for the small family, which was soon to become a little less small.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry for the very late update. I didn’t manage to write much before I went on my vacation, since I had so much stuff on my mind. But I’m home now, and I hope I’ll be in a good writing mood from now on :) My vacation was super nice, but of course I missed all my wonderful readers ;)
> 
> And this certainly won’t be the last time that Derek gets himself hurt. He’s sort of based on my older brother, who used to get himself into a lot of sticky and hurtful situations when he was a kid – including a similar incident to what happened in this chapter. It should be fun to explore his character :)
> 
> I hope you guys are still reading the story, despite my slower updates. I’ll try to be a little faster with the next one :)


	42. Chapter 42

**July 2057 (Noah is 31, Jayden is 33, Nathan is 7, Derek is 3, Lucas is 29, Caleb is 28, Nina is 4 (almost 5), Leila is 58 (almost 59), Micah is 60, Laura is 21, Nicholas 21 (almost 22) years old).**  
  
Jayden woke up in the bed, feeling well-rested after a good, long night’s sleep. He was still lazy and tired from sleeping, and he stretched his limbs with a pleased moan as he tried to wake himself up more. Instinctively, he stretched his arm out towards Noah’s side of the bed, hoping to find his mate there, but was met by a cold, empty space. A small, disappointed whine escaped his throat, and he cracked an eye open to look at the abandoned part of the bed. It was then that Jayden remembered that today was his birthday. Noah must have sneaked out of the bed to get the breakfast and the presents ready.  
  
Jayden sighed and rolled over onto his stomach, pressing his face into Noah’s pillow. He inhaled the scent of his mate and moaned softly as it relaxed him. He could never get enough of Noah’s scent, and he really wished that the submissive was there right now so that he could cuddle with him and feel his warmth.  
  
A faint noise caught Jayden’s attention, and he quickly identified the noise as being Derek’s hyper but happy voice coming from the end of the stairs. He grinned softly when he heard it, and continued to lie with his face in Noah’s pillow for a bit.  
  
It felt so nice lying there on the sheets and blanket with absolutely no clothes on. His tail twitched in a lazy, content manner on the bed, and his wings were spread out across the bed. He felt a bit of soreness on his shoulders from last night, where Noah had dug his nails pretty hard into his skin while Jayden had pounded into him nice and good. He smiled at the memory of the sex, and wished that Noah was there for another round right now.  
  
Sighing, Jayden finally got up from the bed. He needed to get dressed, since it was probably only a matter of time until Noah or one of the kids would come to wake him up and take him downstairs for breakfast and presents.  
  
He got up and started pulling on some fresh underwear, fumbling a bit to get his tail through the hole. Next he put on a t-shirt, but had only just managed to pull it over his head before there was a small knock on the door. The unexpected noise kind of startled him.  
  
“Daddy? Are you awake yet?” came Nathan’s voice from the other side of the door, followed by another small knock.  
  
“Yeah, I’m awake. You can come inside,” Jayden called back, reaching behind himself to zip up his shirt under his wings.  
  
The door opened and Nathan stepped inside, smiling widely when he spotted Jayden. “Happy birthday, daddy! Mom said I should come and get you, ‘cause breakfast and your presents are ready now.”  
  
Jayden grinned as Nathan came over to hug him, and he wrapped his arms around his son to hug him back. “Thanks, kiddo. I’ll come downstairs in a second, okay?”  
  
“Sure, but don’t be long. I’m starving!” Nathan said, grinning at his dad before pulling away and leaving the room.  
  
Jayden chuckled at him and quickly put on some pants.  
  
As Jayden walked down the stairs a minute later, he was met by the smell of fresh bread and the sounds of Nathan and Derek fooling around in the kitchen. He heard Noah trying to chastise them and it made him laugh softly. He walked through the dining room to get to the kitchen, but stopped in the door to be sure that he could enter. “Can I come in?” he asked warily, peeking inside to see if Noah and the kids were ready yet.  
  
Noah was standing over by the table, where their breakfast and the presents were all ready. Nathan and Derek were standing next to him, and Derek was trying to annoy Nathan by pushing him, while Nathan tried his best to ignore him.  
  
“Yeah, you can come in,” Noah replied, smiling as Jayden entered the room.  
  
“Daddy!” Derek chirped and ran over to him. “Happy barf-day!”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at Derek’s mispronunciation, and ruffled his hair gently when Derek came over and grabbed at his clothes while grinning up at him. Derek didn’t really hug anyone, and instead he’d stand right in front of them and grab at their clothes while staring up at them; it was his way of showing someone that he cared about them.  
  
“Thanks, Derek,” Jayden smiled.  
  
Nathan told him happy birthday again and gave Jayden another hug, before finally Noah came forward. The submissive was already seven months pregnant now, and his belly was nice and round. It looked rather big on him since he was so short and usually quite skinny, but Jayden loved that sight more than anything.  
  
“Happy birthday,” Noah smiled, going over to Jayden and pulling him down for a kiss by placing his hand gently on the alpha’s cheek.  
  
Jayden grinned and leaned down for the kiss, humming softly when their lips met. “Thanks, gorgeous.”  
  
Noah’s cheeks reddened a bit at the nickname, but Jayden distracted him with another kiss. This one was deeper and more intimate, and Jayden purred softly when he felt Noah’s thumb caress his cheek a bit.  
  
“Eww! Stop that already,” Nathan complained, scrunching his nose and covering his eyes in disgust.  
  
Derek too looked away and made a face at the scene, though he wasn’t as bothered by it as Nathan; he just mimicked what his older brother did. He was a bit too young to understand the intimacy of such kisses yet.  
  
Jayden pulled away with a laugh and gave Noah’s belly a fond rub before they went over to the table to sit down. There was fresh bread, butter, peanut butter, jam, cheese, ham, and other delicious things on the table for them to eat, and Jayden’s presents were placed next to his plate, ready for him to open.  
  
Noah started helping Derek put some stuff on his bread while Jayden began opening his presents. They were mostly from Noah, and two of them were from Nathan and Derek. Jayden got some new clothes, a tool he had been missing in the garage, a new wristwatch because his old one broke (one that could also count his steps, pulse, etc. for when he was jogging), and Nathan and Derek had made some drawings for him.  
  
Jayden was very happy about the presents. He never really had any big birthday wishes, but he always appreciated the stuff that he got.  
  
“I think you’re getting pretty good at drawing, Nathan,” Jayden spoke, after he had opened all his presents and thanked them for them. “Is this Midnight?” he asked, pointing at the drawing that Nathan had given him, which was of a cat that looked suspiciously much like Midnight.  
  
“Yep. Do you like it?” Nathan asked, beaming at his dad while they all grabbed some bread and started eating.  
  
“Of course I do. I like Derek’s too,” Jayden added before Derek could complain that only Nathan’s drawing got so much attention.  
  
Noah smiled. “Yeah, Nathan is getting quite good at drawing. Maybe you have that from your grandma?” He looked at Nathan, who had a proud grin on his face when he said that.  
  
Nathan’s drawings were indeed getting quite good, and he drew more details and anatomic accuracy than most kids his age.  
  
“I can draw too! My lines are prettier,” Derek murmured with a jealous tone, and poked around in his food a bit.  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes. “All you can draw is lines and circles.”  
  
Derek let out a small growl and tried to throw his bread at Nathan, but Noah quickly stopped him and scolded him for what he was doing. The boys were sitting on opposite sides of the table so that they wouldn’t fight too much, and Noah was sitting next to Derek. They didn’t have any personal seats at the table because Derek always wanted to sit in different places.  
  
The brothers glared a bit at each other before they all continued to eat in peace.  
  
The rest of the breakfast went quite well, but right afterwards Noah had to rush to the bathroom because of the pressure against his bladder. Jayden felt a bit sorry for him, but couldn’t help being a bit amused. He was also amused about how Noah had put pickles on his morning breakfast, which in Jayden’s mind was a bit disgusting.  
  
When Noah exited the bathroom, he almost got run down by Derek, who was chasing after Nathan and laughing and squealing loudly as he did so. The two of them were running in circles through the kitchen, dining room, entrance hall, living room, and the laundry room, and Noah sighed at the noise. He placed a hand on his swollen belly and padded his way into the kitchen, where he saw Jayden doing the dishes.  
  
“Noooo, don’t do that. That’s my job today,” Noah said, going over to Jayden with a disapproving pout on his face.  
  
Jayden turned to look at him. “No way. You’re pregnant and your back is hurting, and I can do this even though it’s my birthday. Let me handle it.”  
  
Noah stubbornly tried to take the dishes from him to do it instead, but Jayden caught his wrist and refused to let go.  
  
“No, no, no. You just sit down and relax and let me handle it. It’s just dishes, jeez,” Jayden chuckled, looking into Noah’s eyes to make him give in.  
  
Noah scowled at him, but finally backed down. “Fine. But I’m not disabled just because I’m pregnant, you know.”  
  
“I know, and I never said you were. But I do know that your back hurts and you feel tired a lot, and I don’t want you to strain yourself.”  
  
Noah sighed in defeat, and Jayden finally let go of his wrist. “Yeah… And he kicks me in the ribs sometimes. It freaking hurts…” His wings slumped a bit behind him, and he glanced up at Jayden with a helpless look on his face.  
  
Jayden cringed and took pity on his mate. He reached up and gently cupped Noah’s cheek, hoping to comfort him. “Hey, it’ll be okay. Just a little over two months left and then he’ll be out.”  
  
“Yeah, I know. But I also kind of don’t want him to come out just yet. I like feeling him squirm and grow inside me,” Noah confessed, staring down at his stomach while moving his hand over it in a slow, tender motion. “Is it bad of me to say that?”  
  
Jayden chuckled and rubbed his thumb across Noah’s soft cheek. “No. I like you when you’re pregnant too, even though I do look forward to our baby coming out. We can just enjoy the pregnancy while it lasts, right?”  
  
“Mm,” Noah agreed, leaning into Jayden’s touch.  
  
“Though, seeing you eating pickles on top of ham on a piece of bread is really disgusting…” Jayden smirked teasingly at Noah as he said that, and earned a sharp slap on his arm a deadly glare for it.  
  
“Shut up! I hate when you make fun of it!” Noah hissed, glaring Jayden down the best he could.  
  
Jayden burst out laughing, thinking it was so cute when Noah looked all pissed and annoyed like that. He curled his tail around Noah’s leg and moved his hand down to rub Noah’s arm to calm him down. “Sorry. It’s just so cute how you can’t control your urges and cravings.”  
  
Noah grumbled and scowled at Jayden from under his lashes, which only amused the alpha more.  
  
Jayden continued with the dishes, while Noah went to the living room to rest for a bit on the couch. Nathan and Derek were still playing around and having fun, even though it tired Noah out that Derek was always so hyper and full of energy in the mornings.  


 

***

  
  
  
A couple of hours went by, and Jayden spent most of the morning playing with Nathan and Derek outside in the garden. They played soccer and dodgeball, and had a lot of fun together. Noah couldn’t participate because of his pregnancy, and Nathan was a little sad because of that. Instead, Noah cheered them on, watched them, and got them something to drink when they got thirsty.  
  
It was nice for Noah to see how much the boys enjoyed being with their father like that. Often, Jayden was working late and wasn’t home before Nathan and Derek had gone to bed, so it was good that they had time to catch up on the weekends sometimes. Of course Noah had fun with the boys too when he was home alone with them; sometimes they played games together at the table, or went to the park to get ice cream or something, but Jayden could play with them in ways Noah wasn’t so good at, so it was nice that Jayden finally had time for it today.  
  
Noah was sitting on one of the chairs on the terrace, watching the boys playing soccer in the garden, when Jayden accidentally kicked the ball over into the small pond they had in the back of the garden. It flew right over the fence that was around the pond to stop the kids from going into it, and landed in the water with a big splash.  
  
“Dad!” Nathan complained loudly, and let out an annoyed groan that their game had to stop because Jayden had shot the ball into the pond.  
  
“Oops, sorry,” Jayden said, cringing guiltily. “I’ll go get it. Derek, go up to your mom for a bit, yeah?” He didn’t want Derek to figure out how to get through the fence that was set up around the pond, so he didn’t want him to see how he was doing it. Derek was sneaky and clever, and if he learned how to do something by watching the adults doing it, he’d try to do it himself. Nathan, on the other hand, was old enough to know that going near the pond was a very bad idea, so Jayden knew that he wouldn’t try going in by himself.  
  
Derek whined, but turned around and walked up to Noah on the terrace anyway. Nathan stayed near Jayden.  
  
Noah smiled as Derek walked over to him, but he didn’t get up from his chair. “Were you and Nathan winning?” he asked, running a hand through Derek’s hair when the boy walked over to him and reached up to grab his cup on the table.  
  
Derek shook his head while drinking milk from the cup. “No, daddy’s good. And Nathan’s annoying.”  
  
Noah chuckled. He knew that Derek only thought that Nathan was annoying to play on the same team with because he was older and could play soccer better than Derek could. It annoyed Derek when there was something Nathan was better at.  
  
Looking at Derek, as the boy stood in front of him and was drinking from his cup, Noah was pleased to see that the scar from his little accident a couple of months ago was starting to fade already. It had been very visible for a while, and Noah had cringed every time he looked at it, but the doctors had said that it would fade as Derek grew older. Noah hoped that one day you wouldn’t be able to see it at all anymore.  
  
Noah was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a loud yelp and a splash coming from the garden, followed by Nathan’s sharp laughter. He quickly rose from his chair and went over to the other side of the terrace to look at what was going on by the pond.  
  
Jayden was standing with both legs out in the pond now, with water reaching almost up to his knees. His shirt was a little splashed, and the alpha had a very disgruntled look on his face when Nathan, Derek, and Noah all laughed at him.  
  
“God damn it!” Jayden growled, and waded a few feet through the water until he could reach the ball and pick it up.  
  
“What happened?” Noah asked, surprised that Jayden had ended up walking in the water.  
  
“Daddy slipped on his foot when he was trying to get the ball with a stick, and now he’s wet,” Nathan explained, snickering uncontrollably at Jayden, who continued to be a bit grumpy.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, just laugh. Glad you guys are having fun,” Jayden mumbled, and shot them all a glare, followed by a small chuckle. He quickly got the ball and started walking out of the pond again. Luckily he had been barefoot in the garden because of the nice weather, and he had also been wearing shorts, so his clothes weren’t that wet.  
  
“Are the fish okay?” Noah asked, feeling a little worried about the goldfish that they kept in the pond.  
  
“I almost fell in with my whole body, and you’re worried about the _fish?_ ” Jayden asked back, acting offended. He got out of the water and shook his wings, after the lower parts of his feathers had been drenched in water.  
  
“You can handle yourself. The fish can’t,” Noah murmured, rolling his eyes at Jayden. His hand rubbed over his pregnant as he spoke – a habit he always had when he was pregnant.  
  
Nathan was giggling uncontrollably because he thought it was funny as hell, so Jayden playfully spread out his wing and sent water droplets flying in his direction. Nathan shrieked and jumped back when the droplets hit his face, and Jayden laughed at the glare his son sent him.  
  
“The fish are okay. They just got spooked and are now hiding under all that weed and stuff that’s in the pond,” Jayden said to answer Noah’s question.  
  
Derek, who had been laughing at the scene as well, lit up when he saw that Jayden had come out with the ball. “Yaaay! Wanna play!” he chirped, and ran back into the garden to continue playing.  
  
Noah fondly rolled his eyes at Derek’s eagerness to keep playing, but was distracted when he heard his phone ringing on the garden table. He glanced into the garden to make sure that Jayden was okay, and when he saw Jayden starting to close the fence up again and get back to the game, Noah went over to pick up his phone.  
  
Noah was a little surprised to see that it was Lucas who was calling him. Lucas had already sent Jayden a happy birthday text a few hours ago, so it was a little unexpected that he would call as well.  
  
“Hi, Lucas,” Noah said in a cheery voice as he picked up the phone. _  
  
“Hi, Noah,”_ Lucas replied, sounding happy to hear Noah’s voice again.  
  
“Is your baby coming yet?”  
  
Lucas was expecting his baby any day now, and was actually almost two weeks over his due time. Noah wondered if Lucas was calling him because the baby was on its way and he needed help or something.  
  
_“No, sadly not…”_ Lucas replied, and Noah could hear him sighing in disappointment on the other end of the phone. _“I, um, I’m calling you ‘cause I kind of need your help. I know it’s Jayden’s birthday and all, and I’m really sorry that I have to ask this of you, but can you please come over and help me? Caleb had to take a work shift today, so I’m all alone with Nina… She’s really hungry, and I’d love to make her some food, but I can’t stand up for very long at the time ‘cause my legs are tired and my back hurts so much, and I need your help… Can you please come over? I-It won’t take long.”_  
  
Noah immediately felt sympathy for his friend, who was clearly quite upset that he couldn’t even make his own daughter some food right now. “Of course I will. I’ll be right over, okay?”  
  
There was a big sigh of relief on the phone. _“Thank you so much, Noah.”_  
  
“No problem. Just wait and I’ll be there in fifteen minutes or so, okay? See you soon.” Noah smiled and hung up the phone after saying goodbye. He felt a bit sorry for Lucas that the pregnancy was taking such a toll on him that he couldn’t do the most basic things anymore. Of course Noah wouldn’t hesitate to help his friend, even if it meant leaving his own family alone for a bit while he went to Lucas’ place.  
  
“Who was that on the phone?” Jayden asked curiously from the garden, where he was now playing soccer with Nathan and Derek again. He was alone against the boys, and was trying not to kick the ball into the pond again. He knew he’d only be ridiculed further if he did.  
  
“That was Lucas,” Noah answered, having to raise his voice a bit so that Jayden could hear him over the loud laughter and shrieking coming from Nathan and Derek as they played. “He asked me to come over and help him with something, so I’ll be gone for a bit. I hope that’s okay?”  
  
Jayden signaled at the boys to time-out the game for a bit, so that he could speak to Noah without any distractions. He ignored their annoyed groans. “Yeah, sure. You don’t need to ask. Do you need me to drive you there?”  
  
Noah smiled and softly shook his head. “No, I can manage. It’s not that far. I’ll try to be back soon.”  
  
Jayden quickly jogged up to the terrace to say goodbye to Noah before he could leave. He smiled at his mate and pulled him into a small embrace before pressing a kiss to his lips. “Just take your time, if Lucas needs you. And drive safely, okay?” He rubbed Noah’s belly lovingly while saying that.  
  
Noah smiled. “Of course. See you soon.”  
  
Jayden grinned and pressed another kiss to Noah’s lips before going back into the garden. Nathan and Derek waved goodbye at Noah as he turned to leave, and he promised the boys to be back home as soon as he could.  


 

***

  
  
  
Lucas and Caleb’s house was a light grey brick house located in a quiet neighborhood, not that far from Noah and Jayden’s place. The house had only one floor, but it had three bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, a small laundry room, and a garage. The front yard and garden were full of pretty flowers and plants, because Lucas loved to work in the garden. They were a little unkempt lately, though, since Lucas was too pregnant to take care of the flowers and the garden.  
  
Noah parked the car in the driveway and carefully got out. His back hurt, and he had to be careful with his maneuvering as he made his way out of the car. He took a few seconds to rest and rub his stomach before going up to the house and ringing the doorbell.  
  
It was little Nina who opened the door, and the demon girl smiled widely when she spotted Noah. “Noah!” she chirped, and stepped away from the door, which she had been hiding a bit behind when she had opened it.  
  
“Hi, Nina,” Noah smiled. “Is your mom home?”  
  
“Yep! But he’s stuck on da couch…” she murmured, and let Noah come inside.  
  
“I’m in here!” Lucas called from the living room, where he obviously had trouble getting up from the couch because of his back pains.  
  
Noah cringed in sympathy for his friend before closing the door and taking off his shoes. He then walked into the living room with Nina to see Lucas. The living room was small, but it was nicely decorated, and family pictures filled the walls, giving it a homely atmosphere.  
  
“Thank you for coming by,” Lucas spoke when he saw Noah, and sighed in relief.  
  
“No problem,” Noah smiled.  
  
Nina went over and tugged gently at Noah’s arm while whining softly. “Please, please make me food, Noah? So hungry…”  
  
Noah glanced down at her and chuckled softly. “Of course. Maybe you want a sandwich?”  
  
Nina nodded eagerly and began dragging Noah towards the kitchen by pulling at his arm, and Noah couldn’t help but laugh softly. He sent Lucas a reassuring smile before going into the kitchen with Nina.  
  
Nina was really hungry, and she was chirping eagerly about her week in the pre-kindergarten while she waited for Noah to finish making her a sandwich. She seemed a little disappointed that Nathan and Derek weren’t there as well, since she liked to play with them, but once she got her sandwich she was all cheerful again. Noah guided her back to the living room to eat and be with Lucas for a while.  
  
“I’m so sorry. It’s so embarrassing that I have to call you and ask you to make my daughter some lunch,” Lucas spoke once they were back in the room. His tail curled shamefully on the couch, and he didn’t quite meet Noah’s eye as Noah sat down next to him.  
  
“Hey, I told you that it’s okay. I really don’t mind. And it’s not like you can help it,” Noah spoke, and placed a hand on Lucas’ shoulder to reassure him. They were sitting quite close on the couch; something Lucas only felt comfortable with when he was with Caleb, Nina, Noah, or Christie.  
  
Lucas let out a soft sigh and seemed to feel better. He glanced down at his large stomach and rubbed his hands over it absently. “I just wish she would come out already… This is so troublesome. I have to pee in a bucket at night ‘cause I don’t have the strength to get up and go to the bathroom all the time.” His cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he admitted that to Noah.  
  
Noah laughed softly, and rubbed Lucas’ shoulder. “Whatever helps, right?”  
  
Lucas chuckled a bit and glanced at Noah. “And how’s your baby?”  
  
Noah followed Lucas’ stare down to his stomach, and smiled as he rubbed the bump. “Good. He’s moving a lot, but not as much as Derek did. I think he’s happy in there.”  
  
Lucas smiled, and let out a soft chuckle. “I feel a bit bad for you that you’re going to have three boys in the house soon. I kinda hope that this one is a submissive; they tend to be more calm and easy.”  
  
“I kinda doubt he is, though. It would be against all odds to have three generations of submissives in a row,” Noah pointed out. “But I am kind of hoping for a beta. I have the feeling that if it’s an alpha, then he and Derek would probably get into a lot of quarrels.”  
  
Lucas giggled a bit. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”  
  
Nina suddenly let out a loud cheer, and they quickly glanced at her to see what was going on. She was sitting in front of the TV, eating her sandwich, and was cheery about something that had happened in the cartoon. They both chuckled softly at that.  
  
“And, um, how’s Jane doing?” Lucas eventually asked, glancing at Noah with a somewhat wary look. Lucas had been on maternity leave for a few weeks now, so he didn’t know much about what was happening in the kindergarten, other than what Noah told him once in a while.  
  
“She’s good, actually. She’s still good friends with the angels and hybrids in her class,” Noah replied. “And I don’t think Chris has been telling her to keep away from them recently. I saw her introducing one of her angel friends to him and he didn’t really object, other than looking a bit constipated about it.”  
  
“Oh, he didn’t even say anything?” Lucas was very surprised about that. He had expected Chris to freak out about Jane making friends with an angel.  
  
“No, I’m rather surprised myself… But I think it’s a good thing.”  
  
“Yeah… I just didn’t think that Chris would ever be okay with his daughter making friends with angels and hybrids.”  
  
“Yeah, me too. But I think Jayden knocked some sense into him a few months ago, when Chris came to our house. It wasn’t much sense, but it was some. He still glares at me when he sees me, though, but he hasn’t confronted me for a long time. I take that as a good sign.”  
  
“Wow. Jayden must be very persuasive,” Lucas commented, chuckling a bit. “He always was quite scary when he goes all alpha on someone…”  
  
“Hmm, I like him that way,” Noah admitted, suppressing a proud smile and a blush.  
  
Lucas grinned knowingly at Noah, but suddenly let out a pained grunt.  
  
“What is it?” Noah asked. He could tell by Lucas’ expression that he was in pain, and it made him quite worried.  
  
Lucas’ face was scrunched up in pain, and he placed his hands on his belly. “I-I don’t know. It just hurt real bad all of sudden… It still does, a bit.”  
  
Noah eyed him with worry, and Nina also sensed that something was wrong. She got up from the floor and walked over to Lucas, who was still seated on the couch next to Noah.  
  
“Mommy, you okay?” Nina asked, placing herself in front of Lucas and staring at him in slight fear.  
  
“Yeah, I’m okay, sweetie. Just hurts a bit,” Lucas said, forcing a smile at her.  
  
“Shall I kiss it better?” Nina asked, tilting her head a bit. Lucas and Caleb always kissed her fingers and other parts of her that she had hurt somehow to make the pain go away, so she wanted to do the same for Lucas.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but laugh at how cute that question was.  
  
Lucas chuckled. “No thank you, sweetie. I’m fine.” He reached out and brushed some of Nina’s hair behind her ear, and the girl nodded before walking back to sit in front of the TV and play with her toys.  
  
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Noah asked Lucas, sensing that something was still bothering him.  
  
Lucas nodded. “Yeah, I just need the bathroom— _Ah!_ ” A loud, pained gasp came from him, and he immediately clutched his stomach.  
  
Noah was panicked by the sudden, pained noise, and reached out to steady Lucas. “Whoa, what’s wrong? Is it the baby?”  
  
Lucas couldn’t answer immediately because he was panting and grunting in pain. “I… Yes, I think it is. Oh god, I think she’s coming!”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened, and Nina was grabbed by panic when she saw that Lucas was in even more pain now.  
  
Noah quickly got up, and tried to get Lucas up from the couch as well. “Okay, I’ll drive you to the hospital. Just get up nice and slow, okay?”  
  
Lucas was groaning his way through the pain, and grabbed Noah’s outstretched hands to let himself be pulled up from the couch. “N-Not yet. I gotta pee so badly!”  
  
“Oh. Alright, I’ll help you in there.”  
  
Noah tried to support Lucas the best he could and help him into the bathroom, while Nina was crying in distress. Lucas managed to calm her down, though, and told her to get the bags that he and Caleb had prepared for this moment.  
  
Using the bathroom took a lot of effort and time, since Lucas was too tired to walk and was in pain, but they managed it. He was very embarrassed that he had to have Noah help him, but Noah didn’t mind it at all.  
  
After the bathroom visit, they all quickly put on their shoes and jacket, and Noah helped getting Lucas into the car. They were driving in Noah’s car to the hospital, and he let Nina use Derek’s child’s seat on the backseat.  
  
After getting everything and everyone into the car, Noah hurriedly drove off towards the hospital, hoping to arrive there before the baby would come out.  


 

***

  
  
  
Lucas was screaming his way through a contraction when they finally entered the hospital, and two nurses quickly came over to help carry him into a room. Noah grabbed Nina’s hand to reassure her and followed the nurses towards the room where Lucas would be staying. Nina was relatively calm, but she was freaked a little out and a bit scared, so Noah had to try to be there for her.  
  
“D-Did you call Caleb?” Lucas asked Noah, while he let the nurses guide him into the room where he would be giving birth. He eyed the surroundings warily, like he often did when he came into a new room or place.  
  
“Yeah, I called him. He’ll be here soon,” Noah replied, still holding Nina’s hand and trying to reassure her.  
  
One of the human nurses helped Lucas sit down on the bed. “Now, let’s get you changed into the hospital gown, so that it’s easier for you to give birth.” She moved forward to help Lucas get his pants off, but Lucas shied away from her with a flinch.  
  
“I… Can my friend help me instead?” Lucas asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable letting a stranger help him out of his clothes.  
  
The nurse blinked at him before smiling in understanding. “Of course. We’ll wait outside and be back in a minute.” She flashed them a smile before leaving the room with the other nurse and closing the door behind them.  
  
Lucas shifted on the bed to get comfortable, and his face was still scrunched up in pain. He tried reaching down to take off his pants, but it put too much strain on his sore back. “Um, can you help me, please?”  
  
“Of course.” Noah was a little surprised to be asked to help Lucas out of his clothes, but he knew that his friend was very uncomfortable being touched and undressed by just anyone, even if they were nurses or doctors.  
  
Noah quickly helped Lucas out of his clothes and into the hospital gown. Lucas wasn’t too embarrassed to have Noah see him without clothes on, since they had showered together back in college, and Nina was too young to really care anyway.  
  
“Oh god, this hurts,” Lucas grunted while Noah was fastening the gown under his wings for him. He was having another contraction, though it wasn’t a very sharp one.  
  
“Yeah, I know, but it’ll be over soon,” Noah spoke, and carefully fastened the gown with the Velcro on the back. “Just hang in there, okay? You can do this.”  
  
Lucas nodded and took a deep breath to get through the pain.  
  
“Why mommy hurting? Dun like!” Nina cried next to them, and clutched a small stuffed animal of hers closely against her chest. Her cheeks were painted with distraught tears, but she wasn’t crying that much.  
  
Noah gently shushed her and bent down the best he could to look at her. “Hey, don’t be scared. Your mommy’s gonna be just fine, okay? He’s not in danger.” He gave her a warm smile to reassure her, and was pleased to see that his words seemed to relax her.  
  
“I just really wish that Caleb would get his butt here soon,” Lucas groaned.  
  
Noah laughed, and they looked up when the nurses and Lucas’ obstetrician entered the room. They had to evaluate how far Lucas was in his labor and how much he had dilated, and Noah noticed his friend tensing up a lot when he had to spread his legs for them. The nurses took care of little Nina while Noah went over to support Lucas. He held his friend’s hand and told him it was going to be okay, while the obstetrician took a look at him. It was the same obstetrician that had been there for Nina’s birth as well, and Lucas was quite comfortable around her, but he was a bit nervous anyway and the presence of two nurses he didn’t know didn’t make it better.  
  
The evaluation showed that Lucas was already very far dilated and almost ready to give birth, so the obstetrician quickly got Lucas settled on the bed so that he was ready for it.  
  
Caleb still wasn’t there, so Noah was forced to stay by Lucas’ side and help him through it, while Nina was led outside by one of the nurses.  
  
A few minutes passed until Lucas was finally in full labor, and until then the obstetrician talked him through what was going to happen, even though this was his second time giving birth. Lucas liked knowing what was going on and what the doctors would do, so that’s why she told him. Once the full labor finally started, he began screaming and twisting on the bed from pain, and it hurt Noah to see his friend like that.  
  
“Shhh, just remember to breathe, okay? It’s gonna be okay,” Noah told him, trying to remain calm so that he could help Lucas calm down and not get too stressed.  
  
Lucas took a few deep breaths and clutched Noah’s hand hard. He was on his back on the bed with his legs spread, while the obstetrician was trying to see if the baby was coming out yet.  
  
“But it hurts so much,” Lucas whined, panting from exhaustion already. “And where’s Caleb? I need Caleb…” His wings gave a frustrated flap on the bed, almost hitting Noah.  
  
“I’m sure he’s on his way, just hang in there.”  
  
Lucas turned his head to look at Noah, his skin glistering with sweat. “I’m so glad that _you’re_ here, though. T-Thank you. And I’m sorry that I’m screaming so much…”  
  
Noah chuckled in amusement and squeezed Lucas’ hand. “No problem. Scream all you like; it helps with the pain.”  
  
Lucas laughed, though it sounded a bit broken because he was in pain. “D-Do you think Nina’s alright?”  
  
“I think so, yes. She’s with the nurse outside, and they’re probably playing something together.”  
  
Lucas sighed in relief when knowing that his daughter was okay. The relief was cut short when another strong contraction went through him, making him cry out and having to push when the obstetrician told him to.  
  
It was quite intense for Noah to be there while his friend was giving birth. All the pained screams freaked him out a bit because he knew how much pain Lucas was in, but he had to remain calm and try to help his friend through it. He held Lucas’ hand the entire time, and he felt his own baby kicking around inside his stomach every now and then. The baby could hear all the noise that Lucas was making, so Noah guessed that the baby was just reacting to it.  
  
“Oh god, I hate this! Please make it stop, I can’t do it anymore!” Lucas sobbed, and twisted heavily on the bed.  
  
“Shhh, yes you can. Come on!” Noah encouraged, holding Lucas’ hand tight and stroking it for comfort. “Just a little more.”  
  
Lucas let out a pained sob and began pushing when the obstetrician told him to. He had gone overtime with the baby, so it wasn’t a surprise that the birth was rather tough for him; the baby was bigger than Nina had been.  
  
Lucas’ baby was just starting to show when Caleb finally showed up. A nurse led him into the room, and Caleb quickly rushed over to Lucas and grabbed a hold of his other hand.  
  
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry I couldn’t be here earlier,” Caleb said, and stared at the process with slightly panicked eyes.  
  
Lucas slumped against the bed in relief for a moment now that his mate was finally there. “That was about time…” He looked up at Caleb with an exhausted smile, and gave his hand a little squeeze.  
  
Caleb gave him an apologetic look before leaning down to press a chaste kiss to Lucas’ sweaty forehead, clutching his hand tightly while doing so.  
  
Noah smiled at the scene and at how happy Lucas looked all of sudden, despite the pain not being over yet. He wanted to give them some space now that Caleb was there, but Lucas held on to his hand when he tried pulling away, forcing Noah to stay.  
  
From then on the birth went rather fast. Both Noah and Caleb murmured encouraging and soothing words at Lucas, until finally the little baby came out.  
  
The cries of the baby made everyone slump in relief, and Lucas started crying from happiness when his baby was finally there and the doctors told him that she was healthy.  
  
Noah had never been present at a birth of another child than his own, so it was quite amazing for him to see the tiny baby being handed over to her parents, who were glowing with bliss and happiness. A small, happy tear rolled down Noah’s cheek, but he quickly wiped it away and smiled at his friends as he watched them interact with their new baby for the first time. The little demon girl was beautiful, and Lucas was so gentle with her as he cuddled her in the blanket in his arms and pressed a kiss to her head. It made Noah wish that he could hold his own baby like that soon.  
  
The nurses changed the sheets and made sure that the baby and mother were okay before giving them some space.  
  
“Hey, little one,” Caleb cooed softly at the baby, and grinned proudly down at her. He stroked his finger over her tiny hand, and he and Lucas chuckled when she made a small noise.  
  
Lucas smiled at his baby before turning to look at Noah, who hadn’t said a word yet. “Thank you, Noah. I couldn’t have done this without you.”  
  
Caleb too directed his gaze to Noah, and his grin widened. “Yeah, I owe you one.”  
  
Noah chuckled softly and waved it off. “You don’t owe me anything. I’m just happy that I could help. Your baby girl is very beautiful.”  
  
Lucas beamed. “Thanks.”  
  
“It’s funny how she was born on Jayden’s birthday, huh? Too bad he’s a guy, so we can’t name her after him,” Caleb joked.  
  
Noah laughed. “Yeah, that is kind of funny. I hope you’ll find a suiting name for her.”  
  
“I have a name in mind,” Lucas spoke softly while smiling down at the baby in his arms. Her tiny hand was wrapped around one of his fingers, and her tail twitched a bit as she lay in his arms.  
  
Caleb looked at him with a surprised frown. “Really? What is it?”  
  
“Rose, like your grandmother. And because her cheeks are so pink… makes her look kind of like a rose,” Lucas said in a shy voice. “Or is it lame…?” He glanced up at Caleb with a wary look.  
  
Caleb blinked at him once before smiling widely. “No, it’s perfect. I love that name.” He leaned down and pressed an affectionate kiss to Lucas’ head, before grinning and smiling at the baby girl in his arms.  
  
Lucas leaned into Caleb’s touch, and Noah couldn’t remember ever seeing his friend looking so content and happy before. It made him smile to see Lucas like that. His friend truly deserved that happiness.  
  
After a few seconds, Noah slowly backed away to give them space and to head to the bathroom. His restless baby was making his bladder burst, and he didn’t want to intrude on them any further.  
  
After his bathroom visit, Noah passed by Lucas’ adoptive family outside in the hallway, who were taking care of Nina now that they had finally arrived at the hospital. They smiled and greeted him, and Noah explained to them what had happened and that Lucas had given birth to a healthy baby girl. Nina was super excited about having a little sister now, and she all but rushed into the room to see the baby when the family headed in there. Noah joined them for a bit, mostly to say goodbye to Lucas and Caleb for now because he had to head home again. His own family was waiting for him, after all.  


 

***

  
  
  
Noah was smiling all the way home in the car, and he couldn’t wait to tell Jayden that their friend had finally had his baby.  
  
The drive home seemed short because he was in such a good mood, and he quickly exited the car and went up to lock himself into the house. He had barely taken a step inside the entrance hall before Derek jumped out in front of him with a loud “Boo!”, almost making Noah fall over from surprise.  
  
Noah’s shocked face and reaction made Derek laugh, and it took Noah a moment to recover from his shock.  
  
“Derek!” Noah scolded loudly. He had told Derek multiple times to not try to scare him like that when he was pregnant; the stress was bad for the baby.  
  
Derek just laughed hysterically. “But was funny!”  
  
“No, it wasn’t funny,” Noah grumbled, and glared at Derek as he closed the door behind him.  
  
Derek didn’t seem to listen, and just continued laughing and grinning. He was obviously quite hyper and full of energy right now.  
  
Jayden suddenly appeared in the doorway to the living room and stared at Derek with a firm, authoritative frown, while his arms were crossed in front of his chest. “Derek. What have we told you about scaring your mother when he’s pregnant?”  
  
Derek’s wings lowered a bit, and he twitched uneasily on his feet. Hearing his dad’s serious voice quickly calmed him down. “Not to do dat ‘cause it’s bad…?”  
  
“Yes, exactly. You can’t scare mommy ‘cause it’s bad for the baby, but you did it anyway. And the other day you almost jumped on his stomach when you were on the couch, so you’re clearly not taking our words seriously. Go to your room and stay there until we tell you to come back down, got it?”  
  
“Nooo!” Derek whined in defiance and stomped a foot into the floor. He glared up at Jayden in offense and anger, clearly finding it very unfair to be sent to his room like that.  
  
Jayden just stared him down and refused to put up with Derek’s defiance.  
  
After a small staring match, Derek eventually turned around and ran up the stairs, looking very dissatisfied about being punished like that. He even stuck out his tongue at Jayden without him seeing it before disappearing into his room and shutting the door loudly.  
  
Noah sighed and started taking off his shoes and jacket, and Jayden came over to give him a hand.  
  
“He’s such a brat,” Nathan murmured from the doorway to the living room. Noah hadn’t noticed that he had been standing behind Jayden the entire time.  
  
“Your brother is just impulsive and defiant, and he needs to learn to follow the rules,” Jayden replied, and bent down to take Noah’s shoes off for him.  
  
“I’m not a baby,” Noah complained when Jayden took off his shoes.  
  
“I know, but I’d rather bent down and take your shoes off for you with the risk of being scolded, than to listen to your pained grunts every time you strain yourself by bending down to take them off by yourself,” Jayden replied, and flashed Noah a smile before taking off the other shoe for him.  
  
Noah made a disgruntled noise, but let Jayden take care of him anyway.  
  
Nathan giggled a bit at them before turning around and walking back into the living room to play with his toys.  
  
“You sure took your time at Lucas’ place. You were gone for almost four hours,” Jayden said, and got up on his feet again after having taken off Noah’s shoes and put them away. “I almost sent a search party for you,” he joked.  
  
“I know, I’m sorry. I wanted to call you, but my phone went dead two hours ago. Lucas went into labor while I was visiting him, so I had to drive him to the hospital,” Noah explained.  
  
Jayden’s eyes widened. “What, really? Did he have his baby?”  
  
Smiling, Noah nodded. “Yes. A beautiful, little girl named Rose.”  
  
Jayden grinned widely and placed his hands on Noah’s hips while looking down at him. “Wow, that’s great. And on my birthday, too.”  
  
Noah laughed. “Yes, it was a nice timing. They looked so happy when they got to hold their baby… Makes me wish that I could hold ours too, soon…” He glanced down at his belly and stroked a hand over the swollen area.  
  
Jayden smiled and wrapped his tail around Noah’s leg, squeezing softly. “You will, soon. The little guy just needs a bit more time to get ready to come out, that’s all.”  
  
“Mm, I know.”  
  
Jayden watched Noah’s face for a bit before leaning down to press a kiss against his lips. It was short but sweet, and Jayden’s hands wandered off towards his mate’s butt as he held him close. “And we gotta prepare to go out now. We’re going to my parents’ place for dinner, remember?”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened as he stared up at Jayden. “I-I completely forgot.”  
  
The panicked look on Noah’s face made Jayden laugh loudly. “Hey, it’s not the end of the world, you know. Unless you don’t wanna go there?”  
  
Noah slapped Jayden on the arm for even suggesting that. “Of course I wanna go! I just don’t like that I forgot about it.”  
  
“Hmm, must be your age that’s making you forget. Getting old and senile, huh?” Jayden teased, suppressing a laugh as he grinned at Noah.  
  
Noah let out an annoyed growl and pushed Jayden back harshly. “I’m not old! And you’re two years older than me, so shut up!”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at how cutely annoyed and pissed off Noah got when Jayden teased him about being old. Jayden didn’t think that Noah was old at all – it was Noah who often expressed that he thought he was getting old, so making fun of it always annoyed the submissive a lot.  
  
“Mm, you’re cute when you’re angry,” Jayden grinned and pressed a kiss to Noah’s cheek before going to get ready to go out.  
  
Noah glared at him, though his cheeks were flushed because Jayden had called him cute.  


 

***

  
  
  
Derek was still a bit grumpy about being sent to his room earlier when they arrived at Jayden’s parents’ house, but as soon as his grandmother opened the door, he was much more cheerful. Leila beamed at all of them and pulled them in for hugs, while of course being careful not to squeeze Noah and his stomach too much.  
  
“Oh, it’s so good to see you, my boy!” Leila grinned at Jayden after she had hugged them all and invited them inside. She placed her motherly hands on Jayden’s cheeks and pinched them lovingly while smiling at him.  
  
“Jeez, mom,” Jayden complained, blushing from how his mother was treating him like a child in front of the others.  
  
Nathan giggled a bit at the scene, while Noah just smiled. Behind Leila were Micah and Laura, and Laura’s boyfriend Nicholas was standing a bit further in the background to give them space.  
  
“Gosh, you need to shave, Connor,” Leila spoke, frowning at Jayden as she touched his cheeks. “That stubble must be really annoying for Noah whenever you nuzzle your face against him – which I’ve noticed you doing quite often.”  
  
Jayden gently swatted his mother’s hands away and leaned away from her. He hadn’t shaved for a few days, but it wasn’t like he had that much stubble. “Yeah, yeah, mom, I got it.” He rolled his eyes at her and started taking off his shoes along with the others. He reached over to help Noah out of his shoes again.  
  
Noah chuckled in amusement at how annoyed Jayden was at his mother. Although Jayden was a very soft alpha, he didn’t like being mothered too much by Leila in front of others.  
  
“Stop treating the man like a kid, Leila. He’s 33 already,” Micah commented in the background, and rolled his eyes as well.  
  
Leila’s arms crossed in front of her chest, and she turned to shoot her mate a small glare. “But he’s still my son.”  
  
“And I find it hilarious,” Laura snickered.  
  
Jayden shot his sister a small glare from where he was bending down in front of Noah, but got to his feet again after he had helped his mate out of his shoes. Laura smiled at him and came over to greet them all. She ruffled the boys’ hairs (making Derek grunt in protest), hugged Noah, and finally turned to congratulate Jayden.  
  
“Happy birthday, big brother.” Laura pulled Jayden into a warm hug and curled tails with him.  
  
“Thanks, sis,” Jayden smiled and hugged her back tightly. When they pulled away, he ruffled her hair with fondness, making Laura gasp and shy away.  
  
“Oh my god, stop that! You’re ruining my hairstyle!”  
  
“What hairstyle? You’re not wearing anything but a ponytail in your hair today,” Jayden laughed.  
  
Laura growled and sent him a glare, which the others laughed at.  
  
Leila ushered them all inside, since she hated when the guests were just standing around in the entrance hall. Nathan and Derek eagerly ran inside to play with the toys that Leila and Micah kept at the house for them, and they quickly greeted Nicholas as they passed him.  
  
Jayden finally turned to greet Nicholas when they entered the dining room together. Nicholas was often a little tense and nervous around Jayden, since he was his girlfriend’s older brother, after all, but Jayden just smiled at him and pulled him into a manly hug. “Good to see you again. And I see my sister still likes you.”  
  
Nicholas laughed and let himself be patted on the back by Jayden. “Yeah, seems like it.”  
  
Laura rolled her eyes at their comments. “You’re making it sound like it’s only a matter of time until I don’t.”  
  
Jayden laughed at that and finally pulled away from Nicholas.  
  
Meanwhile Noah was rubbing his belly absently while listening to them talking. The baby was pretty restless, and he grunted a bit when he got kicked a bit in the ribs.  
  
“And how are you, Noah?” Leila asked, making Noah jump a bit in surprise when she suddenly spoke to him.  
  
“I’m good. Just… Having some trouble moving around lately,” Noah replied with an askew smile.  
  
“Well, no wonder! You’re so big already,” Leila grinned, and reached out to place a gentle hand on Noah’s belly. “Just two months left until the little guy comes out, right?”  
  
Noah smiled. “Yes. Well, almost three.”  
  
“Really? So soon?” Laura asked, gaping in surprise and coming over to take a look at Noah’s belly as well. She hadn’t seen him for a few months, so she hadn’t seen the recent progress of his pregnancy. “Gosh, that’s big. Isn’t it really uncomfortable?”  
  
“Um, sometimes,” Noah admitted, rubbing his belly. “It’s getting more difficult to sleep…”  
  
Laura cringed in sympathy.  
  
“You look like someone who’s having second thoughts about ever having a baby yourself, Laura,” Micah commented when he saw his daughter’s face. His lips tilted into an amused smile.  
  
“What? No! Just… It’s a bit scary, I admit,” Laura spoke, blushing a bit. “The thought of it coming out is even more scary.”  
  
The others laughed, and Noah couldn’t help but blush.  
  
“Reminds me that Noah helped Lucas give birth to his baby today,” Jayden spoke, smiling proudly while wrapping an arm around Noah’s waist. Nathan and Derek were playing around in the living room and arguing a bit, and Jayden kept an eye on them while speaking to the others.  
  
The others gasped at his words.  
  
“Wow, really?” Laura exclaimed, gaping at Noah.  
  
“Oh, that’s wonderful! How did that happen?” Leila asked curiously.  
  
“Well, I didn’t exactly help him deliver the baby as such,” Noah explained, feeling a little self-conscious as everyone looked at him. “I was just visiting him to help him with something, when suddenly he went into labor. So I drove him to the hospital and stayed there until the baby was born.”  
  
“Ohh, I see. Being there for a birth is really amazing, isn’t it?” Leila asked, smiling.  
  
Noah nodded. “Yeah, it was. It was a pretty nice experience.”  
  
“I might have fainted if it were me,” Nicholas commented quietly.  
  
Jayden laughed and turned to look at him, his arm still wrapped around Noah’s waist. “Aren’t you studying to be a doctor? You’re supposed to have strong guts to be a doctor, or am I wrong?”  
  
“Oh, I can handle watching blood, dead people, and what we look like on the inside, but if I ever had to actually help someone give birth, I’d probably freak out a bit. It’s a pretty big deal, after all.”  
  
Micah laughed. “Friendly reminder to not rely on your man if you’re ever having a baby with him, Laura.”  
  
Laura blushed deeply at the mention of her and Nicholas maybe having babies someday, and Noah kind of took pity on her.  
  
Laura quickly tried to think of another topic because she was so embarrassed, and it only took a moment for her to find one. “Ohh, right! Presents! You need your presents, Jayden!” She rushed into the other room to get her and Nicholas’ presents for Jayden before he could protest.  
  
“Oh, that’s right! And the cake too,” Leila said, and went into the kitchen to get the things ready.  
  
“Well, I won’t complain about getting cake…” Jayden said, chuckling.  
  
“Noah might, once it sticks to your sides and makes you fat,” Micah remarked with a smirk.  
  
Noah chuckled at the face Jayden made at that. Of course Jayden wouldn’t get fat from the birthday cake; he exercised too much for it, and alphas usually had a high metabolism.  
  
Laura and Leila soon returned to the room with presents and the cake, and Nathan and Derek immediately stopped their playing to sit down at the table and share the cake with them. They argued about who should sit where, much to the amusement of Laura, who found it funny to see Jayden and Noah struggling to keep the boys apart sometimes.  
  
Jayden started out by opening his presents, while the others watched curiously. Nathan and Derek seemed much more excited to see what was inside than Jayden himself did, which was pretty amusing. The presents consisted of some wine (Jayden’s favorite kind), some new knives and equipment for the kitchen, and a gift card for him and Noah to go out for dinner somewhere together.  
  
When he went to open the small present that was from Laura and Nicholas, Jayden immediately had a bad feeling about it. His suspicion was confirmed when he saw his sister struggling to keep a straight face and not giggle, while Nicholas looked very constipated while trying to act normal as well. He eyed them both with scrutinizing eyes as he pulled the gift paper off the thin, square-sharped present and opened it.  
  
Finally, when Jayden had unwrapped the present and taken his first look at it, Laura couldn’t hold back anymore and burst out laughing when she saw Jayden’s wrinkled nose.  
  
“God, are you serious?!” Jayden blurted, glaring at them both before hiding the present before his parents could see it.  
  
Noah got extremely curious to see what it was when he saw Jayden’s reaction to the present, and he managed to take a quick peek at it, even though Jayden was doing his best to hide it. He was mortified to see that it was a gift card for a local sex shop, and his cheeks flushed much brighter than Jayden’s did.  
  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to get you, and I thought that maybe you could use that,” Laura laughed, getting tears in her eyes from how hard she was laughing at her brother’s reaction. Next to her, Nicholas was laughing as well, but he tried to straighten up and look serious when Jayden’s gaze fell on him next.  
  
“Gosh, you’re such a kid,” Jayden grunted, trying not to blush any further at how embarrassing it was.  
  
“What is it? Wanna see!” Nathan nagged, and tried to pry the card from Jayden’s hand to see it, but Jayden quickly moved it out of his reach. Derek too looked very eager to have his curiosity satisfied and find out what the present was.  
  
“I’m guessing she bought you something very inappropriate,” Micah murmured from across the table, and ate a slice of the cake.  
  
“Very much so,” Jayden mumbled, and glared at Laura again.  
  
“Jeez, Laura! Don’t give your brother such presents when the kids are here!” Leila chastised her daughter.  
  
“Sorry,” Laura apologized, even though she was still laughing.  
  
“I’ll get back at you later,” Jayden promised, glaring between her and Nicholas. He then turned his gaze back to his parents and smiled at them. “Anyway, thanks for the presents.”  
  
Leila and Micah returned his smile, and everyone continued with the cake.  
  
“But why can’t we see what it is?” Nathan asked, staring at Jayden with a dissatisfied look. He and Derek were both very curious to see what the present was, since it had caused their dad to act so flustered and embarrassed all of sudden.  
  
“Yeah! Wanna seeee!” Derek begged.  
  
“’Cause it’s not a present that’s appropriate for children to know about,” Jayden replied, dismissively. The last thing he wanted was to have a very awkward conversation with Nathan and Derek while explaining to them what exactly a gift card to a sex shop was.  
  
“But at least Noah will draw some benefit from it,” Laura added, giggling uncontrollably.  
  
Noah’s face went bright red, and he had a hard time looking the others in the eye when he was so embarrassed.  
  
“You’re digging your own grave here, sis,” Jayden warned her.  
  
Nathan giggled at them and turned to look at Noah. “They’re kinda like you and Uncle Isaac sometimes. Uncle Isaac also likes to tease you, and everybody else.”  
  
“Yeah, he does!” Derek laughed, and stuffed himself with more cake. He still looked a bit annoyed that he didn’t get to see Jayden’s present, but the cake distracted him.  
  
“Um, yes, kind of,” Noah agreed, chuckling a bit.  
  
“Isaac is much worse than me, though,” Laura spoke. “And a lot more funny.”  
  
“Can’t argue there,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
They continued with the cake, and shared the recent news in the family. Laura and Nicholas’ studies were going well, and the two of them were still madly in love. They held hands and curled tails below the table, which Jayden still thought was a bit weird to witness. Noah didn’t mind it, though; he was happy for Laura that she seemed to have found a soulmate in Nicholas. The beta was very loving towards her, and he got along well with the rest of the family. Even Jayden liked him a lot.  
  
Once Derek had finished eating cake and drinking juice, he was all full of energy again. Micah went with the boys outside for a bit so they could play in the garden and burn some energy, and Nicholas and Leila joined them.  
  
Laura had volunteered to do the dishes, and Jayden joined her in the kitchen to keep an eye on the dinner that Leila was cooking. Leila came inside every now and then to check on the food, but Jayden wanted to make sure that his mom was cooking it right. They were having pork for dinner, as well as potatoes and vegetables.  
  
Noah went outside to see what the boys were doing, but after seeing how much fun they were having in the garden with Micah, Leila, and Nicholas, he decided to head back inside before being hit by ball. Laura and Jayden were still in the kitchen and were helping each other do the dishes. They playfully splashed a bit of water at each other, and Noah smiled as he watched the two siblings bond. Jayden rarely got to see his sister anymore, so it was nice for them to meet again.  
  
“Oh, hey, Noah,” Laura said when she saw that Noah had come back inside. “Barely noticed you coming back. I thought you went outside with the others?”  
  
Noah smiled and shook his head softly. “Nah, I was too scared to get hit by the ball. It was being thrown in all directions by them.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “They’re playing dodgeball?”  
  
Noah nodded again.  
  
“Ohh, that’s not fair! I love dodgeball! Especially when I get to hit Jayden in the face.” Laura smirked at Jayden, who seemed less pleased about her comment. He snorted and pushed Laura with his wing so that she stumbled a bit to the side.  
  
“Quit lying; you’ve never hit me in the face before.”  
  
“Yes, I have! When I was a kid, I did!”  
  
“Only ‘cause I let you.”  
  
“Stupid!”  
  
Laura stuck her tongue out at Jayden in defiance, making Noah laugh behind them. They were being so childish, but Noah really enjoyed seeing them like that.  
  
“Brat,” Jayden retorted at her before pulling away from the sink and the dishes. “Need the bathroom. Be right back.” He smiled and kissed Noah’s cheek as he passed him before hurrying towards the bathroom.  
  
Noah watched him go and felt kind of sad in the absence of his mate. He tried to shrug the hormonal feeling off and instead went over to the sink to help Laura with the dishes.  
  
“Whoa, you don’t need to help me! You’re pregnant,” Laura argued.  
  
Noah sent her a small scowl. “I’m not disabled, nor am I helpless. I can help.”  
  
“Um, right. Sorry. It’s just that you seem so tired and like you want to sit down all the time, so I don’t want you to strain yourself because you think you need to help,” Laura said, sounding a little ashamed to have treated Noah like that.  
  
Noah smiled and waved it off. “It’s okay. But I assure you that I’m fine.”  
  
Laura nodded, and returned his smile as she cast a quick look at his big belly. They both turned towards the sink and helped each other clean the rest of the dishes. “How many kids do you and Jayden plan to have anyway? You’re already having baby number three.”  
  
Noah blushed a bit at her question. “I don’t know. We both really want to have a girl someday, so maybe we’ll try for another when this one has been born? I really don’t know; we haven’t talked that much about it yet.”  
  
“Whoa. Just don’t end up with ten boys before you finally have a girl, or a sub.”  
  
Noah chuckled. “We won’t. Ten is way too much for me.”  
  
“And I really want to have a family too, once I’ve graduated…” Laura confessed, sighing softly. “Nicholas is my guy, but I’m a bit scared about the whole bonding and mating thing, you know? It’s a big deal, after all.”  
  
“Just do what feels right, and never rush it.”  
  
“Coming from someone who mated with my brother by accident,” Laura pointed out, giggling.  
  
Noah blushed and looked away while twitching a bit. “Um, yeah, but I’ve always wanted him to be my mate, anyway…”  
  
Laura smiled. “I know. I think Jayden feels the same about you.”  
  
Noah was about to speak when Jayden suddenly entered the room again. The alpha grinned and went up behind Noah to wrap his arms around him, making Noah yelp a bit when he was surprised by the sudden gesture. When Jayden leaned in and sucked gently on his bare neck while encircling him with his arms, Noah started to squirm and blush furiously in Laura’s presence.  
  
“C-Connor, stop that!” Noah complained, shuddering as Jayden nibbled at a particularly sensitive spot on the back of his neck.  
  
“Oh my god! Get a room, guys!” Laura complained in disgust, and moved her hands up to cover her eyes. “Ugh!”  
  
Jayden just laughed and continued to hold Noah close, gently nuzzling him with his nose to show affection, while Noah was dying from embarrassment.  
  
“Ah, stop it! I gotta pee,” Noah said, squirming his way out of Jayden’s hold to head to the bathroom.  
  
Jayden made a disappointed noise, but let Noah go so that he could relieve the pressure that had built up because of the baby. He watched his mate go, and smiled at how Noah was supporting his pregnant stomach all the way as he headed to the bathroom.  
  
“Jeez, stop doing that in front of me. I don’t need to see you groping him all over,” Laura complained softly, looking at Jayden in disapproval. Her cheeks were flushed from secondhand embarrassment.  
  
“I wasn’t groping him; I was just showing some affection,” Jayden argued.  
  
“Well, show affection in your bedroom, then.”  
  
A wicked smile tilted Jayden’s lips. “Oh, but I do.”  
  
“Gross!” Laura exclaimed, grabbing the dishcloth to whack Jayden on the arm with it. “Jackass!”  
  
Jayden just laughed loudly at her and brushed his tail against hers in a friendly manner.  
  
The two siblings shared a small smile before helping each other clean up the kitchen a bit, and Jayden grabbed some pickles from the fridge because he knew that Noah would probably ask for some soon. His mate’s cravings for sour foods were endlessly amusing to him, and he wanted to make sure that Noah got what he needed.  


 

***

  
  
  
It was pretty late when Jayden and Noah came home that night with the boys. Nathan had fallen asleep in the car on the way home, and Derek had been in and out of sleep as well. When they finally arrived at the house, it was Derek who was unconscious from sleep and Nathan who woke up, though. Jayden had to pick Derek up and carry him into the house because he was too sleepy to even move.  
  
“I’m surprised he’s not complaining,” Noah spoke as they entered the house together. He looked at Derek, who was snoring softly in Jayden’s arms, with his limbs hanging limply. Noah couldn’t help but smile at how quiet and cute the alpha boy looked like that.  
  
“He’s out like a light,” Jayden chuckled, and used his feet to push off his shoes. Noah helped him pull off Derek’s shoes without waking the boy.  
  
Nathan yawned next to them, and squeezed his eyes shut because the light in the entrance hall was too much for him when he was so sleepy. “I wanna sleep… Why did we stay there so late?”  
  
“It’s only 11:15pm,” Jayden pointed out. “And you and Derek were the ones that didn’t want to leave when we suggested going home at 8.”  
  
“But we were having fun with Laura and Nicholas!”  
  
Laura and Nicholas had played a lot of games with Nathan and Derek, and the others had joined in as well whenever they weren’t busy talking. Laura had even let them use her tablet to play games on, which the boys really loved. They had a tablet at home as well, but Noah and Jayden had left it at home on purpose.  
  
Jayden laughed softly. “Yeah, I know. Better head to bed now, buddy. You’re about to swallow your mom whole every time you yawn.”  
  
Nathan yawned again and giggled a bit at Jayden’s words. He quickly pushed off his shoes before turning to give Noah a soft hug, being careful of his belly. “Good night, mommy. Please don’t wake me early tomorrow. I’m so freaking tired…”  
  
Noah chuckled and hugged him back. “Okay, I won’t. And if you wake up before us, remember not to go outside, okay?”  
  
Nathan nodded and smiled at him before saying a quick good night to Jayden. He couldn’t really hug him because he was busy holding a sleeping Derek in his arms, so he nudged tails with him before heading upstairs to bed.  
  
“I better get this guy to bed as well,” Jayden spoke after Nathan was gone, and gestured at Derek in his arms.  
  
“Yeah. I’m going to bed too,” Noah said, yawning. “After I use the bathroom for the hundredth time today…”  
  
Jayden’s tail lowered slightly in disappointment. He had hoped for some lovely birthday sex before they went to bed, but it looked like Noah might be too tired for it. He felt a bit guilty for feeling disappointed about it. “Alright. Good night, then.”  
  
Noah gave him a smile and began heading to the downstairs bathroom. “Good night.”  
  
Jayden watched him go before heading upstairs to put Derek to bed in his room. Derek had already moved into his new room at the end of the hallway near the bathroom, and Derek’s old room was now the new nursery.  
  
Jayden carefully carried the sleepy boy into the room, appreciating how quiet Derek was for once. The boy looked a little funny with how he was drooling a bit in his sleep, and how limp he was in Jayden’s arms. Jayden chuckled at it before getting Derek into bed and quietly changing him into his night clothes.  
  
After having put Derek to bed and making sure that Nathan was in bed as well, Jayden headed to the upstairs bathroom to take a quick, cold shower. Today had been very hot and he had gotten sweaty while playing outside with the boys, so he needed a shower. He didn’t bother washing his hair too much before stepping out and drying himself off and then heading to bed. He suspected that Noah was already asleep by now, since it had been over twenty minutes since the submissive had announced that he was going to bed.  
  
Jayden carefully entered the bedroom, making sure to let a light burn out in the upstairs hallway in case Nathan or Derek needed to go to the bathroom during the night. He was a little surprised to see that one of the bedside lamps in the bedroom was turned on, but he certainly hadn’t expected the sight that met him once he rounded the corner and looked at the bed.  
  
“N-Noah?” Jayden stuttered in surprise when he saw his mate on his hands and knees in the middle of the bed, with his butt facing him.  
  
The submissive was completely naked, his wings were spread and lowered, and his pink hole was dripping slick onto the sheets. It was pretty clear that Noah had worked himself open and ready while Jayden had been in the bathroom, and he glanced back over his shoulder at Jayden when he heard him coming in.  
  
“I thought you had gone to bed?” Jayden asked, feeling himself harden instantly at the gorgeous sight in front of him.  
  
“I had, but I can’t sleep without you taking care of me first…” Noah confessed, playfully wiggling his butt to catch his alpha’s interest.  
  
A strangled noise escaped Jayden’s throat, and he quickly shrugged off his clothes and got on the bed behind Noah. The sight of his heavily pregnant mate sitting like that in front of him and needing his cock so badly turned him on, and he wasted no time putting his hands on Noah’s hips where they belonged.  
  
“Gosh, you’re so wet.” Jayden probed at the hole with his thumb, feeling it twitch and flutter at his touch.  
  
Noah let out a needy whine and pressed his upper body down towards the bed, his wings spreading more. “I know. I’ve been wanting you for hours now… You spent the whole day getting sweaty outside, and I really like the scent. I can’t help it.”  
  
The alpha smirked cockily and played with Noah’s hole, using his thumb. “Oh, you like my scent, huh? Then I shouldn’t have showered.”  
  
Noah let out another impatient whine and pushed himself back into Jayden’s thumb, eager to be filled already. “I’ll live. Just please just put it inside me already…”  
  
“Mm, put what inside you?”  
  
Jayden’s teasing and his cocky voice made Noah growl in frustration. “You know what! _Please._ ”  
  
Jayden laughed and gave Noah’s butt a small smack. “Okay, okay. Impatient much? I kinda want you to tell me exactly what it is you need, to be honest I’m too horny to wait for you to say it, so how about I just give you what you need?”  
  
Noah made a noise that Jayden kind of interpreted as meaning ‘finally’ before Jayden lined himself up and pushed his cock inside Noah. The wet walls immediately gave way for him, and he bit back a curse as the tight heat of Noah enveloped him tightly and sucked him in further.  
  
Noah jerked in pleasure at being filled, and his hands fisted themselves tightly in the sheets. “Fuck!” He gasped loudly as Jayden pushed all the way inside, and his wings flapped involuntarily.  
  
“Mmm.” Jayden stopped once he was fully buried inside, and took a moment to appreciate the sight in front of him. Noah was stuffed full of his cock, and he was in a beautiful, submissive position in front him, moaning from need and pleasure. Jayden ran his hands across his mate’s perfect skin and ass, admiring the shape and feel, before he slowly began to thrust in and out of him.  
  
“Nrruuuughh, so good,” Noah moaned, grasping at the sheets with his hands while pushing himself back onto Jayden’s cock. Being on his hands and knees took the pressure of his belly off his back, which was why they almost only ever did it doggy style lately. Noah didn’t mind the position, but he missed lying either on his stomach or back with Jayden on top of him, covering his whole body.  
  
Jayden smirked at the moans Noah was making, and moved a hand up his back towards his leaking oil glands. He played with them for a bit, making Noah buck and moan louder, and caressed the sensitive base with gentle hands.  
  
“Jeez, you’re squeezing me so hard today. Are you really that horny?” Jayden asked, feeling how Noah’s inner muscles were quite tight tonight.  
  
Noah blushed and buried his face in the sheets while continuing to moan with every thrust. “Just shut up and go faster, please!”  
  
Jayden laughed, but didn’t need to be told twice. He increased his speed a bit, pounding hard into Noah while still going a bit easy on his pregnant mate, and he continued to tease and play with his oil glands until he felt Noah’s climax build up. The submissive tensed up right before his orgasm hit, until he cried out and shook and trembled uncontrollably during the whole thing.  
  
Jayden bit his lower lip and held back his own climax for now, not wanting to come just yet. Instead, he fucked Noah through his orgasm and used his hands to rub them soothingly up and down his mate’s sides until it was over.  
  
Noah almost collapsed head-first onto the bed once his climax was finally over, and Jayden had to hold him to stop him from hurting his belly.  
  
Panting, Noah took a few moments to recover, feeling blissed out and satisfied. He was a little disappointed that Jayden hadn’t come as well, since he couldn’t feel his mate’s semen inside him, and he turned his head to give Jayden a questioning look. “W-Why didn’t you come?”  
  
Jayden smirked. “’Cause I thought it would be nice if you used your mouth for it.”  
  
Noah’s eyes lit up in understanding, and he slowly pulled away from Jayden and turned over. It took him a few moments to find a good position to suck Jayden off in on the bed without making his back or stomach hurt. He ended up sitting on his butt with Jayden kneeling next to him, and then leaned over to lick at the alpha’s dick.  
  
Jayden was already on the edge of coming because of earlier, and he let out a pleased grunt as Noah licked him with his tongue.  
  
Noah could taste his own slick on Jayden’s member, and he moaned as he licked the dick clean before sucking on it. He placed one hand on Jayden’s thigh to steady himself, and used his other hand to tease and fondle Jayden’s balls with. The balls were heavy in his palm, and Jayden’s cock twitched every time Noah moved his tongue over it inside his mouth. He knew Jayden was close to coming already, so he sucked him dutifully and glanced up at him from under his lashes.  
  
Their eye contact made Jayden buck forward unintentionally, drawing a gagged noise and a warning glare from Noah, who got choked when he did that, but Jayden couldn’t help it. It was too hot when Noah was sucking his cock like that and glancing up at him with those pretty, blue eyes of his at the same time.  
  
“Ah, fuck. Just a bit more and then I… Gnh!” Jayden didn’t manage to say more before his climax overwhelmed him. He grasped Noah’s hair tightly and came in thick streams into his mate’s mouth, making him gag a little.  
  
Noah desperately tried to swallow all of it, but some of it leaked down his chin. That was when Jayden took a hold of his own cock and pulled it from Noah’s mouth, and let the rest of his release paint Noah’s naked chest and belly. Noah kept looking up at Jayden, panting softly from their activities, and let the alpha cover him with his come.  
  
When it was over, Noah’s chin, chest, and belly were covered in Jayden’s release, and Jayden couldn’t help but feel very satisfied about that.  
  
“Fuck, that was good. I should take a picture,” Jayden spoke, grinning at how beautiful Noah looked while he was covered and marked with his come.  
  
Noah let out a small growl and smacked Jayden on the arm. “No! Absolutely not!” His face was all red at the idea alone, and he glared at Jayden when the alpha laughed at him.  
  
Jayden continued to laugh at the way Noah was glaring at him so cutely, before getting off the bed to go and get a towel to clean them up with. Noah let him clean him up and help guide him into a comfortable position on his back so that he could sleep. The bed could be adjusted so that the upper part was leaning more upwards, making it more comfortable for Noah to sleep because it took some of the pressure off his back and organs.  
  
After making sure that Noah was comfortable, Jayden quickly threw the dirty towel away on the floor before climbing into bed again. But instead of lying down on his own spot, he lay down between Noah’s legs and rested his ear against Noah’s stomach to listen to the baby’s movements. Noah chuckled softly at him and played a bit with his hair while Jayden listened.  
  
“Hmm, I think he’s awake. Pretty sure I hear some movement from in there,” Jayden commented quietly. He slowly removed his head from Noah’s stomach, and rubbed the belly tenderly with his hands instead.  
  
Noah chuckled. “Yeah, I know. I can feel him.”  
  
“He must be annoyed with all the sex we’re having lately. He’s constantly being woken up whenever you move around so much.”  
  
Noah blushed heavily, and glared at Jayden for looking so smug about his comment. “Shut up! I was barely moving; it was _your_ movements that made me move!”  
  
“But you were asking for those movements,” Jayden laughed.  
  
Noah grumbled and continued to glare at Jayden while his face was all red. “Jackass.”  
  
“Yeah, I know. I’ll stop teasing you now.” Jayden gave him an amused smile before lying his head down on Noah’s big belly again. His eyes closed as he let out a content hum. “Mm, so excited to meet the little guy. Though, I’m gonna miss you being pregnant. You’re so beautiful like this.”  
  
Smiling shyly, Noah played a bit with Jayden’s hair again, stroking his hand through it over and over in slow, tender motions. “I’m glad you think so. Some guys think their mates look ugly when they’re so fat and swollen…”  
  
“Well, those guys are jerks and don’t even deserve to have a pregnant mate. Pregnancy is beautiful, and it really suits you. And you’re a good mom, too.”  
  
“And you’re a good dad.”  
  
Jayden grinned at that, and the two of them continued to lie in that position for a while.  
  
It felt nice for Noah to have Jayden rest his head on his stomach and be so loving and tender. The alpha murmured soft words at the baby sometimes, which Noah couldn’t help but smile and chuckle at. But eventually, the weight of Jayden’s head became too much.  
  
“Connor, your head is getting heavy… I wanna sleep already.”  
  
“Mm… Just a bit more…”  
  
“Hey! Don’t fall asleep on me!” Noah scolded when he could tell from Jayden’s voice that the alpha was about to fall asleep.  
  
Jayden sighed, and carefully rolled over and got settled on his own side of the bed. “Sorry. I got carried away.”  
  
Noah snorted softly at him and pulled his blanket closer around his body. “Good night. And happy birthday, again.”  
  
Jayden grinned and leaned over to kiss Noah on the cheek. “Thanks. Good night, Noah.”  
  
Noah smiled at him and settled down to sleep. He moved over on his side and let his arm rest on top of Jayden’s wing, which was right next to him. He hummed at the nice feeling of Jayden’s softened feathers touching his skin, and Jayden smiled at him before they both lulled off to sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it could be nice if Noah was there when Lucas gave birth to his new daughter :3 I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Won’t be long now until Noah and Jayden’s third baby arrives!


	43. Chapter 43

**September 2057 (Noah is 31, Jayden is 33, Nathan is 7 (almost 8), Derek is 3, Castiel is 68, Dean is 69, Eden is 44, Lily is 36 (almost 37), Jason is 44 (almost 45), Luna is 15, Lucy is 9, Leila is 59, Micah is 60, Laura is 21 (almost 22), Charlie is 69 (almost 70) years old).**  
  
Noah had slept awfully that night. It was hot as hell lately, and he had tossed and turned in the bed, trying to get comfortable with his big stomach and to ignore the warmth. He hated how the bump got in the way lately, and how the weight of his baby constantly put pressure on his organs and back. He was 37 weeks pregnant, and the baby was estimated to arrive on the 17th of October – a month from now.  
  
As if sleeping badly wasn’t enough, Noah got woken up at 6:30am by the yells and screams of Nathan and Derek outside in the hallway, and Jayden’s loud voice telling them to be quiet. Noah hadn’t even noticed Jayden getting out of bed until he heard his voice from the hallway, and he groaned loudly in irritation as he listened to them arguing.  
  
“But dad! Derek crashed into my room again and woke me up! I want a key for my door!” Nathan argued loudly.  
  
Noah could hear Derek laughing, and could feel Jayden’s frustration through their bond.  
  
“Yeah, I know he tends to do that and he shouldn’t, but it really doesn’t help when the two of you start yelling and screaming in the hallway. You’re gonna wake up your mom, and you know that he needs to sleep a lot lately,” Jayden told the boys, his voice firm and slightly irritated.  
  
“But wanna eat and play wif Nathan!” Derek whined.  
  
“And you will; just don’t go into your brother’s room and wake him up like that. It’s rude and it’s not allowed, got me?”  
  
Noah heard Derek grunt, and could tell that the boy was clearly not happy.  
  
There was some more arguing, and Noah soon began to wake up more, making it impossible for him to fall back asleep anytime soon. Annoyed and grumpy, Noah twisted around some more before sitting up and growling softly.  
  
Jayden returned to the bedroom after he had told the boys to get dressed and go downstairs. He was dressed in just his boxers, since it had been too hot to wear anything else during the night, and he was a little surprised to see Noah awake and sitting on the bed. “Hey. Did we wake you?”  
  
“How could I possibly _not_ be awake after all that noise?” came Noah’s snarky reply. He wasn’t a morning person, and right now his body was full of pregnancy hormones and frustration, making him snappy and grumpy. He turned his head to give Jayden a sharp glare. “Ever heard of _closing the door?_ ”  
  
“Whoa.” Jayden leaned back and put his hands up to show Noah that he wasn’t looking for a fight. “I’m sorry I forgot to close the door and that you got woken up. Can’t you just go back to sleep?”  
  
“No, ‘cause you woke me up too much!” Noah growled. He folded his legs under him and buried his face in his hands, sighing in frustration. His hair and feathers were sticking out in all directions because of his uneasy sleep, but he didn’t care.  
  
Jayden picked up on Noah’s sudden sadness, and slowly moved over to the bed. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He crawled over to Noah on his hands and knees, and placed a wary hand on his mate’s shoulder. He was pleased that Noah didn’t flinch away from his touch.  
  
“I’m sorry. I just slept like crap, and now I feel so angry and upset… I hate these hormones.”  
  
Noah took a deep breath to calm down his emotions, but it was difficult to hold them back.  
  
“Hey…” Jayden quietly sat down next to Noah and wrapped his arm around his shoulder, pulling him against his body. “I know you didn’t sleep well; I didn’t either ‘cause it was so hot in here. But at least it’s Sunday today and you can rest alllll day. So why not try to get some sleep?”  
  
Noah sighed and leaned into Jayden. His mate’s touch always calmed him down and made him feel better. “I don’t think I can, though… It hurts when I lie down.”  
  
“Okay, then how about you come have breakfast with us, and then I’ll give you some massage and groom your wings later? Maybe that will help you sleep.”  
  
“Mm, sounds nice.” Noah lifted his head and met Jayden’s eyes with a small smile. “Why are you so good to me? I just snapped at you like a pissy, old lady…”  
  
Jayden laughed at that. “Yeah, but I know firsthand how your hormones mess with your mind, so I’ve learned not to take it too personally. I just resist the urge to snap back at you when you’re rude. Though, I guess it was my fault you got upset, since I’m the moron who forgot to close the door…”  
  
“Yeah. It’s always your fault.” Noah titled his lips into a small smirk as he joked.  
  
“Oi, don’t get me mad for real,” Jayden joked back, chuckling. He ruffled Noah’s hair, earning a slap on his hand for it, before getting out of bed and pulling on some proper clothes. He helped Noah get up and do the same.  
  
A few minutes later they were downstairs in the kitchen, where Derek was jumping around and acting hyper. He was impatient for breakfast, and he kept trying to annoy Nathan while his brother was getting some cereal and bowls for them in the cupboards.  
  
“Knock it off, you toad!” Nathan scolded, glaring at Derek while standing on his tippy toes to reach a bowl from one of the cupboards.  
  
Derek frowned angrily at the name-calling. “And you a goat, you goat!”  
  
Nathan swatted Derek with his tail, making Derek cry out.  
  
“Hey, knock that off, boys!” Jayden spoke when he and Noah entered the kitchen and saw what was going on. “There’s no name-calling in this house, you know that.”  
  
“Sorry, dad. He’s just so annoying!” Nathan said, sending Derek one more glare before putting the bowls and the cereal on the kitchen counter for now. “Can’t the new baby be a sub or something? They’re usually much nicer and a lot more quiet than alphas are…”  
  
Jayden laughed and came over to ruffle Nathan’s hair fondly. “We can’t promise that, though. We’ll just have to wait and see what the baby is.”  
  
Noah smiled at them and slowly walked over to join them at the kitchen table for breakfast. He was walking a bit slowly lately, and he grimaced a bit when the baby kicked his insides pretty hard. He was glad that he was wearing very light clothes, though; black leggings and a blue maternity dress.  
  
“Mommy, mommy! Cans we goes to da park?” Derek begged, once they were all sitting at the table and having breakfast. Noah was sitting next to Nathan, and across from them sat Derek and Jayden.  
  
“I don’t know. Only if your dad wants to take you,” Noah replied.  
  
Derek frowned. “Why you not come?”  
  
“Because I’m tired, Derek. I don’t feel like walking to the park.”  
  
Derek’s frown grew deeper, trying to understand why Noah wouldn’t want to join them in the park. Noah always enjoyed their park trips – he often took Derek and Nathan there when Jayden wasn’t home.  
  
“I hope the baby comes out soon so that you won’t be hurting anymore,” Nathan spoke, and looked at Noah with a worried frown.  
  
Noah chuckled softly and poured some milk on his cereal. “Yeah, me too.”  
  


 

***

  
  
Their park trip was delayed when Eden suddenly called to announce that she was coming over. Their cat Midnight had been a little sick during the week, so Noah had asked his sister to come by soon to have a look at the cat, and it seemed that Eden finally had time to drop by.  
  
Derek was grumpy that he couldn’t go to the park anyway because Eden was coming, but it couldn’t be helped. Noah was just glad that Jayden had managed to keep his promise and had given him a massage and wing grooming earlier. It made him feel much better.  
  
“Oh my god, you’ve gotten so big!” Eden exclaimed when Noah greeted her at the door. Along with her were Jason and their daughters Luna and Lucy, who were now 15 and 9 years old.  
  
Noah grinned as he ran his hands across his belly, which they were all staring at. “Yeah, I know.”  
  
Eden grinned and came forward to hug him, as well as gently stroking his belly. “I bet the little guy can’t wait to come out, huh? And I can’t believe that my little brother is having his third baby soon. Gosh, now I feel old.”  
  
Jayden laughed at her and greeted Jason, Luna, and Lucy, while Eden was busy with Noah. Nathan and Derek were there as well, and Nathan and Lucy – who were about the same age – smiled at each other.  
  
“Don’t say the word ‘old’ in front of Noah. It makes him depressed,” Jayden joked, and gave Noah a smirk.  
  
Noah swatted Jayden gently with his wing, shooting him a glare over his shoulder. “Shut up! No, it doesn’t.”  
  
Eden just laughed at them before coming inside to greet Nathan and Derek as well. “Hey, boys. You got big too – especially you, Nathan.”  
  
“Yeah, he’s gonna be taller than me soon…” Luna said, staring at Nathan in amazement. He was an average height for a 7-year-old beta, but Luna could tell that once he reached puberty he’d probably grow to be taller than her.  
  
Nathan grinned and curled his tail at the compliment.  
  
“Nooo! I got biggest!” Derek protested, and jumped around in front of them to get their attention.  
  
Noah was mildly embarrassed by his impudent son, but Eden thought it was kind of amusing.  
  
“Of course; we better not forget you,” Eden chuckled, and patted Derek on the head. The boy grinned up at her with a proud look on his face.  
  
“You didn’t bring Daniel with you?” Jayden asked, after having closed the door behind them. He watched as they all started taking off their shoes and jackets in the entrance hall, and Noah and Nathan helped them find space for their things.  
  
“No, he’s at the college and is spending some time with his girlfriend,” Jason replied.  
  
Luna crossed her arms and scrunched her nose in disgust. “That’s just a mild way of saying that they’re screwing…”  
  
“Luna!” Eden chastised her and gave her a warning glare for speaking like that.  
  
“What? It’s true…” Luna murmured, glaring back at her mom.  
  
Nathan blinked at them in confusion. “Screwing? Like, using a hammer and a screw and building something? What’s wrong with that?”  
  
The adults couldn’t help but laugh, though neither of them was willing to explain what was actually meant.  
  
“Oh kids, so ignorant…” Luna chuckled, and reached out to ruffle Nathan’s hair. “You’ll know when you’re older.”  
  
“Sorry about Luna,” Eden said, looking at Noah and Jayden and cringing a bit. “She’s just a bit upset that Daniel likes to spend more time with Sasha than with us lately.”  
  
Luna and Daniel had always been close, so it was understandable that Luna felt a bit left behind when her brother decided to spend most of his time with someone else. Though, everyone in the family got along very well with Sasha.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “No problem.”  
  
When the guests had taken off their shoes and were heading to the living room, Noah quickly sneaked his way to the bathroom when his bladder felt full again. The baby felt a little uneasy inside him. He could feel him moving around, and he’d feel some minor pains as well, but he didn’t think much of it. Pregnancy brought along a lot of uncomfortable sensations sometimes, so it wasn’t a big deal.  
  
Jayden led the guests into the living room, and Nathan and Lucy soon began playing together. Derek butted in because he didn’t like to be ignored, which annoyed Nathan a little.  
  
When Noah returned from the bathroom, he led Eden over to Midnight’s cat castle so that his sister could have a look at the cat. Midnight was lying inside the little ‘cave’, seemingly asleep, but the cat woke up when she sensed them nearby her hideout.  
  
“Hey, sweetie. Just gonna have a quick look at you,” Eden told the cat in a soft voice, and reached in to stroke the cat’s fur and calm her down. Once Midnight stood up and started rubbing against her hand, Eden had more space to evaluate the cat.  
  
Noah was a bit nervous about what Eden would find. He hoped it wasn’t something bad, since he really loved their cat and he didn’t want her to suffer or die. Midnight had been a little more withdrawn lately and hadn’t been eating as much as usually, so that was why they were rather concerned about her.  
  
Jayden too felt a little worried, and he used his tail to rub Noah’s leg for reassurance while Eden looked at their cat. Luna and Jason were standing next to them, while the kids were playing around in the room.  
  
Eden was still evaluating the cat when Derek ran by right behind her, shrieking and screaming as Nathan chased after him. The kids were playing tag, so Derek had to avoid having Nathan touch him.  
  
The loud noise caused Midnight to flinch and disappear back into her castle as fast as lightening.  
  
“Guys! Go play somewhere else,” Jayden barked at them. “You’re scaring the cat!”  
  
Nathan stopped and looked over at the adults with a guilty face. Lucy also shrunk a bit in guilt, whereas Derek just looked rather displeased. Nathan hurriedly ushered Derek out of the room so that they could keep playing in the rest of the house, and Lucy followed.  
  
“Does that happen often? Derek scaring the cat, I mean.” Eden looked into the cat castle and tried to make Midnight come out again, but the cat seemed determined to stay inside for a bit longer where it felt safe.  
  
Jayden sighed and ran a hand through his hair once. “Yeah, he can be pretty rough and loud around her. With Nathan it’s never been a problem, but Derek often pulls at the cat’s tail or pushes her around, and Midnight doesn’t like that. He even put her in the bathtub once. That little brat just won’t listen when we tell him to give the cat a break.”  
  
Jason chuckled a bit at that, and Noah felt embarrassed that his son was such a wild, uncontrollable brat sometimes.  
  
“Well, I think that’s what’s wrong,” Eden spoke, pulling away from the cat castle to look at them. “I think she’s feeling stressed that Derek is always after her and making her feel unsafe, and that’s why she’s been eating less and hiding more and more in her little castle. So I’d say to keep her separated from Derek for a while and see if there are any improvements. I don’t see anything physically wrong with her, though, aside from her being a little old.”  
  
Noah and Jayden were both horrified to know that Derek was part of the reason why their cat wasn’t doing so well, but somehow it didn’t come as a big surprise either.  
  
“Oh… I’m sorry, Midnight.” Noah cringed at the cat and walked over to her hideout to see if he could make her come out. He tried making some noises with his tongue to call for her, and after a few seconds the black and slightly white cat finally emerged from the shadows of her castle to let herself be pet by him. She purred as Noah scratched her chin and forehead with his fingers, and Noah smiled at her in return.  
  
“Aww, she likes you so much,” Eden grinned as she watched Noah with the cat.  
  
“Gosh, that Derek… Guess we gotta make some new house rules,” Jayden grunted, scratching his head with his hand in light frustration.  
  
Jason laughed. “Somehow he doesn’t strike me as someone who cares much for rules, though.”  
  
Jayden grunted louder, and Jason laughed once more and patted his shoulder in sympathy.  
  


 

***

  
  
Eden and her family stayed for a few hours, and they all sat in the living room and chatted back and forth while the kids played. They went outside as well so that Nathan, Derek, and Lucy could play some ball, and Luna joined in, soon followed by Eden, Jason, and Jayden. Again, Noah had to decline on joining the game because of his pregnancy, which annoyed him a bit.  
  
Everything was going well and fine, until around 2pm.  
  
Noah had just gone inside to use the bathroom, and returned outside a few minutes later. The adults were taking a break from the ball playing, while the kids were still at it in the garden.  
  
Jayden grinned when he spotted his mate in the terrace door, and came over to pull him into a small, loving hug. “Hey, gorgeous. Another bathroom visit?”  
  
The teasing tone in Jayden’s voice annoyed Noah a bit, since he hated it when Jayden made fun of it. He smacked Jayden lightly on the arm for it. “It isn’t funny! You should try trading places with me.”  
  
Jayden leaned his head back and laughed before smiling down at Noah again. His hands were placed on the submissive’s hips, holding him close. “Nah, I think I’ll pass. You’re probably handling this much better than I would.”  
  
“Damn right he is; you men would do nothing but whine and complain if you were the pregnant ones,” Eden remarked from somewhere behind them.  
  
Jayden laughed again, and Noah chuckled at how Jason shrunk a bit at Eden’s comment.  
  
“Perhaps we should play some card games or something, so that you can play along as well? Feel kinda guilty that you can’t join us in having fun with the ball…” Jayden spoke, and stared at Noah with a worried frown.  
  
Noah smiled and nodded. “Okay, sounds good.”  
  
“I’ll team up with you, Noah, so we can beat those guys!” Eden grinned, and gave him the thumbs up.  
  
Noah chuckled and let Jayden pull away from him. He placed a hand on his belly and winced a bit when an odd feeling spread inside him. He swallowed back a bit of nausea and watched as Jayden, Eden, and Jason talked over by the terrace table while waiting for him to come over and join. In the garden, the children were still playing, and he could hear every time one of them kicked the ball.  
  
Seconds later the nausea subsided, and Noah slowly made his way towards the table to join the others. However, he had only managed to take a few steps when suddenly a sharp pain spread through his abdomen and made him cry out. Noah’s blood ran cold when he recognized what kind of pain it was.  
  
Hearing Noah’s pained cry, Jayden immediately rushed over to his mate and supported him when it looked like the submissive was about to collapse. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you alright?” he demanded, his voice and face full of worry.  
  
Eden and Jason quickly came over as well, confused about what was going on.  
  
Noah grunted through the pain and let Jayden help keeping him on his feet. There was no doubt that the pains he felt were contractions, but it was way too early to have contractions; the baby wasn’t due for another 4 weeks!  
  
“I…” Noah didn’t manage to say more before his water suddenly broke. The fluid drenched his leggings and hit the ground, and his eyes widened in terror when he realized what that meant.  
  
Jayden, Eden, and Jason all immediately understood the situation when they heard and saw Noah’s water break, and panic spread across their faces.  
  
“Whoa, what? But the baby’s not due yet! It’s only September the 16th!” Jayden exclaimed, taken completely by surprise. His surprise was quickly replaced with urgency and worry, because he knew that the baby wasn’t supposed to be born yet, and it wasn’t healthy for a hybrid baby to be born early. “Shit.”  
  
“Oh my god, we better get him to the hospital right away. Get him in the car, Jayden!” Eden ordered.  
  
Jayden acted quickly. He picked Noah up bridal style – being very careful to not hurt him or his belly – and quickly carried the submissive through the living room and entrance hall, and out the door and into the car outside. He didn’t bother putting on shoes, but Jason quickly grabbed them for him and rushed outside to the car with him to give the shoes to Jayden.  
  
“Fuck. Can you guys take Derek and Nathan? Just take the other car; it has the children’s seats in them.” Jayden threw the car keys for their new SUV over to Jason, while he quickly put Noah into the passenger seat of their old Hyundai.  
  
Their old SUV had only had five seats, which wouldn’t be enough if they wanted to fit three children seat’s into the car, so Jayden had sold the old car and bought a new one, which had eight seats in it. It wasn’t allowed to have children under the age of ten in the car unless they were placed in a child’s seat, and those seats took up a lot of space.  
  
“Yeah, sure,” Jason croaked, catching the keys that Jayden threw at him.  
  
Noah was holding his stomach and grunting in pain while Jayden helped getting him placed and strapped into the passenger seat, and that was when the children all came running outside to them when they realized something was going on.  
  
“What’s wrong? Where’s daddy taking mommy?” Nathan demanded, looking a little panicked as he watched the scene.  
  
Derek tried running over to them, but Eden held him back. “No, no, it’s alright. Your daddy is just taking your mom to the hospital because the baby is coming, so you two will stay with us for a bit. We’ll drive you to the hospital to be with mommy and daddy soon.”  
  
“But the baby isn’t due for another month, is it?” Luna asked, staring between them with wide eyes.  
  
“Well, seems he’s coming earlier,” Eden replied. She looked over at Noah and Jayden, and bit her lip in worry. She watched as Jayden quickly got into the driver’s seat to head off to the hospital, and she crossed her fingers that they would make it in time before the baby was born. After all, Derek had been born very fast, so it was very likely that this birth would happen fast as well, leaving them little time to go to the hospital.  
  


 

***

  
  
Noah’s pained screams and grunts in the car made it really hard for Jayden to not break the speed limit too much as he rushed them to the hospital. He didn’t want Noah to have the baby in the car, since that would be an awful mess, and because he knew that their premature baby would need care right away after he was born.  
  
Worry and panic was eating away at Jayden as he drove, and he barely avoided hitting a few slow-driving cars on the way to the hospital, because he was so focused on getting his mate there as soon as possible.  
  
When they finally arrived, Jayden quickly helped Noah out of the car and guided him inside, where a group of nurses spotted them and came to help. It was a relief for Jayden to finally hand Noah over to professionals, but he was still worried to death about their baby.  
  
They were led to a clean hospital room, where Jayden was instructed to help Noah change into a hospital gown so they could easier assess how dilated he was. Noah’s contractions already came rather frequently, it seemed, and it would only be a matter of time before the baby would come.  
  
Out of pure luck, Charlie happened to be at the hospital on that day, and when she heard that Noah was in labor she quickly showed up in their room to help. Noah felt more comfortable around her than with one of the nurses or other doctors, whom he didn’t know.  
  
“Please don’t tell me he’s coming yet. It’s too soon,” Noah spoke, as he lay on the bed with his legs spread so that Charlie could examine him. Jayden was sitting next to the bed and holding his hand, and Noah’s wings trembled nervously under him.  
  
“You’re already almost fully dilated, so he’ll be coming out any minute now,” Charlie spoke, and pulled away a bit to look up at Noah and Jayden. “He’s indeed too early, but you can handle this, alright? As soon as he’s out, we’ll do our best to give him the care he needs and have him survive, okay?”  
  
Charlie seemed so confident that it would be okay, but Noah knew that hybrid babies who were born too early faced many risks; infections, trouble breathing, various problems due to underdeveloped organs, and poor health later in life because of this.  
  
Noah dropped his head back down on his pillow with a heavy sigh, followed by a pained grunt when the contractions caused him pain.  
  
Jayden held his hand and brought it up to his lips to kiss it. “Hey, I’m right here. Everything’s gonna be okay, Noah.”  
  
Noah turned his head and looked at his mate. “W-What about Nathan and Derek? Where are they?”  
  
“Eden’s gonna take care of them and bring them here. I’m sure they’re already on their way.”  
  
Noah nodded, feeling relieved to know that someone was taking care of the boys. Everything had happened so fast when they left the house, and Noah had been in too much pain and panic to really pay much attention to what was happening around him.  
  
A strong contraction suddenly shook Noah’s body, and he cried out when he felt the sudden need to push. The baby was already coming, but Noah wasn’t sure if he was ready yet. He was too scared that his baby wasn’t going to make it or would be very sick when he was born.  
  
Charlie quickly instructed him to push and breathe, and Noah had no choice but to do as she said. He pushed his fears aside and focused on bringing the baby into the world as safely as he could, no matter the pain.  
  
“You’re doing so well, baby. Just a bit more,” Jayden reassured him, and kept holding and kissing Noah’s hand to help him through it.  
  
“I don’t want to, not yet,” Noah cried, squeezing Jayden’s hand so hard while he pushed as much as he could. Everything hurt, and his skin was bathed in sweat as he lay on the bed, twisting from pain.  
  
“It’ll be alright, Noah. Right now your baby just needs to get out, okay? Just a little more…” Charlie spoke from between his legs, where she was getting ready to grab the baby as soon as she was able to.  
  
Noah cried out more, both from pain and fear, and all Jayden could do was to continue holding his hand and murmuring encouraging words at him. His support seemed to help Noah a little, but not as much as usually.  
  
Sweat, tears, and agony later, the baby’s cries finally filled the room.  
  
Noah was relieved to hear the cries, but immediately noticed how different it sounded from Nathan and Derek’s cries when they were born. This baby’s cries were more strained, as if he was having a hard time breathing and getting any sound out.  
  
Charlie and other doctors acted fast. They grabbed the baby boy and rushed him into the other room to assess him and help him breathe. Noah and Jayden didn’t even have time to look at their baby because the doctors were in such a hurry, and only caught a small glimpse of him.  
  
“I-Is he okay?” Noah asked, trying to sit up more to see as his baby was led out of the room, but the action caused him to feel pain in his lower back. He had to lie down and rest again, still panting and sweating from the birth.  
  
“The doctors will take good care of him and make sure he’s alright,” a nurse replied, smiling. She then came over and changed the dirty sheets on the bed so that Noah would be more comfortable.  
  
Noah and Jayden exchanged a worried look and held each other’s hands tightly.  
  
“Do you think he’ll make it?” Noah asked quietly.  
  
The question kind of surprised Jayden. He didn’t want Noah to even consider that their baby wouldn’t make it – it just wasn’t an option. “Of course he’ll make it; he’s _our_ baby.”  
  
“But he looked tiny…”  
  
“Hey, he wasn’t tiny; probably just a little bit smaller than Nathan and Derek were, that’s all. I’m sure he’ll be healthy once the doctors help him.”  
  
“His cries didn’t sound healthy, though…”  
  
“Stop that. Stop worrying so much; it isn’t good for you.” Jayden brought Noah’s hand up to his mouth to kiss it once again. “The doctors deal with this all the time, and there are many babies who are born much earlier but still make it. So don’t worry.”  
  
Although he was so busy telling Noah not to worry and instead be optimistic about their baby, Jayden himself felt a little worried too. Premature hybrid babies often faced complications, but at least their baby was born at 37 weeks and not 36 weeks or below, which was far more dangerous.  
  
“I just want to hold him…” Noah’s voice was small and quiet, and tears formed in his eyes as he looked at Jayden. It broke the alpha’s heart to see that.  
  
“You will, soon,” Jayden promised, and kissed Noah’s hand once more.  
  
It was agonizing to wait for a few minutes for Charlie to tell them how their baby was doing. Noah and Jayden kept holding each other’s hands, and Jayden placed small kisses on Noah’s sweaty forehead to distract his thoughts. The births of Nathan and Derek had been happy and successful, and it was unnerving to think that this time might be different. They could only pray that their baby wasn’t too sick to live, like some premature hybrid babies were.  
  
A few minutes later, Charlie finally came into the room, pushing a small incubator in front of her.  
  
Noah and Jayden immediately straightened up and gave her their full attention.  
  
“Your baby is alright, don’t worry,” Charlie smiled, and pushed the incubator over next to the bed. “The little guy’s lungs are a bit underdeveloped, so he will need some extra oxygen for a few days. The incubator will keep him warm, and the monitors will measure his heartrate and so on to make sure that he’s doing okay. In a week or two, he should be able to go home.”  
  
Noah and Jayden both sighed heavily in relief, and stared into the incubator where their new, little son was. The baby lay in there with soft blankets around him, and he squirmed a bit. His tiny tail was visible outside the blanket, as were his wings. His wings looked just like Nathan’s; grey with a few red feathers, except the grey was a little darker than Nathan’s. His eyes were closed, and there was a tiny mask on his face to help him breathe, and tubes attached to his veins to give him fluids and nutrition.  
  
“Oh, he’s so small…” was the first thing Noah said, as he watched his baby with a soft, worried smile.  
  
Charlie laughed a bit. “He’s a little bit smaller than Nathan and Derek were, but that’s normal since he was born a bit early. He should grow bigger soon, and hopefully there won’t be any complications. We’ll keep an eye out for infections and make sure he doesn’t get any, and if he does, we’ll treat him.”  
  
Noah nodded quietly and couldn’t tear his eyes off his baby. He wanted so badly to hold him, but he guessed it probably wasn’t a good idea yet.  
  
“Do you wanna hold him?” Charlie asked, as if reading Noah’s mind. “You can hold him for a few moments, but then we have to put him back into the incubator again…”  
  
Noah beamed at the offer and eagerly nodded his head. Next to him, Jayden grinned as he sat down on the bed on Noah’s other side and leaned over to have a closer look.  
  
Charlie carefully opened the incubator and took out the newborn baby, being very gentle as she placed him in Noah’s arms. The mask was still covering the baby’s mouth to help him breathe, so Noah had to be careful of the tubes and stuff.  
  
The baby squirmed and grunted a bit, and his tiny hands curled into fists as he snuggled into Noah. Noah grinned down at him with teary eyes and leaned down to nuzzle his face against his baby’s with affection. Jayden was there too, stroking the baby’s head and smiling happily at the sight in front of him.  
  
“So glad you’re here,” Noah told the baby, nuzzling him a bit more.  
  
Jayden chuckled and leaned in to place a kiss on the baby’s head, before Charlie had to put him back into the incubator.  
  
Noah was reluctant to let go of his baby now that he was finally bonding with him, but he could tell that the baby was cold and needed to go back into the warmth of the incubator.  
  
Charlie carefully took the baby and put him back, making sure all the tubes and the mask were in place before she closed the lit again.  
  
“Thanks, Charlie,” Jayden told her, and gave her a grateful smile.  
  
Charlie smiled at them. “I’ll give you a few minutes with him, and then I’ll go see if your families have arrived yet, okay?”  
  
Noah nodded absently and kept staring at the baby. He wanted to move over and sit on the edge of the bed, but his body was very sore after the birth, so he couldn’t move just yet.  
  
Charlie turned to leave, but then stopped and turned around to look at them again. “Oh, and I tested him for his secondary gender. He’s an alpha,” she informed them, smiling at them once more before leaving the room.  
  
Jayden blinked in surprise and watched Charlie leave. “Whoa, another alpha?”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “Now our house will really be stuffed full of alpha testosterone…” He didn’t sound too happy about it, though.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Sorry.”  
  
“It’s okay. Maybe it means he’ll be strong enough to get through this.” Noah glanced at their baby with a small smile, hoping he was right.  
  
Jayden smiled at him before getting up and walking around the bed to have a closer look at the baby in the small incubator. It was a little scary to see their baby hooked up on oxygen and drops in order to survive, but at least the little guy was moving and squirming a bit, indicating that he was alive.  
  
Jayden grinned at the baby and placed a hand on the glass. “Hey, little one. Kinda tough start in life, huh? Why did you have to come out so early?”  
  
Noah chortled softly at his words and shifted a bit on the bed to get comfortable. “I wish I could hold him again…”  
  
“Yeah, me too, but I guess we better wait for a bit.”  
  
“Mm.” Noah kept staring at their baby, and smiled when the little one squirmed a bit. “What should we call him?”  
  
Jayden blinked at him as he thought about it. “Uh, I don’t know. It’s your turn to think of a name.”  
  
“But I’m no good with alpha names. You think of one.”  
  
Jayden considered a name for a bit, trying to find one that would suit their baby. They had discussed a few names and come up with some that they liked the most, so Jayden scanned his memory for the alpha names that he thought would suit the baby best. He stared at the little figure in the incubator before finally deciding on a name.  
  
“How about Dylan? It’s the name of some hero or god in Welsh mythology, if I remember correctly, and he could really use the power of a hero or god right now.”  
  
“Dylan?” Noah repeated softly, tasting the name on his tongue. He stared at the baby for a few moments before smiling. “I like it.”  
  
Jayden grinned widely when their new son’s name had been decided. He went over to sit down on the edge of the bed beside Noah and next to the incubator, and once again grabbed his mate’s hand to reassure him.  
  


 

***

  
  
After the doctors had checked on Dylan one more time to make sure he was still doing fine, Noah and Jayden’s families were finally allowed to come into the room and see the baby.  
  
Eden and Jason had driven Nathan and Derek to the hospital in Jayden’s SUV, and the two boys were delighted to be reunited with their parents again. They both rushed over to hug Jayden as soon as they spotted him, and went to check on Noah, who was sitting on the bed and recovering from the birth.  
  
Dean and Castiel were also at the hospital, after Eden had called them to inform them about Noah’s early labor. They had called Micah and Leila about it as well, who arrived at the hospital along with Laura, who was worried sick about her new nephew. Lily had shown up too, but Isaac and Adrian couldn’t come just yet.  
  
The doctors were very strict and only allowed them to be in the room for a few minutes along with the baby, in order to not stress the newborn out more than necessary. The incubator would be moved into another room when the time expired, so that doctors could keep an eye on Dylan and make sure he was okay.  
  
“Mommy, are you okay?” Nathan asked in worry, as he climbed up on Noah’s bed to sit next to him. They had just entered the room to see the baby, and Nathan became worried about Noah when he could tell that his mom looked tired and worn out.  
  
Noah smiled and reached out to sweep some hairs away from Nathan’s forehead, while the others in the room were looking at little Dylan. “I’m okay. I promise.”  
  
Nathan beamed at him and leaned forward to hug Noah, who returned the hug and wrapped his arms around Nathan’s smaller body.  
  
“Oh gosh, he’s so cute,” Lily grinned as she looked at little Dylan along with the others. Her eyes were tearing up a bit at the sight of Noah’s new baby.  
  
“Noah and Jayden have always produced cute babies together,” Eden pointed out, chuckling.  
  
Her comment made Noah blushed furiously as the others laughed, and he hated Jayden for laughing as well.  
  
“The cuteness must be in Noah’s genes,” Micah joked, and smirked at Jayden, who was standing close to Noah and little Dylan.  
  
“Don’t say that. Connor was awfully cute when he was born,” Leila argued.  
  
“I’m not cute, and neither will I be called Connor,” Jayden grunted, glaring at both of his parents with his arms crossed. A tiny, embarrassed blush spread across his cheeks, which made his parents laugh.  
  
Castiel chuckled at them and moved over to Noah. “I’m happy that the baby was born safely. Don’t be too hard on yourself now, okay? He’ll make it through.”  
  
Noah nodded quietly, and let Castiel lean down to hug him. Noah hugged him back tightly and hoped that he was right.  
  
“Yeah, you did well, Noah. Rest now,” Dean told him, and gave his youngest son a reassuring smile.  
  
Meanwhile, Derek was jumping up and down in front of the incubator to get a better look at the new baby. He was very displeased when he couldn’t see properly, but then Laura lifted him up and allowed him to get a better look. “Is dat my new bruhder?” he asked, watching the baby with a curious tilt of his head.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Yeah, it is. His name’s Dylan, so you better get used to it.”  
  
“Dylan?” Laura repeated, looking up at her brother. “So he’s an alpha, then?”  
  
“Yep.”  
  
Nathan’s face paled, while Derek squealed in joy.  
  
“Yay! New playmate!” Derek cheered. You could practically see him imagining all the mischief and fun he’d have with his new alpha brother in the future.  
  
“Noooo, not another alpha!” Nathan whined, burying his face in his hands again as he sat on the bed next to Noah. “I don’t want another Derek in the house!”  
  
Everyone laughed at his comment, except for Lucy, who kind of felt sorry for Nathan at the moment.  
  
“Oh, come on, buddy. Who says he’ll be exactly like Derek?” Dean said, and placed a reassuring hand on Nathan’s shoulder to cheer him up.  
  
“Better hope he isn’t, otherwise they’ll tear your house apart,” Laura remarked, and looked at Jayden and Noah as she spoke.  
  
Jayden rubbed the back of his neck a bit. “Yeah, I do hope he’s a little different from his brother…”  
  
The others laughed, and continued to watch little Dylan for as long as they could.  
  
Noah was happy to have his family around, but he also felt a bit too tired to have them around for too long. He was exhausted, and he was still worried that Dylan would face complications before he was finally allowed to go home. Anything could happen until he was strong enough to be discharged.  
  
Just a few minutes later the doctors came and moved Dylan into another room, so that he could be in a more quiet environment. It broke Noah’s heart to see his newborn be taken away from him, but he knew it was for the best and that he’d see him again soon.  
  
Noah and Jayden were going home on the same day, leaving little Dylan in the care of professionals during the night until they’d come back on the next day. They weren’t leaving yet, though, since Noah was still very tired and he wanted to be around Dylan for as long as he could. The others were slowly starting to head home, though.  
  
“Take care of yourself, okay? And let me know how things with Dylan progress,” Castiel told Noah as he hugged him goodbye. Noah was standing up now, though he was still a little weak in the knees and sore all over.  
  
“Thanks, papa. I will,” Noah promised as he hugged him back.  
  
The others came over to hug Noah, Jayden, and their boys goodbye as well.  
  
“You two be good, yeah?” Leila said to Nathan and Derek as she parted ways with them. “Don’t give your mommy a hard time; he needs to rest.”  
  
“Okay, grandma,” Derek said, though pouting a bit because he didn’t like being told to be ‘good’. He liked to do what he wanted.  
  
Noah and Jayden waved goodbye at their families as they left, leaving them alone in the room with Nathan and Derek. Jason had returned Jayden’s car keys to him, so it wouldn’t be a problem driving home with the boys later.  
  
After the others were gone, Nathan turned to look up at his parents. “When can we go see Dylan again?”  
  
“We’re going in a minute. Your mom needs to rest a bit first,” Jayden replied.  
  
“No, I don’t,” Noah denied stubbornly, feeling too impatient to see his baby again. He was about to walk over to the door so they could go to the hospital’s neonatal unit, where the premature babies were kept, but Jayden stopped him.  
  
“No, first you need to sit down and have something to drink. You’re hurting, dehydrated, and can’t even walk properly.”  
  
“But I’m fine!” Noah insisted. He grunted irritably as Jayden led him back over to the bed and made him sit down. Sitting down made his butt hurt awfully much, so he quickly turned to lie down instead to remove the pressure. He glared at Jayden for stopping him from going to see their baby.  
  
Jayden just gave him a stubborn look before handing him a bottle of water, which one of the nurses had given them earlier. “Drink and rest, and then we’ll go. Dylan’s gonna be fine until then.”  
  
Noah hesitated for a moment before giving in. He sighed and quickly began drinking the water, not even having realized how thirsty he was.  
  
It was a little frustrating for the family that they couldn’t take the baby home right away and instead had to worry about him, but hopefully things would be fine. Jayden was determined to help Noah cope with it, and also make sure that his mate didn’t ignore his own needs.  
  
A tough week or two waited ahead of them, but Jayden was confident that little Dylan would pull through. He was Jayden’s alpha son, after all, and that didn’t count for nothing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel a bit bad for putting Noah and Jayden through the worries of having a premature baby… Let’s see how it goes :) Now they have 2 alpha sons, so things could get quite tough for Nathan XD I look forward to exploring the sibling dynamics when they get older :)
> 
> Also, I don't know much about premature babies and cats being scared of kids like Derek, so it's just based on stuff I read and researched.
> 
> Reminder again that all details about the verse, characters, house layouts, etc. can be found on my [Livejournal](http://luciel89.livejournal.com/62063.html).


	44. Chapter 44

**September – October 2057 (Noah is 31, Jayden is 33, Nathan is 7 (almost 8), Derek is 3 years old, Dylan is 0-3 weeks old, Castiel is 68, Dean is 69, Leila is 59, Micah is 60 years old).**  
  
The first few days after his birth, Dylan seemed to be improving and the doctors had high hopes for his recovery. Noah and Jayden were happy that their son’s health was improving, and it seemed like their baby would be able to go home very soon.   
  
However, that soon changed.  
  
When Dylan was just six days old, he caught an infection that caused him high fever, and the doctors had to give him antibiotics and fight to keep the infection down.  
  
It was a hard blow on Noah and Jayden, who could do nothing but look at their little baby as he squirmed inside his incubator and cried from discomfort all the time. Noah barely slept because of his worry, and he spent most of the time in the hospital to stay by his baby’s side. Jayden was with him as much as he could whenever he could leave Nathan and Derek in the care of family or friends.  
  
“Noah, aren’t you hungry? We should go get something eat,” Jayden suggested, as he stood next to Noah and the incubator, watching them. He had just been outside to get some air, but Noah had refused to leave the room.  
  
Dylan had now been sick for three days, and Noah was still at the hospital, keeping watch over the baby. Dylan had been transferred to the intensive care unit for babies since he got the infection, and Noah sat in a chair next to the incubator all the time.  
  
“No, you can go without me…” Noah murmured, not taking his eyes off of Dylan. His voice was weak and tired, and Jayden had noticed rings forming under Noah’s eyes lately because he lacked sleep.  
  
Jayden sighed, feeling both frustrated and helpless. “You can’t sit in here all the time, you know. You need to eat and drink.”  
  
“I told you I’m not hungry,” Noah muttered, his voice a bit more irritated this time. His eyes flickered briefly towards Jayden before looking at Dylan again. The baby was rather calm now, after the doctors had given him some medicine to dull his pain and the fever, but he was still in a bad shape. It hurt Noah to see his newborn in such a state. It just wasn’t fair.  
  
“Well, it’s not helping anyone that you’re sitting here. I’m worried about Dylan too, but there’s nothing I can do but to wait for him to get better and be around as much as I can. We also need to look after ourselves and our own needs.”  
  
Noah was about to say something – probably something snarky – when suddenly there was a soft knock on the door. They both looked up and saw Dean and Castiel in the door, eyeing them warily and with worried eyes.  
  
“Hey. Hope we aren’t interrupting,” Dean spoke, giving them both a smile before looking at little Dylan. His smile faded somewhat. “How’s the little guy? Any improvements?” He slowly walked into the room along with Cas to see their tiny grandson inside the incubator. They had been visiting the hospital multiple times in the past few days, as had other members of the family, in order to show Noah and Jayden support and to see the new baby.  
  
Jayden was relieved that Dean and Castiel had arrived. He had had the feeling that he and Noah were about to get into a fight before they came, so he was glad it didn’t come to that. “Well, a bit. His fever is going down, but it’s going slow.”  
  
“I’m glad to hear that he’s getting better,” Castiel spoke, sighing in relief. He smiled at little Dylan before looking at Noah, who was still sitting on the chair next to the incubator. “And how are you, Noah? You look tired.”  
  
Tired was somewhat of an understatement. Noah hadn’t slept properly in days, nor had he eaten much since Dylan fell sick. He looked drained and defeated; like a zombie that was just staring into space. It pained the others in the room to see him like that.  
  
“I’m okay. I’m just so worried…” Noah confessed quietly.  
  
Castiel gave his son a sympathetic look and came over to place a hand on his shoulder for reassurance. Noah leaned into his touch and gave him a small smile.   
  
Jayden noticed the smile and couldn’t help but smile as well. It had been a couple of days since he had last seen Noah smiling.  
  
They turned their gazes to Dylan again, who was still lying quietly in the incubator. His eyes were closed, but he squirmed and moved his limbs sometimes. He was getting fluids and medicine through drops in his veins, and milk was given to him through a tube every now and then. Before the infection had occurred, Noah and Jayden had been able to hold him in their arms a few times and feed him with a bottle, while the baby had received oxygen through a nasal cannula. Dylan had responded well to the skin contact and warmth, but sadly he couldn’t get that right now.  
  
“Where are Nathan and Derek?” Dean suddenly asked, and glanced around the room.  
  
“They’re with my parents right now,” Jayden explained. “I had my mom pick them up from school and daycare today so that Noah and I could come here to the hospital.”  
  
“Of course. It isn’t good for Nathan or Derek to be here too much. It would only worry them further to see their brother in this incubator and see your pained faces,” Castiel spoke. He squeezed Noah’s shoulder and glanced at Dylan once more. He could tell that Noah was very upset to see his baby like this, and Castiel hated that he couldn’t do anything to help.  
  
“I just wish I could hold him again soon…” Noah spoke, his voice small and broken.  
  
Noah’s voice made Castiel’s heart ache with sadness. He gently unfurled his wing and wrapped it around Noah in an act of comfort and love, while his hand rubbed Noah’s shoulder slowly. “You will be able to soon, don’t worry.” It was a promise he hoped he could keep. Anything could happen, and Dylan’s condition could turn either for the better or worse in the following days.  
  
Jayden hated the sadness and helplessness he felt in the room and inside himself. Even more, he hated how he could do nothing but watch his mate get more and more upset about the situation, and how his little son was totally dependent on the doctors’ help to survive. He had been out for more late night jogs lately to try and get rid of all the frustration he felt, but it didn’t seem to help much; he just couldn’t stop worrying about his little son at the hospital.  
  
They stayed in the room for fifteen minutes, watching over the baby. They chatted a bit about their lives and how Dean was going to retire from his job as a mechanic soon. Castiel was also going to retire in a few months, since he felt he was getting a bit too old to stand on those ladders and creature sculptures.  
  
Noah thought it was both a bit weird and sad that his parents were retiring from their beloved jobs, but he didn’t say much as they talked about it. He really wasn’t in the mood for speaking.  
  
They stayed in the room until a doctor came and asked them to leave. Visiting hours were over and it was getting pretty late; 8pm already.  
  
Reluctantly, Noah rose from his chair to leave. He placed his hand on Dylan’s incubator before going, telling the baby that he loved him, and then followed the others outside. Castiel’s wing was wrapped around him for comfort, and Noah felt a little better because of it.  
  
“Let’s go have something to eat together. Dylan will be fine,” Dean promised, and grinned at Noah to cheer him up.  
  
Noah gave his dad a forced smile and a small nod, and together the four of them headed to the hospital’s cafeteria to get something to eat.  
  
Jayden was relieved that Noah was finally getting something to drink and eat, but he was still worried about his mate.  
  
Noah didn’t speak much during the dinner, and he kept looking upset and worried. It helped a bit when Dean tried to tell some funny stories to lighten the mood, but it was impossible to get rid of that dark cloud that hung above their heads all the time. All they could do was to lighten it up a bit and not let the color of said cloud get too dark.  
  
  


***

  
  
They spent almost an hour together in the cafeteria before heading home, and Noah and Jayden had to pick up Nathan and Derek from Leila and Micah’s house. They parted ways with Dean and Castiel at the hospital, and thanked them for coming to check on them, before heading to pick up their children.  
  
It was past 9pm when they arrived at Jayden’s parents’ house, but both of the boys were still awake.   
  
“Mommy! Daddy! So glad you’re back!” Nathan cheered as he ran through the entrance hall towards them.  
  
Jayden got the air knocked out of him when Nathan tackled him in the doorway and hugged him tight. “Hey, Nathan. Missed you too.” He grinned down at his son, who seemed very happy to see finally see him and Noah again.  
  
Nathan grinned back up at him before going to hug Noah next. Noah hugged him back with a smile, while Leila watched them with a small laugh.  
  
“Parents are always better than grandparents, huh?” Leila joked.  
  
“Sorry. Love you too, grandma,” Nathan told her, feeling a little guilty.  
  
Leila laughed. “Don’t be sorry, silly.”  
  
Jayden was about to ask where Derek was when the boy suddenly came running over to them as well.  
  
“Mommy! Daddy! Where you been?” Derek asked, and came to a stop in front of Jayden. He had been in the living room with Micah, who now also appeared in the entrance hall. Laura wasn’t home; she was spending the weekend with Nicholas.  
  
“We were visiting your little brother,” Jayden explained, and ruffled Derek’s hair fondly.  
  
Leila glanced at them with a concerned frown. “How is he?”  
  
Noah cast his eyes down, and Jayden gave him a worried glance from the corner of his eye before looking at his parents again.  
  
“He’s slowly improving. He was calm when we left the hospital,” Jayden replied.  
  
Micah nodded quietly. “Well, I’m glad he’s calmed down and doesn’t cry as much anymore. Now we just gotta wait for him to get better.”  
  
Derek didn’t really understand much of what was going on. He knew that his new little brother was a bit sick, but he didn’t understand it fully. Nathan understood more than he did, and the boy cast a worried glance at Noah when he saw his mom staring at the ground and folding his wings close to himself, as if he was sad. Nathan didn’t like seeing that.  
  
“Well, you better get home and put those boys to bed,” Micah spoke to break the silence.  
  
“I think Derek burned most of his energy during his stay here, but that boy always has reserves, so I can’t promise that he’ll be totally quiet when he comes home,” Leila joked.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, thanks.” He looked down at the boys, who both looked eager to go home again. “Come on; put on your shoes and jackets, guys.”  
  
Nathan and Derek hurried to comply, and ended up pushing at each other when they got in each other’s way. The adults chuckled at it and watched them with amusement.  
  
“I’ll see you guys later,” Leila spoke when they were about to leave. “And take care of yourselves, yeah? Especially you, Noah. You need some rest.” She gave Noah a sad but reassuring smile as she placed her hand on his shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.  
  
Noah blinked at her before nodding. "Yeah. Thank you.” He smiled at Leila and Micah before saying goodbye and following Jayden and the boys out to their car.  
  
They all got strapped into their seats, and Nathan was the one who helped Derek into his seat and fastened his seatbelt for him.  
  
They drove off after that, looking forward to going home and heading off to bed soon.  
  
“We did so much fun stuff today,” Nathan explained eagerly as they drove home through the dark streets. “We played ball with grandpa in the garden, and we beat him! And grandma had ice creams for us. I freakin’ love her homemade ice cream!”  
  
“Oh? That sounds like fun. And yeah, grandma’s ice cream is the best,” Jayden grinned from the driver’s seat. It was dark in the car, so he could barely see them in the rearview mirror. Only the street lights they passed by provided him with a bit of light to see the boys on the backseat. “Was school fun too?”  
  
“Yeah, kinda. Most of the classes were kinda boring, but math was fun for once,” Nathan replied, and began grinning. “Our math teacher fell off his chair when he climbed onto it to pull down the big screen-thingie for the projector. It was pretty hilarious, and he got grumpy when we laughed.” He giggled from amusement on the backseat.  
  
Jayden laughed at the mental image, and Noah couldn’t help but smile a bit too.  
  
“And then in our break—”  
  
“And I played ball today in da daycare!” Derek blurted loudly, and grinned as he raised his hands in excitement.  
  
Nathan glared at his brother for interrupting him all of sudden. “Hey, I was talking, you dummy! Wait your turn.”  
  
“ _You’re_ da dummy!” Derek retorted and stuck out his tongue at him.  
  
The boys started hitting each other with toys and comic magazines that were lying around on the backseat, until Jayden ordered them to cut it out and stop fighting.  
  
Nathan tried to move on with his story, but got irritated whenever Derek interrupted him again. He tried to just keep on talking even though Derek was babbling in between his words, hoping it would make Derek stop eventually.  
  
It was difficult to keep up with what Nathan was telling because of Derek’s interruptions, but it was kind of amusing. Noah couldn’t help but giggle a bit at it, while Jayden kept trying to tell Derek to be quiet so that Nathan could finish talking.  
  
  


***

  
  
When they got home, everyone was tired except for Derek, who was eager to play with Nathan. Despite it being late and him having played around a lot that day, he still had energy enough to want to tumble around for a bit longer.  
  
“Come oooon, let’s play!” Derek begged, and tried to pull at Nathan’s arm to get him to come into the living room with him.  
  
“No, I’m too tired and I have school tomorrow,” Nathan argued, and kept trying to pull his own weight in the other direction to avoid getting dragged along by Derek. He was stronger than his little brother (for now), but he still had some trouble keeping himself from being dragged away by him.  
  
“Yeah, and it’s way past your bedtime,” Jayden added, and put his and Noah’s jackets away in the closet by the staircase.  
  
“But it’s not our fault that you picked us up so late,” Nathan murmured, still trying to shake Derek off and resist his brother’s pulling. “And stop that already, you dummy!”  
  
“You’re da dummy!” Derek retorted, and didn’t stop pulling at Nathan’s arm. “Why won’t you play?”  
  
“’Cause it’s late and I’m tired! And stop pulling at me!”  
  
Jayden sighed heavily, feeling too drained to deal with his sons’ endless bickering again. The whole thing with Dylan took a toll on him mentally, and all he wanted was to climb into bed and sleep. He didn’t even notice Noah quietly leaving the room.  
  
“Guys, cut it out,” Jayden chastised the kids. “It’s time to brush your teeth and put on your sleepwear.”  
  
“But I’m thirsty!” Derek argued, and finally let go of Nathan’s arm.  
  
When his arm was released, Nathan sighed in relief and rubbed the sore spot that Derek had been holding on to. Derek was still young, but he had a pretty tight grip.  
  
Jayden sighed. “Okay, let’s go to the kitchen first and get something to drink. Go, go.” He ushered the boys towards the kitchen, making Nathan and Derek squeal and grin when he acted like he was going to tickle them if they didn’t move.  
  
Jayden was a little surprised to see Noah in the kitchen when they arrived there. The submissive was standing over by the sink, holding a glass of water in his hand while staring out the window into the darkness. Noah barely seemed to notice their presence, and Jayden could tell that he was lost in his own thoughts.  
  
“Hey.”  
  
Noah flinched a bit and looked up when he heard Jayden’s voice. He turned to look at him and blinked a few times.  
  
“Everything’s gonna be okay,” Jayden promised, giving Noah a smile before he planted a small kiss on the submissive’s temple. His hands came to rest on Noah’s shoulders as he stood behind him, rubbing soft circles into them with his thumbs.  
  
Noah looked down and said nothing, but he seemed to appreciate Jayden’s affectionate gesture. The alpha rubbed him for a bit before turning to the sink to pour some water for Nathan and Derek, and then handed them their cups.  
  
“Nooo! I want dat cup!” Derek complained when he saw that Nathan got the cup with Cars on it and Derek himself got one with Pokémon.  
  
Nathan sent his brother a nonchalant glare while he quickly drank from his cup. When Derek reached out to snatch his cup away from him, Nathan just placed his hand on his brother’s chest, using his stretched arm to keep Derek an arm’s length away from him.  
  
“Nooo! Stupid!” Derek complained, and kept trying to get past Nathan’s hand.  
  
“You’re stupid! Just drink instead of complaining!” Nathan snapped, and glared at his brother for being so annoying. “It’s just a cup.”  
  
Again, Jayden let out a loud, helpless sigh as he watched them fight. “Derek, either you drink that or you’re not getting any. Got it?”  
  
Derek stilled when he heard his dad’s firm voice. He shot Nathan another glare before finally drinking from his cup, gulping down the water much faster than Nathan had, as if competing with him.  
  
After drinking his water, Derek pulled his mouth away from his cup and panted for breath. He then looked at Nathan with a grumpy frown on his forehead. “I can’t wait for new alpha bruhder to get bigger. He’ll be funner!”  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes at his little brother. “You mean he won’t keep reminding you that you’re doing stuff you’re not supposed to do, right? And that he won’t be bigger than you, like I am.”  
  
Derek glared at Nathan for pointing that out, and Jayden couldn’t help but chuckle as he observed the boys. To stop them from arguing any further, Jayden clasped his hands together to get their attention before speaking.   
  
“Come on, off to bed. Go to the bathroom and brush your teeth, and I’ll be there in a minute to brush yours, Derek.”  
  
“Noooo,” Derek whined, hating having his teeth brushed.  
  
“Yeeees,” Jayden argued back, grinning. He went forward to grab Derek and drag him to the bathroom to have his teeth brushed, but Derek quickly escaped his hands and went over to Noah.  
  
Derek clung to Noah for protection and started pulling at Noah’s clothes while pouting up at him. “Mommy, dun wanna! Lemme stay awake!”  
  
Noah sighed and tried to pry Derek’s fingers off his shirt before the boy would ruin his clothes. “No, it’s time for bed and you need to brush your teeth. Go with your father.”  
  
“Noooo!” Derek clung himself tighter to Noah, refusing to let go.  
  
Derek’s defiance and stubbornness irritated Noah a bit. Derek always got a bit hyper and whiny when he was overtired, and he’d do anything to not be put to bed. But Noah felt way too stressed to deal with it tonight. He had been through a lot of things emotionally for the past week, and Derek’s current behavior did not help his mood.  
  
“Derek, just stop being such a baby and go to bed,” Nathan told his brother when he sensed that Derek was making Noah feel a bit uncomfortable.  
  
“No!” Derek denied once again, and rudely stuck out his tongue at Nathan, who regarded him with an annoyed frown in return.  
  
The constant bickering and Derek digging his fingers into his shirt and clinging to him, even when Noah was trying to make him let go, was finally too much for Noah. Without thinking, he suddenly growled out, “ _Derek!_ Go to bed _right now,_ and stop driving me crazy all the god damn time! I can’t take it anymore!” His voice came out much louder and angrier than he had intended to, and it wasn’t until he had said the words that he realized what he had done.  
  
Jayden, Nathan, and Derek all stared back at Noah with wide, surprised eyes. Noah had never spoken to the kids like that before, and the anger on his face and in his voice was something they were definitely not used to.  
  
Derek downright flinched when Noah snapped and cursed at him like that, and his little wings lowered themselves in guilt and shame as he glanced up at his mom with stunned eyes.  
  
Nathan was just shocked. He had seen Noah get upset with Derek lots of times before, but he had never seen him snap like that.  
  
As soon as Noah realized what he had done, his eyes widened in horror. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to yell at you…” He leaned down to level with Derek, and placed a cautious hand on the boy’s shoulder. His heart broke a bit when Derek flinched slightly at his touch.  
  
“I-I’m sorry, mommy. I’ll go to bed now,” Derek said, staring back at Noah with wide eyes, almost as if he was afraid to get yelled at again.  
  
Derek’s expression wasn’t one that Noah was used to seeing, and he hated himself for making his son look at him like that. “Oh, I’m so sorry…” he repeated, and pulled Derek into a small hug to apologize. “I’m just so tired, and I wasn’t thinking when I said that.”  
  
Derek shifted uncomfortably as Noah hugged him – like he always did when he was being hugged. “Dat’s okay. Go sleep, mommy.”  
  
Noah smiled in relief when it sounded like Derek wasn’t upset with him anymore. He pulled away from his son and gave him a smile before getting to his feet again.  
  
Jayden had been watching them quietly, and was frankly a bit shocked that Noah had snapped like that earlier. He smiled when things seemed good between Noah and Derek again, but he could sense that something was definitely off with Noah.   
  
To break the sudden uncomfortable silence in the room, Jayden cleared his throat. “Okay, now it’s _really_ time to go to bed and brush your teeth. No more stalling and no more excuses.” Jumping forward, he quickly grabbed a hold of Derek and threw him over his shoulder to carry him out of the room.  
  
Derek shrieked and squealed in reply, and his little legs kicked as Jayden walked with him out of the room and towards the stairs, so that they could go to the upstairs bathroom where their toothbrushes were.   
  
“Say good night to your mommy,” Jayden told him as they left the kitchen.  
  
“Night, mommy!” Derek squealed, grinning over at Noah. He was hanging over Jayden’s shoulder, so he was facing Noah when Jayden left the room.  
  
Noah chuckled and waved at him. “Good night, Derek.”  
  
Nathan laughed at the scene and moved to follow after Jayden. But instead of going after Jayden right away, he turned around and went over to give Noah a tight hug. “Good night, mom. I hope you won’t be sad anymore soon. Things with Dylan are gonna be okay…”  
  
Noah blinked down at Nathan as he hugged him back, and ignored Derek’s loud squeals that were slowly fading as Jayden walked with him into the other room and up the stairs. “I… Thanks. I hope you’re right.”  
  
Nathan lifted his head from Noah’s chest to look up at him. “I am. I promise.”  
  
The boy looked so determined as he said that, and Noah couldn’t help but smile at how Nathan was trying to reassure and comfort him.  
  
“I’m sorry for snapping like that earlier. I hope I didn’t scare you…”  
  
“That’s okay. Sometimes I wanna yell and snap at Derek too, and sometimes I do… He’s just so freaking _annoying_ sometimes!” Nathan answered, gritting his teeth a bit as he spoke about his younger brother.  
  
Noah laughed and felt a little better after talking with Nathan. He swept a gentle hand through Nathan’s hair before they pulled away from their hug. “That’s true. And now it’s time for bed.”  
  
“Oh! Right. Good night, mommy.” Nathan grinned and waved at him before disappearing into the dining room, heading for the stairs in the entrance hall.  
  
“Good night,” Noah smiled, and watched as Nathan ran off to bed.  
  
As soon as he was alone in the room, Noah felt himself being crushed by overwhelming feelings of worry, guilt, and shame. Too much had happened in the past few days, and the problems and worries were pressing against his brain and making him want to just scream and cry out loud.  
  
Why did it have to be like this? Why couldn’t Dylan just be safe and healthy, and not having to go through such a tough time so shortly after his life had started? Noah couldn’t stop asking himself that, and the unfairness and helplessness of it all was too much to take.  
  
Noah stayed in the kitchen, getting more and more overwhelmed by all the negative emotions inside him, until Jayden finally came downstairs again. Noah heard him coming, but he didn’t move or raise his head when the alpha returned.  
  
“Phew, now they’re both in bed,” Jayden announced as he entered the kitchen, where Noah was leaning against the kitchen counter and staring at the ground. “No idea if Derek’s gonna fall asleep soon or what, but I certainly hope so.”  
  
“Mm.” That was all Noah said in reply, and his wings folded themselves closer to his body as he tried to make himself smaller.  
  
Jayden stared at his mate for a few seconds. Noah looked like hell, to put it frankly. He was just standing there, leaning back against the kitchen counter with his eyes on the floor, and his wings acted kind of like a shield to hide himself from the world. Jayden knew that Noah only ever did that when he was really upset and depressed about something, and he hated seeing his mate like that.  
  
Slowly, Jayden approached Noah. “Hey. You should go to bed… You’re completely stressed out, and you need to rest.”  
  
Noah turned his head away from Jayden as the alpha came closer, and he seemed to shrink a little. Soon, his body began to tremble as tears threatened to fall from his eyes.  
  
Jayden immediately sensed that something was very off about Noah. “Hey.” He reached out and put his hand on Noah’s arm, gently. “Hey, what’s wrong?”  
  
Noah’s lips quivered and his body trembled, until he finally broke down and buried his face in his hands. “I-It’s all my fault,” he sobbed, shaking uncontrollably.  
  
The words took Jayden by surprise. “What? What’s your fault? Why are you saying that?” He gently pulled Noah closer, and the submissive buried his face in Jayden’s chest as he sobbed and cried against him.  
  
“I-If Dylan hadn’t been born so early, he wouldn’t be sick. It’s my f-fault,” Noah sobbed, hiccupping between his words.  
  
Jayden finally understood. He wrapped his protective arms closely around Noah and held him tight as his mate cried and sobbed against him so brokenly. “Is that what’s been bothering you lately? That you think it’s your fault?”  
  
His voice was soft, with no trace of accusation. Much unlike what Noah had expected.   
  
After hesitating for a few seconds, Noah nodded against his chest in reply.   
  
Jayden sighed heavily and began rubbing Noah’s back and wings for comfort. “Hey, this is not your fault, alright? How could it be? Sometimes babies are just born early; it doesn’t mean that it’s anyone’s fault.”  
  
“B-But what if I did something t-to… What if it’s because I’m a-a—”  
  
“A hybrid?” Jayden finished for him.  
  
Noah stilled for a few seconds before nodding again.  
  
“Oh, Noah…” Jayden sighed, and held his mate closer. “It’s got nothing to do with you being an angel/demon hybrid. Nathan and Derek were both perfectly healthy when they were born, and all your nieces and nephews are healthy as well. And why would you even think that? Don’t let those stupid racists’ words get to you; there’s nothing wrong with you being a hybrid, and it sure as hell isn’t the reason why Dylan is sick, got me?”   
  
He had to be firm in his voice to shake the silly idea out of Noah’s head and make him see reason instead of blaming himself, and it seemed to work when he felt Noah stiffen and then relax against him.  
  
Again, Noah nodded, this time in understanding. He fists grasped Jayden’s shirt tightly as he leaned against his chest, and his sobbing stopped.  
  
It was a relief to Jayden that Noah had finally calmed down a little. “I guess all this worrying and helplessness is really messing with your head, huh? But trust me; it won’t make it better if you blame yourself or try to find a reason for why it’s happening. All we can do is to wait for our baby to get better, and I promise that he will. He’s _my_ son, after all.”  
  
Jayden’s last comment made Noah laugh a bit. It was such confident and slightly arrogant comment, but Noah knew that he was right. Dylan was strong like his dad, and he’d pull through it. He _had_ to.  
  
The alpha grinned when he heard Noah laugh a bit at his comment, and leaned down to press a chaste kiss to the top of Noah’s head. “Come on, let’s head to bed. We both need it.”  
  
Slowly, Noah untangled himself from Jayden and lifted his head to give his mate a small smile. “Yeah… And I hope I didn’t upset Derek too much earlier…”  
  
“Nah, he’s okay. I spoke with him when I put him to bed, and he knows you didn’t mean to shout like that. But I did tell him that he kind of had it coming for being so whiny and disobedient…”  
  
Noah chuckled a little. “He does drive me kinda crazy sometimes…”  
  
“He drives everyone crazy, including me. I hope it’s just a phase.”  
  
“Mm…”  
  
Jayden smiled and reached out to grab Noah’s hand. “Come on, let’s go bed. I’ll tuck you in.”  
  
Noah suppressed a shy chuckle and nodded before following Jayden out of the room.  
  
They turned off the lights downstairs and locked the doors before heading up to bed. It had been a long day and a long week, and they were both completely drained after everything that had happened.  
  
Jayden helped Noah take off his clothes because the submissive was too tired to move by the time they made it to the bedroom. Noah was still sore and exhausted from the birth, so Jayden was very gentle as he helped him lie down on the bed and pulled the covers over him.  
  
The alpha lay down behind Noah, spooning him as they settled down to sleep, and it didn’t take long before Noah fell asleep in his hold. Jayden continued holding on to him and rubbing him softly, until he too finally succumbed to sleep.  
  
  


***

  
  
Almost two weeks later, Dylan had finally recovered fully. His infection was gone, and he no longer needed help breathing. He was ready to be taken home and start growing and developing like any other baby.  
  
Noah was thrilled with delight when the doctors told him that he could finally take his baby home, and Jayden was just as relieved and happy. It had been a downright nightmare when Dylan had been sick and they had worried all the time, and finally that was over now.  
  
“Keep an eye on him when you take him home, and if you think there’s anything abnormal or wrong, call the hospital right away, alright?” the female doctor told them, as they stood in Dylan’s hospital room and were getting ready to take him home.  
  
Noah was holding little Dylan in his arms, and the baby was wrapped protectively in soft blankets. Noah couldn’t stop nuzzling his baby and pressing kisses to his cheeks and forehead while smiling at him.  
  
“Yeah, of course. Thanks, doctor,” Jayden told her, and smiled as he shook her hand to thank her one final time.  
  
Nathan and Derek were standing next to Jayden, waiting to be able to go home. Nathan was patient, whereas Derek wasn’t. Derek kept trying to open nearby cupboards, and he even tried to lift the skirt of a nurse who was in the room out of pure curiosity, but Nathan kept pulling him back over to their parents and telling him to cut it out.  
  
The doctor gave them all a smile before leaving the room with the nurse.  
  
They got ready to leave, and Jayden grabbed bags with baby diapers and warm milk, which he had brought along, and Noah carried Dylan out in his arms.  
  
“Mommy, is Dylan okay now?” Nathan asked, as they all walked down the corridors of the hospital, heading towards the exit. He glanced up at Noah, who was rocking Dylan gently as he walked with him in his arms.  
  
“Yes, he should be fine now.” Noah smiled down at Nathan before looking at the baby again. Dylan was making grumpy noises, and Noah knew that the baby was probably feeling hungry. He looked up at Jayden as they walked together. “Can we stop outside? Dylan needs to eat before we go home.”  
  
“Yeah, sure,” Jayden smiled.  
  
“Wanna eat too!” Derek blurted, and raised his arms in excitement. A little human girl, who was about his age, gave him an odd stare as she passed him with her parents, but Derek barely noticed.  
  
Nathan burst out laughing. “Dylan’s having milk from a bottle, dummy! Do you want mommy and daddy to feed you from the bottle too?”  
  
Derek’s excitement immediately disappeared from his face, and his nose scrunched up a bit. “No! Want real food!”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at them. “No worries, I think we have some snacks in the car that you can have.”  
  
“Yay!”  
  
Jayden’s comment immediately brought back Derek’s excitement, making Nathan roll his eyes and Noah chuckle at them.  
  
They reached the car three minutes later, and Jayden pulled out the bottle of milk, which was still warm because of the small container it had been in. He handed the bottle to Noah, who began feeding the quite greedy Dylan, who eagerly sucked the precious milk down.  
  
The parking lot wasn’t a nice place to stand around and eat, so Jayden took them over to a bench under a tree, not far from the hospital’s back entrance. It was a sunny and warm day, so it was okay to sit outside with the baby.  
  
They all sat down on the bench, and Derek seated himself next to Noah so that he could watch Dylan eating. He was very curious about the baby, and it seemed to excite him that he was a big brother now.  
  
“Why he drink milk and not eat real food?” Derek asked. He was munching on some crackers and biscuits that Jayden had found in the car, and the others ate some too.  
  
“Because he’s too small for that,” Noah explained patiently.  
  
“Yeah, little babies’ stomachs aren’t able to process real food, so they need to drink milk for a few months before they can eat properly. But it’s not the kind of milk that you use for your cereal; this milk is full of fat and protein, and everything else a baby needs,” Jayden added.  
  
“Oh.” Derek stared at his little brother like he was some kind of puzzle he had to figure out, and Nathan thought it was kind of amusing.  
  
“Please raise him to _not_ be like Derek,” Nathan sighed, and threw another biscuit into his mouth to munch on.  
  
Jayden laughed softly. “We’ll try. But I guess you also gotta teach him how to behave when we’re not around.”  
  
“Mission accepted.”  
  
Jayden and Noah laughed softly, and Noah had to briefly pull the bottle away when Dylan got a bit fussy. The baby squirmed and sobbed for a few seconds until he was ready to keep eating, and Noah fed him once more.  
  
A couple of minutes passed, until Derek spotted a human family passing by with their golden retriever. His eyes widened, and he grinned as he jumped off of the bench. “A doggie!” he cheered, and ran over to pet the dog.  
  
“Derek, get back here!” Jayden shouted, immediately rising from the bench to go get Derek before he approached the strange dog.  
  
It was a young, lesbian human couple with a baby carriage that was walking with the dog, and the women looked over when they heard the commotion.  
  
Jayden managed to grab Derek and lift him up just before he reached the dog, and Derek definitely wasn’t happy with that.  
  
“How many times do I have to tell you to not go over to a dog you don’t know?” Jayden told Derek, his voice strict and firm. He gave Derek an authoritative look and ignored his son’s squirming and whining against him, before finally looking at the couple. “I’m so sorry. He just does that sometimes…”  
  
The women blinked at him before laughing softly.  
  
“Eh, no problem. It is a quite irresistible dog we have,” one of them joked, and gave Derek a smile as her eyes fell on him. She was the taller of the two of them, and it was her partner who was pushing the carriage with her baby.  
  
Noah and Nathan got up from the bench and went over to check on them.  
  
“Is everything okay?” Noah asked, worried that Derek had gotten himself into some trouble. He eyed the dog, who seemed to be quite friendly and calm, even after Derek had charged at it like that.  
  
“Yeah, I caught him in time,” Jayden said.  
  
“Nooo! Let go!” Derek whined in Jayden’s arms, not liking being restrained like that at all.  
  
“You’re stupid, Derek. You don’t run over to strange dogs like that,” Nathan chastised, and glared up at his brother in disapproval.  
  
“That’s true, but Marcus here is quite friendly,” said the shorter woman, and smiled at the boys. “If you had asked us if you could pet him, then we’d have said yes.”  
  
“Really?” Nathan beamed at her. “So… Can we pet him?”  
  
The woman chuckled. “Sure. Pet him behind the ears; he likes that best.”  
  
Nathan and Derek were eager to pet the dog, and Jayden let go of Derek so that he could go over to the dog and pet it now that they had permission.  
  
“And oh, what a cute baby you have!” the taller woman exclaimed, and stared at little Dylan in adoration.  
  
Dylan had finished the bottle, and was now squirming and shifting in Noah’s arms, making little noises of protest over all the noise around him.  
  
Noah smiled and rocked Dylan gently to calm the baby down. “Thank you. His name’s Dylan. We’re taking him home today.”  
  
“Ohh, how nice. He really is cute, so good luck with him,” the taller woman said, and looked at Noah as she smiled.  
  
Noah smiled back. “Thanks.”  
  
The couple let Nathan and Derek pet their dog for a bit longer before they had to go inside the hospital to make their appointment there.  
  
It felt nice meeting random, kind strangers, who had no problem with the fact that Noah and the kids were hybrids. It had been a while since they had last met people like that.  
  
They headed back to the car, and Noah handed the baby over to Jayden to let him hold their son for a bit. Dylan was a bit fussy because he was tired after eating, and Jayden tried to calm him down by rocking and shushing him gently.  
  
“Mommy, mommy, cans we have a dog too?” Derek begged, and jumped in front of Noah to get his attention as they walked.  
  
Noah sighed. “I don’t know… I’m not sure if Midnight likes dogs.”  
  
“She doesn’t even like Derek, so I don’t think she likes dogs either,” Nathan murmured.  
  
“Hey!” Derek protested, giving his older brother a grumpy glare.  
  
“Boys, play nice,” Noah interrupted, though he couldn’t hold back a small chuckle about Nathan’s comment.  
  
“Cans we maybe transform Dylan into a dog, so Midnight will like him?” Derek asked.  
  
Nathan burst out laughing, and Noah and Jayden couldn’t hold back their laughter either.  
  
“You’ve seen too many cartoons, buddy,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Derek pouted and didn’t seem to understand what was so funny about it.  
  
They finally reached the car, and Nathan and Derek got in to strap themselves into their seats. Jayden fumbled a bit with Dylan’s blankets as he tried to put the newborn into the baby seat on the backseat without upsetting the baby too much. Dylan was so tiny and fragile in his arms, so he had to be careful.  
  
Noah helped taking the blankets and putting them away while Jayden got Dylan strapped in. He smiled at how Jayden gently shushed the baby when he cried, and how he kissed Dylan’s head when he was done strapping him in.  
  
Jayden made sure everything was alright before he closed the car doors and turned to smile at Noah. “Now, let’s go home.”  
  
Noah’s lips curled into a happy grin, and he reached out to grab Jayden’s hand. “Yes, finally.”  
  
Jayden grinned and pressed a kiss to Noah’s lips, before they finally got into the car and drove home together.  
  
The weeks of worry and tormenting waiting were over, and the family could finally get settled into their usual routines again, only this time they were one member more.

 


	45. Chapter 45

**December 2057 (Noah is 31, Jayden is 33, Nathan is 8, Derek is 3, Dylan is 2.5 months old, Brandon is 32, Isaac is 37, Kaylen is 32, Eliza is 8, Jake is 2 years old).**  
  
It had been a little difficult for Noah and Jayden to get used to having an infant in the house again. Constantly changing diapers, warming milk, and having to get up at night to attend to a crying baby was a little tough when you hadn’t done it for a while, but they were adjusting to it.  
  
Dylan was doing very well. He hadn’t been sick since his ordeal with the infection back in September, and he was growing and developing the way he should. Slowly, he was beginning to be able to move more, but his movements were still very limited.  
  
It was Saturday morning, and Noah was slowly beginning to wake up. His senses came back to him, but his mind was still clouded from sleep. He became aware that he was lying on the bed with the right side of his face pressed firmly against his pillow, and his wings splayed out lazily behind and over him.  
  
He blinked a few times to wake himself up, and started wondering what the time was. It was then that he noticed the unusual silence in the room. He couldn’t hear Jayden’s soft snoring, nor could he feel the warmth of his body behind him in the bed.  
  
Noah quickly snapped his eyes open and leaned up to cast a look at the clock. It was 10:30am.  
  
Noah jumped out of the bed in a hurry, completely confused about why it was so late and why no one had woken him up. Jayden was not in the room, and it appeared like he hadn’t been in there for a while. Dylan should be awake by now, so that meant that Jayden was taking care of him, but it was Noah’s turn to tend to the baby since Jayden had worked late last night and hadn’t been home until after midnight.  
  
He quickly pulled on some clothes before heading down the stairs.  
  
As he hurried down the stairs, Noah could hear the TV being on and Nathan and Derek tumbling around in the living room. He went down the steps to see what was going on in the other room.  
  
In the living room, Nathan and Derek were chasing each other around the foosball game that was standing near the terrace door. Derek was trying to catch Nathan, and both were laughing and squealing loudly. Noah could tell that Nathan had stolen a toy of Derek’s to tease him (most likely as revenge for Derek getting on his nerves a lot), and Derek was now trying to get it back. He observed the boys for a few seconds, blinking.  
  
It was Nathan who noticed Noah first, and he stilled when he spotted him. “Oh. Good morning, mommy.” He smiled over at Noah, and Derek turned to look at him as well.  
  
“Morning, mommy!” Derek chirped before running after Nathan again.  
  
“Um, good morning,” Noah replied, still feeling confused as to why he hadn’t woken up when everyone in the house was so active. He glanced over to the couch and spotted Jayden sitting on it.  
  
The alpha was leaning back against the corner of the 7-person couch, and his knees were bent in front of him with his feet planted on the couch. It was a bit unusual for Jayden to sit like that, and he seemed to be occupied with something on his lap, so Noah went over to see what was going on. That was when he saw little Dylan. The baby was resting back against Jayden’s thighs, and was staring intensely at Jayden and grinning as the alpha entertained him with funny noises and tickling.  
  
It was a sight that melted Noah’s heart, and he grinned as he watched Jayden being silly with their baby.  
  
“Where’s your nose, huh? Where is it? Oh, right _there!_ ” Jayden moved his fingers up Dylan’s body until they reached his nose, which he gave a fond boop. His voice was childish and playful, and Dylan made a happy squeal and laughed cutely when his nose got booped. The baby was only two and a half months old, so it was still limited how much he could move and react.  
  
Noah chuckled and watched the scene with a wide smile. It was his chuckling that made Jayden notice his presence and turn to look at him.  
  
“Oh, you’re awake,” Jayden said, and looked at Noah. He hadn’t even heard him enter the room, because Nathan and Derek had been making so much noise that he was blocking most of it out. “Was wondering when you’d get your cute butt outta bed.” He grinned at Noah, and caught Dylan’s small fists in his hands when the baby waved his arms a bit.  
  
“Why didn’t you wake me up? It’s _you_ who should have been sleeping, not me,” Noah spoke, frowning at Jayden in light confusion and guilt.  
  
“I didn’t really feel sleepy after Dylan woke up at 7am. You, on the other hand, didn’t even wake up when Dylan’s cries sounded on the baby monitor; you were completely passed out. So I figured I’d just let you stay in bed and sleep for as long as you need.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in disbelief. “No way. I didn’t wake up?!” How could he not have woken up when Dylan’s cries sounded on the monitor? He _always_ woke up.  
  
“Well, you shifted and moved over to sleep on your other side. Guess you were just really tired.”  
  
“B-But it’s almost 11 now!”  
  
Jayden chuckled, and slowly moved Dylan’s arms up and down as he held the baby’s hands in his own. Dylan cooed softly and stared at his own arms as Jayden moved them up. “Yeah, I know. But I don’t mind. You’ll just repay me another day and then we’re quit.”  
  
“Yeah, but still…”  
  
Dylan suddenly began to sob a little, and Jayden immediately turned his attention back to him. “Aww, what’s wrong? Do you wanna be with mommy for a bit?” He gently grabbed the baby and lifted him up so that Noah could take him.  
  
Noah took the hint and came forward to take Dylan, smiling as he took the baby into his arms and leaned him against his shoulder. “Shh, don’t cry, sweetie.” He patted the baby’s butt softly, but frowned when he noticed the diaper feeling kind of heavy.  
  
Jayden could immediately tell by Noah’s expression what was wrong. “Oh, looks like he wants you to change him.” He smirked up at Noah and tried not to laugh at him. He had already noticed the heavy the diaper, which was why he had handed the baby over to Noah.  
  
Noah shot him a glare and turned to walk to the bathroom with the baby so that he could change his diaper. “Very funny,” he mumbled dryly, and made his way out the room.  
  
Jayden laughed and swung his legs over the edge of the couch to place his feet on the floor and get up.  
  
“Did Dylan poop again?” Derek asked when he noticed Noah leaving the room with the baby. He and Nathan had stopped chasing each other now, since Nathan had just handed back Derek’s toy.  
  
“Yeah, he needs a new diaper,” Jayden confirmed as he rose from the couch.  
  
Derek scrunched his nose. “Ewww! Why do babies poop all da time?”  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes. “Everyone poops. And you’re still a baby, kind of, so don’t talk like that.”  
  
“Am _not_ a baby! Am a big brother!”  
  
“Well, I’m a double big brother, so shut up.”  
  
“Guys,” Jayden warned when he sensed they were about to argue even further.  
  
Nathan’s tail lowered. “Sorry, dad.”  
  
A few moments later, Noah reemerged from the bathroom, holding little Dylan against his shoulder and gently shushing him. The baby was crying and sobbing softly against him, and Noah was trying to calm him down. “Shhh, it’s okay. You’re just tired, aren’t you? Mommy’s gonna put you to bed now.”  
  
Jayden smiled as Noah came over to them with Dylan in his arms. He ever got tired of seeing Noah holding one of their babies like that.  
  
“Can I help?” Nathan eagerly asked.  
  
“Sure.”  
  
Nathan grinned and followed Noah up the stairs, while Jayden went with Derek into the kitchen to prepare some breakfast for Noah when the submissive came back downstairs.  
  
Dylan’s nursery was in the room right next to Noah and Jayden’s bedroom, and the baby was still squirming and crying softly against Noah’s shoulder when he and Nathan entered the room.  
  
Nathan immediately went over to pull the curtains to block out the light from outside, while Noah tried to calm Dylan down a bit. The baby was being fussy because he was sleepy.  
  
“Shhh, stop crying, sweetie,” Noah shushed Dylan, and planted a soft on the baby’s head. He reached into the crib to get ready to put Dylan into it, but noticed that the sheets needed to be changed. Dylan had drooled too much in them. “Can you hold him for a bit? I need to change the sheets in the crib,” Noah asked Nathan, and handed him the baby carefully.  
  
Nathan nodded, and was very careful as he took his little brother from Noah’s arms. The crying baby felt kind of heavy to him, but he quickly placed his hands under the baby’s butt and let him rest against his shoulder. "Shh, don’t cry, Dylan. Everything’s alright,” he cooed, rocking his little brother gently.  
  
Noah quickly changed the sheets and placed some stuffed animals in the crib for Dylan to look at while falling asleep.  
  
“He’s a bit heavy,” Nathan commented while waiting for Noah to finish. Dylan’s little hands were grasping his shirt, and his tail was twitching under Nathan’s supportive hand.  
  
Noah chuckled softly and turned to look at Nathan after he was done. “You’re still a child, so of course he feels heavy to you. When you get older you’ll be able to hold heavy things more easily.” He reached out and gently took Dylan from Nathan’s hands. The baby had calmed down, but was still complaining a bit because he was tired.  
  
“But I’m eight already,” Nathan argued softly. “When will I start getting taller?”  
  
“Hmm, probably when you’re around 12 or 13 years old.”  
  
“But that’s so long…” Nathan pouted a bit and watched as Noah placed Dylan carefully inside the crib.  
  
Noah glanced briefly at Nathan over his shoulder as he laid Dylan down. “Why are you suddenly so impatient to get bigger? You usually don’t really care so much.” He tucked Dylan carefully into the crib and made sure that the baby was comfortable and warm. Dylan was still a bit restless, so Noah waved a rattle in front of him and smiled when Dylan squealed happily and stared at it with focused eyes.  
  
Nathan shifted uneasily on his feet behind Noah, who didn’t notice the small blush on Nathan’s face. “Um… ‘Cause I wanna be taller than Scott from my class…”  
  
Nathan’s words made Noah turn his head to look at him, surprised. “Scott? The boy who’s good friends with Emily too?”  
  
Nathan nodded and fumbled sheepishly with his hands. “Yeah, he’s like a head taller than me already and is the tallest one in our class, and Emily thinks it’s cool…”  
  
Suddenly Noah understood what Nathan was saying. Nathan had always been a little jealous of Emily’s friendship with that other boy, but because Nathan didn’t like to be rude or hurt others, he had always just played along and seemed to accept Scott’s presence. Scott was an alpha demon, so it really wasn’t unusual for a beta boy like Nathan to feel a little threatened by the young alpha’s friendship with the girl he liked.  
  
Noah couldn’t hold back a smile and a small chuckle when he got it figured out. It was too cute that Nathan had such worries. “Don’t worry; you have many other good qualities that Scott doesn’t, and I’m sure Emily knows that too. Girls don’t only pick the biggest and strongest boys, you know.”  
  
Nathan’s face went red like a tomato. “W-Who said anything about Emily picking someone?! That’s… I-I’m not… Emily’s my _friend!_ ”  
  
Noah laughed at his son’s sudden panic and embarrassment. “I’m not saying anything,” he chuckled before turning his attention back to little Dylan. The baby was calming down after having played a bit with the rattle. Noah decided to leave the rattle with Dylan in the crib, and gently stroked the baby’s head before stepping away. “And shhh, Dylan’s about to sleep. Let’s go.”  
  
Nathan nodded and glanced at his little brother before following Noah out of the room.  
  
“But really; Emily’s just my friend,” Nathan murmured after they had closed the door to the nursery and were standing in the hallway. His tail twitched with embarrassment, as did his wings.  
  
Noah chuckled softly and smiled at Nathan. “I know. But I also know that you like her a lot – more than your other friends.”  
  
“That’s ‘cause she’s my _best_ friend.”  
  
Noah knew it was probably a bit more than that, whether Nathan would admit it or not, but he decided not to push the matter. He gently ruffled Nathan’s hair before going downstairs with him again.  
  


***

  
  
On the next day, Noah went to a nearby supermarket with the kids to do some shopping.  
  
Isaac and Kaylen were going to drop by at around 4pm for a short visit, and Noah needed to buy some groceries for the dinner. Jayden was at work until 3:30pm, so Noah had to deal with the kids and the grocery shopping all by himself. He was glad that Jayden wasn’t working late on that day, though. Jayden usually worked at least 40 hours a week and often even more, but sometimes he’d have days where he only worked for 4-7 hours.  
  
It was tricky driving two kids and one baby to the grocery store with him. He had to pack the baby carriage into the car, unpack it at the supermarket, and pack it back when they were done, plus he had to tend to Dylan if he should suddenly start crying while they were driving. On top of that he also had Derek to deal with. The boy hated sitting still for too long, and he often started provoking Nathan into having fun on the backseat, or was just generally very noisy. Noah was grateful that he was still on maternity leave. The fact that he got to be at home during the week helped him not building up too much stress about situations like this.  
  
When they arrived at the supermarket, Nathan got out and helped Noah unpack the baby carriage. Nathan had seen Noah and Jayden do it plenty of times before, so he knew how it should be done. Noah couldn’t help being proud of Nathan that he was so helpful – much unlike Derek, who was yelling at them from inside the car, where he had been left behind.  
  
“Mommy! Let me out! Dun wanna sit here!” Derek yelled from the car. He had already unfastened his seatbelt in his child seat, but he couldn’t get the door open because it had child safety on it.  
  
Derek’s loud voice made Dylan cry. The baby was sitting in the far back of the 8-seater car, so that he’d be more isolated from Derek’s noise during the drive.  
  
“I’ll let you out in a second, just stop making noise! You’re upsetting the baby,” Noah scolded, cursing under his breath from stress.  
  
Nathan chuckled at Noah in sympathy. “He’s such a dummy.”  
  
Noah sighed. “Yeah, sometimes he is.”  
  
After the baby carriage was ready, Noah finally let Derek out of the car before reaching in to get Dylan out of his seat. The baby was still crying and complaining, and Noah tried his best to shush him.  
  
Meanwhile, Nathan was keeping an eye on Derek to make sure that he didn’t run off and get hit by the cars that were driving through the parking lot area. Every time Derek tried to wander off, Nathan would grab his arm and yank him back, earning him an angry grunt from his little brother, which he ignored.  
  
“Shhh, it’s okay,” Noah soothed Dylan and rocked him gently in his arms. He had to calm his baby down a bit before putting him into the carriage, otherwise he’d never quiet down. He pressed kisses to Dylan’s head and cheek and held him close to give him comfort.  
  
“Mommy?”  
  
Noah looked down to see Derek staring up at him. “What is it?”  
  
“Mommy, I dun feel well…” Derek’s voice was suddenly low and weak, and Noah could see that the boy looked a little more pale than he did that morning.  
  
Noah frowned. “Where don’t you feel well?”  
  
“Hmm…” Derek moved a hand up to his chest and throat. “Here…”  
  
“Do you have nausea?”  
  
Derek thought about the word for a bit before nodding in confirmation. “Yeah, a lot…”  
  
Nathan frowned at Derek, and looked a bit unconvinced about what his brother was saying. “But you were fine earlier. I bet you’re lying ‘cause you hate grocery shopping and you want mommy to drive back home.”  
  
“Nooo! I really dun feel well!” Derek insisted.  
  
Noah considered the options for a bit, but decided they couldn’t go back home now. “Well, we’ll be done shopping soon and then we’ll go home, okay? Just hang on for a bit longer.”  
  
Derek made a noise of complaint, but Noah wasn’t changing his mind. As soon as Dylan had calmed down, they all headed into the supermarket together. Noah pushed the carriage around while Nathan took the shopping cart.  
  
Dylan was cooing softly and squirming a bit in the carriage while they shopped, and Noah smiled when a couple of strangers peeked into the carriage to look at the baby. It was a relief that the ones he met were friendly, and that the unfriendly-looking people were keeping a distance without approaching him with their usual hateful comments.  
  
Derek became more and more quiet as they walked around, shopping. He started falling a bit behind, which was unusual for him since he was always eager to walk in front of the others and be the one to take the stuff off the shelves.  
  
“How come Uncle Isaac and Aunt Kaylen are only staying for a few hours today? Why can’t they spend the night with us?” Nathan asked Noah as they walked through the dairy section, looking for milk.  
  
“Well, because they’ve been staying the night with grandma Cas and grandpa Dean,” Noah explained. He searched through the many brands of milk and dairy products to find the usual brand that they bought. “And this morning they are visiting Lily and Tony. I think they also visited Eden and Jason yesterday… So Kaylen told me.”  
  
“Whoa, they are always visiting so many people when they come to our city.”  
  
“Well, that’s because they don’t drop by so often, so they have a lot of people to visit once they finally come here.”  
  
Nathan smiled and absently glanced at the many dairy products. “They should come here more often. Uncle Isaac is funny.”  
  
“Well, Uncle Isaac is often away for work because many of his movies and TV shows are made in other places, so he can’t be here all the time.”  
  
“But at least Aunt Kaylen visits us sometimes alone, along with Eliza and Jake. He’s almost as funny as Uncle Isaac sometimes.” Nathan grinned at the memory of the jokes he had heard Kaylen tell before, and Noah couldn’t help but chuckle too.  
  
Behind them, Derek was starting to feel worse. He barely paid attention to what they were saying because he felt so nauseous and thought he was going to throw up. All the strange people around him and all the noise made him feel even more stressed, and he tried to stick as close to his family as possible.  
  
“Mommy, I dun fee—” Derek didn’t manage to say more before he suddenly threw up on the middle of the floor, making people around him gasp in shocked surprise.  
  
Noah immediately turned around to see what was going on, and was horrified when he saw that Derek had made a mess of the newly cleaned supermarket floor. He quickly came over to Derek, who threw up one more time before he started gasping and crying as a result of it.  
  
“Oh my god, are you okay?” Noah asked Derek, leaning down to rub Derek’s back to offer him comfort.  
  
Nathan was stunned to see his brother throwing up like that in public, and he quickly became aware of how people started whispering, grimacing, and walking in a big circle around them. He stayed by the shopping cart and baby carriage, while Noah tried to calm Derek down.  
  
“Mommy, I dun feel well,” Derek cried, looking very confused about why he had suddenly thrown up.  
  
“Shh, it’s okay.” Noah rubbed Derek’s back, and cringed at the mess he had made.  
  
“It’s probably ‘cause you leaned your head back and swallowed your own blood this morning when you had a nosebleed,” Nathan commented. “I told you not to do that. Dad says it can make you puke. You’re supposed to blow your nose and not lean your head back, dummy.”  
  
Derek cried harder, half out of protest because Nathan was calling him a dummy and being a smartass in Derek’s eyes.  
  
A store employee came over when he noticed something going on in the dairy section, and he was shocked to see what had happened. “Is he okay?” he asked Noah, sounding concerned.  
  
“Y-Yeah, I think he’ll be fine,” Noah replied and looked up at the guy. “I’m so sorry about the mess!”  
  
“Uh, that’s okay. I’ll clean it up.” The guy scrunched his nose a bit and was clearly not happy about having to clean up that mess at all. It was disgusting cleaning up puke, but it couldn’t be helped.  
  
People were whispering, and some of them gave Noah an understanding and sympathetic smile, while others just looked disgusted. He heard man whisper ‘stupid half-breeds’, but he ignored it.  
  
Derek was still crying, which quickly made Dylan cry too, and then suddenly Noah had two crying children on his hands.  
  
All the crying stressed Noah out, because he didn’t want to bother the other customers or the employees further. He stood up and wanted to go attend to Dylan, but then noticed that Derek’s chin and shoes were kind of dirty after he had thrown up.  
  
“Derek! How did you get that on yourself?” Noah asked, half accusingly, and searched his pockets for a tissue to clean the mess up with. He didn’t find any, though, which only added to his stress because now Dylan was crying even louder, and he could tell that the people passing by were quite annoyed by it.  
  
Noah had to get Derek into the customer bathroom to clean him up, but he knew that the bathroom was rather tiny and wouldn’t have space for the baby carriage. More stress was added to his plate.  
  
He quickly grabbed Derek’s hand and told Nathan to follow him to the bathroom. He tried comforting little Dylan while they walked, but the baby was quite fussy and wouldn’t calm down so easily.  
  
Finally they arrived at the bathroom, and Noah quickly led Derek inside. “Nathan, please look after Dylan for a few minutes. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”  
  
“Okay,” Nathan replied, and remained just outside the bathroom while Noah cleaned up Derek, who was still acting up because of his nausea and the puking.  
  
Dylan was still wailing in the baby carriage, so Nathan pushed their shopping cart aside for a moment and turned to reassure his youngest brother. He shushed the baby gently and peeked down at him as he reached a hand into the carriage and patted his brother. The attention made Dylan calm down a little, but he was still crying.  
  
People glanced at Nathan as they passed by and saw him standing alone and trying to calm the baby down. He ignored their stares, even though they were more curious than mean, and tried his best to get Dylan to calm down.  
  
“Shh, please stop crying, Dylan. You’re stressing me out here,” Nathan told the baby, and sighed heavily. “Mommy’s gonna be back soon, no worries.” Dylan was sobbing and squirming, and Nathan sighed once more when he realized that Dylan probably wouldn’t quiet down for a while. “Gosh, I wish dad was here…”  
  
“Hey.”  
  
Nathan flinched when he suddenly heard a noise right behind him, and he swirled around to see who it was.  
  
A tall alpha demon, about Jayden’s height, was standing in front of Nathan, staring down at him with a smile. Nathan blinked a few times. The guy looked familiar to him, but he couldn’t quite place him.  
  
“You’re Noah and Jayden’s kid, right? Nathan, was it…?”  
  
At the mention of his name and the name of his parents, Nathan instantly went into defense mode. He shielded the baby carriage as well as he could and spread out his wings while he stared up at the alpha with a skeptic look. “Who are you?”  
  
“Uh, right, you haven’t met me that many times. My name’s Brandon; I’m a friend of your parents’.” Brandon rubbed the back of his neck a bit as he smiled down at Nathan.  
  
Nathan’s eyebrow rose in suspicion. “I’m not supposed to talk to people I don’t know, and I don’t quite remember you…”  
  
His comment made Brandon laugh and raise his hands to show that he wasn’t a threat. “Right. I’m sorry. Your parents sure taught you well, which doesn’t really surprise me.” He chuckled before glancing at the crying baby and then back at Nathan. “Where’s your mom? It’s not like Noah to leave his kids behind like that.”  
  
“He’s in the bathroom with my other brother ‘cause he puked all over the floor and himself,” Nathan answered, and continued to eye Brandon with caution. Dylan was still crying a bit, so Nathan reached back into the carriage to rub the baby’s stomach for comfort, but kept his eyes on Brandon.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Noah then finally reemerged from the bathroom with Derek, who had calmed down somewhat, but was still feeling unwell because of his nausea. When Noah lifted his head and saw Brandon standing in front of Nathan, he was quite surprised.  
  
“Oh. Hello, Brandon. What are you doing here?”  
  
Brandon chuckled. “Hey. And I’m shopping, what else? I just walked by and saw your kid standing here, trying to soothe the crying baby, and I wondered where you were. It’s not like you to disappear on your kids like that.”  
  
“I had to go with Derek into the bathroom because he’s sick,” Noah explained, and cringed a bit. “Thank you for looking after Nathan.” He went over and reached into the baby carriage to pick up Dylan, whose cries stilled a bit when he was picked up by his mother. Noah rested the baby against his shoulder and rocked him while looking at Brandon.  
  
“No problem, though Nathan managed mostly on his own. He got quite defensive when I approached him, ‘cause he doesn’t remember me. You guys taught him stranger danger pretty well.” Brandon chuckled and glanced down at Nathan, who was much more calm now that Noah was back.  
  
Nathan blushed a bit when he realized that the guy was who he said he was after all, and that he simply just had a poor memory.  
  
Noah chuckled. “I’m glad to hear that.” He smiled proudly at Nathan, who fidgeted a bit as the adults talked.  
  
“And that baby must be yours and Jayden’s newest addition to the family?” Brandon looked at the crying Dylan with a smile, before looking at Noah again.  
  
“Yes, this is Dylan,” Noah smiled, and continued soothing the baby.  
  
“An alpha?”  
  
“Yes…”  
  
Brandon laughed. “Doesn’t surprise me that Jayden is so good at making alphas.”  
  
Noah blushed furiously at the comment, which made Brandon smile when he noticed that Noah had barely changed at all since college.  
  
“Where’s your family?” Noah asked when he realized that Brandon was standing there all by himself with the shopping cart.  
  
“They’re at home. My mate has morning sickness and didn’t want to come along, and my daughter Shannon is staying home with her.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened. “Oh, you’re having another baby? Congratulations!”  
  
“Thanks.” Brandon rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and smiled at Noah.  
  
“Mommy…” Derek whined all of sudden, and pulled at Noah’s shirt to get his attention. “Wanna go home already!”  
  
Noah had completely forgotten that he should take Derek home as soon as possible because he was sick. He had been so busy talking with Brandon, whom he hadn’t seen for a while. “Oh, I’m sorry, I almost forgot.” He looked up at Brandon again and gave his friend an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I have to go…”  
  
“No problem. Do you need help carrying all your groceries to the car?”  
  
“I… Yes, that would be nice, thanks.”  
  
Noah gave Brandon a grateful smile, and let his old friend help them find the rest of the groceries they needed.  
  
Nathan was a little bit wary of Brandon still, since he wasn’t used to seeing his mom hanging out with alphas who weren’t family. He thought it was a bit weird to see Noah smiling at a guy who wasn’t his dad, but he quickly softened up around Brandon when he realized that the guy was quite nice.  
  
Derek was feeling a little better after having thrown up, but he was still nauseous and eager to go home. He got angry at Nathan when his older brother made fun of him having puked on his own shoes by accident, but a warning from Noah made him drop starting a fight.  
  
Brandon helped them carry their groceries out to the car afterwards, and also helped Noah pack the baby carriage back together after Dylan had been put in the car.  
  
Noah thanked his old friend for his help before parting ways with him and driving home. It had made his day so much easier to have a helpful friend around.  
  
  

***

  
  
As soon as Noah got home, he unpacked the groceries and had Nathan look after Dylan for a bit. Derek went into the living room to rest on the couch and watch TV, and Nathan placed a bucket next to him in case he should throw up again.  
  
Their guests would be arriving at around 4pm, so Noah had a few hours to clean the house a bit. Jayden would be making the dinner when he got home, since Noah was no good at it at all.  
  
“Mom?” Nathan asked, when he approached Noah while the submissive was busy taking the vacuum cleaner out of the closet in the laundry room so that he could clean the floors.  
  
Dylan had been put to bed upstairs because he needed a nap, and Derek was still quietly watching TV on the couch and playing a bit with some toys of his.  
  
“Yes?” Noah replied, and fumbled to get the stupid vacuum cleaner out of the closet without knocking over all the other things.  
  
Nathan hesitated for a few moments because quietly asking, “You… You still love dad, right?”  
  
Noah was so surprised by the question that he accidentally yanked the vacuum cleaner out of the closest a bit too harsh, making a lot of noise. He turned his head and stared at Nathan with blinking eyes. “Yes, of course. Why do you ask?”  
  
“It’s just… You were smiling so much at that guy in the supermarket today while you spoke with him. I haven’t seen you talk like that with another alpha besides dad – at least not someone who’s not family. And when people like each other, they smile and stuff, right? So you must like him…” Nathan lowered his head and stared at his feet, looking almost scared to hear Noah’s answer.  
  
Noah was absolutely stunned to hear Nathan say that. He hadn’t expected his son to interpret things that way.  
  
Abandoning the vacuum cleaner, Noah went over to Nathan and squatted down in front of him so that he could look him in the eyes. “Hey.” He smiled and placed his hands on Nathan’s small shoulders, making his son raise his gaze to look at him. “Brandon is an old friend from when I was in college, and I don’t see him that often anymore. He helped me a lot back then and I owe him so many things, so I was happy to see him again. And he today he really helped me too, because I was getting quite stressed out with Derek and Dylan crying. Brandon is a good guy and he’s my friend, but I do not feel for him in the same way that I feel for your father, okay? I love your father more than anything and anyone, and I will never look at any other alpha or beta that way.”  
  
Nathan visibly relaxed when he heard Noah’s words, and a small sigh of relief escaped his lips. “Oh, okay. I was just a bit worried that you liked him…”  
  
Noah chuckled fondly. “No. Not in that way, at least. Your dad is my mate, and I don’t want anyone else.”  
  
Nathan nodded and tried to understand it. “Okay. So… a mate is someone you love very much and have kids and shares kisses with, right? And a friend is just someone you have fun with, right?” When Noah nodded, Nathan continued. “It’s a bit confusing… I don’t understand how you can know when you want someone to just be your friend or if you want them to be your mate…”  
  
“Well, you’re still a bit too young to understand, but you’ll find out when you get older. You’ll have many friends, and then one day you will find someone whom you want to spend the rest of your life with, and that will be your mate.”  
  
“But I wanna be with Emily forever, but I’m not sure if I wanna be mates with her… Friends can still be with each other forever, right?” Nathan looked a little nervous about whether or not he could be with Emily forever even though they were only friends.  
  
Noah laughed softly. “Yes, of course. But there’s a difference between what you feel for a friend and what you feel for someone whom you’re in love with. You will know that difference later, I promise.”  
  
“Hmmm, okay. But I hate it when you and dad tell me ‘you’ll know when you’re older’.” Nathan mimicked their voices in a high-pitched, mocking tone, and made a face.  
  
Noah laughed and pushed Nathan playfully before getting to his feet again. “Hey, we don’t sound like that! And I’m sorry we’re saying that; our parents told us the same when we were kids. Sometimes you just have to wait until you’re older to know certain things.”  
  
“Meh.” Nathan crossed his arms and pouted up at Noah. “Maybe I’ll just ask Uncle Isaac; he always tells me stuff without saying ‘wait till you’re older’.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened at the idea. “No, you most certainly will not! Your uncle says things that are way too inappropriate sometimes, even for adults.”  
  
Nathan laughed out loud. “But he’s funny!”  
  
Noah grimaced and went back to the vacuum cleaner so that he could get on with cleaning the house before the guests arrived. Nathan chuckled at his reaction before going out of his way, and instead went into the living room to watch TV with Derek for a while.  
  
  

***

  
  
Jayden managed to get home before their guests arrived. He had been a little worried if he was going to make it in time, and hadn’t even had time to shop for Christmas presents. It would just have to wait for another day.  
  
He quickly got out of the car and entered the house, where he was greeted by Nathan in the entrance hall.  
  
“Hi, daddy! Had a nice day?” Nathan asked, and went over to give Jayden a hug.  
  
Jayden grinned and hugged his son back, ruffling his hair fondly. “Yeah, it was pretty good. How about you?”  
  
Jayden glanced around to spot Derek somewhere, and found it a bit surprising that he couldn’t hear or see him anywhere. He could hear some noise coming from the downstairs bathroom, and it sounded like Noah was busy cleaning it.  
  
Nathan pulled back from the hug. “I’m okay. A lot better than Derek, at least. He puked all over the floor and himself at the supermarket today ‘cause he swallowed his own nose blood this morning. He’s such a dummy.”  
  
Jayden’s eyes widened, and he took off his shoes using his feet and his tail. “Whoa, really?”  
  
Nathan nodded. “Yeah, mom was not happy about it… And Dylan wouldn’t stop crying. But then one of mommy’s friends spotted us and helped us out a bit.”  
  
“Friends?” Jayden frowned, wondering who it could have been.  
  
“Yeah, some alpha demon named Brandon. He seemed nice. Him and mom got along well…”  
  
Again, Jayden’s eyes widened. “Brandon, huh? Funny how that guy always shows up when Noah needs some help…”  
  
The hint of jealousy in Jayden’s voice and face didn’t go unnoticed by Nathan, who couldn’t help but giggle a bit. “Don’t worry, dad; mommy said that he only loves _you._ ” He grinned at Jayden before turning on his heels and going into the living room, where he had been drawing by the table before Jayden came home.  
  
Jayden was a little surprised by Nathan’s comment, but the words still pleased him and made the jealousy go away. He hated when he got jealous of Brandon being able to help Noah out when Jayden himself couldn’t. It sometimes made him feel as if he had failed as a mate, even though he couldn’t be around Noah 24/7 to protect him and be there for him, of course. He just felt like it was his duty, and he didn’t like it when another alpha did it for him. It was childish thought, he knew that, and he quickly shook it out of his head before going into the living room.  
  
He found Derek sitting on the couch and watching TV. The usually hyper boy was so quiet all of sudden, but Jayden guessed it had something to do with his favorite cartoon being on TV and that he had to concentrate on it.  
  
Slowly, Jayden sneaked up behind the couch and leaned in over Derek, who didn’t notice him at first. Nathan was sitting on the other side of the couch and giggled when he saw what was going on, and Derek soon picked up on something being wrong.  
  
Derek slowly leaned his head back and flinched somewhat when he looked right into Jayden’s face all of sudden.  
  
“Hey, buddy,” Jayden grinned.  
  
“Daddy!” Derek squealed happily, and swirled around to look up at him with a big grin.  
  
Jayden laughed. “What, were you too busy watching TV to come and greet me and tackle me like you usually do when I come home?”  
  
“Sorry, but ‘s a good ep!”  
  
“Well, then I better let you go back to watching your episode,” Jayden chuckled. He was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something. “And how are you feeling, by the way? Still want to throw up?”  
  
Derek made a face. “No… I dunno… I feel better.”  
  
Jayden smiled and reached out to ruffle Derek’s brown hair. “That’s good. I’ll go check on your mom now, so just keep watching your cartoons. And behave yourself, okay?”  
  
Derek scrunched his nose a bit about being told to behave before he sat down on his butt again. He was indeed feeling a lot better now than he had earlier, but he still had a bit of nausea.  
  
Jayden left boys behind in the living room walked over to the bathroom door to peek inside. Noah was busy cleaning the sink and humming to himself, seemingly unaware that Jayden was home.  
  
Jayden smirked before tiptoeing over to him, making sure he was in Noah’s blind spot. When he was right behind Noah, he reached out and wrapped his arms around his mate from behind, making Noah yelp loudly in surprise and fight to get free until he realized that it was just Jayden.  
  
“Connor!” Noah scolded, feeling suddenly embarrassed that he hadn’t noticed Jayden sneaking up on him at all.  
  
Jayden just grinned and held Noah close, before leaning down to nuzzle his mate’s neck from behind. “Hey, gorgeous. You really should pay more attention to your surroundings.”  
  
Noah blushed and squirmed half-heartedly in Jayden’s hold. His wings were trapped between his back and Jayden’s strong chest, and he could feel Jayden purposefully rubbing his crotch against his lower back a few times to tease him. It made him shudder lightly.  
  
“And you shouldn’t sneak up on people! You scared me…”  
  
“Mm, sorry.” Jayden smiled and pressed a soft kiss to the back of Noah’s neck. His hands roamed absently over Noah’s stomach and chest as he held him tight.  
  
Noah sighed and stopped resisting. Instead, he leaned back into Jayden and closed his eyes as he enjoyed being embraced by him.  
  
“Heard you had a tough time at the supermarket today,” Jayden murmured against Noah’s neck and placed a kiss there.  
  
“Yeah… Derek got a bit sick, but I think he’s feeling better now. And Dylan wouldn’t stop crying…”  
  
Jayden chuckled in sympathy and continued to hold Noah close. “But you managed. Sorry I wasn’t around to help you out.”  
  
“Mm, that’s okay. You can’t be around me all the time.”  
  
“Wish I could, though. Especially in bed…” Jayden purred against Noah’s ear and nibbled the earlobe playfully.  
  
Noah gasped and shuddered as it filled him with arousal, and he quickly squirmed himself free from Jayden’s hold. “Stop that! Don’t get me worked up.”  
  
The alpha pouted at Noah like a kicked puppy, but sucked it up. “Sorry. You’re just so addictive.”  
  
Noah blushed and corrected his clothes, which had gotten a bit ruffled while Jayden had held him close like that. He knew that Jayden was quite horny lately because they had finally resumed their sex life after Dylan’s birth, but now was really not the time.  
  
Noah was about to speak when they heard Dylan’s cries from the baby monitor, which Noah had put on the towel shelf earlier.  
  
“I’ll go get him,” Jayden announced. He pressed a quick kiss to Noah’s cheek before leaving the room to attend to Dylan, while Noah quickly finished cleaning the bathroom.  
  
  

***

  
  
Ten minutes later their doorbell rang, indicating that Isaac and Kaylen had arrived already.  
  
Noah was warming formula for Dylan in the kitchen when he heard the doorbell, and Jayden was busy making preparations for their dinner. They would be having Tacos, and Jayden was preparing the ingredients to make sure he had everything he needed. He had some frozen meat that he could use for it, and he put it on the kitchen counter to let it defrost.  
  
They both temporarily abandoned the things they were doing and went to answer the door, and Noah made sure to turn off the microwave before leaving it.  
  
The doorbell rang multiple times, and the noise formed a quite annoying melody. Noah rolled his eyes when he knew it was Isaac screwing around to annoy him, and Dylan got really quiet in his arms as he listened to the funny sounds.  
  
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Noah yelled, and hurried over to open the door, carrying Dylan in his arms. Jayden was right behind him and couldn’t help but laugh at his annoyance.  
  
When Noah opened the door, he saw Isaac quickly yanking his hand away from the doorbell and pretend like he hadn’t touched it at all, while Kaylen was rolling his eyes at him. Eliza was giggling uncontrollably as she stood in front of Kaylen, and little Jake was just blinking up at Noah curiously when he answered the door.  
  
“Oh, fucking finally! Thought you’d never answer!” Isaac exclaimed when Noah arrived in the door.  
  
Noah was a little thrown off by the rude greeting, but he was used to Isaac being like that. “And I thought you’d never stop,” he quipped back, and gave Isaac a small glare.  
  
Isaac barked out a laugh. “Hey, little bro! And hey, little Dylan guy, and Jayden! And now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just quickly butt my way inside ‘cause I’m so about to shit my pants!” He squeezed his way between Noah and Jayden in the door and ran towards the bathroom in a hurry, greeting Nathan and Derek quickly as he passed them on his way. “Ohhh boy, the brownies are really pushing at the door!” he yelled from inside the house before rushing into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him loudly.  
  
Noah was absolutely mortified by Isaac’s comments, while all the others were laughing their asses off.  
  
“Oh man, that guy never ceases to amuse me,” Jayden laughed.  
  
Kaylen sighed heavily. “Yeah, he was kinda breaking the speed limit for the last few minutes before we got here ‘cause he had to use the bathroom so badly. Sorry about that.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Well, the brownies were pushing at the door, as he said.”  
  
“Ugh.” Noah grimaced in disgust and tried to shake the mental picture out of his head.  
  
Eliza laughed out loud. “Daddy’s funny!”  
  
Kaylen laughed at their faces and Eliza’s comment, while little Jake didn’t really understand it all too well. The boy still giggled a bit, though.  
  
“Um, please come inside,” Noah spoke, and stepped aside to give them space.  
  
Kaylen smiled widely and gently guided Eliza and little Jake into the house. Nathan and Derek were in the entrance hall by now, and the kids eagerly greeted each other.  
  
“Ohh, that must be little Dylan,” Kaylen grinned as he turned his attention to the grumpy baby in Noah’s arms. “You got bigger, little man.” He cooed at the baby and gently stroked a finger over Dylan’s fisted hand.  
  
“Yeah, he grows like crazy,” Jayden grinned, and unconsciously pushed his chest forwards in pride.  
  
Noah smiled and rocked Dylan a bit. The baby was still waiting to be fed, so he was grumpy and was making sobs of complaint. “Shhh, I’ll go finish your milk now.” He gave Kaylen a smile to excuse himself before heading back to the kitchen to warm up the formula for Dylan.  
  
“He’s so cuuute!” Eliza squealed, and watched Noah leave with little Dylan.  
  
Nathan chuckled. “Yeah, I like him better than Derek.” He shot Derek a smug look, and laughed when Derek glared back at him and smacked him in offense.  
  
“And I like everyone better dan _you!_ ” Derek retorted.  
  
Kaylen laughed at the boys, and helped Jake out of his shoes and jacket. Jake was two years old and thus a year younger than Derek, but he was quite energetic.  
  
“Oh, I see you feel better already, Derek,” Jayden commented when he saw that Derek was more or less back to his usual old self again.  
  
“Mhmm. But mah throat is still stupid…” Derek murmured quietly.  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes. “Everything about you is stupid.”  
  
Derek whined in protest and tried to hit Nathan, but Jayden quickly stepped in and stopped it.  
  
“Nathan, be nice,” Jayden told him, and gave him a firm look.  
  
“Sorry, daddy.” Nathan cringed guiltily, while Eliza giggled next to him.  
  
“Wow, you sure got your hands full,” Kaylen commented, and followed Jayden into the living room when the alpha walked them there.  
  
Jayden scratched the back of his neck a bit. “Mostly it’s Noah who deals with it. I often work late.”  
  
Kaylen laughed. “Poor Noah. But at least Nathan seems more responsible and like less of a fireball than Derek.”  
  
Nathan was really proud to hear Kaylen say that, while Derek just grunted in offense and went over to play with Legos on the floor. Jake went over to join, and Nathan and Eliza also joined in for a while.  
  
A couple of minutes later, Noah returned to the room and fed little Dylan while holding the baby in his arms. Kaylen came over to see the new baby, whom he hadn’t seen for quite a while now.  
  
Just after Noah had returned, Isaac finally emerged from the bathroom and joined them in the living room.  
  
“Phew, I made it in time. That was critical.” Isaac patted his stomach in satisfaction and walked over to them with a grin on his face.  
  
“And I _just_ cleaned the bathroom…” Noah murmured bitterly.  
  
Isaac barked out a laugh. “Sorry, bro. But when you gotta go, you gotta go. Though, I wouldn’t advise anyone to go out there for a while… You might drop dead from the smell.”  
  
“Oh my _god,_ Isaac!”  
  
Isaac laughed even louder then, and the others laughed as well.  
  
“That’s gross, man,” Jayden laughed.  
  
Isaac just grinned before going over to check out Dylan as well. He smiled at the feeding baby and tickled him lightly while he ate. “Aww, aren’t you a cutie? You squeezed out a nice, little feather-ball again, Noah.”  
  
The choice or wording made Noah blush and fluster, which in turn made Isaac laugh again.  
  
“God, can you never be nice to your own little brother?” Kaylen scolded lightly.  
  
“Hey, I _am_ nice! I complimented his baby, didn’t I?”  
  
The look of disapproval didn’t disappear from Kaylen’s face, though, and Isaac tried hiding behind Noah to escape from his mate’s glare.  
  
“Uncle Jayden!” Eliza chirped all of sudden, and jumped over to them with a big grin. “What’s for dinner? You always cook something great, so what are we eating tonight? Nathan won’t tell me…”  
  
“’Cause I don’t know!” Nathan explained.  
  
Jayden chuckled at them and smirked down at little Eliza. “Well, that’s a secret…”  
  
“Noooo, no secrets! Tell me,” Eliza begged.  
  
“Wanna know too!” Derek said, and came over to join Eliza and Nathan by the adults. Jake followed after him and went over to cling to Kaylen’s leg for a bit.  
  
Jayden laughed as he looked at all of their curious, little faces. “You’ll find out. I promise it’s something you all like. Well, except for Jake, maybe; I don’t know what he likes.”  
  
“Yeah, he’s quite picky,” Kaylen commented, and curled his tail around Jake for reassurance as the toddler clung to him. “Which surprises me since Isaac eats anything – sometimes even the damn wrapping ‘cause he’s so eager to fill his stomach sometimes.” He rolled his eyes at that.  
  
“Oi, I never do that!” Isaac protested.  
  
Noah stared at Isaac in disbelief. “But you were always so picky. Papa used to complain about it a lot.”  
  
“Eh, I changed.” Isaac shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “Now I eat anything – except for fish. God, I _hate_ fish! And Kaylen sucks at cooking it!”  
  
“Hey!” Kaylen smacked Isaac on the head for offending his cooking like that, making the beta yelp out a small ‘Ow!’ in return. “If you don’t like my cooking, cook yourself! Let’s see how you’ll survive on toast and bacon for the rest of your life.”  
  
“Oi, I didn’t mean it like that…”  
  
Eliza giggled as she watched her parents bicker and the way Isaac was giving Kaylen his best puppy dog eyes now.  
  
“Shall I kiss it better? Come on, just let me give you a kiss and then you’ll forgive me…” Isaac leaned in to kiss Kaylen to make him stop glaring at him, and Kaylen giggled and tried to shy away when Isaac grabbed his chin to hold him still for a kiss.  
  
“You’re stupid,” Kaylen laughed, and finally let Isaac kiss him.  
  
Isaac grinned in triumph after getting his kiss, and just like that they were like best friends again.  
  
As always, Noah found it pretty fascinating to see how Isaac was acting around Kaylen. His brother was truly in love with the submissive demon, and he could tell that Kaylen loved him back just as much. It made Noah smile as he watched their intimate, little moment, but he still thought it was a little strange to see Isaac in the role of a loving mate and father.  
  
Jayden laughed at them. “You guys never change, huh?”  
  
“Nope! I’ll always be good-looking and smart!” Isaac grinned, and wrapped an arm around Kaylen’s shoulder.  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes fondly and giggled softly as Isaac wrapped his arm around him.  
  
“I wish Derek would change, though…” Nathan murmured quietly, and shot his little brother a glare out of the corner of his eyes. Derek was playing with Nathan’s feathers because he was mildly bored, and Nathan hated it when he did that. “Stop that already, you dummy!”  
  
Isaac burst out laughing when he saw what was going on, and the others laughed a bit as well.  
  
Dylan started squirming and sobbing a bit in Noah’s arms when Noah accidentally removed the bottle from his mouth while he was busy paying attention to the others. He quickly put the bottle back to the baby’s lips and shushed him. “Shhh, it’s okay. Mommy’s sorry.”  
  
“How old is he now anyway?” Kaylen asked, and smiled when he got eye contact with Dylan as he leaned in to watch him.  
  
“Um, two and a half months.”  
  
“Ohhh. Then no more excuses for you in bed, Noah,” Isaac grinned. “Bet Jayden is happy that so much time has passed already. And I bet you’re going at it like teenagers again! Yeeha!”  
  
Noah was dying from embarrassment, and Jayden too felt a little awkward about Isaac’s comment, but he laughed it off.  
  
“Some couples wait longer with such things, you know,” Kaylen pointed out, and chuckled at Noah’s embarrassment.  
  
The children had no idea what the adults were talking about, and were thus pretty confused.  
  
“What does that mean?” Nathan asked Isaac, frowning at him.  
  
Isaac’s eyebrows flew up in surprise as he turned to look down at his nephew. “Whoa, you don’t know? Haven’t your mommy and daddy given you the birds and the bees talk yet?”  
  
“Huh?” Nathan looked even confused now, and when he turned to look at Eliza he saw that she looked just as confused as him.  
  
“No, he’s only eight!” Noah argued.  
  
“That’s old enough!” Isaac argued back.  
  
“Well, seems like you haven’t told Eliza either, and she’s a few months older than Nathan,” Jayden pointed out.  
  
“Yeah, I’ve been making sure that Isaac won’t be the one to tell her, ‘cause that’s only going to traumatize her for life,” Kaylen said.  
  
“Tell me what?” Eliza asked, looking more and more curious about what they were talking about.  
  
“What, what, what?” Derek chirped, looking extremely curious about the whole thing now as well.  
  
“No way, you’re _way_ too young for that talk, buddy.” Jayden reached out and ruffled Derek’s hair fondly, but the boy wasn’t taking no for an answer so easily.  
  
“But I wanna knoooow!”  
  
“No! No more talking about it; that’s only gonna make it worse,” Noah said in raised voice to them all, urging them to drop the topic before Derek got out of control from curiosity. It was all Isaac’s fault, and he couldn’t help but glare at his older brother for never being able to keep his mouth shut.  
  
Isaac noticed Noah’s glare and moved his hand over his mouth to make it look like he was zipping his lips shut. “My mouth is sealed. Won’t say no more.”  
  
“But you just talked, daddy,” Eliza pointed out, giggling.  
  
“Hey, don’t be a smartass with your daddy!”  
  
The others laughed out loud at that. Isaac had a very cute relationship to his daughter, and Noah always smiled when he watched the two of them together. Isaac was always kind and loving around his kids, but at the same time he joked around with them and even got them to participate in pranks. Eliza was very used to her dad’s personality, and she was pretty good at quipping back at people – including her dad – because of it.  
  
They stood around and talked for a bit before going over to sit on the couch.  
  
Dylan was done with the bottle by the time they moved over to the couch, and Noah handed the baby to Jayden so that the alpha could burp him and calm him down before it was time for another nap.  
  
Jake and Eliza were very curious about the baby and would crawl over to Jayden on the couch to have a look at Dylan sometimes, which made Derek warn them not to make him cry again.  
  
As soon as Dylan was calm, Jayden handed him back to Noah before going into the kitchen to prepare the dinner. Eliza and Nathan followed after him in secret to find out what they were having, but Jayden spotted them. The two kids squealed as they ran away from him, but Jayden caught them both and slung them over his shoulders, spinning them around. He was careful not to bang their heads into the walls as he spun them around, and the kids screamed and squealed as they kicked their legs in his hold. Holding two 8-year-olds like that was a bit heavy, but Jayden could manage. He walked them back into the living room afterwards and dropped them down on the floor, only to have them beg him to pick them up again. He ended up having to pick up Derek and Jake in the same way because they were also begging to try it, and the family laughed as they watched the scene.  
  
Midnight stayed mostly on the top shelves and in her castle while the kids made noise and tumbled around, but she came down a few times to be pet by the adults and sleep on Jayden’s and Noah’s laps.  
  
Family times like these were when Noah and Jayden were most happy, even though Isaac’s jokes and pranks could be a bit too much sometimes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a small time jump in the next chapter, just so you know :) Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!


	46. Chapter 46

**November 2059 (Noah is 33, Jayden is 35, Nathan is 9 (almost 10), Derek is 5, Dylan is 2 years old).**  
  
“How are you feeling?” Jayden asked Noah that morning in the bed, after they had been woken up by Jayden’s alarm clock. The alpha was sitting up in the bed and glancing at Noah in worry, who was lying on his back beside him and not looking too well.  
  
Noah had been sick for two days now. He had a small fever, was snotty and coughed a lot, and Jayden guessed that his mate had caught a pretty bad cold.  
  
Noah coughed and kicked his blanket off himself because he felt warm. Jayden had turned up the heat in the room pretty far last night. “Still not too well…”  
  
“Mm, then you better stay home again. Can’t have you infect the kids at the kindergarten.” Jayden ran a hand through Noah’s feathers, as Noah’s wings were spread out next to him.  
  
Noah sighed and covered his forehead with the back of his hand. He felt pretty warm, but he wasn’t really sweating that much, and his voice was hoarse because of his cold. “I guess… Hope my boss is okay with that.”  
  
“Of course she is, otherwise I’ll give her a lecture,” Jayden chuckled. He moved around on the bed until he was lying on his stomach between Noah’s legs. He gently pried Noah’s legs further apart and inched closer to his mate so that his face was near his lower stomach, and he put his hands on Noah’s hips. The submissive was wearing only his light purple panties and one of Jayden’s old t-shirts, and Jayden slowly moved the shirt up to expose his mate’s flat stomach.  
  
Noah shivered as Jayden moved a calloused hand over his skin. “Ah, stop that. No sexy times when I’m sick.”  
  
“I know, and that’s not what I’m trying to do. Just wanna show you some love, and feel your precious skin.” Jayden smiled up at Noah and pressed a chaste kiss to the submissive’s stomach, loving how he could feel him tremble under his touch.  
  
“Nooo, no loving. I can’t…”  
  
The alpha laughed, but felt a bit sorry for Noah. Jayden wanted so badly to touch his mate and care for him, but it seemed like his touches were only making Noah aroused, judging by how Jayden could see his dick twitching in his panties.  
  
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. You get excited too easily sometimes.”  
  
Noah groaned and kicked Jayden lightly with his right foot. “It’s _your_ fault. You tease.”  
  
Jayden laughed before getting up from the bed. He went over to the wardrobe and pulled off his boxers and t-shirt, which he had been sleeping in, before pulling on some fresh clothes.   
  
Noah watched him from the bed and admired the sight of Jayden’s back muscles flexing as he moved around, and how he spread out his strong wings. He couldn’t see all the details in the dark, though.  
  
Jayden quickly pulled on a new shirt and boxers, and glanced over his shoulder at Noah on the bed. He smirked when he caught him looking. “Are you done eating me up with your eyes?”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened and he looked like a deer in the headlights when he was caught staring. He blushed and quickly looked away, pretending like he hadn’t been looking at all. He coughed a few times before pulling the blanket over his body again.  
  
“You better keep that blanket on. You need to stay warm so that you can get better again soon,” Jayden told him, pulling on his pants in a swift move and buckling his belt.  
  
“Yeah… This sucks, though.”  
  
Jayden chuckled in sympathy. “Yeah, I know. But don’t worry; I’ll drive the kids to school and kindergarten and whatever, and then I’ll come back for a few hours before I head off to work.”  
  
“When are you off work today? Who’s going to pick up the kids?”  
  
“I’m off at 7, but I can take an hour off in the afternoon to pick up the kids and drive them home. My boss owes me a few hours off anyway.”  
  
“Oh. Okay.” Noah was relieved that he wouldn’t have to drive around and pick up the kids when he was sick, or get someone else to do it. He hated asking his family or friends for favors like that; he felt like he already owed them so much.  
  
Jayden smiled at him before leaving the room to wake up the kids.  
  
Nathan was easy to wake up because he took his school very seriously and didn’t want to be late for classes. Derek was a bit more difficult to wake up – the boy would always snooze off for a bit longer, so Jayden usually went into his room and dragged him out of bed right away so that he didn’t have time to snooze. As for Dylan, he usually woke up at around 6-7am anyway, so waking him up before they left at 7:25 wasn’t a problem.  
  
Nathan was the first to go downstairs for breakfast, and he pulled out bowls and spoons for his brothers and dad to eat with as well. He had already set the table when the others finally came downstairs.  
  
Derek’s footsteps as he ran down the stairs could be heard almost all over the house, and he ran quickly through the dining room until he reached the kitchen. “Good morning, stupid!” he greeted Nathan with a big, teasing grin on his face.  
  
Nathan shot his brother a glare and sat down at the table to eat his cereal. “Stop calling me that, you worm. Dad! Derek called me stupid again!”  
  
Jayden entered the kitchen with little Dylan at that very moment, and sighed heavily when he realized that today’s bickering had already started. “Derek, stop calling your big brother that. It’s not polite.”  
  
Derek just grinned in mischief before climbing onto his chair at the table to eat. He and Nathan always sat on opposite sides of the table so that they wouldn’t end up arguing too much.  
  
Nathan shot his brother a glare before he began eating.  
  
Dylan whined and grabbed at Jayden’s clothes to indicate that he wanted to eat as well. He was two years old already, and although he had developed quite well despite of his early birth, they had found out that Dylan had a few allergies. He was quite allergic to nuts, and in the spring and summer he’d be irritated by pollen. The doctors didn’t think it was related to him being born early, though, but neither Nathan nor Derek had any known allergies.  
  
Jayden glanced down at Dylan and smiled as he ran a hand through his youngest son’s brown hair. “Yeah, I know you’re hungry. Let’s go eat with your brothers, okay?” He grabbed Dylan’s hand and led him over to the table.   
  
Nathan had placed himself at the furthest end of the table so that there was space for Dylan to next to him and for Jayden to sit at the table end to keep an eye on Dylan and Derek.  
  
Derek was a fast eater, and Nathan scrunched his nose a bit as he watched Derek gulp down his food in inhuman speed and splash milk next to his plate by accident.   
  
Dylan, on the other hand, always ate calmly and slowly. He would spend some time staring at his food and poking at it, making patterns in the plate, before he ate one piece at a time. He’d also hum while he chewed his food, and it was his humming that told the others if he liked his food or not.  
  
“Where’s mommy? Is he still sick?” Nathan asked, while they were all eating their cereal.  
  
“Yeah, he’s still not feeling very well,” Jayden confirmed. He kept a close eye on Derek, who loved to annoy his brothers while they ate.  
  
“Mommy okay?” Dylan asked, and stared at Jayden with a worried frown. He couldn’t speak that well yet, but he knew some words.  
  
Jayden smiled and reached out to rub Dylan’s small arm. “Yeah, mommy’s gonna be okay soon. I promise.”  
  
Derek picked up his bowl and gulped down the remaining milk in it, before putting the bowl back on the table and turning to look at Jayden. “More!”  
  
Jayden raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s the magic word, Derek?”  
  
“…Please.” Derek looked at his father with a scrunched nose. He hated when he was asked to ask politely for stuff instead of just getting what he wanted right away.  
  
Satisfied with the answer, Jayden reached over and poured more cereal up for Derek, but he let the boy pour milk onto it on his own. Derek had to learn to serve himself sooner or later.  
  
“You guys are slow! I’m already at bowl two!” Derek told them before he greedily dug into his next bowl of cereal.  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes at Derek and how full of energy he was all of sudden. “Why is it that you always take so long to get your butt outta bed on schooldays, but when you come downstairs you’re just full of energy? And on the weekends you wake up _hella_ early and burst into my room to disturb my sleep when I can _finally_ sleep for as long as I want?”  
  
“I just hate when daddy and mommy wake me up before I wake up myself! Wanna sleep till I wake up. And then I’m awake I can finally have fun,” Derek explained, and stuck his tongue out at Nathan.  
  
Nathan’s eyes narrowed in distaste, and Jayden couldn’t help but laugh.   
  
They all looked up when they heard a noise coming from the door, and were surprised to see Noah enter the kitchen. The submissive was still looking ill, and he sniffled as he made his way over to grab a Kleenex from the kitchen counter so that he could blow his running nose.  
  
“Oh, good morning, mommy,” Nathan smiled when he saw him.  
  
“Mommy! Morning!” Derek chirped before continuing to eat.  
  
“Morning, guys,” Noah smiled, and quickly blew his clogged nose.  
  
“You okay?” Jayden asked, and twisted around in his chair so that he could see Noah behind him.  
  
Noah nodded and blew his nose again.  
  
Dylan started whining, and he twisted around in his chair while reaching out towards Noah.  
  
Noah smiled and quickly washed his hands before going over to pick up Dylan, who wanted a hug. Very unlike Derek, Dylan liked to be hugged and cuddled, and he loved it especially when it was Noah who did it. It made Jayden call him a ‘mama’s boy’ sometimes.  
  
“Hey, sweetie. You know mommy can’t hold you much when he’s sick,” Noah told Dylan, and hugged him close while holding him. Dylan cooed softly and rested his head on Noah’s shoulder, enjoying the attention.  
  
“…Is he really an alpha?” Derek asked Jayden, and glanced at Dylan with skepticism. It was a little odd to him that his alpha brother liked such intimate things. It didn’t seem ‘alpha-like’ to him at all.  
  
“Of course he is,” Jayden said. “He’s only two years old. And it’s not ‘unmanly’ to like hugs and be held close, you know.”  
  
Derek made a face. He didn’t dislike affections as such, he just felt like he had better things to do, such as play and run around and have fun. He didn’t have time for hugs and cuddles, nor did he think it made him ‘cool’.  
  
“I’m glad he’s not as stupid and wild as Derek,” Nathan murmured, and slurped the rest of his cereal.  
  
“Am not stupid!” Derek protested heavily.  
  
Jayden laughed at them, and smiled as he watched Dylan snuggle into Noah.  
  
“I gotta put you down again before I infect you,” Noah told Dylan softly, and moved to put Dylan back into his chair.  
  
Dylan grabbed a hold of Noah’s shirt with his little hands and refused to be separated from him. “Mommy, wuns Mayneit…”  
  
“What?” Noah didn’t quite understand all of Dylan’s baby babbling yet, and finding out what exactly the boy meant could be quite a challenge.  
  
“Mayneit!” Dylan repeated, and pouted at Noah for not understanding.  
  
“Mayneit…? Ohh, you mean Midnight.” Noah finally understood what he meant. “She’s probably in the living room, sleeping. You can go look for her once you’ve finished eating— _Achoo!_ ” He quickly looked away from Dylan as he sneezed. The sneeze made his throat ache and his nose run again, and Jayden laughed softly when he noticed this and went up to get him another piece of Kleenex.  
  
“I’ll buy a new box of tissues before I come home,” Jayden spoke, and handed Noah the Kleenex. He gently grabbed Dylan from Noah’s arms and put the boy back into his chair, so that Noah could blow his nose.   
  
Dylan protested softly and started crying a bit, but he calmed down when Nathan handed him a toy which had been on the table all along.  
  
“Maybe I better buy two or three boxes,” Jayden added, and chuckled at how snotty Noah was.  
  
Noah shot his mate a glare before going over to dispose of the tissue. “You’re a jerk.”  
  
Once everyone was done eating, Jayden urged them to start packing their stuff so they could leave. He’d drive Nathan to school first, then drop off Derek in the kindergarten, and finally take Dylan to the daycare.   
  
Derek had started attending kindergarten in August, and Noah thought it was a little tough having to teach his hyper active son English and Art. He’d gotten a few comments from his colleagues that Derek was difficult to control in their classes, and that he often disturbed class. All the teachers had to keep an extra eye on him to make sure that he didn’t do any mischief – usually in the form of being loud, sneaking out of class, and displaying reckless behavior in the playground that often ended with him getting hurt.  
  
It was chaos getting everyone out of the house in the morning, especially since Dylan never wanted to leave, knowing that he’d spend the day away from his parents, and would thus start crying in protest when they were leaving. Derek was always eager to go because he looked forward to playing with his friends, but he was slow at packing and often forgot things, making them have to drive back to the house after they had left the driveway. Nathan was the calmest of them, and he helped his parents gain control over the situation before they left.  
  
Noah was staying home that day, and he sighed in relief once Jayden and the kids were gone, leaving the home pleasantly quiet. He loved his children more than anything, but it was still nice being alone in the house for a few hours so he could sleep off his sickness without having to worry about them.  
  
  


***

  
  
As promised, Jayden took an hour off work to go and pick up the children from daycare, kindergarten, and school. His colleagues were fine with it, since 4-5pm wasn’t their most busy time at the restaurant, and they had plenty of staff to cover for him.  
  
Jayden fought his way through the early Christmas crowds of the mall to get to his car outside, and drove off to pick up Nathan from school. He thought it would be better to pick up Nathan first, since he was more quiet and patient when Jayden had to go into the kindergarten and daycare facilities to pick up Derek and Dylan.   
  
He arrived at the school at a little past 4pm. Nathan’s classes ended at 2 or 3pm, and sometimes he’d have soccer practice afterwards until 5:30. Today he didn’t have practice, though, and was staying in the after school care until someone would pick him up.  
  
Jayden quickly headed there, not wanting to leave Nathan waiting for too long.  
  
In the meanwhile, Nathan was slowly getting ready to be picked up soon. He had received a text from Jayden on his cellphone that he’d be there in a few minutes, so Nathan wanted to be ready for when he arrived.  
  
The after school care was in a separate building from the school’s main building, and it had its own little playground. Mostly it was kids from the ages of 6-11 who were there, and there were various activities and toys for them to entertain themselves with while waiting for their parents to pick them up.  
  
Nathan didn’t mind the after school care, but he preferred his soccer practice. He had many good friends there, and it was fun to play soccer with them and sometimes compete with teams from other schools. Today, the after school care was extra boring, though. Emily wasn’t there; she was at gymnastics practice, and most of Nathan’s other close friends weren’t in the after school care today either. Still, he got along with the others kids there, and had had some fun playing Ludo with a couple of boys from the grade below him.  
  
Nathan made his way to the lockers, where the kids could keep their personal belongings. They were located by the entrance to the building, and the teachers only came out there every now and then to check if anyone was there.  
  
As he made his way over to get his stuff from the locker, Nathan noticed a few kids about his age having a fight. There were two angel girls, who were being cornered by four boys (three alpha demons and one demon/human hybrid), and they were arguing about something.  
  
“It’s not funny, William! Give her back her phone!” the white-winged angel girl snapped at one of the demon boys, and tried to snatch the stolen phone from him without success.  
  
“Why? So she can call her boyfriend?” the boy named William retorted, making his friends laugh behind him.  
  
“You’re so childish!” the girl snapped, and growled at the stupid boys in front of her.  
  
“She’s the childish one!” one of the other boys argued, and pointed at the other angel girl, who was hiding slightly behind her friend. “She’s always staring at that Jim guy like she’s in love, but he’s a demon! An angel girl like her shouldn’t be staring at a demon like that! It’s gross.”  
  
“They’re best friends, you dummy!”  
  
Nathan witnessed the incident quietly, and was in doubt about whether he should interfere or not. The white-winged girl seemed pretty tough and had stood her ground against those boys so far, but the boys’ comments kind of pissed Nathan off. Nathan knew it was frowned upon to have angels and demons mate with each other, but he couldn’t see anything wrong with it. Almost his entire family was made out of hybrids, and Nathan’s own mother was an angel/demon hybrid, and they were the nicest people he knew. He couldn’t understand why it was so wrong for people like him and his family to exist, and for his grandparents to be mated. Surely there was no harm in it? It made him angry when people talked about angel/demon couples and hybrids as if they were wrong, disgusting, and didn’t fit in.  
  
“Eeeww! An angel girl being best friends with a demon!” the boys all sneered in choir, and starting laughing at the girls. William threw the phone back at the white-winged girl in spite.  
  
The white-winged angel girl looked furious about the teasing, whereas the other girl behind her started crying. Her crying only made the boys laugh harder and poke fun at her, and that's when Nathan had enough.  
  
“Hey,” Nathan spoke up, startling the boys, who quickly turned to look at him. “Why are you teasing her? That’s just mean.” He went over to stand next to the two girls, and glared at the boys. Nathan didn’t like confrontations, and he tried to add as little fuel as possible to the fire as he addressed the boys. He just really didn’t approve of the way those boys were behaving.  
  
“Why do _you_ care?” William snapped, although he looked a little startled to have someone intervene all of sudden.  
  
“Oh, it’s that hybrid kid,” one of the demons boys whispered to his friends.  
  
The boys all turned to look at Nathan more closely, and then started laughing mockingly at him.  
  
“See? If you mate with that Jim boy, your kids will be freaks like this guy!” William told the crying girl, and pointed at Nathan.  
  
Nathan flinched slightly at the word ‘freak’. He really didn’t like that word.  
  
“He’s not a freak!” the white-winged angel snapped at the boys. “ _You’re_ the freaks here!” She shot them a glare and turned to comfort her friend. When she tried leaving, though, the boys quickly got in her way, and William tried to grab her arm.  
  
In an instant Nathan got between them and slapped William’s hand away before he could touch the girl, making the boy stare at him in surprise.  
  
“Leave them alone,” Nathan growled.  
  
William was obviously not going to let a beta tell him what to do. “Stay out of this, you stupid freak!” He shoved Nathan harshly, and Nathan responded by shoving him back even harder.  
  
Soon, there was an outright fight going on. The four boys started pushing Nathan back against the lockers to make him surrender, but Nathan wasn’t willing to submit to them or put up with their bullying. There was pushing, shoving, and pulling of clothes and feathers, and eventually the white-winged girl intervened to help Nathan out by trying to yank the boys away from him. It only got worse then, and Nathan tried to shield the girl as much as he could so the boys wouldn’t harm her.  
  
They had been fighting for about a minute when finally Jayden arrived to pick up Nathan and saw what was going on.  
  
 _“Hey!”_  
  
The four boys jumped away from Nathan and the girl as fast as they could, and their eyes widened when a very angry Jayden stormed up to them.  
  
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Jayden demanded, and growled at the boys as he spread out his sharpened wings.  
  
The boys panicked at the sight of an adult alpha in front of them and quickly took off running.  
  
Jayden growled at the disappearing boys before turning his attention to Nathan and the two girls. “Are you guys okay? What happened?” He quickly checked Nathan for injuries, but found only a few bruises on him.  
  
“T-They were being mean,” the other girl cried, who had stayed in the background during the whole fight. She was clearly quite shocked and scared, and her wings were wrapped closely to her body.  
  
“Yeah, they were harassing the girls and talking bad about hybrids,” Nathan murmured, and tried to correct his hair and feathers after the boys had ruffled them up pretty good by pulling at them. His wings ached from having his feathers pulled at, but at least he had managed to pull at the other boys’ feathers too.  
  
Jayden growled lowly and cursed at the boys inside his mind. “Well, I’m glad you guys seem okay. Do you know who those boys are? I’ll go talk to a teacher about them. I won’t put up with this.”  
  
“Yeah, I know them,” the white-winged girl said.  
  
“Alright. Nathan, get your things and then we’ll go find a teacher.”  
  
Nathan nodded and quickly went over to his locker to get his things and then follow his dad into the other room, where the teachers and the other children were.  
  
As he pulled his bag from his locker, the two angel girls came over to him.  
  
“Thanks for helping out,” the white-winged girl said, and gave Nathan a smile. Next to her, the other girl was smiling too, and had a shy blush on her cheeks.  
  
“You’re welcome. And thanks for helping me out too,” Nathan told her, and returned the smile.  
  
“I’m Amanda, and this is Casey,” the girl with the white wings said, and pointed to her friend.  
  
“Um, I’m Nathan.”  
  
Jayden smiled as he watched Nathan talking to the girls and looking a little shy and modest all of sudden. When Nathan was ready, Jayden placed a hand on his shoulder and walked with him to the other room along with the girls.  
  
The teachers hadn’t even noticed the commotion by the lockers; they had been too busy drinking coffee and keeping an eye on the kids in the other room. Some of the kids had noticed it, though, but the teachers hadn’t reacted when they were told that there was a lot of noise coming from the lockers.  
  
Jayden was furious that the teachers didn’t seem to keep a proper eye on the children, especially after Amanda had said that the teachers knew very well that those four boys often caused trouble. His tone got very strict and angry as he talked to the teachers, and Nathan was glad to see that his dad was so determined to make sure that the boys should be educated and punished for bullying others. The other children were also very glad that finally a parent told the teachers face-to-face that they should do something about the bullies, and that just made Nathan even prouder.  
  
  


***

  
  
After the talk with the teachers, Jayden and Nathan went out to the car to drive off to pick up Derek and Dylan next.  
  
Jayden was still a bit agitated by the teachers, who didn’t seem to take the bullies all too seriously.  
  
“Gosh, those teachers’ nonchalance really got on my nerves,” Jayden grumbled as he started the car.  
  
“Yeah, those two teachers are really annoying. But there’s another teacher who’s a lot nicer, but she’s on maternity leave now…” Nathan said from the passenger seat. He sometimes got to ride on the passenger seat when there was only one parent in the car, and Derek was always jealous of it.  
  
“Oh well. Let’s just get you guys home. Already wasted fifteen minutes arguing with the teachers.”  
  
“You going back to work?” Nathan couldn’t help but feel disappointed.  
  
Jayden pulled the car into the street, and cast a look at Nathan. He smiled softly when he saw him sulking somewhat. “Yeah, but I’ll be home at 7:30 or so. Don’t worry.”  
  
Nathan sighed and stared at the traffic ahead. “Okay… But can you come to my soccer game next week? You said yesterday that you weren’t sure.”  
  
“Hey, I’ll try everything to be there, okay? It’s just sometimes difficult to plan stuff when my work schedule changes. A lot of my colleagues are sick lately.”  
  
“Hmm…” Nathan shrunk a bit into his seat, and hoped that his dad would be there for his game.  
  
Jayden glanced at him again, hating to see Nathan look so defeated. “Hey.” He reached over and patted Nathan on the thigh to reassure him. “At least I saw your last game, right? My dad never really made it to any of my football games, so I know what it feels like when your parents don’t show up. I promise I’ll try to be there, okay?”  
  
Nathan turned to look at him in surprise. “You played football in school?”  
  
“I’m pretty sure I told you that before,” Jayden chuckled, glancing between the road and Nathan. “But yeah, I was the quarterback at my previous old school, and also for a while after I moved to this town and started high school here.”  
  
“Only for a while?”  
  
“Um, well, I got kicked off the team eventually, ‘cause everyone were racist jerks that didn’t like your mom.”  
  
Nathan’s eyes widened. It was the first time he heard that story. “Really? You mean they kicked you out just ‘cause you liked mom?”  
  
“Yeah, more or less. I was angry about it for a while, but then I learned to just not care. They were being assholes, and in the end your mom meant more to me than the team, so I was fine with it.”  
  
Nathan couldn’t help but smile widely. It made him happy to hear that his dad cared so much about his mom. After a few moments of smiling, he turned to look at Jayden again. “And you said ‘asshole’, dad.”  
  
Jayden’s face paled. “I did? Yeah, I guess I did…”  
  
“Means you owe me a dollar!” Nathan laughed.  
  
Jayden groaned. “Alright, fine, I’ll put it in the swear jar later. This is such a stupid rule, anyway. Who the heck even thought of it?”  
  
Nathan giggled. “Grandma did.”  
  
“Right. Remind to complain to Cas later.”  
  
Nathan laughed, and felt victorious that he had just won a dollar from his father.   
  
It was Castiel who had suggested the rule to them after Derek had blurted out a very nasty cussword about a year ago. It was a word he had learned from Isaac, because Isaac never thought about the words leaving his mouth before he spoke, and it had made the family adopt the rule to remind themselves to not curse in front of the children. If they cursed, they had to put a dollar into the swear jar, which would later help pay the children’s college costs.  
  
  


***

  
  
After picking up Derek and Dylan, Jayden dropped them all off at the house before leaving for work again.  
  
Noah had been in bed most of the day to recover from his cold, but he had gotten up when he heard them arrive. He had only caught a glimpse of Jayden and a kiss on the cheek from him before the alpha was out the door again, leaving him alone with their three sons.  
  
“Yay! TV, TV! My fav show is on now!” Derek cheered loudly and ran into the living room after Jayden had left.  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes at his brother, and put his schoolbag away in the entrance hall.  
  
Noah was helping Dylan out of his jacket and shoes, and was constantly sniffling because of his snotty nose. He was glad that he had managed to get some sleep during the day, since now he’d be busy taking care of the boys. He was also glad that Nathan was mature enough to be on his own and to help him keep an eye on the younger ones, but he didn’t want to put too many responsibilities on him.  
  
“Did you have a nice day?” Noah asked Nathan, while he took off Dylan’s shoes.  
  
“Yeah, it was okay… Kinda got into a fight with some boys, though…” Nathan raised his head to see Noah’s reaction, and wasn’t surprised when his mother looked shocked.  
  
“Eh, why?” Noah demanded, looking worried.  
  
“They were harassing some girls and then I intervened. They tried pushing me against the lockers and pulled at my clothes and wings, but then dad showed up and chased them off. Dad was really angry that the teachers don’t care much about those bullies, though.”  
  
Noah sighed in relief that things had gone well in the end. “Well, I’m glad that you seem to be okay. And I’m proud of you that you helped those girls.”  
  
Nathan shifted sheepishly, but was happy about the praise.  
  
“Mommy! Up!” Dylan whined all of sudden, and reached up his arms towards Noah to be picked up.  
  
Noah chuckled softly and took Dylan up on his arm, feeling the boy melt into his touch. “You’re so spoiled sometimes, Dylan.”  
  
“But at least he’s nicer than Derek,” Nathan argued.  
  
“Don’t be mean.”  
  
“But it’s true.”  
  
Noah sighed and rocked Dylan absently as the boy sat on his arm. It was true that Derek was wild, hyper, impulsive, and rude sometimes, but Noah still loved him. He loved all of his children equally.  
  
Noah went with Nathan into the living room, where Derek was super excited about his favorite cartoon show being on the TV. He was always very noisy when he watched that show; he’d make comments, laugh out loud at the funny moments, and even jump on the couch in impatience when there was a commercial break.  
  
Dylan watched Derek with curiosity from where he was sitting on Noah’s arm, before he indicated to Noah that he wanted to be placed on the floor. Noah sat down with him to socialize with the baby, and Nathan quietly left the room to do his homework in the dining room, which was a lot more quiet than the living room.  
  
Noah put some games in front of Dylan which helped him learn new things. A puzzle with seven pieces, stacking toys, and other things that Dylan thought were funny to solve and learn through. Noah praised him every time he got things right, and sometimes helped him a little when Dylan got too upset that he couldn’t solve it. He had assisted Nathan and Derek the same way when they were Dylan’s age, though Derek had always been stubborn and had wanted to do things on his own. Dylan was a little less stubborn and would sometimes even ask for help.  
  
Watching Dylan trying to solve the problems made Noah smile, and it was fun assisting him. He was amazed that Dylan had learned to almost completely block out Derek’s noise in the background, though.  
  
“Mommy, mommy!” Derek suddenly chirped after his show was over, and jumped off the couch to run over to him. However, he accidentally tripped over his own feet and landed hard on his hands and knees, making Noah gasp. Derek quickly recovered, though, and crawled the rest of the way over to Noah like nothing had happened.  
  
“Jeez, Derek. Be careful,” Noah told him, and coughed because of his cold.  
  
“But mommy, I wanna tell you that Lucas praised me in Math class today!”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened. “Really?”  
  
Derek nodded, and grinned proudly. “Yes, ‘cause I wasn’t late.”  
  
Noah’s wings slumped behind him in light disappointment. He had thought that maybe Derek was finally making some good process in Math, but apparently he had simply just managed to not be a couple of minutes late, like he usually was. Derek hated math more than anything, so he always tried to stall the time before class started, and would purposefully separate himself from the group when Lucas went outside to find his students in the playground and call them inside for class.  
  
“That’s… great, Derek.” Noah smiled and looked proud of his son to encourage him. “But I really wish you would take Math class more seriously…”  
  
“Bah, but I hate it…” Derek pouted and curled a bit as he sat on the floor next to Noah. “It’s boring and I dun understand it…”  
  
“I know, but you’ll learn.”   
  
Noah tried reaching out to fondly move some of Derek’s hairs away from his forehead, but the boy shook his head to make him stop. He sighed at the rejection and turned to look at Dylan, who was still happily working on the puzzle and the stacking toys.  
  
A sudden tickle in his nose warned Noah that he had to sneeze, and he quickly moved his arm in front of his face and sneezed into it. Another sneeze followed and soon another, and he grunted when his nose started running. He made sure that Dylan and Derek were alright before he got up and went to the kitchen to get some Kleenexes.   
  
Noah’s head felt a little dizzy because of him being sick, and he stayed in the kitchen for a few minutes to rest his head and blow his nose.   
  
When he was done, he walked back to the living room.  
  
However, the sight that he was met by made Noah stop in his tracks and gasp in horror.  
  
Derek was busy painting Dylan’s face with a pen, giggling as he did so, while little Dylan just stared at him curiously, as if wondering what he was doing. There were already several dark blue circles and lines across Dylan’s face by the time Noah got back to the room.  
  
“ _Derek!_ What do you think you’re doing?!” Noah scolded, raising his voice in outrage, and hurried over to make him stop.  
  
Derek quickly dropped the pen on the floor and took off to hide on the couch. He was giggling and grinning, but his lowered tail showed that he knew very well that he was in big trouble.  
  
Noah kneeled in front of Dylan on the floor and gasped when he took in his face. “Oh my god, let’s wash that off of you. Come on.” He gently picked up Dylan and carried him to the bathroom, making Dylan whine a bit when he was being taken away from his toys. He stopped in the doorway to the laundry room, though, and turned to glare at Derek on the couch. “And you, Derek! Up to your room right now! And don’t come out until I say you can!”  
  
“But moooom!”  
  
 _“Now!”_  
  
Derek pouted and jumped off the couch to head to his room, while Noah took Dylan into the bathroom to wash the pen markings off his face.  
  
Nathan had heard the commotion, but wasn’t sure what was going on. He overheard Noah sending Derek to his room, and went to check on what was going on. He bumped into Derek in the entrance hall, as Derek was heading for the stairs.  
  
“What did you do now, you dummy?” Nathan asked, staring at Derek with suspicion.  
  
“Nothing.” Derek stuck his tongue out at Nathan as he passed him. “Mommy just doesn’t like my drawings.” He ran up the stairs after that, and Nathan heard the door to his room shut after a few seconds.  
  
Meanwhile Noah was busy trying to get the pen markings off of Dylan’s face. He placed the baby on the counter next to the sink in the bathroom, and grabbed some small cloths to clean Dylan’s face with.  
  
Dylan whined and tried to shy away from the cloth because it didn’t feel very nice to get it rubbed into his face, but Noah kept insisting. The submissive murmured small curses under his breath because the color was difficult to get off, and he was angry at Derek for getting such a stupid idea.  
  
“I know, I know. But mommy’s gotta get it off you,” Noah told Dylan soothingly when his son started crying. He rubbed the moist cloth as he gently as he could against Dylan’s face, but he had to be a little bit rough to get the color off.  
  
Nathan suddenly appeared in the doorway behind him. “What happened?”  
  
“Derek happened,” Noah murmured bitterly, concentrating on the task.  
  
Nathan’s eyes widened when he finally saw Dylan’s face. He couldn’t say he was surprised that Derek had done that, though.  
  
When Dylan noticed Nathan, he whined and reached out for him, as if hoping that his brother would make their mother stop rubbing that cloth against his face all the time.  
  
“Aww, poor you. I’m sorry, but mommy’s gotta get it off you,” Nathan told Dylan softly, and went over to comfort him.  
  
“Dun wannaaa!” Dylan cried.  
  
Nathan grabbed Dylan’s hands and sung a little song for him to calm him down while Noah worked on getting the color off, and it helped the toddler relax.  
  
It wasn’t the first time that Derek had drawn on Dylan. He had done it a couple of times before, and Dylan usually thought it was pretty funny and that it tickled, but it was never any fun getting it off again. Whenever they asked Derek why he’d suddenly start drawing on Dylan like that, he’d say it was because he was bored and that Dylan was fun to draw on.  
  
After Dylan had been cleaned as well as possible, Noah held him in his arms for a while to soothe him before taking him back to the living room.  
  
Nathan moved his stuff into the living room as well to have Noah help him with some homework, while Derek stayed in his room.  
  
Derek would stick his head out of his room sometimes and yell and ask if it was okay that he came downstairs again, but Noah kept telling him no.  
  
It would be another twenty minutes before Noah was willing to let Derek out of his room again.  
  
  


***

  
  
Jayden came home at 7:30pm, and wasn’t too surprised when he learned that Derek had once again been up to no good. Dylan had already been put to bed at that time, and soon after that it was time for Derek to sleep too.  
  
“I dun wanna go to bed yet, daddy,” Derek murmured, and pouted up at Jayden. They were standing at the foot of the stairs, and Jayden had just told him to go up to bed.  
  
“Yeah, but you gotta. Come on.” Jayden picked up Derek and slung him over his shoulder, making the boy squeal. “Shhh, not so loud! You’ll wake up your little brother,” Jayden told him as he started carrying him up the stairs.  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes at them before going into the living room, where Noah was sitting on the couch and petting Midnight. They had already said good night to Derek.  
  
Because he was a little older, Nathan didn’t have to go bed until 8:15, sometimes 8:30, so he had about half an hour left until he had to go to bed. He had Noah help him with the rest of his homework while Jayden tucked Derek in.  
  
Ten minutes later, Jayden came back downstairs and sighed heavily when he joined them in the living room. “I wonder if he’ll stay in his room tonight, or keep coming downstairs to tell us that he can’t sleep.”  
  
“I hope he doesn’t come down again…” Nathan murmured.  
  
Noah chuckled, and got up to go blow his nose again. Jayden ran a hand through his feathers when he passed them, and Nathan watched the gestures and their loving smiles quietly from the couch.  
  
After Noah had left, Jayden stretched his limbs and wings lazily. “Gosh, what an evening. So much stress before I had to go home. Glad I’m not there anymore.”  
  
“I thought you liked your job,” Nathan said.  
  
“I do. But it can be stressful sometimes…”  
  
Nathan looked down at his tablet again, on which he had most of his schoolwork. It was an empty stare, though, and Jayden picked up on it.  
  
“What’s up?” Jayden asked, and walked a little closer to the couch.  
  
Nathan stared a bit longer at the tablet before looking up at Jayden with a small frown. “I… Daddy, how are babies made?”  
  
The sudden and totally unexpected question almost made Jayden choke in his own spit, and Noah stopped in his tracks and widened his eyes in shock when he heard the question as he entered the room again.  
  
“W-What? Why are you asking?” Jayden questioned, almost defensively.  
  
“’Cause I’ve been wondering for a while, and it seems like most of my classmates know it,” Nathan simply stated. “And I heard some boys talking about how adults ‘enjoy it’ when they make a baby. Plus, there was a movie in which an alpha commented that submissives are only good for making babies. What does that mean?”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward that Nathan had come across such sexist movies. Sometimes even rather innocent movies could have offending and sexist comments like that in them, and it disgusted him.  
  
“Uh…” Jayden glanced at Noah for help, since this really wasn’t a conversation he’d thought he would have tonight.  
  
They both knew that sooner or later they would have to educate Nathan on such things, but they had kind of hoped that it could wait a bit.  
  
Jayden scratched the back of neck awkwardly before going over to the couch to sit down next to Nathan. Noah slowly went over and sat on Jayden’s other side, and Midnight climbed into his lap again.  
  
“Uh, well… You know there are different genders and stuff, right? And that our bodies look different,” Jayden began, and looked at Nathan.  
  
Nathan nodded slowly, and looked Jayden in the eye.  
  
“Well, the genders look different because it takes two different parts to make a baby. It takes a male and a female or a submissive to do that.”  
  
“Uh-huh…” Nathan looked like he was slowly processing it. “I kinda guessed that. But how? And why?”  
  
Jayden sighed, hating how awkward it felt. It was just like back when he and Noah had to explain this stuff to Laura. “Well, males and females – and submissives – don’t just look different on the outside, but also on the inside. You see, males have, uh, a penis and testicles, and inside the testicles they have sperm cells. They’re like tiny microscopic tadpoles, except they aren’t tadpoles, and they contain the genetic DNA of that particular person.”  
  
Nathan squinted his eyes as he took in the information, and nodded when he understood it more or less. “Then, what about females and subs? They don’t have that?”  
  
Jayden glanced at Noah, hoping he’d take over now.  
  
Noah took the hint, and blushed furiously when he realized he had to explain the next part. “Um, no, we’re different. Subs or females don’t have any sperm cells, but we have a womb, and ovaries that contain tiny little eggs.”  
  
“…But not like chicken eggs, right?”  
  
“Yeah, not like those,” Noah chuckled awkwardly.  
  
“Ah, I see, so the sperm cells and eggs have to meet? Is that it?”  
  
Jayden was glad that Nathan was smart enough to understand that. “Yep. When the sperm cell joins with the egg, the DNA of both parents melt together and create new life, and the baby will have some of its mother’s DNA and some of its father’s.”  
  
“Ohh. I see.” Nathan got an enlightened look on his face when he understood it. “And then the baby grows inside the mother’s stomach? Like Derek and Dylan did.”  
  
“Yep. And you did too,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Nathan pondered for a bit. “But they can’t grow inside the father’s stomach…? Why not?”  
  
“Uh, well, it takes a uterus to grow the baby inside, and males don’t have that,” Jayden explained. “A uterus is kinda like a bubble for the baby to be in, and only females and subs have them. Besides, the baby grows where the egg is, and since males don’t have eggs but the females and subs do, the baby has to grow inside them.”  
  
“Oh. But then how on earth do those eggs and sperm cells meet—” Nathan trailed off as it slowly started to dawn on him, and his eyes widened when he realized how they’d have to meet. “No way! The people’s bodies have to _join?!_ That’s gross!”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh out loud, while Noah still looked uncomfortable and was blushing.  
  
“Yeah, that’s how it works,” Jayden grinned. “The guy has to put his penis inside the sub or female, and then, uh, the sperm shoots out and enters him or her.”  
  
Nathan’s face was scrunched up in disgust. “Ew. You mean it goes into the _butt?_ ”  
  
“For submissives, yeah, but with females it’s through their vagina. Though, submissives’ butts are kinda different from yours and mine, you know.”  
  
“It’s still gross! How could that possibly feel nice?!” Nathan exclaimed. He looked at Noah then. “Mommy, please tell me that it doesn’t feel nice!”  
  
Jayden laughed as Noah just blushed even harder.  
  
“Um, it, um, actually does feel nice,” Noah said slowly. “And it really isn’t as gross as you think it is, though it may sound like that.”  
  
“I thought it was gross too when my dad told me about it. All kids probably think that,” Jayden chuckled. “But I promise you, son; it doesn’t hurt if you’re careful, and females and subs have natural slick down there to stop it from hurting, and they’re quite stretchy. Your mom and I wouldn’t have three children if it hurt that bad, you know.”  
  
“Oh.” Nathan looked a little more relaxed now that he knew that such things didn’t hurt.  
  
“And parents don’t only do it to make a baby. They do it often ‘cause it feels nice and it helps them bond.”  
  
“Only parents do it…?”  
  
“Well, no. Anyone can do it with anyone, pretty much, though it isn’t something for children under the age of fifteen to be doing. And you shouldn’t do it with just anyone either; you can catch diseases if you’re not careful. But maybe we should talk about the whole safe sex thing some other time.”  
  
Nathan nodded in agreement. It was already getting too much to take in. “So, basically being mates means that you do such stuff together and have babies…?”  
  
“Well, kind of, but there’s more to it. A mate is someone you love with all of your heart and whom you want to be with for the rest of your life. The mating bond creates an invisible tie and claim between you. And once the mating bond is formed, the female or submissive will start going into heats, and it’s during those heats that the couple can conceive a baby together. A heat is when the egg is released and the body is ready is ready to make a baby.”  
  
“So that’s why Derek and I couldn’t be home for an entire week, like 10 months before Dylan was born…” Nathan murmured, and glanced between his parents with a scrunched up nose. “You were doing _that._ ”  
  
Noah’s face was burning red by now, while Jayden’s was only mildly pink.  
  
“Yeah, that’s how it is. When your mom is in heat he starts smelling really good, and I can’t have anyone else being around us.”  
  
“Ugh, I think I’ll just google the rest. This is getting disturbing,” Nathan grunted, and looked even more disgusted.  
  
“Yes, I think you should do that too. Just don’t look at any inappropriate videos; you’re too young for that,” Noah told him, feeling grateful that the topic was about to be dropped.  
  
Nathan looked shocked. “They have videos of such things online?”  
  
“Ooookay, enough with that talk.” Jayden coughed and got up from the couch. “And yes, they do, but you are not to look at them, okay? You’re too young, and such videos can give your tablet some pretty bad viruses, anyway.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I won’t,” Nathan promised, and leaned back into the couch while looking at stuff on his tablet. The conversation had clearly made him feel awkward and a bit disgusted, but also a bit curious.  
  
Noah gently took Midnight off of his lap before going out to blow his nose again, and Jayden followed him to the kitchen. Nathan stayed in the living room, doing a little research on his own.  
  
“Gosh, that was awkward,” Jayden chuckled nervously as they entered the kitchen.  
  
Noah went over and blew his snotty nose quietly, still feeling embarrassed after their conversation with Nathan. “It reminded me of when we had to tell Laura about it…”  
  
Jayden chuckled and walked over to stand behind Noah. “Yeah, but it wasn’t so bad. He figured out a lot of stuff on his own.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the back of Noah’s neck, and placed his hands on his mate’s hips.  
  
Noah leaned into the touch, but had to cough a bit. “Don’t get too close to me; I don’t want to infect you. I’ve already been too close to Dylan today…”  
  
“You do know that colds get passed on before your symptoms show, right? At least that’s what they say. And as long as you wash your hands and don’t sneeze on people, I think it’ll be fine.”  
  
“But still… I’m snotty. It’s not sexy.”  
  
Jayden laughed, and started caressing Noah’s hips with his hands. “No, it’s not, but I’m not repelled by it either. But I _am_ annoyed that it makes you not wanna have sex with me…”  
  
Noah blushed. “Pervert.”  
  
Jayden just grinned before moving a hand up to feel Noah’s temperature on his forehead. “At least you don’t feel so warm anymore. Guess it’s on a retreat.”  
  
Noah sniffled before speaking. “Yeah, I hope. I want my normal voice back.”  
  
Jayden chuckled at that, and afterwards they went back to the living room to hang out with Nathan for a bit before it was time for bed.   
  
Things had gotten a little less awkward between them, and it felt nice that they had finally talked with Nathan about those things, even though they still had more to talk about when he was older.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got to update again! Hope you guys enjoyed it :)
> 
> Writing sex talks is always kinda awkward, but also pretty funny. Poor Nathan is gonna be scarred for a few days now, haha XD
> 
> Also, I’m finally about to start writing the small spin-off with Isaac and Kaylen. It’s gonna be about their first few dates together and how they fell in love (and of course with lots of humor, since it’s Isaac we’re talking about xD). I might even write their first time having sex, since I think it could be interesting to explore their bedroom dynamics… The story won’t be very long – I don’t intend to write anymore beyond their first time having sex. But I think it might take a little while to write it, because I’m also busy with other stuff. So Dedicated will be a small stand-by now or at least after chapter 47, and I don’t know for how long (but hopefully not that long!).
> 
> Anyways, keep an eye out for the Isaac/Kaylen story in the upcoming weeks! :)


	47. Chapter 47

**April 2060 (Noah is 33 (almost 34), Jayden is 35 (almost 36), Nathan is 10, Derek is 5 (almost 6), Dylan is 2, Castiel is 70, Dean is 72 years old).**  
  
It was a rather chaotic Saturday morning in the house. Derek’s best friend Dwayne had stayed over for the night, and in the morning the two boys ran around the house and were full of energy. Dwayne was an alpha angel with dark grey wings, and he and Derek had become very good friends in kindergarten. He was much like Derek; hyper, loud, and sometimes a bit disobedient.  
  
Jayden had to get out of bed when he heard the boys being awake. Someone had to keep an eye on them so that they didn’t wreck the house. It was the first time that Dwayne had ever stayed in the house for a night, and it had been mostly because his parents had some plans and had asked Noah and Jayden if their son could spend the night with them. Derek, of course, had been thrilled to have his friend stay for the night.  
  
Derek and Dwayne screamed loudly as they started the day by playing around, and Nathan was woken up when he heard them in the hallway and how they stormed down the stairs. He groaned at the noise and turned over onto his stomach on the bed, pressing his hands against his ears to block out the noise and go back to sleep. It was only 7:20am, and Nathan thought it was way too early to wake up on a Saturday.  
  
Meanwhile, Jayden pulled on some clothes and walked downstairs to watch the boys and make some breakfast for them. They were squealing and laughing loudly as they chased each other around the house, and Jayden groaned at the noise and told them to quiet down.  
  
“Please quiet down, boys. You’re waking up the whole house,” Jayden told them as he passed them in the entrance hall, and walked to the kitchen to make them some breakfast. Derek and Dwayne followed him.  
  
“But we’re having fun!” Derek argued, grinning.  
  
“Are you making us breakfast, Derek’s dad?” Dwayne asked Jayden, and stared up at him with hopeful eyes as he and Derek followed him over to the fridge. He always called Jayden ‘Derek’s dad’ and Noah ‘Derek’s mom’.  
  
“Yep, but if you boys don’t quiet down a bit, you won’t get any,” Jayden said, smirking at them before grabbing things from the fridge to put on bread.  
  
“But how can we have fun if we gotta be quiet?” Dwayne asked, and pouted slightly.  
  
“It’s easy; you just do the same, but with less noise.”  
  
Both Derek and Dwayne looked a little displeased about that, but as soon as Jayden had finished their food they were happy again.  
  
Jayden sat with them and ate until the boys ran off to play again. It had only taken them seven minutes to eat before they left the table, and Jayden sighed as the boys went back to being noisy.  
  
Noah and Nathan were still asleep, which didn’t surprise Jayden since they both liked sleeping in on weekends. Dylan, however, was beginning to wake up. He usually woke up between 7:30 and 8:30am on weekends. The boy started calling out for his parents in his room to let them know he was awake, so Jayden had to temporarily leave Derek and Dwayne alone downstairs to tend to Dylan.  
  
When Jayden entered Dylan’s room, he saw that he boy had somehow managed to crawl out of his crib. He had been doing that a lot lately, which was troublesome when he was supposed to go to sleep but didn’t want to.  
  
“Gosh, Dylan. You’re a sneaky one, aren’t you?” Jayden chuckled and went over to him.  
  
Dylan just grinned in mischief and flicked his tail a bit, while Jayden quickly got some clothes ready for him and pulled the curtains apart to let light into the room.  
  
“Arms up,” Jayden told Dylan, and put a shirt on him when the boy did as he was told.  
  
Dylan’s hair and feathers were all ruffled from sleep, and he rubbed his eyes a bit as Jayden helped him get dressed. Jayden couldn’t help but smile at how adorable the alpha boy looked just after he got out of bed, but he knew he had to get Dylan dressed quickly so he could go back downstairs and watch Derek and Dwayne. He didn’t trust them to behave while he was gone.  
  
“Daddy, up!” Dylan begged after Jayden was done dressing him, and lifted his arms with a big grin to have Jayden lift him up to sit on his arm.  
  
Jayden laughed fondly at him and picked him up. “Up, huh? Aren’t you getting too old for that?”  
  
Dylan stubbornly shook his head, and grinned in satisfaction as he finally sat on his dad’s big arm. “No! ‘s fun!”  
  
Jayden chuckled and pressed a fond kiss to Dylan’s cheek before going downstairs with him. He walked as quietly as he could, not wanting to disturb Noah and Nathan’s sleep any more than Derek and Dwayne already had.  
  
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he put Dylan back on the floor. The boy grabbed a hold of Jayden’s jeans and clung to his side, which made Jayden smile softly. It was then that he realized that he couldn’t hear Derek and Dwayne in the living room, where he had expected them to be.  
  
“Boys? Where are you?” Jayden called out, and went to the living room. The floor was messy with various toys lying all over the place, and he made a mental note to himself to have Derek clean that up later. “Boys?” he called again.  
  
Derek and Dwayne finally came running into the living room through the door to the laundry room. They snickered at each other, but smiled innocently when they saw Jayden.  
  
“Hi, daddy. Can we play video games?” Derek asked, and gave Jayden his most persuasive eyes.  
  
Jayden sighed. “Alright. But remember that you can’t sit in front of the TV all day, and that Dwayne’s parents are coming to get him at around 10, okay?”  
  
“Yay! Thanks, daddy!”  
  
The two boys immediately ran over to start playing video games, and Dylan watched them curiously from where he was standing by Jayden’s side.  
  
“Come on, let’s make you some breakfast,” Jayden told Dylan, and ruffled his hair fondly before heading to the kitchen through the laundry room.  
  
However, as Jayden passed by the door to the bathroom, he suddenly got a weird feeling that he better check it out. Derek and Dwayne’s faces just now had been too suspicious, and Jayden bet that they had been up to no good somehow.  
  
He pushed the door to the bathroom open and cast a look inside, finding that it looked pretty normal in there. He was just about to leave when he saw that the floor was somewhat wet, and that something was dripping from the ceiling. Frowning, Jayden looked up at the bathroom ceiling and gasped at what he saw. The entire ceiling over the sink area was covered in wet toilet paper, as if someone had been throwing pieces of wet toilet paper up at the ceiling. The paper had stuck to the ceiling, and the water was slowly dripping onto the floor. Jayden had never seen anything like it before.  
  
_“Derek!”_ Jayden roared, scaring little Dylan by suddenly shouting out loudly. He stroked Dylan’s cheek to reassure him and let him know that he was sorry for scaring him, before going into the living room, where Derek and Dwayne had begun playing video games. “What on _earth_ have you guys been doing in the bathroom?!” he demanded, not hiding the slight anger in his voice.  
  
Derek and Dwayne both flinched at Jayden’s voice, and crawled in under the couch table to hide. Their tails were stuck between their legs in a guilty manner, and they were giggling nervously under the table.  
  
“Nothing…” Derek denied, giggling some more.  
  
Jayden growled and went over to stand next to the couch so that he could see them under the table. “You guys have been throwing toilet paper on the ceiling! Have you _looked_ at the mess you’ve made?!”  
  
“Sorry, Derek’s dad… But it was fun,” Dwayne said, smiling nervously up at Jayden from under the table.  
  
“Yeah, it was lotsa fun!” Derek grinned in agreement.  
  
Jayden groaned irritably. “Well, since you’ve had so much _fun_ already, there will be no more video games for you two. Go outside in the garden and play.” He pointed towards the terrace door to make them leave.  
  
“But we only just started playing!” Derek argued, feeling that it was unfair that they couldn’t play video games anymore.  
  
_“Now.”_  
  
Derek and Dwayne shared a nervous and shameful look before slowly crawling out from under the table. They kept their heads low as they walked past Jayden, though their muffled giggles showed that they weren’t all that sorry about what they had done. They two of them went to the entrance hall to get their shoes so they could go outside, and Jayden glared at them the whole time.  
  
Jayden was furious that Derek had done such stupid things with Dwayne around. He didn’t want Derek to have a bad influence on the other boy, and he really began to wonder if Dwayne was like this at home as well.  
  
Dylan didn’t fully understand what was going on, only that Derek had once again done something bad. He slowly padded into the living room, but hadn’t yet reached Jayden when Derek and Dwayne walked back into the room, carrying their shoes.  
  
“Me play too?” Dylan asked, staring up at Jayden with hopeful eyes.  
  
“No, you gotta eat breakfast first,” Jayden told him, but kept his eyes on Derek and Dwayne as they slowly passed him. Derek avoided looking him directly in the eye, but he didn’t seem all too ashamed about what he had done.  
  
“You’re too small to play soccer anyway,” Derek told Dylan. “You always trip over the ball.”  
  
Dylan made a hurt noise. He loved playing along, but Derek always told him that he wasn’t good at things yet. Derek would let him play along sometimes, though, but not when he had friends over.  
  
Derek and Dwayne put on their shoes and went outside to play ball, and Jayden watched them for a few seconds before taking Dylan into the kitchen to have breakfast.  


  

***

  
  
An hour later, Noah and Nathan finally came downstairs. Noah was the first one to get out of bed, and Nathan followed a few minutes later.  
  
“Jayden?” Noah called out when he couldn’t find Jayden anywhere downstairs. He could hear Derek and Dwayne playing outside, but when he looked out the window he couldn’t see Jayden or Dylan anywhere.  
  
“In here,” Jayden called from the bathroom.  
  
Noah frowned and walked from the living room into the bathroom, where he was surprised to see Jayden standing with a rough broom in his hand. The alpha was busy scrubbing something off the ceiling, and little Dylan was sitting on the floor near the shower, playing with toys.  
  
“Mommy!” Dylan chirped happily when he saw Noah enter the room, and clumsily got up on his feet to go and hug him.  
  
“Hey, sweetie,” Noah greeted Dylan, and smiled as he hugged him back. He looked at Jayden again, frowning. “What are you doing?”  
  
“That little brat of a son we have has been throwing wet pieces of toilet paper on the ceiling with his friend, and now it’s stuck all over. I’m just trying to get it off,” Jayden grunted, as he stubbornly used their rough broom to scrub the ceiling with. Pieces of dried toilet paper fell down and landed on the floor, but some of it still stuck to the ceiling.  
  
Noah gasped, though he wasn’t really all that surprised that Derek had done such a thing. It was also a bit funny to see Jayden grunting in annoyance as he scrubbed the ceiling clean, and how his tail flicked from irritation, but on the other hand he felt really bad for Jayden.  
  
“Derek’s bad,” Dylan murmured, grasping at Noah’s pants as he clung to him. He looked up at his mom with his blue/grey eyes, and twitched a bit as he leaned against him.  
  
“Yeah, he is. Don’t be like him,” Noah said, and ran a fond hand through Dylan’s dark brown hair.  
  
Dylan nodded quietly, and looked up when he saw Nathan appearing behind Noah.  
  
“Why are you all standing in the bathroom for—” Nathan trailed off when he saw what Jayden was doing, and he gasped a bit at the sight. “Oh. Don’t tell me. Derek did this.”  
  
“And Dwayne. But it was probably all Derek’s idea,” Jayden grunted, and continued scrubbing.  
  
“Neysan!” Dylan chirped, and grinned as he went over to throw his arms around Nathan’s waist. He couldn’t say ‘Nathan’ that well yet, so it always came out as ‘Neysan’.  
  
Nathan smiled and hugged Dylan back, touching tails with him to show his fondness for his youngest brother.  
  
“I’ll give you a hand,” Noah told Jayden, when he saw his mate having some trouble scrubbing the toilet paper off the ceiling.  
  
Jayden was a little reluctant to have Noah help when the submissive hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet, but Noah insisted.  
  
Nathan went with Dylan into the kitchen to get something to eat, while Noah helped Jayden out in the bathroom.  
  
Noah started cleaning up the fallen, shredded pieces of toilet paper on the floor, and couldn’t help but giggle at how it was also stuck in Jayden’ hair and feathers. It looked kind of ridiculous.  
  
“What’s so funny?” Jayden asked when he heard Noah’s giggling, and gave his mate a questioning look.  
  
Noah giggled and reached out to get some of the pieces out of Jayden’s feathers. “You’ve got pieces all over you. Like a toilet paper monster.” He continued to snicker and giggle as he removed more pieces from Jayden’s half-sharp feathers.  
  
“Oh, you think that’s funny, do you?” Jayden asked with a hint of playfulness in his voice. He put the broom away before turning to face Noah with wicked smirk. Then, he grabbed Noah by the upper arms and forced him over to the shower, grinning as Noah shrieked and beat his wings as he struggled to get free.  
  
“Nooooo! _No!_ Don’t you dare! CONNOR!” Noah screamed in between laughter, as Jayden playfully shoved him into the shower cubicle and turned on the cold water.  
  
A loud shriek escaped Noah’s lips as he was hit by the cold water, and he struggled to get away, but Jayden was holding him in place while keeping himself a safe distance from the water. Noah’s wings hit against the walls and got wet by the water, and his hair and clothes were getting wet as well.  
  
“Nooo, let me go, you stupid butt!” Noah laughed, and flicked his wings so that the water got thrown off his feathers and hit Jayden.  
  
Jayden just laughed, finding it endlessly amusing how Noah was struggling to get away but was no match for an alpha’s strength. It was adorable to watch his mate get all wet under the shower, and how he laughed and struggled against him. Noah’s wet, black hair clung to his forehead, and beneath the hair he glared at Jayden with his bright blue eyes.  
  
When he realized that struggling or trying to push Jayden off him was futile, Noah instead grabbed onto Jayden and pulled him in under the water with him.  
  
The alpha gasped when his head went directly under the stream of cold water, and he quickly reached out to finally turn the water off, as well as releasing his hold on Noah.  
  
“Hey, that was unfair!” Jayden laughed. He shook his head to get rid of some of the water in his hair, and found himself staring down into Noah’s laughing face afterwards. Both of them were quite wet by now, and their wet clothes stuck to their bodies.  
  
“No, _you_ were being unfair.”  
  
Jayden laughed, knowing that Noah had a good point.  
  
Suddenly Nathan appeared in the doorway to the bathroom, and stared at his parents as if they had gone completely crazy. “What on earth are you doing?” He had heard Noah’s loud shrieks from the kitchen, where he and Dylan had been eating (Dylan had eaten earlier, but wanted another snack when he saw Nathan eating breakfast), and had quickly gone to see what was going on.  
  
Jayden and Noah stopped laughing and looked over at Nathan, who had been staring at them for a few seconds already.  
  
Noah was a bit embarrassed that Nathan had heard him shrieking and behaving like that, when he was supposed to be a responsible adult and parent. It was just that it had been a while since he and Jayden had last been so playful and childish with each other, and it had reminded him so much of how things used to be when they were younger and newly in love.  
  
“We’re just fooling around. And taking a shower,” Jayden explained with a smirk. He wrung his shirt at the part that had gotten wet to get the liquid out, while Noah fumbled to stand straight and correct his messy and wet hair.  
  
“Taking a shower with your clothes on?” Nathan quirked his eyebrow as he stared at them knowingly.  
  
Dylan appeared by Nathan’s side, and looked at their parents with confusion. “What dhey doin’?”  
  
Nathan ran a hand through Dylan’s hair without looking at him. “They’re just being silly. Come on; let’s go eat again.” He smiled down at his brother and gently guided him back to the kitchen to finish their meals.  
  
Dylan glanced at their parents for a second before taking Nathan’s hand and following his big brother back into the kitchen, leaving Noah and Jayden alone in the bathroom.  
  
“Ugh, now I’m all wet, thanks to you,” Noah grumbled at Jayden. They were still standing in the shower cubicle, and he shivered at how cold he was. The fact that he was wet only made him feel even colder.  
  
“Mm, I like to make you wet,” Jayden hummed in a teasing voice.  
  
Noah blushed at Jayden’s cocky smirk and slapped him lightly on the chest. “I’m not wet like _that._ ”  
  
“That’s too bad,” Jayden chuckled, and stepped out of the shower. He had gotten pretty wet himself, though mostly just on his head and the front of his shirt and pants. Noah was much more wet than he was, and he smirked as he looked at Noah’s drenched clothes.  
  
Noah stepped outside the cubicle as well, sending Jayden a small glare for having pulled him in under the shower in the first place. Now he had to change clothes, even though he had only just put on new ones.  
  
Jayden just smirked at Noah’s glare and pulled him in for a kiss.  
  
Despite being a bit grumpy that his clothes had gotten wet, Noah quickly melted into the kiss and let Jayden tease his tongue with his own. The taste of his mate and feeling the alpha grab his hips possessively made him relax.  
  
After a few moments of kissing and gentle groping, they slowly pulled away from each other’s lips to catch their breaths.  
  
“Mm. Isn’t it nice that we’ll get a few days for ourselves soon?” Jayden spoke, cupping Noah’s cheek in his hand and using his thumb to absently touch his mate’s kiss-swollen lips. His wings were spread out and half wrapped around Noah without touching him, and he could feel his mate’s content through their bond.  
  
Noah smiled and leaned into Jayden’s touch. “Yes, very. Derek is tiring me out so much…”  
  
It was Easter Holidays, so that meant no work and school for an entire week. Jayden had to work on Wednesday and Thursday, though, but only for eight hours on each day.  
  
That afternoon they were going to drop Nathan and Dylan off at Dean and Castiel’s place, while Derek would be staying with Eden and Jason. The kids would be away for three days, giving Noah and Jayden some long-needed time to themselves. They had plans to relax, but also to buy presents for Derek’s upcoming birthday.  
  
Jayden chuckled at Noah’s words. “Derek tires everyone out. But I guess he tires you out especially, since you’re often home alone with the kids. I’m sorry I can’t always be here…”  
  
“That’s okay. You love your job, even with the uneven hours, and I wouldn’t want you to ever have to leave it. I can handle Derek alone if I have to. Besides, I’ve got Nathan; he’s very helpful and reliable.”  
  
Jayden grinned proudly and curled his tail around Noah’s leg while smiling at him. “Yeah, he’s a good kid. He reminds me of you in many ways.”  
  
Noah smiled at that before they finally pulled apart and went to change their clothes. They still had to remove the rest of the toilet paper from the ceiling and from the floor, but luckily they were almost done.  
  
While Noah and Jayden were finishing up in the bathroom, Nathan looked after Dylan and took him to the living room to watch cartoons and play with him. Dylan loved to play with cars, Legos, and any kinds of toys he could use to build things with, but he also liked being told a story from a book and look at picture books.  
  
Derek and Dwayne were entertaining themselves in the garden, where they played various ball games together, and Nathan went out to keep an eye on them every now and then. However, after having played outside for an hour and a half, the two kindergarteners went back inside to get something to drink.  
  
Nathan looked up from where he was sitting on the floor with Dylan and playing with Legos, and saw Derek and Dwayne coming back inside through the terrace door. He gave Derek a look of disapproval for the mischief he had done earlier.  
  
“Hey! Shoes off,” Nathan spoke when he saw Derek and Dwayne trying to go into the house with their dirty shoes on.  
  
Derek stopped in his tracks and glanced down at his shoes, as did Dwayne.  
  
“Why? We’ll go outside again in two minutes,” Derek argued.  
  
“So? Your shoes are dirty and you know the rules: shoes off when you’re inside.”  
  
“Bah, you’re stupid!” Derek stuck out his tongue at Nathan, and Dwayne copied him.  
  
“And you’re a brat! Just take off your shoes already.”  
  
Derek glared at Nathan before reluctantly taking off his shoes and gesturing at Dwayne to do the same. “But I dun really have to do as you say; you’re just a beta!” he murmured, even though he was taking off his shoes like Nathan had told him to.  
  
Nathan grunted in annoyance and got up from the floor. Dylan glanced between his brothers with an uncomfortable look on his face as he watched Nathan going over to Derek.  
  
“But I’m older than you, therefore you must do as I say! Mom and dad say so too,” Nathan said, and firmly placed his hands on his hips as he stared his little brother down.  
  
“But I’m an _alpha!_ We dun listen to betas!” Derek snapped back defiantly, and mimicked Nathan’s pose. Nathan was still taller than him, which annoyed Derek to no end, but he knew that one day he’d be taller than his big brother. He couldn’t wait for that day to come.  
  
“Yeah!” Dwayne agreed.  
  
“You’re a _baby alpha!_ I don’t have to listen to baby alphas! Besides, you’re still smaller than me,” Nathan insisted.  
  
“One day I’mma be bigger dan you!” Derek said, like it was a promise, before making his way around Nathan to go to the kitchen. “And so will Dylan! _You’re_ gonna be da smallest one here!” he shouted before leaving the room along with his friend.  
  
Nathan snorted loudly and rolled his eyes before walking back over to Dylan, who was a little upset to see his brothers fighting. He and Derek had their good moments and often played well together, but there were times when Nathan got really annoyed by his disobedient and rude brother. He especially hated it when Derek was hanging out with other alphas his age; it made him rude towards Nathan because he wanted to appear tough in front of his friends. It was an alpha thing that Nathan didn’t quite understand or approve of.  


 

***

  
  
Dwayne’s parents came to pick him up at 10:30, and at 1pm Noah and Jayden drove the kids to Eden’s and Dean and Castiel’s places to be babysat for a bit.  
  
“Why will I be with Auntie Eden while Nathan and Dylan go visit grandpa and grandma?” Derek asked from his seat in the back, as they all sat in the car on the way to Dean and Castiel’s place.  
  
“’Cause your grandparents are old and they can’t handle all three of you at the same time,” Jayden explained from the driver’s seat.  
  
“You mean they can’t handle Derek,” Nathan commented, and sent a smirk in Derek’s direction. He and Derek were both sitting on the backseat behind Noah and Jayden, while Dylan was in his baby seat in the row behind them. Derek always refused to sit in the far back, and Dylan often slept in the car anyway, so it was mostly Dylan who sat there. Nathan was too old for a child’s safety seat now, so he no longer had to sit in one, unlike Derek who still had to use one. He liked to tease Derek about that sometimes.  
  
Derek threw his action toy at Nathan in protest. “Stupid!”  
  
Nathan just leaned his head back and laughed, feeling pleased to have hit a nerve. Derek always made rude comments like that to him, so he liked to get some payback.  
  
“Guys,” Jayden warned, and stared at them in the rearview mirror.  
  
Noah sighed. He was used to Derek and Nathan arguing in the backseat quite often, but he preferred when they were just discussing things instead of calling each other names and throwing stuff around. Nathan would usually calm down after a few moments and ignore Derek whenever he tried to provoke him again, though.  
  
“But he’s rude!” Derek argued, and pointed accusingly at Nathan.  
  
“As if _you_ never are,” Nathan retorted. He reached down and picked up Derek’s toy from the floor and handed it back to him.  
  
Derek took the toy without a word, and stuck his tongue out at Nathan.  
  
Nathan just rolled his eyes at him and stared out the window instead.  
  
After a few minutes, they finally arrived in the street where Dean and Castiel lived.  
  
Noah suddenly felt so nostalgic as they drove through the neighborhood. He remembered all the times he had walked up and down those sidewalks and played in the street with his siblings, and he smiled to himself as they drove past the places that held so many memories for him.  
  
However, as they turned to pull into the driveway, Noah noticed a lot of cars being parked outside a house across the street. People were gathered on the sidewalk, all dressed in black, and were quietly making their way into one of the houses. A house that Noah knew belonged to Brad – their alpha demon neighbor, who had used to dislike Noah’s family a lot in the past.  
  
“Wonder what’s going on,” Jayden commented as they pulled into the driveway. He frowned as he glanced at the people in the mirror. “Looks like a funeral…”  
  
Noah became a little concerned. Had Brad died?  
  
They got out of the car and went to get the kids too. Nathan got out of the car by himself, and frowned as he glanced across the street at the many cars and people gathered there.  
  
They were still pulling the kids’ bags out of the car when Dean and Castiel exited the house and came outside to greet them.  
  
“Hey, guys. We were expecting you,” Dean greeted them, and smiled as he came over to them.  
  
Nathan grinned and ran over to hug both of grandparents, while Derek just greeted them verbally. Dylan grinned at the sight of Dean and Castiel, but couldn’t go over to them because he was sitting on Jayden’s arm.  
  
Noah let himself be pulled into a hug by Castiel and then Dean, before asking what was going on. “What’s happening? Why are all those people gathering in Brad’s house?”  
  
Dean’s smile faltered, and he and Castiel shared a sad look before he looked back at Noah. “Uh, well, old Brad died. Bad heart, it seems…”  
  
“Oh…”  
  
Noah didn’t really know how to feel about that. He had always been frightened of Brad as a kid; the guy looked scary, and he always glared at him and his family like he wanted to murder them. But after his son had mated with an angel/human hybrid, Brad had become more tolerable and kind towards angels and hybrids. He had always been very fanatic when it came to keeping bloodlines pure and not mix the blood between species, but deep down he had still had a heart.  
  
“Oh, you mean the guy that used to give you a lot of trouble…?” Jayden had heard the stories of Brad, and had even met him a few times when he and Noah had taken walks on the street, but he didn’t really know him.  
  
“Yeah, that guy. It’s a real shame… He was getting pretty nice on his old days. He helped me with a few things around the house ‘cause he had experience with plumbing and such,” Dean said, and stared at the ground for a bit. He too had some mixed feelings about Brad’s passing. He used to hate the guy’s guts, but in the past eighteen years their relationship had gotten better, although they hadn’t exactly been buddies.  
  
“We went to see his wife and family earlier,” Castiel spoke quietly. “We gave them our condolences.” His gaze shifted to the ground like Dean’s, feeling the same kind of mixed feelings about it as his mate did. He hadn’t liked Brad much before, but he still felt sad that he had died. The guy had been loving towards his own family, and now they had to live without him. It was sad.  
  
The mood became somewhat foul because of the sad incident, and everyone was quiet for a few moments.  
  
Dylan didn’t understand it at all, and just glanced between the adults in confusion and with curiosity, and Derek was too busy waving his action toy through the air and playing around. It was Nathan who was able to understand the situation the most among the kids, but he hadn’t known Brad personally.  
  
“Well, let’s get you inside,” Castiel smiled, quickly changing the topic when the mood became too dark.  
  
“Yeah,” Jayden smiled, and put Dylan back on the ground before picking up the bags.  
  
They helped each other carry the stuff inside, and Dylan became all excited when he heard his grandparents’ dog barking inside the house. Carrie was very playful and loved to play fetch with the kids, and the kids loved it too.  
  
They walked inside and chatted a bit with Dean and Castiel. Noah and Jayden had to leave again, though, and they had to drop off Derek at Eden’s place.  
  
Dean and Castiel were looking forward to spending some time with Nathan and little Dylan, who hadn’t been on vacation at their place for a few months now. Both Dean and Castiel had retired from their jobs and now had all the time in the world to take care of their grandchildren when their children couldn’t, and they enjoyed every second with them. They would sometimes take them on small trips to the mountains or children’s parks when they had time, and sometimes they went there along with Leila and Micah, whom they still had a good relationship with.  
  
Nathan was excited to be with his maternal grandparents for a while, and to be freed from the burden of being Derek’s big brother for a few days. He was still a bit sad to see Noah and Jayden go, but he knew he was going to have a lot of fun with his grandparents and with little Dylan.  


 

***

  
  
Noah and Jayden enjoyed the time they had for themselves while the kids were away.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but pity Eden a bit that she had to deal with Derek, but he knew his sister could handle it. She was a strong woman and was pretty good at putting Derek into his place when needed. Eden’s youngest daughter Lucy was somewhat of a tomboy sometimes, so she and Derek would surely have a lot of fun together, even though Lucy was six years older than Derek.  
  
On the next day, Jayden and Noah went to the mall to buy birthday presents for Derek. He was turning six years old on May the 19th, and his wish list was pretty long; over ten kinds of toys, five different games, and some clothes with his favorite superheroes on them. They weren’t going to buy him everything he wanted, and there were a few things that they knew he needed which weren’t even on the list, so they had a lot they had to buy.  
  
“So, where should we start?” Jayden asked Noah when they entered the mall.  
  
It was the same mall that Jayden’s workplace was located in. It was the biggest mall in the area, and it had lots of children’s shops. As usual it was very crowded in there, especially on a Sunday. People were out shopping with their friends and families, though mostly it was teenagers who were walking up and down the mall’s corridors. Sunday was a busy day for the mall’s cinema and cafés now that people had time off on the weekend, and the sounds of people’s voices and footsteps on the shiny floors echoed through the building.  
  
Noah sighed and glanced around at the nearby shops. “Maybe find some clothes for Derek first? They have many good stores nearby.”  
  
“Alright.”  
  
Jayden rested his arms on the cart as he pushed it in front of him, while Noah walked by his side. It was a little difficult to steer the cart with so many people around them, but he managed.  
  
Some of the strangers they passed gave them odd looks, which they ignored as usual. Not everyone noticed right away that Noah was an angel/demon hybrid because of his missing tail and his angel-like wings, so most of them assumed that they were an angel/demon couple. They were glad that less people looked at them with disgust compared to 15-20 years ago. Slowly, society was accepting angel/demon couples and hybrids more, but there would always be those who didn’t like the mixing of the species.  
  
They found a nice children’s store with a big selection of superhero clothes, just like Derek wanted. Derek was currently in one of those superhero phases, though Nathan joked that Derek himself wasn’t a very good example of a superhero with all the things he broke around the house.  
  
They helped each other find suitable clothes for Derek, though it was Noah who remembered Derek’s size the best. Jayden was always confused about which size he used, because it changed all the time as the boy grew bigger and bigger. Derek had gotten some of Nathan’s old clothes, but he had a habit of somehow making holes in them because of his wild playing, so they had to frequently get him new ones.  
  
“Hey, how about this one?” Jayden asked, and presented Noah with a pink shirt with My Little Pony on it. He grinned in mischief, thinking of how pissed Derek would be if they bought him that. The boy was incredibly obsessed with being ‘manly’ and he wouldn’t wear such a shirt in public even if he was bribed.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened when he saw the shirt Jayden was showing him. He went from gasping to snickering, before gesturing at Jayden to put it away. “No, he’d kill us both.”  
  
Jayden laughed before putting the shirt back where he had found it. “True. But I wonder if Dylan will be just as stubborn and ‘manly’ when he’s Derek’s age. So far he doesn’t mind wearing pink clothes and playing with dolls.”  
  
“He’s only two and a half,” Noah pointed out as he continued to search the row of clothes. “And aren’t all alphas like that? When I look at your family photos I only ever see you wearing boys’ clothes.”  
  
“I’ve worn skirts for fun before,” Jayden argued. “Mostly as part of a challenge, or because Laura begged me to. She even put make-up powder on my cheeks once ‘cause she thought I needed some color.” He chuckled at the memory.  
  
Noah laughed. “Why didn’t you take a picture? I would love to see that!”  
  
“No way! I can handle being put in a dress or given make-up by my baby sister, but having my picture taken is a big no. I _do_ have my pride, after all.”  
  
Noah laughed again, and couldn’t help but find the mental image of Laura putting make-up on Jayden very amusing and funny. Though, he really doubted that make-up looked good on Jayden.  
  
They found a few more pieces of clothing for Derek before deciding to move on. They ended up with three shirts and one pair of pants, which Noah paid with his credit card. The young human woman at the register smiled at him and Jayden as she packed the clothes neatly for them and put them in a bag, and after that they headed off to the next store.  
  
Next up were the toys that Derek wanted, and they went to three different stores to buy the right toys for a decent price.  
  
After two hours of shopping, they had bought almost everything for Derek’s birthday. They only needed to buy a new lamp for him, but their favorite store for such things was somewhere else than the mall, so they needed to go there afterwards.  
  
“Should we leave?” Noah asked, after they had bought the clothes and the toys.  
  
“Nah, let’s stick around for a bit. Maybe buy an ice cream. It’s been a while,” Jayden said, and smiled at Noah.  
  
Noah smiled back. “Yeah, I’d like that.”  
  
Jayden leaned closer to Noah to tell him something without anyone else hearing it. “And maybe go to a lingerie store… Wanna see you wearing something new.”  
  
Noah’s face went red, while Jayden’s turned into a big, wicked grin. Noah slapped him lightly on the arm for suggesting such a thing, and glanced around to make sure that no one else heard it.  
  
“Okay fine! But only if there aren’t too many guys in the store,” Noah hissed, blushing as he glanced around in paranoia. He hated shopping for underwear and lingerie when there were alphas and betas in the store to watch him and give him knowing smirks. It was humiliating.  
  
“Don’t worry; they won’t try anything when I’m around, or I’ll kick their asses,” Jayden grinned.  
  
Noah felt somewhat reassured about that, and they slowly began heading towards a nearby lingerie store. Noah had bought things from that store before and he liked their selections. Jayden had also bought a few things from there for him before, which he had given him as a surprise gift on random occasions.  
  
There were other underwear stores in the area, which all had females and submissives displayed on huge posters in the windows. The models varied between human, angel, and demon, but it was very rare to see hybrid models on such posters. It was even more rare to see posters of submissives that weren’t oversexualized.  
  
Noah felt awkward as he glanced at the poster of an angel submissive with snow white wings and dark hair. The sub was wearing a red pair of high quality panties with a garter belt and stockings. One leg was slightly crossed over the other, and the submissive was touching his lips with his finger while staring at the camera with an innocent but sexual look. It was especially his posture and the way his shiny, white wings were seductively folded close to him, but opened a bit, that made the picture so sexual. Noah couldn’t help but wonder why people found it necessary to display submissives like that. Even the females were often more decently displayed.  
  
Jayden too noticed the posters and how Noah was scrunching his nose as he glanced at them. He didn’t approve of the objectification either, though he didn’t understand how it felt in quite the same way as Noah did.  
  
“It’s a man-dominated world, huh?” Jayden commented as they walked past the poster.  
  
“Uh-huh…” Noah agreed quietly and stared at the ground.  
  
Jayden gave him a reassuring smile and bumped their wings together to lighten up Noah’s mood. He was rewarded with a small smile for it.  
  
They were almost at the store when Jayden ran into a familiar face in the middle of the crowds. He stopped in his tracks and grinned widely at the alpha angel in front of him. “Glenn! What a surprise!”  
  
Noah didn’t know the alpha angel, and looked on in confusion as the two alphas grinned at each other like they were best buddies.  
  
“Jay! What’s up?” the alpha named Glenn exclaimed, and reached out to bump fists with Jayden and then pulled him into a quick, manly hug. They all stepped a bit aside so that the flow of people could walk around them.  
  
Glenn was a muscular alpha and around Jayden’s height. He was 30 years old, had dark hair that was a bit spiky, had brown eyes, and dark grey wings with a nice color mix of brown, black, and gold. Noah found him to be quite friendly-looking, and he had a warm feel about him.  
  
“Not much. Just out shopping for stuff for my son,” Jayden replied to Glenn’s earlier question, and continued to smile at his friend.  
  
“Which one of them?” Glenn joked, and laughed along with Jayden. He turned to look at Noah then. “Oh, that must be your mate, right?”  
  
“Yeah, that’s Noah,” Jayden smiled, and wrapped a possessive arm around Noah’s waist. “And this is my colleague Glenn. He’s been at the restaurant for about four years now. Don’t think you’ve met him before,” he told Noah, who was still confused about who the alpha angel was.  
  
Noah’s eyes lit up in understanding, and Glenn’s grin widened.  
  
“Nice to meet you,” Glenn said, and reached out to grab Noah’s hand so that he could bow down and place a kiss on it.  
  
Noah was completely flustered to have his hand kissed like that by a stranger, and his face went red like a tomato. “Um, you too.” He smiled politely at Glenn and tried not to be awkward. Glenn was still holding his hand and bowing down like a gentleman in front of him.  
  
Glenn grinned and gave him a wink, which made Jayden groan and take a possessive step closer to Noah.  
  
“Okay, that’s enough. No more flirting with my mate, or I’ll castrate you with the biggest knife in the kitchen next time we share a shift together,” Jayden threatened playfully.  
  
Glenn laughed out loud and finally let go of Noah’s hand. “Sorry, sorry! I’ll stop influencing your mate with my charms now. Can’t have him falling in love with _me_ instead of _you._ ” He grinned at Jayden, knowing very well that his teasing would provoke the mated alpha.  
  
Jayden let out a small growl and tightened his arm around Noah. “You wish.” He knew Glenn was just fooling around, but he had a very hard time keeping his calm when someone challenged him for his mate’s attention.  
  
Noah’s blush grew deeper, but he was smiling as he watched Jayden interact with his colleague. He could tell they had a nice friendship and got along well as colleagues. It was also pretty obvious to him that Glenn was still a bachelor, otherwise he wouldn’t have acted so flirtatious around Noah, even if it wasn’t meant seriously.  
  
Glenn laughed before moving on. “Well, I gotta head home now. I stink of kitchen after my shift, and I need a shower. Have fun shopping, you two. And it was nice to finally meet you, Noah.”  
  
Noah returned the smile Glenn gave him. “You too. Have a nice day.”  
  
“And see you next week at work,” Jayden added before Glenn left, giving his colleague another fist bump.  
  
Glenn just grinned and waved at them before disappearing into the crowds.  
  
“He seemed nice,” Noah commented when they were alone again.  
  
“Yeah, he is. But he can be annoying, especially when he keeps grabbing our asses while we’re cooking. He’s the kind of guy who hits on everything and everyone, no matter their gender,” Jayden explained, and chuckled a bit. “It’s a bit distracting when he grabs or slaps my ass while I’m working, though.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened. “He… He grabs your ass?” An odd sensation spread through his chest, and it felt like jealousy and possessiveness.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, but he doesn’t do it very often, and he’s just joking around.”  
  
“Sounds like you guys have a lot of fun at work…”  
  
“It depends. Sometimes those on the shifts are boring, and sometimes there are more interesting guys there like Glenn. Anyway, let’s go buy that lingerie, shall we? Can’t wait to find something new for you.” Jayden grinned as he grabbed Noah’s hand and led him towards the lingerie store on the other side of the corridor.  
  
Noah blushed a bit and followed after him, hoping they’d be able to find something nice in there.  


  

***

  
  
They spent about half an hour in the lingerie store, where they managed to find a few items for Noah. Those items included sexy panties, garter belts and stockings, and a red see-through dress with fluffiness at the bottom. Although Noah liked the items a lot, it was embarrassing to shop for such things while others were looking, but he pulled through it for Jayden’s sake.  
  
After they had bought more sexy stuff for their bedroom activities, they finally went to have that ice cream that Jayden had talked about earlier. They found a nice little café that wasn’t too crowded, and put their cart aside for a bit while they sat down and ate their ice creams together. Jayden couldn’t help but tease Noah by giving him a small slap on the back of his head, forcing his nose into his ice cream. The alpha laughed out loud at how Noah gasped in surprise and then glared at him while his nose was all white with ice cream. The submissive responded by kicking Jayden on the shins below the table, making him yelp out in pain. Jayden still thought it was hilarious, though.  
  
When their ice creams had been eaten and they had run out of things to talk about in the café, Noah and Jayden decided to head home. It was late afternoon already, and they both wanted to go home and relax for the rest of the evening. They still had to buy that lamp for Derek, but they decided to buy it another day instead.  
  
As they walked through the mall’s parking lot and chatted while making their way over to the car, Jayden suddenly caught the scent of something sweet in the air. The scent made his body shiver pleasantly, but something inside him was also repulsed by the smell. However, he quickly shrugged it off as being nothing, and proceeded to their car, where he and Noah helped each other put their shopping bags into the trunk.  
  
They had just finished putting the bags into the car when they suddenly heard a frightened voice calling out somewhere behind them.  
  
“N-No, leave me alone! Somebody help! Please!”  
  
Jayden and Noah quickly turned around to see what was going on, and spotted a young submissive demon, around 23 years old, running away from a couple of alphas. The submissive was running between the parked cars, but the alphas caught up on him, grabbed him, and forced him against a van.  
  
“Please let me go!” the submissive cried, shaking in fear as the two alpha demons had him cornered against the van. One of them was pinning his hands against the van so that he couldn’t move, while the other was trying to grope his wings. The submissive struggled and kicked at them, but to no avail.  
  
The scent that Jayden had picked up on earlier became stronger, and Noah smelled it too. The young submissive was without doubt in heat, and those alphas (who were most likely unmated and thus more subjectable to the scent) had smelled it and were now trying to get a taste of him.  
  
“Oh, you ain’t going anywhere, sweetie,” the alpha, who was pinning him against the van, purred. “Not until we’ve fucked you nice and good.”  
  
The alphas grinned wickedly, and Jayden’s blood boiled as he watched the scene.  
  
“Hey! Get the fuck away from him!” Jayden roared, and ran over to them. With a loud, aggressive growl, he shoved the alphas away from the young submissive, who flinched as another alpha appeared before him.  
  
Noah quickly ran over to help and soothe the frightened submissive, who was quite shaken up and in a panic.  
  
To be confronted by horny males while you were in heat was the most terrible thing that could happen to a submissive or a female. Their heats were meant only for their mates, and their weakened and vulnerable state during a heat made them pretty much defenseless against anyone who tried to force themselves on them. Noah would never go anywhere when he knew his heat was coming; he did not trust strangers to keep their hands and dicks to themselves.  
  
Both of the alpha demons did not respond well to Jayden’s interference. They saw him as an obstruction to get their hands on the receptive submissive in front of them, and they did not like that.  
  
“Don’t you fucking tell us what to do! The sub is free meat! Walking around here in the middle of a heat like that,” one of the alphas snapped at Jayden.  
  
“Yeah, he’s _asking_ to get fucked and bred up like a good bitch,” the other alpha sneered, and smirked in the sub’s direction.  
  
“Just back the hell off!” Jayden growled at them, and spread his razor sharp wings to show them he was serious.  
  
The two alphas growled and spread out their own wings to challenge him. They were younger than Jayden, and about the same height, but Jayden had more experience if it should come to a physical confrontation. Furthermore, Jayden had quite impressive, strong wings, and the two alphas looked a little wary as they glanced at them.  
  
Noah watched in horror as the alphas growled at each other and looked like they were about to tear each other’s heads off, but he had to reassure the frightened submissive and get him away from those alphas.  
  
“Come on; I’ll take you to your car. Where are you parked at?” Noah asked him, leading him away slowly without the alphas noticing.  
  
The submissive trembled and leaned against Noah. Being around another submissive made him feel safe, even though they were complete strangers. “I-I came here by bus…”  
  
“Oh. Alright, I’ll take you to my car, okay? Come on.” Noah began leading the submissive in the direction of the car, while Jayden was busy holding the aggressive alphas off.  
  
“Back off, or you’re gonna regret it,” one the alphas threatened Jayden, and clenched his fists as he faced him.  
  
“We just wanna have a nice fuck, that’s all,” said the other alpha. “We’ll share him with you, if you want? Bet he’ll love us fucking him. We can give him two cocks in his hole and one in his mouth. What do you say?”  
  
The comments and their laughter only agitated Jayden further. He would not tolerate such sexist comments or behavior, especially from stupid, unmated alphas like those two. Jayden himself wasn’t all that affected by the sub’s smell since he was mated and his body pretty much only responded to Noah’s smell, but the scent still made him itch a bit inside. Mostly because it reminded him of Noah’s heats. However, he had far more control over himself than those young, unmated alphas, who seemed too far gone because of their raging testosterone.  
  
“Just shut the fuck up and back off; he’s not yours to take,” Jayden growled.  
  
One of the alphas roared in rage and charged at Jayden to make him move so that he could get to the sub, but Jayden send him flying to the ground with a solid punch to his face.  
  
Furious to see his friend going down like that, the other alpha threw himself at Jayden in blind rage. He managed to land a single hit on Jayden before Jayden pushed him off and used his wing for an attack. Having razor sharp feathers being pointed at him made the alpha jump away quickly, but not before Jayden’s feathers managed to cut his arm and draw blood.  
  
The alphas looked like they were about to charge at Jayden again, but a small crowd of spectators coming closer to see what was going on made them back off and lower their wings.  
  
“You’re gonna regret this,” one of them hissed at Jayden, and glared at him in aggression.  
  
Jayden responded with a growl and slowly began to retreat. He cast a final glare at the guys before heading over to the car, where Noah had put the submissive into the backseat. Jayden quickly climbed into the driver’s seat and drove off before any of the other guys in the parking lot got tempted by the sub’s smell as well.  
  
The submissive flinched and looked quite scared to be in the same car as an alpha, but Noah soothed him.  
  
Noah was sitting on the backseat with him, since the sub had refused to let go of his shirt because he was so scared. Noah had watched Jayden’s fight from the car and had flinched the moment the other alphas had attacked him. However, he was glad that nothing had happened to Jayden and that the alphas had decided to give up the moment the fight had drawn too much attention from the crowd.  
  
“I’ll drive you home. Where do you live?” Jayden asked the sub, and glanced at him in the rearview mirror as he drove away from the mall.  
  
The scent of heat was all over the car by now, and it irritated Jayden’s nose. Although it was a nice and sweet smell, Jayden’s body felt kind of repulsed by it. The scent was wrong. It wasn’t Noah’s scent, and the wrongness of it made Jayden’s wings restless and his mood pretty agitated. Still, the sweetness of the scent was entrancing, and it reminded him of all the times he had shared Noah’s heat with him. The memories of Noah’s scent and the times Jayden had fucked him and bred him up nice and good during his heats made Jayden’s dick twitch in his pants. He quickly tried to shake the memories off, since he did not want to get a boner while in the car with a complete stranger, who just happened to be in heat.  
  
The submissive trembled and looked wary about answering Jayden’s question, but Noah managed to calm him down.  
  
“It’s okay, we’ll just drive you home,” Noah told him.  
  
After hesitating for a few moments, the submissive finally told them where he lived. It wasn’t that far from the mall, so Jayden quickly headed off in the direction of the address.  
  
“T-Thank you for helping me,” the sub said, and glanced at Noah with gratitude. “I thought those guys were going to hurt me…” He was still shaking all over, mostly because of his heat and from being scared, and his slick-stained pants left a mess all over the backseat. They’d have to clean that up later.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Noah smiled. “I’m Noah, by the way, and that’s my mate Jayden.” He pointed briefly at Jayden, who was busy driving and trying to ignore the smell of heat in the car.  
  
“I-I’m Laus,” the submissive replied, and shook as a strong heat wave went through him.  
  
Laus was an unusual name, and Noah guessed it was probably a foreign name.  
  
“What were you doing at the mall? Didn’t you feel your heat coming?”  
  
“I-I don’t know, it’s my first one,” Laus replied, looking away in shame. “I didn’t think it would show up yet; it’s only been four days since I bonded with my mate. I just wanted to go and do some shopping, and then suddenly I felt it… And then those guys smelled me and chased me across the parking lot. I-I didn’t know what to do… If you hadn’t shown up, I…” He trailed off and started to cry, and Noah had to pull him close and try to comfort him.  
  
Noah was glad that he and Jayden had been around and had helped the poor guy. He would, without doubt, have been raped if they hadn’t helped him, since those alphas from earlier didn’t seem like the types to be able to control themselves or take no for an answer.  
  
“I was so stupid. I’m sorry…” Laus cried.  
  
It had indeed been a stupid idea to go out in public like that when he knew his heat was coming, but what was done was done, and Noah didn’t think that Laus should be apologizing to _them_ for it. All he could do was to try to offer the guy some comfort and hope that they’d arrive at Laus’ house soon.  
  
Noah glanced at Jayden every now and then during the drive to see how his mate was doing. An alpha in the same car as a sub in heat was never a good thing, and Noah couldn’t help but feel very possessive of his mate right now. It didn’t make it better that he had picked up on the faint scent of arousal coming from Jayden earlier. He didn’t want another sub’s smell around his mate, and the idea that the scent had actually affected Jayden in a sexual way made his stomach curl with jealousy. All kinds of negative emotions spread through him, and he quickly cut off his connection with Jayden through their bond to prevent his mate from feeling it as well. He felt so betrayed and jealous that Jayden had been aroused by the smell of another, but he also knew that his mate most likely couldn’t help it.  
  
They arrived at the address Laus had given them, and Noah helped the distraught submissive out of the car and up to the front door.  
  
Laus had told them that his mate was away at work and that no one was home, which relieved Noah a lot. Laus’ mate would without a doubt not take it very well that his mate had been driven home by another alpha, and he didn’t want to see Jayden getting into a fight with someone again.  
  
Jayden stayed in the car and said a quick goodbye to Laus as Noah walked up to the house with him. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and took a deep breath of relief now that the source of that heavy smell was finally gone. He rolled down all the windows in the car to get fresh air inside and make the offending smell go away, but he knew it would take hours, if not days until it was completely gone. He’d also need to clean the backseat soon, and he groaned at thought.  
  
After making sure that Laus got into the house safely, Noah said goodbye to him and walked back to the car, where Jayden was still waiting for him. He walked around it and climbed into the passenger seat, and Jayden drove off without a word.  
  
The atmosphere between them had suddenly grown a little more tense because of what had happened. Jayden was still agitated because of the wrongness of the scent that stuck to the car, while Noah was thinking about how he had felt arousal coming from Jayden earlier.  
  
“Gosh, this car is gonna stink for _days,_ ” Jayden commented, and growled softly as he rolled the windows down further to get more air inside. “And I just cleaned it two days ago…”  
  
“Well, it can’t be helped,” Noah murmured dismissively, and stared out the window to avoid looking at Jayden.  
  
Had Jayden liked that smell? Was it better than Noah’s own smell? Surely Jayden must have been biologically attracted to the scent, since Laus was younger and a demon like Jayden, so maybe even their mating bond couldn’t stop Jayden from being attracted to someone else than Noah – especially someone who was the same species as him.  
  
The thoughts wouldn’t stop swirling around inside Noah’s head. Even though he knew very well that Jayden would never have eyes for anyone but Noah himself, because he was too loyal to betray Noah, he also knew that heat pheromones had a strong effect on alphas. The thought scared him more than anything else, and his insecurities began eating away at him from the inside.  
  

 

***

  
  
When they arrived at home, they helped each other carry the shopping bags inside.  
  
Noah didn’t say a word as they carried the things into the house. He didn’t trust his voice or his temper when he was this engulfed in jealousy and insecurity, and he fought against himself to shake those unreasonable thoughts out of his mind and be rational. Jayden loved him and only him. He needed to believe that.  
  
Meanwhile, Jayden was making small comments about how heavy the bags were and how he couldn’t wait to see Derek’s face when he got his presents. Talking helped him get his mind off of what had happened, and he was glad to finally be out of that smelly car.  
  
It didn’t take long for Jayden to notice that something wasn’t right with Noah. He frowned as he watched Noah empty the bags quietly and avoid looking at him.  
  
After a few minutes of silence between them and Jayden trying to figure out what was wrong, the alpha finally spoke. “Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you so quiet?”  
  
Noah placed the last of Derek’s presents from the bag on the kitchen counter, and bit his lip softly at Jayden’s question. “Nothing. I’m fine.”  
  
Jayden wasn’t convinced, though. When Noah turned to get rid of the empty shopping bags, Jayden reached out and placed his hands on both of Noah’s shoulders, forcing the submissive to face him. “Hey. Talk to me?” he asked softly, and frowned in worry as he tried to make eye contact with him.  
  
Noah hesitated and kept avoiding Jayden’s eye. Eventually, the emotions inside of Noah finally got the better of him.  
  
“You liked his scent, didn’t you?” Noah asked, snapping and accusation in his voice as he lifted his head to glare Jayden.  
  
Jayden was kind of taken aback by that question and the look in Noah’s eyes. “What? No, I didn’t like it. Why would you think that?”  
  
“’Cause I smelled your arousal in the car!” Noah snapped, staring at Jayden with hurt eyes. “It wasn’t much, but I smelled it, and the way you were struggling to control yourself only confirms it.”  
  
“What? No! I wasn’t aroused by _him,_ ” Jayden denied, bewildered by Noah sudden hostility.  
  
“Stop lying! I _know_ you were!” Noah pushed Jayden away in hurt, feeling tears prickling in his eyes and threatening to fall. Jayden was supposed to like _Noah’s_ scent and Noah’s scent alone; not some stranger they had just met. Emotions and insecurity got the better of Noah’s mind, and he couldn’t control himself as he started to tremble because of his hurt feelings.  
  
“No, I really wasn’t,” Jayden insisted. “He smelled nice, I admit that, but it felt wrong to me. The scent irritated my nose and my very core, and I was trying not to pay attention to it.”  
  
“Then why would you get aroused?!”  
  
“’Cause the scent also reminded me of you.”  
  
The statement took Noah by surprise, and he slowly lifted his gaze to stare at Jayden in surprise.  
  
“It reminded me of the times we’ve shared your heats together. About how gorgeous you are when you’re in heat, how you smell and how you sound, and most of all how responsive you are to me,” Jayden continued explaining, his voice soft and slow as he talked. When Noah’s eyes lit up in understanding and his cheeks blushed a bit, Jayden smiled and curled his tail around his mate’s leg. “I would never let myself by affected by anyone else’s scent. There’s no scent in the world that can make me lose my mind and send me to Heaven the way yours can. You know that.”  
  
Noah could tell that Jayden was speaking the truth. He suddenly felt so embarrassed and silly for having doubted his mate in the first place, but he just couldn’t help it. He had always been insecure about himself, and sometimes found it difficult to see why an alpha as sweet and loving like Jayden would be so in love with someone like him. Noah wasn’t that young anymore, and he found himself getting increasingly insecure and jealous when younger submissives were around Jayden. He couldn’t help but see them as competition, even though he knew deep down that Jayden would always remain loyal to him.  
  
“I’m sorry, I just… I don’t know why I think such things,” Noah admitted, avoiding Jayden’s eye in shame.  
  
The alpha chuckled and pulled Noah close. He wrapped his arms around Noah’s waist and moved them further down until they were both resting on Noah’s buttocks, allowing him to squeeze his mate’s ass. “You silly thing. No one could ever compete with you. But I’m kinda flattered that you get jealous like that. Surely that means you’re possessive of me, right?”  
  
The smugness in Jayden’s voice made Noah blush and hit him in the chest half-heartedly.  
  
“So what? I want you to myself,” Noah murmured, still all flustered.  
  
Jayden laughed and held Noah close, his tail tightening possessively around Noah’s leg. “Mm, then I guess I better show you just how much I love you and that you’re mine, huh?”  
  
In a swift move, Jayden used his hands on Noah’s ass to lift him up, forcing Noah to place his arms around Jayden’s neck and wrap his legs around his waist to hang on to him. Jayden laughed at Noah’s high-pitched yelp of surprise, and his hands on Noah’s ass kept the submissive in place as he held him.  
  
“J-Jayden!” Noah exclaimed, flaring his wings behind him as arousal started spreading through him. He had always liked how Jayden was able to lift him up and hold him like that, like he weighed nothing at all.  
  
Jayden just grinned at him, smugly and wickedly, before taking him over to the fridge. He all but pushed Noah up against the fridge and melted their lips together in a deep, possessive kiss, while still holding him in place.  
  
Noah kissed him back eagerly and melted in his hold. His wings beat against the fridge and his legs tightened around Jayden’s waist as they kissed deeply, and he could feel Jayden’s erection getting stronger and harder against him.  
  
The taste of Jayden made Noah moan involuntarily, and he smiled a bit when he felt Jayden respond with arousal when he heard his moan.  
  
“Gonna show you that you’re _mine_ and mine _only,_ ” Jayden rasped against Noah’s ear, and started sucking bruises into his neck.  
  
Noah mewled and bucked against him. “Ah, yes! Please!” He clawed at Jayden’s back and shoulders as he struggled to hold on to him, and arousal spread through him like wildfire. His panties got soiled with slick faster than they had for a long time, and he mewled as he tried to rub his erection against Jayden to gain some satisfaction.  
  
The scent of Noah’s slick made Jayden growl possessively and leave a big hickey behind on Noah’s neck. Compared to that demon sub’s heat pheromones, Noah’s scent of arousal was so much better. It was the best smell in the world to Jayden; like cinnamon, rain, and sweet fruits all mixed together to create perfection. Only the scent of Noah’s heat pheromones was better than this scent, and Jayden was rock hard instantly as Noah’s arousal entered his nose.  
  
“Ah! Bedroom. _Now,_ ” Noah demanded, his voice like a growl.  
  
Jayden didn’t have any objections there. He put Noah down for a second before picking him up bridal style (it was easier to carry him that way, and he loved how it made Noah blush) and carrying him to the stairs. Noah held on to him, and wriggled slightly because he was so impatient for Jayden to finally fuck him senseless on the mattress.  
  
They went up the stairs and into their bedroom in record time. Noah was thrown on the bed as soon as they were in there, and in the next moment he had a very impatient Jayden take his clothes off of him.  
  
Piece by piece their clothes ended up on the floor, and Noah quickly got into position on the bed so they could continue.  
  
Jayden climbed onto the bed with him and claimed his lips in another fierce kiss, while slowly covering his body with his own. Noah ended up on his back with Jayden on top of him, and he mewled into Jayden’s mouth and bucked impatiently when he felt the alpha’s erection rub against his leg for friction.  
  
“Stop fucking my leg and do _me_ instead. Need you inside me, please,” Noah begged, and let out needy moan as he bared his neck and wings for Jayden.  
  
Jayden growled playfully and suddenly pinned Noah’s wrists to the bed next to the submissive’s head. He stared into Noah’s face with a smug grin, and loved how his mate’s pupils dilated when he got rough with him. “I’ll be inside you soon enough. First I wanna enjoy your taste…”  
  
With those words, Jayden leaned in and started kissing his way down Noah’s body, while still holding his wrists so he couldn’t move his hands. He knew how much Noah loved it when he did this. His mate liked to be pinned down and worshipped by him, and the alpha could smell the increase in Noah’s arousal as he kissed and licked his way over his sensitive skin. He paid extra attention to Noah’s jugular, the crook of his shoulder, his nipples, and his bellybutton, and Noah couldn’t stop squirming under him.  
  
“Nrrruggh, please! You’re such a tease,” Noah whined, and bucked involuntarily. His wings were furling and unfurling on the bed all the time because he had lost complete control of them. His body was so turned on it drove him crazy.  
  
“Mmm.” Jayden purred and nuzzled his nose against Noah’s flat stomach, remembering all the times it had been full with child. He was happy he had such a fertile mate who had given him the most wonderful children, and he silently wished they could have another soon, just so he could see him swell because of Jayden’s seed again.  
  
Jayden had let go of Noah’s wrists by now, and Noah’s hands were buried in the alpha’s hair as Jayden kissed and caressed his stomach lovingly. Although Noah loved the attention, it was also driving him crazy. He was more horny than he had been in months, and all he could think of was to have Jayden inside him and getting pounded into the mattress by him. But here Jayden was; teasing him and going extremely slow with the foreplay, and completely ignoring his aching erection. It was frustrating to no end, but at the same time it was very enjoyable.  
  
When Jayden was finally done worshipping Noah’s belly, he pulled back and made Noah turn over onto his stomach. The submissive complied, hoping Jayden would finally pay some attention to his ass, which was leaking slick all over the sheets. And Jayden did. He gently pushed two fingers inside him and moved them around for a bit, until he leaned in and replaced his fingers with his tongue.  
  
Noah all but screamed when he felt what Jayden was doing, and Jayden had to hold him down and keep him still because he went wild under him.  
  
“Ahh! Yes! P-Please don’t stop. Oh!” Noah moaned, and starting biting into the sheets to muffle his screams.  
  
Jayden smirked smugly and continued eating Noah out, purring at the sweet taste of his mate’s slick. Jayden could do this all day, if not for his own erection throbbing and aching between his legs. He really wanted to bury himself inside the endless heat of Noah’s body, but he also wanted to keep teasing and tasting him.  
  
Eventually Jayden pulled away, making Noah moan in protest over the loss. The alpha wasn’t done yet, though. He moved up and started licking at Noah’s oil glands next, as well as pinching and rubbing them, while his tail slowly slid its way inside Noah’s ass.  
  
Noah’s sharp jerk made Jayden have to use his weight to hold him down, as well as placing his own wings on top of Noah’s to stop them from beating uncontrollably.  
  
Noah was really out of it from arousal, and Jayden enjoyed every second of it.  
  
“Oi, lie still, or you’re gonna shake me off of you,” Jayden warned playfully, before sucking on Noah’s oil gland again.  
  
“B-But I can’t. It’s so… _Oh!_ I-I’m gonna come!”  
  
“Already?”  
  
Jayden smirked and twisted his tail around inside Noah, looking for his mate’s most sensitive spots in there. When he found them, he made sure to press right against them, combining it with a soft pinch on Noah’s left oil gland, which threw the submissive over the edge.  
  
Noah screamed and convulsed under Jayden as he came hard into the sheets. White flashed before his eyes, and his body quaked with every wave of his orgasm.  
  
“Shhh,” Jayden soothed him gently during his orgasm, and didn’t stop stimulating Noah’s body further. He knew his mate could handle the continuous stimulation, and that it would soon make Noah come again. This was what he enjoyed the most; giving Noah multiple orgasms, right after each other, and barely giving him time to recover between them.  
  
The orgasm shook Noah to the core, and his body felt boneless once it was finally over. He went limp under Jayden, but he couldn’t relax with Jayden continuously stimulating and teasing him. The demon’s tail was still inside of him, thrusting and twisting and filling him up, and his oil glands were tingling with pleasure as Jayden touched, licked, and pinched them. He tried to squirm, but it was difficult with Jayden’s weight on top of him, and his wings are immobile because Jayden’s wings were holding them down. He was completely at Jayden’s mercy and he loved it.  
  
“Ah, if you keep doing that, I’ll—”  
  
“Mm, that’s the point,” Jayden cut him off gently, smiling against Noah’s back. “Gonna make you scream my name all night.”  
  
The promise in Jayden’s words made Noah shudder.  
  
Jayden’s teasing continued, and it was when the alpha started to absently rub his erection against the back of Noah’s legs while pleasuring him with his tail that Noah came again. He screamed out Jayden’s name, and his orgasm made a mess of the sheets below them.  
  
Unable to keep giving Noah orgasms without finding release himself, Jayden finally pulled Noah up from the bed and placed him on his lap. That way they were facing each other, and Jayden could watch Noah’s face as he slowly lowered the submissive onto his cock, without removing his tail from Noah’s ass.  
  
Watching Noah’s eyes widen and the way he screamed in pleasure as his body got stretched by taking in Jayden’s tail and cock at the same time was almost enough to make Jayden come right there. He had purposefully not stretched Noah enough to take both his dick and his tail in order to have his mate feel the burn, but of course without hurting him too much. He used his tail to help stretch Noah further as his cock slipped into him to make it more comfortable for Noah, but it still provided a nice burn for the submissive.  
  
“I… Fuck! _Jayden!_ ” Noah screamed. He wrapped his arms around Jayden’s neck and buried his face in his shoulder as he got lowered further onto Jayden’s cock, panting heavily during the whole thing. He felt his hole stretch to accommodate his mate, and the burn made him feel dizzy with arousal.  
  
“Shh, it’s okay. You can manage it,” Jayden encouraged him. Truth was that Jayden wasn’t so sure if he could manage it himself. Noah was so damn tight, and feeling his mate being forced open by him like that but still just _taking_ it was so damn hot that he almost couldn’t hold back his orgasm. His will not to come before the fun was over made him hold on long enough until he was fully buried inside Noah. It was when he started moving that he finally couldn’t hold back and ended up coming deep inside Noah, while bruising his skin with his tight grip.  
  
Noah gasped in pleasure as he felt his mate’s seed enter him, and he continued to bounce and rock himself on Jayden’s dick, milking him dry. His own dick was aching between his legs again, and he tried rubbing it against Jayden’s abdomen to please it.  
  
“Fuck,” Jayden cursed when his orgasm subsided, and grabbed Noah’s ass tightly. He wasn’t done yet, though. Noah’s continuous bouncing stimulated his dick, and he was still too aroused to go soft just yet. His cock maintained its hardness inside of Noah, and Jayden began working them towards their next climaxes.  
  
Noah kept clinging to Jayden, and ended up scratching his alpha’s back and shoulders with his nails as he hung on to him. Marking his mate like that only made Jayden even more horny, and Noah gasped every time the alpha bottomed out inside of him.  
  
“Gosh, you wouldn’t believe how tight you are. And the noises you make while I fuck you… _Shit._ How could you even _think_ that I’d trade you with someone else?” Jayden rambled.  
  
“I-I don’t know… Just, please don’t stop,” Noah moaned in reply, and buried his face in Jayden’s shoulder. The pleasure in his ass was unbelievable, and he knew it was only a matter of time until he’d come for the third time that evening.  
  
“I won’t. Just like I won’t ever stop loving you.” With those words Jayden wrapped his arms around Noah in an embrace, and buried his face in Noah’s shoulder.  
  
Jayden’s words and his sudden tenderness threw Noah over the edge. He came for the third time, shaking and screaming in Jayden’s hold, and forcing the alpha’s orgasm from him with his clenching muscles.  
  
Their climaxes were beautiful, and their bond flared with warmness inside them as they came together.  
  
Jayden’s second orgasm made a complete mess of Noah. There was semen all over on and in his ass, and on Jayden’s tail as well. But neither of them cared about the mess.  
  
It took them a few moments to catch their breaths and calm down from the endorphins. They absently touched each other’s feathers while recovering, and Noah purred as Jayden rubbed his wing bone gently.  
  
After a few moments, Jayden pulled back to look at Noah, and was grinning widely.  
  
Noah eyed him with confusion and suspicion. “What is it?”  
  
“Nothing,” Jayden grinned. “Just pretty proud that I made you come three times in such a short time.”  
  
Noah blushed heavily. “Don’t be so smug about it.” He gave Jayden a small hit on the chest before slowly climbing off of him. The feeling of the alpha’s dick and tail slipping out of him made him wince slightly, because he was still rather tender from the burn.  
  
“You okay?”  
  
Noah nodded and sat down on the bed, but without resting his weight on his butt. “Yeah. Though, I’m gonna feel this tomorrow…”  
  
“You better, otherwise I wouldn’t have done a good enough job,” Jayden grinned, and got up to get something to clean them up with.  
  
Noah chuckled a bit at his words before lying down on his stomach with a heavy sigh. He was too exhausted to move, and his body tingled with the aftermath of sex. “I’m so tired now…”  
  
“But it’s not bedtime yet. And you’ll feel even more tired after I’m done with you before we go to bed tonight.” Jayden gave Noah a knowing wink and started cleaning the come off of him.  
  
Noah’s face reddened as he looked away from Jayden’s eyes. “Pervert. You never get tired of sex, do you?”  
  
“Nope. Not as long as you’re my mate.” With a smile, Jayden leaned down and pressed a kiss to Noah’s cheek before going back to cleaning him up, and Noah couldn’t help but smile shyly at that. “Besides, the thought of you wearing sexy lingerie tonight is definitely a good motivation for me.”  
  
Noah buried his face in his pillow with a loud, embarrassed groan. The thought of wearing those sexy things in front of Jayden turned him on, but it also made him feel shy. But as long as Jayden liked what he saw, Noah was willing to wear almost anything around him.  
  
After they got cleaned up, they went back downstairs to wrap up Derek’s presents and to prepare dinner. They were both in a good mood after the glorious sex they had had, and Jayden couldn’t keep his hands off of Noah’s wings.  
  
Although Noah wasn’t proud of the way he had acted earlier and how he had let his emotions get the better of him, he couldn’t deny that jealousy led to some pretty awesome sex. And a sore butt. He was definitely looking forward to more sex that night, and so was Jayden.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been so long since I updated this story, so I decided to finally publish a chapter I have written months ago, but haven’t published yet. The story is still on standby until I finish Captivated, which still has a few more chapters to go, and after that I will continue with Dedicated :) Still so much left to explore in Noah and Jayden’s lives!
> 
> And the toilet paper on the ceiling scene was inspired by my own life. Me and a friend once did that when I was 10. Needless to say that my parents were pissed to find our bathroom ceiling covered in toilet paper XD; Fun times.
> 
> Anyways, hope you’ve enjoyed the chapter! Sorry that it’s been so long since the last update. Hopefully when I finish Captivated I will start writing on chapter 48 right away.
> 
>  **UPDATE ON 15TH FEBRUARY 2016:** I'm so sorry! I accidentally put the update for Captived into Dedicated! Sorry if you noticed it and thought it was an update for Dedicated. I'll try not to make it happen again. I just wasn't paying proper attention.


	48. Chapter 48

**November 2060 (Noah is 34, Jayden is 36, Nathan is 11, Derek is 6, Dylan is 3, Emily is 10 (almost 11), Millie is 36, David is 37 years old).**  
  
Noah and Jayden had to get up early that Sunday, because today wasn’t just any Sunday; it was Nathan’s eleventh birthday, and his school class was coming over to celebrate it with him.  
  
Before Nathan’s classmates would arrive, Noah and Jayden went downstairs to prepare breakfast and presents, and Jayden had gotten fresh bread from the bakery.  
  
Dylan had woken up at around the same time as Noah and Jayden had gotten up at 7:30am, so he was running around in front of them as they prepared the table.  
  
“Mommy, why Nathan get so much presents?” Dylan asked, while clinging to Noah’s leg as the submissive placed the presents at Nathan’s seat at the table. The boy was getting better at pronouncing Nathan’s name right, but sometimes he still slipped into old habits.  
  
“Because he has a birthday. You know that, sweetie,” Noah smiled, and folded his wing around Dylan lovingly, while arranging the presents on the table.  
  
Dylan stared up at him, sucking lightly on his thumb. “I want bee-day too!”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at him, and came over to pick up little Dylan. The boy squealed with joy, and settled himself on his dad’s arm as Jayden held him. “You already had your birthday a couple of months ago, remember? You got lots of presents too.”  
  
Dylan eyed him with sad, puppy-dog eyes. “Yeah… B-But…”  
  
Jayden chuckled, and pressed a kiss to his son’s forehead. “Don’t worry. I think your mommy has something in mind for you as well.”  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened with excitement, and he immediately turned to look at Noah. “Really?”  
  
Noah rolled his eyes at Jayden for revealing it, but chuckled at Dylan’s happy face. “Yes, I do. But you have to wait a little bit longer, okay?”  
  
Dylan nodded, looking very excited already.  
  
They got the rest of the table settled, before it was time to wake up Derek and Nathan so they could start the celebration. They decided to wake up Derek first, and Jayden volunteered to get the energetic alpha boy out of bed. He knocked on Derek’s door before entering the room.  
  
“Come on. Time to get up, young man,” Jayden said, clasping his hands together to wake up Derek, as he went into his son’s bedroom.  
  
Derek let out a loud groan from the bed, and hid himself under his blanket when Jayden went over to pull his curtains apart, allowing light inside.  
  
“But daaaad! I wanna sleep!” Derek complained. “Nathan can open his presents by himself!”  
  
Jayden chuckled, and went over to pull the covers off of him, making Derek squeak in protest. “I know, but you still gotta get up. Come on.”  
  
“But ‘m still sleepy!”  
  
Jayden sighed heavily. “Yeah, that’s what you get from drinking that coke in secret last night. I told you it was just gonna make you have trouble falling sleep, and then you’ll just be extra tired in the morning. But as usual, you don’t ever listen to what you’re told, do you?”  
  
Derek whined, writhing on the bed now that Jayden had taken his blanket away from him. He still had his wings to keep himself warm with, but they weren’t that big yet and couldn’t cover him fully. “You’re stupid, dad,” he muttered grumpily.  
  
“Then we have something in common,” came Jayden’s reply, before he threw Derek’s blanket on the floor to prevent the boy from sleeping any more. “Now, get up.” Usually he’d scold Derek for being rude like that, but it was like Derek didn’t care much. By throwing Derek’s words back in his face, the boy was more likely to take his words seriously.  
  
Derek just grunted, and rolled over on his stomach, burying his face in his pillow.  
  
“Up,” Jayden repeated, this time more seriously.  
  
Derek lifted his head from his pillow to stare up at his dad with a grumpy pout, before reluctantly getting out of bed. He kept looking at Jayden like he was the bad guy, and went over to his dresser to find some clothes and get dressed. He had learned to get dressed and tie his shoes by himself when he was four already, because he didn’t like depending on others to help him with things. Derek liked doing things on his own, and he was mostly pretty good at it.  
  
“Hurry up. We gotta go wake up Nathan soon,” Jayden told him as he left the room.  
  
“Yeah, yeah.”  
  
After Derek was dressed and had used the bathroom, he met up with Jayden, Noah, and little Dylan in the upstairs hallway.  
  
Dylan was clinging to Noah’s leg again, and Derek watched him with disapproval. He thought Dylan was being very childish sometimes, and he didn’t understand how an alpha boy could be so soft and clingy.   
  
But Dylan didn’t care what Derek thought of him; he liked snuggling and clinging to their parents, and sometimes to Nathan.  
  
“Ready?” Jayden asked everyone, as they stood outside Nathan’s room, prepared to wake him up with a happy birthday song.  
  
“Yeah!” Dylan chirped.  
  
“Do you remember the song?” Noah asked him, smiling at Dylan as he stroked a loving hand through his son’s dark hair.  
  
“Yup!” Dylan grinned, looking all excited. “We sing in daycare all da time.”  
  
“I’m not singing!” Derek said, grimacing at the thought alone.  
  
“Hey, you will sing,” Jayden ordered, and gave Derek a small push with his wing for being rude.  
  
Derek crossed his arms in defiance, not liking this at all.  
  
When everyone was ready, they carefully knocked on Nathan’s door before entering the room.   
  
On the bed, Nathan blinked his eyes to wake up, and sat up when his family came into his room and started singing ‘happy birthday to you’ for him. He thought it was a little awkward with all the singing, but he sat up on the bed with a happy grin, and listened to them finishing their song, before Noah handed him a small present.  
  
“Happy birthday, Nathan,” Noah smiled, and leaned in over the bed to hug him.  
  
Nathan placed the present in his lap while hugging Noah back, grinning. “Thanks, mom.”  
  
Noah pulled away, and looked at Nathan with a smile, stroking his cheek gently. “Gosh, I can’t believe you’re so big already.”  
  
Nathan grinned, feeling proud, before being pulled into a hug by Jayden next.  
  
“Happy birthday, son! Now you’re almost not a kid anymore,” Jayden grinned, and gave his son a tight squeeze.  
  
“I’m only 11,” Nathan pointed out, hugging him back. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to grow up, but he wasn’t in such a hurry to ‘become a man’ like Derek was.  
  
“Happy bee-day!” Dylan cheered, and crawled up on Nathan’s bed so he could jump on top of him and hug him.  
  
“Uff!” Nathan had the air knocked out of him when Dylan suddenly landed on his chest, and the others laughed. “Thanks, Dylan,” he grinned, and hugged his little brother back.  
  
Dylan grinned, his tail flicking happily behind him, before climbing off of Nathan and sitting down by his feet on the bed instead to watch him open his present soon.  
  
Derek, on the other hand, had no intentions of hugging Nathan. He stood next to Noah by the bed, and twitched awkwardly. “Um, happy birthday, Nathan.” He lifted his gaze to look at his older brother, before looking away again.  
  
Nathan smiled. “Thanks, Derek.”  
  
Noah was proud of Derek that he hadn’t said anything rude to Nathan yet. Derek often did that, especially when he was grumpy and sleepy, like he was now, but today it seemed like he was behaving himself.  
  
Jayden patted Derek proudly on the head for being nice, and despite Derek acting a bit like he thought it was annoying, he still leaned into the touch.  
  
“Can I open it now?” Nathan asked, and gestured at the present in his lap.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Of course. It’s not for decoration.”  
  
Nathan grinned before opening his present, and Dylan crawled a little closer to him to see what he got.  
  
Ripping off the birthday paper from the present didn’t take long, and Nathan’s eyes widened when he saw that he had gotten a video game that he had wanted for a while now.  
  
“Oh my god! I’ve wanted to have this for so long!” Nathan exclaimed, almost in awe.  
  
“Well, we figured you’re old enough to play that game by now, so we got it for you,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“Thank you so much!” Nathan grinned, his face bright with happiness, and got up to give both Jayden and Noah a tight hug.  
  
Noah was happy that Nathan liked his present so much. It was a game that was suited for older children, and the advised age was around 12 years old. But since Nathan was quite mature for his age, they had decided that the game would be okay for him to play. Derek wouldn’t be allowed to play it, though.  
  
“Oh, that’s nice,” Derek said, eyeing the game with interest. “Can I play too?”  
  
“No way, you’re too young for that. It’s a game for older kids,” Jayden told him.  
  
Derek looked offended to hear that. “But I’m six already!”  
  
“Yeah, which means you’re not old enough,” Nathan pointed out, rolling his eyes at Derek.  
  
“Shut up!”  
  
“Hey!” Jayden warned sharply when things were getting out of hand. “Be nice. Both of you.”  
  
“Sorry, dad,” Nathan murmured, while Derek just glared at him.  
  
Dylan didn’t like it when his older brothers were fighting. He looked between with wariness, until Nathan fondly ruffled his hair to make him cheer up.  
  
“Let’s go downstairs and get some breakfast,” Noah suggested, and reached out to take Dylan’s hand to help him climb off the bed. “You still have many more presents to open, Nathan.”  
  
Nathan grinned, and the others went ahead while Nathan got dressed and later joined them for breakfast downstairs.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Breakfast went rather well. Nathan and Derek managed to not get into any fights, besides from being a bit rude to each other when fighting over who got to eat from the Nutella first, but other than that it went fine.  
  
Nathan’s presents were clothes, games, a new school bag, and a new cover for his phone. He liked his presents very much, and was glad he had gotten them.   
  
Dylan thought it was a bit strange that Nathan didn’t get any toys, but Nathan was already outgrowing most of his toys. He mostly liked playing video games and soccer and such with his friends now. When he did play with toys, it was mostly together with Dylan to keep his brother company.  
  
And because Noah knew that Dylan and Derek would get a bit jealous of all the presents that Nathan got, he had bought them a small present as well. Dylan got a dinosaur toy, because he was in what Jayden liked to call a ‘dinosaur-phase’ right now, while Derek got a small extension for the racing track in his room. Derek quite enjoyed building his own racing tracks, and he constantly took his racing tracks apart to build a new model with even more twists and loops for his toy cars.  
  
Nathan didn’t mind that his brothers also got a present on his birthday. It was always like that when one of them had a birthday; it kept the jealousy and the fights to a minimum.  
  
“So, now we just gotta wait for your classmates to show up,” Jayden spoke, after they were done having breakfast. “They should be here in about an hour.” He got up to clean the table, and Derek jumped up from his chair and ran into the living room before his dad could ask him to help him with chores. Dylan, on the other hand, liked taking the plates from the table and putting them in the dishwasher – he thought it was fun.  
  
Nathan’s wings flared with excitement at Jayden’s words, but then suddenly lowered a bit.  
  
Noah was about to go help Jayden clean up the table, when he noticed the sudden change in Nathan’s demeanor. “What is it?” he asked, eyeing his son with worry.  
  
Nathan stared at the table before looking up at Noah. He had a scared and nervous look in his eyes. “What if some of them aren’t coming after all? And what if none of them come at all?”  
  
The fact that Nathan would think that broke Noah’s heart. He could tell that Nathan was genuinely scared about this, and he didn’t know what to say.  
  
Nathan had had birthday parties before, and usually most of his friends and classmates would show up. However, last year only four out of the twelve children, who had signed up for his birthday party, had actually shown up. That had been really difficult for Nathan to handle.  
  
“Don’t worry. I’m sure they will all show up,” Noah said, and smiled to cheer up his son. “I know that Emily will come for sure. And your best friends Alex and Matthew will come too, I’m sure. It’s gonna be fine.”  
  
“Hmm. I guess.” Nathan twitched uneasily, and kept staring into the table. Noah didn’t like that.  
  
Jayden, who had overheard the conversation while he and Dylan were putting the plates into the dishwasher, came over to cheer up his son. “Well, if you keep up that foul mood, they certainly won’t come,” he joked, smiling at Nathan to lighten up his mood. “And I’m pretty sure no one wants to miss the awesome birthday cake I’m gonna make.”  
  
Nathan’s face lit up at the mention of the birthday cake. He lifted his head and grinned at his dad. “Are you gonna bake the same one you did last year?”  
  
“Well, not the _exact_ same one, but a similar one,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes. His dad knew very well what he meant.  
  
“Cake!” Dylan chirped happily, and raised his arms in excitement. “Me wants too!” He looked up at Jayden with his blue eyes, which always made Jayden soften up.  
  
“You’re gonna get fat, buddy,” Jayden laughed, and ruffled Dylan’s hair fondly.  
  
“Dun care!” Dylan grinned.  
  
Noah chuckled. He went over to them and reached out his hand towards Dylan. “Do you wanna help mommy get the candy for the quiz games ready?”  
  
It was Nathan’s idea to have something like a quiz game at the party. The children would be divided into 2 groups that had to compete for points. To get points you had to complete certain tasks, score points in a quiz, etc., and the group with the most points would get extra candy. The others would get candy too, but the winning group would get more.  
  
“Yay!” Dylan grabbed Noah’s hand and followed him into the living room to help him prepare the candy.  
  
Nathan smiled at them as he watched them go. He was sitting at the table, his feet swinging back and forth under his chair from anxiety. He hated the knot he felt in his stomach as he waited to see how many of his classmates would show up.  
  
“And that Derek… He just disappeared right when the chores started, didn’t he?” Jayden spoke, rolling his eyes helplessly.  
  
Nathan chuckled. “Yeah. What did you expect?”  
  
“Yeah, I wonder about that too…” Jayden murmured, and threw the dishcloth aside that he had been holding. “Derek!” he called out loud. “Come in here! You gotta wipe the table clean!”  
  
Nathan giggled uncontrollably at the table, because he knew that there was no way in hell that Derek would show up voluntarily to wipe the table – Jayden would have to physically drag him into the kitchen to do it.  
  
After five seconds with no answer, Jayden let out an annoyed growl, and went off to start looking for Derek. Sure, Jayden could wipe the table clean by himself, but Derek needed to learn that he had chores to do too, and that running away from them wouldn’t make them go away.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Emily was the first one of the guests to arrive. It was Nathan who opened the door for her when the doorbell rang, and the two best friends smiled widely when they saw each other.  
  
“Nathan! Happy birthday!” Emily squealed, and threw her arms around Nathan in a hug.  
  
“Thanks,” Nathan replied, blushing somewhat as she hugged him real tight.  
  
Emily’s parents, Millie and David, were both standing behind her in the doorway, and smiled at the scene.  
  
Jayden came over, and smiled at all of them as he opened the door wider for them to enter. “Hey, guys. Come on in.”  
  
“Thanks,” Millie smiled, and entered the house with David and Emily.  
  
Jayden and Noah were close friends with David and Millie, and they often helped each other out when one of their kids had a birthday party. Today, Millie and David were there to help Noah and Jayden handle all the kids (fourteen kids had signed up to attend Nathan’s birthday, but they still didn’t know how many of them would show up), and to assist while the kids played the game that Nathan had in mind for them.  
  
Jayden closed the door after they had entered the house.  
  
Emily and Nathan were still smiling at each other, until Emily suddenly pulled out a birthday card from her pocket and handed it to Nathan. “Um, that’s for you,” she said, smiling shy.  
  
Nathan beamed. “Thanks.”  
  
“Aww, Nathan got a present from his _girlfriend,_ ” Derek mocked from the doorway to the dining room, where he was watching them all. He had a smug, mischievous smirk on his lips, and Nathan really hated that smirk.  
  
“Piss off, you little rat!” Nathan snarled, glaring hard at his little brother, who just laughed before running off.  
  
“Hey! Language,” Jayden scolded, his voice deep and warning.  
  
Nathan lowered his head and wings somewhat. “Sorry, dad… But he’s just _so_ annoying!”  
  
“Yeah, I know. But the more attention you pay to him, the more annoying he gets.”  
  
Emily giggled at the scene. Her cheeks had gotten bright red when Derek called her Nathan’s girlfriend, but she didn’t comment on it. She just waited for Nathan to open the card.  
  
Millie and David just chuckled a bit. They were used to Nathan and Derek fighting and bickering, and had heard Nathan say some rude words to Derek before when the young alpha really got on his nerves.  
  
Nathan began opening the card, while the guests took off their shoes and jackets. It was a colorful card with birthday cakes and stuff on it, and big letters that read ‘Happy 11th birthday!’. His eyes widened like saucers when he saw 40 dollars nestled inside the card. “Whoa! Thanks!” He knew it was most likely Millie and David’s money, but he was still thrilled to get this much.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Emily smiled, her tail swishing with excitement that Nathan liked the present.  
  
“Whoa.” Jayden’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected David and Millie to give Nathan this much money.  
  
“Is it really for me?” Nathan asked, looking up at David and Millie in amazement.  
  
“Of course,” Millie smiled. “You’re always so nice to help us clean up the table after dinner when you’re over to visit Emily at our house, so we figured you deserved it.”  
  
“And you only turn 11 once,” David added, grinning.  
  
“Thanks.” Nathan grinned up at both of them, his tail shifting with excitement.  
  
Derek had come back to sneak a peek at Nathan’s present, and his jaw dropped as he stood in the doorway to the dining room. “No way!” he exclaimed when he saw all that money.  
  
Jayden looked over his shoulder at him and smirked. “See? I’ve always told that doing your chores pays off.”  
  
Derek’s face scrunched up in distaste. “Whatever, I’m still _not_ doing chores! They’re boring,” he stated stubbornly, before turning around and walking away with a pout.  
  
They all laughed, and Nathan rolled his eyes at his little brother.  
  
“Where’s Noah?” Millie asked then, looking around as if trying to spot him somewhere.  
  
“He’s helping Dylan in the bathroom,” Jayden explained. “He’ll be here in a second.”  
  
Emily shifted her attention back to Nathan, and reached out her tail to briefly touch his, in a gesture between friends. “I hope they’ll all show up…” she said, referring to their classmates.  
  
Nathan’s smile faltered a bit as it was replaced with a nervous, somewhat scared expression. “Yeah…”  
  
“Don’t worry. They’ll come. You’ve told them about the fun games, right?” David smiled at Nathan, trying to cheer him up. “I’m sure they don’t wanna miss out on that.”  
  
“Yeah…” Nathan lowered his gaze and bit his lip, and Emily nudged his tail carefully to be there for him when she noticed the look on his face.  
  
In that same moment, Noah came into the hallway with little Dylan. The alpha boy’s face lit up when he saw who was visiting.  
  
“Em-lee!” Dylan cried out in joy, and went over to give her a big hug.  
  
“Hi, Dylan,” Emily grinned, and hugged the younger boy back. “Aww, you’re still so cute.”  
  
Dylan was always around whenever Emily came over to the house to visit Nathan, and Emily adored him. Unlike Derek, Dylan was loving and sweet, and didn’t tease her and Nathan like Derek did.  
  
Dylan just grinned up at her, his tail moving in joy behind him.  
  
Noah smiled at them, and greeted Emily, David, and Millie.  
  
Derek had gone off to play on his own somewhere. He hated all the welcome hugs and greetings – especially on Nathan’s birthdays, where all the attention was on him.  
  
  
***  
  
  
When the time was 9:30am, the guests started showing up.  
  
Nathan greeted everyone at the door when they arrived, and was happy whenever he saw another one of his classmates arrive. Their parents drove them there, but drove off again after following their kids inside and making sure they were okay.  
  
Fourteen kids had responded to Nathan’s birthday invitation and had said they were coming, but only eight of them showed up.  
  
Nathan hadn’t really expected all of them to show up – they never really did – but he was thrilled that this many of them had shown up. He had been afraid that none of them would show up.  
  
Jayden made Derek stay downstairs to greet the kids as they arrived, which he was a little grumpy about, because it meant he had to watch Nathan get even more birthday presents, plus he hated it when the 10-11-year-old girls looked at him like he was some adorable, little kid like Dylan. He wanted them to see him as the alpha that he was, but being only six years old didn’t make the older girls respect him much.  
  
Dylan, however, basked in the attention he got from Nathan’s classmates when they saw him.  
  
“Aww, your little brother is so cute, Nathan!” one of the girls exclaimed, and grinned at little Dylan, who was standing next to Nathan and clutching to his side. Dylan loved to cling to Nathan, and from there he had an easy overview of all the presents that Nathan got (although Nathan hadn’t opened them yet).  
  
“Yeah, thanks,” Nathan replied, blushing a bit, and ran a hand through Dylan’s messy hair. “He’s my cuter brother. Derek, on the other hand, is a brat.”  
  
“ _You’re_ the brat, you dumbass!” Derek exclaimed angrily from where he was standing next to Jayden in the hallway. He glared at his older brother for calling him a brat in front of everyone.  
  
The girls giggled and the boys laughed, and Derek glared at all of them.  
  
“Hey, calm down,” Jayden said, glaring between Nathan and Derek. His alpha voice made both Nathan and Derek shrink a bit. “I don’t wanna hear you guys bickering today, alright?”  
  
“Yeah, dad. Sorry,” Nathan murmured.  
  
Dylan leaned closer to Nathan, not liking it when he and Derek argued or said nasty things to each other.  
  
They all moved into the living room to let Nathan open his presents, and Dylan climbed up on the couch next to his brother to watch up close as he opened them. The other kids gathered around them on the couch, excited to see Nathan opening their presents for him. There were five girls and three boys among the kids who had shown up, besides Emily. Nathan’s two best friends Alex and Matthew had shown up as well, which was a relief to Nathan. It would have broken his heart if they hadn’t shown up for his birthday.  
  
Noah felt a surge of happiness as he watched Nathan open his presents. He was so glad and relieved that the kids had shown up after all, and he couldn’t stop smiling as he watched Nathan open the presents and interact with his classmates. Jayden came over to him and wrapped an arm around his waist, and Noah rested his head against Jayden’s arm as they watched the scene together.  
  
Nathan received mostly money and funny cards from his classmates, and he thanked them all for their presents before it was time to eat the buns that Jayden had baked yesterday. They were going to eat cake as well, but not until after they had played the games that Nathan had in mind for them.  
  
Their cat Midnight had disappeared upstairs the moment she heard all those children coming into the house. She hated noise and too many people around her, so she found a nice spot in Dylan’s nursey where she could be alone.  
  
Noah had prepared the dining table in the dining room for the kids to eat at, and there was a lot of talking and laughter as the kids sat down and ate the delicious buns that Jayden had made. There was cheese, jam, Nutella, ham, and other nice things to put on the bread, and juice and chocolate milk to drink.  
  
Dylan and Derek joined as well, while the adults went around to make sure that everybody got what they needed.  
  
Noah felt a little nervous when Dylan and Derek sat next to each other, because Derek wasn’t always that nice or considerate towards his younger brother, but it seemed to go well. He was a little surprised to see Derek helping Dylan put butter and cheese on his bread, but it also made him feel very proud of his son.  
  
“You’re always messing up your bread when you try to put the butter on, Dylan,” Derek complained, while doing it for him. “You gotta be gentle, or the bread is gonna end up looking like you stepped on it.”  
  
Dylan laughed, and watched curiously as Derek reached in over his plate and put on the butter for him. The other kids at the table were making noise as they chatted and talked really loud, but it didn’t bother Dylan much.  
  
“There. Like that,” Derek said when he finished, looking proud as he presented Dylan with a bread that hadn’t been squeezed to pieces from using the butter knife with force.  
  
“Thanks!” Dylan chirped, and picked up his bread with his small hands to eat. He turned his head to look at Derek before biting into it, though, and grinned as he exclaimed, “Love Derek!”  
  
The words caught Derek off guard, and his face turned red when a couple of girls had heard it and started giggling as they watched them with smiles.  
  
“T-That’s… Alphas don’t say that, Dylan! Stop saying that!” Derek stuttered, completely flustered.  
  
Dylan didn’t seem to care, though. He just ate his bread peacefully, and couldn’t stop smiling.  
  
Derek hated the way those girls looked at him like he was adorable, and he shrank a bit into his chair as he took a bite of his own bread, hoping the girls would look away from him soon.  
  
  
***  
  
  
All the children loved the bread that Jayden had made, and Jayden was pleased that almost everything was eaten. It was also nice to see all of them talking and chatting, and Nathan looking like he had a good time.  
  
After eating, it was time for the games and activities.  
  
The kids were divided into two groups, and had to score points on different tasks. One of the games was a quiz show, where they had to get as many answers right as possible, and where the questions varied from capital names to how many legs an ant had. Other games included the kids having to pretend to be a certain person and the others in the group had to guess who it was, a game where they had to solve a Rubik’s cube faster than the other team, another one where they had to walk with a spoon in their mouth with an egg on it and see who could walk farthest without dropping the egg, and lots of other games.  
  
Derek and Dylan joined in too. Dylan joined Nathan’s team with Emily, while Derek joined the other team. Derek loved to compete with Nathan whenever he got the chance, which mostly annoyed Nathan, because Derek could be pretty annoying when he won a game.  
  
The adults didn’t participate, but were there to make sure that the kids played fair, and to administer the games.  
  
Much to Nathan’s relief and to Derek’s regret, it was Nathan’s team who won the competition, and got to get the most candy as a reward.  
  
“You’re such a cheater, Nathan!” Derek accused, as he watched Nathan and his team cheer and smile in victory when they got their candy reward from the adults.  
  
“You’re just a sore loser,” Nathan replied, smirking smugly at his annoying brother.  
  
Derek sulked and glared at Nathan, and the other kids laughed at their interaction.  
  
Next up was the cake, which Jayden had baked while the kids had played their competition games.  
  
All the kids were excited as they walked towards the dining room to eat cake, but Nathan and Emily lingered a bit in the living room with little Dylan.  
  
“Don’t choke on your candy, Dylan,” Nathan told the boy, when he saw his little brother eating his candy pretty fast. Dylan always ate fast when he was eating things he really liked.  
  
Dylan just giggled up at him before eating more, making a mess of himself when he grabbed a piece of chocolate next.  
  
“Jeez.” Nathan shook his head fondly, and reached for some tissues on the couch table to clean up Dylan’s dirty hands with. “Don’t mess up the couch with those chocolate fingers, or mom and dad are gonna get mad at you.”  
  
Everything was a mess in the living room. There were candy wrappers everywhere, as well as quiz cards from their games. The couch table was full of the kids’ glasses, some of which still had some soda or chocolate milk in them which the kids hadn’t managed to finish yet.  
  
Emily giggled softly at them, and watched with a smile as Nathan took care of his little brother.  
  
“Hey, Nathan! Are you coming?”  
  
They looked up to see Nathan’s good friend Alex waiting for them in the doorway. He had come back to see where Nathan and Emily were, when he noticed they weren’t in the dining room yet.  
  
“Yeah, I’m coming,” Nathan called back, and got up from the couch. “Come on, Dylan. It’s time for cake.”  
  
“Yay! Love cake!” Dylan threw his hands up in the air with a happy grin, and gladly followed Nathan and Emily out of the room.  
  
They went over to Alex to go to the dining room together, when an angel girl suddenly showed up next to them. She had just come out of the bathroom and went over to join them.  
  
“Your dad is really good at baking!” she told Nathan, grinning. “I’m so glad I managed to convince my parents to come to your birthday party. They didn’t want me to join…”  
  
Nathan turned to look at her, half surprised and half hurt. “Oh.”  
  
“Yeah, you know… you being, um, a hybrid and all,” she added, looking uncomfortable as she explained it. “My dad is kinda strict about such things…”  
  
“I see.” Nathan couldn’t help but feel sad that things had to be like that, but on the other hand he was really happy that the girl had joined anyway. “I’m just glad you’re here,” he told her, smiling.  
  
The girl smiled back, and the way her wings flared showed that she felt the same.  
  
“I think many of the others couldn’t come ‘cause of that…” Alex added, eyeing Nathan with caution as he mentioned that to his friend. He knew that those things always upset Nathan.  
  
Nathan’s wings drooped a bit, and he sighed. “Yeah, I know. I just… It sucks.”  
  
Emily put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, and Nathan really appreciated that.  
  
“Too bad for them. Means more cake for the rest of us!” the girl exclaimed, and grinned as she hurried into the dining room to join the others for cake.  
  
Her comment forced a laugh out of Nathan, and he, Emily, Alex, and little Dylan hurried up to join her.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The day went by so fast, but it had been a real success. All the children seemed to have had a lot of fun, and both Noah and Jayden were happy to see Nathan interacting so much with his classmates and smiling all the time. They were glad that Nathan didn’t seem too disappointed that not everyone had shown up.  
  
Nathan said goodbye to his classmates when their parents came to pick them up, one by one. Some of the parents seemed to be in a hurry to get their kids out of there, while others lingered and chatted with Jayden and Noah for a bit.  
  
“Seems like the kids had fun,” the father of one of the demon girls said, as he came inside to pick up his daughter. He stood in the entrance hall with Jayden and Noah, while waiting for his daughter to say goodbye to the others and to get dressed for leaving.  
  
“Yeah, we think they did,” Jayden smiled, looking at the kids, who came running through the entrance hall every now and then because someone had started a tag game, which had them running through the entire garden and sometimes into the house as well. It wasn’t a surprise to Jayden that Derek was the loudest one in the tag game, and he could hear his son yelling ‘cheater!’ at some of the other kids every now and then.  
  
The father – who was an alpha demon like Jayden, but was a bit shorter – watched the kids in silence for a few seconds before turning to look at Jayden. “And you know, your kid has helped my daughter in class a few times. She says he’s the reason she gotten better at reading and writing.”  
  
“Oh?” Jayden was half surprised to hear that. It filled his heart with pride that Nathan had done that for a fellow classmate. He wondered why his son hadn’t mentioned that at all.  
  
Noah too was slightly surprised, but really proud to hear this from the alpha.  
  
“Yeah. I guess his mixed genes aren’t as bad as I first thought,” the guy said then, matter of fact like, before turning his attention back to his daughter, who had just put on her shoes. “Come on, sweetie. We’re leaving.”  
  
Both and Jayden and Noah were kind of dumbfounded when the guy went from complimenting to insulting their son in less than ten seconds.  
  
Jayden glared at the guy, and his lip threatened to curl into a snarl, if not for Noah calming him down with a hand on his shoulder.  
  
The girl was unaware of her father’s rude comment, and turned to smile at Noah and Jayden before leaving. “Thanks for the cake and everything! And bye, Nathan,” he told Nathan, who had stopped in the middle of the tag game to say goodbye to his classmate.  
  
“Bye. And thanks for coming,” Nathan smiled, and waved at her as she left with her dad.  
  
The girl smiled and waved back, and her father rushed her out to the car to leave.  
  
Jayden was still grumpy and upset about the father’s behavior even after they had left, and went to shut the door a bit harder than intended. “What a jackass,” he grumbled, when it was just him and Noah in the hallway.  
  
“Yeah… But I’m glad he let his daughter come,” Noah spoke.  
  
Jayden snorted. “Yeah.”  
  
The conversation was interrupted when Derek came running through the room, being chased by Alex, who was trying to tag him. The boy screamed and laughed really loud, and taunted Alex as he yelled, “You can’t catch me! You can’t catch me!”  
  
Alex growled and tried running faster, and there were squeals outside when Derek had ran back into the garden with Alex chasing after him.  
  
Jayden chuckled and shook his head at the scene. He was glad that he and Noah had moved all sensitive objects out of the way inside the house, and that the tag game mostly took place outside. Their cat Midnight was still hiding somewhere upstairs, feeling safer when she wasn’t around all that noise.  
  
  
***  
  
  
More parents came to pick up their kids, and eventually they had to stop playing tag because there weren’t anyone left to play, besides from Nathan, Derek, Dylan, and Emily.  
  
David and Millie stayed to help them clean up the house afterwards, while Nathan and Emily went upstairs to Nathan’s room to be alone for a bit. Dylan was upset when he couldn’t join them, and instead had to be around Derek.  
  
It took about an hour to clean up, after which the guests stayed around for another hour before they had to leave. By then it was already 5:30pm, so it was almost time for dinner.  
  
“Thanks for being here on my birthday,” Nathan told Emily, as they said goodbye in the front door.  
  
Emily smiled at her friend, and bumped her tail into his. “You’re welcome. See you tomorrow in school.”  
  
The two of them smiled at each other, unaware that Derek was getting increasingly impatient beside them.  
  
When Derek had enough of them staring at each other for no good reason, he reached out and smacked Nathan on the arm.  
  
“Ow!” Nathan exclaimed, turning to glare at Derek while covering his sore arm. “What was that for?!”  
  
“’Cause you’re slow! I’m starving here, and you’re just _staring_ at her!”  
  
Nathan hadn’t even been aware that they had stared at each other for that long, so he blushed furiously when Derek pointed it out.  
  
“I-I… We weren’t staring! We were saying goodbye!”  
  
The adults couldn’t help but laugh, and Emily’s face turned completely pink.  
  
“And it’s no reason to hit me,” Nathan grumbled, trying to hide his embarrassment by glaring at Derek instead.  
  
“Yeah, ‘cause you’re stupid,” Derek retorted, sticking out his tongue at him.  
  
“ _You’re_ stupid!” Nathan gave his brother a hard shove for being so annoying, and Derek shoved him back when Nathan almost made him fall over.  
  
“Boys,” Jayden said in a loud, warning voice when they were about to get into another fight. “I thought you guys promised me no fighting today?”  
  
Reluctantly, Derek and Nathan pulled apart, and glared at each other instead.  
  
“Sorry, dad…” Derek mumbled.  
  
“Wow, you guys have your hands full,” David commented, laughing.  
  
Jayden groaned at that, and Noah looked exhausted just to be reminded of it.  
  
Dylan was standing next to Noah, clinging to him as usual. He clung a bit harder to him when he heard Nathan and Derek fighting, but his mother’s soft hand running through his hair relaxed him.  
  
They finally said goodbye, and Noah and Jayden thanked David and Millie for their help today. Nathan and Emily smiled at each other one last time before Emily left with her parents, and Nathan went back into the house with his family.  
  
“Can we eat now? I’m starving!” Derek said, restless from impatience.  
  
Jayden closed the front door and locked it, and chuckled when he saw how hungry Derek looked. “I’m amazed you still have an appetite, after all that cake you ate today.”  
  
“Derek’s always hungry,” Nathan pointed out, rolling his eyes.  
  
Noah chuckled at that.  
  
“So what?” Derek retorted, glaring up at Nathan. “I’m an alpha! Alphas gotta eat more ‘cause they grow bigger and stronger!”  
  
“Then how come you’re still only half my size?” Nathan teased, smirking. He knew the comment would piss Derek off, but he couldn’t help it.  
  
Derek growled, and went over to smack Nathan. “I’m _more_ than half your size! And you just wait; one day I’ll be twice as big as you!”  
  
Nathan laughed at the threat, which only made Derek smack him again.  
  
“Okay, that’s enough. No more hitting,” Jayden said, pulling Derek away by gently grabbing the back of his shirt and yanking him back. “And you, Tarzan, go take a bath, ‘cause you’re dirty, and we’re eating in half an hour.”  
  
Derek looked a little grumpy about the nickname, but still did as he was told.  
  
Dylan looked up at Noah. “I bath too?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m sure Derek doesn’t mind you joining him,” Noah smiled.  
  
“I mind! He once pooped in the water!” Derek protested.  
  
“That was like three months ago, when he was two. He’s three now, and he almost doesn’t wear diapers anymore,” Nathan pointed out.  
  
“Yeah! I’m three!” Dylan exclaimed with defiance towards Derek.  
  
Derek groaned. “Okay, he can join. As long as he doesn’t splash water in my face all the time.”  
  
“Nooo! Wanna splash!” Dylan cried.  
  
“Shh, it’s okay.” Noah pulled little Dylan up to sit on his arm, and rocked him to calm him down. “You can splash, but only for a bit. And Derek gets to splash too, okay?”  
  
Dylan nodded quietly.  
  
“I get to splash more!” Derek exclaimed, before running towards the bathroom to get ready for the bath.  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes at that, and went to join Jayden in the kitchen while Noah went to the bathroom to bathe the boys.  
  
Even at six years old, Derek wasn’t shy to strip out of his clothes in front of his parents. Like most alphas, he didn’t have much of a modesty.  
  
Noah helped Dylan out of his clothes, because he was still too small to do it on his own, and meanwhile Derek climbed into the tub, which Noah had begun filling with water before the boys took their clothes off.  
  
When Dylan joined Derek in the tub, they immediately started splashing water at each other.  
  
Noah liked watching Derek and Dylan get along when they bathed together. It was pretty much the only time where Derek didn’t mind playing with his younger brother. They played with rubber toys, splashed water, and sometimes rubbed shampoo into the other’s hair or wings. Dylan always seemed to enjoy bathing with Derek a lot. His brother mostly ignored him otherwise.  
  
Noah sat next to the bathtub to monitor them and make sure that they washed their hair properly. Mostly, the boys only splashed water at each other, but they would also target Noah sometimes, which was why he never left the bathroom with dry clothes after bathing the boys.  
  
“Derek!” Noah complained, when his son splashed a big wave of water right in his face. His eyes stung a bit when the soapy water entered them, and he tried spitting the nasty taste of shampoo and soap out of his mouth.  
  
Derek just laughed, and so did Dylan.  
  
“I got you, mommy!” Derek grinned victoriously.  
  
Noah grunted in annoyance before reaching out for the shampoo, and then squeezed a bit chunk into Derek’s hair.  
  
“Noooo!” Derek whined, and tried to get away when Noah used the showerhead to wash it out with. “You already washed my hair!”  
  
“I know, but this is what you get for splashing water in my face,” Noah grinned smugly, and laughed as Derek kept trying to get away, but couldn’t because Noah had grabbed his arm to keep him still.  
  
Dylan squealed from laughter, and splashed more water at Derek, who was in a quite helpless position right now.  
  
All the laughter and squealing eventually made Nathan and Jayden poke their heads into the room to see what was going on.  
  
“Sounds like fun in here,” Jayden grinned, looking at them from the doorway.  
  
“Mom is being mean!” Derek complained, spitting out water as it streamed over his face while Noah washed him.  
  
“You deserve it,” Nathan laughed.  
  
“Shut up!” Derek snapped back.  
  
The others laughed, and Derek was relieved when Noah was finally done washing his hair. He glared at his mom for doing that to him, but Noah just chuckled at him.  
  
Derek was brought out of his grumpy mood when he heard a funny sound coming from the water, and looked over to see bubbles popping up in the water near Dylan. “Mom! Dylan is farting in the water again!” He quickly got to his feet in the tub, fearing that his little brother had let out more than just gas.  
  
Dylan just giggled innocently, and Noah quickly checked the water to see if Dylan had had ‘an accident’ in the water.  
  
“It’s fine, Derek. He didn’t do anything,” Noah reassured him.  
  
Derek sighed in relief, and slowly sat down in the water again.  
  
Jayden and Nathan laughed from the doorway.  
  
“Derek is scared of farts,” Nathan teased.  
  
“Am _not!_ I thought he pooped again!” Derek said defensively, and looked like he was ready to climb out of the tub to fight Nathan right there.  
  
“Well, he didn’t, so relax,” Jayden chuckled, and smiled at them before leaving the room to keep cooking their dinner.  
  
They were having pork for dinner, which Jayden had put in the oven after the children had left. Nathan loved pork with fries and vegetables, so that’s what they were having for dinner tonight. Sometimes they went out for dinner on their birthdays, but tonight they were eating at home. Taking Derek out for dinner could be a real challenge, after all, so this was easier.  
  
Nathan just smirked at Derek before turning to join Jayden in the kitchen again. He didn’t dare going any further into the bathroom, knowing that Derek would splash water at him for sure.  
  
Noah stayed with Dylan and Derek, who were both disappointed to be told that they had to hurry up because they were going to eat soon.  
  
  
***  
  
  
After a long day with a house full of noisy children and having to clean up after a birthday party, Jayden and Noah were glad when it was time to head to bed.  
  
They had put Dylan to bed at 7, and Derek had gone at 7:45. Nathan had stayed up longer, though, and hadn’t gone to bed until 8:50.  
  
Jayden went to take a shower before bed, so Noah got into bed before him. He waited in silence on the bed until his mate was done with his shower and came into the dark bedroom.  
  
Jayden sighed in exhaustion as he entered the room, and ran a tired hand through his hair before taking off his boxers, which was the only piece of clothing he was wearing after his shower. He had blow-dried his wings so that they wouldn’t be wet when he went to bed, so now they had a kind of ‘un-manly’, soft feeling.  
  
Noah watched him quietly from the bed, where he lay on his side with the blanket covering him. There was a small gap between the curtains that allowed a bit of light inside the room, making Noah able to see Jayden in the dark.   
  
Jayden’s body hadn’t really changed through the years. It was still muscled, toned, and breathtakingly beautiful to look at. Noah loved just staring at him from the bed and taking in all of his mate’s physical traits.  
  
After getting some clothes ready for the next day, the naked alpha turned and climbed into bed beside Noah, letting out a pleased sigh as he settled himself on his back and stared up at the ceiling. “Damn, what a day.”  
  
“Yeah,” Noah agreed, still watching Jayden quietly and with admiration.  
  
Jayden sighed and closed his eyes for a bit, as he ran a hand over his face. “Damn that Derek… Had an endless argument session with him when it was time for him to go to bed. As usual.”  
  
Noah chuckled softly. “I know. I heard.”  
  
“And his endless appetite. Sometimes I wonder if there’s a black hole in his stomach or what.”  
  
Noah chuckled again, wondering about that too.  
  
Sighing, Jayden closed his eyes again and almost dozed off right there, until he heard Noah shift next to him. The next thing he knew, the submissive pulled the covers off him, swung his leg over on the other side of him, and straddled his lap.  
  
Jayden blinked up at him, half surprised. He could tell something was on Noah’s mind by the way his mate was looking at him while sitting on top of him. This wasn’t just an invitation for sex, it was something more. “What is it?” he asked, blinking up at Noah.  
  
Noah bit his lip thoughtfully, and gently pinned Jayden’s wrists to the bed beside the alpha’s head. He was wearing only his panties as he sat on Jayden, and the alpha could feel his mate’s silken panties and the round shape of his butt against his slowly hardening cock.  
  
Noah hesitated for a bit, but kept staring right into Jayden’s eyes. “I… I want you to make a girl with me.”  
  
Jayden blinked at him, completely taken aback by the sudden request. “A girl? As in… a daughter?”  
  
Noah nodded, looking determined despite his shy blush. “Yes, I have always wanted to have a little girl… Or a submissive, but I don’t think the odds are good for that.”  
  
Jayden’s cock twitched and hardened at the thought of making another baby with Noah, but he couldn’t help but be surprised that Noah was bringing it up all of sudden. “Yeah? So do I,” he smiled. “But why now? I was pretty sure you weren’t ready for another baby yet. I actually thought you didn’t want another kid at all, considering how much Derek is stressing you out.”  
  
Noah shook his head a bit, and pushed his butt a little harder against Jayden’s cock, which was hardening rapidly as his arousal increased.  
  
“I don’t know,” Noah admitted. “I’ve just always wanted to have a little girl or a sub. And seeing Nathan’s female classmates today made me want us to have a daughter too. And I think maybe it will calm Derek down a bit to have a little sister. He’s wild, but around girls he’s quieter than he is with boys.”  
  
Jayden smiled. “Yeah, he is. I guess it’s instinct. Males tend to be more aggressive and wild when dealing with other males.”  
  
“Mm.”  
  
Jayden pushed his hips up, making Noah gasp when Jayden’s erection brushed his slicking hole through the panties. “So, when do you wanna do it?” he asked, his body already tingling with arousal and excitement at the thought of making more offspring with his mate.  
  
Noah chuckled shyly, and leaned down to meet Jayden when the alpha indicated that he should clean down for a kiss. “Well, not now. In the spring or summer, I think. I can’t take time off work at the moment.”  
  
Their lips met in a soft kiss before they slowly pulled apart.  
  
“Alright. Looking forward to that.” Jayden flashed Noah a dirty grin.  
  
Noah blushed and smacked Jayden on the chest. “Pervert!” he laughed.  
  
“What? _You’re_ the one who suggested it. And you can’t blame me for getting excited about having more heat sex with you,” Jayden laughed, and pulled Noah down for another kiss.  
  
Noah smiled against his lips, and unconsciously rubbed his butt against Jayden’s cock. “Yeah, I know.”  
  
Jayden just grinned, burying his hand in Noah’s black hair, and rolled them over so their positions were reversed before Noah could even register what was going on.   
  
The dominance Jayden was displaying as he rolled them over made Noah’s body tingle with lust. He keened when Jayden ran a hand through his feathers, and moved his hand up to touch Jayden’s muscled shoulder.  
  
Their lips met in fierce kisses, followed by giggling from Noah as Jayden pulled his panties off of him while pressing teasing kisses to his neck and shoulders.  
  
After that, they were lost in the throes of passion and arousal as they made love to each other.  
  
The thought of hopefully having a baby girl made them both feel so excited and happy, and they fell asleep entangled in each other, dreaming about another family extension.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It felt a bit strange going back to this story again, after finishing Captivated, but I missed writing about these guys! :) Hope you’re excited for the next baby, and of course for the kids to get older. I have some ideas for how Derek will be like when he hits puberty, so that should be fun to explore.
> 
> Sorry for the wait, but I hope it was worth it :) See you for the next chapter!


	49. Chapter 49

**May 2061 (Noah is 35, Jayden is 36 (almost 37), Nathan is 11, Derek is 7, Dylan is 3, Castiel is 71, Dean is 73 years old).**  
  
As May arrived, Noah was starting to feel the same effect of spring as the birds did. He wanted that daughter that he and Jayden had been talking about having, and it was almost impossible for him to shake off the need to make another baby soon. The need only got worse whenever he saw someone with a baby in the supermarket or on the street, and when he heard that a colleague of his was going to have a baby soon, Noah couldn’t wait anymore.  
  
Jayden thought it might be better to wait for the summer, so they could go through the heat sex during their summer break, but Noah didn’t want to wait for that long. He wanted to get pregnant _now._ So in the end, Jayden had to give in and get a holiday from his work so that he could be at home with Noah when the heat started.  
  
Derek had just turned seven years old on the 19th of May, and a few days before his birthday, Noah had stopped taking his heat suppressants. His heat would start not long after Derek’s birthday, and both he and Jayden had taken time off work to be together when the time came.  
  
They had arranged for the kids to be looked after by Dean and Castiel for most the week, and Jayden’s parents would take over after that. As usual, their parents could easily figure out why they had to babysit the kids outside the school holidays, which was quite embarrassing for Noah, and for Jayden too.   
  
Derek and Dylan didn’t understand why they needed to stay with their grandparents all of sudden, but Nathan, on the other hand, seemed to have figured it out. He had eyed Noah and Jayden with a weird look for the past few days, and had begun noticing his mom getting increasingly tired as the days passed and the closer he got to his heat.  
  
Today they were going to drop off the kids at Dean and Cas’ place. It was a Saturday, so Noah and Jayden were off work anyway.  
  
Jayden was the first one to wake up that morning. The moment he regained his senses after sleep, he was met by the beautiful smell of his mate’s pre-heat scent. It was so sweet and honey-like, and it sent pleasant shivers through Jayden’s body as he breathed it in.  
  
The alpha smiled, and turned on the bed to face his mate, who was still sleeping with his back turned to him. He stared at those pretty, grey feathers for a while, and listened to Noah’s soft breathing as he slept.  
  
It was so peaceful. Jayden liked that.  
  
Slowly, he reached out and ran a gentle hand through Noah’s half soft and half rough feathers, enjoying their unique feel against his fingertips. God, how he loved those wings. Loved their feel, their appearance, how they twitched when Noah got shy or embarrassed, and how they’d open up like flower buds when they made love.  
  
Noah began to stir a bit when Jayden’s touch woke him up, though he was still half asleep. He shifted a bit, and small noise escaped his throat before he settled down and began to purr softly as Jayden kept stroking his wing gently.  
  
Jayden let out a soft chuckle before shifting closer to Noah. “Hey, beautiful. You awake yet?”  
  
“No,” Noah murmured, voice hoarse from sleep. He groaned in protest that Jayden had woken him, but the alpha just chuckled at it.  
  
“You’re such a sleepyhead. Just like Nathan.”  
  
A small, incoherent sound came from Noah, who was still trying to keep sleeping.  
  
Jayden laughed, and leaned in to press an affectionate kiss to Noah’s neck, while wrapping his arm around him and spooning up behind him. They were both only wearing their underwear, and Jayden reveled in the skin-to-skin contact he had with Noah as he spooned him.  
  
“Mmm, you smell divine. The scent alone is making me hard,” Jayden murmured into Noah’s ear, and stroked his thumb softly against Noah’s naked belly as he embraced him from behind.  
  
Noah shifted, and could feel the bulge of Jayden’s growing erection against his butt. “Don’t. You’re just going to force me to go into heat right away. We have to drop off the kids first…” His voice was raspy and shaky from sleep and from feeling weak because of his upcoming heat. Jayden really liked it when his voice was like that.  
  
Jayden let out a small whine of disappointment, and nuzzled against the back of Noah’s neck. “But I want you…”  
  
The alpha’s whiny, disappointed voice made a smile tug on Noah’s lips, though he still hadn’t opened his eyes. “I can feel that.”  
  
Jayden let out another small whine, and buried his face in Noah’s neck, wanting to breathe in just a little more of that gorgeous scent before he would have to pull away.  
  
Their peaceful moment in the bed was ruined quickly, though.  
  
Without warning, Derek suddenly burst into their bedroom, and rushed over to the bed like the house was on fire. “Dad, dad! The Wi-Fi isn’t working! I can’t play my online video games! Please make it work again!”  
  
The way Derek spoke made it sound like the end of the world was about to happen, and Jayden let out a groan of irritation that Derek was panicking over something so insignificant, and the fact that he had just burst into the room like that.  
  
“Derek, how many times have I told you to _knock_ before you enter the room?” Jayden asked, putting authority into his voice to make the young alpha understand that he was serious about this. He turned his head to look over his shoulder at Derek, and locked eyes with the boy.  
  
Derek swallowed nervously, and his wings folded in submission. “S-Sorry. But it really isn’t working! You _gotta_ make it work!”  
  
Jayden let out a tired grunt before pulling away from Noah to sit up on the bed. He rubbed his sleepy eyes as he spoke, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll go fix it. It’s just that damn router that isn’t working properly.”  
  
“Then buy a new one!”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I will. Later. Now, get out of the room while I get dressed, and then I’ll go fix the router, okay?”  
  
Derek grinned in victory before rushing out of the room again, but neglected to close the door behind him.  
  
Jayden rolled his eyes when he saw the door still open. He got up so he could pad over to the door in his boxers and close it before getting dressed.  
  
Derek’s loud voice had woken Noah up completely, and the submissive groaned as he sat up on the bed. He knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again for a while now, so there was no point in staying in bed.  
  
“How are you feeling?” Jayden asked when he saw Noah getting to his feet with more effort than usual. His erection from earlier was already going away, thanks to Derek ruining their moment.  
  
“Weak,” Noah replied, stumbling a bit as he went over to the dresser to find clothes. “Same as I always feel when my heat is coming.”  
  
“Mmhm. But it’s kinda sexy,” Jayden smirked.  
  
Noah blushed, and shot him a look over his shoulder. “Pervert.”  
  
The alpha just laughed at that before pulling on some jeans and a shirt, and finally went to fix that router that Derek had complained about.  
  
Noah was a bit slower at getting dressed than Jayden was, though. His upcoming heat made him feel drained of energy and strength, and he was already starting to feel pretty warm inside. There was a soft tingly sensation in his wings, oil glands, and in his butt, and he could feel himself slicking up a bit sometimes for no reason at all. They were symptoms that his heat was really close to coming. It would probably appear today already, which was a little sooner than Noah had expected. Luckily, they were dropping off the kids at noon, so that was a relief. He didn’t want to imagine a scenario where his heat started while the kids were still in the house – they’d be scarred for life once he and Jayden lost control of themselves.

  
  
***

  
When Noah finally came downstairs, he found all the boys except Jayden gathered in the living room, with Nathan and Derek fighting about something.   
  
“Stop being so selfish! Give me the password for that game already,” Nathan snapped at Derek.  
  
Derek was standing on the couch with his arms crossed in defiance, and he rudely shook his head at his brother’s command. “Nu-uh. Not until you let me play your game!”  
  
“I’m not gonna let you play my game! It for older kids, and you’re only seven! Mom and dad would kill me if I let you play it.”  
  
“But I wanna play it!” Derek insisted, getting stubborn.  
  
Dylan was standing a bit away from them, holding one of his favorite plush toys, while looking between his brothers with a wary look on his face.  
  
“What’s going on in here?” Noah demanded when he entered the room. He had to lean a bit against the doorframe, because his strength was failing him with every step he took.  
  
Derek and Nathan immediately turned their heads to look at him, and Nathan looked relieved to see their mother.  
  
“Derek took the note with the password for one of our games, and he won’t give it to me,” Nathan accused, and glared over at Derek, who was still standing on top of the couch.  
  
Derek just glared back at him and stuck out his tongue in defiance.  
  
Noah briefly wondered where Jayden was, but figured that the alpha was probably in the bathroom. The router was in the living room, and Jayden wasn’t there, so that must mean that he had fixed it already.  
  
“Derek, get off the couch,” Noah ordered, not liking it when Derek was standing on the couch, because he had a habit of jumping on it. “And give Nathan the password.”  
  
Derek reluctantly jumped down from the couch, but kept his arms crossed as he refused to give the password to Nathan. “Why does _he_ get to play all the games when _I_ don’t?!”  
  
“Because he’s older than you,” Noah explained, feeling increasingly impatient with Derek.  
  
“But he’s a beta, and I’m an alpha! I can handle whatever he can!”  
  
“It doesn’t work like that,” Noah sighed. “Just give him that password already, and stop arguing about it.”  
  
Derek still didn’t seem like he wanted cooperate, though, so Noah had to push the matter.  
  
“…Or do you want me to get your dad?” Noah knew that this should push Derek into giving in.  
  
It wasn’t that Derek was afraid of Jayden or anything, but he simply had a bit more respect for him than he did for Noah. Alphas instinctively respected other alphas more, especially if they had more authority than themselves. Alpha sons were thus more likely to listen to their alpha father than to their female or submissive mother. Betas too would often have a lot of respect for alphas, but they were more likely to also listen to other betas or a female or submissive than an alpha was.  
  
Derek got real quiet and froze for a second. “No…” he eventually said, and Noah could see him surrendering. “Fine. I’ll give you the stupid password,” he told Nathan, clear annoyance in his voice.  
  
Nathan was just happy that Derek had finally given up, and let his brother give him the password so that he could access his game again.  
  
When the tension was over, Dylan clutched his toy close to his chest and padded over to Noah. “Mommy!”  
  
Noah looked down at Dylan, who was smiling up at him with adoration. Noah returned the smile, and squatted down to level with him. “Hey, Dylan. Did you eat breakfast yet?”  
  
Dylan nodded. “Nathan makes me some. We ates cereal!”  
  
“Oh? That was nice of him,” Noah smiled, and pulled Dylan into a warm hug. The boy melted into his touch, and his little tail swished happily.  
  
Noah was glad that Nathan always took care of Dylan. The two of them had a good relationship, while their relationship with Derek was a bit different and often consisted of fights, arguments, and teasing. Unfortunately, Derek was just too proud and wild to have a more healthy relationship with his brothers.  
  
“You’re such a girl, Dylan,” Derek commented when he saw them hugging. He made it sound like an insult, before turning his attention to the TV where he was going to start playing his online video game.  
  
“Am not!” Dylan protested, pulling away from Noah to look over at Derek with a hurt face.  
  
“Don’t listen to him, Dylan. You’re perfect the way you are,” Nathan told him. He crossed his arms as he shot a look of disapproval in Derek’s direction. “Derek’s just jealous.”  
  
“The hell I am!” Derek argued from where he had just sat down in front of the TV.  
  
“Language!” Noah chastised him, hating when Derek used that kind of language. Kids these days started speaking in a foul language while they were still very young, and Noah didn’t like that. He had heard the kids in the kindergarten say the worst things, and he was pretty sure they didn’t even understand half of what they were saying.  
  
“Sorry, mom,” Derek murmured, and turned his attention back to his game. He didn’t sound sorry, though.  
  
“Mommy?” Dylan asked, making Noah turn his attention back to him.   
  
The boy looked at him from under his lashes, and Noah smiled when he could clearly see so many of Jayden’s features but also some of his own in Dylan’s face.  
  
“Yes, Dylan?”  
  
“Cans we go for walk? Wanna go outside.” Dylan pointed to the front door, and clutched his plush toy tighter.  
  
“Well, maybe Nathan can take you for a walk down the street? I don’t feel like walking much right now.” Noah looked up at Nathan from where he was squatting in front of Dylan to see if his oldest son was on board with that.  
  
Nathan nodded. “Sure. Anything to get away from this brat.” He spoke the last words particularly loud, and turned his head to glare back at Derek.  
  
“Go suck on a rat!” came Derek’s venomous reply, though he didn’t bother to look away from his video game.  
  
“Derek!” Noah scolded, once again outraged by the words coming out of his son’s mouth.  
  
Dylan started sobbing when his older brothers fought again, and because of the language Derek had used.  
  
“Aww, it’s okay. Come here.” Noah shushed him and picked him up to sit on his arm as he got to his feet. Dylan immediately wrapped his arms around Noah’s neck, and sobbed into his shoulder. Noah stroked the boy’s back slowly, feeling him shake as he sobbed. He pressed a soft kiss to Dylan’s head before looking over at Nathan, who looked kind of ashamed. “Please stop picking fights with Derek when Dylan is around. You know he doesn’t like it.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” Nathan said, head lowered in shame. He glanced at poor Dylan before coming over to stroke his little brother’s small wings. “Sorry, Dylan. You know Derek and I don’t hate each other, right?”  
  
“But you always fighting,” Dylan sobbed, burying his face in Noah’s neck as tears streamed down his face.  
  
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. Brothers just do that sometimes…”  
  
Dylan didn’t say anything; he just kept clinging to Noah and sobbing quietly.  
  
Derek had heard most of their conversation, but didn’t say anything. He was too busy with his video game, and he hated wasting his time on Dylan when he was being a crybaby.  
  
Jayden finally came out of the bathroom then, rubbing his wet hair with a towel, and was dressed only in his jeans. From the laundry room he noticed that something was going on in the living room, and he was pretty sure it involved Derek and Nathan fighting again. “Hey, what’s going on?” he asked as he approached them.  
  
Noah looked up, and his eyes widened in horror when he saw that Jayden was walking half-naked towards him. He was already so close to going into heat that even the smallest thing could throw him over the edge, so Jayden walking around like that and looking like a sex god was _not_ a good thing. He quickly looked away from his mate, preventing his heat from being triggered even earlier.  
  
“Jeez, wear clothes!” Noah chastised, looking anywhere but at Jayden.  
  
“What? Oh.” It took a moment for Jayden to understand why Noah was so against seeing him half-naked, because he usually didn’t mind that. “Sorry. Be right back.” He left the room with a chuckle to go and get his shirt, which he had left in the bathroom.  
  
Nathan scrunched his nose in disgust. He wasn’t stupid. He knew why his mom couldn’t handle seeing his dad half-naked right now, and he really didn’t want to think about it.  
  
Dylan had stopped sobbing, so Noah carefully put him down on the ground again. “Nathan, can you go for a walk with him? But don’t take too long; we’re driving to your grandparents’ house soon.”  
  
“Yeah, sure,” Nathan said. He reached out to take Dylan’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go put on our shoes.”  
  
Dylan grinned, and went with Nathan to the entrance hall to get dressed.  
  
Derek didn’t want to join them for a walk, so Nathan and Dylan went alone. Nathan was old enough to walk alone with little Dylan, and Noah and Jayden trusted him to be able to take care of his little brother.  
  
Noah went to get some breakfast while the boys were out. He wasn’t that hungry, so he just grabbed some yogurt and ate that.   
  
The fridge was stocked with lots of provisions for the coming week, as he and Jayden wouldn’t be able to go shopping while Noah was in heat.  
  
Jayden took care of the laundry while Noah ate his breakfast, and once he was done eating, Noah went outside to see if he could spot Nathan and Dylan coming back from their walk.  
  
Everything was quiet in the neighborhood. It was the weekend, and many people were in their gardens, doing garden work or mowing their lawns. Some kids were playing in their front yards and on the sidewalk, and people passed by on bikes and in cars every now and then.  
  
Noah stood on the sidewalk, from where he could see almost to the end of each side of the street. He breathed in the fresh spring air, and smiled when he spotted Nathan and Dylan further down the sidewalk. Dylan was jumping around happily, and Nathan was laughing about something while interacting with his baby brother.  
  
Noah was so busy watching his sons approaching the house that he didn’t notice a beta angel from the neighborhood closing up on him.  
  
“Hey, there.”  
  
Noah flinched violently, and swirled around to see a blonde-haired beta angel standing behind him. The guy was a few years older than Noah, and had a rather arrogant look on his face as he stared at him. Noah had seen him around before. He knew that the guy lived alone in a smaller house further down the street, and that he was unmated.  
  
Fear spread through Noah when he realized that he was standing in front of an unmated beta, who could without a doubt smell his pre-heat.  
  
“What are you doing outside, smelling like that? Isn’t your mate around?” the guy asked, taking a step closer as the smirk on his face grew even wider. He was clearly thinking that today was his lucky day, discovering a lone submissive who was almost in heat. His pupils were dilating from the scent of Noah’s fertility, clouding his mind and making him unpredictable. Betas usually didn’t get as sexually aggressive around submissives in heat as alphas did, but that didn’t mean that he was going to be nice to Noah.  
  
“H-He is,” Noah responded, taking two steps back to put some distance between himself and the uncomfortable beta.  
  
“Well, I don’t see him around,” the beta replied, voice smooth like butter.  
  
Noah felt like he was going to throw up.  
  
Further down the sidewalk, Nathan and Dylan were happily walking back to the house. They fooled around, and Dylan chased birds on the sidewalks. They didn’t see the stranger talking to their mom until they were almost back at the house.  
  
When Nathan finally spotted the strange guy talking to Noah, his brows furrowed in worry. He could see them interacting, and could tell that Noah was clearly very uncomfortable.   
  
Realizing that the situation was bad, Nathan quickly grabbed Dylan’s hand and ran with him the rest of the way over to Noah to help him out.  
  
“Hey! Leave my mom alone!” Nathan yelled at the beta angel as he ran over to Noah with Dylan by his side.  
  
Dylan was too young to understand what was going on. He panted from running, and looked between Nathan and the adults in confusion.  
  
Noah felt relief when Nathan was there, but that relief disappeared when the beta turned to look at Nathan with anger. The angel’s wings spread out as he snarled at Nathan, who flinched back at the display.  
  
Noah’s maternal instincts kicked in, then. He growled as he put himself between the beta and his children, and spread out his wings in anger as he faced the taller angel.  
  
“Leave my kids alone and get lost,” Noah growled at him.  
  
The guy was clearly surprised. Noah’s upcoming heat should make him more pliable and submissive, but now he was turning aggressive. The beta didn’t like that one bit.  
  
“Know your place, _sub!_ ” the beta spat, taking another uncomfortable step closer to Noah.  
  
“And you should know _yours,_ ” came Jayden’s sharp voice from the front door.  
  
They all turned to look at Jayden as he approached them with his wings spread out in a territorial and dominant display. He didn’t take his eyes off the beta, who flinched back as Jayden came over to them.  
  
Noah couldn’t remember the last time he had been so happy to see his mate, and he held his breath when he heard Jayden’s aggressive snarl as he confronted the beta.  
  
“Get the _hell_ away from my mate before I bust your teeth in right here and now,” Jayden threatened, spreading his wings as a bit further as he growled at the beta in front of him. He was a lot bigger and stronger than the beta angel, and his aggression was fueled by the need to protect his fertile mate from any kind of competition or threat.  
  
Jayden’s display made Noah shiver. Seeing his mate go all badass on someone always turned him on, but today it was even more satisfying because of his heat. He had to fight to stop his heat from starting right then and there.  
  
Luckily, though, the beta backed away pretty fast. He knew better than to pick a fight with an alpha demon whose mate was about to go into heat.  
  
The guy shot Jayden a venomous look, and his wings folded slightly in submission, before he stalked away from the scene like an offended child.  
  
Noah and the children sighed in relief once the guy was gone and the danger had passed.  
  
Dylan didn’t understand what had just happened, but he had been kind of frightened by the sudden aggression around him. He let out a small whimper and a sob, and Nathan quickly wrapped his wing around him and tried to comfort him.  
  
Suddenly, Derek appeared in the front door. “No way! I missed it? Dad had a fight with someone and I missed it?!”  
  
The disappointment in Derek’s voice made Nathan roll his eyes. It was just like Derek to get excited about such things.  
  
Noah twitched uncomfortably when he could feel Jayden’s stare on him. He knew it had been a bad idea to go outside when he was about to go into heat, and he could feel his mate’s disapproval radiating off of him.  
  
Jayden, however, didn’t yell at him like Noah had expected him to. He simply said, “Let’s go back inside,” and guided Noah back into the house with a possessive hand on his lower back.  
  
Dylan was still a bit frightened by the whole thing, but Nathan trying to comfort him helped, and he followed his older brother up to the house.  
  
“Why do I always miss the good stuff?!” Derek complained as his family approached the house. “Did you beat him up, dad?”  
  
Jayden let out a small chuckle, shaking his head softly at how Derek was making such a big deal out of it. “No. I didn’t need to.”  
  
“Let me guess; he was too scared to fight an alpha!” Derek grinned, looking so proud of his dad.  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes at how Derek seemed to think this was the best thing ever, and how obsessed his alpha brother was by alpha beings stronger and scarier than betas. “You’re such a kid, Derek,” he scolded lightly, as he entered the house with Dylan.  
  
“Am not! I just wanted to see dad kicking that loser beta’s butt!” Derek said defensively, sticking his tongue out at Nathan.  
  
“Fights are not funny. That’s why you’re such a kid for thinking that,” Nathan argued.  
  
Derek growled, and was about to tackle Nathan for offending him, but Jayden quickly grabbed his arm.   
  
“Hey! Cut it out!” Jayden ordered.  
  
Derek froze and immediately stopped when he heard his father’s authoritative voice.  
  
“Now, go pack the rest of your stuff and get your bags downstairs. I’m driving you to your grandparents’ now,” Jayden told the boys, and let go of Derek’s arm when the boy was calm again.  
  
“Eh, already?” Derek’s wings drooped with disappointment. “But I didn’t even finish my game yet!”  
  
“You can keep playing it at your grandparents’ place. Now, go pack.” Jayden gestured at the stairs to make Derek do as he was told.  
  
Nathan nodded, and grabbed Dylan’s hand as he went upstairs with him. Derek rushed over to get in front of Nathan and Dylan, wanting to get to the top before them, and laughed when he made it. Nathan called him ‘stupid’ for that and chuckled. They then disappeared into their rooms to pack the rest of their stuff and carry their bags downstairs. Nathan helped Dylan get his stuff ready, while Derek took care of his own stuff.  
  
Meanwhile, Noah and Jayden stayed in the entrance hall, waiting for the boys to get their stuff and come back downstairs.  
  
There was a bit of tension in the room with them. Jayden still hadn’t looked at Noah once since they entered the house, and the submissive was starting to feel a bit nervous. Was Jayden angry at him?  
  
Finally, when the kids had gone into their rooms, Jayden sighed heavily before turning to face Noah.  
  
“Jeez, you fucking scared me,” Jayden admitted, looking both relieved and a little upset. “What were you thinking, going outside in your current state? Do you _want_ to bring yourself in danger or what?”  
  
“What? No!” Noah exclaimed. “I just… wanted some fresh air. And I wanted to meet up with Nathan and Dylan on the sidewalk when they returned from their walk…” He lowered his head and stared at the floor, like a kid that had done something wrong.  
  
Jayden sighed and shook his head fondly. Reaching out, he gently put his hand on Noah’s left cheek and made the submissive look at him. “Well, it was a pretty stupid idea. Promise me you won’t _ever_ do that again – not when you’re this close to your heat, okay?” His voice wasn’t angry per say as he said those words, but it was very strict, like he was giving an order.  
  
Noah nodded, his gaze lifting to meet Jayden’s. “I promise.”  
  
Jayden gave a pleased nod. “Good, ‘cause I don’t wanna share you with anyone, or see you get hurt.”  
  
Noah couldn’t understand why Jayden wasn’t more upset with him. His mate was just looking at him with such a tender smile that Noah almost felt undeserving of it.  
  
“But I gotta admit… Seeing you get all protective of our kids was kinda hot,” Jayden added, his lips curling into a pleased, proud smile.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened, and his cheeks flushed red. “Well… the guy was an assbutt.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, he was.” He smiled at Noah, and leaned down to let their foreheads touch, while looking him in the eye. “You have no idea how much I had to restrain myself so I wouldn’t end up smashing his face in right then and there. If he had touched you, I probably would have. And I don’t know what I would have done if he had been an alpha… I don’t think I’d have been able to control myself like that, if he were.”  
  
Noah swallowed. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have gone outside like that. But there was no one on the street – he just came out of nowhere.”  
  
“I know. Just glad you’re okay, and that he didn’t touch you.” Jayden pressed a kiss to Noah’s forehead. “I would have killed him if he had.” There was a low, deep growl in his chest as he said that, and the increase in testosterone coming from Jayden made Noah’s head feel dizzy.  
  
“Connor,” Noah whined softly, trying to let him know what he was doing.  
  
Jayden frowned, until he realized that he was affecting Noah with his scent. “Sorry.” He chuckled, and slowly pulled away from his mate. “And you better stay at home while I drive the kids to Dean and Cas’ house. You smell even closer to your heat than you did earlier, and I can’t stop the boner in my pants right now. I don’t think it would be appropriate if I show up like this at your parents’ house, or if your heat starts while we’re in the car with the kids.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in horror as he imagined it, and Jayden laughed when he saw the look on his face.  
  
A quick glance at Jayden’s crotch confirmed that the alpha was indeed sporting a raging boner right now, and Noah had to look away fast before he would be even more affected by it. He could smell the testosterone coming off of Jayden in heavy waves because the alpha’s body was reacting to Noah’s scent, and it really wasn’t helping his current state.  
  
“I’ll see you later, okay?” Jayden spoke, and caught Noah’s gaze with his own.  
  
Noah nodded, knowing it was time for him to retreat now so that Jayden could get rid of that boner before the kids came back downstairs. “Yeah. See you.” He turned and rushed into the kitchen to put some space between himself and Jayden, and heard the kids come storming down the stairs soon after that.  
  
“Where’s mommy?” asked Derek, when he came downstairs with Nathan and Dylan.  
  
The kids were carrying their bags, and went over to drop them by the front door so they could grab them on the way out to the car.  
  
“He’s in the kitchen. Go say goodbye to him now, ‘cause he won’t be joining us in the car,” Jayden explained, and made a gesture towards the kitchen.  
  
“Eh, why?” Nathan asked, confused.  
  
“’Cause it’s not a very good idea right now.”  
  
Nathan frowned at Jayden’s uninformative answer, until the reason suddenly dawned on him. His face scrunched up in disgust when he figured it out, and Jayden laughed at his expression.  
  
“Why is that not a good idea?” Derek asked, not understanding it at all. The fact that Nathan seemed to get it only made Derek more upset. “Why isn’t he coming?”  
  
“Trust me, you don’t wanna know,” Nathan murmured, still with a sour look on his face.  
  
Jayden laughed, while Dylan looked even more confused than Derek.  
  
“Just go say goodbye to him already. He’s waiting for you,” Jayden told the kids.  
  
The kids nodded, and hurried off into the kitchen to say goodbye to Noah.  
  
Noah hugged each of them goodbye, and felt kind of sad that he wouldn’t get to see his children for a whole week.  
  
“Why you not coming, mommy?” Dylan asked, tears forming in his eyes as he looked at his mom, who had bent down to level with him.  
  
“Because mommy is not feeling so well right now, okay?” Noah explained. He smiled as he gently stroked his son’s cheek. “But I’ll see you again in about a week, okay? Be a good boy until then.”  
  
Dylan nodded, but still looked distraught that he had to be apart from his mom and dad for so long.  
  
Derek rolled his eyes at Dylan. He had already said goodbye to Noah, and had twisted out of the hug that Noah had given him, like he always did.  
  
Dylan cast one last glance at Noah before following Derek out of the room, while Nathan stepped forward to say goodbye to Noah next.  
  
“Bye, mom,” Nathan said, and pulled Noah into a warm hug.  
  
Noah hugged him back and smiled. “Take care of your brothers, okay?”  
  
“Sure.” Nathan stepped back, but hesitated to leave as he instead looked Noah up and down carefully. “Will you be okay?”  
  
The question kind of surprised Noah. “Of course. I’ll be fine.”  
  
“I don’t even wanna imagine what you and dad will be doing,” Nathan murmured, disgust on his face. “But… I do know that I want a sister this time.”  
  
Noah’s cheeks turned flaming red. There were no words for how awkward this was. “Um, we’ll try, but I can’t make promises.”  
  
“I know. But I’ll kill you and dad if it’s another alpha!” Nathan threatened, looking very displeased at the thought alone.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but laugh. “I was pretty sure you liked Dylan, though?”  
  
“I do, ‘cause he’s still small and innocent. Derek’s a real brat. I hope Dylan won’t turn out like him later, otherwise I’ll go crazy. Having a little sister would be so much nicer…”  
  
“I know,” Noah smiled, still blushing a bit. “Your dad and I also want a girl, but you can never know with these things…”  
  
“Maybe if I cross my fingers and toes, it’ll be a girl?”  
  
Noah laughed at the hopefulness on Nathan’s face. The boy certainly wasn’t kidding when he said that he wanted a sister this time. “Maybe.”  
  
“Um, well, I better go before dad yells at me to hurry,” Nathan said, casting a sad look at Noah. “Goodbye, mom.”  
  
Noah smiled. “Bye, Nathan.”  
  
They waved at each other as Nathan hurried out of the room to go get dressed and leave with the others.  
  
Noah stayed in the kitchen, waiting for everyone to leave. He could hear Derek and Nathan arguing about something again until Jayden stopped them, and then he heard the door slam shut as they left.  
  
He was kind of sad that he couldn’t join them. It had been a few weeks since he had last seen his parents, and he wanted to see them again, but it couldn’t be helped. His stupid heat had just decided to approach faster than it normally did. He had heard that this was usually a good sign, since it meant that his body was healthy and that his fertility was good, but it still kind of sucked.

  
***

  
Noah waited for Jayden to return.  
  
It felt like ages that the alpha was gone, and he figured that Jayden had ended up in a conversation with Noah’s parents as he dropped off the kids. It made him even more frustrated, because every cell in his body wanted him to be with his mate right now.  
  
He spent the time feeding the cat and cleaning up Dylan’s toys in the living room. Dylan wasn’t very good at cleaning up his toys from the floor, because he always said that he wasn’t sure yet if he was done playing with them. But at least he was good at helping them clean up after dinner, much unlike Derek, who always snuck out of the room before they could ask him to help.  
  
Dylan’s toys were scattered all over the living room floor, as usual, and Noah sighed as he was forced to bend down to pick them up one by one. Every movement made his body feel weaker, and he had to take a break after a few moments.  
  
His heat wasn’t far away now, Noah could tell. His wings were trembling and tingling, and his ass was getting slicker and warmer by the minute.  
  
However, determined to clean up all of the mess before sitting down to rest, Noah got down on his hands and knees to cast a look under the couch – a place where Dylan’s toys often ended up. And true enough, he spotted three little dinosaur toys lying under the couch.  
  
“Got ya,” Noah smirked, and lay down on the floor while reaching in under the couch to get the toys. He cursed himself for being small, because he could barely reach one of the toys with his short arms, until he finally managed to grab it. He pulled the toy out, smirking in victory, and was about to get up from the floor when he was suddenly hit by the first wave of his heat.  
  
It was one of the strongest heat waves he had ever had, and it took Noah completely by surprise.   
  
Instantly, his body felt like it was on fire, his wing oil started running down his back, his wings tingled like mad, and he felt a large pool of wetness seeping out of his ass and messing up his underwear.  
  
“Ah, god…!” With a loud gasp, Noah fell back on his butt. The impact against his oversensitive ass made him shudder, even though the floor wasn’t exactly pleasant, and his feathers rustled as his wings spread out clumsily to his sides.  
  
It was like his body was on fire, fueled by arousal and need. Noah gasped at the uncontrollable need he was feeling, and shuddered at the amount of slick that was oozing out of him.   
  
He needed a cock inside him _right now,_ or he would go mad.  
  
On shaking legs, Noah managed to get up by using the couch for support. His body was working against him, though. His knees gave out under him, making him collapse face-first onto the couch.  
  
Noah whimpered helplessly as the wave of heat went through him in fast, steady streams. He clumsily stretched his body across the couch, lying on his stomach, and moaned his needs into the fabric beneath him as he slowly started rubbing himself against it.  
  
Now of all times, Jayden wasn’t around to take care of him. Noah had never felt so frustrated and utterly helpless in his life before. He _needed_ his alpha, damnit.   
  
The hotness in his ass wasn’t getting any better, and Noah knew he needed to put _something_ in there to feel even just a little bit satisfied. He wanted to use his sex toys, but he didn’t have the strength to walk up to the bedroom. Which meant he only had one choice.  
  
Noah struggled to get out of his pants and underwear, which was hard to do when it felt like he barely had any strength left in his body.  
  
After a few minutes, he managed to get the offending clothing off of himself and tossed them to the floor. He whimpered when he felt slick practically seeping out of him and streaming down between his buttocks to his front. He was without a doubt making a mess of the couch already, but Noah couldn’t bring himself to care. He had to satisfy this itch somehow, or he’d go insane.  
  
Without wasting time, Noah brought his hand behind himself and shoved his fingers into his hole. They slipped inside easily because of how wet he was, and his muscles clamped down on his fingers as his body tried to get some satisfaction from the filling. However, Noah’s own fingers felt way too small, which only made him whimper and growl in frustration.   
  
Where the hell was Jayden?

  
***

  
Driving the kids to Dean and Castiel’s house took longer than Jayden had expected.  
  
Derek had decided to tease Dylan in the car on the way there, and had accidentally tossed one of Dylan’s favorite toys out the open car window while he teased him. Dylan had started crying like the world was ending because of that, so Jayden had had to stop the car and go back to find the lost toy. It took ten whole minutes to find it, because it had ended up in some bushes, but at least Jayden had found it in the end. Needless to say that Derek wasn’t very popular among his brothers after that, even though it hadn’t been on purpose.  
  
After retrieving the toy and giving Derek a scolding for being reckless, Jayden drove the rest of the way to Dean and Cas’ house, where they were greeted with hugs and smiles.  
  
Of course Dean and Castiel both knew why they had to babysit the kids outside the holidays all of sudden, which made it kind of awkward for Jayden. But they both seemed fine with it and didn’t make embarrassing comments, so it wasn’t as awkward as it could have been.  
  
Although he tried not to show it, Jayden was incredibly impatient to just get out of there and drive back to be with Noah. His body itched and was restless with the need to be with his mate, especially after having smelled how close Noah was to going into full heat earlier.  
  
The kids were oblivious of their father’s impatience and how he was practically going into a rut, and so was Castiel, but Dean noticed it right away. The older alpha demon knew exactly what it was like when your mate was going into heat and you felt the overwhelming need to be with them at all times.  
  
Thanks to Dean practically ushering him out of the house and turning down Cas’ proposition to stay around for a snack, Jayden was able to drive off soon after he had dropped off the kids, so he could get back to Noah.  
  
The way home in the car seemed to take ages, though, and Jayden found it difficult to drive when his body felt so excited about spending the following week having heat sex with his mate. It was almost torture having to drive all the way home, especially because the other cars on the street were driving slow and taking their sweet time.  
  
When Jayden finally arrived at the house, he hurried up to the front door after having parked the car in the garage.  
  
“Hey, baby, I’m home,” Jayden called out as he entered the house. He gently kicked the door shut, locked it, and took off his shoes while casting a look around the entrance hall. “Noah?” He tried to pick up on a sound that would tell him where Noah was, so that he could get to his mate as soon as possible.  
  
Then, the smell hit him. A smell like fresh rain, sweet honey, vanilla, and everything else that Noah smelled of, except it was a hundred times better than his usual scent.  
  
Jayden’s dick hardened instantly, and his feathers sharpened in response to his arousal. His nostrils flared to catch more of the sweet scent, which was hanging thickly in the air.  
  
A sudden noise from the living room caught Jayden’s attention, and he immediately went to check it out, hoping he would find Noah in there.   
  
The sight that met him made Jayden stop dead in his tracks.  
  
Noah was on the couch, his chest pressed into the cushions while his butt was raised up in the air. What immediately caught Jayden’s attention were Noah’s fingers, which were buried deep inside his hole, slowly thrusting in and out to give him pleasure. The tiny hole was all pink and shiny with slick, and was squeezing Noah’s fingers oh so tightly as he continued fingering himself. There was a whole pool of wetness on the couch under him, because his slick had run down his thighs and made a mess of it, and Noah’s shirt was completely drenched in sweat and wing oil. Add to that were his wings, which were spread out across the couch, and his feathers were ruffled and messy after he had rubbed his wings against the couch repeatedly to get some satisfaction.   
  
Jayden couldn’t remember when he had last come home to such a gorgeous sight. It knocked the breath right out of him.  
  
When Noah became aware of Jayden’s presence, he let out a whimper that sounded both like relief and frustration. “C-Connor. Please…” He turned his head and locked eyes with Jayden, who was standing right behind him now, watching him.  
  
Jayden lost it.  
  
The smell was so amazing that Jayden felt like he could die from how crazy it made him, and the way Noah was trying to satisfy himself and totally failing at it because he needed _Jayden_ was just too much to handle.  
  
Jayden practically ripped his fly open to get his dick out, and wasted no time before he was on the couch behind Noah and shoved his cock into him in one fast move.  
  
The cry Noah let out when Jayden penetrated him was almost inhuman.   
  
The submissive’s wings fell flat against the couch in submission, and he could do nothing but moan and cry out as his mate pounded into him with abandon and gave him exactly what he craved for.  
  
It was so desperate and dirty, and they were both so high on arousal that they knew they wouldn’t last for long in the first round.  
  
Jayden’s grip on Noah’s hips was tight and bruising, but the pain only turned on Noah even more. The submissive moved his hips back to meet Jayden’s hard thrusts, and each thrust pushed him a few inches up the couch.  
  
With his sharpened wings spread out in possessiveness, and his dick thrusting into Noah out of pure instinct, Jayden could already feel his orgasm approaching. It tugged and pooled in his abdomen, and the sensation was almost as good as the climax itself. The tight, warm grip around his dick as Noah’s muscles clamped down on him was what finally pushed him over the edge. He came hard, crying out his pleasure with abandon, and continued fucking into Noah as he filled him with his sperm.  
  
Jayden’s orgasm triggered Noah’s own. He cried out as he came, his legs shaking as his smaller dick spilled liquid over the couch beneath him, and his inner muscles gripping Jayden tighter than ever. He could feel every detail of Jayden’s cock inside him as his muscled clamped down around it, and how he was filled by his mate’s potent sperm. It was almost too much for Noah to handle, and his orgasm just wouldn’t stop, neither would the flow of Jayden’s come spilling into him.  
  
It took several moments before their orgasms died down, and by the time it was over, both of them were panting from exhaustion and satisfaction.  
  
Noah’s body went limp, and he would have collapsed fully onto the couch if not for Jayden’s hands still gripping his hips and holding him in place.  
  
“Fuuuck, that was…!” Jayden panted after a few moments, sounding both happy and really exhausted.  
  
All Noah could do was smile and utter a small ‘Uhhuh’ in agreement. His body felt completely fucked out, even though they had only just finished their first round, which hadn’t even lasted for very long.  
  
Jayden grinned, feeling the euphoria of his orgasm go through every cell in this body and making him feel satisfyingly content. He was slowly regaining his senses again, and realized just how eager and how much in a hurry he had been to get inside of Noah earlier. He was still fully clothed, and he had broken the zipper in his jeans in his hurry to get his dick out and put it inside his mate. The front of his jeans was pressed against Noah’s bare ass while his cock was buried inside him, and his hands had gripped the submissive’s hips so tightly that they had left some painfully-looking bruises behind.  
  
Jayden cringed in guilt, and carefully removed his hands from Noah’s hips. “Shit, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”  
  
The moment Jayden let go of him, Noah’s body fell onto the couch, and a small whimper escaped his mouth when Jayden’s cock slipped out of him in the process.  
  
“Y-Yeah, I’m okay,” Noah answered. He twitched lightly on the couch, feeling how Jayden’s come was flowing out of him now that his cock wasn’t keeping it in anymore. He couldn’t remember when Jayden had last filled him with so much come, and his body shuddered in arousal as he thought about it.  
  
Jayden nodded quietly, pleased to hear that Noah wasn’t too uncomfortable with the bruises. He cast a look down at his mate’s ass, and his dick twitched with interest when he saw the stream of come leaking out of him. “Hmm, I’ve filled you up pretty nicely, haven’t I?” He smirked in satisfaction, and reached down to run his finger up Noah’s come-filled crack, going slow just to tease him. His finger got dirty with his own thick come, and his smirk widened when he heard Noah moan in response.  
  
Noah twitched, and felt his cheeks blush as Jayden talked about how full of come he was. “Y-Yes, I can feel it seeping out of me…”  
  
“Mmm.” Jayden sounded satisfied with that, and ran a hand over Noah’s round buttocks, caressing them softly. “Want me to put more in there?”  
  
Noah whimpered, and shuddered when he felt the next wave of heat going through him already. “Yes. Please! I need it…” He wiggled his ass as the heat inside him got stronger and he once more felt the dying need to be filled by Jayden’s cock again. The wiggling movement felt nice against his dick, which was pressed into the couch, and he couldn’t help but rub himself a little against the soft fabric to get some satisfaction.  
  
Jayden let out a small, dominant growl, and put his hand on Noah’s lower back to stop him from moving. “Nu-uh. No rubbing against the couch to get satisfaction; _I’m_ the one who’ll give you pleasure during your heat, not the couch.”  
  
Noah immediately stilled, feeling compelled to obey his mate’s wishes. A strangled groan escaped his lips because he needed satisfaction so badly, and Jayden wasn’t letting him have it. “Please! I need…!”  
  
A small growl came from Jayden, and the next thing Noah knew, the alpha was hurriedly ripping off his own clothes and Noah’s t-shirt, leaving them both completely naked, before settling himself over Noah and pressing his body into the couch with his own.  
  
It was such a turn-on to feel Jayden’s muscled body pressed against his own, and Noah knew he was completely at Jayden’s mercy now, because no matter what he did, he wouldn’t be able to push the heavier alpha off of him.  
  
The couch was a bit frustrating, though, because it didn’t give them enough space for their wings, but the fact that they were doing this in the living room and not their bedroom was strangely hot.  
  
Noah was now completely trapped under Jayden, and moaned as he dug his fingers into the couch, anticipating his alpha fucking him into the couch soon. And he didn’t have to wait long.  
  
Jayden shifted so that his dick lined up with Noah’s ass, and gave his mate zero warning before pushing his length into him. He pushed all the way in in the first thrust until he felt his lower abdomen pressed firmly against Noah’s butt, while his cock was swallowed up by the submissive’s greedy hole.  
  
Noah cried out in pleasure under him, his fingers digging sharply into the couch. However, Noah’s cries were quickly muffled when Jayden pushed his come-soaked finger into his mouth, which he had teasingly run over Noah’s ass earlier. It was totally unexpected for Noah, but it was strangely hot. He immediately began sucking Jayden’s finger clean, moaning shamelessly at the same time as Jayden started fucking him into the couch.  
  
Jayden smirked, loving how Noah was sucking the come off his finger and closing his eyes at the taste, while he was moaning and holding onto the couch with his fingers as Jayden pounded him into it. He wasn’t going easy on Noah as he fucked him; each thrust was fast and hard, and almost made Noah choke, but holy hell it was hot this way. He had to be careful not to crush Noah with his weight, though, but he managed.  
  
The noises coming from Noah were unlike anything Jayden had heard from him in a long time. His moans and gasps were so desperate, needy, and full of satisfaction that Jayden felt like he could come from just listening to his moans alone. The wet, squishy sound of his dick moving inside of Noah’s slick and come-filled ass was equally satisfying, as was the heavy sound of skin slapping against skin.  
  
The more and harder Jayden fucked him, the sweeter that scent of heat got, which in turn made Jayden fuck him even harder again. It was truly a desperate, instinctual act, and dirtiness of it only turned them both on more.  
  
Already their orgasms were closing in again, and Noah’s overflowing oil from his oil glands stuck to Jayden’s chest as he was pressed against him. The sweet smell of honey from the oil was too much for Jayden to take, as was the stimulation from Jayden’s chest pressed against his oil glands for Noah. Once again they came far earlier than expected, unable to hold back anymore.  
  
Their cries echoed through the house as they came in unison, losing everything they had to the pleasure. White flashed before their eyes, and Noah’s ass was once more overflowed by the heavy load of semen that Jayden released into him.  
  
Moments later the pleasure ended, leaving both of them panting and exhausted.   
  
Jayden struggled not to crush Noah under him as his muscles failed him. He almost couldn’t keep himself up anymore because of how fucked out and tired his body was from coming that hard twice in a row. His dick and balls tingled from overload, but it didn’t feel unpleasant. He was just afraid his body might need a couple of minutes of rest before he would be able to go again.  
  
Noah, on the other hand, just went completely boneless on the couch. His breath came out in heavy, exhausted puffs, and his muscles were completely relaxed around Jayden’s dick inside of him.  
  
After a few moments, Jayden was able to lift himself up a little. He glanced down at Noah under him, and couldn’t help but grin. “Damn. I’ve really missed having heat sex with you. Almost forgot how good it is.”  
  
Only a small moan of agreement slipped from Noah’s lip in reply. He was simply too fucked out to speak right now.  
  
Jayden chuckled softly at him, and ran a gentle hand through Noah’s spread-out wing. He was still lying half on top of Noah with his dick inside him, and couldn’t stop staring at the beauty beneath him, who was his mate. “You’re so gorgeous…”  
  
Noah blushed when Jayden said that. The alpha’s voice was so soft and gentle, and it always made Noah’s cheeks go red when Jayden talked about him like that. He twitched a bit in response, and let out a small, painful moan when the movement made his sore hips and ass hurt a bit. Jayden had pounded into him so hard that his butt was feeling pretty sore now, despite him producing more than twice the normal amount of slick when he was in heat.  
  
“You’re hurting?” Jayden’s brows furrowed with concern, and he cast a small glance towards Noah’s ass to see if he was okay. He wanted to pull his cock out of him, but decided against it, in case it would hurt him further.  
  
“Nah. Just a bit sore,” Noah murmured quietly. “You were kind of rough with me…” He turned his head to cast an almost accusing glance back at Jayden, and couldn’t help but smirk when he saw Jayden’s eyes widen in guilt.  
  
“Yeah… Sorry.”  
  
Noah huffed out a small chuckle. “It’s okay. It was good.” His lips curled into a sincere smile, which made Jayden sigh in relief and visibly relax.  
  
“Good. ‘Cause I intend to get rough with you a lot these upcoming days,” Jayden spoke as a dirty smirk covered his lips.  
  
Noah’s abdomen burned with excitement. “I’m counting on it.”  
  
Jayden grinned before carefully pulling away from Noah, separating them in the process. He chuckled when Noah let out a small whimper of disappointment, and then maneuvered them so that he was sitting back against the couch and Noah was straddling his lap.  
  
Noah was surprised by the sudden change in positions, but his question died on his lips when Jayden gently grabbed his sore hips and made him sink down onto his cock. Noah’s mouth fell open in a long, pleased moan as he felt Jayden’s member go all the way inside him until he was seated firmly on the alpha’s lap. His body was still oversensitive from his recent, violent orgasm, and his next heat wave hadn’t even started yet, so the sensation of Jayden’s hard cock inside him felt both overwhelming and very pleasurable.  
  
Jayden’s earlier releases eased the way as the alpha moved his tail up and slipped it carefully into Noah’s hole, next to where his dick was buried inside him.  
  
Noah cried out at the intrusion, and the pleasure of the demon’s tail pushing into his already filled hole triggered his next heat wave. His body overflowed with hormones, making his body burn hot and throb with need. He couldn’t help himself as he started bouncing himself on Jayden’s lap, taking in his cock as well as his tail with each movement.  
  
Jayden gave a pleased growl, and held on tight to Noah as he watched his mate squeeze his eyes shut from pleasure and bounce on his lap like his life depended on it. It was so unbelievably tight inside Noah as the submissive’s muscled clamped down on his tail and dick, and the closer Noah got to the climax, the hotter it got inside him.  
  
“Connor, please, please! I need…!” Noah ranted, completely lost in pleasure and desperation as his heat took over.  
  
Jayden knew exactly what he was asking for, though.  
  
With a dominant growl, Jayden reached a hand behind Noah and stroked his fingers over the leaking, sensitive oil glands at the base of his wings. He gave one of them a nice, tight squeeze, feeling the rich oil spill from it and soak his fingers and Noah’s back.  
  
That was it for Noah. He cried out louder than before, and his entire body seized up as he came for the third time. His inner muscles clamped down hard around the dick and tail inside of him, making Jayden bite out a curse as it milked out the next orgasm from him, making him come deep inside Noah.  
  
The third orgasm almost completely drained the energy from Noah. He fell forward against Jayden’s chest in a panting mess, barely able to move anymore.  
  
Jayden too was pretty tired at that point. His hair was getting moist from sweat, and his wings twitched as pleasant shudders kept going through his body as his climax subsided.   
  
When Noah was about to slide to the side and fall off of him, Jayden quickly wrapped his arms around him to hold him tight against his chest.   
  
They panted for breath together, and Noah purred lightly as Jayden placed his hands on the submissive’s buttocks and caressed them lovingly. Noah was still in his lap, his hole still split open by Jayden’s tail and cock, and they could both feel the rivers of Jayden’s come slowly flowing out of him and onto Jayden’s balls and further down onto the couch. Neither of them cared about the couch right now, though. They were too blissed out for that.  
  
All of sudden, Noah felt Jayden grin. He was still too tired to move, but quirked an eye open as he wondered what was on Jayden’s mind.  
  
“I really love your heats. Did I ever tell you that?” Jayden suddenly spoke, running a soothing hand up and down Noah’s back. The scent of Noah’s heat and his oil teased his nose, though in a pleasant way, but he knew better than to touch his mate’s oil glands right now. He had the feeling it would be too much for Noah to take at the moment.  
  
Noah let out a small snort against Jayden’s shoulder, where he was resting his head. “Yeah… A thousand times.”  
  
The alpha chuckled, and nuzzled Noah’s head with his nose before placing a loving kiss on his temple. He loved sitting there quietly with Noah, keeping his exhausted mate safe in his lap, and feeling Noah’s ass twitch around his cock every now and then.  
  
“Mmm.” Jayden stroked Noah’s back soothingly, and tried to cast a glance down at where they were joined. There was so much come and slick everywhere that it was kind of disgusting, because it was already getting sticky, but he couldn’t bring himself to care much about that. “Do you think we’ll manage to make a girl this time?”  
  
Noah stirred lightly against him, and stared into Jayden’s chest as he opened his eyes. “I don’t know. I hope so.”  
  
“Well, I’m trying, but I can’t give any promises,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Noah blushed and smacked Jayden lightly on the chest before leaning back a little to look at him. “Even if it’s not a girl, I’ll still love the baby, though.”  
  
Jayden smiled, and reached up to wipe a few of Noah’s moist hairs back. “Yeah, me too.”  
  
Noah returned the smile, until suddenly his expression changed. He wiggled lightly on Jayden’s lap, and shot his mate a questioning look. “You’re still hard.” It wasn’t a question.  
  
Jayden laughed, and placed his hands on Noah’s hips to help him keep his balance. “Yeah, there’s no way I could _not_ be hard with that amazing scent tickling my nose all the time, or with how warm you feel around me. I’m pretty much just waiting for the next wave to hit, so I can fuck you into the couch again.”  
  
The words made Noah fluster, even though he had already been fucked into the couch more than enough that day already. “I-I don’t think you have to wait long…”  
  
A pleased grin spread across Jayden’s lips. He then leaned forward and captured Noah’s lips in a soft but hungry kiss. The submissive returned it, closing his eyes with a purr and lowering his wings as he let his alpha play with his tongue.  
  
Moments later the scent of hormones increased, indicating that Noah’s next heat wave had hit.  
  
The hungry growl Jayden let out sent shivers up Noah’s spine, and it took only seconds before they were both at it again.  
  
They would have many days to mate and make another baby, and the thought that they could be having a girl this time urged them both on.  
  
They both tried not to think about how they would have to clean the house before picking up the kids when this was over. Especially the couch would need some serious cleaning, but that would have to wait. Right now all that mattered were each other.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter :) Let's see if they will manage to have a girl this time!
> 
> And I’m currently looking for a new beta, who can beta my upcoming chapters and possibly the rest of this story. My current beta, bookwormblondie, is going to have a baby soon, so she will be unable to beta for me for a while. So I’m now in need of a new beta, who can look my chapters through for errors. The person should preferably have English as their native language, be good with spelling and grammar, and have enough time on their hands to beta my chapters within a few days. If you think you fit in that category and feel up for it, you can write me a message on my [Tumblr](http://luciel89.tumblr.com/) if you want to beta for me, thanks :)


	50. Chapter 50

**July 2061 (Noah is 35, Jayden is 36 (almost 37), Nathan is 11, Derek is 7, Dylan is 3 (almost 4) years old).**  
  
The first time Noah knew he was pregnant for sure was when he started craving pickles one morning. He usually didn’t care much for pickles, except for when he was pregnant, so it was quite a clear sign for him.  
  
Nathan had raised an eyebrow at him when he had seen Noah happily devouring half a bottle of pickles, despite his mom always saying he didn’t want pickles in his burgers because he found them disgusting. Derek and Dylan hadn’t noticed it, though; their observation skills weren’t as good as Nathan’s.  
  
Nathan didn’t say anything, though, but when Noah started feeling nauseous in the evening, he knew something was up.  
  
“What’s up? You’re barely eating,” Jayden remarked as they were all sitting at the table in the kitchen, having dinner.  
  
They were having one of Jayden’s best pasta dishes, but while the others were eating their stomachs full, Noah was barely eating, even though pasta was one of his favorite dishes.  
  
Noah looked up at Jayden when his mate spoke to him, and then glanced down at his plate, which was still half full. “Oh. Um, I don’t know. I just don’t feel so well…”  
  
Jayden was sitting on one side of the table with Derek next to him, while Noah was sitting on the other side with Nathan and Dylan. Dylan was sitting between Noah and Nathan, who both helped him pour out more food and make sure he ate properly. They never let Nathan and Derek sit next to each other, as that would only result in fights and bickering, and Derek usually behaved better when he was sitting next to Jayden. On most evenings, though, Jayden wasn’t home to have dinner with them because he worked late, so often Noah was left alone to deal with Derek. However, today was different because of the summer holidays.  
  
Jayden’s brows furrowed in worry at Noah’s words. “You coming down with something?”  
  
“No, I don’t think so. I’m just… nauseous.”  
  
Jayden’s eyes widened, and his face lit up in hopefulness when he realized what that meant. Of course it wasn’t final proof that Noah was indeed pregnant, but it was a good possibility that this was the reason for his nausea.  
  
“Mommy go to bed?” Dylan suggested, casting a worried look up at Noah. He didn’t like it when his mom didn’t feel well or was sad.  
  
Noah turned his head to look at him with a soft smile. “Nah, not yet. Mommy doesn’t feel _that_ sick. I just don’t feel like eating, much.”  
  
“Can I have your share, then?” Derek asked, his face lighting up as he glanced at the food on Noah’s plate.  
  
Noah followed his glance to his plate before laughing. “Sure, if you think you can eat it. You already ate an entire plateful of pasta…”  
  
“I can eat it!” Derek insisted, almost cockily.  
  
Jayden laughed, and reached over to take Noah’s plate so he could push the food onto Derek’s plate. “Sometimes I seriously wonder where all that food goes.”  
  
“I keep telling you that he has a black hole in his stomach,” Nathan commented from across the table.  
  
Jayden laughed at that, and Noah chuckled.  
  
Once Noah’s food had been pushed onto his plate, Derek happily dug in. He ate so fast that Noah was sometimes worried that he would choke, and in less than three minutes his plate was clean.  
  
“Derek’s like a dog,” Dylan giggled, finding it funny how fast Derek ate his food.  
  
Derek started making dog noises to prove Dylan’s point, and they all burst out laughing.  
  
“Okay, enough fooling around. It’s time for chores,” Jayden said when everyone was finished eating.  
  
Upon hearing the word ‘chores’, Derek began sneaking away from the table. He’d do anything to escape chores and responsibilities, because they were way too boring to waste his time with. He slowly tiptoed out of the room, hoping that the others wouldn’t notice and just clear the table by themselves, but he wasn’t that lucky.  
  
“And where do you think you’re going, young man?” Jayden asked, voice raised as he watched what Derek was doing.  
  
Derek stopped dead in his tracks, having made it half-way to the door when Jayden spoke. He slowly turned to look at his dad.  
  
Jayden could see his son contemplating his options and possibly making up a lie, and he was right.  
  
“Uh, I gotta take a dump! A really big one! I don’t have time to help!” Derek lied, and began twitching like someone who really had to use the toilet.  
  
“Yeah, I’m not buying that,” Jayden huffed, unimpressed. “Go help Nathan, or there will be no games tonight.”  
  
“What?! Why?!” Derek demanded, stomping his foot into the floor in frustration.  
  
“Because I said so.”  
  
Derek sent his dad an angry glare before reluctantly going over to help Nathan clear the table. His older brother just quirked an eyebrow at him and rolled his eyes, which only irritated Derek further.  
  
The kids helped each other clear the table and give the dishes to Jayden, who’d wash them off or put them in the dishwater, while Noah dried the washed dishes with a dishcloth.  
  
Dylan seemed to have a lot of fun running back and forth to clear the table, while a dark cloud seemed to hang above Derek’s head, because he really hated doing chores. Nathan was pretty neutral about it, and just wanted to make sure that Derek did his job properly and didn’t try to sneak out again.  
  
Derek glared at Nathan when his brother grabbed one of the items off the table, which Derek had been reaching for. He gave Nathan an annoyed push in retaliation, which made Nathan stumble a bit. The way Nathan almost lost his balance and turned to glare at him made Derek smirk smugly, but just when Nathan was about to slap Derek’s arm for being a brat, Jayden cleared his throat very loudly, immediately making Nathan stop. They both glanced over at their dad, who had his ‘you-boys-better-be-nice-now’ face on, and Derek couldn’t help but snicker at Nathan that his brother didn’t get to have his payback.  
  
Dylan, on the other hand, hadn’t noticed the eyes his brothers were sending each other, and remained ignorant of the silent war between them.  
  
“Daddy, when cans we eats outside?” Dylan asked, happily jumping over to Jayden with the salt and pepper so that his dad could put them away in the cupboard. He sniffled a bit as he handed his dad the salt and pepper, and used his sleeve to wipe his nose a bit. Dylan suffered from pollen allergies, which was worst during the spring, back it also happened in the summer. He got pills to help him, but he was often still snotty and sneezed because of it.  
  
Jayden grabbed the salt and pepper from him and replied, “As soon as the rain stops. Maybe tomorrow we can eat dinner out on the terrace?”  
  
“Oh, does that mean we’ll have a barbeque tomorrow?” Derek asked, his tail perking up with excitement.  
  
Jayden smiled and gave a light shrug. “If the weather is nice, then sure.”  
  
“Yes!” Derek cheered. “I hope the weather will be nice! I _love_ barbeque!”  
  
“I dunno,” Nathan murmured next to him. “I hear that if people are nice, the sun will come out. If not, it will be cloudy. And well, since it’s _you_ who wants the sun to come… I’m not so sure it’ll happen.” His lips curled into a mean, teasing smirk, knowing full well how annoyed Derek would get with him. And he wasn’t wrong.  
  
Derek growled in annoyance as Nathan teased him, and he immediately threw himself at his older brother to smack him and get some payback. “Who you calling stupid?! _You’re_ stupid!”  
  
Nathan laughed, and caught Derek’s arms to stop him from smacking him. However, it was pretty hard to hold Derek’s arms when his little brother was so pissed. “I never called you stupid. You just called yourself stupid, _stupid._ ”  
  
Derek’s growl got louder then, and Nathan laughed and yelped as Derek smacked and fought him harder.  
  
“Hey, be nice, you two,” Jayden scolded lightly, although he found it pretty funny.  
  
Dylan laughed as he watched the scene, because the mood was more teasing than aggressive between them.  
  
Noah too couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched his sons fooling around like that.  
  
After Derek and Nathan were done being childish, they went back to their chores.  
  
Noah smiled at the pleasant atmosphere in the house. It was nice to have holidays, and that Jayden finally had time to be with the kids all day. The children really missed their dad sometimes when he was at work, so this was good for everybody.  
  
However, just when they were almost finished with the chores, Noah felt the bile in the back of his throat rise. He gagged, and quickly covered his mouth with his hand before rushing towards the bathroom, leaving the others behind with baffled looks on their faces.  
  
Noah almost slipped in his hurry to reach the bathroom, but luckily he made it in time and was able to empty his stomach into the toilet without hitting the floor.  
  
Jayden abandoned the dishes to go check on him, and the children followed to see if he was alright.  
  
Dylan started crying because he didn’t know what was wrong and was worried, while Nathan and Derek lingered in the doorway to the bathroom, eyeing Noah with concern as he threw up.  
  
“Are you okay?” Jayden asked, kneeling next to Noah by the toilet, and soothed him with a hand on his wing.  
  
Noah sat back and panted, giving a small nod to Jayden’s question. The taste in his mouth was awful and was almost enough to make him throw up again, but he managed to hold it in. “Y-Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just nausea…”  
  
Jayden gently stroked Noah’s wing to soothe him. “Do you think…?” He trailed off, and worried his lip between his teeth as he looked at Noah with a mix of concern and excitement.  
  
Noah met his eyes and couldn’t help but smile as he nodded. He knew Jayden was referring to the fact that he could be pregnant. “Yeah, I think so. I ate half a bottle of pickles this morning, so I’m pretty sure that’s it.”  
  
The wide, happy grin on Jayden’s face made Noah grin too, and the next thing Noah knew, Jayden was pulling him into a tight, possessive hug. Noah laughed, and returned the hug with a happy smile. They had both known that Noah was very likely to be pregnant after their many couplings during his heat, but to get the confirmation that there actually was a child growing inside him always made them both feel relieved and overwhelmingly happy.  
  
Derek was utterly confused when he witnessed his dad giving his mom a big, happy hug, just after his mom had thrown up. Why would his dad be happy that his mom was sick? “What are you doing?” he asked, annoyed that he didn’t understand what was going on.  
  
Dylan too was pretty confused, while Nathan was the only one of them who understood what was going on. Nathan couldn’t keep back the grin on his face when he realized that his mom was indeed expecting another baby, and that he was going to be a big brother again.  
  
Jayden and Noah pulled apart, and looked over at the kids with smiles.  
  
“Well, we’ll tell you soon. Won’t don’t you guys go wait in the kitchen, and then mommy and I will explain what’s going on?” Jayden spoke.  
  
Derek and Dylan looked confused, but joined Nathan when he gestured at them to follow him to the kitchen, so Noah and Jayden could have a minute alone.  
  
After the kids had left the room, Jayden helped Noah get to his feet.  
  
“This is the best news of the day,” Jayden grinned, holding onto Noah’s arms to steady him. His tail swished with happiness and excitement, and he felt the overwhelming urge to touch and be physically close to his mate.  
  
Noah smiled, and rolled his eyes a little. “It’s hardly _news._ I should be about seven weeks pregnant by now.”  
  
“Yeah, I know.” Jayden put his hands on Noah’s hips as they faced each other, smiling, while his tail curled itself around Noah’s leg. “But we haven’t been entirely sure until now. Sometimes these things just don’t succeed.”  
  
“But it’s always succeeded with us,” Noah pointed out.  
  
“Mm, of course. My parts are working just perfectly, and so are yours. And they get along well together.”  
  
The dirty smirk on Jayden’s face as he said that made Noah blush and smack him.  
  
Jayden laughed, before getting back to business again. “I wonder how Derek and Dylan are gonna react to this, though. I hope they won’t get upset.”  
  
“Yeah… But I think Dylan will probably be excited. As for Derek… I really don’t know.”  
  
“Well, only one way to find out,” Jayden chuckled. “Let’s go tell them.”  
  
Noah nodded, and followed Jayden back to the kitchen.  
  
In the kitchen, Nathan was finishing up where they had left off with the chores, while Derek was playing around with Dylan, who seemed to want some attention from his alpha brother. The boy was chasing after Derek, who laughed when his little brother had a hard time catching up. He ended up running over to Nathan to shake Dylan off his tail, and Nathan yelped when he suddenly had two alpha boys chasing each other around him while he was trying to finish the dishes.  
  
“Oi, you two! Don’t get me involved— Ah!” Nathan shrieked when the glass he was holding slipped out of his hands as a result of Derek and Dylan being so wild around him, but luckily he managed to catch it before it crashed to the floor.  
  
“Whoa, watch out, you guys,” Jayden said, having witnessed the scene when he and Noah entered the room. He was kind of amazed that Nathan had managed to catch the glass before it got smashed.  
  
Derek and Dylan stopped, and stared at Nathan in amazement.  
  
“Whoa, cool!” Dylan exclaimed, grinning at Nathan.  
  
Derek too was rather amazed, but he tried not to show it. He really hated praising his big brother.  
  
Nathan looked rather modest as he straightened up and put the glass in the dishwasher. “I was just lucky.” He closed the dishwater, having finished with the chores, and looked over at his parents, waiting for them to tell them about the baby.  
  
Jayden chuckled before telling them, “Well, mommy and I have something to tell you, so come over to the table with us, okay?” He and Noah went over to take a seat next to each other on one side of the table, so the kids could sit opposite them.  
  
The kids walked over, and Dylan playfully shoved Derek. “Derek, play!” he grinned, still in the mood for playing with his alpha brother.  
  
“Not now. We gotta listen to some boring lecture,” Derek murmured, rolling his eyes in distaste.  
  
“It’s not a lecture,” Jayden said firmly. “And don’t be so grumpy about it, Derek. _You’re_ the one who wanted to know what was going on earlier.”  
  
Derek crossed his arms, still looking rather skeptic about what his parents wanted to talk to them about. He felt a bit like it was a waste of his time, and Nathan cast a glare at him for it before they all got seated at the table, across from their parents. Nathan made sure that Dylan got seated between himself and Derek so that Derek couldn’t annoy him so easily.  
  
Jayden leaned forward, resting his arms on the table in front of him, and folded his hands, while smiling at the kids opposite him. Noah was sitting next to him, looking a little anxious about what their reactions would be.  
  
When the kids had settled, Jayden spoke. “Well, I assume Nathan has already figured out at this point what we’re going to tell you,” he started, looking briefly at Nathan, who nodded and smiled in confirmation. He turned his attention to Derek and Dylan next. “Your mommy and I have some really exciting news for you guys.” He couldn’t hold back his excited grin, and reached out to grab Noah’s hand on the table.  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened, curious about the news. “What is it, what is it?” he nagged, wanting to know already.  
  
Derek too looked kind of curious, but was still sitting with his arms crossed. He was a little impatient to get back to his video games instead of being forced to sit there and listen to what the adults had to say.  
  
“Well… Your mommy is going to have a baby soon,” Jayden finally said, turning to look at Noah with a grin. Noah blushed lightly, and smiled as he squeezed his mate’s hand.  
  
There was complete silence for a couple of seconds.  
  
Derek’s face was one of disbelief, until he finally understood what it meant. His jaw dropped in surprise. “No way!”  
  
Dylan, on the other hand, didn’t understand it right away. He looked really confused at first, and tried to piece it together in his mind. “A baby…?”  
  
“Yes. You’re going to have a little brother or sister,” Noah explained, smiling softly at the boy, who finally seemed to understand what it meant.  
  
“Ohh!” Dylan exclaimed. He looked up at Nathan to see how he was reacting, and when he saw his big brother smiling about the news, Dylan too couldn’t help but smile happily. “Yay!” He raised his arms in excitement, and grinned up at his parents.  
  
They doubted that Dylan fully understood yet what it meant, so his excitement was probably mostly because of curiosity and interest. But still, it made Noah happy that Dylan seemed excited about it.  
  
“So… Is it a boy or a girl?” Derek asked, feeling a little curious now.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “We don’t know yet. We won’t know until mommy’s stomach gets a bit bigger; then the doctors will be able to tell.”  
  
“I hope it’s a girl. I don’t want any more alpha brothers,” Nathan murmured, while shooting a glare in Derek’s direction.  
  
“I want both!” Dylan exclaimed, raising his arms in the air with a big grin on his face.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened, while Jayden burst out laughing next to him.  
  
“Well, it’s not impossible, if it turns out to be twins,” Jayden spoke.  
  
Noah kind of hoped it wouldn’t be. He thought being pregnant with just one baby was quite exhausting and painful, and the idea of having twins sounded pretty scary to him, even though both Castiel and Lily had had twins before.  
  
“But where’s the baby gonna be?” Derek suddenly asked. “We dun have enough rooms? I don’t wanna share rooms with Nathan!” He immediately turned to glare at Nathan, scrunching his nose at the thought alone. Nathan looked equally disgusted with the idea.  
  
Jayden chuckled at them. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out.”  
  
“They cans live in mah room!” Dylan chirped.  
  
The others laughed, and Noah was really relieved that Dylan was so excited about the new baby already. Even Derek wasn’t taking the news too badly.  
  
“So where is da baby?” Dylan asked then, looking around as if searching for it. “It hiding?”  
  
The others laughed again.  
  
“No,” Jayden chuckled. “The baby is inside your mommy’s tummy.” He leaned back, and placed his hand over Noah’s belly to show Dylan where the baby was.  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. He stared at Noah in complete horror for a few seconds until he blurted out, “Mommy ate da baby?!”  
  
This time the laughter was much louder, and Dylan looked at them all in confusion when they laughed at his questions. He didn’t know what was so funny or what he had said wrong.  
  
“You’re so stupid, Dylan,” Derek laughed, finding his little brother’s ignorance extremely amusing.  
  
Dylan looked a little hurt at that, so Nathan defended him.  
  
“He’s only three. Of course he doesn’t know about babies yet,” Nathan argued. “Even _you_ don’t know everything.”  
  
“I know _everything!_ ” Derek stubbornly stated, insulted.  
  
Jayden shook his head fondly at them before explaining things to Dylan. “No, mommy didn’t eat the baby. The baby is growing inside mommy’s tummy. All babies come from their mommy’s stomach. They start out really small, and then they grow bigger and bigger until they are strong enough to leave their mommy’s tummy and come out.”  
  
The explanation only made Dylan look more confused. It sounded so surrealistic to him, and he eyed Noah with a skeptic and almost scared look.  
  
Noah chuckled when he noticed the wary look on Dylan’s face. “It’s true, though. You were once inside my stomach too, and so were Derek and Nathan.”  
  
Dylan got real quiet as he stared at Noah. It looked as though he was trying to figure out if his mom was a monster or something, and both Jayden and Noah found it pretty amusing.  
  
After a few moments of silence, Dylan murmured, skeptically, “Me dun believe you…”  
  
Jayden and Noah laughed, finding Dylan’s skepticism both cute and quite understandable.  
  
Nathan chuckled and fondly ruffled his youngest brother’s hair, while Derek rolled his eyes a bit.  
  
“So when is the baby coming?” Nathan asked, looking at his parents. “Has to be in the spring next year, right? Since it takes about nine or ten months for a baby to be born, or so.”  
  
“Yeah. Around March, I think,” Jayden replied. “So there’s still a long time until then.” He smiled at Noah next to him, and grabbed his hand to give it a squeeze.  
  
“Eh, why so long?” Dylan asked, sitting back with a disappointed look on his face.  
  
“Because the baby has to grow until then,” Nathan explained, chuckling softly at him.  
  
Dylan cast a forlorn look at him. “But _why?_ ”  
  
Chuckling, Nathan reached out and patted Dylan’s head gently. “I guess ‘cause it’s not ready to come out before it has grown bigger? And growing takes a while.”  
  
“That’s right, the baby has to grow first,” Jayden said, smiling at them. “If the baby comes out before it has grown, it won’t survive.”  
  
Dylan looked horrified at that. He turned to look at Noah, who was watching him calmly as the others explained things to him. “Please dun let da baby die, mommy. I cans wait…”  
  
Noah let out a chuckle, and unconsciously placed his hand on his abdomen. “You don’t have worry. I won’t let anything happen to the baby.” He smiled when Jayden threw a protective arm around his shoulders, signaling that he wouldn’t let anything happen to the baby either.  
  
Dylan looked pleased with that, and the others watched as he jumped down from his chair. “Need bathroom!” he announced suddenly, and hurried off to the toilet with his hands placed on his butt.  
  
The others laughed, while Derek scrunched his face in disgust.  
  
Noah gently wiggled his way out of Jayden’s arm to get up and go assist Dylan in the bathroom. Dylan was still too young to be able to use the bathroom on his own yet, so someone always had to go with him.  
  
After Noah had left the room with Dylan, Derek cast a wary look over at Jayden.  
  
“So… Does that mean that you and mommy did the nasty?” he asked. Although his nose was wrinkled in disgust as he asked, there was a bit of curiosity on his face.  
  
Jayden stared at him in confusion and bafflement for a moment, while Nathan looked equally surprised.  
  
“The nasty?” Jayden asked, not sure if Derek meant what he thought he meant.  
  
“The thing that parents do when they want to make a baby,” Derek explained, his nose wrinkling more.  
  
“How do _you_ know about that?” Nathan asked, really surprised that Derek had heard about such things already. His brother was only seven years old, and he was pretty sure that their parents hadn’t given him ‘the talk’ yet.  
  
“The boys from school talk about it,” Derek explained. “They say that moms and dads have to be naked with each other, and that the daddy puts his penis inside the mommy every now and then, and that they get a baby from it. It’s called sex.”  
  
Jayden was shocked that a class of second graders would know about that. In his opinion, kids should learn about such things from their parents when the parents thought that the children were old and mature enough to know about it. He really wasn’t comfortable that Derek had learned about it from the other boys at school. He knew first-hand how alpha boys would talk about sex, and that their view of sex and the opposite gender could be both misguided and objectifying.  
  
“Who exactly told you about that?” Jayden asked, trying not to let his frustration show too much.  
  
“Steven and Jackson told us,” Derek replied simply.  
  
Jayden knew that by ‘us’, Derek meant the rest of the boys in his class. Steven and Jackson were troublemakers, along with Derek and his friend Dwayne. All of the four boys were alphas, and Derek’s teacher had said that the four boys were often causing problems in the classroom, because they were all restless, wild, and hated sitting still during class. That was why the teachers often let alphas learn and study through more hands-on means than the traditional way of teaching, which required them to sit still all day long.  
  
“And where did _they_ learn it from?” Jayden asked, holding back a frustrated groan that Derek had learned about this without his knowledge.  
  
“Steven’s big brother,” Derek replied, shrugging. “He’s an alpha, and he’s 15. Steven says he’s got a lot of magazines with sluts in them, but he hasn’t shown them to us yet.”  
  
Nathan’s eyes widened in horror, while Jayden let out a growl at the word ‘sluts’.  
  
It didn’t sound like Steven’s big brother had a very healthy view of females and subs, and he seemed to have had affected Steven with his way of thinking. And now Derek was being affected by it too.  
  
If there was one thing Jayden would not tolerate, it was for his sons to grow up being misogynists and sexists.  
  
“I don’t want you talking to Steven or his brother,” Jayden said firmly. “And don’t listen to everything the other boys tell you about sex. Neither of you are old enough to understand what you’re talking about, so you’ll just end up getting a wrong idea of what it’s about.”  
  
“I’m old enough!” Derek protested, hating to be told otherwise.  
  
“And I say you aren’t,” Jayden cut in, his voice strict and sharp.  
  
Derek closed his mouth the moment that Jayden let his alpha voice out, though he still looked rebellious.  
  
Jayden sighed, brushing a hand through his hair, before leaning forward to rest his arms on the table while looking at Derek. “I don’t know what those boys told you, but don’t get the wrong idea of it. Females and submissives are not toys, and having sex and making babies is very natural, so don’t be crude about it, you hear me?”  
  
Jayden did not approve much of Derek’s expression at the moment. He looked annoyed to be lectured, and quite defiant. He didn’t seem to understand the seriousness at all, but Jayden hadn’t expected him to; he was just a kid.  
  
“But Steven is mah friend! You can’t tell me not to talk to him,” Derek argued, glaring at Jayden like he was a villain.  
  
“Yes, I can,” Jayden counter-argued. “And as long as Steven is a bad influence, I don’t want you talking to him. Got it?”  
  
Derek growled, glaring at Jayden so hard that his face was getting all red.  
  
Jayden could tell that Derek was getting aggressive. Alphas did not like being ordered around, but Jayden was the bigger alpha there, so Derek was reluctant to act on his anger. It didn’t stop the boy from being angry and defiant like any other child would be when their parent pissed them off, though.  
  
Nathan just sat there quietly, watching as Jayden and Derek had stare-down. He was a little nervous because of the tension between them, and he wished Derek would just shut up and be a good boy already, instead of arguing with their dad.  
  
The tension got lifted a bit when Noah returned to the kitchen. Dylan had run off into the living room to play with his toys before bed, so it was just Noah who walked in. He immediately noticed that something was up, judging from how Jayden was staring at Derek with his alpha-look, and from Derek and Nathan’s body language.  
  
“What’s going on?” Noah asked, staring between them with a worried frown.  
  
“Derek knows about sex,” Nathan replied, and crossed his arms as he glared at Derek.  
  
Noah’s eyebrows flew up, and he was completely shocked by the news. “W-What? How?”  
  
“Steven and Jackson from his class have big mouths, that’s how,” Jayden answered, but didn’t look away from Derek.  
  
Derek let out a small growl and got up from his chair. The chair made a horrible sound as it scraped against the floor when Derek pushed it back. “They’re mah _friends!_ And we didn’t do anything wrong!”  
  
“The moment you used the s-word, you did something wrong,” Jayden argued, growling. “I never wanna hear that word coming from your mouth again, you hear me? And do as I say and don’t talk about that stuff with your friends anymore. You can talk about it when you get older and are able to understand it better.”  
  
Once again, Derek was not happy to be told that he wasn’t old enough, and he felt like his dad was being way too harsh on him. He didn’t feel like he had done anything wrong, and didn’t understand any of Jayden’s worries and concerns about how he would grow up to treat other people someday, especially females and submissives. In Derek’s eyes, his dad was just being unfair for not wanting him to talk to his friends anymore.  
  
“Stupid dad!” Derek growled out, stomping a foot in the floor in frustration.  
  
Jayden growled, his wings rising behind him. “Go to your room. _Now._ ” He raised his hand to point angrily at the ceiling.  
  
Derek shot him a sharp glare before stalking out of the room, looking angry and upset. He didn’t have his sharp feathers yet, but he if he had, they would have been sticking out in all directions right now.  
  
Noah tried to reach out for Derek to calm him down when he passed him, but his son was far too angry to let him. Noah felt kind of hurt at the rejection and the growl he got from Derek, and watched with sorrowful eyes as his son left the room and stormed up the stairs to his room in anger.  
  
After Derek was gone, Jayden sat back in his chair and let out a deep sigh. “Jeez… I’m so gonna have a talk with Steven’s parents.”  
  
“Yeah…” Nathan agreed quietly. He sat kind of hunched over in his chair, and didn’t feel comfortable with how things had turned out at all.  
  
“What happened? Why did you have to yell at him like that?” Noah asked, looking at Jayden with disapproval, because he didn’t understand what on earth had let things to get so out of hand.  
  
Jayden sighed and gestured for Noah to come over and sit next to him so he could explain.  
  
Noah reluctantly walked over and seated himself next to Jayden, who turned in his chair to face him better as he started to explain what had happened.  
  
“He’s too young to be able to filter out those wrong views that Steven and his brother have on females and subs,” Jayden finished, after having explained everything to Noah. “I’ve met Steven’s brother once, when I was picking up Derek from Steven’s house, and I immediately knew that he’s the type of alpha that I don’t want my kids turning into. I was kind of afraid that Steven would turn out to be the same, and now it seems like my fears are coming true. I just don’t want Derek to turn out like that.”  
  
Noah lowered his head, feeling worried about it too. “Yeah… Me neither.”  
  
Nathan frowned from where he was sitting on the other side of the table. “But… All Steven did was to tell Derek and Dwayne about sex…?”  
  
“Well, Steven also got into trouble for calling one of the female teachers a ‘big-mouthed bitch’ once, when she told him to stop drawing stuff on his table at school,” Jayden explained. “And according to the teacher, he’s been kind of sexist towards the girls in their class lately. He’s not someone I want Derek to be influenced by.”  
  
Nathan’s eyes widened in surprise. “But… he’s like seven years old! Like Derek.”  
  
“Well, what can I say? Alphas get influenced by such things at a young age. They aren’t always able to tell right from wrong, and if they see the adults or older alphas do it, they start doing it themselves. I have no doubt that Steven’s older brother is the influencer here, and now Steven is trying to imitate him.”  
  
“That’s…” Nathan trailed off, too shocked to finish his sentence.  
  
“Will you talk to Steven’s parents?” Noah asked, looking at Jayden with concern. “Maybe we can stop this before things get out of hand.”  
  
“Yeah, I’ll talk to them,” Jayden confirmed. “Though, I don’t know if Steven’s father will listen to me. He seems like the stubborn kind of alpha, and he might be just like his oldest son. I don’t know…”  
  
“But at least try…”  
  
Jayden raised his gaze to look at Noah. He smiled at him in sympathy when he saw how worried and scared he looked about the whole situation.  
  
Gently, Jayden moved his hand up and cupped Noah’s chin, slowly forcing him to lift his gaze and look at him. “Hey. It’ll be okay. I won’t let Derek end up being a complete asshole for the rest of his life."  
  
Noah couldn’t help but chuckle, and a smile finally appeared on his lips. He trusted Jayden when he said that he wouldn’t let that happen.  
  
Jayden returned the smile, and leaned in to place a chaste kiss on Noah’s lips. Noah returned it, and purred softly when Jayden cupped his cheek and rubbed comforting circles into it with his thumb, while their lips moved together slowly and gently.  
  
Nathan watched them quietly. He liked seeing his parents being loving towards each other, but it was also kind of gross to watch them kiss.  
  
The sweet moment was interrupted when Dylan suddenly appeared. The boy came running into the kitchen, squealing loudly and happily, and ran over to climb up into Nathan’s lap.  
  
“Uff!” Nathan exclaimed when Dylan climbed up on him. The boy was getting heavier and heavier, and his lack of control over his wings made him slap them into Nathan’s face sometimes.  
  
Jayden laughed and pulled away from Noah’s lips. “There you are. What have you been doing?”  
  
“Playing!” Dylan chirped, grinning. “Da dinosaur ate all da soldiers.”  
  
He was obviously talking about his toy dinosaur and soldiers, and the others laughed at his words.  
  
“Wow, that sounds violent. And painful,” Nathan chuckled, and let Dylan settle in his lap until he was comfortable.  
  
Dylan considered that for a bit. “Yeah… But dinosaur was hungry!”  
  
Noah and Jayden laughed at that, until Noah slowly got up from his chair. “I think I will go check on Derek, just to be sure… I don’t like the thought of him sulking in his room all alone…”  
  
“Okay. But he’s probably still grumpy, though,” Jayden warned him. “And if he’s still acting insolent, just leave him be for a while. Sometimes he just needs a while to cool off.”  
  
“Yeah. I know,” Noah said, and started walking out of the room.  
  
Dylan frowned. “Why Derek grumpy?” He leaned his head back to glance up at Nathan, looking for answers.  
  
“’Cause dad scolded him, and Derek got angry,” Nathan replied simply. He didn’t want to go into details because Dylan wouldn’t understand anyway.  
  
Dylan’s frown deepened, though this time it was out of worry and not confusion. “Derek was bad again?”  
  
“Yeah, kind of,” Jayden confirmed, smiling softly at him. “But don’t worry; he’ll be fine soon.”  
  
Dylan got quiet after that, hoping that his dad was right.

  
  
***

  
Meanwhile, Noah was walking upstairs to go check on Derek. He made sure to walk quietly, so that he could hear if Derek was throwing things around or yelling in his room, which he sometimes did when he was upset, but he didn’t hear anything.  
  
When he reached the second floor, Noah slowly approached Derek’s room, and listened outside the door for a few moments. It was completely quiet on the other side, so he guessed that Derek had calmed down already.  
  
He lifted his hand and gave the door a gentle knock.  
  
“Derek? May I come in?”  
  
“Go away!” came Derek’s muffled voice from the other side of the door.  
  
Noah pulled his hand back, and felt a stab of hurt in his chest. But he didn’t back away. “Derek…” he sighed, almost pleadingly.  
  
There was silence for a few seconds until Derek said in a small voice, “Come in…”  
  
Noah took a deep breath before slowly opening the door. He was met by darkness, because Derek had pulled all his curtains shut. It wasn’t dark outside yet, but it was gloomy and cloudy weather today, so the room appeared darker than usual.  
  
It took Noah’s eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkness before he finally spotted Derek on the bed. The boy was lying on top of his blanket with his back facing the door.  
  
Noah slowly entered the room and closed the door behind him, before walking over to Derek on the bed. He sat down on the other side of the bed, turned on the light on the nightstand, and twisted his body so that he was facing Derek more.  
  
Derek curled up when Noah sat down next to him, and his wings were covering his body. Noah could feel the negativity radiating off of him, and sighed before reaching out to run a hand gently through Derek’s hair.  
  
“Your dad didn’t want to be mean or upset you,” Noah explained slowly, keeping his voice gentle. “He just doesn’t want Steven to make you do stupid things and get you in trouble.”  
  
“Steven’s my _friend,_ ” Derek said sharply, curling up more.  
  
Noah sighed. Of course Derek wasn’t able to see that the things Steven did were wrong. He just thought that he was a cool alpha because of it, and he wanted to more like him and be his friend. As concerning as it was, Noah kind of understood it.  
  
“I know. Let’s just… not talk about that anymore today, okay? Why don’t you come back downstairs with us?”  
  
“Dun wanna,” Derek mumbled, still refusing to look at Noah. “I hate dad.”  
  
“No, you don’t,” Noah sighed.  
  
“Yeah, I do.” Derek’s voice was hurt and angry, and his wings tightened more around his body.  
  
“No, you don’t,” Noah repeated, putting a chuckle into it to lighten up the mood. “Because I know you like it when he picks you and Dylan up and spins you around while you’re hanging from his shoulders. And you like the desserts he makes – especially the ones with ice cream. And you like it when he races you on the bike all the way down the street, and you’re fast enough to beat him. And you like it when he joins you and Dwayne in your soccer games when Dwayne is staying over, and when he took you wall climbing, just you and him, last week.”  
  
Derek couldn’t help but smile as Noah recited all the fun things that Jayden had done with him, and he laughed as he turned around and looked up at Noah for the first time since he entered the room. “I got to the top faster than he did on the second round!” he bragged about the wall climbing.  
  
Noah grinned, and swept his hand through Derek’s hairs proudly. “Yeah, I know. You’re such a fast learner. Your daddy was impressed.”  
  
Derek grinned, looking very proud to be told so, and his tail swished back and forth on the bed.  
  
Noah was glad that he had managed to lift Derek’s mood. And it had been a while since he had last made Derek laugh and smile like this. Usually, it was only Jayden who could make him do that, which kind of made Noah feel sad. Derek was already such a macho alpha that he mostly only preferred the company of other alphas, and thought that hanging out with females and submissives – even his own mother – was too ‘girly’. So finally being able to get through to Derek and make him laugh made Noah feel good.  
  
Derek’s grin faltered a bit after a few seconds, but he still smiled at Noah. His eyes suddenly flicked down to stare at Noah’s abdomen before looking up at his face again. “Does it hurt to have that baby in your tummy?”  
  
The question surprised Noah, though he thought it was sweet that Derek seemed concerned about it. He smiled and slowly shook his head. “No. Not right now, at least. When the baby gets bigger it will hurt a bit, because it will put strain on my back and such.”  
  
Derek frowned, almost angrily. “Then why did daddy put the baby in there if he knows it hurts you?”  
  
Noah laughed. “Well, because it was _me_ who wanted it. I gave him permission.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
“And it isn’t _that_ bad. I survived having you, Nathan, and Dylan inside my stomach, so I will survive this too,” Noah smiled.  
  
“I don’t remember being in there, though,” Derek said, looking a bit disgusted at the idea that he had once been inside Noah’s body. It was kind of creepy to him.  
  
Again, Noah laughed. “I don’t think anyone remembers being inside their mother’s stomach. I don’t remember it either. But even though it gets a bit uncomfortable towards the end to have a baby in there, I don’t regret having you or your siblings. Even though you did give me quite a scare when you were born.”  
  
“I did?” Derek asked, looking surprised. He couldn’t remember it, after all, and they hadn’t told him about it before. “Did I come out and yell ‘boo!’ or what?”  
  
Noah laughed loudly, and shook his head. “No,” he chuckled. “You just came out so fast that I never made it to the hospital. You just couldn’t wait, so I had to give birth to you in the laundry room.”  
  
Derek’s jaw dropped. “I was born in the _laundry room?_ ”  
  
“Yes,” Noah chuckled, watching his son with a loving smile. “And your grandma Cas grabbed you, while your father was comforting me. It was quite chaotic. But once you were out, I was really happy. You were so perfect, and I loved you right away. And I’m still very happy that I have you.”  
  
Derek blushed a bit at the loving smile that Noah was looking at him with. It felt nice being told that his mom was happy to have him and that he loved him, and it made his chest feel kind of warm. It was a good feeling.  
  
However, a few seconds later, Derek seemed to remember that he was an alpha and that this conversation was getting way too soft for him.  
  
“Mooom, that’s so cheesy!” Derek whined, and threw himself face-first into his pillow while covering his ears with his hands. “Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy!”  
  
Noah chuckled, and wasn’t too surprised about Derek’s response to being told that he was loved, even though Noah thought it was silly to be embarrassed about it.  
  
“Are you ready to come downstairs now?” Noah asked.  
  
Derek stopped tossing around, and froze. “I dunno…” he murmured after a few seconds of hesitation. “Daddy sent me to my room…”  
  
“Well, you _did_ call him stupid,” Noah said, disapproval in his voice.  
  
“He _was_ stupid!” Derek argued, lifting his head to glare at Noah.  
  
Noah sighed. Just when things were going so well, Derek was getting stubborn and grumpy again.  
  
“Well, you can’t stay up here forever. And there’s still dessert…”  
  
Derek’s entire body language changed at the word ‘dessert’, and Noah smiled smugly inside himself when he knew he had hit one of Derek’s weak spots.  
  
“…What kind of dessert?” Derek asked, looking up at Noah with interest.  
  
“Only one way to find out…” Noah teased, chuckling.  
  
Derek pouted, and glared at Noah for not telling him. “Can I have some too?”  
  
“Only if you promise you’ll be nice from now on. If you start anymore fights, you’ll go back to your room without dessert. Got it?”  
  
“Yes!” Derek chirped, and grinned as he jumped up from the bed. The next moment he was running out the door and down the stairs, yelling ‘Desseeeert!’ all the way to the kitchen, as if he hadn’t been upset at all.  
  
Sometimes Derek’s short attention span and impulsive nature was a good thing. When he had something on his mind, he’d just forget or not care about anything else.  
  
Noah chuckled and got from Derek’s bed. He corrected the ruffled sheets a bit before walking downstairs as well, and could hear Nathan and Derek bickering when Nathan seemed unimpressed that Derek was so obsessed with dessert all of sudden.

  
  
***

  
  
“You seem pretty happy,” Jayden commented when he and Noah retreated to their bedroom that night, and were both taking off their clothes before bed.  
  
Noah smiled, and gracefully got out of his pants, leaving him naked except for his panties. “I managed to get through to Derek earlier. It was nice, for a change.”  
  
Jayden smiled, and took off his own pants as well. “Yeah, he did seem quite changed when he came back downstairs, even though he avoided me for a few minutes.” He pulled off his boxers, and climbed onto the bed to sit back against the headboard. It was too hot to wear clothes, so tonight he was planning to sleep naked. “I honestly didn’t think he’d let you talk him into going back downstairs so soon. What did you say to him?”  
  
“Motherly things,” Noah replied, smiling as he climbed onto the bed along with Jayden. Instead of moving into his own spot on the bed, he crawled over to Jayden and sat down next to him. “And I bribed him with dessert.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Figures.” He smiled at his mate, and carefully moved a few hairs away from Noah’s forehead. His mate looked so cute when his hair was messy, and it was getting a bit long lately. He’d need a haircut soon. “I’m glad the kids seemed welcoming of the idea of having a new sibling soon.”  
  
“Me too,” Noah smiled, cuddling against Jayden’s side as they sat together. “Nathan seems very excited. I hope he won’t be too disappointed if the baby does turn out to be a boy…”  
  
“Hmm… Well, I think we’ve made a girl this time,” Jayden stated, and moved his hand over to rest on Noah’s belly. Noah’s pregnancy wasn’t showing yet, but the skin was nice and soft, like always. Jayden loved touching it, and knowing that their baby was growing in there made him feel more protective than usual. He would never let anything happen to Noah or the baby.  
  
“How can you be so sure?” Noah asked, giggling somewhat when Jayden’s touch tickled a little.  
  
“I’m not. I’m just hoping,” Jayden said, and leaned in to steal a soft kiss from Noah.  
  
The submissive returned the kiss and purred softly at the contact. One of the things he really loved about being pregnant was the feeling of safety and content whenever he was near Jayden. Their bond was flaring stronger than usual when he was expecting a baby, and it was a blissful feeling.  
  
One of the other affects the pregnancy had on Noah was that even the slightest touch his mate gave him made him want more.  
  
After kissing for a few moments, Noah shifted and swung his right leg over to the other side of Jayden, so that he was sitting in his lap while they kissed.  
  
The action made Jayden growl in approval, and his hands possessively grabbed a hold of Noah’s hips.  
  
Mewling, Noah rubbed himself against Jayden’s hardening cock, seeking stimulation. Desire was taking over his body and mind, and he could already feel his panties getting soaked with slick. The arousal made his head feel dizzy, and he let out an impatient whine when he needed Jayden to touch him more.  
  
Jayden didn’t waste any time when he felt how bad Noah needed him. He immediately moved a hand down into his mate’s slick-soaked underwear and pushed a finger inside him. It was so hot and warm in there, and Noah’s muscles were tightly clenching around his finger. He decided to tease him a bit, and began fingering him deep and slow, seeking out that sweet spot deep inside Noah that would make him jolt with arousal.  
  
The sound that spilled from Noah’s lips and the jerk he made when Jayden made contact with that spot inside him made Jayden grin deviously. He kept his finger pressed against that spot, stimulating it well but without really giving Noah what he needed.  
  
“C-Connor, _ah!_ God,” Noah moaned, his wings unfurling and dropping behind him. “Please stop teasing, I need—”  
  
“Need what?” Jayden purred into his ear, and pressed hard against that spot again.  
  
Noah thought he was going crazy. It felt so _good_ when Jayden pressed against that place, but he wanted more – _needed_ more. And Jayden, that sneaky bastard, _knew_ that.  
  
“I need _more,_ ” Noah growled, too embarrassed to say the words that Jayden wanted to hear.  
  
“More what?” Jayden teased, not letting Noah escape so easily. “More of my fingers?”  
  
“No,” Noah growled, only to give a desperate whine when Jayden started rubbing that spot instead of just pressing against it. “I-I want…”  
  
“Yeah?” Jayden prompted, now nibbling at Noah’s earlobe while the sub was twisting and shifting in his lap while he was being fingered.  
  
Noah groaned deeply, hating it when Jayden made him say embarrassing things, even though the alpha knew damn well what it was that he needed. “I want your cock. Inside me. All the way,” he finally said, his voice rough from arousal and irritation.  
  
Jayden grinned smugly against him. “See? Wasn’t so hard to say out loud.”  
  
There was a growl before Jayden felt Noah smack him in the chest, but the alpha just laughed at it. Noah was so damn cute when he was grumpy and embarrassed.  
  
Finally, Jayden pulled his finger out. It was coated with Noah’s juices, and he couldn’t resist bringing his finger up to his mouth to lick the sweetness off, before grabbing Noah and guiding him onto his cock. He had to reach behind his mate to pull his panties out of the way so his cock could gain entrance, but once it did, Noah wasted no time before pushing himself onto Jayden’s dick, taking him as far in as he could go.  
  
“Fuck!” Jayden cursed, biting his lip as he felt the hot heat of Noah’s ass around his cock. He never got tired of this, and especially not when his mate was pregnant with their baby. It turned Jayden on so much that he had knocked Noah up, made him swell with their child, and created a new life together. And Noah had _let him_ do that. He had let him have him when he was at his most vulnerable during his heat. He had shared something with him that was the most beautiful thing in the world; something that Noah would only share with the one person that he loved and trusted the most, and that person was Jayden.  
  
Noah’s heart was beating so fast in his chest, and his entire body was restless and alive because he was so aroused. The whine that escaped his lips when he sank onto Jayden’s cock was both embarrassing and desperate, but he couldn’t help it. It felt like a thirst was being quenched.  
  
“J-Jayden,” Noah moaned, leaning forward to bury his face in Jayden’s shoulder and throwing his arms around him.  
  
Jayden’s cock twitched at the way Noah said his name, and he growled softly before burying his face in Noah’s neck, breathing in his gorgeous scent.  
  
Finally, they started moving.  
  
Jayden thrust up desperately into Noah, while Noah responded by rolling his hips and meeting his every thrust. Their hands clutched at any part they could reach on the other, and held on tight to the other while they rode out their pleasures.  
  
When Noah’s fingers moved up to bury themselves in Jayden’s feathers, Jayden had to soften them completely to prevent him from cutting himself.  
  
The feel of his alpha’s softened feathers, and how easily Jayden trusted him to see him and touch him like that made Noah feel so overwhelmed with love. He loved that soft, open part of Jayden. The part that made the alpha let down all his walls around him and allowed him to _really_ see him. Most alphas thought it was a weakness to do that, but Noah thought it was a strength; the greatest strength an alpha could have. And it only made him love Jayden more.  
  
It didn’t take long for them to reach their climax, and Jayden forced Noah over the edge by reaching down between them and rubbing his hand against his mate’s still clothed member. He felt it twitch desperately behind the silken panties until Noah came with a cry, and Jayden’s hand was rewarded by the fluid that spilled from Noah’s little cock. His own come was released deep inside Noah, in wave after wave, until his balls had nothing left to spill for now.  
  
After their orgasms, both were left feeling sated and exhausted. Noah collapsed into Jayden, panting heavily against his mate’s muscled chest, while the alpha leaned his head back against the wall and dwelled in the afterglow. His dick twitched every now and then because Noah was still all hot and wet around him, but his erection was slowly fading.  
  
After a few minutes sitting like this, Jayden finally found the strength to carefully guide Noah off his lap and help him lie down on the bed. He pulled the submissive’s slick and come stained panties off him and threw them to the floor, before lying down next to him, facing him.  
  
They lay there quietly for a few minutes, just watching and smiling at each other. Their bond flared warmly inside them, and neither could stop staring at the other with adoration.  
  
After a few minutes, Noah finally broke the silence.  
  
“I’d lick you clean, but I’m just feeling too lazy right now…”  
  
Jayden laughed at that. It was a warm, amused laugh. “Hey, don’t tease a man with such claims! Or he will force you to do it anyways.”  
  
“You wouldn’t force me,” Noah said softly, giving him a trusting smile.  
  
Jayden returned the smile, and stared into the deep blue depths of Noah’s eyes. “Yeah, I wouldn’t. But it would be, well, _nice_ if you did…”  
  
Noah laughed, and forced himself to overcome his laziness so that he could climb down between Jayden’s legs and lick him clean.  
  
Obviously, Jayden hadn’t expected him to actually _do_ it, judging from how surprised he seemed, but once Noah’s tongue was lapping the slick and come off his cock, Jayden certainly wasn’t complaining.  
  
The soft moans Jayden was making while he licked him clean made Noah smile. He liked pleasing Jayden, and hearing his alpha’s pleasured moans and grunts was one the best things he knew. The taste wasn’t bad either. Jayden’s come always had a nice peach-like taste to it, and his own slick was kind of sweet as well. He licked it all off dutifully before climbing up to lie down at Jayden’s side again.  
  
“Fuck, that was nice. Thanks,” Jayden grinned, full of euphoria.  
  
Noah chuckled and licked his lips clean. “You’re welcome.”  
  
They moved closer together, and Jayden pulled Noah tightly against him so he could hold him in his arms as they lay down to sleep.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but purr, feeling content and safe in his mate’s protective arms.  
  
“I love you,” Jayden whispered, pressing a kiss to Noah’s head.  
  
Noah smiled and snuggled into him. “I love you too.”  
  
They closed their eyes to sleep, feeling content with how things were.  
  
The thought of the new baby was exciting, and it was a relief that the kids had responded well to the news.  
  
Their only concern right now was Steven and his influence on Derek, but hopefully Jayden would be able to have a talk to the boy’s parents soon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have not yet managed to find a new beta, but my current/old beta agreed to beta this chapter for me before her baby comes :) But the position for a new beta is still open, if anyone is interested. If I don’t manage to find a new beta, I will still update my story, of course, but you should expect a few more errors than usual if I have to look through my chapters alone without a beta.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope to have the next chapter up soon :)


	51. Chapter 51

**October 2061 (Noah is 35, Jayden is 37, Nathan is 11 (almost 12), Derek is 7, Dylan is 4, Kaylen is 36, Lucas is 33 years old).**  
  
It was another busy day at work in the kindergarten. Noah had classes to teach and children to attend to, as usual, but today it wasn’t quite as much fun as it usually was. He was still suffering from morning sickness from his pregnancy, and unfortunately he was one of those people who didn’t just feel it in the beginning of their pregnancy, but through most of it.  
  
It was difficult to concentrate on his job when he felt like throwing up all the time, and he had already thrown up once that day. Not to mention that he felt sicker than usual today because of the additional headache he had.  
  
Noah’s sickness didn’t go unnoticed by Lucas, who pulled him aside during the lunchbreak to talk to him.  
  
“Are you okay? You don’t look so good, Noah…” Lucas said, placing a concerned hand on his friend’s shoulder as they stood in the corner together.  
  
The kids were shouting, laughing, and screaming all around them, but it was quieter in the corner where they could have some privacy.  
  
“I’m okay,” Noah said, though he clearly wasn’t. “It’s just morning sickness. And a headache…”  
  
Lucas’ worried frown deepened, and his hand gently rubbed Noah’s shoulder for comfort. “Maybe you should go home and rest?”  
  
Noah sighed, brushing his wing against Lucas’ to let him know that he was grateful for his concern. “But I already had one sick day this month… I really don’t want to take another.”  
  
Lucas gave him an understanding smile, rubbing his shoulder again. “I’m sure Elizabeth will understand.”   
  
Elizabeth was their boss, and she was usually very understanding towards such things. Besides, Noah and Lucas were some of the teachers who had least sick days per year, so Lucas was sure that she would be fine with it.   
  
Noah felt a little reluctant, but knew that Lucas was right. He was no good to anyone when he couldn’t concentrate properly on his job, and the children deserved to get a proper education. “Yeah, okay. I’ll go ask Elizabeth if it’s okay that I leave early. I hope someone else can take my last couple of classes…”  
  
“You have an English class at 1pm, right?” Lucas asked, a smile spreading on his lips. “I also have to teach an English class at that time, so I can just gather all the kids together and teach them at the same time. It’s not a problem. And I think Rose can probably take your last class today. I will ask her.”  
  
“Really?” Noah felt such relief that Lucas would do that for him.  
  
Lucas smiled, nodding. “Yes. Now go home. You look like you’re about to throw up again,” he chuckled.  
  
“It’s not funny,” Noah groaned, but chuckled a bit as well.  
  
Lucas laughed softly, and gave Noah a warm hug before parting ways with him.  
  
  
***  
  
  
After being allowed to go home earlier that day, Noah got into his car and drove off home.   
  
He was looking forward to crashing on the couch for a while and just rest, but he had had to take Dylan home with him. The boy was in pre-kindergarten now, which was connected to the kindergarten that Noah worked at, so it was most convenient for him to just take him home with him right away instead of driving back for him later. He knew he would be too tired to drive back later, anyways, and Jayden wouldn’t be off work until about 8pm tonight.  
  
Dylan was sitting in the child seat in the car’s backseat as they drove home, singing cheerful children songs to himself while playing with his favorite dinosaur toy.  
  
Noah smiled as he listened to him singing, and watched him in the rearview mirror every now and then. Sometimes he sang along with him, which made Dylan grin happily. The boy loved it when Noah sang songs with him.  
  
“Look, mommy! A doggie!” Dylan chirped when he spotted a dog on the sidewalk. They were waiting for green lights at an intersection, and Dylan had spotted a rather large dog outside the car. A young human woman was walking the dog, and Dylan gaped at how big it was. “Whoa! So big!”  
  
Noah glanced out the window at the dog, and was quite impressed by the size too. “Oh, I think that’s a grand danios; one of the biggest dog breeds there is.”  
  
Dylan watched the dog in awe. “It’s a dinosaur!”  
  
Noah laughed at that, and shook his head fondly at Dylan’s comment. Of course it wasn’t a dinosaur, and Dylan knew that, but he knew that dinosaurs were big, just like that dog, so that was probably why he had said it.  
  
“Imma tell daddy we saw big dog!” Dylan exclaimed, just as Noah drove forward at green lights, away from the dog.  
  
“Yeah, you do that. I’m sure he’ll be amazed,” Noah chuckled.  
  
They drove the rest of the way home, and Dylan started telling Noah a bit about his day in the pre-kindergarten. He sometimes still had trouble putting sentences together, since he was only four years old, but Noah mostly understood what he was saying. Dylan was telling about a girl who had a birthday today, and how they had all eaten cake for lunch and sung a birthday song to her. He had also managed to persuade one of the teachers to let him taste her coffee, along with a few of the other kids, but none of them had liked it. Dylan said it was bitter and disgusting, to which Noah could only laugh and agree. Noah didn’t care much for coffee either, but Jayden liked it once in a while.  
  
When they came home, Noah helped Dylan out of the car and into the house. The boy was so full of energy and wanted to run outside and play in the garden right away, and Noah sighed when he realized he wouldn’t get to rest on the couch just yet – he had to keep an eye on Dylan, after all.  
  
Noah made space for himself by the outdoor table on the terrace while Dylan played in the garden. From there he could keep an eye on the boy and make sure he didn’t get into trouble.   
  
He put a soft cushion one of the chairs, pulled out a footstool from the living room to rest his feet on, and sat back in the chair with a pleased sigh.  
  
It was nice weather today, and Noah had to unfold the parasol to protect himself from the sun. He had also poured generous amounts of sun lotion onto Dylan’s skin, and given him a hat to protect the vulnerable skin on his head with before sitting down to rest.   
  
With his favorite book in his hands and a nice cool glass of water next to him, Noah felt ready to relax for a while.   
  
It would be a couple of hours until Nathan and Derek came home from school. He had texted Nathan to ask him to take Derek with him home on the school bus today, so that he wouldn’t have to pick him up later. Nathan was old enough to be home on his own now, so he usually took the school bus home after school and was alone until Noah or Jayden came home (unless he was visiting a friend), while Derek usually stayed in the after school care until he was picked up.  
  
Dylan was good at entertaining himself, so Noah sat back in his chair and relaxed, and looked up every once in a while to see what Dylan was up to.  
  
His nausea was still there, but getting hydrated and relaxing made Noah feel better. He had also taken a painkiller for his headache, though he preferred not to take too many pills when he was pregnant.  
  
While enjoying his book, Noah unconsciously moved his other hand over his belly once in a while. He had a nice bump there now, and was already 20 weeks pregnant. They didn’t know yet if it was a boy or a girl, but they were having a scan next week to find out what gender their baby was. Noah had an instinctive feeling that the baby was a girl. He didn’t know why, but he just felt it.  
  
Dylan played outside for an hour until he got tired and wanted a nap.  
  
Noah took him inside, and decided they could both take a nap on the couch together. Dylan was all in on that idea, and Noah carefully wrapped Dylan in a thin blanket so he wouldn’t be cold, despite the warm weather.  
  
“Is da baby gonna sleep too?” Dylan asked as Noah tucked him into the blanket. He sucked lightly on his thumb while staring up at Noah with his large, blue/grey eyes. He had Jayden’s eyes, Noah noted with a smile.  
  
“Yes, the baby is gonna sleep too, along with mommy,” Noah confirmed, and leaned down to press a soft kiss to Dylan’s forehead. “And you’re also gonna sleep now.”  
  
“Okay!”  
  
Dylan closed his eyes and settled down to sleep. Noah hovered by his side for a while until Dylan’s breathing got deeper, indicating he was asleep, before carefully moving over to sleep on the other side of the couch. Dylan was sleeping on the shorter end, and Noah lay down on the longer end.  
  
He had to be careful with his stomach as he lay down on the couch, but he managed. Finding a comfortable position was starting to get a little tricky, though, since some positions didn’t feel so nice because of his baby bump, but he eventually managed to find a comfortable position on his side, and finally fell asleep as well.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Noah and Dylan were both woken from their naps about an hour and a half later when Nathan and Derek came home.  
  
Noah stirred as Derek’s loud voice woke him up, and he carefully moved up to sit on the couch. He was still feeling tired, though, almost as if he hadn’t slept at all. He rubbed his eyes lazily, until he suddenly realized that something was off. There was someone else there along with Nathan and Derek.  
  
Alarmed, Noah opened his eyes and stared in the direction of the doorway to the entrance hall, only to see Derek entering the room with his friend Dwayne.  
  
Seeing Dwayne at the house really surprised Noah, since they had a rule that the kids shouldn’t bring home friends unless they had talked to him or Jayden about it first, and Noah knew nothing of Dwayne’s visit.  
  
Dylan had also woken up, and yawned as he sat up and looked over at Derek and Dwayne.  
  
“Hi, mom! I brought Dwayne over,” Derek announced simply as he entered the living room, and moved towards the terrace door to go outside and play with his friend.  
  
“Hi,” Dwayne greeted Noah with a polite smile before following after Derek.  
  
“Whoa, wait!” Noah stopped them. “You didn’t tell me Dwayne was coming over.” He gave Derek a serious look for breaking their important house rule.  
  
Derek cringed, and suddenly looked like a dog that had been caught stealing cookies.  
  
“What?!” Nathan exclaimed as he entered the room. He shot an accusing glare at Derek. “You told me that mom gave you permission to bring Dwayne over to play! You lied!”  
  
“So what? I say Dwayne can stay, so he can stay,” Derek retorted, sticking out his tongue at Nathan in defiance.  
  
“That’s not how it works!” Nathan argued, angered by his brother’s lack of respect. “You’re not an adult! You don’t make the decisions.”  
  
“But I’m an _alpha,_ ” Derek argued back, glaring at Nathan. “And alphas decide!”  
  
“Alphas decide, my butt! Mom is the adult – he’s in charge here!”  
  
“But mom is no alpha!”  
  
Nathan growled, feeling completely and utterly frustrated with Derek now. He couldn’t believe Derek had actually said that, right in front of Noah, and that he was being so impudent and bratty.  
  
Dylan held his breath after what Derek had just said. He curled up a little, using the blanket for comfort while witnessing the situation around him.  
  
Noah finally had enough. He was upset with Derek for being so disrespectful, but he couldn’t send Dwayne home now. The boy’s parents were probably not even home yet.   
  
“Derek, that’s enough!” Noah got up from the couch, trying to hide how tired he was, even though his wobbly legs probably revealed it. “You know very well that you are supposed to ask for permission before bringing friends over.” Noah put as much authority into his voice as he could to get some respect from the young alpha, hoping it would work.  
  
Derek didn’t lower his wings and tail in submission like he usually did when it was Jayden who was lecturing him, but his head bowed a little, showing that he taking Noah’s words a bit seriously after all. It didn’t make it better that Dwayne was right there next to him – Derek didn’t want to look like a mama’s boy in front of his alpha friend, so he was putting up a tough facade to act cool. “Yeah, I know…” he grumbled, annoyed.  
  
Noah sighed, biting back his own frustration. He glanced at Dwayne, who was looking a bit more submissive than Derek right now, and who was probably afraid that Noah would send him home. But of course Noah couldn’t do that.  
  
“Just… Go outside and play,” Noah sighed, waving them off. “But when your dad gets home, we’re gonna have a serious talk.” He gave Derek a stern look, and saw a flicker of nervousness in the boy’s eyes for a second.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Derek said, dismissively rolling his eyes before running outside with Dwayne.  
  
Once again, Nathan growled in annoyance at Derek’s obvious lack of respect. He was also angry at himself for believing Derek when he had said that Noah had allowed him to bring Dwayne over today. He felt like he should have called Noah to confirm it instead of just trusting Derek’s words.  
  
“Sorry, mom… I really thought that he had talked to you about it,” Nathan said, his wings drooping a bit behind him as he glanced in Noah’s direction.  
  
Noah sighed, and gave his belly a small rub. “It’s alright. It’s not your fault, Nathan.”  
  
“Why didn’t you just send Dwayne home? That would teach Derek a lesson.”  
  
“Because I don’t know if his parents are home or not, and I’m honestly too tired to deal with it right now…” Noah said, supporting his stomach as he slowly walked over to Dylan, who was looking a bit upset about what had happened.  
  
“Why Derek so mean?” Dylan asked, glancing up at Noah with a forlorn look on his face.  
  
“Because he has bad manners sometimes,” Noah explained softly, and swept a loving hand through Dylan’s hairs. “And it’s time for you to get up now. Nap is over.”  
  
Dylan whined softly, but obeyed. He got up so that he was standing on the couch with his bare feet, and let Noah correct his ruffled clothes and feathers before jumping off the couch and running over to Nathan.  
  
“Nathan, Nathan! Play hide and seek?” Dylan begged, tugging at his brother’s shirt while jumping around in front of him.  
  
Nathan laughed softly, and brushed Dylan with his tail. “Okay, but only for a bit. I have homework.”  
  
“Yay!” Dylan cheered, and ran off to hide somewhere while Nathan did the counting.  
  
Noah chuckled at them. He let Nathan be in charge of looking after the kids for a bit, while he went to the toilet. He felt the need to throw up again, and had a slight pressure in his bladder that he needed to take care of.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Having Dwayne at the house was always quite exhausting for Noah. He and Derek were awfully noisy, and their play got quite wild sometimes. Noah had to constantly keep an eye on them, because suddenly they would decide to do things they weren’t supposed to do, like kicking balls into Noah’s flowerbeds, scaring the crap out of Midnight, knocking things off the shelves by accident because of their wild play, disappearing into the street, or playing with dangerous gardens tool that Noah had no idea how they got their hands on.  
  
But at least Dwayne was a far better option than Steven. After finding out that Steven had told Derek and the other boys in class about sex, and how his bad behavior was starting to rub off on them, Jayden had gone over to Steven’s house to have a serious conversation with the boy’s parents. Steven’s father hadn’t taken the critique that well at first, but had agreed that things were out of hand. Since then, Steven had started acting a little nicer – probably because his dad had given him a nice scolding for what he had done. Because Steven was acting better, Derek had been allowed to play with him again. Noah still felt rather uncomfortable letting Derek hang out with an alpha like Steven, though, but Derek refused to stop talking to his friend.  
  
One thing that Noah was very grateful for was that Nathan was good at helping him keep the boys under control, even though Derek had even less respect for Nathan than he did for Noah, sometimes. Dwayne, however, had more respect for Nathan than Derek did, most likely because Nathan was older and Dwayne wasn’t quite as dominant as Derek was.  
  
Dylan often tried to join the boys in their games, but they would almost always reject him. He wasn’t old enough to play as wild as they did, and Derek didn’t think it was cool to have his little brother join him and his friend in their play, especially because of Dylan’s softer nature. Though, he did play with Dylan when they were alone sometimes – he just didn’t like it when his friends were there.  
  
It was almost evening already, but Noah didn’t have to spend a lot of time cooking tonight – Nathan had promised to cook some pasta for them. It also probably wouldn’t be long until Dwayne’s parents came to pick him up. The boy had said that he had called his mom to tell her where he was, and that she’d pick him up at around 6pm.  
  
In the late afternoon, Nathan did his homework at the table in the dining room, so that he wasn’t too far away to help Noah in case he needed it.  
  
Dylan was eager to play with Nathan, but Nathan had to concentrate on his homework, so Noah decided to entertain him in the living room instead. He grabbed a box of memory cards and splayed them across the couch table, so that he and Dylan could play together. The game was a good way to train Dylan’s memory skills, and it was fun to play.  
  
“Aww, you won again,” Noah whined softly when Dylan got more cards right than he did. They had played five other rounds, and Noah had won three of those, so now they were even.  
  
“Yay!” Dylan cheered, throwing his arms up with a big grin on his face. “Mommy, you suck.”  
  
Noah laughed, knowing that Dylan didn’t mean anything rude by it; he was just mimicking what he always heard Derek and Nathan say. “Yes, I guess I do.”  
  
Dylan collected the cards clumsily, wanting to play once more. “Cans the baby play too, when it come out?” He glanced at Noah, curiously waiting for a reply.  
  
Noah chuckled softly, and helped Dylan prepare the cards for a new game. “Yeah, the baby can play too. But first when he or she gets a little older.”  
  
Dylan made a disappointed noise at that, hating that he would have to wait.  
  
Derek and Dwayne were still playing outside, and Noah suddenly remembered that he hadn’t checked on the boys for about ten minutes now. He sighed as he forced himself to stand. “I’ll be back in a moment, sweetie. I have to check on Derek and Dwayne.”  
  
“Okay,” Dylan chirped, continuing to prepare the cards on his own.  
  
Noah got up and walked out on the sunny terrace, scanning the garden with his eyes to spot Derek and Dwayne somewhere. He frowned when he couldn’t see them at first glance, until he suddenly spotted something in one of the trees in the garden.  
  
A horrified gasp escaped Noah’s lips when he saw that Derek and Dwayne were busy climbing the tree, even though Derek knew very well that it was too dangerous and off limits.  
  
“Derek!” he shouted, storming over to the tree while looking up at the boys in horror.  
  
Derek was furthest up in the tree – about four meters up (13.12 feet), while Dwayne was a little below him, but on the other side of the tree.  
  
The tree was full of thick branches, making it easy to climb, but there were some branches that were thin and certainly not meant to climb on. Noah was absolutely horrified to see just how far Derek had managed to climb in that tree.  
  
“Get down here right now!” Noah scolded, glaring up at Derek with anger as well as fear in his eyes.  
  
Derek stopped climbing and cast a glance down at Noah. “But I don’t wanna! I’m almost at the top, mom!”  
  
“I don’t care! It’s too dangerous to climb that high! Get down _right now,_ ” Noah growled, getting more and more nervous as he watched the boys in the tree. Four meters was way too much for a couple of seven-year olds to be climbing, and Noah was glad that they hadn’t managed to climb up further before he caught them. Two meters was the absolute maximum that Noah would allow the kids to climb; anything higher than that could result in broken bones.  
  
Noah’s shouting had alerted Nathan, who came out into the garden to see what was going on. He had told Dylan to stay inside, and the younger boy kept playing with the memory cards while Nathan went outside. He was shocked to see Derek and Dwayne climbing in the tree, and immediately came over to Noah.  
  
“Derek, what are you doing?!” Nathan demanded, staring up at his brother in horror.  
  
Derek rolled his eyes, thinking his family was overreacting way too much. “I’m just climbing. I’ve got it under control.”  
  
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Dwayne reassured them, and glanced down at them as well.  
  
Noah growled, frustrated that those stubborn alpha boys just wouldn’t listen to him. “When I say you get down, you get down! _Right now!_ ” He rubbed his pregnant stomach in a nervous gesture while staring up at the boys with the best authoritative face he could muster at the moment.  
  
Derek stopped and cast a glance at Dwayne, contemplating what to do.  
  
Dwayne glanced back at Derek, and did a light shrug while clinging to the tree. “I guess we better go down…”  
  
Derek let out an annoyed growl at that, and irritably began climbing down. “Stupid family! I’m not a baby! I can climb a tree without—”   
  
Derek had been too busy complaining about his family to realize that he hadn’t placed his foot properly on the branch below him. That was a mistake he was about to pay for.  
  
Derek’s foot slipped on the branch, and he didn’t have enough time to grab onto another one before he was suddenly falling directly onto the ground at the bottom of the tree.   
  
It happened so fast – one moment Derek was climbing down, and the next he was falling from four meter’s height. His wings instinctively spread out, but the muscles were not strong enough to carry his weight, causing him to fall down anyway.  
  
Everyone gasped in horror as Derek hit the ground with a loud thud and a pained cry.  
  
 _“Derek!”_ Noah cried out, immediately running over to check on his son. He couldn’t believe what had just happened.  
  
Dwayne watched the scene in horror from where he was still clinging to the tree, and his arms instinctively hugged the tree tighter after seeing his friend fall down.  
  
Both Noah and Nathan were by Derek’s side immediately. The boy had fallen quite far from the tree, but despite the fall he wasn’t screaming or crying in pain. At first, Noah thought that maybe he had miraculously escaped with only bruises, until he saw Derek’s right arm, which the boy had landed on. He knew at first glance that the arm was broken, though it wasn’t too graphic.  
  
“Owww, _fuck!_ ” Derek whined loudly, his first words since the fall. He almost sounded more annoyed than hurt, though it was clear that he was in terrible pain, but was holding back. He bit hard into his lip as he fought the instinct to cry at the heavy pain in his arm and aching body, and tried to slowly sit up on his knees in the grass. Every movement made his arm ache violently, and it took everything he had to hold back the cries of pain.  
  
“Oh my god,” Nathan gasped, staring at Derek in horror.  
  
Noah was equally mortified. Why did Derek always have to get himself into those situations when Jayden wasn’t around? Noah didn’t like handling injuries, and now his son had just broken his arm. It was the worst day ever.  
  
“Don’t move,” Noah told Derek when the boy tried to sit up more. He kneeled by Derek’s side, finding it pretty uncomfortable because of his bump, but he had to attend to Derek. He cringed when he looked at the arm, and tried to soothe Derek by rubbing circles into his shoulder. “Why did you climb that tree, huh? This is exactly _why_ you’re not allowed to do it!” he scolded, holding back his own tears as he watched Derek holding back his.  
  
“But…” Derek started, his voice cracking. “S-Sorry…” he murmured, and let out a long groan of pain.  
  
“Are you okay?” Dwayne asked from the tree, too scared to climb down yet.  
  
“Yeah, I’m cool!” Derek shouted back, though it wasn’t true at all.  
  
“No, you aren’t,” Nathan said dryly, rolling his eyes at how Derek was trying to act tough in front of his alpha friend.  
  
Noah slowly helped Derek to his feet, cringing every time Derek made a grunt or groan that showed how much pain he was in. He then glanced up at Dwayne, who was still in the tree. “Dwayne, come down now. But be careful!”  
  
Dwayne nodded, and swallowed nervously before daring to climb down. He made sure to do it very slowly, and Nathan stayed at the bottom of the tree to catch him in case things went wrong.  
  
A few seconds later, Dwayne was safely back on the ground. “Does he need a doctor?” he asked, looking at Noah and then at Derek.  
  
“Yes, he needs to go to the hospital,” Noah confirmed, sighing. “Nathan, go get Dylan; we’re leaving now,” he told Nathan, before looking at Dwayne again. “Dwayne, can you call your parents and ask them to pick you up now?”  
  
Dwayne nodded, staring between Noah’s face and Derek’s injured arm. “Yeah, okay…”  
  
“But I dun wanna go to the hospital,” Derek whined, giving Noah a pleading look.  
  
“You should have thought of that before you went climbing in that tree.” Noah didn’t hide his indifference for Derek’s preferences as he spoke, and Derek quickly closed his mouth after that.  
  
They walked up to the house so they could leave for the hospital soon. Dwayne was calling his mom while they walked, and Derek was still trying to act tough and keep his chin high despite the burning ache in his arm.  
  
When they reached the house, Dylan was standing at the glass door to the living room, staring at them worriedly. “Whut happen?” he asked, his voice small and concerned. His fingers were leaving marks on the glass door, which he usually always got scolded for, but everyone was too busy with Derek to take notice.  
  
“Derek hurt himself again,” Nathan explained. He gently ushered Dylan back into the living room, and tried to shield his view of Derek’s broken arm as Noah entered the room with Derek and led him to the entrance hall. “He has to go to the hospital, and we have to go with him.”  
  
“Oh.” Dylan thought about Nathan’s words for a bit before stating, “Derek is silly.”  
  
Nathan laughed out loud at that, and couldn’t agree more. “Yeah, he is. He always gets hurt, huh?”  
  
Dylan nodded. “Uh-huh.”  
  
“I can hear you, you know!” Derek chided, casting a glare over his shoulder at them while Noah led him to the entrance hall so they could get ready to leave.  
  
“Oh, that’s funny. Earlier you were so busy not listening to anything mom was telling you, and now look where that got you,” Nathan quipped back.  
  
Derek growled and was about to go over and give Nathan a piece of his mind, but the sharp pain he felt in his arm when he suddenly turned around made him wince and stop in his tracks.  
  
“Derek!” Noah scolded. “Don’t move your arm, and leave Nathan alone. And come here; we’re leaving soon.”  
  
Derek sent Nathan a glare before doing as his mom told him.  
  
Dwayne managed to get through to his mother on the phone, and she arrived ten minutes later to pick him up, just when everybody was about to get into the car and leave for the hospital. Dwayne’s mother was shocked to hear what had happened to Derek, and gave Dwayne a nice scolding for climbing in the tree even though he knew he wasn’t supposed to.  
  
After Dwayne had left with his mom, Noah got all the kids into the car and hurried off to the hospital. He hadn’t wanted to bring Dylan, because he was worried that the boy would be too upset when seeing his big brother in pain and all, but he couldn’t let Dylan stay home alone – and he needed Nathan in the car to make sure that Derek was okay on the backseat with his broken arm. So in the end they all ended up going to the hospital.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Derek was still keeping up the tough act when they arrived at the hospital. He hadn’t shed a single tear despite the pain, but his scrunched up face and his small whimpers of pain did indicate that he was in agony.  
  
Nathan thought it was ridiculous how Derek was more concerned about his ‘image’ than just giving in and reacting properly to the pain, but Derek got mad every time he brought it up.  
  
They went to the ER, where they had to sit and wait a bit until someone could attend to Derek’s injuries.   
  
Noah decided to give Jayden a call while they waited, seeing as he hadn’t had the time earlier because of all the chaos.  
  
He walked a bit away from the kids to make the call, leaving Nathan to look after Derek and Dylan on the waiting bench. He watched them bicker a bit back and forth while waiting for Jayden to pick up his phone, until he finally heard his mate’s voice on the other end.  
  
 _“Hello?”_  
  
“Hey, it’s me,” Noah replied, sighing in relief that Jayden had picked up.  
  
 _“Hey, baby,”_ Jayden smiled on the other end. _“What’s up? Why are you calling all of sudden? Wait, don’t tell me… It’s Derek again, isn’t it?”_  
  
Noah wasn’t surprised that Jayden knew his reason for calling him at work all of sudden – there was usually never any other reason why Noah would interrupt Jayden when he was at work.  
  
When hearing Noah’s groan of confirmation, Jayden sighed. _“What did he do now?”_  
  
“He climbed the big tree with Dwayne – whom he brought over without my permission – and fell and most likely broke his arm,” Noah sighed.  
  
There was a loud groan on the other end of the phone, and Noah could almost see Jayden running a hand down his face in frustration.  
  
 _“That boy is gonna make me age early…”_  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Noah agreed bitterly. “But we’re at the hospital now. I brought Nathan and Dylan with me. I don’t know how long this will take, so if we’re not there when you come home, you know why.”  
  
 _“Yeah, thanks. That’s nice to know.”_ There was a moment of silence before Jayden continued. _“How are you holding up? You didn’t faint from the whole injury-thing, did you?”_ He chuckled softly, and Noah rolled his eyes at him.  
  
“No,” Noah snorted, chuckling a bit. He glanced over at the kids, who were still waiting impatiently for a nurse on the bench, before going on. “But it wasn’t exactly a nice thing to witness.”  
  
 _“No shit. Did Dylan see it too?”_  
  
Noah shook his head. “No, he was inside.”  
  
 _“Good,”_ Jayden sighed, relieved. _“Anyway, I gotta run. I’ve got fifty customers waiting for their dinner here. I’ll see you tonight, okay? I’ll come home as soon as I can.”_  
  
Noah smiled, and gave a small nod even though Jayden couldn’t see him. “Okay. See you later.”  
 _  
“Good luck handling the boys,”_ Jayden chuckled. _“Goodbye. Love you.”_  
  
“I love you too. Bye,” Noah smiled before hanging up. He let out a small sigh before going back to the kids.  
  
“Jeez, Derek. Thanks to you, I’m missing the new episode of my favorite TV show tonight. Thanks a lot,” Nathan mumbled bitterly on the bench, glaring at Derek before looking back at his phone, which was he idly playing games on while waiting.  
  
“Not my fault!” Derek snapped back.  
  
“No, it was that fairy who kicked you down from the tree’s fault,” Nathan murmured, rolling his eyes.  
  
Derek growled and smacked Nathan hard on the thigh in retaliation. Luckily he was sitting on Nathan’s right side, so he could easily slap him with his left arm, which wasn’t injured.  
  
Dylan let out a loud whine, and reached across Nathan to slap Derek’s hand away from him. “No! Dun hit Nathan!”  
  
“Why not? He’s annoying!” Derek accused.  
  
Dylan glared at him with a pout. “’Cause hitting is bad!”  
  
“When you’re an alpha, you gotta hit someone sometimes. You might as well start learning that.”  
  
“Not true!”  
  
“Hey, stop it!” Noah ordered when he saw things escalating. He was walking back to a chaos, and that certainly wasn’t helping him feel any less tired. “Sit nicely and wait for a nurse to come.” He sat down with them next to Derek, and waited impatiently for it to be their turn.  
  
The boys were quiet after that, but were getting more and more bored while waiting.   
  
Nathan decided to show them some funny YouTube clips on his phone while they waited, but made sure not to be too loud so that they wouldn’t disturb the other patients in the waiting room.  
  
After another ten minutes, it was finally their turn.   
  
They all got up when Derek’s name was called, but soon they were all standing frozen in surprise when they saw the nurse in front of them. It was none other than Kaylen.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Kaylen grinned, looking between them and seemed to appreciate their shocked faces. “Got into trouble again?” he asked, looking mostly at Derek as he spoke.  
  
“Auntie Kaylen!” Dylan chirped out loud, a big grin on his face.  
  
Noah stared at Kaylen in surprised shock. It was rare that Kaylen was their nurse when they went to the ER with the kids, which happened every now and then because Derek was wild and clumsy, but it was always a pleasant surprise when they did meet Kaylen there.  
  
Nathan was also a little surprised to see Kaylen, but it was a welcome surprise.  
  
Kaylen smiled at Noah’s surprised face and explained, “I saw Derek’s name on the patient list, so I decided to take this one.” He shrugged a bit. “I figured he might prefer to have a familiar face deal with that nasty arm of his.” He cast a glance down at Derek’s arm, which the boy was holding against his body and trying not to move.  
  
“My arm’s not nasty,” Derek protested, frowning at Kaylen in offense.  
  
Kaylen laughed, and started leading them into another room, so a doctor could treat Derek’s arm. “It’s an expression, big guy.”  
  
Having Kaylen call him ‘big guy’ seemed to make Derek stand a little taller with pride, and Noah chuckled softly at that. Alphas were so silly sometimes, Noah thought.  
  
They all entered the treatment room, and Kaylen guided Derek over to the patient bed where he would be examined by a doctor. Kaylen would be staying with them as an assisting nurse.  
  
The doctor was a young human female with long, brown hair. She was very nice and patient towards Derek as she examined his arm.  
  
Once again, Derek was trying to act tough when his arm was touched and examined by the doctor, even though it hurt so much. He did make noises of pain, but didn’t cry or whimper.  
  
“Ow, ow, ow! Son of a _bitch!_ ” Derek cursed loudly when the doctor touched a particularly painful place on his arm.  
  
“Derek!” Noah scolded, horrified at the language he was using. He felt embarrassed in front of Kaylen and the doctor that his seven-year-old son would say such things, not to mention that Dylan was there to hear it too.  
  
Dylan was sitting with Nathan in the far corner of the room, so that he wouldn’t be too traumatized by the whole thing. The boy looked up when he heard his brother curse out loud like that, and Nathan wasn’t fast enough to cover his ears.  
  
The doctor laughed it off, though. “Wow, you’ve got quite a foul mouth there. But it does kind of help with the pain, doesn’t it?” she chuckled.  
  
“Yeah…” Derek admitted, feeling a little surprised by the doctor’s reaction. He had expected her to scold him.  
  
The doctor quickly looked over at Noah, who was also surprised that she didn’t seem upset. “I’m not saying that cursing is nice or the right thing to do, but it does kind of act like a small painkiller sometimes,” she explained, smiling.  
  
Noah hadn’t really thought about it before, but she was right. All the times he had stubbed his toes and cursed out loud had actually kind of helped dull the pain a bit. As much as he disapproved of the language Derek was using, he didn’t feel like he should scold him any further.  
  
“Anyway, we need to put a plaster on your arm, because it is definitely broken. I think it might even be broken in more than one place,” the doctor told Derek. "So we’re going to first take an x-ray of your arm to see the fracture and determine if there are more, which means that Kaylen will take you to the x-ray room now, and then we will put the plaster on afterwards, alright?”  
  
Derek groaned, not liking the idea of the plaster at all. “How long do I gotta wear that?”  
  
“Well, that depends on what the x-ray tells us, but probably about six weeks.”  
  
Derek’s eyes widened in horror. “Nooooo, how am I gonna play video games?! I’m gonna die!”  
  
The adults couldn’t help but laugh a bit at that, while Nathan snorted.  
  
Next, Derek was brought to the x-ray room so they could take an x-ray of his arm and see how bad the fractures were. It turned out he had two fractures in his arm, but they weren’t complicated, so a normal plaster should help.  
  
Derek was brought back to the treatment room after the x-ray, where Kaylen began applying the plaster on his arm.  
  
Noah felt a little restless the whole time, as he couldn’t help but be worried for Derek. But the doctor seemed nice, and the fact that Kaylen was the nurse really relaxed Noah – he knew Derek was in capable hands.  
  
After about twenty minutes, Derek’s arm was all wrapped up in a big, heavy plaster, and Kaylen put his arm in a sling to help him rest it.   
  
The doctor instructed Noah about what Derek should avoid doing with his broken arm, and informed him about good sleeping positions for him, and how he should bathe, etc.  
  
Derek had handled the whole thing pretty well. He was mostly just annoyed that his dominant hand would be pretty much useless for the next six weeks now, which meant he couldn’t play video games that well.  
  
Nathan felt like Derek had just gotten what he deserved, but of course he didn’t say that out loud; Noah would be angry with him if he started another fight with Derek.  
  
They were about ready to leave the room and go home when the doctor looked at Noah and spoke, “I see you’re pregnant. Everything feeling okay?”  
  
Noah was a little surprised by the question, and glanced down at his bump before looking back at her. “Yeah, I think… I’m just a little shaken up.”  
  
The doctor smiled and nodded in understanding. “Watching your kid fall from a tree and getting hurt isn’t a nice thing, so I’m not surprised that you’re shaken up. If you want me to, I can do a quick scan to see how your baby is doing? Just to be sure that you’re both alright after this ordeal.”  
  
Noah’s eyes lit up at the offer, and he definitely didn’t want to say no. “If it’s not a problem, I don’t mind you checking.”  
  
The doctor’s smile widened, and she immediately began preparing to do a quick ultrasound scan on him.  
  
Kaylen helped the doctor set up the equipment, but was still able to talk to the others. He glanced over at Noah while plugging in the ultrasound equipment, and curiously asked, “Oh right, I forgot to ask; do you know yet if it’s a boy or a girl? You mentioned a few weeks ago that you were gonna have a scan when you’re about 20 weeks in, which should be about now, right?”  
  
Noah smiled and shook his head. “No, we don’t know yet. Our appointment for that isn’t until next week.”  
  
“Oh. That’s a shame. I know how you and Jayden are so excited to see if you’re having a girl this time…”  
  
Before Noah could speak, the doctor intervened, “Oh, I can check that for you, if you want?”  
  
Again, Noah’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? That would be great,” he grinned, feeling excited to know already.  
  
Kaylen grinned as well, still busy setting up the machine. “Seems like you’re getting the full service here at the hospital today.”  
  
Noah laughed, and felt grateful to the doctor that she would do that for him. “Yeah.”  
  
Nathan was bursting with excitement when he heard what they were talking about. “So we’re finally gonna know if we’re having a new brother or a sister?”  
  
Noah was just as excited as Nathan was, and couldn’t stop rubbing his belly gently while waiting for Kaylen and the doctor to set up the equipment. “Seems like it, yes.”  
  
Nathan’s grin grew wider, dying to know already.  
  
When everything was set up, the doctor called for Noah to lie down on the patient bed so she could do the scan. Kaylen helped Noah lie down on the bed, and grabbed the gel to help pour it on Noah’s stomach.  
  
Dylan didn’t understand what was going on, but Derek did, since he had listened to what they had said. He was kind of impatient to go home, but at the same time he kind of wanted to know if he was having a new brother or a sister.  
  
Nathan grinned as he grabbed Dylan’s hand and led him over to where all the ultrasound equipment was. “Come on; let’s go see our new little brother or sister.”  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened as he followed his brother. “It’s gonna come out?”  
  
Nathan chuckled. “No. But the doctor can make an image of it appear on the screen so we can see.”  
  
“Ohh! That’s cool!”  
  
Dylan eagerly jumped over to watch the screen along with Nathan, and Derek also followed to see what was going on.  
  
As usual, the cold gel on Noah’s belly made him jerk a bit, but soon his attention was limited to what was going on on the screen next to him. He really wished that Jayden was there to witness this with him, but it couldn’t be helped. But at least the kids and Kaylen were there.  
  
Kaylen looked almost as excited as Noah to see what gender the baby was, and they all stared at the images on the screen, even though it was hard for them to make out what was what. The images were blurry and difficult to make out unless you had the training.  
  
First, the doctor checked Noah and the baby’s vitals to see if everything was okay, which it was. Noah’s stress levels were a little high, but that was normal given the situation with Derek and all. He’d recover soon enough, and the baby didn’t seem to have any trouble because of it.  
  
“Now, for the gender…” She moved the tool around on Noah’s belly, staring intensely at the screen. They all held their breath while the doctor was studying the screen, until finally she seemed to have discovered something. “Oh!” She grinned as she turned to look at Noah. “Good news; you’re having a baby girl.”  
  
“A-Are you sure?” Noah asked, holding his breath as he was almost unable to believe it.  
  
“Pretty sure,” the doctor chuckled. “I see no signs of any ‘male parts’ – which I would definitely be able to spot, because your baby’s position right now is ideal for a gender-check. So I’m completely positive that it’s a girl.”  
  
When the doctor said that, everyone in the room grinned in excitement.  
  
“Yes! _Finally_ a sister!” Nathan cheered, grinning happily.  
  
“Yay!” Dylan cheered, imitating Nathan.  
  
Derek wasn’t sure how to feel. He liked boys better than girls, because he thought girls were kind of dull to play with, but he already had two brothers at home, so having a sister wouldn’t hurt.  
  
Kaylen was also grinning, feeling happy for Noah. “Yay, finally a girl for you! And here I thought Jayden just didn’t have the ability to make one.”  
  
Noah flushed at that remark, but he was getting used to how Kaylen was sometimes almost exactly like Isaac when it came to making such comments.  
  
The doctor smiled at their positive reactions, and quickly printed some images from the screen before putting away the ultrasound tools. “Everything’s looking good, though; but your blood pressure is a little high, but that’s probably because of today’s stress. Go home, eat, relax, and you’ll be fine, and so will your baby.”  
  
Kaylen handed Noah a tissue to wipe the gel off his stomach with when the scan was over.  
  
“Thank you so much,” Noah told the doctor, giving her a grateful smile, before letting Kaylen help him off the bed.  
  
“You’re welcome,” she smiled. “And take care. And no more climbing in trees!” she told Derek before they left the room.  
  
“I’ll climb trees again when I get this thing off!” Derek retorted, gesturing at the plaster while grinning mischievously.  
  
The doctor laughed softly, while Noah and Nathan both groaned – they definitely didn’t want to go through this one more time if Derek fell down from a tree again.  
  
Noah felt relieved that the whole hospital thing was over now. Derek’s arm was now wrapped safely in a plaster to help him heal, and he had been given painkillers to help him get through the night. And of course, Noah was feeling really happy that he finally knew for sure now that he was carrying a baby girl. He couldn’t stop rubbing his belly as they left the treatment room, and he smiled as he tried to imagine what Jayden’s reaction to the good news would be like.  
  
“As much as I enjoy you guys’ company, I really hope to not see you back here anytime soon,” Kaylen said when they were back out in the hallway and had to part ways. He chuckled at them, and gave Derek a somewhat accusing stare, since it was his fault that they always ended up in the ER.  
  
Derek pouted in offense, while Nathan snickered at him.  
  
Noah cringed at Kaylen’s words. “Yeah, we’ll try… Thanks for everything. It was really calming to have you around.”  
  
A smile appeared on Kaylen’s lips as he reached out and grabbed both of Noah’s hands for comfort. “You’re welcome. And let’s meet up again soon, shall we? It’s been a few weeks since you guys last visited us, so why don’t you drop by soon and stay for a night? I’m sure Eliza and Jake will be very excited to play with their cousins.” He smiled down at the kids as he spoke.  
  
Nathan’s face lit up the idea. “Yeah, that sounds great! Does Eliza still play Pokémon?”  
  
Kaylen laughed. “Yeah, she does. She’s a total geek about it.”  
  
Nathan grinned, already looking forward to playing with his cousin again. He and Eliza had always gotten along well, and were just a few months apart in age.  
  
Derek was also looking excited to see their cousins again. He liked Eliza, but he got along better with Jake, who was Isaac and Kaylen’s six-year-old beta son. Derek mostly only played with other alphas, but he liked playing with Jake – he was always up for mischief.  
  
“Cans we play water fight again?” Dylan asked, remembering how much fun it had been last time he was at Isaac and Kaylen’s place, where Isaac had chased the kids around the big garden with a water gun and splayed them all full of water.  
  
Kaylen laughed at his question. “Yeah, sure. I think Isaac will be offended if you guys didn’t wanna play water fight with him.”  
  
Noah chuckled and agreed. Isaac never stopped being silly and childish, which was why the kids loved him so much.  
  
Kaylen turned his attention back to Noah, and gave his hands a warm squeeze. “Anyway, I gotta get back to my job. I still have another three hours left of my shift. But it was nice seeing you guys again, despite the circumstances. And greet Jayden from me, okay? After you tell him the good news about the baby,” he grinned.  
  
Noah smiled back. “Sure, I will. Thanks. And greet Isaac from me.”  
  
“Will do,” Kaylen grinned, and finally let go of Noah’s hands.  
  
“Bye, Auntie Kaylen!” Dylan chirped, waving at him as they walked down the hallway towards the exit.  
  
Kaylen smiled and waved back at all of them until they were gone.  
  
  
***  
  
  
When they got home, Derek crashed on the couch immediately. He wanted to play video games and was annoyed that he couldn’t, but at least he could still watch TV and play soccer. Nathan didn’t feel sorry for him at all, seeing as it was Derek’s own fault for climbing trees when he knew he wasn’t supposed to.  
  
Jayden hadn’t come home yet, despite it being 8:35pm already. Noah guessed that he probably got held up at work for some reason, which wasn’t unusual.  
  
Since neither Noah nor Nathan were in the mood for cooking anymore, they had dropped by a small diner on the way home and had eaten sandwiches. For once, the kids had behaved well in the diner, which was probably because Derek was getting sleepy due to the painkillers he had gotten.  
  
Dylan and Nathan joined Derek on the couch to watch cartoons, and Noah decided to join in as well. And as usual, Derek’s laughter was deafening whenever there was a funny scene in the cartoons. Despite it being a bit annoying that he laughed so hard, Noah was glad that Derek was feeling better. He had gotten some painkillers, and the plaster helped keep his arm in place and so he could rest it. He still winced in pain sometimes when he moved too much, but he quickly found a position where it didn’t hurt.  
  
It was way past Dylan and Derek’s bedtime, but since they had just eaten, Noah knew they wouldn’t be able to fall asleep just yet, which was why he had allowed them to watch some cartoons first.   
  
However, after twenty minutes Noah decided it was time for bed.  
  
“Come on, sweetie. It’s time for bed now,” Noah told Dylan, and got up from the couch to follow Dylan to bed.  
  
“Noooo, dun wanna!” Dylan whined, and pulled the couch blanket around himself to hide.  
  
Noah sighed, not feeling in the mood for this at all. “It’s way past your bedtime. Please don’t give mommy a headache… Let’s go brush your teeth and put you in bed.”  
  
Dylan whined, shaking his head. He was getting overtired, so he was a little more fussy than usual.  
  
Derek snickered next to him, which made Noah turn to look at him next. “Don’t laugh about it, young man; it’s also way past _your_ bedtime. You’re also coming to bed now.”  
  
Derek’s face paled. “What? Nooo! I dun wanna!”  
  
Nathan laughed, finding it funny how Derek had seemingly thought he could escape his bedtime.  
  
Noah sighed, feeling his stress levels rising when he realized he had two kids who didn’t want to go to bed. Persuading Dylan shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but Derek was different matter.  
  
Just when Noah was about to tell the boys in a more serious voice that now was _really_ time for bed, they heard the key turn in the lock of the front door and the door being opened.  
  
The boys all looked up at the same time, a smile spreading across their faces.  
  
“Daddy!” Dylan chirped happily, and ran off to the entrance hall to greet Jayden.  
  
Derek and Nathan followed, and Noah sighed in relief when he heard Jayden’s voice as he greeted Dylan in the entrance hall.  
  
“Hey, boys. Missed me?” Jayden grinned, giving Dylan and Nathan a hug when they came over to greet him.   
  
“Yeah,” Nathan grinned, hugging him back.  
  
Jayden laughed, and then turned his gaze to Derek and looked at his plaster-covered arm. He raised an eyebrow at him. “And you just can’t keep out of trouble, can you?”  
  
Derek looked almost ashamed as he twitched uncomfortably under his dad’s disapproving stare. “Well, Dwayne and I were just having fun! Not _my_ fault that I fell down.”  
  
“It was totally your fault,” Nathan murmured in disagreement, crossing his arms while giving Derek a sharp, judgmental stare.  
  
“Shut up!” Derek hissed at him.  
  
“Hey!” Jayden cut in, voice raised. “Stop arguing. And Derek, when we tell you _not_ to climb trees, don’t climb trees.”  
  
Derek shrank a bit and a gave a small nod of affirmation.  
  
“You could have gotten much more seriously hurt than that,” Jayden continued, gesturing at Derek’s broken arm. “Not to mention that it’s not nice to your mother to put him through all that trouble and worry, especially not when he’s pregnant. You got it?”  
  
“Yes, sir,” Derek mumbled, looking up at Jayden from under his eyelashes and with a small, annoyed pout on his lips.  
  
“Good.” Jayden finally got out of his shoes, and gave Dylan a small pat in the butt to guide him into the living room next. Dylan giggled and ran off back to the living room, where Noah was waiting for them.  
  
Jayden smiled as he approached Noah, who was resting his hand on his belly while waiting for them to come back into the room. “Hey, baby,” he grinned, and came over to kiss Noah on the lips and place a hand on his pregnant bump. “Are you and the baby okay?”  
  
Noah smiled and leaned into his touch. “Yes, we’re okay. Though, it was a rough day…”  
  
“And mom has good news!” Nathan cut in, grinning like crazy as he looked at Jayden.  
  
Jayden’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and immediately looked at Noah for an explanation. “Good news?”  
  
Noah couldn’t hold back a grin as he rubbed his belly unconsciously. “Well, the doctor who treated Derek used an ultrasound scan to check that the baby was alright, just as a precaution… And she even checked the gender for me.”  
  
The look of surprise and excitement on Jayden’s face made Noah smile wider.  
  
“Really?” Jayden grinned, placing his hands possessively on Noah’s hips while looking down at him. “So? What is it?”  
  
“It’s a girl,” Noah smiled, his wings flaring lightly with happiness.  
  
The way Jayden’s grin widened and his face lit up made Noah’s stomach flip pleasantly. He yelped and laughed when Jayden leaned in and showered him with kisses to his cheek and neck, showing him just how excited he was.  
  
“Damn, that’s great!” Jayden grinned, peppering Noah with kisses. “That’s amazing. _You’re_ amazing.”  
  
Noah laughed, feeling kind of embarrassed at how Jayden was planting those happy kisses all over him while the kids were watching. They had both wanted a girl so much, so Noah was not surprised that Jayden was this excited to get the news.  
  
Dylan grinned and cheered as he watched how happy his parents were, and Nathan couldn’t stop smiling either. Derek just thought it was weird to watch his parents being so lovey-dovey, and acted like it was the most disgusting thing ever.  
  
“So the baby was alright, then? And so are you?” Jayden asked after he was done kissing Noah. His hands were still on Noah’s hips, squeezing them protectively, while keeping Noah’s belly safe between their bodies.  
  
Noah rolled his eyes fondly. “Yes, I told you that earlier. My stress levels were a bit high, though, so the doctor told me to get some rest…”  
  
“Ah.” Jayden leaned in a pressed a soft kiss to his mate’s cheek before turning to look at the kids. “Well, in that case you all better head to bed now. Your mommy needs to rest, and it’s waaay past everyone’s bedtime. So chop-chop; off to bed.”  
  
“Noooo,” Derek whined, his wings drooping in distaste.  
  
Nathan groaned. He was almost twelve years old already, so his bedtime wasn’t the same as his younger brothers’; he was allowed to go to bed at 9pm now. But after watching TV earlier, the time was already past 9, so he probably had no right to complain, he guessed.  
  
The kids groaned in unison, but eventually obeyed.  
  
Dylan came over to hug Noah goodnight before going upstairs with his dad and brothers to brush his teeth in the bathroom and go to bed.  
  
Jayden tucked the kids in and let Noah rest in the meanwhile.  
  
Noah was exhausted. All the fuss with Derek and the hospital had drained him of whatever energy he had left, and his headache was starting to come back. He decided to grab half a painkiller and a glass of water before getting ready for bed.   
  
After getting the painkiller, Noah went to the bedroom and got undressed for bed before lying down carefully. He stared up at the ceiling while listening to Jayden argue with Derek in the hallway outside, because Derek was fussy about going to bed with the plaster on his arm.  
  
It took about forty-five minutes until Jayden had put Derek and Dylan in bed and they were quiet, until he could finally retreat to the bedroom with Noah. Nathan was old enough to go to bed on his own, so with him there was no fuss.  
  
Noah had almost fallen asleep by the time Jayden came into the bedroom.  
  
The alpha sighed heavily and began undressing for bed. “Damn, what a day… I can’t imagine what yours was like.”  
  
Noah chortled softly. “It was chaos… I left work early ‘cause I felt sick, and then Derek brought Dwayne over without letting me know… And well, you know the rest.”  
  
Jayden groaned, and jumped around on one foot as he fought to get his jeans off. Noah giggled a bit at the silly sight.  
  
“I seriously dread him becoming a teenager,” Jayden groaned before throwing his jeans and socks to the floor.  
  
“Yeah… Me too.”  
  
When Jayden was stripped down to his boxers, he climbed onto the bed and crawled over to Noah. He smiled at his mate, and lay down on his stomach so that he could press soft kisses to Noah’s belly after pulling the blanket off him. He loved the cute bump Noah had now, being 20 weeks pregnant. He couldn’t stop admiring it, and he carefully stroked his hand across the stretched skin, watching it with amazement and adoration.  
  
Noah watched him silently, blushing a bit at the way Jayden looked at his belly. It sent warm, pleasant shivers through him to be so adored, and he could feel all the love Jayden had for their unborn daughter. It made him happy.  
  
“So… Finally a girl this time, huh?” Jayden said after a little while, and smiled as he pressed another kiss to the bump.  
  
“Yes, so it seems. The doctor said she was very sure that it’s a girl. She printed images of the scan as well. I put them on the dresser.” Noah gestured to the dresser next to the window, and Jayden followed his gaze.  
  
“Yeah?” Jayden got up and went over to pick up the images from the dresser. There were two pictures, and he smiled as he looked at them. He had learned to make out most of what’s what in ultrasound pictures, so he could easily see where the baby was. He grinned as he looked at the curled up form of the fetus, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the image. “I always did want to have a daughter…”  
  
Noah smiled, still lying on the same spot on the bed. “Yeah, me too.”  
  
Jayden studied the images for another few seconds before carefully putting them away and returning to the bed. He lay down slowly next to Noah, and wrapped an arm around him as they cuddled together.  
  
“And I have some good news as well,” Jayden confessed.  
  
Noah lifted his head to stare at his mate curiously. “Oh? What is it?”  
  
“Well, the reason why I came home a little late tonight is because my boss pulled aside after my shift was over,” Jayden began.  
  
Noah frowned, wondering what it was that Jayden’s boss had wanted from him. He waited for Jayden to continue, and was surprised when the alpha looked back at him with an excited grin.  
  
“He promoted me to manager,” Jayden finally revealed.  
  
The good news made Noah’s eyes widen and his mouth open with a small gasp.  
  
“Really? That’s great!” Noah grinned, feeling happy and proud of his mate.  
  
Jayden grinned and cuddled tighter with Noah. “Yeah. That means I’m in charge of all the kitchen staff now. The old manager is retiring, and he had recommended me to take over after him. So for me that means more responsibility, but also a higher salary – which will be nice when the new baby comes.”  
  
Noah smiled, and placed a proud hand on Jayden’s chest as he looked at him. “That’s great. I’m proud of you.”  
  
Jayden’s tail flipped happily behind him, and he leaned down to press a happy kiss on Noah’s lips. “Thanks.”  
  
Noah smiled at his mate, dwelling in the excitement he felt in their shared bond. Despite all the trouble with Derek lately, there were still good things happening – Jayden’s promotion, and the fact that they were having a baby girl soon.  
  
They shifted a bit to get more comfortable before going to sleep.  
  
Jayden held Noah closely against himself, and wrapped a protective wing around their bodies. Noah sighed in content, loving the feel of being in his alpha’s protective hold.  
  
After a few minutes of silence, Noah spoke, “Do you think Derek will be alright?”  
  
Jayden opened his eyes, after having closed them for a bit. “Yeah, I think. He’s a tough guy; a broken arm won’t bring him down. Though, it might annoy him as hell that he can’t play as wild anymore, but that’s his own fault.”  
  
Noah chuckled in agreement, feeling relieved to hear the words from Jayden. “I’m just glad he didn’t bring Steven over…”  
  
Jayden groaned at the reminder of that boy. “Yeah, no shit. I’m glad he’s behaving somewhat better now, but I think it’s just a matter of time until he goes back to being sexist. I don’t think his brother will change, and Steven’s probably going to be especially influenced by him when he reaches puberty.”  
  
“What makes you think that? Maybe he’ll change.”  
  
“’Cause that’s what it’s like with most unpleasant alphas… But yeah, I don’t know for sure. I’m just dreading it will turn out like that.”  
  
Noah thought about it. He could see Jayden’s point, and he knew how close Steven was to his brother. It was unlikely that Steven wouldn’t come to share more of his brother’s points of view later on. The thought made him feel worried about Derek. What if Derek also turned out like that? Noah prayed he wouldn’t, but Derek was already starting to idolize alphas who weren’t very good examples for children.  
  
When Jayden sensed Noah’s worries, he pulled him closer and placed a soft kiss on his head. “Hey, don’t worry. If Derek does stray in the wrong direction, I’ll put him in place. He’s not a bad person; he’ll find the right path someday.”  
  
“Yeah… You’re right.”  
  
“And I’m not too worried about Dylan; he already seems to have a good sense of what’s right and what’s wrong. And Nathan will definitely not turn out bad,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Noah chuckled as well, feeling less worried already. “Yeah, you’re right. We have good kids.”  
  
“And one more to come,” Jayden remarked with a smirk, reaching down to place his hand on Noah’s bump.  
  
Noah laughed, leaning into the touch. “Yeah, thank god. We really need some more estrogen in this house…”  
  
Jayden let out an amused chuckle. “Yeah, agreed.”  
  
They cuddled some more before closing their eyes to sleep, hoping Derek would be able to fall asleep as well and not keep them up all night with complaints about his broken arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I didn’t manage to find a new beta, so I will have to do the proof-reading on my own. Luckily, I usually don’t have a lot of errors in my chapters, so I think it’ll be okay. So I apologize for any errors that you may have spotted! I hope it didn’t ruin the read.
> 
> And you can expect some Isaac and Kaylen in the next chapter! :)


	52. Chapter 52

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter takes place a few weeks before the epilogue in the final chapter of Devoted.

**December 2061 (Noah is 35, Jayden is 37, Nathan is 12, Derek is 7, Dylan is 4, Castiel is 72, Dean is 73 (almost 74), Adrian is 45, Natalie is 44, Maya is 19, Aaron is 15, Ashley is 10, Isaac is 41, Kaylen is 36, Eliza is 12, Jake is 6 years old).**  
  
It had been a long day at work for Jayden. Meeting at work at 10:30am and coming home at 11pm. Fridays were always extremely busy at the restaurant, but at least he had the weekend off.  
  
It was 11:30pm when Jayden pulled the car into the driveway and opened the garage door with the remote to get the car inside.  
  
It was pitch black outside, save for the street lights and the lights at the front door and in the driveway. And of course the moon, which was shining behind a thin layer of clouds in the sky.  
  
Jayden got out of the car, locked it with the remote, and locked the garage after he had exited it. He couldn’t wait to go inside and get ready for bed, though he knew that Noah was most likely asleep by now.  
  
The house was dark when Jayden entered it, and he quietly kicked the door shut and turned on a few lights as he took off his shoes and jacket.  
  
He was bending down to get his shoes off when suddenly a dark shadow walked past his feet. Jayden’s wings sharpened and spread out on instinct, and he immediately stood up straight to face the threat – only to lock eyes with Midnight, who was now sitting in front of him and watching him curiously.  
  
“Jeez…” Jayden sighed, his wings slumping in relief. “You scared the crap out of me, Midnight,” he told the cat, and smiled as he reached down to pet her.  
  
Midnight meowed, and purred as she leaned into his touch.  
  
Jayden chuckled fondly at the cat and picked her up to give her some attention. She snuggled into him and purred louder, and Jayden couldn’t stop petting her for a while. The cat was getting pretty old – 12 years, already – and they would probably only have her for another 1-3 years before she passed away. Jayden didn’t want to think about how the kids would take that.  
  
After a few minutes, Jayden put the cat back down on the ground and let her wander off. She was always pretty active during the night, and they had a small cat flap in the door in the kitchen which she could walk in and out of as she pleased. The cat flap only opened for Midnight because the chip in her neck, so no strange cats could come inside.  
  
After Midnight wandered off, Jayden decided to head to the kitchen to grab a glass of milk before bed. However, when he walked through the dining room on the way to the kitchen, he suddenly noticed that someone was in the kitchen. He could hear someone rummaging through what sounded like a bag of chips or something, and there was sniffling.  
  
Alerted once more, Jayden carefully approached the kitchen, ready to fight whatever burglar could be in there, but when he looked in the direction of the fridge it turned out to be something else entirely.  
  
Noah was sitting on the kitchen floor in front of the fridge, eating chips, pickles, and cheese, and he seemed to be crying.  
  
Jayden immediately came over to him, worried that something had happened. “Noah! Are you okay? What’s going on?”  
  
Noah flinched slightly, as he hadn’t noticed that Jayden had entered the room. He looked up at the alpha with teary eyes, and sniffled as Jayden kneeled down in front of him.  
  
“N-Nothing. I’m okay,” Noah murmured, eating some more of the cheese that he had in his lap.  
  
By now, Noah was seven months pregnant, and his stomach was large and round. He couldn’t fit into his normal clothes anymore, so he either wore maternity clothes or some of Jayden’s old t-shirts. Right now he was wearing one of Jayden’s t-shirts, along with a pair of leggings.  
  
“’Okay’? You’re sitting on the kitchen floor, crying and eating, and in complete darkness,” Jayden pointed out, not believing him one bit.  
  
“I just…” Noah paused to sniffle, and lifted his gaze to meet Jayden’s again. “I was craving something, so I came down here to eat… And then… Then I suddenly realized that this will likely be the last time that I’m pregnant…” His voice broke, and he looked so forlorn and sad as he looked at Jayden.  
  
It took Jayden a moment to piece together what was going on, and when he did he couldn’t help but laugh.  
  
Noah glared at him for laughing, having not expected that reaction from him. “Why are you laughing? It’s not funny!”  
  
“Yeah, it kind of is,” Jayden argued, chuckling as he looked at Noah with fondness. “It’s always funny and cute when your pregnancy hormones get the better of you.”  
  
Noah glared at him, sniffling again.  
  
Jayden chuckled, and got to his feet to turn on some lights so that he could see Noah better. The submissive flinched lightly and screwed his eyes shut when the lights were turned on, since he had gotten used to sitting there in the dark. Once the lights were on, Jayden went back over to Noah and kneeled down in front of him again.  
  
“Hey, it’s gonna be alright,” Jayden reassured him, offering Noah a kind smile. “Are you really crying ‘cause you’re sad that we won’t have more kids?”  
  
Noah suddenly looked a little embarrassed, and gave a small nod to confirm it.  
  
Again, Jayden laughed. “Well, if you want another kid after this one so badly, I guess we can just make another, right?”  
  
“Hmm… I’m not sure I can handle a fifth one…”  
  
“Then why are you crying about it?” Jayden laughed, still finding it pretty amusing.  
  
“’Cause I’m kind of gonna miss this…” Noah rubbed his hand over his stomach to indicate what he meant.  
  
“Yeah… I’m gonna miss it too. You’re so sexy when you’re pregnant.” Jayden’s comment made Noah blush, and he chuckled at that. “But it can’t be helped. Let’s just enjoy it while it lasts, okay? No reason to cry about it…”  
  
“I know, I’m just… I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Noah confessed, murmuring. He glanced down into his lap, except his big stomach was in the way, so all he could see was the round bump.  
  
“It’s the hormones, ‘cause you’re knocked up.”  
  
Noah flushed furiously, and reached out to smack Jayden on the arm for being so blunt.  
  
Jayden laughed out loud, loving it when he managed to annoy or embarrass Noah like that. He was fun to tease.  
  
Jayden finally rose to his feet. “Come on, let’s get you up from the floor. You’re gonna catch a cold, sitting on the cold floor like that. It’s not good for the baby.”  
  
“I’m sitting on a blanket,” Noah pointed out as he let Jayden help him stand up.  
  
“Ah.”  
  
Jayden could see the blanket now, and reached down to pick it up after Noah was standing. He bent down to pick up Noah’s bag of chips, jar of pickles, and package of cheese as well. He laughed when Noah quickly snatched some more cheese before Jayden put it back in the fridge.  
  
“Come on; it’s time for bed,” Jayden said, wrapping an arm around Noah’s waist to help him walk.  
  
“I gotta pee first,” Noah said, stopping before Jayden could drag him too far away from the bathroom. “The baby… she’s kicking my bladder again.”  
  
Jayden let out a laugh before letting him go. “Okay. Need help?”  
  
“No.” Noah rolled his eyes. “I’m not three.”  
  
“I know that. Just asking,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Noah carefully supported his stomach as he walked towards the bathroom in slow steps.  
  
“And by the way,” Jayden said, making Noah stop in his tracks to glance back at him. Jayden’s lips curled into a dirty smirk as he said, “You look sexy in my old t-shirts.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened a little, and his cheeks flushed bright red. “That’s… You made me pause my journey to the bathroom just to tell me _that?!_ ”  
  
A sharp laugh escaped Jayden as he watched Noah’s reaction. “Yeah.”  
  
Noah groaned, annoyed that Jayden was wasting his time by telling him something he had already told him a hundred times. He needed to pee, god damn it.  
  
Noah rushed off to the bathroom as fast as he could, and Jayden couldn’t stop being amused.  
  
The alpha grabbed himself a glass of milk while waiting for Noah to finish, and when Noah was done in the bathroom, Jayden carefully helped him upstairs, even though Noah insisted he wasn’t helpless.

  
  
***

  
  
Both Noah and Jayden slept in the next day.  
  
Jayden was tired from work the night before, and Noah was generally just tired because of the pregnancy, leaving Nathan to take care of his two brothers in the morning.  
  
When Jayden woke at 9:30am, he was shocked to see how late it was already.  
  
“Shit,” Jayden cursed, quickly getting up from the bed to get dressed.  
  
Noah woke up when he felt Jayden leave the bed. He groaned loudly, not wanting to get up yet, but the pressure in his bladder left him with no choice. Lately, he woke up several times during the night to go pee, and it was ruining his sleep.  
  
“What is it?” Noah asked, his voice gruff from sleep. He glanced over his shoulder at Jayden and tried to open his sleepy eyes.  
  
“It’s 9:30 already, and we’re leaving at 11 to go visit Isaac, remember?”  
  
Noah had completely forgotten that.  
  
Today they were going to visit Isaac and Kaylen, and Adrian would also be there, along with Dean and Castiel. He and Jayden had agreed to leave the house at 11am to go there, but before that they had to shower and get the kids ready to go; Dylan at least could really use a bath before going.  
  
Noah quickly got up when he realized how late they were and rushed off to the bathroom right away.  
  
Jayden quickly got his clothes on and went downstairs to check on the kids. They were in the living room, watching some cartoon movie, and Derek was complaining about something Dylan had done.  
  
“Just leave him alone already,” Jayden heard Nathan say as he approached the living room.  
  
“But he’s so whiny! He totally ruined the scene,” Derek complained, his voice sounding accusing as he talked about Dylan.  
  
That was when Jayden entered the room, looking over at the three boys on the couch. “Hey, what’s all the fuss about?”  
  
“Daddy!” Dylan chirped when he saw his dad, and rushed over to hug Jayden around the waist.  
  
“Hey, buddy,” Jayden grinned, hugging him back. “What’s up with you and Derek? Did you fight?”  
  
Dylan lifted his head from Jayden’s stomach where he was hugging him and glanced up at him with a pout. “Derek says I’m a pussy ‘cause cartoon scared me.”  
  
Dylan had been kind of frightened by one of the scenes in the cartoons, and Derek had told him he was a ‘pussy’. Jayden really hated it when Derek used those kinds of words.  
  
Jayden let out a small growl. “Derek.” He lifted his gaze to shoot a sharp glare in Derek’s direction. “What did I tell you about using that kind of language?”  
  
Derek shrank a bit where he was sitting on the couch, and Nathan – who was sitting next to him – quirked an eyebrow at him.  
  
“…That I shouldn’t use it?” Derek responded, sounding more annoyed than ashamed.  
  
“Exactly. So why do you do it anyway?”  
  
“’Cause everyone is saying it!” Derek argued.  
  
“I don’t care what ‘everyone is saying’ – _you_ don’t use that language, and especially not when talking to your brothers, is that clear?”  
  
Derek pouted in offense and played idly with one of his soldier toys in his hands. His right arm was still in a plaster, but he would get it off next week, just in time for Christmas.  
  
“Yes, sir…” There was a look of defiance in Derek’s eyes, but at least he didn’t argue further about it.  
  
Nathan sorted. He always told Derek he wasn’t allowed to say such things, and had scolded him when he called Dylan that word, but Derek never listened to him. That’s why he found it pretty satisfying when Jayden was there to give Derek a lecture.  
  
Dylan looked pleased that Jayden had corrected Derek. Dylan knew his big brother wasn’t allowed to say those bad words, but Derek wouldn’t listen to him either. And Dylan didn’t like it when Derek called him those words, or anyone else for that matter.  
  
Jayden started talking to Nathan about their plans for the day, and Dylan snuck out of the room while they talked. He wondered where his mommy was and decided to go search for him. He walked up the stairs, thinking the steps were exhausting to walk on because they were so tall for his small legs, but when he reached the top he was pleased.  
  
“Mommy?” Dylan called out, walking from room to room to look for him. He checked the all rooms upstairs, but he didn’t dare enter Derek’s room.  
  
After checking the other rooms, he went to Nathan’s room and checked. No mommy in there. Noah hadn’t been in the master bedroom either, and he also wasn’t in Dylan’s room. That left only the bathroom.  
  
“Mommy?” he called again, trying to open the bathroom door only to find it locked.  
  
“I’m here,” came Noah’s voice from the other side of the door. “Give me a minute, sweetie. I’ll be out soon.”  
  
“Okay!” Dylan chirped, and took a few steps back.  
  
Waiting around was boring, so he decided to go exploring. The room that attracted his curiosity the most was the master bedroom. Dylan usually wasn’t allowed to go in there, but he was curious about what his mom and dad kept in all those drawers. Noah couldn’t see him right now anyway, so Dylan carefully wandered into the room and began exploring the drawers.  
  
After a few minutes, Noah was finally out of the bathroom. “Dylan?” he called, walking around and searching for him. He thought it was strange when the boy didn’t reply, and wondered where he had gone. When he saw that the door to the master bedroom was open, he went inside to look for Dylan.  
  
As Noah entered the room, he let out a loud gasp when he saw Dylan rummaging through his underwear drawer.  
  
When Dylan noticed Noah’s presence, he turned around, holding one of Noah’s panties in his hands. “Look, mommy! So soft!” he grinned, admiring the panties’ silky feel. The silken panties he was holding were a seductive dark red color, and they had black laces at the top and at the butt.  
  
“Dylan! Don’t go through mommy’s underwear!” Noah chided, hurrying over to grab the panties from Dylan’s hands and put them back in the drawer. It was so embarrassing to have his child see his panties, even though Dylan was only four years old and didn’t know much about panties yet.  
  
Dylan looked confused about why Noah seemed so embarrassed about it. “Why?”  
  
“Because those are mommy’s underwear, and only mommy and daddy are allowed to touch them, okay?”  
  
Dylan frowned, not understanding it. “Why daddy touch, but not me?”  
  
That was a question that Noah didn’t want to have to answer, so he decided to switch the topic instead. “Never mind that. It’s time for you to have bath now.”  
  
“Nooo! I dun wanna!” Dylan whined. He always hated having to go have a bath, but once he was in the tub or under the shower it was difficult to make him leave it again.  
  
Noah sighed. “Well, how about mommy joins you? I have to bathe too.”  
  
Immediately, Dylan’s mind changed. Bathing with his mommy was always more fun. “Yay! Cans Nathan join too?”  
  
Noah laughed. He had already gone through this with Dylan before. “No, Nathan is too old for that. And it wouldn’t be appropriate if he and I bathed together.”  
  
Dylan frowned. “Why not?”  
  
Noah shrugged lightly. “Because he’s not a little boy anymore, unlike you. Now, come on; we have to hurry if we wanna make it. We’re going to visit Uncle Isaac, remember?”  
  
Dylan nodded and joined Noah in the bathroom for a shower. He still thought it was weird that his mom was so embarrassed about his underwear, but he didn’t think further about it.

  
  
***

  
At 11am they went to see Isaac and Kaylen.  
  
The drive took about an hour because of the traffic and because the house was in the other end of the city. But once they reached Isaac’s house, it was just as big as usual.  
  
Jayden carefully drove up into the driveway to park, and he and Noah helped the kids get out of the car.  
  
The sun was shining brightly, and it was pretty warm, despite it being December. Noah was grateful for that, because he really hated being cold when he was pregnant. And it wasn’t too hot either; it was a pleasant kind of warm.  
  
They were all still standing by the car, taking out their bags from the trunk, which contained clothes and toilet bags because they would be staying for the night, when suddenly Jayden was hit right in the back by a stream of water.  
  
The alpha yelped in surprise, his wings unfurling on instinct to deal with the threat, and glanced around to see where it was coming from.  
  
Nathan and Derek got hit by the water as well. Nathan jumped back to hide behind Jayden, while Derek glanced around to spot where it was coming from, just like Jayden.  
  
It didn’t take long for them to figure out what had happened.  
  
There was loud laughter coming from the top of the garage which they were parked in front of, and they looked up to see Isaac and Jake lying on the flat roof of the garage, holding a water hose while they laughed.  
  
“Haha! I got you so bad, Jayden!” Isaac laughed, almost getting tears in his eyes from cracking up. His son Jake was rolling around laughing next to him, and obviously thought his dad was a genius.  
  
Jayden let out a loud, annoyed grunt when he realized that Isaac had just sprayed him with the water hose. “You’re so gonna regret that, Isaac,” he threatened, glaring at up at him. He wasn’t angry – in fact, he thought it was pretty funny, but at the same time it was annoying that he had only just arrived and already had to change his clothes because of Isaac.  
  
“Isaac!” Noah chided, horrified by what his brother had just done. However, when he looked at Jayden, Nathan, Derek, and their wet shirts, he couldn’t help but giggle a little.  
  
Dylan had been standing next to Noah on the other side of the car and hadn’t gotten hit, and he laughed loudly when he realized what was going on.  
  
Nathan grunted, staring down at his wet shirt with annoyance, while Derek cracked up.  
  
“I’m gonna get back at you!” Derek yelled up at them, grinning.  
  
“Bring it on!” Isaac responded with a laugh, accepting the challenge. He aimed the water hose at them again, and watched as they all shrieked and tried to dodge the stream.  
  
Jayden got sprayed again, but this time he wasn’t just going to stand around and let it happen. He began running around the garage to climb up on the roof from the other side, and Derek followed on his heels.  
  
“Aw, shit!” Isaac yelped when he realized that Jayden was coming for him. He shoved the water hose into Jake’s hands, who looked kind of panicked before throwing it aside and making a run for it with his dad. They tried to reach the ladder and climb down before Jayden and Derek reached it, but unfortunately Jayden was faster.  
  
Noah, Nathan, and Dylan stayed in the driveway, and tried to listen to what was going on on the other side of the garage. They heard Isaac shriek loudly, Derek laughing mischievously, and Jake laughing and shrieking.  
  
“Jayden, stop it, man!” Isaac yelled in between laughter, and Jayden’s smug laughter could be heard as well.  
  
Noah really wondered what was going on back there and was just about to go see for himself when Isaac suddenly came running around the garage, heading over to him.  
  
“Noah! Save us!” Isaac shrieked, laughing as he and Jake ran over and took shelter behind Noah and the others.  
  
Isaac and Jake’s clothes were completely soaked, and Noah briefly wondered how that had happened, until he saw Jayden and Derek walking around the garage and coming over to them, and spotted a water gun in Jayden’s hands.  
  
“You shouldn’t have left this lying around in the grass,” Jayden told Isaac, smirking as he lifted the water gun and aimed it at him.  
  
Isaac shrieked and tried to use Noah as a shield, and Jake too tried to take cover behind him.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened, and he felt a little nervous when he was suddenly the one thing standing between Jayden’s water gun and Isaac. He didn’t think Jayden would try to hit him with it just to get Isaac, but he couldn’t be sure. All he could do was to place his hands on his pregnant belly protectively, and hope he wouldn’t end up in the crossfire.  
  
“Uncle Isaac is a coward!” Derek taunted, laughing his ass off.  
  
“Hey! I just don’t wanna get wet!” Isaac protested from behind Noah.  
  
“Yeah!” Jake agreed, shrieking with laughter as he clung to his dad for protection.  
  
“You guys are already wet, though,” Jayden smirked, and slowly lowered the water gun. He didn’t want to accidentally hit Noah with it, and he couldn’t get a clear shot at Isaac right now. However, he had managed to spray Isaac full of water before he and Jake had made a run for it.  
  
“I wanna, I wanna!” Dylan begged, running over to Jayden in the hope that his dad would let him have the water gun.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Nah, you’ll just end up hitting your mom with it. Besides, daddy got a good shot at Uncle Isaac already.”  
  
Dylan pouted, disappointed that he didn’t get to try.  
  
Jayden chuckled and reached out to ruffle Dylan’s hair fondly. “Maybe we can play water fight later?”  
  
“Yeah! I’m _so_ gonna beat you all!” Derek grinned.  
  
“No, I’ll beat _you!_ ” Jake argued, smirking.  
  
“Hah! Challenge accepted!” Derek smirked back.  
  
Everyone laughed, and Jayden put away the water gun so that Isaac would have the courage to step out from his hiding place again.  
  
“Why didn’t you tell me we left a weapon on the ground?” Isaac asked Jake accusingly, and gave him a small, playful smack on the arm.  
  
Jake laughed. “I had forgotten about it…”  
  
“You let the enemy gain the upper hand on us!”  
  
Jayden and the others laughed at that, and Isaac finally greeted them all properly.  
  
“Anyway, it’s nice seeing your pretty faces again,” Isaac grinned, and turned to give Noah a hug.  
  
“You too,” Noah smiled, hugging him back.  
  
Isaac grinned before pulling away to look at his brother. “And damn! You get bigger every time I see you! You seriously need to go on a diet, Noah!”  
  
The children laughed at that, and Noah looked a little offended.  
  
“I’m not fat, I’m pregnant,” Noah argued, pouting a bit.  
  
“Too much sheet gymnastics will do that to ya,” Isaac replied, giving him a lewd wink and a smirk.  
  
Noah’s face flushed red, and Derek laughed out loud, while Nathan felt pretty sorry for Noah.  
  
Dylan frowned. “But gymnastics make you lose weight, right?” He glanced around at the adults, as if he was wondering if he had misunderstood the concept of exercise.  
  
Isaac burst out laughing. “Aww, still so innocent, aren’t ya?” He ruffled Dylan’s messy hair, and watched as Dylan just looked even more confused.  
  
“I don’t get it either…” Jake admitted, looking annoyed about it. He glanced at Derek, who seemed to have understood the reference, which only made Jake want to know about it even more.  
  
Isaac turned to greet the others, and Jake also said proper hello to everyone.  
  
“You still haven’t gotten that thing off?” Isaac asked Derek, looking at his plaster-covered arm.  
  
“No, but I will next week!” Derek replied, looking excited.  
  
“Oh, good! It’s gonna be damn hard to open Christmas presents otherwise,” Isaac laughed.  
  
“I’m pretty sure he’d find a way to open them anyway,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“Yeah!” Derek agreed, grinning.  
  
Isaac laughed, and they all started walking up to the front door. Jayden carried the heavy stuff, and Nathan and Derek carried the rest so that Noah wouldn’t have to – his back was pretty sore because of his pregnancy, so Jayden didn’t want him straining himself too much. Derek couldn’t carry too much because of his broken arm, but he could carry one bag with his good arm. Dylan wanted to help too, and carried his own bag of toys.  
  
They walked along the wall of the house to reach the front door, chatting about the drive over to Isaac’s place.  
  
However, their friendly chit-chatting was interrupted when suddenly a bucket of water was emptied right on top of Isaac, completely soaking him and splashing up the ground.  
  
Everyone gasped in surprise and jumped back a little, while Isaac stood there in complete shock for a second. His wings were spread out and dripping water, and he was staring at his own wet body in disbelief.  
  
“What the hell?!” Isaac exclaimed, immediately looking up to see where all that water was coming from. His wet hair clung to his head, and he spluttered some of the water away from his nose and mouth as he looked up.  
  
Looking up, they spotted Kaylen in one of the second floor windows, holding a now empty bucket in his hands while he was smirking down at Isaac. Eliza was standing next to him, giggling uncontrollably at her father’s wet figure below.  
  
“I didn’t think Jayden sprayed you with enough water, so I decided to take the task into my own hands,” Kaylen said, staring down at Isaac with a smug, mischievous smirk.  
  
_“You!”_ Isaac barked, pointing up at Kaylen like it was a threat. “You’re _so_ going in the bathtub now!” He growled before running inside the house to capture Kaylen, who let out a high-pitched shriek and threw the bucket away before running away to hide.  
  
Everyone was cracking up outside, and Eliza also disappeared from the window when she made a run for it like Kaylen.  
  
“Oh man. We only just arrived, and the crazy has already begun,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“I love visiting Uncle Isaac and Aunt Kaylen!” Derek exclaimed with a huge grin, and ran inside the house along with Jake to see what was going to happen next.  
  
Nathan chuckled and shook his head fondly before carrying the stuff inside. Derek had dropped the stuff he was carrying when he ran inside, so Nathan had to pick it up and carry it.  
  
When they entered the house, Eliza greeted them in the entrance hall. “Hi, everyone,” she smiled. “Sorry about the craziness… My dad is in a good mood today.”  
  
“Yeah, we can tell,” Jayden chuckled, putting down the bags he was carrying to take off his shoes. His clothes were still wet, so he would have to change them soon.  
  
“It’s fun!” Dylan exclaimed, raising his arms with a big grin on his face.  
  
“What’s got him in such a good mood?” Noah asked his niece, and carefully lifted one foot after the other to untie his shoes without having to bend down too much.  
  
“He was away for work for a while to film a new movie he’s in, so now he’s happy that he’s back for Christmas,” Eliza explained. She smiled at them politely, and her tail swished slowly back and forth behind her, indicating she was in a good mood. She had inherited much of her father’s mischief, but also Kaylen’s somewhat more kind and polite nature. Whenever they were visiting, it was Eliza who helped Kaylen set the table for lunch or dinner, while Isaac was busy being silly and pulling pranks. But she did occasionally join Isaac in being silly.  
  
The family dog, Roy, suddenly entered the large entrance hall where they were, and came over to greet them. He was a black Labrador, and was pretty kind even though he did some mischief sometimes.  
  
Dylan loved animals and immediately went over to pet the dog, who seemed to enjoy the attention. He was used to the dog, so neither Noah nor Jayden interfered. Normally he wasn’t allowed to pet strange dogs.  
  
“Hey, Roy,” Nathan greeted the dog, smiling as he patted the dog when it came over to him next. He then looked over at Eliza. “Do you think your mom is still alive?”  
  
Eliza laughed. “Yeah, I think my dad’s just trying to get some payback for the water thing.”  
  
Jayden chortled. “And I have a whole list of things I need to get payback on _him_ for.”  
  
Eliza laughed, and so did the others.  
  
Noah was about to speak when Isaac and Kaylen finally showed up. Derek and Jake were with them, still looking really amused by everything that had been going on.  
  
“Sorry about that, guys!” Isaac said, coming over to them in his soaked clothes. “I had to teach this naughty boy a lesson.” He gestured at Kaylen behind him, who just laughed.  
  
“Yeah, right. It was me teaching _you_ a lesson for greeting our guests like that,” Kaylen said. His clothes were a bit wet, but not completely. It looked like Isaac had been hugging him really tight while wearing his wet clothes and had thus made Kaylen’s wet as well.  
  
“Hey! The only fun we get in life is the fun we make ourselves,” Isaac argued.  
  
“Wow. You’re so philosophical,” Jayden spoke, chuckling.  
  
“Hey! I’m a smart guy!”  
  
Both Noah and Jayden snorted out a laugh at that, until they all suddenly heard the sound of another car pulling up into the driveway.  
  
“Oh, that must be either dad and papa or Adrian and Natalie,” Isaac said. “And damn it! I’m not in position on the roof anymore!”  
  
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Kaylen deadpanned. He chuckled at the way Isaac turned his head to glare at him for sounding so indifferent about it.  
  
“It’s more than ‘too bad’!” Isaac exclaimed. “I haven’t had a water fight with Adrian in _years!_ I need to make him wet!”  
  
Kaylen grimaced. “That sounds so wrong…”  
  
Isaac smacked him lightly. “You know what I mean!”  
  
The others laughed, except Dylan and Jake, who didn’t get the joke.  
  
When they heard the happy chirping of Adrian and Natalie’s kids from the driveway, Isaac hurried outside to greet them. Derek and Jake ran after him, while the others stayed inside.  
  
“How’s the baby doing?” Kaylen asked Noah while they waited for the others to come inside. He smiled as he gestured at the other submissive’s round belly.  
  
Noah glanced down at his stomach, placing a loving hand on it before lifting his gaze to smile back at Kaylen. “Good, I think. She’s been kicking a bit lately.”  
  
“Really?” Eliza asked. “Can I touch?” She smiled at Noah with curiosity and excitement, and Noah couldn’t say no to her.  
  
“Sure,” Noah chuckled, moving his hand aside so his niece could touch his belly.  
  
Eliza grinned as she went over and carefully placed her hands on Noah’s stomach. The others gathered around, curious to see if she would feel anything. The first few moments nothing happened, until suddenly Eliza felt a small kick underneath her hands.  
  
“Whoa, I felt it!” she grinned, moving her hands away again. “That’s so freaky.”  
  
“I wanna feel too!” Dylan chirped, and came over to Noah with his arms raised up so he could touch his stomach too.  
  
Noah laughed and let Dylan touch his pregnant stomach. It wasn’t the first time that Dylan had touched Noah’s belly to see if he could feel his sister’s kicking; he had been kind of obsessed with doing it lately, and was always asking to either touch Noah’s belly or rest his head against it when they sat on the couch together. Sometimes he’d come into their bedroom at night to sleep next to his parents, and then he’d also spend a while resting his head on Noah’s belly to see if he could hear and feel the baby inside.  
  
Jayden laughed at Dylan, and gently ruffled his hair. “Someone’s excited, huh?”  
  
“Yeah!” Dylan chirped back, grinning as he felt the baby’s soft kicking against his hands.  
  
Kaylen grinned at the scene. “Well, I can’t blame him for being excited. It’s his first sister, after all.”  
  
“Yeah. Girls are so much better,” Eliza grinned.  
  
Nathan snorted softly. “Yeah, agreed. Dylan is a nice brother, but Derek gets on my nerves all the time. He’s such a brat.”  
  
“But he’s fun to play water fights with,” Eliza pointed out, giggling.  
  
The others chuckled, but looked up when Isaac entered the house with Adrian, Natalie, and their children Maya, Aaron, and Ashley. Maya was the oldest; she was 19 years old already, while Aaron – Adrian and Natalie’s alpha son – was 15, and Ashley was 10.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Adrian smiled at them when he entered the house. His eyes immediately landed on Jayden and his soaked clothes, and he looked his brother-in-law up and down carefully before raising an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me. Isaac did that.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, he did. How’d you guess?”  
  
“Who knows,” Adrian deadpanned, while others laughed.  
  
“But dad got back at him!” Derek blurted, and pointed to Isaac’s wet clothes. “Uncle Isaac is also totally wet now! And he got even more wet when Aunt Kaylen dropped a bucket of water on him!”  
  
Everyone burst out laughing, while Isaac looked less happy about it.  
  
“Sounds like you guys had one hell of party before we arrived,” Adrian laughed.  
  
“Oh, don’t worry, Adrian. There’s plenty of time for you to join in on the fun,” Isaac smirked. He went over to his brother and suddenly threw his arms around him, giving him a tight hug. “There! Aren’t you happy to see me?”  
  
Isaac’s wet clothes made Adrian’s clothes get wet as well as the beta hugged him, so Adrian struggled to get out of his hold. “Isaac! Don’t you fucking dare! Get off me!”  
  
Isaac burst out laughing, and kept clinging to Adrian even though his brother was trying to shove him away from him. Eventually he let Adrian separate himself from him, and couldn’t stop laughing when he saw that Adrian’s clothes were now also kind of wet. The alpha growled at him in annoyance, but that only made Isaac crack up more.  
  
Everyone was laughing at the scene. Noah felt kind of sorry for Adrian because Natalie, Maya, Aaron, and Ashley were laughing at him too.  
  
Adrian sent Isaac a sharp glare before greeting the others. Jayden was already wet, so the two of them shared a hug, but Adrian hesitated when he came to Noah.  
  
“I’d hug you, but I’m afraid to make your clothes moist or squeeze your stomach,” Adrian chuckled, and instead kindly ruffled Noah’s messy hair instead.  
  
Noah’s blushed and shied a bit away from his brother’s hand when his hair got ruffled. “That’s okay. It’s nice seeing you again.”  
  
“You too,” Adrian grinned, and glanced down at Noah’s belly. “And I hear you’re having a girl this time?”  
  
Natalie and the kids had been busy greeting everyone while Adrian and Noah were talking, but when she heard what Adrian was saying, Natalie came over to them with a smile on her face. “Yeah, I heard that too! Congratulations!”  
  
“Thanks,” Noah smiled, feeling a bit sheepish. He rubbed his belly gently and blushed a bit when Jayden’s tail rubbed his leg possessively and protectively. Jayden’s clothes were all soaked, so he didn’t want to touch Noah too much right now.  
  
“Yay, a girl!” Ashley exclaimed, grinning widely. “What are you gonna name her?”  
  
Jayden laughed. “We don’t know yet. But we’ll figure it out eventually.”  
  
“Yeah, the baby has to be born first,” Natalie told Ashley patiently.  
  
“Oh.” Ashley looked over at Noah’s belly like she was trying to make sense of it. It was obvious that Adrian and Natalie hadn’t given her ‘the talk’ yet.  
  
“Anyway, I really need some dry clothes…” Jayden spoke, and glanced down at his current clothing. The wet shirt clung to his body, and he cringed at that weird, uncomfortable feeling he got when he tried to pry it away from his skin by pulling at the front of his shirt.  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Isaac said, feeling the same way.  
  
Kaylen crossed his arms and glared at Isaac. “I wonder whose fault that is.” Thanks to Isaac, Kaylen’s clothes were also wet, so he would have to change his clothes as well, as would Jake, Derek, and Nathan. Adrian’s clothes were only a tiny bit wet, so they would dry up pretty soon anyway.  
  
“Oh, but you love me,” Isaac smirked cockily, and leaned in to press a kiss to Kaylen’s lips.  
  
Kaylen chortled and tried to push Isaac away when the beta kissed him again, but Isaac’s smirk just widened as he suddenly wrapped his arms around Kaylen and pulled him into a hug. Kalen shrieked when he felt the cold, wet shirt of Isaac’s against his own and tried to push him away, only to have him cling to him even more.  
  
“Hey! Get off, you jackass!” Kaylen scolded in between laughter.  
  
The others watched the scene with amusement, and the dog barked happily as he jumped up and down next to them.  
  
“Gosh, get a room!” Eliza said when things got too embarrassing for her. She thought it was a bit embarrassing that her parents were behaving like that in front of their guests.  
  
“Hey, good idea!” Isaac exclaimed, pulling away from Kaylen. “We’ll go to our room right now!” He grabbed Kaylen’s hand and began running up the stairs with him while grinning lewdly.  
  
“No! Dad!” Eliza yelled, horrified.  
  
Everyone laughed at it, though, but seriously hoped that Isaac and Kaylen were only going to change their clothes and then come back.  
  
Eliza showed the others upstairs to the guest rooms so that Jayden, Derek, and Nathan could change their clothes as well, and so they could put their bags in the rooms.

  
  
***

  
  
Thirty minutes later, Dean and Castiel arrived at the house as well.  
  
The kids were all excited to see their grandparents again. Dean and Cas were equally excited – especially to see Maya again, as it had been a few months since they had last seen her. She was 19 now, so she was usually more interested in hanging out with her friends rather than joining her parents when they went to visit her grandparents.  
  
Kaylen and Eliza had prepared some delicious lunch for them. They had made a homemade tuna dish together, served with bread, cucumbers, eggs, and tomatoes, and everyone was amazed by how good the dish had turned out. Even some of the kids, who usually didn’t like fish, liked it.  
  
“I can’t believe Derek is actually eating this,” Nathan said, while they were all eating. “He always goes on about how gross fish is.” He smirked at Derek, making fun of him that he suddenly seemed to like tuna.  
  
“Fish is gross!” Derek argued. “But somehow Aunt Kaylen and Eliza made this taste good!”  
  
Isaac and Kaylen had a big dining table in the dining room, which they were all sitting at. As usual, Nathan and Derek didn’t sit next to each other – Noah was sitting next to Adrian with Dylan on his other side, and next to Dylan were Nathan, then Jayden, Derek, and Jake. The others were seated on the other side of the table.  
  
Kaylen grinned, pleased that the dish was well liked among the guests. “I’m glad you like it. It’s from the recipe that Jayden once gave me.”  
  
“Ohh! Should have known Jayden was involved!” Isaac exclaimed. “You usually never make food this good—Ow!”  
  
Kaylen smacked Isaac on the leg with his tail for making such an offensive comment about his cooking, making Isaac yelp out pain.  
  
“If you don’t like my cooking, eat the dog food instead,” Kaylen told him, glaring at him like he wanted to murder Isaac.  
  
“Oi! I didn’t say it was bad! I just said that this dish is unusually good,” Isaac quickly explained, looking a bit disgusted and nervous about the dog food threat.  
  
“Isaac…” Castiel sighed, feeling just as helpless as always about his son.  
  
The others laughed.  
  
“Glad to see that Kaylen’s still the one wearing the pants in your relationship,” Adrian joked, smirking at Isaac.  
  
“Hah,” Isaac snorted. “He’s never wearing pants when we’re alone, though.” A dirty smirk spread on his lips, but it was wiped off his face when Kaylen smacked him with his tail again.  
  
“Ugh, Isaac,” Noah groaned, feeling secondary embarrassment on Kaylen’s behalf, even though he knew Kaylen could handle it.  
  
“We’re eating, Isaac,” Adrian said, a grimace forming on his face.  
  
Dylan and Ashley didn’t understand what they were talking about or why Isaac’s comment had been so wrong. Jake didn’t understand it either, so he was confused when Derek starting giggling next to him.  
  
“What? I didn’t say anything graphic,” Isaac argued.  
  
“When it’s you, you don’t need to make it graphic for us to get wrong images in our minds,” Dean explained, feeling both amused and helpless about Isaac.  
  
“Well, maybe you guys all just have dirty minds and are getting the wrong idea of what I really mean!” Isaac argued.  
  
Adrian chortled. “No, I think it’s just you whose mind is dirty.”  
  
“Hah. Bite me.”  
  
“No thanks. I’m already eating.”  
  
There was laughter among the others, and Dean and Castiel shared a smile. Adrian and Isaac had always been like that, and it was kind of nice that they hadn’t changed in that aspect at all.  
  
They continued eating, and talked about the latest news in the family. Dean and Castiel were interested in hearing what Maya’s plans for college were, and she revealed that she wanted to work at a hospital, but that she was still unsure if she wanted to be just an ordinary nurse or, for example, specialize in x-rays. She and Kaylen got a good talk about it as she started asking him about what his job as a nurse as like, and hopefully it would help her make a decision soon.  
  
The dog kept coming over to the table to beg for food, but it was a house rule that no one should feed the dog at the table, otherwise he would just keep coming over to beg. The children found it a bit hard to resist the dog’s big eyes and pitiful whines, though.  
  
When the dog settled down under the table, waiting for someone to drop something on the floor that he could eat, Derek collected a heap of the tuna on a piece of bread and snuck his hand under the table to feed the dog. Jake was the only one who saw it, and giggled as they both listened to the dogs’ happy chewing.  
  
But when Derek got ready to sneak another piece down to the dog, he was caught by Jayden.  
  
“Derek!” Jayden barked, making Derek jump in surprise and drop the piece of food on the floor.  
  
The dog immediately came over and ate it off the floor, and the boy turned to look up at his dad’s angry face.  
  
“Don’t feed the dog at the table!” Jayden scolded.  
  
“But he was hungry!” Derek argued, trying to look innocent.  
  
“Dogs are always hungry, but he was fed half an hour ago, remember?”  
  
“Wow. Always the troublemaker, isn’t he?” Natalie chuckled.  
  
“You have no idea,” Jayden groaned, glaring at Derek once more before going back to eating.  
  
“Yeah, I can see the grey hairs on Noah’s head already!” Isaac joked, grinning.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened, and Isaac burst out laughing when Noah unconsciously reached up to touch his hair.  
  
“Hah! I made you nervous! You’re way too easy to fool, Noah,” Isaac laughed.  
  
Noah glared back at him when he realized it hadn’t been true, and blushed when the others laughed.  
  
“Don’t mind him,” Dean told Noah, chuckling. “You know he never grows up.”  
  
“Yeah…” Noah grumbled, glaring at Isaac again. Suddenly he felt nausea rise in his throat, making him cover his mouth with his hand. He took a deep breath to calm down and try suppressing the nausea, and reached for his glass of water to drink something.  
  
Noah had stopped throwing up because of the pregnancy, but he did occasionally have nausea. It was rather unpleasant, and sometimes it would just come out of nowhere.  
  
“You okay?” Jayden asked worriedly when he noticed something was wrong.  
  
“Yeah,” Noah said before gulping down more water. “It just happens sometimes…”  
  
“Is it da baby?” Dylan asked, looking up at Noah with a worried frown. Noah nodded in confirmation.  
  
Castiel noticed the worry on Dylan’s face, and smiled as he explained, “Don’t worry; your mommy’s fine. All mothers experience that when they are going to have a baby. It will go away later or when the baby is born.”  
  
Dylan considered the words for a bit before pushing his glass of apple juice over to Noah. “Here, mommy; have mah juice to feel better!”  
  
Noah blinked at him, surprised by the offer. It was such a cute and kind gesture that he couldn’t help but laugh and smile at Dylan. “Thank you, but I’m okay now.”  
  
“You sure?” Dylan asked, looking worried again.  
  
Noah smiled and nodded. “Yes, I’m sure.”  
  
“Aww, isn’t he a polite, little alpha?” Natalie cooed, staring at Dylan in adoration.  
  
Adrian chuckled as he looked at Dylan as well. “Yeah, a real gentleman already.”  
  
The others smiled, and Dylan looked happy that they all thought he had done something nice.  
  
Derek, on the other hand, wasn’t that impressed, and made a small gagging noise. “But he’s too wussy for an alpha…”  
  
“Shut up,” Nathan told him, glowering at him.  
  
“Shut up yourself!”  
  
“Boys!” Jayden cut in, giving them both a sharp look to make them stop arguing.  
  
“Well, he’s only four,” Aaron argued, looking at Derek. “You can’t expect him to act like a grownup yet.”  
  
“But he still sucks on his thumb!” Derek argued back.  
  
“So did you when you were four,” Nathan muttered.  
  
“Did not!” Derek denied, glaring at Nathan for claiming that.  
  
“Did so.”  
  
“Did _not!_ ”  
  
_“Guys,”_ Jayden growled, making them quiet down again. He sighed heavily at how the two of them always had to argue about something, no matter where they were.  
  
Isaac burst out laughing, finding it amusing how Nathan and Derek could keep arguing forever. The others laughed a bit too, but felt sorry for Noah and Jayden that they had to deal with that every day.  
  
They continued chatting until everyone was done eating. Kaylen and Eliza went to take care of the dishes afterwards, and Castiel and Natalie volunteered to help.  
  
“I still can’t believe that Aaron is already 15 years old,” Jayden remarked, as the rest of them were standing in the large living room, admiring Isaac’s large collection of autographs from famous actors.  
  
Derek and Jake were playing with the dog, and the other kids were chatting and checking out Eliza’s collection of video games.  
  
“Yeah. Kids grow so fast,” Adrian chuckled, looking over at Aaron, who was also playing with the dog now. Roy was getting quite wild and playful as the kids played with him, and right now he was trying to pull his favorite tennis ball out of Aaron’s grip.  
  
“He’s still a brat,” Maya commented when she heard what they were talking about. “He hides my stuff and nags me. I can’t wait to move out and get rid of him.”  
  
Adrian laughed. “Don’t forget who taught him those things.”  
  
Maya groaned, knowing very well that Aaron had learned most of it from her.  
  
Jayden laughed.  
  
“Say,” Dean spoke as he suddenly joined their conversation. “Doesn’t he have a big competition coming up soon?”  
  
“Oh yeah, he does,” Adrian confirmed, as if he had forgotten about it.  
  
The word ‘competition’ caught Derek’s attention when he ended up near the adults while playing around with the dog. He looked up at Aaron with curiosity. “Competition? What kind?”  
  
Aaron blinked at him, and finally let go of the tennis ball so the dog could have it. Roy growled with joy and began rolling around with his tennis ball in his mouth, tail wagging happily.  
  
“I practice Jeet Kune Do. I have a big competition coming up for it soon,” Aaron explained.  
  
Derek and Jake’s eyed widened in amazement.  
  
“No way?! Isn’t that the martial art that Bruce Lee pretty much invented?” Derek blurted out, staring at Aaron like he had just found himself a new idol.  
  
“Yup,” Aaron confirmed, smiling.  
  
“That’s so cool! You must be super strong then!”  
  
Aaron shrugged modestly. “I’m okay, I guess.”  
  
“You’re more than ‘okay’; you won the championship at your school already,” Adrian chuckled.  
  
Derek and Jake’s eyes were now glued to Aaron like he was the coolest person alive right now, and Nathan kind of rolled his eyes at it. Nathan did think it was very impressive that Aaron was so good at martial arts, but Derek’s obsession with strong alphas kind of annoyed him.  
  
“Damn it, I wanna practice it too!” Derek exclaimed.  
  
Jayden laughed softly at him. “If you want to, go ahead. But last I asked, you wanted to be a football and a rugby player on the school team. You can’t do all three things.”  
  
“Eh, why not?”  
  
“Then you won’t have time to do your homework,” Jayden pointed out.  
  
A grimace formed on Derek’s face at the mention of homework. “Bah, who cares about homework?”  
  
The adults laughed, and Derek and Jake went back to playing with the dog.  
  
“It would be nice if he did some sports, wouldn’t it?” Dean chuckled. “Then he can burn off some of that energy he has.”  
  
“Well, he’s already playing soccer after school, but still he has too much leftover energy in him…” Jayden sighed. “Especially in his mouth.”  
  
Adrian laughed. “Just like Isaac.”  
  
“What? What about me?” Isaac asked, coming over to them when he heard them mentioning his name. He had been busy entertaining Nathan, Ashley, and Dylan, and hadn’t heard what they had all been talking about.  
  
“Nothing about you,” Adrian snorted. “Why do you always think that everything is about you?”  
  
“Because everything _is_ about me!” Isaac blurted. “Isn’t that right, dad?”  
  
Dean laughed. “Close your eyes and you’ll see how much is about you.”  
  
Isaac frowned at him before closing his eyes, humoring him. “Oh. Ohhh! Wait, I see it! I see everything! The earth, the universe, all of existence! And it’s all about _me!_ Yeeha!”  
  
The others burst out laughing at Isaac’s joke, and Isaac couldn’t stop being smug for a while.

  
  
***

  
After half an hour of resting after the delicious lunch they had had, Isaac loudly announced that it was time for their long anticipated water fight now.  
  
The kids were all excited to play, as were all of the adults – except for Noah, who was too tired to run around with a water gun in his hand, chasing the others. Jayden didn’t want him running around on the wet grass when he was pregnant anyway – he could end up slipping and hurting himself, after all.  
  
They split into two teams, which ended up being the girls versus the boys, with the Castiel, Dylan, and Kaylen on the girls’ team along with Natalie, Ashley, Maya, and Eliza. Dylan wanted to be on the same team as his grandma Cas, and he thought that it was unfair for the girls if they were only six on their team while the boys were nine, so he joined their team to help them out and make it seven versus eight to even the odds.  
  
Derek was of course also joining, despite his broken arm, but they had put a bag around the plaster so that it wouldn’t get wet. He was a little clumsy as he had to use his left hand to handle the water gun, but he managed.  
  
Each of them was equipped with either a bucket or a water gun, but the garden hose they had to fight for.  
  
The faucets inside the house and outdoor pool were used to refill their buckets and water guns with, and the area on the terrace and the insides of the house were a ‘safe place’ where they weren’t allowed to attack each other. That way they could all reload their toys, and Noah would be safe from ending up in the crossfire.  
  
Noah was the only one who wasn’t participating, and Kaylen had put up a nice chair and parasol for him on the terrace, from which he could watch everyone play in the large garden. The garden was full of trees and bushes, making the game more fun because they could hide and jump out to surprise the others.  
  
The game had barely started before all of them had gotten completely soaked. It was like a fight or die situation to spray water on the other team, and the kids squealed and laughed loudly as they played.  
  
Isaac had managed to get the hose, and he was spraying everyone who dared come close to him – sometimes even his own team.  
  
“Fuck! Isaac! Don’t you understand the concept of teamwork?!” Adrian growled, after Isaac had soaked him with water when he had tried getting the hose from him.  
  
The opposing team had run off to hide behind the trees and bushes while making a strategy to get the hose from Isaac. Kaylen had a few ideas of how to do it, and Isaac was growing paranoid because of it.  
  
“Kaylen is out there, plotting how to get this thing away from me, and I’m not letting him! It’s better that I hold the hose, or he’s gonna come over and take it from us!” Isaac argued, standing there in his wet trunks while glancing around for Kaylen somewhere in the garden.  
  
Dean, Jayden, Nathan, and Aaron were out looking for the others, who were hiding somewhere on the other side of the house, leaving only Isaac, Adrian, Jake, and Derek to protect the hose.  
  
“But I wanna have the hose!” Derek whined next to them.  
  
“Me too!” Jake begged.  
  
“Let the kids hold the hose for a while,” Adrian told Isaac, sighing at how Isaac was holding it tightly in his grip.  
  
“No way! You’re easy targets! The girls are gonna snatch it right out your hands,” Isaac argued, pointing the hose at the kids.  
  
Both Jake and Derek jumped back, expecting Isaac to spray water at them, but Adrian got between them.  
  
“Then give _me_ the hose if you’re so scared to lose it. They’re not gonna get it from me,” Adrian said, looking rather impatient with Isaac. “Besides, we all need to refill our water guns and buckets, anyway. We’re out of water.”  
  
Isaac kept holding onto the hose like a child protecting its candy, though, and that was when Kaylen, Natalie, Eliza, and Maya came storming out from their hiding places.  
  
Isaac stared wide-eyed at the girls in shock as they ran towards him, yelling like a tribe that was about to take down their prey. He finally turned on the hose and sprayed the stream of water at them, but that didn’t stop them.  
  
“Fuuuck!” Isaac exclaimed, before he was tackled to the ground by Kaylen, who tried to steal the hose from his hands.  
  
Meanwhile, the others were attacking Adrian and the boys with their water guns, and since the boys had run out of ‘ammo’, all they could do was retreat.  
  
“Nooo! Cheaters!” Derek exclaimed when he had to back away. His broken arm had never been more of an annoyance to him than it was right now, because it meant that he couldn’t fight back very well.  
  
Eliza grinned as she watched Derek and Jake cower back, and aimed her water gun at them. “Ha! That’s what you get for underestimating girls!”  
  
“If we still had ammo we’d kick your butts!” Jake retorted, only to get sprayed in the face by Eliza’s water gun, and shrieked as he jumped away from her.  
  
Adrian also had to fall back because Natalie and Maya were spraying him full of water. He hated their grins of victory.  
  
Right now, it all came down to who would take control of the water hose.  
  
Isaac was still struggling to keep it in his possession, but Kaylen was making it difficult for him.  
  
“Noooo! You can’t have it!” Isaac shrieked, as Kaylen had him pinned to the ground. He aimed the water directly at Kaylen’s face, but the submissive was barely affected by it.  
  
“You’re so dead,” Kaylen grinned smugly, screwing his eyes shot as the water hit him in the face. He crawled on top of Isaac, holding him down with his weight, and began tickling his sides.  
  
Isaac bucked and squirmed to get Kaylen off of him, but ended up giving in to the tickling. He burst out laughing, yelling at Kaylen to stop, and when his hands finally let go of the hose, Kaylen grabbed onto it immediately.  
  
“Hah!” Kaylen exclaimed, jumping off of Isaac. He aimed the hose at the boys, who all jumped back when they got sprayed at full volume. “The tables have turned, boys!” He aimed at the hose at Isaac’s butt when the beta tried to escape, making him almost fall over when he was hit in the ass by the strong stream.  
  
The girls all laughed at the sight, and Isaac felt kind of humiliated as he ran over to Adrian and the boys, who had fled so far away that they couldn’t be hit by the hose anymore.  
  
“So much for the hose being safer in your hands,” Adrian huffed at Isaac, rolling his eyes.  
  
“Hey! Shut up, man!” Isaac bit back, offended.  
  
Derek and Jake watched their cheering opponents with frustration.  
  
“I can’t believe we lost to them!” Derek exclaimed, feeling frustrated and disappointed.  
  
“Don’t worry; we can still get the hose back,” Adrian said, as he glanced over the cheerful faces of their opponents. Seeing his mate and daughters looking excited and happy made him smile, but he was still not going to give them victory that easily.  
  
“Way to go, Kaylen!” Natalie grinned, and high-fived Kaylen in victory.  
  
“Woohoo!” Maya cheered, pleased to have beaten her dad for once.  
  
All the girls were wearing t-shirts and shorts, and the wet clothes clung to their skin and made their bras kind of visible, but none of them cared. Playing water fights was a lot of fun after all.  
  
Eliza grinned proudly at Kaylen, who had finally managed to take the hose from the guys’ hands.  
  
“Now the score is 1-1. Let’s not have them take the hose again, or we’ll lose,” Kaylen said, grinning with the others.  
  
“Yeah. Whoever gets the hose next wins,” Natalie pointed out. “Let’s be sure that we won’t lose to them!”  
  
Kaylen nodded in determination. “Are you kidding me? You wouldn’t wanna listen to Isaac if the boys win this fight!”  
  
Natalie laughed. “I can imagine.”  
  
They all looked up when Castiel, Ashley, and Dylan came running around the corner of the house, fleeing from Dean, Jayden, Nathan, and Aaron, who were chasing them with water guns. The dog was running after them too, barking loudly and happily because he loved their water fights so much.  
  
Dylan and Ashley shrieked and laughed as they ran away from boys along with Castiel, and quickly ran over to join up with their team again. They were all completely soaked with water, and their wings were dripping as they ran.  
  
“Oh, you got the hose?” Castiel asked, when he saw Kaylen holding the water hose in his hands. He panted from exhaustion and reached down to hold Dylan’s hand when the boy came over to his side.  
  
“Yep,” Eliza grinned proudly. “We stole it from daddy.”  
  
Castiel looked impressed, but was distracted when Kaylen suddenly turned on the hose and aimed it at someone behind them.  
  
“Hey! This is _our_ hose now!” Kaylen said, spraying Dean and Jayden with the hose when the two tried sneaking up on them.  
  
Both alphas quickly jumped back to get away from the hose’s reach, and Roy also pulled back.  
  
“What, seriously? I thought Isaac was protecting it!” Dean exclaimed, shooting a look over at Isaac, who was standing in the opposite end of the garden. Despite the boys now surrounding the girls’ team, they didn’t dare go in to steal the hose, as none of them had any water left, while the girls’ team was fully loaded.  
  
“Why, sorry!” Isaac yelled back at him, having heard what he said. “But Kaylen used a dirty trick to snatch it away from me!”  
  
“All I did was tickle you,” Kaylen pointed out, smirking.  
  
Eliza giggled, and the others laughed.  
  
“Jeez. Can’t leave anything to that guy,” Dean grumbled.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Apparently not. And I guess we gotta run up the pool and house to reload our water guns. I doubt Kaylen’s gonna help us reload with the hose.”  
  
“He’ll kill us with it if we get close,” Aaron murmured.  
  
Nathan chuckled next to him. “Yeah.”  
  
Kaylen began refilling his team’s water guns and buckets with water, while the boys had to go inside to reload from the sink in the kitchen and bathroom, or go to the pool to do it. But the pool wasn’t a ‘safe place’, so most of them went inside to fill their guns with water.  
  
Jayden grabbed Nathan’s water gun to go inside and refill it for him. On his way there, he passed by the terrace, where Noah was watching all of them with amusement in the outdoor armchair.  
  
Jayden smiled at him, and decided to go over and chat with him. “Hey. Having fun watching us getting wet?”  
  
Noah looked up at him, rubbing his belly absently. “Yeah, it’s pretty fun watching you getting your asses kicked,” he smirked.  
  
“Oi,” Jayden laughed. “We haven’t lost yet. The final battle over the hose will decide who wins. We just gotta think of a nice strategy first.”  
  
Noah chuckled at that, and Jayden leaned down towards him to place a soft kiss on his lips. Noah reciprocated the kiss and purred softly when he felt Jayden caress his stomach during the kiss.  
  
When Jayden pulled away, he smiled at Noah once more. “Though, we’re really lucky that today is such nice weather. Usually it’s a bit colder in December.”  
  
Noah shrugged lightly. “Global warming, I guess. Either way, I find it nice.”  
  
“Yeah. At least we shouldn’t catch any colds when it’s this warm,” Jayden grinned. “Anyway, gotta head inside to refill. See you.” He winked at Noah before rushing inside, and Noah smiled at him as he watched him go.  
  
Derek and Jake also ran inside to refill their water guns. They had gotten their hands on some pretty big ones and were determined to get revenge on the girls’ team for taking away the hose.  
  
“Derek, don’t run on the tiles. You’re gonna slip,” Noah told Derek, when the boy came running past him on the terrace with Jake.  
  
“Yeah, yeah,” Derek replied, rolling his eyes. He hated when his mom corrected him or told him stuff he already knew.  
  
The two boys ran inside and refilled their water guns, but when they came back outside to the terrace, they bumped right into Ashley.  
  
The kids gasped when they spotted each other, and Ashley – who was on her way inside to use the toilet and hadn’t taken her water gun with her – was completely exposed to the two boys, who were both holding their water guns. All she could do was shriek and use her arms and wings as shields as the boys unloaded their weapons on her.  
  
“Nooo!” Ashley shrieked, trying to run away, but the boys blocked her path.  
  
Derek and Jake were laughing loudly as they soaked her completely with their water guns.  
  
Noah felt pretty bad for Ashley when he saw what happened. It was part of the game to spray water at each other, but Derek aiming at her face, and the fact that they had all agreed that the terrace was a ‘safe place’, made what Derek and Jake doing quite unfair.  
  
Noah was just about to yell at Derek to stop when suddenly Dylan showed up and sprayed water right in Derek’s face.  
  
Derek stumbled back in surprise, and began spitting out the water that had gotten in his mouth and nose.  
  
“Dun spray water in da face!” Dylan scolded, glaring at Derek. ”It’s mean! You cheater!”  
  
Jake stared at Dylan in surprise, not really knowing what to do. He looked at Derek, who was still irritated by the water in his nose and was glaring back at Dylan now.  
  
“’Cheater’?! You just sprayed water in _my_ face!” Derek exclaimed.  
  
“To teach lesson,” Dylan stated, keeping a stern face as he glared at his big brother. “And Ashley dun have a weapon, and terrace is safe place. That means you cheated.”  
  
“I did not cheat!” Derek denied, aiming his water gun at Dylan next, and sprayed his brother in the chest.  
  
Dylan yelped and took a step back when the cold water hit him. His panicked face soon changed, as he looked up at Derek with determination, and suddenly stepped forward to give his big brother a hard shove in the chest, knocking him back.  
  
“Stupid Derek!” Dylan scolded, glaring defiantly at him.  
  
“ _You’re_ stupid!” Derek retorted, growling in annoyance. He was about to return the push his little brother had given him, when Nathan suddenly stepped in.  
  
“Hey, what are you doing?!” Nathan demanded, getting between Dylan and Derek.  
  
Derek hated the way Nathan immediately seemed to blame it all on him, and growled up at the older brother. “He shoved me!”  
  
“And you spray water on me and Ashley!” Dylan snapped back.  
  
Jake and Ashley both looked like they didn’t know what to do with themselves, until Dean and Jayden came over.  
  
“Hey, what’s going on here?” Dean asked, looking between the kids.  
  
“Derek and Dylan got into a fight,” Ashley explained, looking a little nervous as she glanced at Derek.  
  
Jayden was a little surprised that Derek and Dylan were fighting. Usually it was always Derek and Nathan who fought, but lately Derek and Dylan had been clashing as well. In the past, Dylan had always let Nathan put Derek into his place and scold him, but in the past few weeks Dylan had started standing up to Derek more on his own, which resulted in the two of them fighting as well.  
  
“’Cause Derek and Jake are cheating!” Dylan said, staring accusingly at the two. “Terrace is safe place, but they spray water on Ashley.”  
  
Jayden finally understood what was going on. “Ah. You’re right; they’re not supposed to do that. But you can’t shove Derek either, okay?”  
  
Dylan nodded quietly, his eyes still locked with Derek, as the two stared at each other in defiance.  
  
“Alright. No water fights on the terrace, okay, boys?” Dean said, looking at Derek and Jake as he spoke.  
  
The two boys shared a glance before reluctantly nodding.  
  
“Okay, okay, we won’t. We just forgot,” Derek muttered. He gestured as Jake to get out of there, and the two wandered away from the others and back into the garden.  
  
Noah sighed in relief when he saw that the fight had been resolved. He was a bit surprised by the way Dylan had stood up for Ashley, but also quite proud of it. He had been about to intervene in their fight when Nathan had suddenly shown up and put an end to the pushing and arguing. He kind of regretted that he hadn’t gotten up to put a stop to it earlier, but the truth was that he felt too tired to get up from the chair at the moment.  
  
After the boys were gone, Ashley turned to look at Dylan with a wide smile. “Thanks! You’re so sweet, Dylan.”  
  
Dylan looked a little surprised by his cousin’s words, but soon his face lit up like a Christmas tree, and his tail swished happily behind him. He liked making other people happy.  
  
Ashley grinned at him before running off inside to the use the bathroom.  
  
Jayden proudly ruffled Dylan’s hair, making his son squeal with laughter before begging his dad to pick him up.  
  
“Up, daddy! Wanna ride on your shoulders!” Dylan chirped, grabbing at Jayden’s arms to make him pick him up.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Aren’t you too old for that?”  
  
“Noooo! Never!”  
  
Jayden laughed again before giving in. He bent down and picked up the boy, letting him sit on his shoulders.  
  
“Hey, we’re on different teams, remember? You’re supposed to spray water on your dad,” Dean told Dylan, laughing.  
  
“I’ll do that later! Now I wants to ride!” Dylan chirped, clinging to Jayden so he wouldn’t fall off.  
  
“Hey, I’m not a horse, little man,” Jayden chuckled, and gripped Dylan’s leg and arm tightly so he wouldn’t fall off.  
  
Dylan laughed. “Yes, you are! Daddy’s a horse!”  
  
Dean and Jayden laughed at that, and Nathan chuckled at them before going over to Noah, who was still watching them from his armchair.  
  
“I don’t think Dylan is much of a competition person yet,” Nathan chuckled.  
  
Noah laughed softly. “Maybe he will be when he gets older.”  
  
“As long as he won’t be like Derek. He just can’t handle defeat… And he’s loud when he wins.”  
  
Noah chuckled in agreement. “Yeah. But maybe he’ll also change when he gets older.”  
  
Nathan snorted. “I wish…”  
  
“Yo, guys!” Isaac suddenly yelled from the garden, making everyone turn to look at him. “What are you doing up there? Having tea parties or what? The fight is down here! Hurry up and reload your buckets and water guns so we can kick those girls’ asses!”  
  
Jayden cringed a bit at the vulgar way Isaac was talking, but Dylan just burst out laughing on his shoulders.  
  
Dean chuckled and reloaded his water gun by pumping water into the barrel. “Well, let’s go kick their butts. Can’t have those girls keeping the hose all day long, now, can we?”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah.” He carefully bent down and helped Dylan get off his shoulders. “Sorry, buddy, but we’re enemies now. You better run for it.”  
  
Dylan shrieked as he laughed and ran off back to his own team. He made a beeline for Castiel, who was waiting for him next to Kaylen and the water hose. They needed to protect the hose so the boys couldn’t steal it, and Dylan was determined to help protect it.  
  
The teams finished up reloading their water guns and using the bathroom, and finally resumed their playful fight.  
  
The boys tried winning the hose from the girls again, so they could determine the winning team, but Kaylen wasn’t giving it up so easily. It was like a battlefield when the boys stormed the girls to get the hose, and Noah spent some time filming it with Isaac’s camera from the terrace. He even caught the moment on camera when Isaac slipped on the wet grass and pulled Adrian and Jayden with him, after which they were all three attacked by the girls and got sprayed with so much water that Noah couldn’t stop laughing.  
  
There was water everywhere, and Noah was pretty sure that all the screaming and shrieking could be heard all over the neighborhood. Roy was pretty loud too as he barked and ran around between them as they played. He loved water, so it was impossible to make him stay away as they played.  
  
After twenty minutes of fighting over the hose, the boys finally had to accept defeat and let the girls win. They simply just couldn’t get the hose from their hands.  
  
However, despite their defeat, the boys still grinned and smiled as they retreated and came up to terrace afterwards. Only Derek and Jake seemed quite upset to have lost, as did Isaac, but they would get over it. Noah thought it was healthy for Derek that he had lost – the boy needed to deal with defeat every now and then, and learn that it wasn’t the end of the world.  
  
“It’s too bad you couldn’t join us, Noah,” Kaylen told Noah as they all came up on the terrace to shake off the water from their feathers and clothes. “It was a lot of fun,” he grinned.  
  
“Yeah, we missed you,” Natalie smiled.  
  
Noah smiled at them from his chair, and idly moved his hand over his stomach. “That’s okay. I’ll join you in the summer.”  
  
“Yay! Wanna play water fights wif mommy!” Dylan chirped excitedly.  
  
Castiel chuckled and looked at Noah with slight worry. “Were you okay up here by yourself?”  
  
Noah smiled and nodded. “Yeah, it was fun watching you guys. And I caught some pretty nice moments on the camera that Kaylen gave me.”  
  
“Did you get the part where Isaac slipped?” Kaylen asked eagerly.  
  
Noah laughed. “Yep.”  
  
“Noooooo,” Isaac whined behind them. “Delete that! Right now!” He came over to try to get his hands on the camera, but Kaylen pushed him back.  
  
“No way!” Kaylen said, blocking Isaac’s path. “Don’t ruin our beautiful family moments! We need to have something to laugh about when we get old.”  
  
“But it isn’t funny!”  
  
Kaylen laughed. “Oh, I thought it was hilarious. It totally cost you your victory.”  
  
The other girls laughed out loud, while the guys seemed a little less amused by it.  
  
“I think we should have Isaac join the team of the clumsy next,” Adrian joked, smirking at him.  
  
“Hey! Not my fault the grass was slippery! Besides, you almost fell on your ass a couple of times, too!” Isaac argued.  
  
“But I didn’t,” Adrian pointed out, pissing Isaac off more when his smirk widened.  
  
“Hey, wipe that grin off your face, or God so help me!” Isaac threatened. Dean had to hold him back so he wouldn’t smack Adrian.  
  
The others laughed at them before they slowly began heading inside to change their clothes and dry themselves with towels. They were all soaking wet, and the grass from the garden was stuck on their feet and in their feathers.  
  
Noah reached up and pulled out a few pieces of grass from Jayden’s wings, being careful of the half-sharp feathers as he did so.  
  
Jayden smiled at the gesture, and stared at Noah’s concentrated face as he tried cleaning his feathers. “It can wait. I’d rather you do it later than right now, ‘cause I really wanna put on some dry clothes.”  
  
Noah reluctantly pulled away his hand and looked up at Jayden. “Alright.” He blushed a bit at how he had started cleaning Jayden’s feathers in front of everyone, as it was a rather intimate thing to do. He just couldn’t help the sudden urge to touch his mate’s feathers and make sure they were clean and well-kempt. Right now they were ruffled and messy because they were wet and full of grass, and Noah liked it better when Jayden’s wings shined with pride and beauty. His alpha had very attractive feathers, after all.  
  
Castiel smiled at the two, having observed them quietly while the others were chatting loudly and heading inside. He looked down when he felt Dylan tug at his arm and beg him to help him change his clothes. Castiel smiled at the boy, and grabbed his hand gently as he led him inside to help him put on some dry clothes.  
  
Noah stayed behind and waited for the others to return. It had been a wonderful day full of family and laughter, and he couldn’t wait for his little girl to be born and join everyone when they had fun together.  
  
Just a couple more months and Noah would finally have a baby daughter. He really couldn’t wait for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My motivation and writing mood has been really bad lately. I’m sorry for the long wait…
> 
> And I finally found a new beta, since my other beta had a baby and couldn’t beta the story for me anymore. So thank you very much to [That_One_Curly_Haired_Fangirl](http://that-one-curly-haired-chick.tumblr.com/) for beta’ing the chapter for me! :) 
> 
> Hopefully you guys won’t have to wait that long for the next update. But you should probably expect some time jumps here and there because I simply don’t have the time and energy to focus too much on all the stuff that happens in those years, and I’m slowly running out of ideas… But I will explore the kids’ personalities more – especially Derek and Dylan, and of course the new baby when she’s born :)


	53. Chapter 53

**March 2062 (Noah is 35 (almost 36), Jayden is 37, Nathan is 12, Derek is 7 (almost 8), Dylan is 4, Castiel is 72, Dean is 74, Eden is 48, Lily is 41, Kaylen is 36 (almost 37), Leila is 63, Micah is 64 (almost 65), Laura is 26, Nicholas is 26 years old).**  
  
“So, do you want tea, water, or maybe cocoa?” Laura asked as she stood in front of Noah, who was sitting on the couch with a pile of soft pillows behind his back.  
  
Noah blinked up at her, bewildered by the sudden question.  
  
It was 2:30 in the afternoon on March 2nd – four days before Noah’s due date. His belly was large and round, and he almost couldn’t walk because of it. Still, it didn’t seem quite as big as it had been when he was pregnant with Nathan and Derek. It was more like his pregnancy with Dylan, who had been born somewhat too early.  
  
“Um… That’s a tough choice,” Noah finally said, still staring up at Laura as he pondered about what he would like to drink.  
  
Laura laughed softly at him. “Come on! Decide already.”  
  
Laura had been staying at their house since Monday, and today was a Thursday. Jayden didn’t like the idea of Noah being home alone when the baby was about to come, so Laura had volunteered to ‘babysit’ him and help him out with the things he had trouble doing on his own, such as getting up from the couch to use the bathroom or to clean and prepare food.  
  
Laura had gotten a job at an advertisement agency as a graphic designer, but she had taken the week off to be with Noah. Her boyfriend Nicholas was still studying in college – getting a doctor’s degree took much longer time than Laura’s degree in graphic design, after all.  
  
“You don’t have to make me anything, though…” Noah said, feeling a little guilty to have Laura make him something to eat and drink. He kind of felt like he was inconveniencing her.  
  
Laura just smiled and stubbornly shook her head. “Stop saying that. I’m here ‘cause I wanna help, and you need to stay hydrated while you’re pregnant. Jayden will kill me if you get sick or something.”  
  
Noah chuckled a bit at that, knowing she was right. “Okay. Well, I guess I’ll have some tea, then…”  
  
“Eh, not cocoa?” Laura asked, jaw dropping. “I was sure you’d pick the cocoa.”  
  
“I like cocoa, but I don’t feel like it right now… Sometimes it makes me a bit nauseous.”  
  
“Alright. Tea is coming right up! Your favorite is the green tea, right?”  
  
“Yeah. Thanks,” Noah smiled, and watched his sister-in-law head off to the kitchen to make him some tea. He chuckled softly at how helpful she was, but winced when he felt a sharp kick in his side. “Ow… Stop hurting your mommy, little one,” he kindly scolded, smiling as he stroked his belly. “Or do you want out already, hmm? I hope you do soon, ‘cause mommy can’t wait to see you.” He cooed softly as he spoke to the baby, something he would often do when he was pregnant. He knew the baby couldn’t understand him, but knowing that she could hear him made him smile.  
  
Sighing, Noah leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes as he waited for Laura to return with the tea. He and Laura still got along well with each other, even after she had grown up and graduated from college. She was a big girl now, and even had her own apartment and job. Nicholas still lived in a college dorm while he studied, but Noah knew they often hung out together. They weren’t mates yet, but they had plans to mate and settle down together once Nicholas finished studying.  
  
After a while, Laura came back to the living room with a cup of tea for Noah. “Here you go; tea à la Laura.”  
  
Noah laughed at her silliness, and accepted the tea from her. “Thanks.”  
  
Laura grinned as she seated herself next to Noah on the couch. “Gooosh, I’m beat. Having holidays is exhausting…” She leaned back against the couch and looked totally exhausted.  
  
Noah almost choked on his tea when he had to laugh at her comment. “How can your holidays possibly be exhausting?”  
  
“They aren’t. I’m just overreacting,” Laura chuckled, and turned her head to smirk at him. “But spending this week at your house… I don’t understand how you can still have energy left when you gotta deal with Derek every single day. I mean, it’s like World War 3 just to get him outta bed in the mornings, he eats enough to fill the belly of four adults, he never shuts up, he always complains about _something,_ he never listens, and if you let him out of your sight for five seconds he has either broken something, made someone angry, or is doing something that’s gonna get him killed. Last night I found him playing with the large kitchen knife in the kitchen ‘cause he thought it was a good sword toy! That boy is gonna be the death of me!” She let out a loud, long groan and sank back into the couch.  
  
Noah chuckled at her in sympathy, knowing all too well what it was like. “Sorry about that…”  
  
“It’s fine,” Laura smiled, waving it off. “And is it just me, or have Dylan and Derek been arguing more than usual lately?” she asked, turning her head to look at Noah again. “I mean, before it was mostly just Nathan and Derek who were fighting and arguing, while Dylan stayed out of it, but lately I’ve caught Derek and Dylan getting into fights as well…”  
  
“Yeah, you’re right,” Noah said. “Dylan has been standing up more to Derek lately, while before he always let Nathan protect him. But it isn’t nearly as bad as it is with Derek and Nathan – Dylan mostly tells Derek off verbally without using any overly insulting words, but sometimes he’ll smack him a bit.”  
  
“Huh. Kind of odd that they started doing that.”  
  
“Hmm. I guess it’s because Derek started teasing Dylan more. I’ve caught him taking some of Dylan’s things, challenging him to take it back from him and to, um, prove himself ‘a man’. Dylan usually responds by trying to retrieve the item and telling Derek to stop, and he can get pretty mad when Derek won’t give in.”  
  
“That Derek… He really has an alpha complex, doesn’t he?” Laura chuckled. “He’s always trying to look and act cool and mighty.”  
  
“Yeah… I’m a bit worried, actually. He worries too much about what others think of him and about keeping his pride intact… He seems to forget that it’s okay to show your vulnerable sides, too.”  
  
“Well, Jayden’s never had a problem with it; he was always a bit girly,” Laura giggled. “Maybe he’ll teach Derek that being a macho alpha isn’t as great as Derek thinks it is.”  
  
A small smile tugged at Noah’s lips. “I certainly hope so. It would be good for Derek to let go of his pride…”  
  
The two of them sat around and chatted some more while idly watching some show on TV and drinking the tea Laura had prepared.  
  
Noah enjoyed Laura’s company a lot. It was reassuring and relaxing to have her around during the week while Jayden was off to work and the kids were in school and pre-kindergarten. It was rare that he and Jayden saw Laura lately, as they were all busy with their own lives and work, so having her stay over for the week meant a lot to them.  
  
“Oh, I completely forgot!” Laura blurted in the middle of their chatting. “The laundry! I forgot to take it outside for drying!" She hurried up from the couch like it was on fire and rushed to the laundry room to empty the washing machine.  
  
Noah blinked at her in surprise before laughing. “You don’t have to rush so much. It can wait.”  
  
“Are you kidding me? You guys have _tons_ of dirty underwear in this house! The sooner I get it all outside for drying, the sooner I can load the washing machine with a new wash!”  
  
“It’s not just underwear…” Noah pointed out, chuckling. “And I told you that you really don’t have to do the laundry…”  
  
“Ha! As if Jayden knows how to sort the colors properly. He certainly didn’t when I was kid,” Laura spoke as she emptied the washing machine and filled it with a new load. They could still hear each other from the different rooms, if they spoke louder.  
  
Noah chuckled at that. It was true that Jayden sometimes mixed the wrong colors, making some of Noah’s otherwise colorful shirts turn boring. They sometimes got into fights about it because it made Noah angry that his shirts were ruined.  
  
Laura put all the wet clothes in a basket and hurried outside to put them up for drying, while Noah waited for her inside.  
  
It was awfully quiet in the house when no one was home and Laura was outside. Noah took a moment to close his eyes and enjoy the quietness. There was no Derek and Nathan fighting, and no Dylan begging to sit on his lap or make Derek stop teasing him. It was just nice and quiet, and Noah really needed that sometimes.  
  
As he waited for Laura’s return, Noah felt a bit of pain in the lower left side of his stomach. He had been feeling random pains like that for a couple of days now, and knew it was a sign that the baby was coming out soon.   
  
He took a deep breath and eased himself through the ache, stroking his belly as he did so. He decided to get up from the couch, since his butt was starting to go numb from sitting down for so long. He groaned at the pain in his back as he got up, and suddenly felt like an old person.  
  
It was then that Noah suddenly felt a sharper pain in his stomach. The pain made him gasp and bend over, and the next thing he felt was his water breaking and soaking up the leggings he was wearing.  
  
The labor had started.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in panic, knowing that once his water broke it wouldn’t be long until the baby was born. His babies had always been born rather fast after the stronger contractions had begun, so they needed to hurry to the hospital if they wanted to make it there in time.  
  
 _“Laura!”_ Noah yelled on top of his lungs, hoping she would hear him from outside.  
  
The next contraction was already coming, and Noah gasped and tried to stay on his feet as the pain numbed his body. It hurt so much, and he could feel how his body was preparing to push the baby out.  
  
Seconds later, Laura came running into the house in panic. “What? What is it?!” she demanded, rushing over to Noah. “Oh my god, is it the baby?”  
  
“Yes, she’s coming…” Noah groaned, leaning against Laura for support. “We need to go _now._ ”  
  
Laura’s eyes widened in light panic, as she hadn’t been in such a situation before. “Shit, okay. Let’s get you to the car, and then I’ll quickly lock up the house before we go, okay?”  
  
Noah nodded, and let his sister-in-law help him outside to the car. He hated the wet feeling on his butt and how the wet leggings clung to his legs, but that was the least of his worries now. They needed to go to the hospital, and he really hoped that the baby wouldn’t come while they were still in the car.  
  
Laura hurriedly helped Noah into the car before going back to the house to lock it up, while she quickly called Jayden on her cellphone. The alpha picked up the phone just as Laura was getting into the car to drive off, and she hurriedly explained to him what was happening before hanging up and taking off.

  
***

  
Jayden left work the moment he learned that the baby was coming. He made a call to his parents, asking them to pick up the kids from school and pre-kindergarten and take them to the hospital, before he drove off to the hospital himself.  
  
By the time Jayden reached the hospital, Noah had already been put in a delivery room and was screaming out his contractions in there.  
  
Jayden rushed into the room and over to his mate’s side, relieved that he seemed to have made it there in time. “Hey, I’m here,” he smiled, coming over to place a kiss on Noah’s forehead and grab his hand.  
  
Noah was lying on the bed, dressed in a hospital gown and was drenched in sweat, while Laura was standing next to him. The submissive smiled up at Jayden when he saw him. “Finally…” he said, chuckling a bit at Jayden’s offended expression.  
  
“Hey, I came as fast as I could.”  
  
Noah chuckled and squeezed his hand. “I know.”  
  
Laura looked at them and the nurses before slowly retreating. “I’ll let you guys handle this. I’ll wait outside, okay?”  
  
Jayden turned to look at her with a grateful smile. “Yeah. Thanks, Laura.”  
  
Laura returned his smile. “You’re welcome.” She gave Noah the thumbs up to wish him good luck before she left the room and let the obstetrician help them from then on.   
  
Charlie had retired a few years ago, which meant that Noah and Jayden now had a new ob/gyn to help them through the pregnancy and birth. The new ob/gyn was someone Charlie herself had recommended, and she was a very nice and patient person. Noah felt safe around her, and that was what mattered the most.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden said in a soft voice as he turned his attention back to his laboring mate. “It’s okay. You can do this.” He clutched Noah’s hand tightly and cupped it between his own two hands, while watching Noah struggling with the contractions.  
  
“Yeah, I know, it just… It _hurts!_ ” Noah growled out from pain. He flinched a bit when the ob/gyn came over to check how dilated he was, but quickly relaxed when he realized her intentions.  
  
“You’re almost fully dilated,” the ob/gyn said, and stepped back after she was done examining him. “The baby should come out soon now. Just a few more minutes.”  
  
Noah was relieved to hear that, as he didn’t want to have to deal with these pains anymore. He just wanted his baby girl to be born already so he could finally hold her in his arms.  
  
Jayden was equally excited, and placed soft kisses on Noah’s hand while murmuring encouraging words to him to help him through the birth.

  
***

  
Meanwhile, Leila and Micah had picked up the kids as Jayden had asked them to, and arrived with them at the hospital not long after. They had also made a call to Dean and Castiel to inform them about the situation, and they bumped into each other at the entrance of the hospital.  
  
“Gramma! Grandpa!” Dylan chirped happily when he saw Dean and Castiel. He ran over to hug both of them, grinning excitedly.  
  
“Hey, Dylan,” Dean grinned, hugging him back and touching tails with him. “You excited to be a big brother soon?”  
  
“Yep! I can’t wait to see da baby!” Dylan grinned, his tail swishing from excitement.  
  
Micah laughed. “It was all he would talk about in the car.”  
  
Castiel chuckled, and glanced down at little Dylan. “Of course. It’s his first younger sibling, after all.”  
  
Nathan smiled as he watched how excited Dylan was. He was quite excited himself, though he was a little worried about Noah. He hoped the birth was going well and that his mom would be okay.  
  
“How long is it gonna take?” Derek asked, looking a little impatient. He hated waiting for things, and he didn’t like hospitals either. He kept glancing around at all the doctors and got reminded of the many times he had been to the ER.  
  
“It takes whatever time it takes,” Dean told him. “It’s not a thing that can be rushed.”  
  
“But you guys were born pretty fast, so I’m sure that the baby should be out very soon,” Leila added, smiling patiently at Derek.  
  
Derek still looked pretty bored and impatient, though, and Nathan kind of wanted to smack him for it.  
  
Micah glanced at his watch. “Well, we better head up to the maternity ward. I think Laura is waiting for us there.”  
  
“Yeah, let’s go,” Dean agreed.  
  
They all went over to ask a nurse at the reception about what room Noah was in before going there. The room was on the third floor, so they all went to the elevator to ride up to the third floor.   
  
Derek didn’t feel like taking the elevator, so he took the stairs and said he’d make it there before their elevator would. Nathan snorted at that, wondering if Derek could actually make it.  
  
When they reached the third floor with the elevator, Derek was nowhere to be seen, though.  
  
They waited for a minute, wondering where he was.  
  
“Is Derek lost?” Dylan asked, looking up at Castiel as he stood next to him, holding his hand.  
  
Castiel frowned worriedly as he glanced around for Derek. “I’m not sure…”  
  
The others glanced around as well, but Derek was nowhere to be seen among the people walking back and forth in the corridor.  
  
“Maybe he forgot which floor to get off on?” Leila said.  
  
Nathan snorted. “I wouldn’t be surprised…” He was just about to go over to the door leading to the staircase so he could look for Derek in there, when the door to the staircase suddenly opened, and a very exhausted Derek stepped out of it.  
  
“Oh, there you guys are,” Derek panted, and went over to join them. “I forgot which floor to get off on. I thought it was the fifth…”  
  
The others laughed, and Derek glared at them for finding it funny.  
  
“Moron,” Nathan chuckled.  
  
“Whatever!” Derek retorted. “When we’re going back down, I will definitely be faster than the elevator!”  
  
“Watch out that you don’t end up in the basement,” Nathan giggled, and jumped back with a laugh when Derek smacked him on the arm for making fun of him.  
  
“Guys,” Micah warned with a heavy sigh. “Come on; let’s go to the waiting area and see if we can find Laura.”  
  
“Yeah,” Dean agreed, chuckling as he walked down the corridor with Micah.  
  
The others followed, and Derek kept glaring at Nathan.  
  
Visitors weren’t really allowed to wait outside in the corridors because it was a quite busy corridor and they would just in the way. That’s why the maternity ward had a waiting room for friends and family, where they could stay until they were allowed to enter the delivery room and see the newborn baby.  
  
Just as they expected, Laura was waiting for them in the waiting room. When she spotted them, she rose from the chair she had been sitting on and smiled as she came over to them. “Oh, there you are.”  
  
“Hey, sweetie. How are things going with Noah?” Leila asked, smiling as she gave her daughter a warm hug.  
  
“Well, I think,” Laura replied, hugging her back. “I left the moment Jayden arrived. But it seems like Noah’s contractions are coming on strong, so it probably won’t be long until the baby is out.”  
  
Everyone smiled in excitement.  
  
“Jayden better be taking good care of him in there,” Dean murmured.  
  
Castiel rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh. “Dean, this is their fourth baby. And Jayden has taken care of him so far, hasn’t he?”  
  
“Well, yeah…”  
  
“Then stop saying such things. Noah is in good hands.”  
  
Dean rubbed his neck in embarrassment while the others laughed softly at him.  
  
Laura chuckled at them, until she suddenly spotted a familiar face entering the waiting room. “Oh, Nicholas!” she grinned, rushing over to greet her boyfriend.  
  
The others turned around to see Nicholas hurrying over to them.  
  
“Hey,” Nicholas smiled, kissing Laura on the lips and hugging her when she came up to greet him. “How’s it going? Is the baby there yet?”  
  
Laura had called him to let him know that Noah and Jayden’s baby was coming, so Nicholas had hurried over to meet up with them. Since he was studying to be a doctor, he had an internship at that very same hospital, so all he had to do was to take the elevator down a few floors to be there.  
  
“No, we’re all waiting for it,” Micah explained, smiling.  
  
“Ah.” Nicholas went on to greet them each of them next. It had been a while since he has last seen Dean and Castiel, and the two were a bit surprised at how grown-up he looked compared to when they had last seen him. Maybe it was just his doctor uniform that made him look more grown-up, though.  
  
The hallway outside was getting crowded with doctors and nurses walking back and forth, and a few pregnant women were taking walks down the hallway to get rid of the nerves in between their contractions. There was a bit of noise among the other guests in the waiting room, and every time a door to one of the delivery rooms was opened they could hear the females’ and subs’ screams as they fought through their contractions.  
  
Dylan seemed to get kind of freaked out when they heard a woman screaming really loudly in pain in one of the rooms, so the adults decided they should go somewhere else.  
  
There was a café area on the fourth floor, so they decided to head there and wait for the news to come that the baby had been born. It would be quieter in the café area, so Dylan should be less freaked out. It was the first time he had been to a maternity ward, after all, so all the screaming made him scared.  
  
The café area was rather big, and the windows reached all the way from the ceiling to the floor, giving you a nice view of the city from there.   
  
There were a lot of people in the café, but they managed to find two tables with chairs enough for everyone, and settled down to wait.  
  
“And since you’ve all behaved so well so far, I’ll treat you kids to some ice cream. How’s that?” Leila smiled at the kids.  
  
“Yay!” Derek cheered, grinning widely.  
  
“Thanks, grandma,” Nathan smiled.  
  
Leila smiled and went up to the café to buy them all ice cream. She bought some for the adults too, and Dean and Castiel thanked her for her unnecessary gesture.  
  
“Thanks, mom,” Laura smiled at her when Leila bought ice cream for her and Nicholas as well.  
  
They all sat down and began eating.   
  
Castiel had informed Eden, Lily, Isaac, and Adrian about the baby coming soon, so he was waiting for them to show up. He knew that Eden and Lily would come no matter what, but he wasn’t sure about Isaac and Adrian. Kaylen would probably also show up, since he worked at the hospital, but it depended on when he would be able to leave his shift.  
  
The ice cream was delicious, and they chatted a bit as they licked and ate their ice cream.  
  
However, Castiel soon noticed that something wasn’t quite right when he saw that Dylan was barely touching his ice cream.  
  
“Hey, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you eating your ice cream, Dylan?” Castiel asked, eying the boy with worry when he saw him sitting quietly at the table, staring into nothing.  
  
Dylan shifted, his wings drooping a bit. “That woman… she was in a lot pain. Is… Is mommy gonna be okay?” He lifted his gaze, staring at Castiel with a worried, scared expression on his face.  
  
“Aww, Dylan,” Laura began. “Your mommy’s gonna be fine.”  
  
“Laura’s right,” Castiel reassured the boy, smiling softly at him. “Nothing is going to happen to your mom.”  
  
“But that woman was hurting badly. Is mommy hurting too?” Dylan asked, still looking worried and scared. He was practically shaking with it.  
  
“Hey,” Nathan said, inching closer to Dylan, and smiled when his brother turned to look at him. “I think all women and subs are hurting when they are having a baby. But just ‘cause it hurts doesn’t mean they won’t be okay. Right?” He looked at his grandparents and Laura for confirmation.  
  
Leila nodded. “That’s right. It hurts a lot, but things usually go well. You’ll see. Very soon your mommy is going to be bursting with happiness when the baby is there.”  
  
“Really?” Dylan asked, cheering up a bit.  
  
“Of course! You don’t think your grandmas are lying, now, do you?” Dean chuckled.  
  
Dylan shook his head at that, already looking much more happy and relieved. He finally began licking at his ice cream, which amazingly hadn’t melted away yet.  
  
The others chuckled fondly at him, while Derek stayed quiet.   
  
Derek had rolled his eyes at Dylan’s worries, because he knew that their mom would be alright and that Dylan had no reason to worry. It still annoyed him when his alpha brother was whiny, but he didn’t comment on it today.  
  
When everyone was done eating their ice cream, Dylan got up to collect the wrappings from all of them and went to throw them away in the trash. He was always helpful like that, and the adults couldn’t help but feel proud of him.  
  
As Dylan was on his way back to the table, he saw an old lady dropping her reading glasses on the floor. He quickly went over to pick them up for her, because he could tell that she was hurting a lot when trying to bend down.  
  
“Here!” he chirped, smiling brightly as he held up the glasses for the old lady to take.  
  
The old lady – who was a demon in her 90s – looked a bit surprised by the kind gesture, and reached out to take the glasses from him. “Why, thank you. Such a handsome, young gentleman that you are,” she smiled.  
  
Others, who had witnessed the scene, couldn’t help but smile at it, and Dylan looked pleased that the old lady got her glasses back.  
  
“You’re welcome!” Dylan chirped joyfully, before hurrying back to his family.  
  
“Oh, that was nice of you,” Laura smiled at him when he returned. “That old lady looks happy now.”  
  
“Yeah. Well done,” Dean praised, smiling proudly at his youngest grandson.  
  
Dylan’s tail curled sheepishly, and he giggled a bit when Nathan ruffled his hair with fondness.  
  
Derek, however, looked a bit unimpressed. “All he did was pick up some glasses from the floor, though… You’re treating him like a dog, praising him for that.”  
  
Nathan scowled over at Derek. “He helped someone who needed it. How is that not a nice thing to do?”  
  
“I didn’t say it wasn’t nice, but it’s not an alpha thing either!” Derek argued.  
  
“Oh, here we go again,” Micah sighed.  
  
“You and your alpha stuff,” Nathan snorted, glaring at Derek like he had had enough of him.  
  
Derek was about to snap something back at him when suddenly Leila’s cellphone started ringing.  
  
Cellphones were allowed in the café area, so the staff didn’t have a problem with it.  
  
Leila quickly picked up the phone when she saw that it was Jayden who was calling her. “Hello? Jayden?”  
  
The others stopped talking, holding their breaths with excitement as they watched Leila talking on the phone with Jayden.  
  
Suddenly, Leila’s face lit up with excitement. “Really? The baby has been born?” she asked, almost unable to contain her happiness. “Okay! We’ll come up right away! Bye.” She quickly hung up and turned to face the others with a wide smile on her face. “Jayden said they just had a healthy baby girl, and that Noah’s ready for everyone to come look at her now.”  
  
“Really?” Dean grinned, bursting with happiness along with Castiel. The two shared an excited smile before getting up from the table to go see their son and his newborn baby.  
  
Nathan grinned with excitement as he got up from his seat, eager to see his first sister. He felt really relieved that his mom had managed to have the baby without complications, and he couldn’t wait to see how Dylan would react to their new sister.  
  
“Yay! I wanna see, I wanna see!” Dylan chirped, jumping from excitement.  
  
Castiel laughed softly at him and took his hand. “You will.”  
  
They all left the café to go see the baby, smiling widely with excitement and happiness. Even Derek looked pretty excited, though he wasn’t showing it as much as the others.

  
***

  
Meanwhile, the birth had gone quite smoothly for Noah, but he was a little surprised by the smallness of his baby when the nurses placed her in his arms. She was so tiny compared to Nathan and Derek when they were born, and was about the same size as Dylan, who had been born a few weeks too early back then.  
  
At first he had been a little worried, mostly because the memories of Dylan’s birth and the complications he had had suddenly came back to him, but the nurses assured him that his baby girl was healthy.  
  
Noah felt utterly exhausted, but when he glanced down at the little treasure in his arms, he didn’t feel half as tired anymore. His baby was absolutely beautiful. She was curled up in the blanket, and her tiny, light grey wings with a few red feathers here and there were folded behind her back. They were so light grey that Noah wasn’t sure if they were actually grey or white, but either way she was beautiful. He could feel her tiny tail moving slightly in the blanket as he held her, and he smiled at how cute it was.  
  
“Oh… She’s so gorgeous,” Jayden breathed, staring at their little baby in amazement as Noah held her. He was sitting next to Noah on the edge of the bed, and was leaning over to have a better look at their baby.  
  
The birth had taken only about half hour, and Jayden had supported Noah all the way through it. He was proud of how well his mate had managed it, despite it obviously being pretty painful for Noah.  
  
“Yes. She is,” Noah agreed, not taking his eyes off the baby. His warm, motherly smile as he looked at their baby made Jayden smile as well, and the two of them rested their heads against each other as they stared at their little girl together.  
  
The baby was pretty quiet right now, even though she had screamed a lot just after she was born. But after the nurses had cleaned her and she had been placed in her mother’s arms, she had calmed down a lot.  
  
They were both still staring at her when the baby started squirming a bit. A small, gurgling noise came from her as she seemed to stretch a bit, and suddenly she blinked her eyes open to look up at her parents for the first time.  
  
Her bright blue eyes were definitely inherited from Noah, and Jayden couldn’t stop grinning when he saw her eyes for the first time.  
  
“Oh, she has your eyes,” he grinned, reaching down to gently stroke her tiny cheek.  
  
Noah smiled and cuddled the baby closer. “Yeah… And your tail. I can feel it squirming in the blanket.”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at that before staring at their daughter in adoration once more. “Finally a girl, huh?”  
  
Noah hummed and nodded, not looking away from the baby. “Yes, finally.”  
  
Jayden smiled widely, and watched as Noah and the baby locked eyes and bonded with each other.  
  
After bonding with the baby and having Noah rest for a bit after the birth, Jayden called his mom to tell them they were ready for them to come see the baby.  
  
While waiting for them to arrive, Jayden got a bottle of milk from one of the nurses and gave it to Noah so he could feed their baby for the first time.  
  
The baby eagerly began drinking from the bottle, and the two parents smiled proudly at her as they watched her gulp it down greedily. She was all calm and quiet in Noah’s arms as he fed her, and Jayden gently stroked her head and the soft hairs there while she fed.  
  
“So… Have you decided on a name yet?” Jayden asked Noah, still looking at their daughter while stroking her head softly.  
  
“Hmm…” Noah looked at the baby in his arms, pondering a name. He glanced at Jayden, “Have you?”  
  
Jayden laughed softly. “Well, we agreed that you should be the one to name her. I named Derek and Dylan, after all.”  
  
Noah glanced down at the baby again, thinking about which name would suit her best. They had talked about possible names together, and had come up with a few that they both liked.  
  
“Well,” Noah began, smiling down at the baby. “I think ‘Claire’ would be a nice name for her. She kind of looks like a Claire.”  
  
Jayden pondered the name, and smiled when he thought that Noah was right. “Alright. Claire it is.” He grinned softly and stroked the baby’s tiny hand. “Hey, Claire. Do you like your name?” he cooed, and watched as she seemed to squirm with content.  
  
They both laughed softly when it seemed that Claire approved of her name, and once again they rested their heads against the other’s as they watched her proudly.  
  
Moments later, their families arrived to see the baby. They made sure to be quiet when they saw that the baby was feeding, and came over to look at her.  
  
Noah smiled and greeted them as they came over, and Jayden’s tail swished with pride and happiness as everyone looked at the baby with amazement.  
  
“Ohh, she’s so perfect,” Leila grinned, bursting with happiness at being a grandmother again.  
  
Micah, Castiel, and Dean were equally happy, and Dean and Castiel leaned in to press a proud kiss on Noah’s forehead.  
  
“Are you okay?” Castiel asked Noah, feeling somewhat worried for his son.  
  
Noah smiled and nodded. “Yes, I’m okay.” He glanced down at his baby again, and couldn’t stop smiling at the little treasure in his arms.  
  
“Wanna see, wanna see!” Dylan chirped, while trying to push his way past the adults to get a look at his new little sister.  
  
Dean laughed softly at the boy and reached down to pick him up, lifting him up so he could see the baby.  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened in amazement when he saw his little sister for the first time. “Oh, that’s a baby!” he blurted. “She’s pretty!”  
  
Everyone laughed at his comment.  
  
“Of course it’s a baby; people aren’t born as adults,” Derek said, rolling his eyes at Dylan’s comment.  
  
Dylan shot him an annoyed look.  
  
“Now, now,” Micah interfered to stop the fight. “No arguing here, or you’ll make your sister cry.”  
  
Nathan gave Derek a small glare before pushing in between the adults so he could see the baby better. Laura stepped aside so Nathan could see his sister, and Nathan couldn’t stop smiling when he finally saw her. She was so small and cute, and Nathan was happy that they would finally have a girl in the house.  
  
“Can I touch her?” Nathan asked Noah carefully, eager to interact with his new baby sister.  
  
“Of course,” Noah chuckled, and shifted the baby a bit so that Nathan could interact with her easier.  
  
Nathan smiled in excitement as he slowly reached out and touched his sister’s tiny hand. It was all soft and pink, and he gently stroked it. The baby remained calm, as she was still busy eating, but Nathan could see her tail moving softly beneath the blanket.  
  
“Glad to finally have a sister?” Jayden asked Nathan when he saw how excited he looked.  
  
“Yeah,” Nathan grinned, not taking his eyes off the baby. “It’s awesome. She’s so cute.”  
  
“Wait until she cries all night and keeps you awake,” Micah joked, laughing.  
  
“Ugh,” Derek grunted in the background. He definitely didn’t sound happy about that at all.  
  
Jayden looked over at Derek, who still hadn’t pushed past the adults to see his sister. “Derek, come on over and meet your sister.” Jayden gently waved him over, and smiled when he noticed that Derek seemed a little awkward about it.  
  
Leila gently pushed Derek forward, and the boy felt kind of awkward when they all stared at him as he went over to greet his new little sister.  
  
Nathan’s tail swished as if he was on guard, and reluctantly stepped aside to let Derek greet their sister. He hoped his brother wouldn’t do anything to scare her.  
  
Slowly, Derek moved forward and leaned in to look at the baby, who was still cuddled in Noah’s arms. Seeing her up so close made him realize just how small she was, and it kind of surprised him. He felt his protective instincts kick in as he looked at the baby, and it felt kind of weird to him.  
  
“Oh. She’s so small,” Derek finally said, just staring at her in amazement.  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Yeah. Newborns are pretty small. You were quite a bit bigger, though, if I remember right.”  
  
Noah nodded in agreement, remembering how difficult Derek’s birth had been because he had been rather large.  
  
Derek kept staring at the baby, like it was the first time that he had ever seen one. He had seen babies before, but had never really interacted with one since Dylan was a baby.  
  
“Have you given her a name yet?” Castiel asked. It was a question they were all wondering about.  
  
Noah and Jayden looked at each other, before Noah smiled and looked at the others. “Yes. We’re naming her Claire.”  
  
The name seemed to settle well with the others, who all smiled in approval.  
  
“Ohh, Claire is a nice name for her,” Laura grinned.  
  
Noah smiled proudly, but turned his attention to the baby when she was done feeding and she began sobbing when he removed the bottle from her mouth. “Aww, it’s okay. Shh…” He gently shifted her in his arms to soothe her, but she kept being a little fussy. He rocked her gently and cooed at her to calm her down, but she was still crying.  
  
Jayden reached out his hands to offer some help, and Noah smiled as he carefully shifted the baby into his mate’s arms instead. Jayden hadn’t held her yet, so it was about time that he did.  
  
Once Claire was in her daddy’s arms and he gently leaned her against his shoulder, she calmed down and closed her eyes contently. She was still wrapped up in the blanket without any clothes on, but they would put clothes and a diaper on her soon.  
  
“Aww, the little princess likes sleeping on her daddy,” Laura teased, grinning as she watched the scene.  
  
“Of course; my shoulder is a nice pillow,” Jayden grinned, and gently rocked little Claire. She was so small and fragile in his hands, so he had to be very careful with her. She quickly found comfort in him, though, and Jayden was filled with fatherly emotions and protectiveness as he held her against his shoulder.  
  
The others laughed softly at Jayden’s words, but looked up when someone knocked on the door.  
  
They all turned to see Kaylen arriving, along with Eden and Lily. They were excited to see their new niece and to congratulate Noah and Jayden on the baby.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Eden grinned, happy to see them all. “Hope it won’t get too crowded if we join?”  
  
“No, that’s fine. Micah and I were about to leave anyway,” Leila smiled.  
  
Leila, Micah, Laura, and Nicholas decided to retreat for now so that the room didn’t get too crowded, and to give Noah’s family some space and time together. They said goodbye to Noah and Jayden before leaving, though they would see Laura again later, since she had to go to their house and pick up her stuff.  
  
When there was more space in the room, Eden and Lily hurried over to see Noah and his newborn baby. Claire was still resting on Jayden’s shoulder, and the two girls grinned with excitement when they saw the little baby.  
  
“Ohh, she’s so cute!” Eden exclaimed, before looking at Noah. “Finally you have a little girl. Congratulations!”  
  
“Thanks,” Noah smiled.  
  
“Yeah, congratulations,” Lily grinned. “She really is adorable.”  
  
“Yeah, she is,” Kaylen agreed. “She takes after Noah with that.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Why, sorry for not being cute.”  
  
Kaylen grinned, knowing that Jayden could take the joke.  
  
“Oh, she definitely takes after Noah with the cuteness,” Dean said, smirking at Noah when his son looked all embarrassed.  
  
Eden smiled at them, and then turned her attention to the kids. “What about you guys? Excited about your sister?”  
  
“Yeah,” Nathan grinned.  
  
“Yay!” Dylan cheered, jumping in excitement, while Derek just nodded quietly.  
  
“You guys better make sure to go easy on your mom now; he needs to rest,” Kaylen told them, eyeing them like he was giving them a lecture. “Or I’m gonna come over and kick your little butts, understand?”  
  
The kids laughed at that.  
  
“I’ll kick yours back!” Derek threatened with a wide grin.  
  
“Oh, really? I’m pretty sure I can kick harder than you can, little man,” Kaylen smirked.  
  
Derek looked pretty annoyed with that, since he knew Kaylen was right. “But when I’m bigger you can’t!”  
  
“Good thing for me that you aren’t that big yet, then,” Kaylen chuckled.  
  
The others laughed.  
  
“By the way, where’s Isaac? Isn’t he coming to greet his new niece?” Dean asked Kaylen. He sounded pretty disappointed that Isaac wasn’t there to see Noah for such an important occasion.  
  
“I also haven’t heard from Adrian yet…” Castiel said, looking a bit worried. He wanted to check his phone and see if Adrian had messaged him back yet, but phones weren’t allowed in the patient rooms.  
  
“Isaac is away to film new episodes of the TV show he’s on,” Kaylen explained. “But he’ll come back home this weekend. I’ll make sure to drag him over to Noah and Jayden’s place to see the baby then. If that’s okay with Noah.”  
  
“Of course,” Noah said. He felt a little disappointed that Isaac and Adrian weren’t there to see the baby, but on the other hand he felt way too tired to have to deal with Isaac right now. He hated admitting it, but he was pretty much just waiting for everyone to leave so he could go home and relax, and bond with his new daughter. He was totally exhausted.  
  
“And I talked to Adrian yesterday on the phone. He said that he caught a cold from Ashley, so I don’t think he’ll be able to come see the baby today either,” Eden spoke, and gave Noah an apologetic smile.  
  
“That’s okay. It doesn’t have to be today,” Noah smiled, waving it off.  
  
“And I think she’s sleeping, anyway…” Nathan spoke, and looked over at Claire, who had gone all quiet while resting against Jayden’s shoulder.  
  
“Yeah. She’s sleeping,” Jayden chuckled, and gently held the baby against him.  
  
Everyone lowered their voices then, afraid to wake up the baby.  
  
“But it’s not night yet,” Dylan pointed out, confused about why the baby was asleep already.  
  
Lily chuckled softly. “Well, babies sleep whenever they want, and sometimes during the day as well. Just after they’re born, babies spend more time sleeping than being awake.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Derek snorted at his little brother. “You still take naps during the day. Why does it surprise you that babies sleep during the day, too?”  
  
“It doesn’t!” Dylan snapped defensively, and glared at Derek for making it sound like he was stupid.  
  
Nathan quickly stepped between them to stop them from arguing further. He was worried it would wake up the baby if they made too much noise.  
  
Jayden turned to look at Noah. “Guess we better prepare to head home soon, huh? You look tired as well.”  
  
“Yeah…” Noah admitted, rubbing his eyes a bit. His body was still aching all over, and he didn’t have the energy to get up from the bed just yet.  
  
“Yeah, Noah needs some rest,” Eden said, and gently stroked her little brother’s arm. “I guess you’re gonna be on baby duty for the first few nights, Jayden.” She chuckled over at him, and almost felt sorry for her brother-in-law that his sleep would be ruined now.  
  
“I’m used to that,” Jayden chuckled back.   
  
“Let’s hope she’s not as bad as Eliza was. She cried all night long for the first four months, and it drove Isaac crazy,” Kaylen said, chuckling at the memory.  
  
“Oh, he’s always been a little crazy, so don’t worry about it,” Dean spoke.  
  
The others laughed at that.  
  
“More crazy than usual, then,” Kaylen corrected himself, chuckling.  
  
“And you must be dying to get home and rest, right, Noah?” Lily said, looking at her little brother.  
  
“Yeah… But I don’t feel like moving just yet…” Noah answered.  
  
“Take your time. I’m sure the doctors won’t kick you out just yet,” Castiel spoke, giving Noah a patient smile.  
  
“Maybe you guys want us to come over and help you set things up for the baby?” Dean offered, looking at Jayden.  
  
“Yeah, sure. And, uh, maybe help a bit with dinner?” Jayden felt kind of embarrassed to have to ask that of his parents-in-law, but he knew that he would be busy tending to the baby and Noah once they got home, and someone needed to feed the older kids.   
  
“Of course,” Castiel smiled.  
  
“Gosh, I wish I had an Isaac-sitter sometimes,” Kaylen suddenly sighed, his wings drooping behind him.  
  
The comment made the others laugh.  
  
“I feel you,” Eden laughed, putting a reassuring hand on Kaylen’s shoulder.  
  
“But didn’t you say he’s off to shoot new episodes?” Lily chuckled.  
  
“Yeah… But when he comes home and is hyper, he’s like a baby who requires 24/7 attention,” Kaylen groaned, rubbing his temples in stress.  
  
“But Uncle Isaac is funny!” Derek argued, laughing.  
  
“Sounds like he did something unusually bad recently?” Lily began, prompting Kaylen to tell why he was so stressed about Isaac.  
  
“Oh, it’s just that just before he left for work last time, he was playing around with Jake, and somehow he grabbed the fire extinguisher and opened it, and then contents were everywhere in Jake’s room, and I mean _everywhere._ Took me a whole week to clean that mess up,” Kaylen groaned.  
  
Castiel gasped. “Why on earth would he do that?”  
  
“I don’t know. He’s not exactly normal, you know?” There was a small, fond chuckle in Kaylen’s voice as he said that, though he was still annoyed at what Isaac had done.  
  
The others laughed.  
  
“Poor you, Kaylen,” Eden laughed.  
  
“Sounds like you need to get some payback,” Jayden chuckled, while rocking the still sleeping Claire on his shoulder.  
  
“Oh, trust me; I will get payback,” Kaylen smirked mischievously.   
  
The others laughed again, and this time Claire seemed to wake up a bit. Eden and Lily immediately apologized for having laughed so loud, but Jayden assured them it was fine.  
  
Now that little Claire was awake anyway, the others could finally get to hold her.  
  
Jayden carefully passed Claire over to Castiel, trying not to act all too protective as he let his baby daughter go.  
  
Castiel was thrilled to hold the newborn baby for the first time, and a proud Dean came over to look as well. Every time they had a new grandchild, Dean and Castiel were filled with such happiness and pride. It strengthened their belief that mating was the best thing that had ever happened to them, and they were glad that they had broken the norms of society and hadn’t stayed apart just because one was an angel and the other was a demon.  
  
Eden, Lily, and Kaylen were eager to the hold the baby as well.  
  
Claire was quite calm as she was passed around, although she did put up a bit of fuss every time she got moved.  
  
“Aww, shhh,” Kaylen shushed Claire when she started getting fussy in his arms. “Don’t worry; I don’t bite. But I guess you just want your mama back, huh?”  
  
Noah chuckled at that, and watched as the others held his baby. He felt quite impatient to get her back in his arms, but he wanted to let the others feel the joy of holding her as well.  
  
Kaylen went over to hand the baby back to Noah, when Noah suddenly glanced at Nathan.  
  
“Do you want to hold her as well, Nathan?” Noah asked him.  
  
Nathan’s eyes widened, as if he hadn’t expected to be allowed to hold her already. “Uh, yeah,” he stuttered out.  
  
The others laughed softly at him, and Kaylen gently handed the baby over to Nathan next.  
  
Nathan was a little clumsy at first when he reached out to hold the baby, but he quickly got a good hold on her. He shushed her gently when she sobbed and squirmed, and soon the baby calmed down his arms. He was in absolute awe to hold his sister, and he held on to her tightly as if he was afraid to drop her.  
  
“Relax, Nathan. You won’t drop her,” Jayden chuckled when he saw how nervous he was.  
  
“But… She’s so fragile,” Nathan said, still staring at her.  
  
Jayden laughed softly. “Yeah. But you weren’t as scared to hold Dylan back then.”  
  
“Well, he was a few months old when I held him for the first time…” Nathan explained.  
  
Dylan had been at the hospital for a while after he was born because of complications of his early birth, so he had been a few months old when Nathan first got to hold him. Claire, on the hand, was completely newborn, and Nathan felt a bit unsure of how to hold her properly.  
  
“You’ll be alright, Nathan. Just let her weight rest on your arm,” Dean said, hoping to reassure Nathan.  
  
Nathan relaxed a bit at Dean’s words, and finally calmed down enough to pay his sister proper attention. He smiled proudly at her, and used his free hand to gently scratch her soft belly. “Hey, Claire,” he cooed.  
  
Dylan was jumping up and down next to him to have a look as well, but was still too short to see it properly.  
  
Derek also came over to look as Nathan held their sister. “Don’t drop her.”  
  
“I won’t,” Nathan snapped at him, giving Derek a small glare before smiling back at Claire.  
  
“Aww. I think Nathan’s really happy to have a sister,” Lily grinned.  
  
Nathan blushed slightly at that.  
  
“Well, they really did need some girl power in their house,” Eden joked, smiling over at Noah and Jayden.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, Noah thinks that as well. He’s always saying that all the testosterone in the house makes him go crazy.”  
  
The others laughed at that, and Noah glared a bit at Jayden.  
  
When Claire began squirming and crying, Nathan decided it was best to hand her back to Noah. He wasn’t sure how to soothe the newborn baby, and he knew that she probably wanted her mommy.  
  
Nathan gently transferred the crying infant back to Noah, who quickly managed to calm her down when she was back in his arms.  
  
“Shh, it’s alright, sweetie. I’m here,” Noah cooed, rocking his baby softly in his arms and placing soft kisses on her head.  
  
The others smiled at the scene, and Jayden got up to get some clothes and diapers for Claire so they could take her home soon. He had kept a bag in his car with clothes, diapers, and other baby stuff they would need once the baby was born, and he had brought the bag with him he had hurried into the hospital to find Noah. He rummaged through the bag and found a cute baby outfit for newborn babies, with holes for the wings and tail. It was light purple with a cute kitty on the front, and there was also a small, soft hat that belonged to the set.  
  
The others thought it was amazingly cute, and Noah and Jayden helped each other put the diaper and clothes on the baby before they were ready to go.  
  
Everyone was excited to bring the baby home and adjust to life with a new addition to their family. Hopefully little Claire would bring more harmony to their home, but they knew the first few months would be tough. Babies required attention at all hours of the day, after all, and Noah also needed to recover his from pregnancy and the birth, so most of the baby duties would fall on Jayden for the first few weeks.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, it took me ages to get an update up... I hope there's still people reading this.
> 
> Good news is that my writing mood was really good last weekend, and I managed to write most of the next chapter already. I hope it finish it this weekend and give it to my beta for proof-reading, so maybe in a week or so I'll update :) Unless something comes up and I'll be delayed... Which I hope not, of course.
> 
> Hope you guys like the new baby! I think she'll be good for the family :)


	54. Chapter 54

**October 2062 (Noah is 36, Jayden is 38, Nathan is 12 (almost 13), Derek is 8, Dylan is 5, Claire is 7 months, Isaac is 41 (almost 42), Kaylen is 37, Eliza is 13, Jake is 7 years old).**  
  
Life was going well with the new baby in the house. Claire was seven months old by now, and she was the happiest baby you could imagine. She was almost always in a good mood, and was smiling and laughing most of the time.  
  
Since Claire was born, Dylan had to move into Derek’s room and share it with him to make space in the old nursery for Claire. Noah and Jayden had thought about turning the guestroom into a new nursery for her, but decided against it because they knew they would need a guestroom sometimes. Putting Nathan and Derek in the same room would be disastrous, and putting Dylan in Nathan’s room when Nathan was about to become a teenager didn’t seem quite right either, so they decided to put Dylan in Derek’s room instead. Derek hadn’t been very impressed by the idea, and had thrown a big tantrum about it, even though he actually rarely spent time in his room except for when he was sleeping.  
  
It was a Friday morning, and everyone in the house was still asleep when Claire suddenly started crying in her room.  
  
When someone opened the door to the nursery to go in and attend to her, her cries echoed louder through the hallway and ended up waking up Dylan and Derek in their room.  
  
The two boys awoke in their beds, and Derek let out a loud, annoyed groan as he grabbed his pillow and put it over his head to block out the noise.  
  
“Nooo… Not again! Only ten minutes till the alarm goes off and she’s already waking me up!” Derek complained loudly. He grunted in annoyance, and his tail swished in agitation under his blanket. He hated being woken up by Claire’s cries early in the morning, and it generally made him quite snappy when someone disturbed his sleep.  
  
Dylan’s bed was located next to Derek’s with only a night stand between them. He too woke up when their sister started crying, but he wasn’t as annoyed by it as Derek was. He blinked his eyes open and rubbed the sleep out of them before sitting up on his bed. His eyes quickly adjusted to the dark room, where just a bit of light was coming in from behind the curtains.  
  
Dylan ignored his brother’s complaints and jumped out of bed.  
  
Derek glanced at him through the dark and let out a displeased growl when Dylan went over and opened the door, making the baby’s cries even louder.  
  
“Oi, don’t open the door when she’s crying! I’m trying to sleep!” Derek complained.  
  
Dylan glanced back at his brother over his shoulder. “But you hafta get up soon anyways. And I wanna see if she’s okay…”  
  
“Of course she’s okay!” Derek snapped, still grumpy from being woken up even more. “She’s probably just hungry or pooped in her diaper. Just close the freaking door already!”  
  
Dylan scowled at him. “Dad says you shouldn’t say bad words.”  
  
“I didn’t! And close the door before I start saying ‘fucking’!”  
  
Dylan’s brows furrowed in displeasure at Derek’s choice of bad words, but did as he was told anyway. He closed the door and made his brother stop complaining at him before padding over to the nursery to see what was going on with Claire.  
  
Just as Dylan was making his way over to the nursery, Jayden exited the room with little Claire in his arms. She was wailing and crying, despite Jayden doing his best to soothe her and rock her as she sat on his arm.  
  
“She okay?” Dylan asked, glancing up at his little sister with worry.  
  
Jayden glanced down at him and used his free hand to close the door to the nursery. “Yeah. She’s just still a bit fussy after being sick, but it isn’t as bad as it was before.”  
  
Claire had been sick all week. She had caught a cold, and had been snotty and coughing a lot. She was almost recovered now, but was still a little fussy because her nostrils were blocked.  
  
“I’ll take her downstairs and blow her nose,” Jayden said, smiling at Dylan as he made his way over to the stairs. “And I think she’s hungry. Aren’t you, sweetie?” he cooed at Claire, and blew a raspberry on her cheek.  
  
Claire giggled at the gesture, though the cute giggle was kind of ruined by her crying.  
  
Dylan giggled too, and eagerly followed his dad downstairs with the baby.  
  
“Where’s mommy?” Dylan asked as they walked down the stairs together.  
  
“Sleeping,” Jayden replied, chuckling a bit. “Actually, it should be him taking care of Claire right now, because I have work and he’s still on maternity leave, but you know your mommy; sometimes you just can’t get him out of bed in the mornings.”  
  
Dylan laughed, following Jayden through the dining room and into the kitchen. “Yeah, just like Derek! But Derek gets mad when Claire wakes him… Mommy doesn’t.”  
  
Jayden cast a concerned look at Dylan while balancing Claire on one arm with her leaning against his chest, and using his other hand to open the fridge and find some food for her. “You two had a fight again?”  
  
Dylan nodded weakly. “He gets mad when I open the door and he cans hear Claire… Why do I gotta share rooms wif him, daddy? He’s so unfair sometimes… And he takes my stuff.”  
  
“Sorry, buddy. But otherwise we don’t have space for your sister…” Jayden explained, and prepared a jar of apple puree for Claire, who was sobbing quietly into his chest.  
  
Dylan pouted at that, feeling that it was slightly unfair.  
  
Jayden was dressed in just a t-shirt and boxers, and Dylan was wearing his pajama. Neither of them had bothered to get dressed before going downstairs.  
  
They both looked up when they heard someone enter the kitchen, and saw Nathan yawning as he padded over to the fridge.  
  
“Good morning!” Jayden grinned at him. “Was your bed on fire?”  
  
“No…” Nathan chortled, and started pulling milk out of the fridge to prepare cereal for breakfast. “I just couldn’t sleep after Claire woke me up… And I had to get up anyways.” He ran his free hand through his hair, which was sticking out in all directions after sleeping. Unlike Dylan and Jayden, Nathan had gotten dressed and was almost ready to go to school.  
  
“Sorry,” Jayden chuckled. “It’s not easy when she’s throwing a fuss.” He rocked Claire again, and ran a soothing hand up and down her back to calm her down. He remembered that he still had to wipe her nose, so he grabbed some towel paper from the counter and gently wiped her nose with it. Claire whined in response and tried turning her head away from the offending paper, but Jayden was stubborn and kept wiping her nose.  
  
Nathan chuckled at the scene, and reached up to pat Claire’s back while Jayden wiped her nose. “You still not feeling better, hm?”  
  
“She’s still a little snotty,” Jayden said. “But I think she’s doing a lot better now than yesterday.”  
  
“Yeah… She’s starting to smile a bit,” Nathan chuckled when he saw a smile appear on Claire’s lips as she stared at him with her bright blue eyes.  
  
Claire then started whining and reaching out her hands towards Nathan, wanting to be in his arms for a bit.  
  
Jayden laughed softly. “Oh, you want your big brother now, is that it? And here I thought you liked me best.”  
  
Nathan laughed at that, and reached out to take Claire when Jayden transferred her to him instead.  
  
Nathan had gotten more confident with holding her than he had been when she was newborn. Dylan had held her a few times as well, but only when he was sitting down, as she was a bit too heavy for him when he was standing up.  
  
Once in Nathan’s arms, Claire let out a happy squeal and started hitting her small hands against Nathan’s cheeks while grinning at him.  
  
“Ow,” Nathan complained, chuckling. “Stop hitting me, Claire. That’s not very nice…” His words just made her think it was a lot more fun and didn’t make her stop at all. At least it didn’t hurt when her small hands slapped against Nathan’s cheeks and nose.  
  
Dylan laughed at the scene. “She’s naughty!”  
  
“Yeah, she’s a little fighter,” Jayden chuckled, and took the baby food over to the table.  
  
Dylan quickly went over to the kitchen counter and reached up to take the plates, milk, and cereal that Nathan had placed there earlier, and started carrying them over to the table so they could have breakfast. He was very careful with the plates, and Jayden stood ready to catch them if he should accidentally drop them.  
  
Once breakfast was ready, they all sat down and began eating. Claire wanted to sit on Jayden’s lap, so she got transferred back to her daddy, who fed her some delicious apple puree. She got the puree all over her face as usual, and sometimes it got on the floor when her restless arms were waving up and down from joy.  
  
“Derek better get his butt up soon…” Nathan muttered while they ate.  
  
“He mad that Claire wokes us up…” Dylan murmured, and slurped some of the milk from his cereal bowl.  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes at that. “Well, he should be used to it by now.”  
  
There was a noise behind them and they looked up, expecting to see Derek finally coming down for breakfast, but instead it was Noah who was coming over to them. The submissive looked awfully tired, and was dressed in a light blue nightgown as he walked over to them.  
  
“Morning,” Noah yawned.  
  
“Morning, mommy!” Dylan chirped happily, grinning at the sight of him.  
  
“Morning,” Nathan replied, smiling.  
  
“Oh, you’re up,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“Yeah… Sorry that I didn’t get up when you tried to wake me. I was just so sleepy,” Noah said, giving his mate an apologetic look. He felt bad that Jayden had to get up to attend to Claire this early in the morning when he had to go to work later.  
  
“It’s fine,” Jayden said, waving it off. “I know you’re tired from looking after a sick baby all week. Besides, the little princess missed me, so I gladly got up to look after her.” He grinned and leaned down to press a kiss to Claire’s cheek. The baby squealed happily at that, and Noah smiled at the scene.  
  
When Noah went over to the table to sit down with them, Claire started whining and indicating that she wanted to sit with her mommy now. Jayden laughed softly at it, and carefully transferred her to Noah.  
  
“Hey, sweetie,” Noah cooed softly at her, smiling as his daughter looked joyful to sit on his lap next. She cuddled against him, and glanced up at him with her big eyes. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. It hasn’t been fun at all this week, huh?”  
  
“Let’s hope she’s awake and well for tomorrow. Uncle Isaac and Kaylen are coming then, right?” Nathan asked, looking at his parents.  
  
“Yeah, they are,” Jayden confirmed. He chuckled at how Noah let out a tired sigh at the thought alone; Isaac could be exhausting to have around, after all. Jayden suddenly got up from his chair, making the others look at him in wonder. “I better go wake up Derek, or he’s gonna be late for school – again.”  
  
“Good luck with waking up the bed monster,” Nathan murmured, idly moving his spoon through the cereal in his bowl.  
  
Dylan giggled at that.  
  
“Hey, don’t be mean,” Jayden told them, shooting them a serious glance before going upstairs to get Derek.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Getting Derek out of the bed was like a war, as usual, but once Jayden used a more authoritative voice with him, he finally got out of bed and got dressed.  
  
Dylan had gone to get dressed as well, and the two got into a fight when Dylan accidentally grabbed Derek’s pants instead of his own. The pants were too big for him anyway, so he wouldn’t fit in them, but Derek got upset that Dylan sometimes mixed up their clothes in the drawers because he couldn’t always tell the difference.  
  
After stopping the fight between them, Jayden helped the kids get ready for school and kindergarten along with Noah. Claire was still staying at home, since Noah was on maternity leave, but once Noah returned to work after New Year, she would be going to daycare.  
  
Once the kids were in school and kindergarten, and little Claire had been put back to bed to sleep a bit more, Noah and Jayden finally had some time alone before Jayden had to go to work. The alpha’s work started at 1pm that day, so they had some time together after Claire went to sleep at 10.  
  
Jayden was waiting for Noah outside the nursery as the submissive put their daughter to sleep, and when Noah exited the room and quietly closed the door, Jayden went over and wrapped his arms around him from behind.  
  
Noah immediately relaxed in his mate’s hold, and closed his eyes with a pleased hum when Jayden’s strong arms closed around him and his large hands caressed his chest and stomach.  
  
“Mmm. You have no idea how much I wanna taste you right now,” Jayden purred against Noah’s ear, and buried his face in the submissive’s neck as he hugged him from behind.  
  
A shiver of arousal went through Noah’s body, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at his mate’s words. “I don’t know. How much?”  
  
Jayden groaned a little when Noah teased him, and nuzzled Noah’s neck where the scent of the submissive’s increasing arousal was getting stronger. “So much that I could eat you up right here.”  
  
Noah shuddered at the pleasant growl in Jayden’s voice. It had been a while since he had last heard his alpha’s voice sound like that. In fact, it had been a few weeks since they had last been together sexually. After Claire’s birth Noah had had to recover first before being ready to sleep with Jayden again, and since then there had been weeks where they had been too busy with family to have time to be alone. Noah knew that it frustrated Jayden when they weren’t intimate with each other, but the alpha never pressured him into it. He was always waiting for Noah to be ready and have the energy for it as well, and today Noah was _really_ in the mood for it.  
  
As Jayden’s hands moved up under the shirt that Noah had put on after the kids had left, and caressed the skin on his chest and teased his nipple, Noah’s mouth fell open to let a soft, needy moan escape from him. Jayden’s possessive but soft touches were driving him crazy, and his body was getting more and more fueled up. Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore.  
  
Noah turned in Jayden’s hold, and pulled his mate down for a deep, passionate kiss.  
  
Jayden kissed him back with eagerness, a small growl escaping his throat as his hands once more clutched Noah close, and started running possessively across the submissive’s clothed body.  
  
They were already moving towards the bedroom on instinct, and were careful not to be too loud and wake up Claire.  
  
Once in the bedroom, Jayden started undressing them both. Layer by layer of clothing fell to floor, and Noah whined every time their lips got separated during the process. Jayden was rock hard by now, and Noah’s arousal increased every time he felt his mate’s member bump into him while they undressed. The sudden need to feel it inside of him was unbearable, and he needed to feel it _now._  
  
When all of Noah’s clothes except for his panties had been dropped to the floor, Jayden grabbed him and threw him onto the bed.  
  
Noah yelped with surprise as he was suddenly pushed onto the soft sheets, and before he could react, Jayden climbed onto the bed with him, took his panties off of him, spread Noah’s legs slightly, and moved down to take Noah’s member into his mouth without hesitation.  
  
“Ahhhh!” Noah cried out when Jayden’s mouth wrapped around his dick and swallowed him whole. He bucked violently at the overwhelming pleasure, but his movements were restrained when Jayden placed a strong hand on his belly to keep him still. “C-Connor,” Noah moaned out, his hands grasping the sheets tightly as Jayden sucked him off hard and good.  
  
Jayden hummed around his member, and settled more comfortably between Noah’s legs as he pleasured him orally. His tongue licked and teased at Noah’s member and balls while sucking him off, and he purred at the sweet, pure taste of Noah in his mouth.  
  
Noah was going crazy on the bed. He was writhing and moaning uncontrollably, and he tried bucking up into Jayden’s mouth, but the alpha’s hand kept him under control.  
  
“Please, please, please! I need more!” Noah begged, dying to have Jayden pay some attention to his neglected hole, which was starting to leak slick all over the bed beneath him. The muscles were clenching and unclenching desperately, eager to be pleasured by Jayden’s fingers, tail, or cock.  
  
Jayden smirked, and pulled off for a second to speak. “No, not yet. You’re gonna come like this.”  
  
Noah opened his mouth to protest, but instead cried out in pleasure when Jayden’s mouth closed around him again, this time sucking even harder.  
  
“Ahh… No, I can’t… This is— Fuck!” Noah babbled, completely lost in pleasure as he writhed and squirmed on the bed. “Please, please! Ohhh!”  
  
Jayden could feel how close Noah was coming now, and smirked smugly around the member as he kept sucking Noah senseless. He was determined to have Noah come without him touching his hole in any way, and he was pleased that it didn’t take him long to get him there.  
  
“Oh god, I… Connor!” Noah cried out as he finally came. His orgasm hit him like a freight train, shaking his body violently as he exploded in Jayden’s mouth.  
  
Jayden eagerly swallowed the clear fluid of Noah’s orgasm, and his hand on the submissive’s stomach stroked him through it and soothed him. He felt pretty good about himself that he had made Noah explode like that without touching his hole at all, and his tail was curling with pride behind him.  
  
Seconds later, Noah collapsed on the bed with a deep, content sigh, and panted for breath.  
  
Jayden finally pulled away, licking his mouth while smiling down at Noah on the bed. There was a pool of slick on the bed beneath Noah’s butt from how wet he had gotten during the activity, and Jayden thought it was sexy as hell.  
  
After catching his breath for a bit, Noah finally opened his eyes and looked up to meet Jayden’s. He blushed and scowled at the alpha, who was smirking at him with that smug face of his. “You’re such a tease.”  
  
“And you’re such a screamer,” Jayden replied, chuckling. “For a second I was worried that you would wake up Claire, but I don’t hear her cries on the baby monitor. Thank god.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in panic, having completely forgotten to keep his voice down when his orgasm hit him.  
  
Jayden laughed softly at Noah’s shocked face, before leaning down to kiss him on the mouth. Their bodies touched as Jayden leaned over him, and they purred as they shared a deep, sensual kiss.  
  
When their lips parted, Noah stared up into Jayden’s eyes with lust-dilated pupils. Without taking his eyes off of Jayden’s, he reached down between them and grabbed ahold of the alpha’s erection.  
  
Jayden let out a pleasured growl at the touch, his body shivering from how aroused and unsatisfied he was. As pleasing as it had been to watch Noah come apart beneath him and to taste him in his mouth, he had been bursting with the need to bury his dick deep inside Noah and feel the tight muscles around him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been this horny, and it took all his will to keep himself from just burying himself inside Noah already.  
  
Noah could easily feel how turned on Jayden was and how desperate he was for release. He gave Jayden’s cock a few firm strokes before spreading his legs and positioning himself so that Jayden could enter him.  
  
A pleased, deep growl escaped Jayden’s throat as Noah spread his legs in invitation, and Jayden wasted no time before bringing his fingers down to check if Noah was ready to take him. Even though the submissive was dripping wet, Jayden still wanted to make sure that his muscles were ready for him to penetrate him. He pushed in three fingers and swirled them around inside, pleased to find the entrance open but still tight.  
  
Noah let out an impatient whine under him, so Jayden quickly pulled out his fingers and pushed his cock into him instead.  
  
Jayden never got tired of watching Noah’s mouth fall open from pleasure, and feeling the submissive grab onto his shoulders and dig his nails into his skin as Jayden pushed into him. Noah was all open and vulnerable in front of him, and his body was welcoming Jayden inside like he belonged there; like it was home.  
  
Gasping together in pleasure, the two held on to one another as Jayden started moving. He went slow at first, letting them both feel the pleasure of being joined, before he slowly started going faster and harder. Every thrust sent his dick as far inside Noah as it could go and had his balls slapping against the sub’s butt, and Noah loved it.  
  
As Jayden’s thrusts got harder and the bed started shaking under them, Noah wrapped his arms around Jayden and clutched him closer. Every thrust sent Jayden’s cock so far inside him that Noah almost saw stars, and his orgasm was getting closer and closer the more Jayden fucked him into the mattress. The sound of their moans and grunts got mixed together, and Noah dug his fingers into the base of Jayden’s wings as he held on to him for dear life. It was the best intercourse they had had for a long time, and Noah was almost embarrassed by how wet he was as Jayden fucked him senseless.  
  
For Jayden, it was Noah touching the sensitive base of his wings that finally sent him over the edge. He buried his face in the submissive shoulder and cried out his orgasm, flooding his mate with his seed.  
  
Noah followed, coming just as hard as he did earlier, and was shaking and trembling under Jayden’s body as his orgasm rippled through him.  
  
It was the most beautiful, intimate experience they had had together for months, and their mating bond flared inside them with content and happiness.  
  
Once it was over, they spent a while catching their breaths together and gently touching each other’s feathers.  
  
Noah played with one of Jayden’s softened feathers between his fingers, smiling as the bliss of his orgasms still filled him. He loved how Jayden’s feathers had been sharp during sex to demonstrate his dominance, but had instantly softened the moment Noah’s hands got near them. His mate didn’t want him getting hurt after all, and Noah knew it took Jayden a lot of effort to soften his feathers when they were having sex, because his body instinctively wanted to show his mate his sharp, attractive feathers.  
  
Jayden was still lying on top of Noah, but was keeping his weight off him. Noah could feel his heavy breath against his neck, and it was a soothing feeling.  
  
“Mmm.” Jayden finally stirred a bit, and ran a hand idly through Noah’s wings, which were spread out on either side of the submissive on the bed. “Damn it. Now I wanna spend the rest of the day with you here in bed, rather than going to work…”  
  
Noah laughed softly at that. “Yeah… But I think it’s best if you go. Fridays are busy, right?”  
  
“Right…” Jayden confirmed, and hummed into Noah’s neck. “I don’t wanna let you go, though… I’m so comfortable right here.”  
  
Noah smiled, and ran a hand through Jayden’s brown hair. “Yeah, me too…”  
  
Jayden hummed, and placed a tender kiss on Noah’s neck before slowly pulling away from him.  
  
The loss of Jayden’s warmth left Noah feeling empty, and he hated that feeling. He wished they could stay together in bed forever, wrapped up in each other’s warmth and love.  
  
“When will you be home tonight?” Noah asked, and watched as Jayden got up to find a towel to clean them up with. They always kept towels in the bedroom to clean up after sex.  
  
“Probably not until after midnight…” Jayden said, giving Noah an apologetic look because he knew that Noah hated it when he was home so late. “I hope I’ll catch some sleep before Isaac and Kaylen arrive tomorrow. They arrive at noon, right?”  
  
“Yeah. And they’re spending the night,” Noah reminded him, and let Jayden use the towel to clean him up with. He shivered at the pleasant feeling of Jayden’s wiping away the come that was leaking out of his butt, as he was feeling a little tender down there after what Jayden had done to him.  
  
“Good lord…” Jayden murmured in response to Noah telling him that Isaac was going to spend the night at their house.  
  
Noah let out a laugh at Jayden’s comment, but knew that Jayden didn’t mean anything bad by it.  
  
“Well, I better head to the shower and get ready for work,” Jayden announced, and threw the used towel over his shoulder so he could take it with him and throw it in the laundry basket. He was still as naked as the day he was born, and Noah couldn’t help but appreciate the sight of him from where he was still lying on the bed. “See you when I’m done,” Jayden said, smiling when he caught Noah staring at his body.  
  
“Yeah. Have a nice shower.”  
  
Jayden grinned and moved towards the door. “I’ll think of you when I’m the shower, so I’m sure it will be nice.”  
  
Noah’s face flushed as Jayden gave him a suggestive wink. He felt his own dick twitch at the thought of Jayden thinking of him in the shower, and he quickly grabbed one of the pillows and threw it at the alpha. “Just scram already, you tease!”  
  
Jayden barked out a laugh and finally left the room.  
  
Noah could hear him giggling all the way down the corridor to the bathroom, and he hated his mate for it.  
  
  
***  
  
  
On the next day, Noah got up at 8am to clean up the house a bit before their guests’ arrival. He had done some cleaning the day before as well, but Derek and Dylan had made a mess with their toys last night, so he had to clean again.  
  
Jayden stayed in bed, since he first got home at 12:30am last night and needed to catch some sleep. Noah took care of Claire and the kids in the meantime, and Nathan helped him keep Derek and Dylan in check.  
  
They were planning to bake some pie for when Isaac, Kaylen, and their kids arrived, but Noah noticed that they were out of eggs and milk.  
  
“Nathan, do you mind going to the store and buying some eggs and milk? Maybe also some cocoa and juice?” Noah asked his oldest son as they looked through the fridge together. “And please do it soon. Your father needs to have the ingredients for the pie when he wakes up, and it has to be ready before the guests come.”  
  
“Sure,” Nathan said.  
  
“Sure,” Derek mocked in the background, making fun of how Nathan’s voice was starting to sound a little funny lately. Nathan was about to enter puberty, so sometimes his voice sounded a little screechy or odd, and Derek liked to annoy him by making fun of it.  
  
Nathan cast a dark glare at his brother. “Shut up, you brat.”  
  
Derek just barked out a laugh, making Nathan glare harder at him like he wanted to strangle his brother.  
  
Dylan was in the living room, playing with some of his toys by himself, and Claire was sitting over at the table in her baby chair. The baby glanced over at them when she heard her brothers arguing, but she didn’t understand yet what was going on.  
  
“Stop fighting,” Noah told them, giving them both a firm stare before turning to look at Nathan again. “And maybe get some wet wipes for Claire? I think I’m almost out…”  
  
“Okay,” Nathan said.  
  
“Ewww, Nathan has to buy baby ass wipes,” Derek mocked, pretending to be gagging with disgust.  
  
“Hey, I said shut up!” Nathan snapped at him when Derek continued to get on his nerves.  
  
“Make me!” Derek challenged, sticking out his tongue at his brother.  
  
“Derek!” Noah scolded, getting between them to make them stop. “Go play,” he told Derek, and pointed towards the living room.  
  
Derek shot him a defiant look before turning on his heels and leaving the room.  
  
Nathan shook with anger towards his annoying little brother, but he controlled himself. “He’s so annoying!”  
  
“I know,” Noah sighed. “Just ignore him. And please go?”  
  
“Yeah, of course. I’ll be back soon, mom.” Nathan gave his mom a smile before looking over at little Claire, who was sitting in the baby chair by the table and was staring at them. “Be a good girl, Claire. See you soon.” He waved at his little sister, and laughed when she grinned and wriggled happily in her chair. She couldn’t wave back yet, but her grinning face was good enough for Nathan.  
  
Nathan hurried outside to find his bike in the garage so he could ride off to the store and buy the groceries his mom had told him to buy. Jayden and Noah had given Nathan his own credit card to buy stuff with. He got the money from doing house chores, but when he was doing shopping for the family, his parents always transferred the money to his account later.  
  
Claire started crying when Nathan left. She was very attached to Nathan, and she didn’t like it when her brother suddenly left the room like that.  
  
“Aww. He’ll be back soon,” Noah cooed, and came over to pick up Claire from her chair and comfort her. “Shhh.” He rocked the baby as he held her against his chest, and she cuddled into him for comfort as she sobbed.  
  
  
***  
  
  
After twenty minutes, Jayden finally got out of bed and went downstairs to see what everyone was up to.  
  
He found Derek and Dylan playing in the living room. They were playing with little soldier toys, and Derek was being very loud and lively as they played, whereas Dylan was a little quieter, but was still making a lot of noise.  
  
“Hey, boys,” Jayden greeted them.  
  
The boys looked up, and Dylan’s face lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw him.  
  
“Daddy!”  
  
Jayden smiled at how happy Dylan looked. He couldn’t see Noah, Nathan, or Claire anywhere, though, as he glanced around for them. “Where is everyone?”  
  
“Nathan went to buy ass wipes,” Derek explained, ignoring how his dad made a face at his choice of words. “And mom took Claire to the bathroom to have a bath. I think he went in the bath with her.”  
  
“I wanted to bathe too!” Dylan exclaimed, his lips forming a disappointed pout.  
  
“You can’t bathe with mom; you’re too old for that. You’re five already,” Derek said, frowning at the idea alone.  
  
“Not too old!” Dylan argued.  
  
“He’s not too old,” Jayden said, disagreeing with Derek. “When he’s six or seven then maybe he’ll be too old, but five years old is not too old for that.”  
  
“But he’s an alpha. Shouldn’t he be too old to bathe with his mother already?” Derek argued.  
  
“Doesn’t matter if he’s an alpha or not. If he wants to bathe with his mommy when he’s five, then that’s fine.”  
  
Derek frowned like he had just heard the most offending thing ever. “You guys are weird.”  
  
“ _You’re_ weird!” Dylan exclaimed, talking back to Derek.  
  
“Am not!”  
  
“Guys…” Jayden sighed, trying to calm them down. He brushed a tired hand through his hair. “I’ll go prepare the pie for when the guests arrive…”  
  
“But mom said we’re missing some stuff, and Nathan went to buy it,” Derek told him.  
  
“Oh. Well, then I guess I’ll just grab some breakfast and wait for Nathan to return.” Jayden turned and left the room, leaving Dylan and Derek to continue their play.  
  
Ten minutes later, Noah came out of the bathroom with a freshly washed Claire. She was squealing and laughing his arms as he dried her wet hair and wings with a towel, being careful not to hurt her tiny wings. His own hair and wings were still wet too, but he didn’t mind. He felt nicely refreshed after a nice bath with his daughter, and now they both smelled fresh and nice.  
  
“Hey, look who is it,” Jayden cooed at Claire when he entered the living room at the same time as Noah and Claire. He grinned at the baby and came over to stroke her cheek softly. “Aren’t you all pretty and fresh now?”  
  
Claire’s face lit up at the sight of her daddy, and she immediately reached out towards him, wanting to sit on his arm. Noah carefully moved her into Jayden’s arms, and Claire squealed and laughed loudly when Jayden threw her up in the air while holding her under her arms. He repeated the movement a few times, and the baby laughed and loved it when her dad ‘made her fly’.  
  
Dylan grinned at the scene, loving to see his sister having fun, while Derek kind of rolled his eyes at them when it continued.  
  
The sweet scene was interrupted when they heard the front door open. It was probably Nathan who had returned.  
  
“Oh, who is that? You think it’s Nathan?” Jayden cooed at Claire, who was staring towards the door to the entrance hall with curiosity. Jayden moved her down to sit on his arm, and went over to check who it was.  
  
It was indeed Nathan who had returned, but Jayden’s eyes widened in shocked surprise when he saw him.  
  
Nathan was all wet, even though the sun was shining outside and there wasn’t a trace of rainy clouds anywhere. He wasn’t completely drenched, but he was definitely wet, and it dripped off his hair and his wings.  
  
The young beta kicked off his shoes, and placed the wet shopping bag on the floor as he pulled off his jacket. His wet hair clung to his forehead, and he kept his head lowered and avoided looking at the others as he quietly took off his jacket.  
  
“Whoa. What happened?” Jayden asked, looking Nathan up and down in shock.  
  
Noah came over to see what was going on, as did Dylan and Derek. They all stated at Nathan in shock.  
  
“Nothing,” Nathan murmured, looking rather depressed as he refused to meet their eyes. “Just…” He trailed off, and bit his lip before continuing. “I ran into some stupid boys from school on the way back here, and they threw their drinks at me.”  
  
That was when Jayden and Noah noticed the smell of Dr. Pepper on Nathan, probably mixed with water as well.  
  
Derek couldn’t hold back a giggle, even though he did feel sorry for his brother. Nathan shot him a deadly glare when he heard it, and Derek immediately closed his mouth and straightened up. Derek himself knew how mean racist kids could be, but seeing his usual smartass brother looking so defeated because of some Dr. Pepper and water was kind of funny to him.  
  
“Oh, Nathan…” Noah’s heart clenched with guilt. “I’m so sorry…”  
  
“It’s okay. Not your fault, mom…” Nathan told him.  
  
Jayden let out a growl, and tried to contain the anger he felt towards those boys. “Who were those boys? I’ll talk to their parents.”  
  
“It doesn’t matter, dad,” Nathan said, letting out a broken laugh. “It doesn’t change anything. There will _always_ be jerks like them around to do those things to me. It’s just the way it is.”  
  
“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean you should put up with it or let them have their way,” Jayden spoke. His alpha voice kind of scared little Claire, who started to cry on his arm. Jayden had to collect himself and calm down as he began to rock Claire. “Shhh… It’s okay. Daddy’s not mad at you, sweetheart.” He pressed sweet kisses to her head, and soon the baby was calm again.  
  
“You should have kicked their butts! I would have!” Derek told Nathan.  
  
“Well, I don’t like violence. And there were four of them,” Nathan murmured. “I’ll go change my clothes and hit the shower. See you guys later.” He went for the stairs and ascended it with heavy steps. It was like a big, dark cloud was hanging over him, and the others could see it.  
  
Noah felt tears prickle in his eyes as he watched Nathan walk up the stairs, looking more defeated than ever. He felt so guilty for having told Nathan to go buy the groceries when he could have just gone with the car by himself, but he hadn’t felt like going, and he knew how Nathan liked to ride his bike to the store and back. But why did it have to be like this? Why did his family have to suffer, just because they were different? It wasn’t fair.  
  
They all stood quietly in the entrance hall as they watched Nathan go, and Dylan felt so sad for him. When he noticed how Noah was about to cry, Dylan went over and gently grabbed his mom’s hand.  
  
“Dun cry, mommy. Nathan is okay. Bad guys never win!” Dylan said, grinning up at Noah to cheer him up.  
  
Noah laughed softly, and felt so grateful that Dylan’s spirit was still as bright as always, despite how they were sometimes treated.  
  
“Yes, that’s right. The bad guys don’t win,” Noah smiled and squeezed Dylan’s hand to thank him.  
  
“I would have punched their teeth out!” Derek growled. “I wouldn’t have put up with it if they did that to me! Too bad for Nathan that he’s not strong enough to beat them up.”  
  
“Well, even if he was strong like an alpha, taking on four guys at once is difficult,” Jayden argued. “And violence isn’t always the answer.”  
  
“But you’ve beaten guys like that up before, right, dad?”  
  
“Yeah, I have. But only when I had to. And you have to know your own limits when you pick a fight with someone, and to not overdo it.” Although those were wise words coming from Jayden, there had been times when he had overdone it a bit. Especially when Max had assaulted Noah, and Jayden and seen red as he beat him up. He had beaten Max up a bit more than what was necessary, but he did feel like the brat had deserved it back then. No one messes with Noah without Jayden kicking their ass, after all.  
  
The silence that followed was a little uncomfortable, and everyone was still shocked and upset by what had happened to Nathan. Noah wanted so bad to go to him and hug him, but he had sensed that Nathan needed a few moments alone right now.  
  
“Well,” Jayden spoke, breaking the silence. “I’ll go make that pie and get it ready for when our guests arrive. I’m sure Nathan will be in a better mood once he comes downstairs again.”  
  
“Yeah…” Noah agreed, sighing. He reached out and took Claire from Jayden’s arms so that his mate could take the groceries to the kitchen and start baking, while Dylan and Derek went back to their play.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Nathan was taking his time in the shower. Noah knew that his son liked to take long, hot showers when he was troubled or was in a bad mood, but he couldn’t help but feel worried for Nathan when he had been gone for almost an hour. Jayden reassured him, and said that they just had to wait for Nathan to be ready to come back downstairs and talk to them.  
  
Dylan also felt a little worried for Nathan, as did Derek, though Derek didn’t show his worries at all.  
  
Just half an hour before their guests were expected to arrive, Nathan suddenly came storming down the stairs and into the living room, where the others were entertaining Claire on the couch.  
  
They all looked up when a very panicked-looking Nathan came into the room, his hair and feathers still wet from his shower.  
  
“Dad! S-Something’s wrong! My feathers are falling out like crazy!” Nathan blurted, looking scared and panicked. He reached out towards his left wing and grabbed a handful of his feathers to demonstrate, and the others watched as the feathers fell off as he grabbed them and pulled gently.  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened in shock and fear, and Derek also looked rather frightened.  
  
Jayden, on the other hand, just blinked at Nathan for a second before he burst out laughing. The boys all frowned at him in confusion.  
  
“You’re fine, Nathan. You’re just molting,” Jayden chuckled, and got up from the couch to go over and calm Nathan down.  
  
Noah let out a relieved sigh when he realized it was just the molting. He had been afraid that something was very wrong when Nathan came storming into the room like that.  
  
Claire didn’t understand at all what was going on, but she started sobbing when her dad left the couch. She tried to crawl off the couch to follow him, but Noah gently grabbed her and stopped her from falling to the floor.  
  
Nathan blinked at Jayden, looking a little confused. “But… Are they supposed to come off this much?” The floor was already full of feathers, and his wings were started to look a little naked. He didn’t like it at all, and this wasn’t how he had pictured molting to happen.  
  
Jayden agreed that Nathan’s molting seemed pretty severe, since the feathers wouldn’t usually come off as much as Nathan’s did, but it did happen sometimes. “Well, everyone’s molting is different. Some molt slowly, others fast. I guess you’re just one of the fast ones…”  
  
“But my wings are already starting to look weird!” Nathan complained, glancing at his left wing, where you could clearly see the feathers missing.  
  
“Yeah, I know. It’s not funny when that happens, but it’ll only happen this once,” Jayden explained. “Everyone molts every now and then, but when you enter puberty you’ll have this one time where you lose pretty much all your feathers almost at once and then new ones grow back. After that they won’t fall out that severely, and you’ll barely notice it when they fall off. This is happening simply because you’re getting your sharper feathers now, so all your ‘baby feathers’, if you can call them that, fall off all at once to make space for the adult feathers.”  
  
“But… This sucks.” Nathan’s wings drooped behind him, and he cringed when the movement caused more of his feathers to fall off.  
  
Derek couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. “You look like a scarecrow, Nathan!”  
  
“Shut up!” Nathan hissed at him. The last thing he needed right now was Derek’s rude remarks.  
  
“Derek, don’t be mean,” Noah told him, and gave the boy a look of disapproval.  
  
“Sorry. But it’s kinda funny,” Derek chuckled.  
  
Dylan glanced over his shoulder at Noah, his brows furrowed in worry. “Is Nathan okay?”  
  
“Of course he is. It’s normal,” Noah reassured him.  
  
“Yeah, it’s just puberty,” Jayden explained, chuckling a bit. “Your feathers start molting, your voice gets weird if you’re a boy, and you get hairs in weird places.”  
  
Derek giggled at the hair part, and Nathan shot him a deadly glare despite him blushing like mad at the awkward conversation.  
  
“Come on; I’ll help you clean up,” Jayden offered Nathan, and gently ushered him out of the room. “And I bought some crème to help with the molting, since I figured it wouldn’t be long till it started. It should help your new feathers grow faster and ease the itching of your old feathers falling off.”  
  
“Yeah, thanks…” Nathan murmured, grateful to his dad.  
  
Noah felt kind of sorry for Nathan. He knew how embarrassing puberty could be, especially the molting. Noah was lucky that his own wings had molted very slowly, so the new feathers had started growing out before all the old ones had fallen out. But he had seen some kids at his school whose wings had been almost naked at one point because almost all of the old feathers had fallen out before the new ones had grown out.  
  
“But Nathan’s new feathers won’t be that sharp, right?” Derek asked Noah, glancing over at him. “I mean, he’s a beta; their feathers aren’t as sharp as alphas’, right?”  
  
“No, they aren’t,” Noah confirmed. “Betas can only make their feathers semi-sharp, and alphas can make them fully sharp, like knives.”  
  
“And girls and submissive don’t have that, right? They have only soft feathers?”  
  
Noah nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”  
  
“Then, why do girls and subs molt as well?”  
  
“Not sure… I think it’s because of hormonal changes? And our feathers _do_ become different after the molting. They’re more like downs when we’re kids, and after the molt the texture changes a bit, even though the feathers are still just as soft,” Noah explained. He shifted uncomfortably, because he knew his own feathers were different. They had always been rougher than usual, so for him the molting hadn’t made them just as soft as they were before the molting.  
  
“I dun wanna lose my feathers!” Dylan blurted. “It’s scary!”  
  
“Are you kidding me? I can’t _wait_ for mine to molt. I wanna have my sharp feathers already!” Derek exclaimed, sounding pretty excited about it already.  
  
“It’s not that bad, Dylan,” Noah reassured him and chuckled softly. “And it’ll be a few more years until you start molting, Derek…”  
  
“I know, but I wish it would happen already! I hope I’ll have really badass feathers, just like dad!”  
  
Derek looked all excited at the thought, while Noah thought it wasn’t right for Derek to want to grow up already. You were only a child once in your life, and he wanted Derek to cherish his childhood instead of being in such a hurry to grow up.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Half an hour later, Isaac and Kaylen arrived with their two kids, Eliza and Jake.  
  
Nathan and Jayden had cleaned up most of Nathan’s molted feathers by then, but they were still falling out, so Nathan felt very wary about greeting their guests at the door and instead hid in his room for a bit to put more crème on his wings.  
  
“Noah!” Isaac exclaimed with a huge grin on his face when Noah opened the door for him. He immediately pulled his little brother into a big hug. “My baby bro! I missed ya!”  
  
“Ugh.” Noah groaned when Isaac squeezed the life out of him. He brought his hands up to hug him back, and felt Isaac’s tail brush against his leg in a greeting. “I’ve missed you too, Isaac, just… don’t kill me.”  
  
Isaac barked out a laugh and finally pulled back. “Aw, I won’t kill you, sweet bro. I’m just showing you my love.”  
  
Noah grimaced at a bit at that, and the others laughed.  
  
“Well, sometimes I feel like you should control your love a bit,” Kaylen commented behind Isaac, and let out a small chuckle.  
  
Isaac frowned and started glancing around, as if trying to locate a sound. “What is that annoying noise? It’s like it’s criticizing me, but I can’t really locate it…”  
  
Kaylen smacked Isaac on the arm to make him cut out the silliness, and the beta laughed and turned to look at him.  
  
“Oh, there the source is! I knew it was coming from behind me!” Isaac grinned.  
  
Eliza laughed out loud. “You’re so silly, dad.” Her brother Jake giggled next to her.  
  
Jayden laughed from where he was standing behind Noah inside the house. “God, you never change, do you?”  
  
“Hell no,” Isaac grinned and looked up at Jayden. “Would be boring if I did, right?”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “I guess.”  
  
Isaac laughed and came forward to pull Jayden into a hug too. “’Sup, Jayden! Fuck, you’re just as hot as always! I wonder how you manage that with all those kids in the house.”  
  
Jayden laughed at that, being used to Isaac commenting on his looks. They pulled apart, and Jayden responded, “I think it’s Noah who keeps me young, really.”  
  
Noah blushed, since Jayden’s comment could be interpreted in a wrong way.  
  
Isaac also picked up on the other meaning Jayden’s words could have. “Oh, I bet he does.” He wriggled his eyebrows lewdly, and Noah quickly reached out and slapped him on the arm to make him cut it out. Isaac barked out a laugh. “Aw, you’re blushing, bro!”  
  
“Shut up,” Noah muttered under his blush.  
  
Kaylen chuckled at them, and glanced down when Dylan appeared in the door to greet them.  
  
“Uncle Isaac and Auntie Kaylen!” Dylan exclaimed, grinning up at them.  
  
Noah and Jayden stepped aside to let the guests in, and Isaac grinned as he looked down at Dylan.  
  
“Hey, Dylan! Wow, you’ve gotten so big!” Isaac gasped, and reached down to ruffle his nephew’s hair. He laughed when Dylan shrieked and pulled away with a laugh.  
  
“Yeah. Alphas grow so fast,” Kaylen chuckled and entered the house with the kids. It had been about three months since they last saw Noah, Jayden, and the kids, and every time they saw each other they could tell that the kids had grown a bit.  
  
Dylan’s face lit up when he saw Eliza and Jake. “Hi!” he chirped at his cousins.  
  
“Hi, Dylan,” Eliza smiled, taking off her jacket along with the others. She cast a glance around to see Nathan, Derek, and Claire somewhere, but couldn’t see them anywhere.  
  
“Hi,” Jake replied, smiling at Dylan as well. He got along well with Dylan, but mostly played with Derek when they were together.  
  
“Where do you keep the other kids?” Isaac asked when he too couldn’t see the others anywhere.  
  
“Well, Nathan is in his room. He has some… well, feather trouble,” Jayden explained. “And Derek’s in the bathroom, and I think Claire is playing on her blanket on the floor in the living room.”  
  
“Oh, the molting has hit him?” Isaac asked when Jayden mentioned ‘feather trouble’. He laughed. “God, that sucks! I remember how annoyed I was by it!”  
  
“Yeah,” Jayden agreed, chuckling.  
  
Eliza cringed in sympathy for Nathan. She had already been through her own molting at the age of 11 – girls and subs usually started molting earlier than boys. She didn’t have oil glands, though; it was different which hybrids had them and which did not, and most of her genes were demon genes, so there was only a twenty-five percent chance that she would have had oil glands. Claire, on the other hand, did have oil glands, even though she was mostly a demon just like Eliza.  
  
Noah felt the sudden need to go check on Claire, whom they had left all alone on the floor in the living room when their guests had arrived. He knew that she would be fine on her own for a few minutes, as she had her toys and usually wasn’t much of a troublemaker, but he felt still worried. He gently pushed his way past the others to go to the living room and check on his baby, and he smiled when he found her still lying on her blanket. She couldn’t crawl that well yet, but she was starting to learn how. Right now she was lying on her stomach and lifting her head with effort to look up at Noah when he entered the room. She let out a happy squeal when she saw him and started crawling clumsily towards him, eager to be with her mommy.  
  
Noah grinned and squatted down to be more level with her. “That’s it, sweetie. Come on,” he cooed to encourage her, and smiled proudly as his daughter attempted to crawl towards him.  
  
The others gathered behind him and watched the scene.  
  
“Oh wow, she’s gotten so big,” Kaylen grinned when he saw her.  
  
“Damn!” Isaac exclaimed when he too saw how big she had gotten. “Way to go, girl!” he grinned, trying to encourage the baby. “Crawl, crawl, crawl! You got that shit!”  
  
The others laughed, and Noah tried to ignore his brother’s cussing in front of his baby and instead kept his focus on Claire.  
  
“Come on,” Noah said softly, smiling and holding out his hands towards Claire as she attempted to crawl over to him. The baby made some small noises of frustration when she had a bit of trouble crawling forward, but she was getting better and better at it. Her little tail and small wings flared behind her, but couldn’t really help her move forwards.  
  
Derek came out of the bathroom and stopped in the doorway to the living room when he saw what was going on. He observed as his little sister tried to get her body to cooperate with her so she could crawl over to her mommy, and he smiled proudly when she seemed to get the hang out of it.  
  
Claire kept her eyes on Noah as she crawled across the floor in a slow tempo, but she eventually made it over to him, and the submissive grinned proudly as he gently grabbed her and lifted her into his arms as he got back on his feet.  
  
“That was so good! Well done,” Noah praised the baby, pressing loving kisses to her head as he held her against himself.  
  
Dylan grinned with pride of his sister, and went over to Noah to pay attention to Claire as well. Luckily Noah wasn’t very tall, so five-year-old Dylan could reach up and pat his sister’s leg as she sat on Noah’s arm. The baby glanced down at him when she felt his touch, and her face lit up at the sight of her older brother.  
  
“Woohoo! She passed the snail level!” Isaac exclaimed, rising up his arms in victory and grinning widely.  
  
The others laughed at Isaac’s comment.  
  
“Don’t be mean, dad,” Eliza laughed. “I think she was faster than a snail.”  
  
“Maybe by half a mile or so.”  
  
The others chuckled, and Jayden went over to praise his daughter and press loving kisses to her cheek.  
  
“Glad to see that she’s still such a heart warmer,” Kaylen smiled, referring to how Claire was always in such a good mood and was smiling at everyone around her.  
  
“I think she’s adorable,” Eliza grinned, and went over to greet the baby and brush her hand against Claire’s arm. The baby gurgled happily at that and grinned up at her with that bright face of hers that always melted Eliza’s heart. “Aww, I want a baby like her someday…”  
  
Noah and Jayden chuckled at that, and watched as Claire stared at Eliza like she was the most interesting thing in the world right now.  
  
“Whoa, hold your horses!” Isaac exclaimed, staring at his daughter in shock. “Maybe in thirty years or so!”  
  
Eliza rolled her eyes and scowled at her dad. “I’ll be forty-three by then, dad.”  
  
“So what? Perfect age for having boyfriends and babies!”  
  
The others laughed at how Isaac was suddenly so protective of his daughter and was scared of the thought of her having boyfriends and kids someday.  
  
“I think ten or fifteen years are more appropriate,” Kaylen said, chuckling at the horrified look on Isaac’s face.  
  
“No way! What’s wrong with you people? She’s a _kid!_ ”  
  
“I’m 13, dad!” Eliza protested. “And in ten years I’ll be 23.”  
  
“So what? Still too early!”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh. It was amusing to see Isaac being a worried and overprotective father, and it was like Isaac was finally realizing just how old his daughter was already and it scared him.  
  
They looked up when Nathan finally entered the room. The young beta stood in the doorway between the entrance hall and the living room and twitched awkwardly when everyone turned to look at him. “Um, hi, guys.” He folded his wings tightly against his back, trying to hide the embarrassing sight of them, and cringed when he felt a feather fall out and slowly glide to the floor.  
  
“Hey, Nathan!” Isaac grinned at him, happy to see him again. “Nice wings,” he commented, gesturing at Nathan’s wings, which the boy was desperately trying to keep out of their sight.  
  
Nathan’s face flushed with embarrassment and awkwardness, and Noah felt so sorry for him.  
  
Kaylen hit Isaac in the side with his elbow, giving him a sharp, disapproving glare. “Don’t be mean.”  
  
“Ow.” Isaac rubbed his sore side and frowned at Kaylen in offense.  
  
Eliza gave her cousin a sympathetic smile. “Don’t mind my stupid dad. Your wings are fine; it happens to all of us.”  
  
“Yeah, but mine look like trees during the winter already,” Nathan murmured, sulking about it.  
  
Derek burst out laughing at that. “I still think you look more like a scarecrow, though!”  
  
Jake couldn’t help but giggle at that, and Nathan glared at them both sharply.  
  
“I told you to shut up already!” Nathan snapped at Derek.  
  
Derek only laughed harder at how Nathan’s voice cracked slightly as he yelled at him, and that in turn only pissed Nathan off more.  
  
Dylan glanced between his brothers with an uncomfortable look on his face. He leaned against Noah’s side, taking comfort in Noah’s wing wrapping around him while he watched his brothers fighting.  
  
“Whoa! Stop it, you two,” Jayden spoke, getting between them before things escalated. He looked at Derek. “Derek, stop commenting on Nathan’s wings; he can’t help it, and you’ll end up looking the same someday, remember?” He watched Derek’s nose scrunch up at that before he turned to look at Nathan. “And don’t be so embarrassed about your wings, Nathan. It’ll pass.”  
  
“Yeah, he’s right,” Isaac spoke. “Your new feathers will be so much more badass! That’s a good thing.”  
  
Nathan visibly relaxed at that.  
  
Derek snorted. “Not half as badass as mine will be…”  
  
“Well, you still only have your baby feathers, don’t you, Derek?” Nathan quipped back at him.  
  
“Hey!” Derek growled, spreading his wings like a challenge.  
  
“Boys,” Jayden warned sharply, making both of them stop in their tracks when they heard their father’s alpha voice.  
  
Isaac burst out laughing. “Wow, you guys sure have a lot of things going on in this house!”  
  
Jayden sighed heavily and his wings drooped behind him. “You have no idea…”  
  
Claire had started sobbing at bit when she noticed the tension in the room. She didn’t like their raised voices and when they were fighting, and Noah tried his best to soothe her.  
  
Eliza looked between Nathan and Derek with worry, even though she was used to them fighting. She knew how annoyed Nathan always was by Derek and how their different personalities always seemed to clash, but lately Nathan seemed especially on edge around Derek. Eliza guessed it was because he was becoming a teenager, as she too had started fighting more with her little brother and her parents since entering puberty.  
  
“Anyway, I better go take care of the pie,” Jayden said next. “Be back soon.” He smiled at Noah and little Claire, and leaned in to press a kiss on their cheeks before going to the kitchen.  
  
Isaac’s face lit up at the mention of pie. “Oh, you made pie for us, Jayden? Dude, I love you!”  
  
Jayden laughed from the laundry room, which he was passing through on his way to the kitchen. “I know you do!”  
  
Isaac just grinned at that, feeling excited about Jayden’s delicious pies.  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes fondly at Isaac. “You’re just like your father when it comes to pie.”  
  
Noah chuckled, and was still rocking Claire on his arm. “Yeah, he really is.”  
  
“So what? Pie is awesome!” Isaac said, looking almost offended. He glanced at Claire, who was still sobbing a little and being rather fussy. He smirked as he walked over to her and Noah, and reached out to gently flap his finger against her lips, making the funniest sounds come from her as she cried while he did it.  
  
The others laughed out loud at the cute and funny noise, and little Claire started giggling when she heard the noise she was making.  
  
“See? Smiling is so much better,” Isaac grinned when he saw a smile spreading across his niece’s face. “And you’re a little weirdo, aren’t you? Making those odd noises. I think your mommy needs to take you to see a doctor.”  
  
Noah chuckled and shook his head fondly at Isaac’s silliness. “I think it’s _you_ we should take to the doctor, though…”  
  
“Oi! Don’t bully your big brother!” Isaac looked at Noah in betrayal, and the others laughed.  
  
Noah chuckled, and pressed a kiss to Claire’s head before gently putting her back down on the floor. He told the guests to feel at home, and Jake and Derek soon disappeared up the stairs to go play in Derek and Dylan’s room. Dylan stayed with the others because he knew Derek hated it when he joined their play.  
  
Nathan, Dylan, and Eliza sat down on the floor and began entertaining little Claire, though Nathan still felt pretty ashamed and awkward about his molting wings. Isaac joined them for a bit, and started fooling around and making the baby laugh, while Noah and Kaylen sat down on the couch to chat.  
  
“Where’s your cat?” Kaylen asked, glancing around the room for Midnight, but the cat was nowhere in sight.  
  
“She’s probably sleeping in the cat castle,” Noah replied, gesturing at the small castle for cats, which was located behind the door to the entrance hall. “She spends more and more time sleeping lately… I don’t think she’ll be around for much longer.” His face saddened at the thought of losing their cat. Jayden and Noah had had the cat since before Nathan was born, and she had always been Noah’s little darling.  
  
Kaylen felt sorry for Noah when he saw the look on his face. “Sorry about that… But she’s had a long, good life, right?”  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
Isaac, who had overheard parts of their conversation while being busy entertaining the baby on the floor, turned his head around to look at them. “Gosh, you guys are so depressing to listen to! How am I supposed to entertain the kids when you two are making dark clouds appear in the room?”  
  
Kaylen threw one of the pillows from the couch at Isaac, careful to not accidentally hit Claire with it. “Shut up and go back to making stupid faces! No wait; those expressions are just your natural looks. My bad.”  
  
“Hey!” Isaac protested, while Nathan, Dylan, and Eliza laughed out loud.  
  
Noah giggled, loving how playful Kaylen and Isaac always were with each other. They were truly made for one another, just like he and Jayden were.  
  
Kaylen smirked at Isaac before turning his attention back to Noah, who was sitting next to him on the couch. “And how have you been doing? Still enjoying your maternity leave?”  
  
Noah smiled. “Yeah. It’s nice being at home and bonding with Claire.”  
  
“She isn’t giving you a hard time, is she?”  
  
Noah shook his head at that. “No, she’s been very easy to handle this far. She’s a little fussy sometimes, but she’s very easy to calm down again, and she sleeps soundly through the night now. Though, she does tend to wake up early and wake the others up with her crying…”  
  
Kaylen chuckled. “Babies are like that. I imagine that it annoys the kids, right? Especially Derek, I imagine.”  
  
“Yeah, Derek doesn’t like being woken up. But he’s actually very gently with her. He’s become a lot more quiet now after the baby was born, especially when she’s asleep or when he knows that his loud voice or behavior will make her cry.”  
  
“He’s still an annoying brat, though,” Nathan murmured from behind them on the floor when he overheard their conversation.  
  
Kaylen laughed at that. “Aren’t little brothers meant to be annoying?”  
  
“Not as much as he is,” Nathan muttered bitterly.  
  
Isaac barked out a laugh. “Funny; Adrian used to say the same thing about me.”  
  
“Can’t image why,” Kaylen murmured dryly from the couch.  
  
“Damn, there is that voice again,” Isaac said, frowning as he pretended to be looking for something. “Does anyone know what it is? I keep hearing it, but I really don’t know where all that bullshit is coming from…”  
  
The others laughed, and Kaylen let out a growl before throwing another pillow at Isaac, hitting him right in the back of his neck.  
  
“Oi!” Isaac warned, turning around to throw the pillow back at Kaylen. “I’m with a baby here! I’m protected from all kinds of violence as long as I’m with the baby!”  
  
“Don’t worry; I won’t hit the baby, just your ugly face,” Kaylen retorted, huffing at Isaac’s words.  
  
“Well, this ugly face as been between your legs more times than can be counted, so surely it has to be even just a _little_ bit handsome, right?” A dirty, smug smirk spread across Isaac’s face, and Kaylen actually blushed like crazy this time.  
  
“Shut up!” Kaylen hissed, his face completely red. “No one wants to hear that!”  
  
Noah blushed with second-hand embarrassment, while Nathan’s eyes were wide with shock and his cheeks were red with second-hand embarrassment as well. Eliza just grimaced and looked utterly embarrassed about her parents. Dylan had no idea what they were talking about because he didn’t understand the reference, so he just sat there and stared at everyone with a confused frown on his face.  
  
“Why would Uncle Isaac’s face be between your legs?” Dylan asked Kaylen, feeling utterly lost in their conversation.  
  
The question made Kaylen blush once more, and he gave Isaac a brief, sharp glare when the beta laughed out loud. “You’ll know when you’re older, kiddo.”  
  
Dylan pouted, hating it when the adults told him that he had to wait until he was older to understand.  
  
“You really don’t want to know,” Eliza told Dylan, her face still scrunched up with a grimace.  
  
Dylan wondered if it was true or if they were just saying that to make him stop asking questions.  
  
Nathan chuckled a bit at Dylan’s perplexed expression, and gently brushed his tail against his little brother’s leg as they sat next to each other.  
  
Claire of course didn’t understand anything either, but she was too busy playing with toys on the floor and laughing at Isaac’s funny expressions to really care. She couldn’t understand everything they were saying, anyway.  
  
They all looked up when Jayden entered the room again. The alpha noticed all their red faces and how smug Isaac looked, and he could almost guess what had happened. “Let me guess; Isaac said something lewd and inappropriate again, didn’t he?”  
  
“Yes,” Eliza, Kaylen, and Noah said at the same time, all groaning.  
  
Jayden laughed and went over to join Noah and Kaylen on the couch.  
  
“Hey, where’s the pie, dude?!” Isaac suddenly blurted, looking utterly disappointed that Jayden hadn’t brought it in with him.  
  
“I just put the pie in the oven,” Jayden replied, chuckling as he sat down on the other side of Noah. “I didn’t have time to do it earlier because you guys suddenly showed up.”  
  
“Noooo, I want pie already!” Isaac whined. His childish behavior made Claire laugh, even though she didn’t really understand what was going on or what they were talking about; she just thought his face and voice were funny.  
  
“You’re such a baby, dad,” Eliza chuckled.  
  
“But I’m a famous baby,” Isaac smirked. “I was nominated for an Oscar this year, remember? Except I didn’t win ‘cause people are such damn racists, but I _almost_ won!”  
  
“Yeah, we know,” Kaylen chuckled.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but feel sorry for Isaac about that. He knew his brother well enough to know that Isaac was actually very bitter and hurt about not having won, even though he tried to act casual about it.  
  
Isaac’s acting career was going very well, and his skills had given him good roles in several movies, though he had yet to have a lead role in a big movie. Still, he was loved by many fans for his funniness and amazing skills, and especially the angel/demon couples and hybrids out there were inspired by his courage to come forward as an actor. It would have been a huge step if an angel/demon hybrid had won an Oscar, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. Not this time, at least.  
  
  
***  
  
  
A while later, Jayden’s long awaited pie was finally ready.  
  
The pie was absolutely delicious, and Jayden was bombarded with praise from Isaac on how good it was. It made him happy of course that his pie was that good, though he did sometimes feel like Isaac was overdoing it a bit. But it was just a habit of his to overdo and exaggerate things.  
  
They spent most of the day chatting and catching up on news from the family, and they also played a few family games together. Derek was such a boaster whenever he won, as was Isaac and Jake, while the others were more modest about it, though Kaylen could also be a little boastful sometimes just to annoy Isaac.  
  
Claire slept for a few hours during the afternoon, but in the late afternoon and evening she was wide awake again.  
  
They were having dinner soon, and Jayden, Noah, and Nathan were all busy preparing the plates and so on in the dining room. Jayden soon told Nathan to go relax instead, because every movement he made caused more of his feathers fall out, so Nathan went to his room for a bit to apply more crème while the others prepared for dinner.  
  
Eliza and Isaac began helping the others with the preparations, but ended up being chased out of the kitchen by Kaylen when the two plotted against him with a prank that made the water faucet in the kitchen spray water on him and drench his shirt.  
  
Meanwhile, Derek, Jake, and Dylan were in the living room with little Claire. It was mostly Dylan who was entertaining Claire while Derek and Jake were busy playing video games in front of the TV while waiting for dinner to be ready.  
  
Claire was playing on the floor, but eventually she got kind of bored and ended up crawling over to the couch. Dylan was with her, trying to make sure that she didn’t get hurt. When she reached the couch, she stopped and began making small sobs while hitting her little hands against the lower part of the couch, like she wanted to be lifted up on it.  
  
“Oh, you want up?” Dylan asked when he saw what his sister was doing. “Come; I’ll help you.” He carefully grabbed the baby by putting his hands under her arms, and then he used all his strength to lift the baby up on the couch. She felt kind of heavy to him, but he managed to get her up on the couch without much trouble. He grinned when Claire squealed in joy once she was sitting on the soft cushions on the couch, and Dylan stood next to the couch, making sure she wouldn’t fall off.  
  
Claire sat on the couch for a bit, just staring around and gurgling happily a few times. Dylan reached out to correct her shirt, which had gotten kind of wrinkled when he had helped her up on the couch, and the baby watched his every movement.  
  
“There. Now you’re pretty again,” Dylan grinned when he was done.  
  
Claire squealed happily, throwing her toy around which was holding in her hand.  
  
Dylan chuckled at that, and ignored how Jake and Derek were being noisy behind him as they competed in their video game.  
  
Suddenly, Dylan felt an urgent need to go to the bathroom. He knew he had to go _now,_ but he couldn’t leave Claire unattended on the couch in the meantime because she could fall down, so he turned to ask Derek for help. “Derek!”  
  
“Yeah?” came Derek’s annoyed reply. He was too busy having fun with Jake and their video game to want to listen to his little brother right now.  
  
“I gotta go to the potty! You look after Claire!”  
  
“What?” Derek grimaced as he turned his head around to look at his brother. “It’s called ‘bathroom’, not potty! Stop using baby language.”  
  
Jake giggled a bit at Dylan’s choice of words.  
  
Dylan frowned in annoyance. “But I gotta go! Look after Claire!” He then hurried off to the bathroom, hoping he’d make it there in time.  
  
“Are you serious?” Derek barked, but Dylan was already gone. He let out a loud, frustrated groan when he had to abandon his video game to look after Claire, but it couldn’t be helped. “Be right back,” he told Jake before getting up.  
  
“Sure,” Jake said, and kept playing without Derek.  
  
Derek sighed as he went over to the couch, where Claire was still sitting. The baby’s face lit up at the sight of him, and Derek couldn’t help but smile at that.  
  
“How’d you get up there? Did Dylan put you there?” Derek asked the baby, who could of course not answer him.  
  
Claire just stared at him before gurgling happily while waving her arms up and down.  
  
“Nu-uh, I’m not picking you up. Mom and dad will _kill me_ if I drop you,” Derek told her when it looked like she wanted to be picked up. Derek’s face turned into one of panic when the baby suddenly started crying. “Okay, okay! Please be quiet!” he told her and carefully reached out to pick up his baby sister.  
  
She felt a little heavy, but Derek didn’t want to be too weak to lift a seven-month-old, so he sucked it up and carefully shifted her so that both of her legs were wrapped around him and he supported her weight with his hands under her butt.  
  
“Uff, what did you eat? You’re heavier than you were a month ago,” Derek told her, making Claire laugh against him. He was pretty sure she didn’t laugh because she understood him, but more because she thought something about him was funny.  
  
While Derek was busy with Claire, Jake suddenly found himself in some trouble in the game, and his first instinct was to ask Derek for help, as the other boy had completed this level several times before. He was just about to be killed by the boss in that level, so he quickly turned around and yelled “Derek!” to have his cousin help him quickly.  
  
The sudden, unexpected shout of his name made Derek flinch, and his grip on Claire loosened for a second. That one second was enough for Claire to fall out of his hold, and Derek’s heart stopped when he felt her slip from his grip and fall to the ground. He had quick reflexes, though, and immediately reached out for her. He managed to grab her left arm, but he wasn’t strong enough to lift her whole weight by the arm, and she ended up hitting the ground anyway.  
  
The baby instantly began crying; wailing so loudly that it could be heard all around the house.  
  
Derek had managed to grab onto her so that she didn’t fall to the floor at full force, but suddenly being dropped and having her arm grabbed like before her butt hit the floor had scared little Claire, who couldn’t help but cry.  
  
The moment Claire started crying, Derek knew he was as good as dead, but his first concern was for his baby sister’s wellbeing. He immediately bent down to level with her after he carefully let go of her arm and got her seated on the floor.  
  
“Oh my god, are you okay?” Derek asked the baby, checking her all over for injuries. She was crying so loud that it hurt his ears and he cringed at it, but he had to make sure that she hadn’t gotten hurt. But he couldn’t really tell if she was crying because she was hurting or from shock, and it panicked him that he didn’t know.  
  
Seconds later, Jayden and Noah stormed into the room to see what was going on.  
  
“Derek!” Noah gasped in accusation when he saw Derek kneeling in front of a crying Claire on the floor. He ran over to attend to his baby, and Derek quickly moved out of the way as Noah reached down and carefully picked up Claire.  
  
Dylan came out of the bathroom then, staring at them all in shock and confusion when he noticed how hard Claire was crying.  
  
“What the hell happened?” Jayden demanded, giving Derek a sharp, scrutinizing glare.  
  
Derek flinched slightly and looked up at his dad with a guilty and shocked expression. “I-I was holding her and then Jake startled me, and then I dropped her… But I caught her arm as she fell, so I don’t think she hit the floor that hard!” he immediately added when he saw the rage in his dad’s eyes for a second.  
  
“You dropped her?!” Jayden growled, practically barking the words into Derek’s face.  
  
“It was an accident!” Derek responded, suddenly feeling angry that he was being treated as the bad guy there.  
  
Claire was still wailing, and Noah tried his best to soothe her as he held her against his chest and pressed soft kisses to her head to comfort her.  
  
Isaac, Kaylen, and Eliza came over to see what was going on as well, and Nathan showed up too when he heard all the commission.  
  
Jake was standing by the TV, looking quite shocked by what had happened, if not a little guilty.  
  
“I think she’s okay,” Noah said to calm down Jayden, who was fearing that she had gotten hurt. “I think it’s mostly just the shock that made her cry. And maybe she’s a little sore, but she doesn’t seem to be in pain when I touch her.”  
  
Jayden’s wings, which had sharpened and spread out on instinct in response to his baby’s distress, relaxed and folded themselves back behind his back again. He sighed in relief before giving Derek another sharp look. “How many times do I have to tell you to be careful around your sister?”  
  
“It was an _accident!_ ” Derek repeated, glaring back at his dad.  
  
“Yeah, I think I kind of startled Derek when I yelled his name, and then he dropped her…” Jake said, twitching guiltily behind them. “He was being very careful with her before that,” he added in Derek’s defense.  
  
Kaylen seemed pleased that Jake as honest about what had happened, and he was relieved that nothing bad seemed to have happened to little Claire.  
  
Jayden’s posture relaxed more after Jake’s words. He turned to look at Derek, looking a little sorry about the sharp tone he had used earlier. “Alright, then. Just… You gotta be careful.”  
  
Derek, however, still wasn’t happy with how everyone had looked at him like he was the bad guy the moment they had come into the room. “You don’t think I know that?!” he snapped. “Why am _I_ always the bad guy here? If that’s how it is, I won’t even bother try being nice anymore!” He let out a deep, aggressive growl before pushing past his dad and running upstairs to his room.  
  
“Derek!” Jayden yelled after him, but Derek had already run up the stairs, and they soon heard him slam the door to his room shut, hard.  
  
Jayden let out a deep, frustrated groan, and ran an exasperated hand through his hair.  
  
Derek’s sudden outburst and how he had left in anger left an awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere in the house. They all stared between one another in shock, not knowing what to do or say.  
  
Noah and Jayden exchanged a worried and slightly guilty glance. It felt even more awkward that it had happened in front of their guests.  
  
“Um, wow. He’s like a small teenager,” Isaac finally commented, still blinking in shock.  
  
Jayden let out a deep sigh. “Yeah… But he’ll calm down soon.”  
  
“Derek okay?” Dylan asked, his voice and face full of worry as he glanced up at the adults.  
  
Nathan came over to him and swept a gentle hand through his baby brother’s hair. “Yeah, he’ll be okay. He just needs to cool off for a bit.”  
  
Jake was about to go check on Derek, but Kaylen held him back. It was better to just leave him alone for a little bit.  
  
Claire eventually calmed down and was happy again, and the others went back to making the last preparations for dinner.  
  
Isaac, however, didn’t feel that it was okay for Derek to just sit around in his room, sulking and feeling sorry for himself all night.  
  
“I’ll go have a chat with him,” he told Noah, gesturing to the ceiling to indicate that he was going to Derek’s room.  
  
Noah was surprised for a second that Isaac would do that, but decided that it might be a good idea. Derek might respond differently to his uncle talking him down instead of himself or Jayden, as Derek often got agitated when they went to his room after a fight. “Okay,” he said, nodding at Isaac to give him permission.  
  
Isaac gave him a ‘I’ve-got-this-covered’-smile before heading upstairs to make his nephew come back downstairs to have dinner with them.  
  
Isaac knew his way around the house, and he carefully approached the door to Derek’s room once he was finally upstairs. He gave the door a few knocks and said “Knockie, knockie, it’s your favorite uncle!” in a playful tone.  
  
Isaac waited for a few seconds, and smirked when he could faintly hear Derek laughing inside before the boy said “Come in.”  
  
Isaac smirked as he opened the door and made a cocky entrance. Derek observed him from where he was lying on his stomach on the bed with his face buried in his pillow, and Isaac slowly went over to him.  
  
“Sup, kid?” Isaac said, grinning at him to cheer him up. “You’re not gonna sulk in here for the rest of the night while the rest of us eat delicious roasted duck with potatoes and veggies now, are ya?”  
  
Derek chortled at that. “You can keep the veggies…”  
  
Isaac barked out a laugh. “Why? Veggies make you big and strong!”  
  
“I already _am_ big and strong,” Derek murmured into his pillow.  
  
Isaac chucked at his nephew’s confidence. “Well, bigg _er_ and strong _er,_ then.”  
  
Derek snorted softly at that before burying his face in his pillow again. His tail was swishing back and forth in slight agitation behind him, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been when Isaac had first entered the room.  
  
Isaac watched Derek for a few seconds in silence before continuing. “You know, when I was a kid I often got blamed for stuff as well, and it pissed me off to no end. Especially after Noah was born, our parents often blamed me when he cried.”  
  
Derek lifted his head to stare at his uncle in disbelief.  
  
Isaac went on. “But, even though it pissed me off and it felt unfair, I didn’t let it break me, and I eventually showed my parents that I can be more than just an immature prankster.”  
  
“But you still _are_ an immature prankster…”  
  
Isaac barked out a sharp laugh at that. “True! But I did show them I can be more than that, and that’s what counts.”  
  
Derek pondered the words for a bit before letting out a snort. “Whatever. My parents still think I’m irresponsible for dropping Claire, even though it wasn’t on purpose. They probably don’t even believe that it was an accident…”  
  
“Bullshit,” Isaac snorted, making Derek stare at him with wide, surprised eyes. “They know you didn’t do it on purpose, but you can’t blame them for being worried when they saw little Claire crying, and then thinking it was because of you – you were, after all, right next to her, and you have a habit of doing stupid things, right?”  
  
Derek thought about it for a second, and he knew his uncle was right. He did often do things he wasn’t supposed to do, so of course his parents would suspect him of doing something stupid around Claire. But it still really hadn’t been on purpose, and he hated the look of accusation on their faces when they had entered the room and saw him with Claire.  
  
“Besides, isn’t it kind of non-alpha like to sulk in your room like a baby?” Isaac said next, raising a brow at Derek.  
  
Derek laughed. “Yeah…” He clumsily sat up on his bed and looked at his uncle. “Do you think they’re still mad at me?”  
  
“Nah.” Isaac did a gesture with his hand as if to wave the suggestion away. “I think they’re actually sorry for treating you like a suspect right away. And I also think they’re gonna eat all your food if you don’t come down, so…”  
  
“No way!” Derek blurted, immediately jumping out of bed. “I’m starving! They can’t eat it!”  
  
Isaac laughed loudly at that, pleased that his strategy had worked and he had managed to get Derek out of bed. “Well, then you better go eat it yourself, boy! Or maybe Jake’s gonna eat some of it too…”  
  
_“No!”_ Derek growled, already about to storm downstairs to make sure that nobody got to eat his rations.  
  
Isaac grinned, feeling very pleased with himself that he had managed to cheer up the very stubborn Derek. He closed the door to Derek’s room behind him before following the boy down the stairs.  
  
Downstairs, Derek was already telling everyone to keep their hands off his food, and Isaac laughed at their confused faces. They had no idea why Derek suddenly thought they were going to eat his food, or how he had come back downstairs so quickly and seemed to have forgotten about what had happened earlier.  
  
Noah stared at Isaac in wonder when his brother entered the kitchen. Most of the food was already on the dining table in the dining room, and that’s where Derek was currently arguing with everyone that they should leave his rations alone.  
  
“How did you…?” Noah asked Isaac, trailing off as he blinked at his brother in wonder.  
  
Isaac laughed, thinking Noah’s face was the most hilarious thing right now. He slung a casual arm around Noah’s shoulders and pressed him closer in brotherly affection. “What can I say? I’m like a magician sometimes! You should know that by now, bro.”  
  
Noah glared at him for acting smug about it instead of just telling him, and it only made Isaac laugh more.  
  
Things were more cheerful now that Derek was back to his old self again and was being loud, annoying, and not shutting up at all. However, the boy was gentle and quiet as he went over to Claire, who was sitting in the baby seat at the table, and apologized to her for dropping her by accident, while patting her head softly. The baby gurgled behind her pacifier, and didn’t seem scared or wary of him at all after what had happened. Derek also lightened up when Jayden came over and apologized for the tone he had used with him earlier, and everyone smiled when father and son made up again.  
  
Everyone gathered around the table to eat, and once again the house was filled with laughter and chatting as the family shared their meal together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking a bit longer than promised to get the next chapter up. My beta was busy with her finals, so it couldn’t be helped.
> 
> I do hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter! :) Expect a 1-2 years’ time jump in the next one.


	55. Chapter 55

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for minor character death in this chapter (an off-screen death that has impact on the characters).

**July 2064 (Noah is 38, Jayden is 39 (almost 40), Nathan is 14, Derek is 10, Dylan is 6 (almost 7), Claire is 2 years old).**  
  
Summer was especially hot that year. Jayden had to work in the beginning of July, while Noah had his holidays in all of July. They would only be able to spend two weeks together during the summer holidays, and they had plans to visit their families, take the kids to the amusement park or a water park, and maybe go on a trip to the mountains.  
  
It was the first week of Noah’s holidays, and he decided to take the kids with him for a walk in the local park that day to chill and maybe have some ice cream. Jayden was working as usual, but the kids had holidays from school.  
  
Nathan couldn’t join them because he had an appointment with his school’s soccer team. They planned to train a bit during the holidays, so only Derek, Dylan, and little Claire joined Noah in the park.  
  
Noah felt a little sad that he saw less and less of Nathan lately. The boy was a teenager now, and he had started spending more time with friends and at after school activities. But he was still as helpful around the house as always, and helped cook, clean, and take care of his younger siblings when he was home, and Noah was grateful for that.  
  
Noah had dressed himself in a thin, white t-shirt and dark blue shorts that day, because he knew it would be awfully hot in the park. His shorts were kind of short, reaching to the middle of his thighs, but he had nice legs so it didn’t look bad on him at all – particularly Jayden always liked him wearing those shorts. He also made sure to bring lots of sun lotion to protect his own and his kids’ skin from the strong sun, and he had had made some sandwiches for everyone as well.  
  
Dylan was ecstatic about going to the park and he cheerfully walked next to Noah, who was pushing Claire’s stroller in front of him as they walked.   
  
Derek seemed less ecstatic about the trip, since he often preferred his video games and his alpha friends, but he had been forced to join them because Noah wouldn’t let him stay home alone. He walked beside them on the bricks that separated the gravel path from the grass areas, balancing himself on the bricks while trying to keep up with the others.  
  
“Cans we have ice cream?” Dylan asked, eagerly pulling at Noah’s shirt as they walked through the crowded park together. Noah had made him wear a hat to protect his scalp from the sun, and he glanced up at his mommy from under the hat.  
  
“Maybe after we’ve eaten the sandwiches,” Noah told him with a smile. “It is really hot today, isn’t it?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m burning up! That’s why I want ice cream.”  
  
Derek snorted softly at them, still trying to keep his balance on the bricks. “I hope you brought cold sodas in that bag of yours, mom.” He glanced at the bag that was attached to the back of Claire’s stroller, where Noah had put the sandwiches and other necessities in.  
  
“Of course I have, Derek,” Noah replied. “And lots of cold water bottles.”  
  
Derek gave a pleased huff. “Good.”  
  
“Water bubbles!” Claire chirped in her stroller, grinning as she leaned her head back to look up at Noah behind her. Like Dylan, she was wearing a hat to protect her head from the sun, and Noah had dressed her in her favorite dress, which was light purple with a big flower on the chest. Her hair had grown more now that she was two years old. It was thin and sandy-blonde, but Noah and Jayden suspected it might turn a bit darker when she got older.  
  
Noah laughed softly at Claire’s words. “No; _bottles,_ not bubbles.”  
  
“Bubbles…” Claire murmured stubbornly and turned her attention back to the pony plush toy in her hands. She picked up her pacifier, which had fallen out of her mouth and landed on her chest when she opened her mouth to speak, and put it back in her mouth.  
  
Noah chuckled at her and Dylan laughed, while Derek rolled his eyes a bit.  
  
They walked down the busy path in the park, heading towards the big playground that Dylan always loved to play in. Derek had used to play there a lot too when he was younger and he still liked playing there; there was a cool obstacle course that was pretty popular among alpha kids.  
  
Claire was remained in her stroller, sucking on her pacifier while listening to her family talking, and she glanced around at all the strangers in the park. There were so many people and dogs passing by, and Claire thought they were all interesting to look at.   
  
They reached the playground and Noah watched Derek head over to the famous obstacle course right away. Dylan went to join him, and Noah told the boys to be careful while he looked after Claire. He took Claire over to the baby/toddler area of the playground and let her ride on the small slide and the other activities for toddlers.  
  
Some people stared when they saw Claire and her unusual wings. It was clear that she had both angel and demon blood in her, as her feathers were white with light grey and red in them, and the fact that she had a tail.  
  
Claire was too young to notice their stares, and Noah ignored the stares as usual.  
  
Most people didn’t seem to mind the hybrid, while others scrunched their noses in disgust and led their kids away. Noah had the feeling it was always going to be like that.  
  
Noah smiled when Claire seemed to make friends with a young angel girl about her age, and he watched as the two interacted with each other and played in the sand. The angel mother, who was a little younger than Noah, seemed very kind as well, and she and Noah ended up chatting a bit.  
  
After playing a bit in the sand, Claire and her new angel friend Maria started running around on their wobbly legs, chasing each other around a small pole in the playground. A couple of other toddlers their age joined in, and Claire was smiling with joy to have more kids participate in their play. She was a very outgoing child who easily found new friends. She was always curious about stuff that was new to her, though, so Noah had to always keep an eye on her, but she did seem to understand that there were some things that she shouldn’t touch.  
  
It was so nice seeing Claire interacting with other children her age, and Noah snapped a few photos of the scene with his phone to show Jayden later.  
  
Noah was busy chatting with Maria’s mother while the two stood next to the kids, when suddenly a little angel girl came over to them. The girl was about six years old, and she stared at Claire in wonder before asking Noah, “Why her wings so many colors?”  
  
Noah turned his head to blink down at the girl, slightly startled by the sudden question. A smile spread on his face as he gently leaned down to explain it to her. “Well, that’s because I’m half angel and half demon, and her father is an alpha demon. And because I’m half angel, Claire looks a bit like an angel, but also like a demon.”  
  
The girl’s eyes widened, and Noah watched as amazement spread across her face.  
  
“Whoa! That’s cool!” the girl exclaimed. “I’ve never seen that before!”  
  
“Really?” Noah chuckled, though he wasn’t really surprised.  
  
The girl nodded her head in confirmation before asking, “How come there aren’t more?”  
  
A sad expression formed on Noah’s face as he looked at the girl. “Well, I guess that’s because people don’t like it when demons and angels are together…”  
  
The girl frowned. “But I have lotsa demon friends, and nobody minds!”  
  
Noah laughed softly, and watched as the girl hurried back to her mother when she was called.  
  
Maria’s mother, whose name was Marylyn, smiled at the scene. “Kids have a really hard time understanding society’s perplexing rules, don’t they?”  
  
“Yeah…” Noah agreed, sighing.  
  
Their conversation was interrupted when Claire suddenly fell on her nose in the sand and started crying loudly. Noah was immediately by her side, gently helping her up and wiping the sand off her face.  
  
“Aww, it’s okay. Nothing happened,” Noah soothed his daughter, while carefully wiping the sand away from her face with his hands. “Shhh.”  
  
Claire kept crying, though, and Noah had to lift her up and comfort her.  
  
“Aww, poor thing,” Marylyn said, feeling sorry for little Claire.  
  
Maria glanced up at her new friend quietly and looked somewhat worried.  
  
Noah held Claire against him as the girl cried into his shirt. She was being unusually fussy right now, but Noah blamed it on the heat. “Sorry,” he told Marylyn when it looked like Maria was sad that they couldn’t play anymore.  
  
“It’s alright,” Marylyn smiled. “We had to go anyway. Gotta be home before our guests arrive. It was nice meeting you, though.”  
  
“You too,” Noah smiled.  
  
The two said goodbye before Marylyn left with little Maria.  
  
Claire was still sobbing and holding onto Noah’s shirt, and Noah sighed as he tried to comfort her the best he could.  
  
“Shh, it’s alright. Why are you so upset, hm? Is it because it’s so warm today?”  
  
Claire nodded slightly against Noah. “Where Dylan and Derek?” she asked, her words almost getting lost in her sobs. She could speak several words, but her sentences were still pretty short and clumsy sometimes.  
  
“I think they went to the obstacle course. Wanna go see what they’re doing?”  
  
Again, Claire nodded against Noah, and Noah held her as he went over to the stroller and pushed it in front of himself as they went over to the playground’s obstacle course, where the older children were playing. It was mostly alphas who occupied that area of the playground, as they were the most wild and daring, but there were also a few betas and girls there.  
  
Noah quickly spotted Derek, who was swinging his way from one end of a long rope net to the other. It was the kind of rope net that you had to swing your way across without your feet touching the ground, and if you fell down you had to start all over. The distance was about ten meters (32 feet), and he was already halfway there.   
  
There was a deep, concentrated look on Derek’s face as he moved across the rope net, careful not to fall down, and Noah was slightly impressed by how well he was doing. Most boys his age fell down after just a few meters because they couldn’t hold their own weight in their arms, and it was mostly only the older kids who could make it from one end to the other.  
  
On the ground around Derek, other kids from the playground were cheering for him, including Dylan, who seemed very proud of his big brother right now.  
  
“Come on, Derek! You can do it!” Dylan cheered, his tail swishing back and forth in excitement.  
  
Noah smiled and turned Claire on his arm so that she could see the playground better. “See? Derek’s having a lot of fun.”  
  
Claire blinked at the sight of her older brother moving across the rope net like a monkey, and she stared mesmerized at the scene and at all the cheering kids around him.  
  
Derek was only four meters from the end when he finally didn’t have the strength in his arms anymore to keep it up. His strength failed him and his grip on the rope loosened, sending him to the ground. He landed smoothly on his feet, though, and grunted in annoyance that he couldn’t make it after all.  
  
All the kids made disappointed sounds, though they were still impressed by how far he had gotten. It wasn’t bad for a 10-year-old.  
  
Noah could tell that Derek was frustrated with himself that he couldn’t make it after all, but he still felt proud of him. It was further than most kids his age had gotten, and Noah was pretty sure that he himself couldn’t get that far.  
  
Dylan felt kind of sorry for Derek, but his face lit up when he finally spotted Noah and Claire. “Mommy! Claire!” Dylan yelled, grinning widely as he ran over to them. Derek slowly followed after him.  
  
“Hi,” Noah smiled at his sons. “Did you have fun?”  
  
“Yeah! And did you see how far Derek got on the rope net?” Dylan asked, still all excited about it.  
  
“Yes, I did,” Noah said. He smiled he turned to look at Derek. “That was really good, Derek.”  
  
“Yeah, but I still didn’t make it to the end…” Derek murmured, his wings hanging low with self-disappointment.  
  
“That doesn’t matter, you’ll get there someday. It just takes practice. And I think you did really well.”  
  
Derek made a small noise of agreement, and continued avoiding their eyes because he was disappointed that he hadn’t been able to make it.  
  
“What happened to Claire?” Dylan asked when he saw the sand on his sister’s face and clothes.  
  
Noah looked at Claire as he spoke. “She fell in the playground and got sand all over herself. Didn’t you, sweetheart?” He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, making her giggle. Suddenly Noah frowned when he noticed brown dirt on his white shirt. “Claire!” he exclaimed, noticing her dirty hands. “What on earth did you touch?”  
  
Derek laughed. “Maybe it’s dog poop.”  
  
Noah shot him a glare. “That’s not funny.”  
  
Dylan giggled before saying, “It looks like mud?”  
  
Noah groaned, realizing that Dylan was probably right. “Yeah, I did see some mud in the toddler’s playground… I guess someone dropped water on the ground and then it became mud… Jeez, Claire, why did you touch that?”  
  
Claire giggled innocently, not feeling particularly guilty about her mom’s dirty shirt, and Dylan laughed at how naughty she was.  
  
Noah glanced around to see if there was a bathroom nearby. He was pleased to see one not far from there. “Well, I guess I’ll go clean my shirt. Can you please look after Claire while I’m away? I’ll be back in two minutes, I promise.”   
  
“Okay,” Dylan chirped.  
  
Derek groaned when he was put on babysitting duty when all he wanted was to go back to the obstacle course and try other things, but he didn’t complain verbally.  
  
Noah carefully put Claire down on the ground, who whined and grabbed onto his feathers so he wouldn’t go. Noah chuckled at her. “I’ll be right back, sweetie. Your brothers will look after you.”  
  
“Yeah, we will,” Dylan grinned, gently touching Claire’s leg with his tail to reassure her.  
  
Claire reluctantly let go of Noah and watched as he ran over to the bathrooms to get cleaned up.  
  
“Here,” Derek said, reaching into the bag on the stroller and pulling out some tissues. He then grabbed Claire’s dirty hands and began cleaning them. “Don’t touch more mud, okay?”  
  
“Okay,” Claire said, giggling a bit as Derek cleaned her fingers.  
  
Dylan smiled and curled his tail happily. He liked it when Derek was being nice, although his brother was still rude and wild most of the time.  
  
Derek was still cleaning his sister’s dirty hands when suddenly a small group of boys showed up behind them.  
  
“What kind of freak is that?” one of the boys said, snorting with mocking disgust as he stared at Claire.  
  
Dylan turned to see three alpha boys standing behind them. The boys were all angels, and they were about 12-13 years old. They stared at Dylan, Derek, and Claire like it was the first time they had ever seen angel/demon hybrids or offspring of one before, and the look in their eyes wasn’t exactly friendly.   
  
The boy who had spoken seemed to be the leader of the small group, and his arms were crossed cockily in front of his chest as he stared at them like a bully.  
  
Derek’s wings twitched agitatedly at their words, and he slowly straightened up after having cleaned Claire’s hands and turned to glare at the boys behind him. He didn’t have his sharp feathers yet, but his feathers were puffing out like a demon’s wings would when he felt angry, annoyed, or protective.  
  
“Get lost,” Derek told them, glaring sharply at the alpha angels. He hated it when racist kids came over to offend them or pick a fight.  
  
The boys looked mildly surprised that Derek was talking back to them, but they didn’t seem scared of an alpha who was younger than them.  
  
“Why? You’re all freaks, aren’t you?” the leader boy said, shrugging casually. “Especially the little one.” He looked at Claire again, who just blinked up at him in confusion and didn’t understand what was going on.  
  
Derek let out a deep, angry growl and suddenly pushed the boy hard in the chest, sending him a few steps back. “Don’t talk to my sister like that, you asshole!” he snarled, spreading his wings in aggression.  
  
The other boys immediately came to their friend’s aid, and now they were all spreading out their wings while taking a threatening step closer to Derek.  
  
“Or what, _freak?_ ” the leader boy dared him, staring Derek down with a confident smirk on his lips.  
  
“Or I’ll kick your racist asses,” Derek growled, glaring the older boy right back in the eyes.  
  
The boys all laughed at that, and Derek growled at how they were mocking him.  
  
“Derek…” Dylan reached out and touched his brother’s arm to calm him down, while staring at the older boys with fear.  
  
“Aww, is your baby brother scared?” the leader said next, mocking in his voice. “He’s an alpha, isn’t he? Guess he’s just as much of a pussy as you are.”  
  
“But not half as much of a pussy as you guys are!” Derek retorted with venom.  
  
The boys all startled at that.  
  
“What’s that? You wanna pick a fight with us?” the leader boy growled in a deep, threatening voice. He took a step closer to Derek, spreading out his wings which were larger and stronger than Derek’s own.  
  
“Bring it on, you racist pussies!” Derek snapped at them, too far gone with anger to think rationally. “No one talks to me or my siblings like that and gets away with it!”  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened when suddenly the boys launched forward to hit Derek. Derek fought back, and soon the punches were flying back and forth as the four alpha kids got into a raging fight in front of everyone in the playground.  
  
Claire started crying and was trying to go over to Derek because she was worried for him, but Dylan held her back while he watched the scene in horror. He covered little Claire’s eyes so she wouldn’t have to watch the fight and get even more scared, but her desperate cries still filled his ears.  
  
The fight was terrifying to watch and Dylan was too scared to intervene, but when he saw one of the boys knock Derek to the ground, he ran forwards and desperately shouted, “No! Stop it!”  
  
The boys turned to glare at Dylan next, and the boy swallowed nervously when he thought they were going to start beating _him_ now, but luckily someone intervened.  
  
“ _Hey!_ Cut it out!”  
  
Everyone flinched and looked up to see a large alpha demon in his thirties approaching them. The guy was a parent to one of the kids in the playground, and he immediately came over to stop the fight once he noticed it.  
  
The three angel boys flinched back at the sight of the alpha demon’s sharp feathers.   
  
Meanwhile, Derek had gotten back on his feet, and was now standing in front of his siblings with his wings spread out to protect them from the older boys.  
  
The leader boy cast a threatening glance at Derek. “Have fun, freak,” he spat before running out of there with his friends.  
  
“Shut the hell up, asshole!” Derek yelled back at him with an angry growl.  
  
The adult alpha demon chased after the boys for a few feet before giving up when he saw them disappearing into the crowds on the path ahead.  
  
Noah finally showed up then, having heard some of the commission the moment he exited the bathroom. He ran over to his kids as fast as he could, shocked about what had happened.  
  
“What happened?” Noah demanded, and immediately lifted the crying Claire up to comfort her.  
  
Dylan was still kind of in shock as he glanced up at Noah. “T-Those boys came over and said nasty things, and then they picked a fight with Derek.” He glanced at his older brother, still amazed by how well Derek had managed the fight.   
  
Derek had started attending Jeet Kune Do practice a few months ago, since he really wanted to do martial arts just like his cousin Aaron. He was still a beginner, but it was pretty clear after the fight that he had already learned a few tricks. Noah had been kind of worried about letting Derek attend those lessons, because the boy had a habit of always getting hurt, but Jayden had argued that maybe it would help Derek burn off some of his alpha energy and make him more calm at home.  
  
Noah was in shock. He had never expected such a thing to happen while he had been away for only two minutes. He was even more shocked that Derek had fought against three older alphas.  
  
The alpha demon, who had helped chase the boys away, came over to check on them. “You guys okay?” he asked, glancing at the kids with worry.  
  
Dylan nodded. “I think so…”  
  
Derek was a little banged up, though. The other boys had landed a couple of punches on him when he got knocked to the ground, but it wasn’t too bad. He just felt a little sore and knew it would leave bruises, but he was pleased that his new skills in martial arts had helped him block most of their blows. So far he had mostly only learned how to block attacks and not so much about how to attack others, so he had been more busy blocking their punches instead of throwing any himself, but he had still managed to punch them a few times. It felt rather pleasing to him to have punched the boys back after the nasty things they had said.  
  
“And you, kiddo?” the alpha asked, looking at Derek next.  
  
“I’m okay,” Derek murmured, rubbing his sore jaw a bit. “I didn’t break anything.”  
  
“Good. You’re pretty tough, kid,” the alpha chuckled.  
  
Derek’s face lit up at the compliment, though Noah didn’t feel any more reassured about this at all.  
  
“Thank you for helping my children,” Noah told the alpha, feeling grateful to the guy that he had intervened.  
  
The alpha smiled and shrugged modestly. “You’re welcome. I’ve seen those boys around here before. They’re bad news; they always cause trouble and pick fights with other alpha boys. It scares the other children, and this is supposed to be a quiet place for them to have fun and make friends.”  
  
“Yeah… But still, thanks.”  
  
The alpha smiled at him once more before heading back over to his own kid.  
  
Some of the kids in the playground were still shocked and upset by what had happened, and Noah felt some of the adults stare at Derek accusingly, as if thinking that he had been the cause of the fight. He glared back at them before going over to Derek.  
  
“Are you alright? Do you need a cold soda can to put on there?” Noah asked, gesturing at Derek’s bruised jaw.  
  
“Um, maybe,” Derek admitted reluctantly. His jaw did feel pretty sore, but he was determined not to show them how much it actually hurt.  
  
Dylan went over to grab a cold soda can from the bag on Claire’s stroller and brought it back over to Derek, who murmured a small “thanks”.  
  
“I certainly hope you didn’t provoke them into a fight, Derek,” Noah said, giving Derek a scrutinizing look. Derek had been in fights with other boys at school before, and sometimes it was Derek himself who had provoked the fight.  
  
Derek’s wings twitched guiltily behind him before he blurted, “But they were calling us freaks and being assholes! I wasn’t gonna put up with it! I didn’t provoke them; I just talked back to them ‘cause they pissed me off!”  
  
Noah sighed and was still trying to calm down Claire from her crying. “We’ll talk about this later… Let’s go.” He wanted to get away from all the people staring and glaring at them, and he knew the boys wanted that too.  
  
Derek pressed the cold can that Dylan had given him against his jaw and quietly followed his mother out of there.  
  
Noah took them as far away from the playground as possible to get away from the people who had witnessed the fight. He was still trying to cheer up Claire, who was trembling a little after what had happened. Dylan pushed the stroller around as they walked and kept glancing at Derek with worry, even though his brother seemed to be okay.  
  
They found a nice spot in the shade with an available bench. They seated themselves on the bench, and Noah shushed Claire gently as he rocked her on his lap.  
  
“Shhh, it’s alright, Claire. The bad boys are gone,” Noah told her soothingly.  
  
Claire sobbed and looked up at him with teary eyes. “S-Scared…”  
  
Noah’s heart broke, and he almost didn’t know what to say or do other than to just hold her close and comfort her the best he could.  
  
“Claire, look at Derek,” Dylan said in a soft voice, and pointed to Derek, who was sitting on his other side on the bench. Dylan was seated between Noah and Derek, and Claire was on Noah’s lap.  
  
Claire stopped sobbing and looked at Dylan as he spoke. She then followed his glance over to Derek, who turned his head to frown at Dylan in confusion.  
  
“He’s okay, isn’t he?” Dylan asked softly, smiling patiently at his little sister, who turned to look at him again. “The bad boys didn’t hurt him much, and he’ll be okay. And they’re gone now. You don’t gotta be scared no more.”  
  
Claire blinked at him, glancing between her two brothers while trying to understand what he was saying.  
  
Noah felt his daughter relax after what Dylan had said, and he felt proud of his son that he had managed to calm his sister down and make her feel safe again.  
  
Moments later, Claire was finally smiling again, and she grinned over at Derek when she realized he was okay. “Derek!” she chirped, reaching out towards him.  
  
Noah laughed softly at her, and Derek blinked in surprise when Claire seemed to want to sit on his lap next.  
  
Noah helped his daughter climb down from his lap and watched her pad over to Derek. She grinned up at him with that wide smile of hers, and indicated to him that she wanted to sit on his lap.  
  
Derek blushed and felt awkward about it. He never let Claire sit on his lap; he thought it was girly and too soft for an alpha. But watching his sister’s loving and happy smile right now, Derek didn’t have the heart to turn her down.  
  
“Um, okay. But don’t fart on me,” Derek murmured before helping Claire climb up on his lap.  
  
The girl laughed at his words and quickly got comfortable on Derek’s lap. The boy let out a pained noise when she accidentally kicked him in the crotch, and Dylan laughed next to him. Derek shot him a dark glare, and Dylan immediately stopped laughing, but he couldn’t suppress his giggling much.  
  
Derek still felt a little sore from the fight, so having Claire sit on him didn’t feel that nice either, but he didn’t want her to cry if he pushed her off him, so he let her stay there for a bit. He hated how the people passing by were looking at him like they thought he was an adorable big brother. It kind of hurt his alpha pride.  
  
Noah smiled at the scene, and finally reached into the bag on the stroller to grab their sandwiches so they could eat.  
  
“Yay! Sandwiches!” Dylan cheered as Noah passed the sandwiches around to everyone. “I feel sorry for Nathan that he can’t have one…”  
  
“I’ll make him one some other time,” Noah said, smiling as he passed around the sodas next.  
  
Claire was too young for sodas, so Noah handed Derek some juice for her.  
  
Derek groaned when he realized that he had to feed Claire. She was sitting on _him,_ after all.   
  
However, as soon as they started eating, Claire suddenly wanted to go back to Noah, and Derek felt relieved when sister got off him and he couldn’t feel her weight anymore. The toddler went over to Noah, who picked her up and seated her on the bench between him and Dylan, and helped her with her sandwich and juice.  
  
Everyone dug in eagerly, and Dylan couldn’t stop smiling as he ate the delicious sandwiches his mom had made for them.  
  
Derek ate a little slowly, though. His jaw was still a bit sore, and it hurt every time he chewed. He tried not to let the others know about it and ate his sandwich as fast as he could, listening to Noah and Dylan chatting about something Dylan had experienced in school a few weeks ago.

  
***

  
  
Their trip to the park had been really nice, despite Derek getting into a fight with the racist boys. Claire had quickly calmed down again, and she was happy and cheerful for the rest of the trip. She and Dylan spent some time running around on the big lawn in the park, and played hide and seek in the park’s bushes. Noah joined them as much as he could, and they had somehow managed to persuade Derek to participate as well, even though he insisted it was childish. They had also eaten ice cream, and the boys laughed when they saw Claire’s face being smeared in it afterwards.  
  
They got home in the late afternoon, and Claire had fallen asleep in her stroller when they were halfway home.  
  
As soon as they got home, Derek announced that he was going to take a shower and then disappeared into the upstairs bathroom. Noah felt a little worried that Derek was still feeling sore and bruised, and that the shower was to relieve some of the pain.   
  
Noah had had a more serious conversation with Derek on the way back home and had told him to not pick fights with such boys, no matter how annoying and rude they were. Dylan or Claire could have gotten hurt too, and Derek looked a little guilty when Noah pointed that out, but he still insisted that what he had done was the right thing to do – but he had promised to be more careful when Dylan and Claire were around too. Noah didn’t think that he had managed to make Derek see the seriousness of the matter properly, but he wasn’t very good at explaining such things to the young alpha anyway. He would have Jayden talk to Derek about it at some point when the older alpha had time for it.  
  
Nathan came home at 5:30pm, and both Dylan and Claire ran out to greet him in the entrance hall.  
  
“Nathan!” Dylan chirped, grinning happily at his older brother, who was busy taking off his shoes.  
  
“Hey,” Nathan replied, smiling at him. He had grown quite taller in the past couple of years – he was now 165cm tall (5’4 feet), and was thus taller than Noah already. He was growing into a handsome young beta, but being a teenager he was lately more occupied with his friends than with being with his family. They mostly only saw him in the mornings before school and for dinner in the evening, and when he was helping doing chores and looking after his younger siblings. The rest of the time he spent at after school activities, with his friends, or alone in his room.  
  
Claire wobbled out of the living room with a bright grin on her face and she made her way over to Nathan. “Neysan!” she chirped, still unable to say his name right.  
  
Nathan laughed at the cute way she was saying his name, and squatted down to hug his sister as she came over to him with her arms spread wide for a hug. She squealed and laughed when he picked her up, and Dylan grinned at the scene.  
  
“Whoa, you’re getting too heavy, Claire!” Nathan said while holding her against himself. “Almost can’t lift you anymore.”  
  
Claire let out a loud squeal and laughed.  
  
Dylan laughed at Nathan’s words. “Then you hafta get stronger!”  
  
“Don’t be like Derek now,” Nathan scolded gently, but with a chuckle. “I wasn’t being serious.”  
  
“I know,” Dylan giggled.  
  
Nathan put Claire down again, who let out a small whine because she didn’t want to be put down yet. She started clinging to his leg, begging to be picked up again, but Nathan kindly ignored her as he went over and stowed his shoes away.  
  
“Where’s mom and Derek?” Nathan asked Dylan while reassuring Claire by touching his tail against her leg.  
  
“Mom’s cooking, and Derek is in our room…” Dylan cast a small, worried glance towards the stairs before looking at Nathan again. He lowered his voice as he said, “Derek got into a fight in da park today… Three alpha boys were being mean, and then they picked a fight wif Derek… I think his face hurts now, but he won’t admit it.”  
  
Nathan’s eyes widened in shock, though he wasn’t all too surprised. He rolled his eyes as he sighed, “Alphas…”  
  
Dylan giggled at his brother’s statement, since he couldn’t help but agree a little. “But _I_ don’t get into fights!”  
  
“Yeah, please let it stay that way,” Nathan told him, ruffling Dylan’s hair with affection before heading to the kitchen to see what his mom was up to.   
  
Little Claire followed him, and Dylan followed his sister to make sure she didn’t trip and hurt herself. She was still tripping rather often when she walked, and Dylan was worried she would get hurt. Besides, Dylan liked hanging out with his little sister and teaching her stuff, and she was very attached to him as well.  
  
In the kitchen, Noah was busy preparing dinner. He wasn’t a good cook, which was why Jayden often prepared meals that they could freeze and warm up later for days where he wasn’t at home to cook for them. Noah could cook easy things, though, such as potatoes, fries, vegetables, pasta, rice, and a few other things, but it was Jayden who cooked the more ‘advanced’ meals. Not to mention that Jayden’s cooking generally tasted a lot better than Noah’s.  
  
“Hey, mom,” Nathan greeted him as he entered the room.  
  
Noah jumped a bit when Nathan’s words startled him, and he turned to look at his son. “Oh. Hi, Nathan,” he smiled before turning back to cooking.  
  
Nathan chuckled at how he had startled Noah, and went over to see what he was cooking. “Oh, mac and cheese?”  
  
“Yeah. It’s one of the things I’m actually good at cooking,” Noah chuckled.  
  
Nathan laughed. “Yeah, one of the only things…”  
  
Noah smacked Nathan on the arm with the spoon he was using for cooking for insulting him like that, and everyone laughed at it.   
  
“If you keep insulting my cooking, I’ll let you do the cooking yourself,” Noah said, looking rather insulted.  
  
Nathan laughed. “Sorry. It was a joke, mom.”  
  
“Daddy’s cooking is still the best!” Dylan chirped loudly.  
  
Noah turned to glare at him, and Nathan laughed.  
  
Noah sighed, knowing they were right. “Yeah, your daddy’s cooking is a lot better than mine…” he admitted, stirring in the pot with the boiling macaroni as he spoke. “Which reminds me that he still hasn’t replied to the text I sent him earlier…”  
  
Noah had sent Jayden a text a couple of hours ago, asking him if he could buy him some new heat suppressants from the pharmacy in the mall where he worked. They did have two cars, so normally Noah could go to the pharmacy himself, but the other car had a problem with the brakes lately, so Noah couldn’t drive it at the moment. It was unlike Jayden to not reply to his messages within a couple of hours, so Noah couldn’t help but feel a little worried.  
  
“I’m sure he’s just busy at work. They probably have a lot of customers tonight. It’s Friday, after all,” Nathan said.  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
Noah still thought it was a bit strange, but he shrugged it off and turned his attention back to his cooking. He could go one or two days more without his suppressants since he still had a few left, but he would need new ones soon.  
  
Nathan decided to help Noah out a bit while Dylan entertained Claire, and once again Noah felt himself startled by how big Nathan had gotten. He just couldn’t get used to his son being taller than him now, and he knew it was only a matter of time until Derek and Dylan were taller than him as well. It felt strange and it was also kind of sad somehow. Watching his kids grow up was fantastic but also really hard. Noah wished they could stay little forever, but unfortunately the world didn’t work like that.

  
***

  
The rest of the evening passed by quietly, for the most part.  
  
Derek and Nathan got into a small fight when Derek felt insulted by Nathan when his brother joked about his bruised jaw and how reckless he always was, but Noah managed to make them stop arguing. Derek kept glaring at Nathan for a while afterwards, but stopped when it made Claire uncomfortable.  
  
After dinner, the kids played around outside on the lawn while Noah took care of the laundry. He was glad that both Nathan and Derek were playing with Dylan and Claire, as the older two had a habit lately of withdrawing into their rooms. Nathan was a teenager and often spent time in his room studying or skyping with his friends, and Derek was often just antisocial around his family, but tonight they were both participating in the games.   
  
They played hide and seek at first so that Claire could easily participate, and later they played ball. Everyone was careful not to kick the ball too hard and hit Claire, and Claire laughed and squealed as her brothers kicked the ball around while she tried chasing it. It didn’t last long, though, as Claire had to go to bed early, but after she was in bed the boys played with each other for a bit longer. Derek was determined to kick the ball higher than Nathan, and got frustrated every time his brother beat his record, but even more so when Nathan looked smug about it. Dylan was the one who tried to make them stop fighting, which only made Derek feel annoyed with him because he felt like Dylan was taking Nathan’s side.  
  
It was 9:30pm when Noah went to bed that night. He had been up early to look after Claire, who had a habit of waking up at around 6 or 7am in the summertime, and he felt exhausted after a long day with the kids.  
  
Nathan didn’t go to bed until after midnight during the holidays, and he spent the time watching movies, listening to music, or playing online games with his friends in his room. On some nights he had his friends stay over or stayed over at their place, but not tonight.  
  
Noah lay down to sleep, feeling safe knowing that Dylan and Derek were both in bed now, and that Nathan could take care of himself.   
  
The bed felt kind of empty without Jayden in it, but Noah was used to that. His mate often came home late at night, and by that time Noah was mostly asleep. He still wondered why Jayden hadn’t replied to his text earlier, but he fell asleep without worrying too much about it.  
  
Noah was fast asleep when Jayden came home and climbed into bed at 11:30pm.  
  
The submissive immediately knew that it was his mate who was climbing into bed with him, and thus didn’t have to open his eyes to see who it was. He let out a content hum and snuggled closer to Jayden, who wrapped his arms around him and pressed Noah against his naked chest.  
  
However, Noah soon realized that something wasn’t right.  
  
Jayden was trembling, and the way his fingers were gently sweeping through Noah’s feathers over and over was as if he was trying to find comfort in them rather than it just being a gesture of affection.  
  
Noah lay still, blinking himself awake and trying to analyze what was wrong. That was when he heard a small, broken sob coming from Jayden.  
  
Startled, Noah pulled back a little and glanced up at Jayden in the dark. “J-Jayden? What’s wrong?”  
  
The alpha swallowed the next sob and slowly moved his hand up to wipe away the few tears on his own cheek. “I…” he started, trailing off when his voice broke. He shook his head before suddenly pulling Noah closer again, hugging him tight. “M-My colleague Frank, he… He died this morning.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in shock, and his heart stopped for a second when the news slapped him in the face.  
  
Frank was one of Jayden’s closest colleagues. He had been at the job for almost as long as Jayden himself, and he was an alpha demon like Jayden too. Noah had met him a few times, and he had also met Frank’s mate and kids at the Christmas parties that he had attended with Jayden. Noah had always liked Frank a lot. He was a funny guy who always made everyone laugh at the Christmas parties, and Noah knew that Jayden was very good friends with him.  
  
After a few seconds, when the worst part of the shock was leaving Noah, he stuttered out, “I… That’s… I’m so sorry, Connor.” Noah wrapped his arms around Jayden and squeezed his eyes shut as he pressed himself into Jayden’s chest to comfort him. He couldn’t hold back his own tears, and they started flowing down his cheeks slowly.  
  
Jayden let another sob escape from his throat and started crying as he held Noah against himself for comfort. The grief of losing his dear friend and colleague was eating him up inside, and he hugged Noah close in an effort to make it go away.  
  
It was kind of odd hearing Jayden cry like this without holding back, but Noah didn’t think any less of him. The alpha was heartbroken at what had happened and confused about why and how, and all Noah could do was hug Jayden back and try to give him some comfort.  
  
After a few moments, Jayden was finally able to speak again. “I-I spent the whole day wondering where he was,” he started, his voice cracking as he spoke. “It’s just not like him to not show up, you know?”  
  
Noah nodded quietly against him, waiting for Jayden to continue.  
  
“H-He was supposed be in at 1pm, but at 2pm he still wasn’t there… So I tried calling him… No reply. I then tried calling his house to ask if he was okay, but no reply either… A-And then… at 5pm a police officer showed up at the restaurant and told us what happened. T-That Frank had been hit by a drunk driver after he had dropped off his son Harry at a friend’s house this morning, and that he had been killed instantly.”  
  
Noah gasped in horror.   
  
How could this have happened? Frank was one of the nicest people they knew. Why did such a thing have to happen to him? It just wasn’t fair in any way, and Noah couldn’t believe what had happened.  
  
Jayden broke down crying again, and all Noah could do was to hold him close and comfort him. He shifted so that it was Jayden’s face that was pressed into his chest and not the other way around, so that he could better hold him close and hide his own tears from Jayden to not sadden him further.   
  
Jayden welcomed the shift in positions and clutched Noah close as he cried. He was sobbing and crying so hard that he couldn’t speak anymore. It was clear that he hadn’t been able to properly cry at work, so now all that pent-up grief was just flowing out of him.  
  
Noah didn’t know for how long they stayed like that or when they both fell asleep. All he knew was that Jayden needed his comfort, so Noah held him close and tried his best to be there for his mate.

  
***

  
Neither Noah nor Jayden got much sleep that night.  
  
Jayden couldn’t fall asleep because he was mourning, and Noah stayed up to comfort him the best he could. Noah hadn’t seen Jayden cry this much before, at least not since Jayden’s grandparents died a few years ago, but their deaths hadn’t been as tragic as Frank’s – they had died of natural causes, after all.  
  
Somehow, they had both managed to fall asleep around 5am, but were woken at 7am when Claire was wide awake and was making noise on the baby monitor.  
  
Noah couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so exhausted. His head hurt from lack of sleep and from having cried, and he couldn’t imagine how Jayden must feel, considering that he had cried even more.  
  
Jayden stayed in the bedroom while Noah took care of Claire. Noah doubted that his mate was sleeping much, but at least he was getting some rest now.  
  
Noah made Claire breakfast and played a bit with her in the living room. He tried his best to not make her worried, so he put on a happy face around her and pretended that everything was okay, since he knew how easily Claire got upset when she felt that others were sad.  
  
After three hours of being the only one awake in the house along with Claire, Noah suddenly heard noise coming from upstairs. He was sitting on the couch with Claire next to him, watching TV while his daughter played with her toys and crawled into his lap every now and then, and he was kind of startled when he heard Derek’s shouting voice.  
  
“Damn it, Dylan! Why do you never clean up your toys from the floor! I totally just stepped on them!” Derek shouted at his little brother in their shared room.  
  
Dylan had just returned from the bathroom, and the moment he had entered the bedroom again Derek had gotten out of bed to visit the bathroom as well, only to put his feet directly on top of some of Dylan’s Legos, which were scattered around the floor next to their beds. The door to the room was still open, so Derek’s loud voice was audible through the entire house.  
  
“I’m sorry!” Dylan said, cringing in sympathy when he saw Derek sitting on the bed and holding his sore foot as he grunted in pain. “I musta missed a few pieces…”  
  
“You need better eyes!” Derek snapped at him, still angry because of the pain that was still throbbing in his foot.  
  
Dylan frowned in offense. “I already said I was sorry… And you never say _you’re_ sorry when _you_ do stuff like that.”  
  
“That’s not true! I apologize sometimes.”  
  
“But half the time you don’t even mean it!”  
  
“So what? Half the time you guys are totally unfair anyways!”  
  
The two continued their arguing without paying attention to how the door was still open and how loud their voices were, and Noah knew that Jayden could without a doubt hear them in the bedroom. He quickly got up from the couch, leaving Claire alone for a few moments as he rushed upstairs to make the boys quiet down.  
  
“If you can’t clean up after yourself, you should sleep in the hallway,” Derek muttered grumpily. He slowly got on his feet again, wincing at the pain in his foot, but at least it was starting to fade by now.  
  
“ _You_ go sleep in the hallway!” Dylan retorted at him. “You _never_ clean up!”  
  
“Shut up already!” Derek barked back at him.  
  
“Hey!” a voice suddenly barked at them.  
  
Both boys flinched and turned to look at Noah, who had finally made it upstairs and was now standing in the doorway, glaring at them both.  
  
“Would you boys _please_ stop shouting and arguing?” Noah asked, his voice like a growl because he was agitated and grumpy from lack of sleep, and the last thing he wanted was to listen to his sons arguing about cleaning up toys. “You’re waking up everyone in the house, and your father needs to rest, so keep it down!”  
  
Both Dylan and Derek blinked at Noah in shock. They weren’t used to seeing their mom so angry and agitated over something like this, and the way he was glaring at them was almost scary.  
  
“O-Okay. Sorry, mommy,” Dylan stuttered out.  
  
“Yeah, sorry,” Derek murmured, still blinking at Noah in surprise.  
  
They heard one of the other bedroom doors open, and Noah half expected it to be Jayden who was coming out of the bedroom, but instead it was Nathan. The teenage boy lazily walked across the hallway, looking sleepy and grumpy, and went over to stand near the staircase from where he could look into Dylan and Derek’s room.  
  
“Gosh, you guys are so noisy! Shut up, Derek, or I’ll buy you a muzzle,” Nathan growled, running an exasperated hand through his messy hair as he glared over at them.  
  
“Hey!” Derek growled back and was about to snap something at Nathan when Noah stopped him.  
  
“Okay, that’s enough,” Noah said in a stern voice, making them all shut up. “Go downstairs, all of you, and be quiet.”  
  
Nathan frowned in worry when he saw Noah looking more agitated than usual. The bag under his mom’s eyes and the ruffled and unkempt state of his wings also caused him to worry a bit. It was obvious that Noah hadn’t really slept last night, and Nathan wondered why.  
  
The boys stopped arguing and went to get dressed before going downstairs, being as quiet as possible to not wake up their father.  
  
Noah had gone back downstairs to look after Claire again, and he was pleased to find her on the floor, minding her own business with her toys. The toddler gurgled happily when she saw him, and Noah grinned as he came over and lifted her up to sit on his arm.  
  
“Where daddy?” Claire asked, staring at Noah with her big blue eyes while idly grabbing onto the front of his shirt.  
  
Noah gave her a small smile and rocked her a bit on his arm. “Daddy’s sleeping. He’s really tired, but he’ll be up later.”  
  
Claire processed the words before putting on a bright smile, looking excited about Jayden coming downstairs later. Noah chuckled at how much of a daddy’s girl she already was.  
  
Noah looked up when the boys all entered the room after having gotten dressed. His wings lowered sadly behind him, as he was still upset about the whole thing with Frank, and he knew he was going to have to tell the kids about it.  
  
“Hey, mom,” Nathan greeted him carefully, eyeing Noah as if he was trying to figure out what was up with him. His first worry was that something had happened between his parents that had upset his mom. “Everything okay?”  
  
Dylan and Derek entered the room too, and Dylan cast a worried look up at Noah, who was still holding Claire on his arm.  
  
Noah lowered his gaze at Nathan’s question. “No, I…” he trailed off, wondering how he should tell the kids about what had happened. “One of your dad’s colleagues has been in an accident, so your dad needs some time to rest now, okay? So please don’t make noise and don’t go wake him up, alright?”  
  
Nathan’s eyes widened in shock, as did Dylan and Derek’s.  
  
“Accident? Is he okay?” Nathan asked.  
  
Noah shook his head, trying everything to hold back the tears. “N-No. He… he died. So please take it easy on your dad; he was a good friend of his.”  
  
“No way…” Dylan stuttered, staring at Noah in shock before his eyes started tearing up.  
  
Nathan was also in shock, and he suddenly understood why Noah was in such an agitated mood. He figured he must have stayed up all night to comfort Jayden. “That’s… Okay, we’ll be quiet. Right, guys?” He looked at his little brothers, and narrowed his eyes at Derek.  
  
Derek hated the way Nathan was glaring at him like he expected him to disagree. “Yeah, we’ll be quiet,” he said, not knowing what else to say. He understood the seriousness of what had happened, but he didn’t quite know how to handle it or what to say.  
  
Claire made a noise of discomfort when she picked up on the sudden sad mood among her family. She started sobbing, and her little hands grabbed onto Noah’s shirt to get his attention.  
  
Noah’s eyes were teary, and everything inside him hurt as he tried to suppress the urge to cry. He turned his head to look at his daughter when she grabbed onto him, and forced a gentle smile. “Hey, it’s okay. Shhh.” He pressed a soft kiss to Claire’s forehead and rocked her gently in his hold, and she soon began to calm down a little.  
  
“Is daddy okay?” Dylan asked, sniffling as he tried not to cry too. He didn’t really know any of his dad’s colleagues, but he was sad for his dad and worried about him.  
  
“He’ll be okay. He just needs some time,” Noah said, trying his best to reassure the kids that things were going to be fine, even though he knew how upset Jayden was at the moment.  
  
Nathan nodded in understanding before turning to his younger brothers. “Okay, guys, let’s go find some breakfast. I’m starving!” he grinned, trying to cheer up the mood a bit.  
  
“Me too!” Dylan chirped, grinning as he followed Nathan out of the room and into the kitchen.  
  
Noah was grateful to Nathan that he went to the kitchen to help his brothers get something to eat. He pressed another kiss to Claire’s head before going to the kitchen as well, since he was sure that Claire was getting hungry too.

  
***

  
After having breakfast, the boys went to the living room to watch TV and play. Nathan stayed with them to help Noah keep them all in check, and he tried his best to not tease Derek and start a fight with him.  
  
The boys asked Noah a few questions about Frank and about the accident. Noah tried his best to answer their questions, but it was a really tender topic to talk about. But still, the kids needed to understand what had happened.  
  
Claire didn’t understand any of it yet, only that her father was feeling kind of sad at the moment.  
  
It was 11:40am when Jayden finally showed up.  
  
Noah heard him walk down the stairs, and he wondered if he should go to him or stay with the kids in the living room. He didn’t want to overwhelm Jayden, but he also knew that his mate needed him.  
  
Noah decided to go check on Jayden, and excused himself as he got up from the couch to go check on his mate. When he reached the entrance hall, Jayden was busy preparing to go to work. He was getting his shoes and car keys ready, and was about to reach for his jacket in the wardrobe before deciding against it.  
  
Noah stood there, watching his mate in bafflement. “But… you’re off today. Why are you preparing to go to work?”  
  
Jayden turned to look at him. Like Noah, his eyes had bags under them from crying and from not sleeping much, and his hair and feathers looked a bit messier than usual.  
  
“Yeah, I know. But I can’t really stay at home today, now, can I?” Jayden said as he put his car keys into his pockets and prepared to leave. “I’m the manager, and everyone is going to be a mess today. I gotta go and be there for them…”  
  
“But your boss will do that,” Noah argued, taking a step closer so that he was blocking Jayden’s way to the front door. “I’m sure he knows how to handle this. And your colleague Mariah has experience with grief counselling, right? I’m sure they’ll be fine.”  
  
“Yeah, but—”  
  
“You need to stay home,” Noah said, his voice firm but still kind and gentle. He looked up at Jayden with a worried but stern expression on his face, and placed a gentle hand on Jayden’s chest to hold him back.   
  
Jayden’s eyes narrowed as he stared back at Noah, like he was weighing his options. His tail was swishing with agitation and stress, and Noah knew it was because Jayden was so full of emotions right now and that he didn’t know what to do with them.  
  
Finally Jayden let out an annoyed growl and pushed his way past Noah. “I can’t afford just staying home! I can’t just abandon the others!”  
  
“You’re not abandoning them!” Noah argued back, following Jayden over to the door to reason with him.  
  
The kids could all hear their parents arguing from the living room. Dylan got up and carefully approached the door to the entrance hall, observing his parents with worry, and Nathan got up to hold him back so he wouldn’t go and intervene. It was better to let the adults talk this out on their own.  
  
“No one will blame you if you don’t show up today,” Noah continued, trying to talk sense into his mate. He knew that if Jayden went to work, he would just end up breaking down even more, and Noah didn’t want that. Jayden was stressed enough already. “You need to take care of yourself first, and what you need is rest and time to mourn. Your boss will make sure that your colleagues get the counselling they need, and I’m sure he’ll provide it for you too. Workplaces have procedures for this kind of thing…”  
  
 _“’This kind of thing’?!”_ Jayden snapped, angry all of sudden. His outburst made Noah flinch back, and Jayden’s feathers sharpened themselves in response to his sudden anger. “It’s not a _thing,_ it’s _Frank!_ One of my best friends, who’s _dead!_ ”  
  
The sudden aggression Jayden was displaying made Noah flinch back in shock, and he stared at his mate with wide, hurt eyes, while his wings lowered themselves in submission behind him.  
  
A second later, Jayden finally realized what he had just done. He had twisted Noah’s kind, comforting words and thrown them back in his face, not to mention that he had yelled and had pointed his sharpened feathers at him. An alpha should never point his sharpened feathers at his mate.  
  
Jayden’s eyes widened in panic, and he quickly lowered his raised wings and let the feathers go back to their usual, half-sharp state again.  
  
“Shit, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean that…” Jayden stuttered out, carefully reaching out to place his hands on both of Noah’s arms in apology, while looking him in the eye. He cringed at himself for having treated his mate like that. “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”  
  
Noah blinked at him, still somewhat shocked by the angry reaction he had gotten from Jayden, though he knew it was just Jayden’s frustration that had been the cause. Jayden had never raised his sharpened wings at him before, and it had terrified Noah more than he wanted to admit. “I-It’s okay. I know you’re upset and hurt, and that you didn’t mean it. But please… I don’t want you to go.”  
  
Jayden sighed, closing his eyes as he pondered what to do. He wanted to kick himself for having shouted and displayed his wings at Noah like that; he knew his mate hadn’t meant his words in a bad way and that he was just trying to help. But everything inside Jayden was just one big mess; his emotions were all over the place, and he felt an unbelievable amount of anger at the person who had caused his friend’s death. It was just so goddamn unfair, and Jayden didn’t know how to get rid of all these overwhelming emotions of anger, frustration, and loss.  
  
The kids were all listening to them inside the living room, and Nathan was trying to calm down Claire, who was upset and crying because of the raised voices. Dylan was about to cry too, feeling so scared and worried as he listened to his parents arguing and how angry Jayden had gotten. Derek also seemed to be shocked about it, but he didn’t say a word.  
  
Noah watched as Jayden struggled with himself, and the alpha’s hold on Noah’s arms was strong but not unkind. It was like he was holding onto Noah to keep himself under control and to be able to gather his thoughts.  
  
Finally, Jayden let out a defeated sigh and took a small step back. “Alright, I’ll stay home.” His hands slowly let go of Noah and he cast his gaze to the floor. “I guess there isn’t much I can do at work anyway…”  
  
A small sob escaped Jayden, and Noah heart ached as he watched his mate wipe away a tear from his eyes. He could feel his mate’s pain and frustration through their bond, and it was overwhelming.  
  
Slowly, Noah stepped forward and pulled Jayden down into a comforting hug. The alpha immediately returned the embrace, holding Noah close and burying his face in his neck while breathing in his comforting scent.   
  
Noah had to stand on his toes so that Jayden didn’t have to bend down that much, but he didn’t mind. He was relieved that he had managed to persuade Jayden into staying at home, because he knew that it would only be worse for Jayden if he went to work and saw all his colleagues being upset and sad as well. There wasn’t anything Jayden could do for them anyway, and after seeing how upset Jayden had been last night, Noah knew that he needed time and rest to get over what had happened.  
  
Meanwhile, the kids were relieved when the arguing finally came to an end.  
  
Claire was still a bit upset, but Nathan was holding her on his arm and rocking her to comfort her. Dylan was wiping away the tears from his cheeks that had appeared when he got scared and worried about his parents fighting, and Derek was silently watching his dad taking comfort in Noah’s embrace. Derek thought it was strange seeing his usual badass alpha father crying and taking comfort in a submissive, but he didn’t say a word about it.  
  
Slowly, the kids walked closer to the door, eyeing Jayden with worry as he tried to stop his crying.  
  
“Daddy?” Claire sobbed, reaching out towards Jayden as she sat on Nathan’s arm, wanting to be with her father instead.  
  
Noah and Jayden had both almost forgotten about the kids, and Jayden quickly wiped the tears from his eyes as he gently pulled away from Noah and turned to look at the children.  
  
“Hey, princess,” Jayden smiled at Claire, wiping his eyes clean before going over to take her from Nathan’s arms. “Haven’t seen you since yesterday morning! Boy, have I missed you,” he grinned as he took her into his arms and pressed sweet kisses to her head.  
  
Claire squealed happily at the kisses and leaned into him. When he was done kissing her, she leaned back a bit to look at him. “Daddy sad?” she asked, her eyes full of worry as she studied his face closely.  
  
Jayden blinked at her question, and noticed how the boys were also staring at him in worry. His lips curled into a sad smile as he spoke, “Yeah, daddy’s a little sad, but I’ll okay. I’m gonna stay home and try to get better, okay?”  
  
Claire nodded quietly before leaning into him so that her head was resting under Jayden’s chin. Jayden smiled and held her close, running a soothing hand up and down her lower back, and felt her soft breath against his neck.  
  
“I’m sorry about your colleague, dad…” Nathan said, eyeing Jayden with sympathy.  
  
“Yeah… Thanks, Nathan,” Jayden told him, and held Claire against himself for a while longer.  
  
Noah smiled softly at the scene, but it broke his heart to see little Claire feeling so worried about her dad. She was still very young, but she could sense that her father was sad and upset, and it affected her as well.  
  
After a few moments, Jayden announced that he was going upstairs again and carefully transferred Claire into Noah’s arms. The girl whined and protested, not wanting her dad to leave, but Noah gently shushed her and assured her that everything was going to be alright.  
  
They all glanced at Jayden with worry as he ascended the stairs with heavy steps and retreated himself back into the bedroom.  
  
Noah was glad that Jayden had listened to him and was going to stay home. It was better for him this way, but Noah still couldn’t help but feel worried for him. What had happened was terrible, and he couldn’t imagine how Jayden felt, losing one of his best friends like that. He only hoped that he would be able to help Jayden get through it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that you all had a nice Christmas – and to those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a nice time anyways :)
> 
> I know I’ve been kind of mean to Jayden in this chapter, but I needed a bit of drama… And having one of his colleagues pass away is actually something I’ve thought about for a while now, I just couldn’t find the right timing before. I feel sorry for Jayden for putting him through this, but I promise he’ll be okay soon!
> 
> The next chapter will take place just after this one and will deal some more with Jayden’s grief. After that I will make another 1-2 years’ time jump, I think.
> 
> And sorry for putting up something so sad just before New Year! I hope you guys don't mind it too much.
> 
> And Happy New Year to everyone! Stay safe! :)


	56. Chapter 56

**July 2064 (Noah is 38, Jayden is 40, Nathan is 14, Derek is 10, Dylan is 6 (almost 7), Claire is 2, Laura is 28, Nicholas is 28 (almost 29) years old).**  
  
Frank’s death was hard on Jayden. He had been forced to take a sick leave from work, which meant he wasn’t going back to work until after his summer holidays in the start of August, since his holidays started right when his sick leave ended.  
  
A week after the tragedy, Frank had to be buried. The funeral was taking place in the graveyard in the south area of the city, near where Frank used to live.   
  
The colleagues from the restaurant, who had been working with Frank the longest, were all coming to the funeral as well. Noah and the kids were also coming, mostly to support Jayden and to show their sympathies to the family. Noah didn’t want Claire to come, because she didn’t need to see all the sad faces at the ceremony, so he asked Laura and Nicholas to look after her that day.  
  
It was like there was a dark cloud in the house as they all prepared to go to the funeral.  
  
Noah had instructed the kids to wear black clothing and try to look nice, and Derek was throwing somewhat of a fuss when Nathan criticized his choice of shirts.  
  
“You can’t wear that,” Nathan told Derek when he saw his brother coming out of his room, wearing black jeans and a black shirt with some writing on it.   
  
Derek gave him an offended look. “What? It’s black! Mom told us to wear black!”  
  
“And he also said it had to be _nice_ clothing,” Nathan pointed out, sneering at his brother and his horrible choice in shirts.   
  
Nathan himself was wearing black dress pants and a dark grey dress shirt. He looked pretty handsome, even though it was a funeral they were attending and not a party.  
  
Derek growled at him in annoyance. “But I can’t find any better shirts!”  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes before pushing his way past Derek to go look through his drawers himself.  
  
“Hey! Don’t go through my stuff!” Derek complained, growling as he followed Nathan into his room and watched his brother go through his clothes.  
  
Dylan was in the room as well, busy dressing himself in dark grey pants and a black shirt. He didn’t have any dress shirts and pants like Nathan did, so a simple black t-shirt had to do. He was having some trouble pulling on his pants because it was difficult getting his tail through the tail hole. It was something all demon and hybrid kids with tails struggled with for a few years before they got the hang of it.  
  
Derek glared at Nathan as his brother kept rummaging through his clothes. He crossed his arms in front of his chest in irritation before casting a look over at Dylan, who was still having trouble with his pants.  
  
“You’re _still_ doing that?” Derek asked, having a habit of being rather condescending towards Dylan sometimes.  
  
Dylan’s brows furrowed with annoyance as he glared back at Derek. “But it’s difficult…”  
  
“Just put them on already! I dun wanna look at your childish underwear!”  
  
“Then look somewhere else!” Dylan retorted, feeling that Derek was being very unfair and mean right now.  
  
“Shut up, Derek,” Nathan groaned, still busy trying to find a proper shirt for him. “He can’t help it; he’s only six.”  
  
“ _I_ could put on my own pants when I was six!” Derek argued.  
  
“Congratulations. Aren’t you good,” Nathan said with dry sarcasm. Before Derek could snap back at him for being sassy with him, Nathan found a nice shirt in the dresser and turned to throw it in Derek’s face. “There. Found you a shirt without any stupid writing on it. And you better hurry up; we’re leaving soon.”  
  
Derek quickly tore the shirt off his head, where Nathan had thrown it, and glanced down at it. It was indeed nicer than the one he was wearing, but he couldn’t even remember that he owned it. “Thanks, dumbass,” he murmured, and waited for Nathan to leave before he would change into it.  
  
Nathan ignored the insult and instead smirked at how he had managed to find Derek a nice shirt when Derek himself hadn’t been able to. He went over to Dylan next and helped his brother put on his pants before leaving the room to get himself ready.  
  
Meanwhile, Noah was helping Jayden do his tie in the master bedroom.  
  
The alpha had been quiet all morning, but Noah couldn’t blame him. They had a tough day ahead of them, and Jayden was still grieving the loss of his friend.  
  
The past week had been hard on both of them, but Jayden had managed to get through it with Noah’s help. He was eternally grateful for having a mate as kind and understanding as Noah, who didn’t mind throwing away his own sleep at night just to be at Jayden’s side and offer him comfort. Jayden felt like he owed him a lot for that, but Noah insisted that it wasn’t something he needed to repay him for.  
  
Jayden watched quietly as Noah did his tie for him. It was actually too hot to wear a suit and tie, but he didn’t want to show up looking like a mess.  
  
Noah himself was wearing dress pants and a dark blue long-sleeved dress shirt with buttons at the front. He looked really nice in those formal clothes, and Jayden couldn’t help but admire his appearance a little.  
  
“I kind of don’t wanna go…” Jayden admitted quietly as they stood there.  
  
Noah finished doing the tie and cast a glance up at Jayden. “I know. But we have to…” He placed a hand on Jayden’s chest for comfort and reassurance, and he felt his mate brush his leg gently with his tail in appreciation.  
  
The alpha let out a small sigh. “Yeah… Though, I’m not sure about bringing the kids with us…”  
  
“Well, I think it’s important that we let them attend such ceremonies…” Noah argued gently. “Besides, I feel like it will be better that we don’t just show up alone at the funeral… I have the feeling that Melissa will appreciate it if we all come.”  
  
Melissa was Frank’s mate. She was a female demon, 33 years old and already a widow. The pair had two beta boys together; Harry, who was eleven, and Jonas, who was eight years old.  
  
“You’re probably right…” Jayden murmured before sighing again.  
  
Noah glanced at his mate in sympathy. None of them looked forward to the sad event ahead, but maybe afterwards it would be easier trying to get over it.  
  
“Mom!” Derek’s loud voice suddenly came from the hallway. The bedroom door wasn’t fully closed, so they could hear him quite clearly. “Claire’s awake! And I think she needs a new diaper! She smells like shit.”  
  
“Stop saying that, you dumbass!” came Nathan’s disapproving voice, followed by the sound of him smacking Derek somewhere.  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at that, while Noah groaned loudly at Derek’s behavior.  
  
“I’ll go change her,” Noah announced, making sure that Jayden was okay before he left the room to go and attend to little Claire. He was kind of surprised to see her outside in the hallway. “Whoa, how’d you get out here, hm? Did Nathan take you out of bed?” He reached down and picked up Claire, who was grunting while reaching up to him and begging to be picked up. He made a face when the smell of her dirty diaper hit his nose, though he was getting used to the smell.  
  
“No, she climbed out herself,” Nathan said.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in surprise. He had put Claire down for a nap an hour ago, and she had never climbed out of her crib before.  
  
“Yeah! She’s a ninja!” Derek laughed.  
  
Dylan giggled at that as he glanced up at his sister.  
  
“Guess you and dad better get her a new bed,” Nathan chuckled when he saw the look of surprise on Noah’s face.  
  
“Yeah…” Noah agreed. He looked at Claire, who was grinning kind of mischievously at him. “Let’s go change that diaper, shall we? Uff, you smell bad!”  
  
Claire laughed at Noah’s disgust, and Dylan thought it was funny how amusing she found it when Noah and Jayden scrunched their noses in disgust when smelling her diaper.  
  
  
***  
  
  
When everyone was ready to go, the family got into the car and headed off to Laura and Nicholas’ place to drop off Claire before going to the funeral.  
  
Laura and Nicholas had recently moved into a house together. It was close to the neighborhood where Laura and Jayden’s parents lived, and it had two stories and a nice, big garden. Laura and Nicholas had become mates a little over a year ago, and Laura had announced to them back in April that she was pregnant with their first baby. Nicholas had finished his medical degree and was now working a fulltime job as a doctor at the local hospital, and Laura still worked at an advertisement agency.  
  
It was Noah who drove the car that day, since he wanted Jayden to rest and not have to focus on driving. He carefully pulled the car into Laura and Nicholas’ driveway, and got out to take Claire out of her baby seat in the back and get her stuff from the trunk.  
  
Jayden and the kids got out of the car as well to greet Laura and Nicholas as they came out of the house to greet them.  
  
“Hi, guys,” Laura smiled at them.  
  
“Hi, Auntie Laura!” Dylan chirped with a happy grin.  
  
Derek and Nathan greeted her and Nicholas as well, and Noah did too.  
  
Laura cast a worried glance at her brother, who was looking away and fidgeting a little. She knew Jayden well enough to know that he didn’t feel very comfortable at the moment, and she could guess why. He was about to attend the funeral of one of his best friends, and now he was at his pregnant sister’s doorstep to have her take care of his little daughter when he knew that Laura herself felt a little sickish lately because of her pregnancy. But Laura had insisted that she wanted to babysit Claire that day, because she wanted to spend more time with her little niece and get some more experience with babies.  
  
Nicholas went over to help Noah carry all of Claire’s bags with toys and diapers, while Laura slowly went over to Jayden.  
  
“Hey, bro,” Laura smiled at him, making Jayden lift his gaze to look at her. Her smile turned sad when their eyes met, and she reached out her tail to curl it around Jayden’s in a gesture of sympathy. “I’m so sorry about what happened…” She went forwards and pulled him down for a hug, and Jayden returned it.  
  
“Thanks…” Jayden murmured into Laura’s neck, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. He couldn’t help but be extra careful around her lately, with her being pregnant and all, so he pulled away after a few moments and glanced at her belly. She was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, so it was easy to see the little baby bump that was starting to appear. “How’s the baby?” he asked, smiling.  
  
Laura followed his glance down to her belly, and grinned as she placed her hands on the small bump. “Good, I think. The scans went well! I’ll show you the pictures later. The little girl should be around 21 weeks old in my tummy now.”  
  
Jayden’s eyes widened. “Oh, it’s a girl?”  
  
Laura grinned happily. “Yep. That’s what they told me.”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but grin at the news. “Congratulations.”   
  
Laura beamed. “Thanks.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise. “Oh, congratulations! That’s nice.”  
  
“Thanks,” Nicholas grinned, his tail curling proudly by his side.  
  
“Oh, you’re having a girl?” Dylan asked, looking really excited as he glanced at Laura’s stomach. “That’s nice! Maybe she and Claire will be good friends?”  
  
Laura laughed softly. “Yeah, I sure hope so. But she has to be born first.”  
  
“When will that be?”  
  
“In December, at some point.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “A December baby? Like you. How funny.”  
  
“Well, I’m kinda hoping she won’t come out on my birthday. I want to keep my birthday to myself,” Laura chuckled.  
  
“But you can’t actually control that, can you?” Derek asked, eyeing her skeptically.  
  
“No, not exactly…”  
  
“Then you should have timed your heat differently…” Derek murmured.  
  
Noah gasped. “Derek!”  
  
Nathan gave Derek a sharp push for being rude and glared at him in disapproval, while Dylan just looked confused.  
  
Laura looked rather startled about the comment as well, while Nicholas’ face was as red as tomato.  
  
“Whoa. Don’t you know a lot for a 10-year-old?” Laura chuckled, looking at Derek.  
  
Nathan huffed. “He’s known about it since he was seven. For some reason he and his classmates thought it was interesting to talk about back then.”  
  
“Well, it was!” Derek argued, looking kind of awkward now that everyone was talking about it.   
  
“Anyway,” Nicholas said when he noticed how quiet Jayden was. “You guys should get going, right? We’ll try to take care of Claire while you’re away.”  
  
“Yeah. Thanks,” Noah smiled, carefully handing Claire over to Laura. Claire whined a bit, not wanting to leave her mommy, but Noah didn’t give in.  
  
“Hey, sweetie,” Laura grinned at her little niece once she was sitting on her arm. She made sure to place Claire somewhat to her side so she couldn’t kick her stomach so easily, but luckily Claire wasn’t much of a kicker anyway. “Aren’t you excited? We’re gonna play lots of fun games and have something nice to eat. Doesn’t that sound great?”  
  
Claire looked at Laura, blinking a bit. She had never stayed over at Laura’s place by herself before, but she did know her aunt quite well. She hesitated before smiling and nodding. “Okay!” she chirped, throwing her arms up in joy. “Staa-brers?”  
  
Laura frowned, trying to make sense of the baby words.  
  
Noah laughed softly. “She means strawberries. I think she wants to know if she’ll have strawberries while staying at your house.”  
  
“Oh!” Laura exclaimed, finally getting it now. “Of course! We have lots of strawberries. You love strawberries, don’t you?” She grinned at her niece, who nodded eagerly.  
  
“Yeah, you feed her strawberries and she’ll love you forever,” Nathan chuckled.  
  
Nicholas laughed. “Alright. We’ll do that.”  
  
Laura chuckled and smiled at Claire as she gently rocked her.  
  
Jayden, who had been rather quiet until now, came forward to say goodbye to his daughter. He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her head before saying, “Bye, princess. Be a good girl, okay?”  
  
Claire whined a bit when she realized that she was going to be left behind. She reached out towards her dad, making small grunts of displeasure. “Daddy!”  
  
“Daddy will come and pick you up later,” Jayden chuckled, and reached out to caress her cheek before going. “Bye-bye.”  
  
“Yeah, bye, Claire!” Dylan chirped, waving goodbye at his sister as they all headed back to the car.  
  
Claire still whined a bit, but Laura quickly made her calm down.  
  
Noah gave his daughter one last smile and a wave before getting into the front seat and starting up the car.  
  
The others said goodbye as well before getting into the car and taking off.  
  
Laura and Nicholas stayed in the driveway, waving at them until they were out of sight, and Laura helped Claire wave at them as well.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The funeral was a quiet one, although lots of people showed up to say their final goodbyes to Frank.  
  
The weather was kind of fitting for a funeral; it was gloomy and sort of windy, but it didn’t rain.  
  
Noah held Jayden’s hand as they stood in a circle with the others around the grave, listening to the priest’s words and watching him throw dirt on the coffin.   
  
Jayden tried to hold back his crying, but tears still escaped his eyes. Noah gently rubbed his wing against Jayden’s for comfort, not knowing what else to do.  
  
Melissa and her two boys were also trying not to cry too hard, but Noah could tell it was really hard on them. He couldn’t imagine what Melissa was going through. When someone lost their mate, they could feel the loss the very moment their partner died. Their mating bond would be torn apart in an instant, and no matter how far away from each other they were, the other would be able to feel it. Noah couldn’t imagine what Melissa must have felt in the moment Frank died. It must be the most awful and terrifying feeling in the world to have your mating bond being torn apart like that and knowing in that very moment that your mate was gone. Noah didn’t even want to try and imagine it; it was too painful to think about.  
  
Kind words were spoken from family and friends at the ceremony, and everyone listened quietly to them.  
  
Nathan, Derek, and Dylan were all quiet during the whole ceremony, and Noah was grateful that especially Derek didn’t cause any trouble or started fights with his brothers. Dylan was crying because he thought it was sad, and Nathan tried his best to comfort him. Derek just stood there quietly, watching the ceremony and looking at all the sad people without saying a word.  
  
When the ceremony was over, everyone went over to Frank’s family to give their condolences and say goodbye before leaving.  
  
Noah went over to them with Jayden and watched as Melissa pulled Jayden into a tight hug and cried against him. She was obviously very grateful that he had shown up.  
  
After giving their condolences, Noah and the others headed back over to the car, but Jayden was falling behind.  
  
Noah frowned when he noticed Jayden’s absence and turned around to look for him in the crowd of people leaving. He quickly spotted his mate and slowly went over to check on him.  
  
“Jayden?” Noah asked carefully, trying to make his mate meet his eyes.  
  
Jayden lifted his gaze and looked back at Noah, staring into his eyes for a few moments before speaking. “I, um… I need a few moments, okay? Go wait for me in the car. I’ll be there in twenty minutes, tops. I promise.”  
  
Noah’s brows furrowed with worry, but he understood Jayden’s need to be alone. “Alright. We’ll go wait for you. Take your time.”  
  
Jayden gave him a grateful smile before wandering off, burying his hands in his pockets as he walked past all the old graves and over to a place where there were no people around.  
  
Noah watched his mate for a while before going back to the kids, who were waiting at the car.  
  
Meanwhile, Jayden was walking around in the other end of the graveyard, trying to collect himself after the tough event that had just ended. His head hurt from suppressing his crying, but he knew he would probably get to cry when he was alone with Noah tonight.   
  
Frank’s pointless death was still hard on Jayden, and it had forced him to remember other parts of his life that he didn’t want to think about; from the girl who killed herself at his previous school to his own fear of dying or losing someone else close to him. The whole thing had made him realize how fragile life was and it scared him.  
  
He needed some time to himself to try to find happier thoughts and get out of the circle of grief. Watching the graves didn’t really help with that, but as he reached the far end of the graveyard, he could look into the small park that was located across from it. Seeing all the happy children playing there kind of helped him feel better, and he spent a while just listening to their joyful screams and laughter.  
  
When Jayden started feeling better, he headed back to his family, who were waiting for him by the car. Nathan and Derek were pushing each other around because they were bored, and Dylan was laughing as he went to join.  
  
Jayden chuckled at the silly boys, and they all looked up when they saw him approaching.  
  
Noah came over to give Jayden a warm hug before they all got into the car and drove off to Laura’s place to pick up little Claire.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Everyone took it easy on Jayden for the rest of the day, and the kids tried not to get into fights or arguments around him.  
  
They spent an hour at Laura’s place before going home, where Noah prepared dinner while Jayden went to rest for a while.  
  
In the evening, after all the kids had been put to bed (except Nathan, who stayed awake in his room), Noah and Jayden retreated into their bedroom to go to sleep. They were both exhausted and tired from not having slept much for the past week, and Jayden’s head still felt like someone had played ball with it. He had cried a bit in the room earlier when he was alone, so he felt somewhat better now.  
  
Noah was undressing when Jayden entered the room after having used the bathroom. The submissive instinctively shielded his nakedness with his wings when he heard the door open, but relaxed and folded his wings again when he saw that it was just Jayden.  
  
Noah quickly pulled on some new panties and a thin baby blue nightdress. Changing clothes had made his feathers become all ruffled, so he used a brush to quickly make them look nice again.  
  
After a few moments, Noah noticed that Jayden wasn’t moving. He turned to look at the alpha, and saw him standing a few feet behind him, staring emptily at the floor. Noah’s brows furrowed with worry and he slowly went over to him.  
  
“Hey.”  
  
Jayden looked up when he heard Noah’s soft voice, and blinked as the submissive reached up to cup his cheek tenderly with his hand.  
  
“You should get in bed. You need rest,” Noah told him.  
  
Jayden closed his eyes, dwelling in the comfort of feeling Noah’s hand on his cheek. “Yeah…”  
  
When Jayden still didn’t make any moves to take off his clothes for bed, Noah became a little worried and tried to make eye contact with him. “What’s wrong?” he asked, sensing that something was on Jayden’s mind.  
  
Jayden leaned into the touch of Noah’s hand, hesitating a bit before speaking. “Just… After this whole thing…” He swallowed before slowly lifting his gaze to meet Noah’s eyes. “I’ve suddenly become so scared of losing you.”  
  
Noah was kind of taken aback by those words, although he could understand Jayden’s fear very well. He blinked at him for a few times before smiling and rubbing his hand tenderly against Jayden’s slightly stubbed cheek.  
  
“You won’t lose me,” Noah promised.  
  
“You don’t know that…”  
  
“No,” Noah agreed, taking a small step closer to Jayden while keeping eye contact with him. “But if you keep worrying about it, it will only make you crazy. Trust me; I know. I’ve been thinking the same thing for the past week, and I have to stop thinking it because it’s making me lose my mind. I don’t ever want to imagine a world without you, but I won’t let the fear ruin my happiness either.”  
  
Jayden looked like he wanted to argue, but closed his mouth when he realized that Noah was right. Worrying about losing someone only made things worse. You just had to live life happily and hope it would never happen.  
  
“Hmm, what a wise mate I have,” Jayden joked, chuckling softly.  
  
Noah chuckled back, and then suddenly Jayden was wrapping his arms around him and squeezing him real tight. Noah returned the embrace, closing his eyes as he dwelled in the wonderful feeling of his mate’s arms around him.  
  
Jayden was crying again, and Noah gently ran his fingers through the alpha’s softened feathers to comfort him.  
  
“Never wanna lose you,” Jayden murmured, burying his face deep in Noah’s neck and breathing in his scent. “Without you, there’s no me.”  
  
Noah’s eyes teared up a bit at Jayden’s words, and he hugged Jayden closer than ever before. “Same.”  
  
Neither of them knew for how long they stood like that, holding each other close and hoping their embrace would never end.  
  
But in that moment Noah knew that Jayden was going to be alright. He just needed time and comfort.  
  
  
***  
  
  
A couple of weeks later, it was Jayden’s 40th birthday.  
  
They hadn’t been doing much in the past few weeks, and Jayden had spent the time trying to get over his grief and get back into his normal routines again, but it was kind of tough.  
  
Their holidays were almost over, and Noah decided it was time they did something with the kids. Jayden kind of agreed, but he also knew that Noah was trying to make him feel better as well.   
  
They decided to take the kids to a water park to have fun in the good weather, and the day that fit into their calendar the best was Jayden’s birthday.   
  
Jayden didn’t mind spending his birthday with Noah and kids in the water park; it would be an interesting change from their normal birthday routines.  
  
Jayden was doing better after the loss of his friend, but he was still not quite over his grief – which was why Noah had suggested they do this, so that Jayden could start laughing again. The alpha was grateful that Noah was so concerned about him, and he could feel that he really needed to have some fun with his family again.  
  
After spending the morning with breakfast and Jayden opening his presents, they all drove off to the water park.  
  
Noah was kind of surprised that Jayden wanted to drive, and he did argue a bit against it, but in the end he let his mate have his way. The kids were all excited about going – especially Dylan, who was really fond of water. Derek thought it was kind of lame spending an entire day in some park with lots of strangers, but he still joined them.  
  
The water park was really big, and it had indoor as well as outdoor pools. Today’s weather was really hot, so they would be spending most of the time outside. The place also had lots of small shops and a restaurant where you could buy something to eat and drink (which you weren’t allowed to bring into the pools), and there were lots of big and small waterslides, and big cartoon figures in the water to make it more kid-friendly.  
  
They all had a small bag with them with their swimsuits and towels inside, and Noah was carrying a backpack with special diapers for Claire to enter the pool in, as well as some necessities such as his wallet and a couple of water bottles just in case.  
  
When they arrived at the park and were about to enter the changing rooms, Jayden suddenly wasn’t sure who should go where.  
  
“Um, how do we do this?” Jayden asked Noah as they stood in a quiet spot in the busy hallway by the changing rooms, trying not to get in people’s way. “Nathan, Derek, and I will go to the men’s changing rooms, but I’m not sure about Dylan. He’s six, so technically he’s still young enough to go to the women’s changing rooms with you.”  
  
“Oh…” Noah hadn’t given it much thought until now. He glanced at Claire, who was sitting on his arm and sucking on her pacifier while staring at all the people around them, and then at Dylan, who was glancing back and forth between his parents.  
  
Noah was still pondering what to do when Dylan suddenly spoke up. “I wanna go with mommy!”  
  
Derek snorted. “You just wanna look at naked girls, don’t you?”  
  
Dylan frowned at him. “Ew. Why would I want that?”  
  
“He’s six, you dumbass,” Nathan sighed, rolling his eyes at Derek. He looked at his dad and asked, “They have changing stalls, right? Where you can change in privacy inside a small stall, so everybody doesn’t have to look at you.”  
  
“Yeah, I think so,” Jayden confirmed.  
  
Nathan looked relieved at that. He wasn’t particularly interested in changing clothes in front of his dad and little brother. He was teenager, after all, and teenagers often felt rather shy about their bodies.  
  
“But we still gotta shower together,” Derek said, grimacing a little. “Ew, I don’t wanna see Nathan naked! My eyes will burn!”  
  
“Shut up!” Nathan hissed at him. “What makes you think I wanna see _you?_ ”  
  
“Boys,” Jayden warned to make them stop fighting, but couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at them. “I think the showers have some barriers in front of them, so you won’t necessarily have to look at each other.”  
  
“Oh, thank god,” Nathan sighed in relief. “I don’t need any of you staring me.”  
  
“There probably isn’t much to stare at anyway!” Derek quipped at him.  
  
Nathan growled and smacked his bag into Derek. “Shut up, you brat!”  
  
 _“Boys,”_ Jayden warned again, this time harsher.  
  
Nathan and Derek glanced at their dad before stopping their fight, but they still glared at each other.  
  
Dylan giggled a bit, thinking it was kind of funny how disgusted they were by the idea of seeing each other naked. They had bathed together lots of times when they were kids, so Dylan didn’t understand what the big problem was. “I still wanna go with mommy,” he said, looking at up Noah.  
  
Noah smiled at him. “Alright. I think it’ll be okay for you to join Claire and me in the women’s changing room.”  
  
Jayden smiled. “That settles it, then. Let’s go change and meet up by the outdoor pools, alright?”  
  
Noah nodded. “Alright. See you.”  
  
They said goodbye to each other for now as Derek and Nathan joined Jayden in the men’s changing room, and Noah took Dylan and Claire with him to the women’s changing rooms.  
  
Both changing rooms had small stalls where you could change your clothes in privacy, and there were lockers where you could put your stuff.  
  
Dylan had never been to a water park before, only to the school’s swim center, and he was amazed by how big the place was, even in the changing rooms. The scent of chlorine filled his nose, and he was taken aback by all the shapes, colors, and species of women, kids, and subs he saw in the changing rooms. He made sure to stay close to Noah so that he wouldn’t get lost in the crowds.  
  
Noah found an available stall for them to change in. Dylan didn’t mind changing in the same stall as him, since he wasn’t as afraid of nakedness as his brothers were (yet).   
  
Noah put on a light blue swimsuit, which he had recently bought, and Dylan had green swim trunks to change into. Claire needed to be changed into the special diaper that kept her ‘accidents’ out of the pool’s water, and Noah had bought a cute, light blue swimsuit with flowers on it for her to wear.  
  
Meanwhile in the men’s changing rooms, both Nathan and Derek wanted to change clothes in separate stalls, so Jayden had to wait for three stalls to be available. Luckily, it didn’t take long. But after changing, they still had to shower before being able to go outside in the pool, but as Jayden suspected, the showers had small barriers between them so you couldn’t look at the other people that well. The barriers were only placed on the side, so if you stood in front of the shower you could look directly at the person who was showering – which also meant that everyone who entered the shower area from the changing area could see you. It was only the people standing next to you in the showers who couldn’t see you that well.  
  
Derek noticed how fidgety Nathan was in the showers, even though he was wearing his swim trunks while washing himself clean before going to the pool. Derek thought his brother was being kind of ridiculous, so he thought he would tease him a bit. There was a soap dispenser with body soap in the shower stall, and Derek reached out to pour lots of it onto his hand before sneaking over to Nathan’s stall right next to his. He sneaked up behind his brother before slapping the soap directly onto Nathan’s back.  
  
The shriek that escaped Nathan was hilarious, and he jumped in surprise when he felt a hand slap him on the back, right below the base of his wings. He quickly swirled around, spotting Derek, who was laughing and quickly dodging Nathan’s wing as the beta turned.  
  
 _“Derek!”_ Nathan roared, making several of the other guests look at him. “You little brat! Come here!” He chased his brother into Derek’s own showering stall, and reached out to get more soap from the dispenser before slapping it onto Derek’s head.  
  
“Hey!” Derek growled, pushing and kicking at Nathan to make him go away.  
  
A couple of kids who had witnessed the scene started laughing, and Jayden quickly came over to make his sons stop.  
  
“Hey, cut it out,” Jayden told them in a stern voice. “You can play water fights outside!”  
  
Derek grumbled and quickly got under the shower again to wash the soap out of his hair. He was glad that they were wearing their swim trunks, otherwise he would have seen Nathan’s butt, and he really didn’t want to see that.  
  
Nathan got back to his own showering stall again, and Jayden sighed helplessly at them.  
  
  
***  
  
  
After finishing up in the changing rooms, they all went outside to meet up by the pools.  
  
Jayden smiled when he spotted Noah waiting for them with Dylan and Claire, and he cast a quick glance over his mate’s gorgeous body. The new swimsuit looked really good on Noah, and Jayden had kind of missed seeing his mate wearing a swimsuit.  
  
Noah beamed when he spotted them, and Claire immediately started wobbling over to her dad.  
  
“Daddy!” she chirped, reaching up her arms towards him as she padded over to Jayden.  
  
“Whoa, be careful!” Dylan warned her, afraid she would fall on the wet tiles, but Jayden quickly came over and picked her up.  
  
“Hey, sweetie,” Jayden smiled, picking up Claire to sit on his arm. “You excited about all the water?”  
  
Claire grinned and nodded. “Much water!”  
  
Jayden laughed softly. “Yes, there’s a lot of water here, but you gotta be careful, okay?”  
  
Neither Jayden nor Noah intended to let Claire out of their sight, and they weren’t going to bring her into the deeper pools, only the baby pools.  
  
Noah smiled as he watched Jayden with Claire. It was nice seeing his mate smiling and being a loving father again. He had missed that.  
  
“Okay, boys, let’s set some ground rules here,” Jayden said next, looking at his sons. “None of you will go into the water alone, do you hear? Nathan, you can go alone ‘cause you’re old enough, but never let your brothers out of sight unless they are with me or your mom, got it?”  
  
Nathan nodded. “Yeah, got it.” He felt kind of annoyed that he had to look after them, but he understood why it was necessary.  
  
“Eh, why can’t I swim alone?” Derek complained. “I’m a good swimmer!”  
  
“’Cause kids can drown when they are left unattended, and the park’s rules state that all kids under the age of 13 must be supervised at all times by an adult,” Jayden told him.  
  
Derek pouted and crossed his arms in front of his chest in annoyance. He hated being treated like a small child.  
  
“But isn’t it okay?” Dylan asked, looking at Derek. “Swimming together is much more fun!”  
  
Derek snorted. “I suppose…”  
  
After the rules were set, the boys headed over to one of the pools and jumped in. Derek liked doing cannonballs in the water, which Dylan hadn’t really tried before. Derek was almost offended by the fact that his little brother hadn’t tried making a cannonball before, so he began teaching him how while Nathan supervised them both.  
  
Jayden and Noah watched the kids for a bit, and Claire was still sitting on Jayden’s arm.  
  
“Aren’t you going to join them?” Noah asked, looking at his mate. He blocked out all the noise from the people around them, and had to squint his eyes as he looked at Jayden because the sun was so sharp.  
  
“I am,” Jayden replied, rocking Claire a bit.  
  
Noah was worried that Jayden was still having a hard time enjoying himself after what happened to Frank. He had hoped that their trip to the water park would cheer him up more.  
  
“I think I’ll take Claire to the baby pool for a bit,” Jayden announced. “And then I’ll come back and teach the boys how proper cannonballs are done.”  
  
Noah laughed at that, and felt reassured when Jayden gave him a confident wink. “Alright. Take care of her while I go join the boys.”  
  
“Of course I will,” Jayden said, like it was obvious. “I’ll never let anything happen to my little princess.” He pressed a loving kiss to Claire’s cheek, who squealed happily at the gesture.  
  
Noah smiled at that before going over to join the boys in the water and watch how Derek was trying to teach Dylan how to do cannonballs.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Jayden spent a while with Claire in the baby pool, and watched her have fun in the water and interact with some of the other babies and toddlers there. He enjoyed spending time with his little daughter, and he really needed a moment of quietness before going to join the boys for wilder activities in the big pool.  
  
Claire loved the quality time with her dad, who was careful of her not getting hurt, but not too overprotective. He let her have fun and be a little wild, but he was always there to make sure she was safe.  
  
Jayden received a few smiles from the females and submissives that were passing by and saw the scene. It was a little unusual seeing an alpha father alone in the baby pool with his kid without the mother around, and the females and subs thought it was a really nice scene to watch.  
  
Meanwhile, Noah was with the boys in one of the bigger pools, laughing at how Derek and Dylan were now competing about who could make the best cannonballs. He waited for Jayden to return, and was getting a little impatient when he felt the need to pee. He wondered if it was safe leaving Nathan alone with the boys without Jayden around. Nathan was still a kid, but he was also a responsible older brother and he was 14 years old already. So in the end, Noah decided it was safe.  
  
“Nathan, please look after your brothers for a few minutes,” Noah asked of him. “I have to use the restroom…”  
  
“Alright,” Nathan said, feeling kind of proud that his mom trusted him with that.  
  
Noah got out of the pool, feeling the water seep from his feathers and leave a wet mess on the tiles. He flapped them a bit to get the water out of his feathers, careful not to hit anyone.  
  
“Daaaamn,” a voice to his right suddenly said.  
  
Noah turned to look at an alpha angel, who was watching him with interest. The alpha was in his forties, a bit overweight, and his dark grey wings and looked unkempt and messy. The guy swept his eyes up and down Noah’s body with an unpleasant, lewd smile on his face, and Noah shivered under the objectifying stare. He was used to being stared at like that and having horny alphas leer at him, but it still annoyed Noah every time.  
  
“You have a gorgeous figure, sweetie,” the alpha said, smirking at Noah like he was prey.  
  
Noah grimaced, and he was certainly not about to thank the guy for the so-called ‘compliment’. He ignored him and went to go for the bathrooms, but suddenly the guy got in front of him and blocked his path.  
  
“Those your kids?” the alpha asked, gesturing at Nathan, Derek, and Dylan, who were still playing in the water behind Noah.  
  
Derek and Dylan didn’t notice the stranger talking to their mom at all, but Nathan was alert about it. He glanced over at the scene, wondering if his mom would be able to handle the guy on his own or if the pervert was so persistent that Noah would need help getting rid of him.  
  
Noah felt utterly annoyed at the alpha, and he still really had to pee. He glared at the guy before rudely replying, “Yeah, so what?”  
  
The alpha ignored Noah’s rudeness. “You squeezed out three kids from that small body of yours, and yet you still look gorgeous. Damn, you subs are good breeders… I wonder if you could squeeze one out for me too?” The alpha reached out to touch Noah’s cheek, but Noah quickly swatted his hand away and stared at him in utter violation and offense.  
  
The alpha’s comment was beyond offensive, and Noah felt so violated and humiliated by it. He could not believe that someone had just said that to his face – in a public place full of children, at that.  
  
Noah was still in shock about the comment, and he felt his body freeze when the guy lifted his hand once more to try to touch his face. Noah squeezed his eyes shut, demanding his body to move, but it just wouldn’t. He waited for the guy to touch him, because maybe then he’d find the strength to give the guy the kick he deserved right in the balls, but the touch never came.  
  
As the alpha reached out for Noah’s face, Jayden suddenly showed up and stopped the guy by grasping his arm real hard.  
  
The alpha angel yelped in pain and surprise, and Noah’s eyes flew open to look at Jayden, who was still holding the offending alpha’s arm in an iron grip.  
  
“Touch my mate and you’re dead. Got it?” Jayden growled, raspier and deeper than ever.  
  
Noah got the shivers from hearing the anger in Jayden’s alpha voice, and his wings tingled with satisfaction when his mate came to his rescue.  
  
People around them were staring now, and some were gasping in horror. Claire was on the ground next to Jayden, sobbing in distress because she didn’t understand what was going on.  
  
The alpha tried to free his hand from Jayden’s grip, but he couldn’t. His cocky attitude disappeared as he stared at Jayden’s sharpened feathers, which were pointing directly at him, and his wings lowered in submission as he continued grunting in pain as Jayden squeezed his arm with all his strength.   
  
“O-Okay, got it,” the guy stuttered out.  
  
Jayden let out a pleased huff before letting go of the man’s arm, and the alpha quickly stumbled back, staring at Jayden with fear before getting out of there.  
  
They were kind of surprised to see two male employees chase after the guy, yelling at him to stop as they chased him into the restaurant and tackled him to the floor.  
  
Noah blinked at the scene, surprised that the employees would bother that much to stop a simple pervert, but then one of the young female angel employees came over to explain it to them.  
  
“I’m so sorry about that,” the female angel said, looking at Noah and Jayden, but mostly at Noah. She looked quite upset and apologetic as she spoke. “This man has sneaked into our park before only to make unwanted advances on females and subs, and sometimes even young teenagers. We’ve banned him from this place, but it seems that somehow he managed to get in today after all. We’re so sorry for that, and I hope he didn’t cause you too much trouble.”  
  
Noah blinked at her a few times. “Um, it’s okay. It’s not your fault he does those things.”  
  
“Yes, but our security seems to have failed… We’ll make sure it won’t happen again.”  
  
“Alright. Thanks,” Noah told her, and watched her leave afterwards.  
  
“You okay?” Jayden asked Noah next, gently making him turn to look at him.  
  
“Yeah, I’m okay… Thanks for helping me,” Noah smiled.  
  
“No problem.” The smile on Jayden’s face faded as it was replaced by a confused frown. “But why didn’t you kick the guy? You just stood there, completely frozen up. What happened?”  
  
“I don’t know, I—” Noah trailed off, biting his lip as he thought about what had just happened. “I just froze. He was saying things, _really_ offensive things, and my body just… froze up.” He looked up to meet Jayden’s worried eyes before adding, “But I think that if he had touched me, I would have kicked him real good.”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at that. “Well, I would prefer it if you kick him _before_ he touches you.”  
  
Noah opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted when he heard someone shouting for him.  
  
“Mommy!”  
  
Noah and Jayden turned to see Dylan, Derek, and Nathan heading over to them. It was Dylan who had shouted for Noah, and he looked really worried as he came over to them.  
  
“Mommy, are you okay?” Dylan looked up his mother with distress, afraid that the guy from earlier had hurt him somehow.  
  
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Noah said, smiling at Dylan to reassure him.  
  
“That was so cool, dad!” Derek exclaimed, grinning proudly at how badass his father was.  
  
Claire was still crying, and Jayden reached down to pick her up and comfort her. “Shhh, it’s okay,” he shushed her before looking at Derek. “Well, no one messes with your mom without me doing something about it,” he chuckled.  
  
Nathan sighed in relief, glad that nothing had happened to his mom.  
  
Noah realized that he still had to use the bathroom, and started fidgeting when it got real bad. “I-I still have to use the bathroom. Be right back!” He rushed inside to find a restroom, and Jayden laughed softly at it.  
  
“Why can’t those perverts leave mom alone?” Nathan murmured, looking upset about what had just happened.  
  
“’Cause they’re assholes,” Jayden growled, getting angry just thinking about it. “Come on; let’s go have fun in the pool. I still gotta make cannonballs.”  
  
“Yes!” Derek cheered, feeling excited about competing with his dad about who could make the best cannonballs.  
  
Nathan chuckled at them and decided to look after Claire while his brothers and dad made cannonballs.  
  
Noah returned after a few minutes, and the family moved on to try the water slides. They took turns looking after Claire, who was still too young for the wilder activities, and Noah occasionally took her over to the baby pool to have some fun.  
  
Jayden was also having a lot of fun. The boys were happy to see their father smiling again, but there were moments were Jayden still seemed like he was feeling a little down.  
  
The water slides were the most fun part of the park, or so the boys thought. Nathan and Derek rode down the big slide with Jayden over and over, but Dylan thought it looked kind of scary and didn’t want to try it. Derek called him a pussy for it, which started another argument when Nathan got mad at Derek for being mean to their little brother.  
  
Dylan went to join Noah and Claire by the baby pools, and Jayden stayed with Nathan and Derek at the big slide.  
  
To get on the slide, you had to climb the stairs to the top of it and wait in line before you could ride down. Jayden, Derek, and Nathan went there together, and they had to wait a few minutes for their turn. The slide had five ‘lanes’ on it, so five people could slide down at the same time, parallel to each other. That way the line was also cleared faster.  
  
The waiting area was rather big, but waiting around was pretty boring. Derek got impatient fast, as did Nathan.  
  
Nathan sighed as they waited in the line, absently listening to the conversations of the people standing in the line with them. There was a group of teenage girls, about Nathan’s age up there as well. Nathan glanced over at them, watching them giggle about something together. There was one human female, one human/demon hybrid with a tail but no wings, and an angel female with light grey wings. They were all wearing bikinis in different colors, and Nathan couldn’t stop staring at them.  
  
Lately, Nathan had felt himself staring more and more at members of the opposite sex. His friends had started doing the same, and one of them was more into guys than girls, but Nathan himself felt more attracted to girls.  
  
It didn’t take long for Derek to notice where his brother was currently busy looking. He smirked when he saw how Nathan was spacing out while staring at the girls, and he gave his brother a small, teasing shove.  
  
“Dude, if you keep staring at them like that, their clothes are gonna fall off,” Derek smirked. “Or is that what you want?”  
  
Nathan’s face went red as a tomato when the young human couple standing behind them started giggling at Derek’s comment, though luckily the group of girls hadn’t heard it.  
  
“Shut up, you little brat!” Nathan hissed at Derek, completely flustered. “I wasn’t staring!”  
  
Derek laughed. “Yeah, you were.”  
  
Nathan’s face was a deep shade of red now, and he growled as he gave Derek a sharp shove, pushing him right into Jayden, who was standing in front of them.  
  
Jayden glanced over his shoulder at them, having heard the entire conversation. “Boys,” he warned, but couldn’t help the chuckle when he saw Nathan’s flustered face. “Stop arguing and looking at girls, and get ready for our turn, ‘cause we’re up next.”  
  
Jayden’s comment only flustered Nathan even more, if that was even possible, and he hated the knowing smirk his dad sent him.  
  
When it was their turn, they all got into positions on the lanes before sliding down together. The boys screamed in joy until they reached the end of the slide and rode into the bottom pool with a big splash.  
  
Jayden laughed, having more fun than he had had for a while now. He quickly got to his feet and made sure that Derek and Nathan were okay as well before going over to head up to the line again.  
  
However, a familiar voice made them all turn to look at Noah, who was standing on the tiles with Claire and Dylan.  
  
“Hey, guys. Having fun?” Noah asked, chuckling at how Derek seemed to try to get the water out of his ear.  
  
They all turned to look at him, and Jayden grinned at the sight of his mate.  
  
“Yeah, we’re having fun,” Jayden confirmed, grinning.  
  
“And Nathan is checking out girls!” Derek added, giggling mischievously.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in surprise, and watched as Nathan smacked Derek on the head for being such a loudmouth.  
  
“I told you to shut up!” Nathan hissed.  
  
“Aww, you’re blushing again!” Derek mocked, laughing his ass off.  
  
Nathan growled before tackling Derek into the water, and the two splashed lots of water at each other to get back at the other.  
  
Both Jayden and Noah couldn’t help but laugh, as did Dylan and Claire.  
  
“Okay, that’s enough,” Jayden chuckled, going over to physically pry the boys apart. “I think you guys had too much water for now. How about we get something to eat?”  
  
“Yay! I’m starving!” Dylan exclaimed, happily throwing his arms up in the air.  
  
Claire mimicked her older brother and threw her arms up as well, and Noah and Jayden laughed at the cute sight.  
  
The boys agreed, and the family headed over to the restaurant to eat burgers and fries before going home.  
  
It had been a really great day, and Jayden felt good after having spent some quality time with his family. He didn’t want it to end, but he was also looking forward to going to his parents’ place for dinner that night. His mom had insisted that they come and eat at their place, so Jayden had no choice but to take his family there for dinner. He suspected it was his mom’s way to try to make him feel better after what had happened, and Jayden really appreciated it.  
  
Noah was happy when he felt that Jayden seemed to feel better now. He knew it would still take a while until Jayden was all back to normal, but it was just nice seeing him smiling and having fun with the kids again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still feel sorry for Jayden that I put him through this, but he’s gonna be okay… Noah is already cheering him up :) 
> 
> There will be a small time jump in the next chapter, so the kids will be 2 years older then.
> 
> Hope everyone is doing well in 2017 so far! And there will be lots of more updates to come :)


	57. Chapter 57

**August 2066 (Noah is 40, Jayden is 42, Nathan is 16 (almost 17), Derek is 12, Dylan is 8 (almost 9), Claire is 4 years old).**  
  
One August morning, two weeks after the kids got back to school after the holidays, Derek woke up in his bed when he felt his wings itching.  
  
The itching started out weak, and Derek simply rolled over on his side to rub his wing against the mattress to scratch the itching away, but the itching was only getting worse.  
  
Groaning in annoyance, Derek rolled over on his back, rubbing both of his wings against the mattress to get rid of the persistent itching. He was still half asleep, and his alarm clock hadn’t gone off yet so he refused to get out of bed unless he really, _really_ had to.  
  
Dylan was sleeping soundly in the bed next to Derek’s, unaware of his older brother’s struggling.  
  
When the itching wouldn’t stop and Derek was at the end of his patience, the young alpha let out a loud, irritated growl and sat up in his bed. It was then that he realized that he could feel that his bed was covered in feathers.  
  
Derek’s eyes widened in the dark, and he held his breath when he realized what this could mean. Clumsily, he reached out for the lamp on his nightstand and turned on the lights, which revealed several feathers scattered around on his bed.  
  
 _“Yes!”_ Derek exclaimed with joy, practically jumping on his bed in utter excitement.  
  
Dylan woke up at the noise, staring at his brother in confusion and wonder. “W-What?” He rubbed his sleepy eyes and sat up to see what was going on. He stared at Derek like he thought his brother had lost his mind when Derek grinned at him like an idiot.  
  
“Finally! I’m molting! _Yes!_ ” Derek cheered happily, still grinning with excitement as he jumped out of bed to get a better look at his wings. He rushed over to the closet and opened it to look at his reflection in the mirror, which was on the inside of the closet door. He couldn’t wipe the satisfied grin off his face as he studied his wings in the mirror. His feathers were ruffled from him having rubbed them against the mattress, and a few more feathers fell off as Derek looked at himself in the mirror.  
  
“Oh,” came Dylan’s simple reply when he realized what was going on. He knew his brother was really excited for this to happen, because Derek had been talking about it ever since he turned twelve back in May, but Dylan was still kind of surprised by it. He stared at all the feathers lying on Derek’s bed and on the floor, and thought it was kind of scary how many there were.  
  
Dylan studied his excited brother for a few moments, who was still busy admiring himself in the mirror, before he slowly got out of bed. He needed to use the bathroom, and he didn’t feel like watching his brother’s narcissistic behavior anymore, so he got up and left the room.  
  
When Dylan stepped into the hallway outside, he ran into Jayden who came out of the bathroom the moment Dylan came out the bedroom.  
  
“Oh. Hey, buddy,” Jayden greeted him with a soft smile. He was dressed in just his boxers, and his big, dark red wings were folded lazily behind his back and were hanging kind of low, causing the tips of his feathers to slide against the floor when he walked. His tail was idly swishing behind him, and Dylan stared a bit at his father’s funny morning hair before replying.  
  
“Morning, daddy,” Dylan smiled.  
  
“Is Derek up yet? No wait, he probably isn’t… It’s always like a war to get him out of bed in the mornings…”  
  
“No, actually he’s up.”  
  
Jayden’s eyes widened in disbelief.  
  
Dylan opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted when Derek came running out of the room.  
  
“Dad, dad!” Derek shouted, jumping in excitement as he went over to Jayden. “I’m molting! I’m finally getting my alpha feathers!”  
  
Jayden blinked at him, casting a glance at Derek’s ruffled feathers and how a few of them were falling out as Derek jumped around.  
  
“Oh, that’s great,” Jayden grinned. “I was expecting that to happen soon. Congratulations.” It always made an alpha father proud when his alpha son got his sharp feathers, and seeing Derek’s happy and excited face made Jayden feel happy as well.  
  
“Thanks,” Derek beamed. “But it itches like hell.” He scratched his wing with his fingernails, wincing a bit when it hurt, but the itching was driving him crazy.  
  
“Yeah, it itches,” Jayden agreed. “There’s some crème for you in the bathroom, on the shelf behind the mirror. Come on, I’ll show you how to use it.”  
  
“But I can do it myself,” Derek murmured stubbornly, feeling too proud to receive help.  
  
“Well, I’m not gonna do it for you, don’t worry. I just want to show you a few tricks.”  
  
“Hmm. Alright then.” Derek gave in and joined his father as Jayden walked into the bathroom to show Derek the best way of using the crème.  
  
“Nooo, I have to pee!” Dylan complained, realizing he couldn’t pee when they were in the bathroom.  
  
Jayden laughed softly at him. “How about I just grab the crème and go show Derek how to use it in your bedroom, then? Then you can use the bathroom.”  
  
Dylan nodded, relieved that he didn’t have to go all the way downstairs to the use other bathroom, because he was kind of afraid he might not make it that far.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Jayden didn’t have to be at work until 10:30am, so he had plenty of time that morning to show Derek how to rub the crème into his wings, and also talk to him about hair growth. The moment Jayden mentioned hair growth, Derek grimaced and refused to even talk about it because he was embarrassed, but Jayden simply wanted to talk about the beard part and not the more intimate part. Derek didn’t have any stubble yet, but it was likely to start showing soon, so Jayden wanted to prepare him for it.  
  
Dylan was glad that Derek had woken him up only fifteen minutes before their alarm was to go off, which meant that he didn’t lose too much sleep that morning. He used the time while Jayden was educating Derek in the room to go downstairs and prepare breakfast. He got bowls, spoons, cereal, and milk ready, and put it all on the table so it was ready for when his family came downstairs. Usually it was Noah who did this, because he was always the first one to be up on school days, but Dylan felt like doing his mom a favor.  
  
Five minutes later, Noah showed up along with little Claire.   
  
Noah was surprised to see Dylan up this early. He had walked by the boys’ room to wake them up, but when he had heard Jayden’s voice coming from the room he had assumed that Derek had done something bad again and that Jayden was lecturing him or something.  
  
Claire, who was now four years old, looked rather amazed by how Dylan had prepared all the breakfast for them. “Dylan great!” she chirped, earning a warm, proud smile from Dylan. She grinned as she ran over to give her brother a big hug, and Dylan smiled as he hugged her back.  
  
“Wow,” Noah said, blinking at Dylan’s achievement before looking at Dylan himself. “You’re up unusually early this morning, aren’t you?”  
  
Dylan grinned proudly when he saw how pleased Noah looked with him. “Yup. Derek woke me up.”  
  
“Oh. Is that why your father is in your room with him? What did he do now?”  
  
“He didn’t do anything, really,” Dylan replied, still hugging back little Claire, who was clinging to him. “He started molting and got really excited about it, so he woke me up. Now daddy’s talking to him about it in our room and showing him how to use that wing crème now that his feathers are falling out.”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened when he heard that Derek had started molting. He almost couldn’t believe that Derek was that old already. He knew that most alphas got their adult feathers around the age of 12-14, but he had kind of hoped that Derek would be one of the late bloomers. He knew that once Derek got his alpha feathers he wouldn’t be quite the same anymore; he wouldn’t be a little child any longer. Noah felt kind of sad about that.  
  
Claire lifted her head from where it was buried against Dylan’s stomach, and glanced up at her older brother. She blinked at him in confusion. “Derek’s teatars fall out?” By ‘teatars’ she meant ‘feathers’, which she had some trouble pronouncing correctly.  
  
“Yeah, everyone’s feathers fall out when they are about Derek’s age,” Dylan explained. “That’s when they get adult feathers instead, and the baby feathers fall out. Right, mommy?” He looked over at Noah for confirmation.  
  
“Yes, that’s right,” Noah said before looking at Claire. “It means that Derek is a big boy now.”  
  
Claire blinked at them, trying to understand it, but it was kind of difficult. Derek was just Derek to her, and it was hard imagining him being ‘big’ all of sudden.  
  
“Is he gonna move away?” she asked, casting a worried glance up her mom and brother.  
  
Noah laughed softly. “No, of course not. It’ll be a few more years until he’s old enough for that.”  
  
Claire looked pretty relieved to hear that, and Dylan felt sort of relieved as well. As much as Dylan sometimes felt annoyed with Derek, he still loved his brother and didn’t want him moving out. He also didn’t want Nathan to ever move out either, but he had been told by Jayden and Noah that once Nathan was old enough to go to college, he would most likely move out. Dylan didn’t like that thought at all.  
  
They all looked up when Nathan suddenly entered the kitchen. He was 16 years old now and a sophomore in high school, and had grown to a height of 173cm (68.11 inches). He had already gotten dressed, but his hair still looked a little messy from sleep. He yawned as he entered the kitchen, and glanced at them as he spoke. “So, Derek started molting already? Gosh, he’s gonna be a pain in the ass to be around now…”  
  
Dylan giggled in agreement, while Noah shot Nathan a disapproving glare.  
  
“Language,” Noah chastised. He didn’t like it when the boys used such language around Claire.  
  
“Sorry,” Nathan murmured, chuckling a bit at Noah’s face.  
  
“Neysan!” Claire exclaimed, running over to hug her other brother next. She grinned as he wrapped her little arms around his waist and stared up at him in adoration. “Good morning!”  
  
Nathan smiled at his little sister and carefully hugged her back. “Good morning, Pumpkin face. Did you sleep well?”  
  
‘Pumpkin face’ was Nathan’s nickname for Claire. When she he had been a baby and young toddler, her cheeks had been kind of puffy and Nathan thought she resembled a pumpkin a bit, so he had started calling her that – with affection, of course. Claire loved the nickname and she would often laugh when he used it.  
  
Claire nodded, still grinning up at him. “Yup! I dreamed I was riding on a pony, and Neysan was on a big, pink dolphin!”  
  
Nathan looked a little surprised, thinking it was an odd but pretty adorable dream, and Noah couldn’t help but laugh in the background.  
  
“Oh, that sounds exciting,” Nathan told her, chuckling softly. “Too bad it was just a dream, huh?”  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
When Claire pulled away from the hug, Nathan looked over at the table and was a little surprised to see everything ready on it. He knew that Noah had only just walked downstairs, because he had heard him and Claire in the hallway before he had left his room to join them, so Noah wouldn’t have had the time to set up everything already. “Huh. Who did the table?”  
  
“I did!” Dylan grinned.  
  
Nathan looked at him in amazement, which soon turned into pride. He grinned as he reached out his hand to fondly ruffle his little brother’s hair. “Wow, that was nice of you, helping out mom like that. I wish all alphas were more like you…”  
  
Dylan knew that Nathan was specifically referring to Derek as he said that, and he couldn’t help but chuckle in agreement. “Yeah.”  
  
They went over to the table to sit down and eat. They had forty minutes until the kids had to be out the door to go to school and pre-kindergarten, so they had plenty of time. Noah had made everyone’s lunch last night, so they didn’t have to worry about that either.  
  
Ten minutes later, Jayden and Derek came downstairs.  
  
As expected, Derek was acting pretty proud as he entered the kitchen to join his family for breakfast, and Nathan already hated the expression on his face.  
  
“Ha! Now you can’t command me around anymore,” Derek told Nathan, and stuck out his tongue at him in defiance before sitting down opposite him at the table.  
  
Nathan shot his brother a glare. “Don’t get all cocky just ‘cause you got new feathers. I’m still four and a half years older than you.”  
  
“But you’re a beta!”  
  
“Doesn’t matter; I’m still older.”  
  
“So what?!”  
  
“Boys,” Jayden said, putting some alpha gravel into his voice to affect Derek properly. “Stop arguing and eat.”  
  
Nathan and Derek glared at each other one more time before continuing to eat, and Dylan was grateful that his dad had managed to make them stop snapping at each other.  
  
“Daddy!” Claire chirped, carefully jumping down from her chair to go over and sit on Jayden’s lap to eat instead.  
  
Noah smiled at it, loving to see how much Claire adored Jayden and wanted to be around him all the time. She loved Noah just as much, but her father wasn’t around as much as Noah was, so whenever he was home she was eager to sit with him and make him play with her.   
  
Claire loved to play with Dylan and Nathan as well, although Nathan often didn’t have time for her. Dylan usually didn’t mind playing with dolls and ponies with his sister, and she also liked to play with his dinosaur and car toys. Derek, however, wasn’t one for playing much with his sister, at least not with her ‘girlish toys’, as he called them. But when they were all playing ball outside, Derek didn’t mind having Claire on his team, because he knew the other team would be extra careful and thus easier to beat since they didn’t want to be too harsh on Claire or accidentally hit her, so that gave him an advantage.  
  
After breakfast they all got ready to leave. Jayden helped the kids pack their bags, but Derek would be staying home today. It was his first day of molting, which was always the worst, and the schools preferred it if the kids stayed home during the molting so that the classrooms and corridors wouldn’t be flooded in feathers. Jayden had to be at work at 10:30, so Derek would be alone until Noah got home at 5:30pm. He was 12, so he could easily be home by himself, but Noah was a little nervous that Derek would do something reckless when nobody was watching him, especially when he was so full of energy. Derek rarely stayed home alone because he was always busy with after school activities and visiting his friends.  
  
Claire was being a little fussy when she had to leave and say goodbye to her daddy. She whined and cried, and clung to Jayden’s leg.  
  
“Aww, it’s okay, princess. You’ll see me again in the evening,” Jayden told Claire when his daughter started crying. He squatted down and pulled her into a soft hug, gently rubbing her back as she cried against him. “Daddy’s off work early today, so you’ll get to see me before you go to bed. Isn’t that great?”  
  
Claire sniffled against him before slowly pulling free to look at him. Her blue eyes were all red and teary as she looked at her father. “Promise?”  
  
“Yes, I promise,” Jayden chuckled, and pulled his daughter closer to press a soft kiss to her cheek. “Be a good girl today, okay?”  
  
The girl nodded, her face getting brighter when she offered her daddy a smile. “Okay!”  
  
Dylan was equally happy that Jayden would be home earlier today. It always more fun when everyone was home, he thought.  
  
“I wonder if Derek can handle being home by himself all day,” Nathan murmured, casting a skeptic glance at Derek, who seemed pretty happy that he didn’t have school today.  
  
Derek immediately took offense in Nathan’s words. “Shut up! I’ve been home by myself before, and I’m 12! I’m not a baby.”  
  
“I don’t know, sometimes you do sound like a baby to me…”  
  
Derek let out a growl and tried to kick Nathan’s leg, but Jayden got in his way.  
  
“Hey!” Jayden barked. “No kicking! And no fighting, both of you!”  
  
Derek shot Nathan a glare when his brother smirked at his failed attempt to kick him.  
  
Claire didn’t like it one bit when her brothers started fighting, or when Derek got somewhat violent. She started crying again, and Dylan went over to comfort her.  
  
“Shh, it’s okay,” Dylan soothed his sister while gently patting her head.  
  
The girl sniffled, and when Noah came over to comfort her as well she leaned against his leg and took comfort under his wing.  
  
“Stop upsetting your sister,” Jayden told Derek and Nathan. “And Derek, if I see you trying to kick one of your siblings again you’re grounded.”  
  
“Yes, sir,” Derek murmured, still feeling that it was mostly Nathan’s fault that Claire had started crying in the first place.  
  
Dylan and Nathan went outside to wait for the school bus, and Noah and Jayden kissed each other goodbye when he and Claire were ready to go. Claire grinned and waved at her dad and Derek before Noah put her into the child seat in the back of the car. Jayden waved back and blew her sweet kisses that made her laugh, while Derek thought it would be too childish if he waved back at her, so he just stood broodingly by Jayden’s side and watched his family leave.   
  
  
***  
  
  
Derek stayed home that Friday. His feathers were falling out pretty heavily, but not as bad as Nathan’s had. By Sunday most of them had fallen out, and the new feathers were starting to appear a bit. His wings still looked awful, which kind of annoyed Derek, but instead of feeling ashamed he was very proud. Finally he was getting his sharp feathers and was becoming a real alpha. Now he just had to practice control of his feathers and how to soften and sharpen them. Jayden had been very helpful during the weekend, telling Derek how to do it and what he needed to keep in mind so that he didn’t hurt himself or others with his sharp feathers by accident.  
  
On the following Monday, Derek was feeling super excited to go back to school and show his classmates that he was becoming a real alpha now. A couple of the other alpha boys in his class and parallel class had just gotten their sharp feathers as well, so Derek wasn’t the only one walking around with messy wings before all his new feathers had grown out.  
  
Nathan, Derek, and Dylan always got on the school bus in the mornings to go to school. When they were little Noah had sometimes driven them to school, but he didn’t anymore. They were old enough to ride on the bus now, and Noah saved time by not having to drive them to school in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon.  
  
As soon as Derek got on the bus that morning, his friends were gasping in surprise and admiration about his wings.  
  
Dylan and Derek were always on the same school bus, because the elementary and middle school was in the same school building, but Nathan got on another bus to go to his high school. There were too many kids in the neighborhood for all of them to fit on the same bus anyways.  
  
Dylan watched as Derek’s friends all gathered around him on the bus and seemed impressed and somewhat jealous that he was getting his adult feathers now. Dylan always thought the whole deal with the alpha feathers was a little overrated.   
  
As usual, Dylan and Derek went to sit with their own friends on the bus, and Dylan seated himself beside his friend Benjamin, who was a beta angel. Dylan had a few alpha friends as well, but Benjamin was currently his best friend.  
  
“Whoa. Derek’s feathers are almost all gone,” Benjamin commented, gaping at Derek as he glanced over his shoulder at him. He was sitting next to Dylan in the crowded bus, but right now he was busy staring at Derek’s wings, which seemed to be the center of attention in the bus at the moment.  
  
“Yeah,” Dylan sighed. “He won’t shut up about it. I think it’s kinda cool too, but I don’t understand why it has to be such a big deal for everyone…”  
  
Benjamin looked away from Derek and turned his attention back to Dylan again. “I dunno. I guess they like being cool?”  
  
“I guess…”  
  
The bus arrived at the school ten minutes later, and Derek hurried off the bus to meet his other friends at school and go to class. Dylan felt kind of ignored by his older brother, but he was used to that. It was rare that Derek spoke to him at school, even when they met in the corridors. Derek did greet him sometimes, but mostly he either ignored him or teased him by suddenly trying to steal his backpack to amuse his friends. Dylan hated it when he did that.  
  
As expected, Derek’s wings got a lot of attention in school that day, especially from his alpha friends, whose own wings hadn’t started molting yet.  
  
Derek enjoyed the attention, and he couldn’t wait for all of his new feathers to grow out so he could start sharpening them and look cool. He also really liked the attention he got from the girls in his class. They tried to hide their curiosity as they stared at him, but Derek noticed it anyways.  
  
Lunch was at 11:45am, and Derek ate his lunch in the classroom with his friends as usual. They were five alpha boys sitting in the back of room, making noise as they laughed and discussed things. Some of the girls thought they were annoying for being so loud, but the boys didn’t care.  
  
After eating their lunch, the boys decided to go outside and play ball in the yard until classes started in ten minutes. Derek eagerly led his buddies out of the classroom, and they chatted and laughed about something as they ventured into the busy hallway.  
  
Students and teachers alike were walking back and forth in the hallways, going to and from their classrooms or to the bathrooms, while others stood in the corners, chatting.  
  
Derek was laughing at something Dwayne had told him while walking through a less crowded area of the hallway when one of his friends suddenly spoke up.  
  
“Hey, Derek. Isn’t that your little brother?”  
  
Derek looked up when his friend spoke and followed his gaze to a spot near the staircase in the hallway. This part of the hallway wasn’t that crowded, but people were still coming through. It was then that Derek spotted Dylan standing by the wall, cornered by three older boys. The boys were from Derek’s parallel class, and Derek knew they came from proud full-blood families who didn’t approve of demons and angels mating. Two of the boys were alpha angels while the last one was a beta demon. Many angels and demons had come to accept interspecies friendship, but still didn’t accept them mating with each other and thus couldn’t stand the idea of angel/demon hybrids.  
  
It didn’t take Derek long to analyze that Dylan was currently being picked on by the racist kids. He could hear them mocking Dylan and calling him a freak, and Dylan just stood there and took it. The annoyed and somewhat angry frown on Dylan’s face as he got teased didn’t make the boys back off at all, and his tail was resting next to his leg, pointing down; an indication of him being more scared than aggressive at the moment.  
  
Dwayne glanced warily at Derek, who was just standing there, watching Dylan and waiting for him to do something.  
  
“Oh man, your brother isn’t doing anything,” Derek’s other friend Mike spoke.   
  
Mike was an alpha demon, and William and Hunter standing next to them were alpha angels. They were some of Derek’s best friends, and Mike was attending the same Jeet Kune Do classes as Derek and Dwayne.  
  
William laughed at Mike’s comment. “And here I thought he was an alpha like you, Derek?”  
  
Derek groaned, feeling irritated with Dylan that his friends were making fun of him because Dylan was such a sissy. He didn’t particularly like seeing Dylan getting harassed by a group of stupid racists, but if Derek intervened he would just be made fun of for helping out a ‘pussy’.  
  
“He is,” Derek finally replied to William. “He’s just… kind of slow.”  
  
Hunter laughed at that. “Aren’t you gonna help out that little baby?”  
  
The mocking in Hunter’s voice and how they others snickered made Derek growl inside, but he still didn’t go to his brother’s rescue. “Nah,” he said, shrugging it off and pretending to be casual to appear cool in front of his friends. “He has to learn to be an alpha, even if it’s the hard way, right? If he wants them gone, he should kick their asses himself. I’m not his babysitter.”  
  
Derek’s friends cheered in agreement, earning Derek a few good points with them.  
  
Somewhere deep inside Derek, it felt kind of wrong to say those things, but he believed he was doing the right thing. He couldn’t babysit Dylan all the time; his brother had to learn to defend himself on his own.  
  
They continued their walk to the yard outside, and Derek tried not to look at Dylan when they approached him on their way outside.  
  
Dylan, however, did spot Derek.  
  
“Derek!” Dylan exclaimed, obviously hoping his brother would help him out with the bullies.  
  
Derek cursed at Dylan inside. Of course his brother had to notice him.   
  
However, instead of aiding his brother, Derek turned to look at him and said, “I’m busy right now. Talk to you later.”  
  
Dylan felt his heart sink when he realized that Derek wasn’t going to help him. He stared at his brother in hurt, not understanding why he wouldn’t help when it was obvious that Dylan was outnumbered by the bullies.  
  
One of the bullies laughed. “Aww, no rescue for you?”  
  
Dylan turned his attention away from Derek to glare at the older boy. “Just leave me alone,” he growled. “I haven’t done anything, so just go away.”  
  
“Nah, you’re way too fun to pick on,” the angel boy smirked, trying to reach out to ruffle Dylan’s hair to mock him, but Dylan quickly shied away from his hand. “What? Aren’t you gonna kick me or something?”  
  
The boy was trying to provoke and humiliate him, but Dylan didn’t want to fight him. He just wanted to be left alone and stay out of trouble.  
  
“No,” Dylan bit out in defiance. “Violence is bad, and I never hit first.”  
  
All the boys burst out laughing, thinking it was a ridiculous thought for an alpha to have. Alphas were known to be tough and strong, and Dylan’s words of not wanting to fight made them laugh at him.  
  
“You really are a freak,” the boy laughed, and his friends laughed with him. He then looked over his shoulder at Derek, who was about to keep on walking when his friends seemed impatient to go outside already. “Just like your big brother, who’s also a freak,” the boy said, making sure to raise his voice so that Derek would hear him.  
  
Derek stopped in his tracks the moment the other boy made a comment about him. He slowly turned to glare at the angel boy, unfurling his messy wings and putting them into an aggressive stance. “What did you call me?”  
  
“Are you deaf? I called you a freak!” the boy sneered.  
  
Dylan gasped, knowing how much Derek hated being called a freak – especially in front of his alpha friends.  
  
The beta demon, who was one of the bullies, laughed at Derek. “Yeah, he’s definitely a freak with those wings. Both him and his little brother look like they were born in a paint shop; their wings are all wrong!”  
  
The beta was referring to how Derek’s wings looked like demon wings, but they had different nuances of grey among the feathers. Dylan’s wings were dark grey with some red feathers in them, and didn’t look as much like a demon’s wings like Derek’s did. It mostly Dylan who was bullied for having ‘weird’ wings, but the bullies did mock Derek’s wings occasionally as well.  
  
“Uh-oh,” Derek’s friends said in unison when they saw Derek about to snap. They knew how bad Derek was at controlling himself around bullies, and he often got into fights with those who called him mean words or acted racist towards him.  
  
Derek let out a loud growl before throwing himself at the beta demon. Derek landed a solid punch on his face before the boy could even react, sending him flying to the floor.  
  
The bullies all gasped in surprise, not having expected Derek throw such a punch, especially not at school. The other two stared at their fallen friend, who was groaning in pain on the floor and cupping his bloody nose in pain, before they launched themselves at Derek to get payback, and soon there was an all-out fight in the hallway.  
  
Dylan just stood there, staring wide-eyed at the fight in front of him, and watched as Derek sent the other two boys flying to the ground with one of his martial arts kicks. The boys quickly got up, after grunting in pain for a few moments, and tackled Derek at the same time. That was when Dwayne and Mike came to Derek’s aid and the fight only got worse then.  
  
The other kids in the hallway started gathering watch the fight. Most of them were gasping and looking horrified, but the alpha children and some of the betas were cheering them on.  
  
Dylan was absolutely horrified by what was going on, and he knew that Derek would get in some serious trouble for this. He knew he had to make his brother stop before things got worse, so he stepped forward to talk his brother down.  
  
“No, stop it, Derek!” Dylan shouted at him. “You’re gonna get in trouble!”  
  
“Shut up!” Derek barked at him, too angry at the bullies to listen to reason.  
  
When Dylan tried to get between them to make them stop, he was suddenly punched in the jaw by the bully who had provoked him earlier. The punch was so painful it sent him to the floor right away. His vision flickered for a moment, and he could faintly hear the fighting continue in front of him.  
  
“Dylan!” came Benjamin’s distressed voice.  
  
Dylan looked up to see his friend coming over to him.  
  
“Are you okay?” Benjamin asked, kneeling by Dylan’s side and watching him with wide, worried eyes.  
  
“I-I’m okay,” Dylan stuttered out, letting his friend help him get up and away from the fight. His jaw hurt pretty badly, and he had kind of hurt his right wing when he fell to the floor. The shock of what had happened made him feel slightly dizzy and confused, but Benjamin was supporting him so he wouldn’t fall over.  
  
Finally the fight was stopped when a couple of teachers noticed it and came over to tear the boys apart.  
  
Dylan heard the teachers shouting at the boys, and watched as the boys stopped what they were doing when one of the alpha teachers, Mr. Ward, raised his voice at them and told them to stop.  
  
Derek glared at the bullies once the fight stopped, and they all glared back at him. All of them were covered in cuts and bruises, but Derek was pleased that the others looked more beat up than him.  
  
“All of you to the principal’s office now!” Mr. Ward growled at them. “And if I see you fighting _one_ more time, I’ll have you all expelled! We’re gonna call your parent in later and have a serious talk with them about this.”  
  
Derek felt a shiver of fear go through him when Mr. Ward mentioned parents. He had been too far gone with anger earlier to properly think about the consequences, and he really didn’t want to meet his dad’s eyes once he learned about what had happened. He swallowed nervously, and the other boys looked just as nervous as he did now. None of them wanted to listen to their parents scolding them after all.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Derek spent about an hour being questioned and lectured by the principal along with the other boys before being sent back to class. When all his classes were finished, a teacher walked him back to the principal’s office to wait for his parents to arrive. They had been called in the afternoon and told to come to the school for a talk about Derek’s behavior, and he couldn’t help but dread having to look his father in the eyes when he arrived, even though Derek himself felt like he hadn’t done anything wrong.  
  
Dylan had been sent to the nurse’s office so she could look at his jaw after what had happened, but luckily nothing much had happened; it was just a bruise. She had also checked him to see if he had a concussion as well, as he had been a bit dizzy after the punch, but fortunately he was alright; the dizziness had mostly been from shock. Afterwards, Dylan had gone back to classes, but when his classes were over he went to the principal’s office to meet with his brother and parents there.  
  
Derek and Dylan waited together in the hallway outside the principal’s office for their parents to arrive. Neither of them spoke to each other, and just sat quietly on the bench outside.  
  
Dylan was still kind of angry at Derek for not having helped him when he needed it, and for having gotten himself into that much trouble. Derek had gotten into fights at school before, which wasn’t entirely uncommon for alpha boys, but last time it happened he had been warned that he could be expelled if he did it again, so Dylan was feeling kind of worried about that now.  
  
Some of other boys who had been involved in the fight had already talked to the principal along with their parents, while the rest were waiting for their parents further down the corridor. Derek had seated himself as far away from the bullies as possible, and he was annoyed that Dwayne and Mike’s parents had already talked to the principal and that they had gone home, leaving him alone with just his little brother.  
  
Finally, after what seemed like ages, Noah and Jayden showed up.  
  
Dylan lit up when he saw them and immediately got up from the bench to greet them.  
  
“Mom! Dad,” Dylan smiled, relieved that they were finally there.  
  
“Dylan,” Noah sighed in relief, pulling his son into a hug.  
  
Derek continued to sit quietly on the bench. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, and he was leaning back against the wall as he cast a glance at his parents and brother.  
  
“Are you alright?” Noah asked Dylan, pulling back to look at his son’s bruised jaw. He gasped at the sight. “That looks awful.”  
  
“I’m okay,” Dylan said, lowering his eyes a little. “But it kinda hurts…”  
  
Jayden growled before turning his angry eyes to Derek. “What the hell were you thinking, getting into a fight like that?”  
  
Derek tried not to flinch at his father’s angry voice and instead lifted his gaze to glare back at him in defiance. “Those boys were calling us freaks! I wasn’t gonna put up with that!”  
  
Dylan’s face was full of betrayal and anger as he turned his head to glare at his brother. “But you didn’t help me at all when they were harassing me in the hallway! You just ignored me and didn’t do anything until the bullies starting calling _you_ names!”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened and he turned to look at Derek in disbelief. He almost couldn’t believe that Derek had actually done that.  
  
“I’m not your babysitter!” Derek snapped at Dylan, finally getting up from the bench. He looked at Jayden and interrupted him before his father could speak. “He just stood there, doing nothing! He needs to learn how to fight back, otherwise they will just keep harassing him! I just wanted him to finally learn how to fend for himself, that’s all!”  
  
“But I don’t _wanna_ fight!” Dylan said, his angry eyes glaring back at Derek. “Dad always says not to throw the first punch, so I didn’t! And I don’t like violence…”  
  
Derek was about to retort something when Jayden intervened.  
  
“Be quiet, both of you,” Jayden growled when he heard the door to the principal’s office open. “We’ll talk about this later.” He gave Derek a stern glare before going over to greet the principal along with Noah.  
  
Derek crossed his arms in front of his chest again, frustrated and angry that he was always the bad guy in his dad’s eyes.  
  
The principal shook Jayden and Noah’s hands before inviting them inside, and Derek cast a look over his shoulder in the direction where the two of the bullies from earlier were sitting further down the corridor. His eyes met with the alpha angel who had done all the provoking, and the two glared daggers at each other before Derek was forced to join his parents in the principal’s office.  
  
The principal was an alpha angel, who understood quite well how young alpha boys sometimes had trouble controlling themselves when provoked or emotional, but he still did not approve of Derek’s actions. The principal’s job was to ensure order at the school and make sure that all the kids got their education and were safe, and he pointed out very clearly how much of a problem Derek’s behavior was.  
  
Noah tried not to let his nervousness show during the conversation. He was worried for Derek’s future and that the principal would expel him, but he knew that his son had caused some serious trouble and that there needed to be consequences for it.  
  
“However,” the principal said, after having explained what had happened today and how he displeased he was with Derek’s behavior. “According to the kids who witnessed the event today, it was Michael and his friends who provoked the fight.”  
  
The boy who had cornered Dylan against the wall and bullied him was named Michael, and Dylan flinched somewhat at the mention of the name. He looked up and saw the principal’s eyes resting on him, and waited for him to continue.  
  
“Michael and his buddies are an even more serious problem than Derek is,” the principal went on, looking at Noah and Jayden again. “Several hybrids have complained that they have been harassed and bullied by them because of their mixed blood, and that is not a behavior we support at this school. I know that Derek has had arguments with those boys before because of their racist views, and that today they were targeting young Dylan as one of their victims. I also know that they turned their attention to Derek and provoked him with words that I will not repeat at this meeting. So, given the circumstances, I’m willing to let Derek escape the consequences of expulsion and instead be sentenced to three months’ detention, _but_ this will be his final warning.” He cast a serious look at Derek, who had swallowed in relief when he learned that he wouldn’t be expelled, but was now sweating once again when the principal’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “If I see you being involved in a physical fight of that scale again, you’re out of this school for good. Do we understand each other?”  
  
Derek nodded, feeling both relief over the fact that he wasn’t expelled and fear as the principal’s scary eyes rested on him.  
  
Both Jayden and Noah let out small sighs of relief, but tried not to let it show.  
  
“Thank you very much, sir,” Jayden told the principal. “We understand that incident was in no way okay, and I will have a more serious talk with Derek to make sure that it won’t happen again.”  
  
“I certainly hope so,” the principal said before rising from his chair.  
  
The others followed his example and got up from their chairs as well.  
  
“As for the boys who provoked the fight, one of them will be expelled and the two others will join Derek in detention. This should hopefully put a lid on the problem,” the principal said as he shook their hands goodbye.  
  
Derek suppressed a smug smirk, knowing that the one who was going to be expelled was most likely Michael. He was, however, not very impressed that he had to live through three months’ of detention, especially in the company of Michael’s two friends, but it was far better than being expelled.  
  
Jayden thanked the principal once again before leaving the office with his family.  
  
Derek could tell that his father was still very angry at him, so he laid low and did everything he could to not look at Jayden as they left the school together.  
  
Once they were outside in the parking lot, Dylan let out a long sigh of relief.  
  
“That was really scary! I hope I’ll never go to his office again,” Dylan spoke.  
  
Jayden laughed a bit at Dylan’s comment. “As long as you stay out of trouble, you won’t.” His gaze shifted from Dylan to Derek. “As for you,” Jayden added, narrowing his eyes at Derek. He stopped in his tracks, making the others stop as well. “I hope you know how lucky you got this time.” Jayden’s voice was like a growl as he spoke to Derek, and he saw his son swallow nervously before slowly raising his head to meet Jayden’s eyes. “If you get into another fight like that, I’ll make sure you won’t be going to any more of your Jeet Kune Do classes.”  
  
“What?!” Derek exclaimed. “You can’t do that!” Derek loved his martial arts classes. He went there five times a week, and it was the activity he enjoyed the most. Not being able to go there anymore was like taking away his life.  
  
“I can and I will, unless you start behaving,” Jayden growled. “And you owe Dylan an apology for ignoring him when he needed your help.”  
  
“I told you already that I was trying to help him! I’m not his freaking babysitter or his mother!”  
  
 _“Apologize,”_ Jayden barked at him, feeling too angry and frustrated with the whole thing to want to listen to Derek’s excuses.  
  
Derek’s mouth snapped shut. He could tell how angry his father was, and he hated the look of disapproval in Jayden’s eyes right now. Derek muttered a few curses under his breath before turning to look at Dylan. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you’re too whiny to help yourself.”  
  
Dylan blinked at his brother in surprise when Derek practically spat the words in his face, and he watched as Derek then turned on his heel and stalked over to their car in anger.  
  
“Derek!” Jayden chastised in outrage. He was about to go after his son to make him come back and apologize properly, but Noah stopped him by gently grabbing his arm.  
  
“No, just let him be,” Noah said, casting a worried glance in Derek’s direction before looking at Jayden. “I think he needs to cool off for a bit… You know how he is.”  
  
Jayden’s wings drooped behind him in defeat when he realized that Noah was probably right. “Yeah, I guess you’re right… He’s too hot-headed at the moment to be able to use his manners…”  
  
The tension of the whole situation was agonizing to be around. Everyone was relieved that Derek hadn’t gotten expelled, but it was still a serious matter that Derek was getting into fights like that, even if he was provoked by racists.   
  
Dylan felt kind of insulted by Derek’s mean words, but he also knew that his brother was feeling very frustrated at the moment, so maybe he hadn’t meant to be so mean to him.  
  
When Noah noticed the sad look on Dylan’s face, he immediately went over to his son to cheer him up. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m sure Derek didn’t mean it like that.” He gently brushed his wing against Dylan’s, hoping to make him feel better.  
  
“But maybe he’s right? Maybe I gotta learn how to fight back…” Dylan murmured.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden said, his voice gentle and calm, but serious enough to make Dylan lift his gaze to look at him. “You never have to do anything you don’t wanna do. Bullies can be handled without a fight. Just ask your mom; he’s dealt with racist bullies his whole life and has barely ever had to physically fight them off.”  
  
“That’s not entirely true…” Noah pointed out, thinking about when Max had assaulted him in high school and how Noah hadn’t been able to physically fight him off.  
  
“Well, for the most part you didn’t,” Jayden corrected himself before looking at Dylan again. “And there’s a difference between fighting like Derek did today and doing self-defense. If you want, I can teach you a few good tricks so you can ward off unwanted physical attacks without actually hitting someone.”  
  
“Really? That would be awesome!” Dylan grinned.  
  
Jayden laughed and ruffled Dylan’s hair with affection. “Sure. But not today; I gotta head back to work now. Remind me of it again this weekend, okay?”  
  
Dylan nodded eagerly, already looking forward to having his dad teach him a few good tricks. Dylan didn’t like the thought of fighting much, but if it was self-defense then he didn’t mind it. It could prove to be useful in the future, for himself as well as his loved ones if he knew how to block unwanted attacks.  
  
The three of them headed over to the cars in the other end of the parking lot, ready to go home. It was past 5pm now, so the parking lot was almost empty.  
  
Derek was waiting by Noah’s car, still looking sulky and irritated as he leaned against it with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He avoided eye contact with all of them as they came over to him, and got into the car without a word when Noah unlocked it.  
  
Jayden had to go back to work, so he got into the other car (he and Noah had driven to the school in separate cars when the school had called them at work) after saying goodbye to the others. He wouldn’t be home until 9pm in the evening, and Dylan would most likely be asleep by then. Derek was often still awake at 9pm, even though his bedtime was at 8:30pm, but Jayden had the feeling that Derek would be going to bed early that night.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Claire was still in the pre-kindergarten, so Noah drove there to pick her up before driving the kids home.  
  
Claire was in a very good mood today, which she was most of the time. She sat in the baby chair on the back seat, talking and babbling about her day while Noah tried his best to pay attention to her while driving. She was sitting next to Dylan, and Derek was on the other side of Dylan, by the window.  
  
Derek ignored them during the whole drive, just staring emptily out the window while Claire chirped happily about her day.   
  
Dylan, however, had all of his attention turned on Claire, and his sister loved how he interacted with her and even played with her while they drove home.  
  
It was almost 6pm when they finally came home, and Noah was a little surprised to find Nathan waiting for them in the living room.  
  
Nathan came out of the living room to greet them in the entrance hall when they entered the house, looking a little surprised to see everyone home so late.  
  
“What’s up? Why are you guys home so late?” Nathan asked, looking between them as everyone was busy taking off their shoes. His eyes landed on Derek, whose body language was tense and irritated, and who violently kicked off his shoes into the corner. “And who peed on Derek’s lunch?”  
  
Derek turned to look at his brother with blazing eyes. “Shut up,” he bit out before turning and going upstairs.  
  
Nathan blinked in surprise. He was used to Derek getting annoyed with him when he teased him like that, but he hadn’t expected Derek to get that aggressive about it. Nathan turned to look at Noah in confusion, hoping his mom would explain what was going on.  
  
Noah sighed. “It’s best to leave him alone right now. He’s not in a particularly good mood. None of us are, actually…”  
  
“Why? What did he do now?” Nathan asked, knowing almost immediately that Derek must have gotten into trouble again.  
  
“Derek got into a fight at school,” Noah began while helping Claire out of her shoes and jacket.   
  
The girl made small, happy gurgles and noises while Noah helped her, and didn’t pay that much attention as Noah replied to Nathan’s question.  
  
“It seems that a group of racist kids from his parallel class were picking on Dylan, and Derek chose to ignore it,” Noah went on. “But when they picked on him next, he got into a fight with them. Derek almost broke another boy’s nose when he punched him, but other than that everyone got away with only cuts and bruises. So, your father and I were called in for a talk with the principal, who was kind enough to not expel Derek, due to it being the other boys’ fault for having provoked him into a fight in the first place. But the principal made it clear that Derek won’t be as lucky next time it happens…”  
  
Nathan’s eyes widened in shock. “Whoa.” He almost didn’t know what to say, until he turned to look at Dylan, who was staring at the ground now. “He seriously ignored you when you were being bullied?”  
  
Dylan nodded quietly. “Yeah… He said I gotta learn how to defend myself on my own.”  
  
Nathan let out a growl at that. “That stupid brat. That’s no excuse for not helping you out when you needed it! What the hell is he thinking?”  
  
Dylan was kind of surprised by how angry Nathan sounded about it, but it also made him kind of happy that his oldest brother cared about him.  
  
“You know how Derek thinks,” Noah sighed. “He believed he was helping Dylan.”  
  
“What?! How’s _that_ helping him?”  
  
“I know. Just… leave him alone for now until he cools off. Your father already had a serious conversation with him earlier about this, and I’m sure he has more to add to it later. Right now I better focus on making us some dinner. Right, sweetie?” Noah smiled down a little Claire, who was kind of clinging to his wing at the moment and touching his feathers. He chuckled at how his daughter seemed to like his wings a lot. It was common for angel, demon, and hybrid children to love touching their mother’s wings; it gave them a sense of comfort, kind of like a hug.  
  
Claire looked up when Noah spoke, and her face was brightened by a huge smile. “Yup! Me hungry!”  
  
Noah laughed softly at her before heading to the kitchen, and Claire followed him there.  
  
Dylan was also feeling pretty hungry. He hadn’t eaten since lunch and he could feel his stomach growling in protest. He was busy spacing out while listening to his mom talking to Claire as they walked towards the kitchen, when he suddenly he felt Nathan’s tail slap him gently in the butt. Dylan let out a high-pitched yelp of surprise and turned around to look up at his brother, who was giggling smugly at him now.  
  
“Nathan!” Dylan barked out in a playful tone before throwing himself at his oldest brother, trying to smack him somewhere to get revenge, but Nathan kept catching his hands.  
  
Nathan laughed as he struggled with Dylan, trying to avoid having his little brother smack him somewhere. After a few minutes of fooling around, Nathan finally gave in and let Dylan smack him on the arm, and the two of them laughed about it.  
  
Dylan was in a much better mood now. He loved sharing silly moments like this with Nathan, but sadly his brother hadn’t been much in the mood for it ever since he became a teenager. It was nice that Nathan was acting silly with him again for once.  
  
  
***  
  
  
As expected, Derek had gone to bed early that night because he was sulky and irritated. He had been downstairs for dinner, but had been more quiet than usual and had completely ignored Dylan.   
  
Dylan didn’t like the tension between himself and Derek, but he knew his brother needed to cool off a while.  
  
Jayden came home at 9:15pm in the evening. It had been a long day at work, and after what had happened with Derek he had had even more on his mind for the rest of the evening.  
  
“I’m home,” Jayden announced as he entered the house. He gently kicked the door shut and locked it before taking off his shoes. He could hear noise upstairs, and it sounded like Claire was crying in her room. He frowned in worry and was about to head up to see what was going on when Nathan stepped out of the living room.  
  
“Hey, dad,” Nathan greeted him. He was busy drying his wet hair and wings after having showered, and Jayden could smell soap when his son came over to him.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden greeted him back with a smile. “Cut down on the soap, would you? I almost can’t breathe here.”  
  
“Har har,” Nathan replied dryly, giving his dad a small glare before rolling his eyes with a small smile on his lips.  
  
Jayden chuckled at him before asking, “What’s up with Claire? And where is everybody?”  
  
“I don’t know.” Nathan cast a look towards the stairs. “Derek announced after dinner that he was going to bed. He’s been sulky all night. And Dylan went to bed about an hour ago. Mom put Claire to bed at 7, but I guess she woke up again.”  
  
“I see.” Jayden glanced towards the stairs before going over to ascend them. He could hear Claire’s cries getting louder and he was really getting worried now.  
  
Jayden had just made it to the top of the stairs when the door to Derek and Dylan’s bedroom opened and a very sleepy Dylan peeked out into the hallway.  
  
“What’s going on? What’s wrong with Claire?” Dylan asked, looking a little worried as he rubbed his sleepy eyes.  
  
“It’s okay, I’ll go check on her now,” Jayden told him with a soft smile. “Just go back to bed, okay? See you in the morning.”  
  
Dylan nodded quietly before closing the door again, and Jayden could hear Derek’s annoyed grunts from inside the room before the door was closed.  
  
Jayden carefully went over to Claire’s room and knocked on the door before going inside. He found Noah sitting on Claire’s bed, and the girl was crying loudly as she sat on Noah’s lap and leaned into him.  
  
“Hey, what’s going on?” Jayden asked, closing the door behind him before coming closer.  
  
Noah looked relieved when he saw Jayden, and Claire’s face also lit up.  
  
“Daddy!” she cried, lifting her arms in an indication that she wanted him to pick her up.  
  
Jayden went over and gently picked up Claire, who was still a crying mess. “Hey, what’s wrong, princess? Why are you crying?”  
  
Noah was still sitting on the bed, glancing up at them as Jayden tried to comfort their crying daughter. “She had to go use the bathroom, and she stubbed her toe against the threshold when she went back to her room…”  
  
Jayden winced in sympathy, and gently shifted Claire so that he could get a better look at her toes. “Oww. Which toe is it?”  
  
“Dat one,” Claire cried, lifting her right foot a bit so Jayden could see it. She clung to him as Jayden held her against his chest, and she was still sobbing heavily.  
  
Jayden winced again when the toe looked a little red as he looked at it. “Aww.” He pressed a soft kiss to his daughter’s temple and rocked her for comfort. “Shhh. I know it hurts, sweetie, but it’ll go away soon.”  
  
“But hurts!” Claire cried, burying her face in Jayden’s chest as she cried again.  
  
“Shh, I know,” Jayden shushed her gently. “How about we go to the bathroom and I’ll put your little foot under the cold water in the sink? Do you want that?”  
  
Claire nodded, sobbing so much she couldn’t talk anymore.  
  
Noah smiled and got up from Claire’s bed to join them in the bathroom, in case Jayden needed some assistance.  
  
They left the room as quietly as possible and went over to the bathroom, and Claire stared as Jayden turned on the cold water of the sink and gently moved her foot towards the running water. Claire let out a loud yelp at first when the cold water hit her skin, and she laughed when Jayden made fun of the sound she made in a silly way in an attempt to turn her attention away from the pain. She soon started feeling better when the pain was dulled by the cold water, but Noah suspected that being in her father’s arms also contributed to her feeling better already.  
  
Nathan came upstairs to see what was going on, as he too had been worried about Claire’s heavy crying earlier. He was relieved to see that she was feeling better, and smiled as Claire started squealing and laughing, and how she tried to escape Jayden’s hold when Jayden threatened to dip the rest of her under the cold water as well.  
  
After Claire was back to her old self again, Jayden carried her back to her room to tuck her in. She was getting sleepy again, but was eager to have her parents read her a bedtime story before she fell asleep. Claire wanted them both to read her stories, so Noah sat down with Jayden next to Claire’s bed to read her stories so she could fall asleep.  
  
Nathan had already retreated back to his own room when Claire started feeling better, and Dylan and Derek were both sound asleep in their room now.  
  
It didn’t take long until Claire was sleeping again, and Noah couldn’t help but smile as Jayden pressed a soft kiss to her head before they quietly left the room. It was sweet how gentle Jayden always was around Claire, and to see how much of a daddy’s girl she was. The gentle and fatherly side of Jayden was the side of him that Noah liked the best.  
  
When Claire was asleep, Noah and Jayden went downstairs to turn off the lights and lock the doors before heading to bed. Jayden spent a few minutes teasing Noah in bed with kisses and tickles, and making fun of how Noah was squirming and squealing like a girl to make him stop, before they were both ready to go to sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter, even though Derek was kind of a jerk in it. But now he’s about to become a teenager, so that should give some interesting dynamics in the family :) I want to explore more of the kids becoming teenagers and more about Claire, so I won’t be making that big time jumps for a bit.
> 
> And it won’t be long until you’ll see Laura and her little baby!
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	58. Chapter 58

**October 2066 (Noah is 40, Jayden is 42, Nathan is 16 (almost 17), Derek is 12, Dylan is 9, Claire is 4, Laura is 30 (almost 31), Nicholas is 31, Anna is 1.5 (almost 2) years old).**  
  
A couple of months passed and Derek’s wings had finally grown back all of their feathers. Derek was still really excited about his new sharp feathers, and Nathan especially was getting pretty tired of listening to him boasting and acting bossy just because he got his alpha feathers now.  
  
It was October, and Dylan had just turned nine years old on the 16th of September. Noah could never get used to how fast his kids were growing up, but he was glad that at least Dylan was still acting like a child, much unlike Derek when he had been that age.  
  
Laura had called and announced that she, Nicholas, and their little daughter Anna would be coming by for a visit on Saturday, so Saturday morning Noah and Jayden were busy making sure that the house looked nice and clean before their guests’ arrival.  
  
Laura had said they would be there at 2pm, so there was plenty of time to tidy up in the house.  
  
Nathan had to go visit Emily a few streets away to talk about some school assignment, so he left home at 10am to go there. Noah had kind of hoped that he would stay to either help them tidy up a bit or at least look after his younger siblings, and was kind of disappointed when his oldest son once again was too busy to be with the rest of the family.  
  
Derek wasn’t interested in helping with the cleaning, and Claire was too young, but Dylan didn’t mind helping out a bit. He helped his parents clear the floors of toys and stuff so that Jayden could vacuum, clean, and wash the floors, while Noah cleaned the bathrooms.  
  
Meanwhile, Claire was sitting in the living room, having tea parties with her dolls and plush animals. Noah and Jayden decided it was better to keep her in their line of sight just in case, instead of letting her stay alone in her room to play.  
  
“Daddy!” Claire chirped when Jayden walked by her on his way to clean the couch table next. “Please come and drink tea!” She had set up one of the table sets that came with one of her dolls to have the tea party with, but there weren’t any chairs, so she was just sitting on the floor with her toys and dolls gathered around the table as well.  
  
It was the tenth time that Claire had asked him to join her tea party already, and Jayden felt torn inside. He felt bad about constantly telling her no because he was busy and didn’t have time, but he really _was_ kind of busy. He let out a deep sigh before giving in and going over to sit down by the small table. “Okay, but just one cup, alright?” He smiled as he sat down next to her and picked up one of the plastic tea cups with imaginary tea inside.  
  
Claire’s face lit up when her dad finally joined her. “Okay! But help me pours more for everyone else!”  
  
Jayden chuckled and helped his daughter pour imaginary tea into the other cups around the table.  
  
They both looked up when Derek walked into the room. The young alpha stopped in his tracks when he saw what was going on.  
  
“Derek, join!” Claire chirped, looking all excited when she saw him.  
  
“Heck no. Alphas don’t do such girly things,” Derek said with a grimace before turning to leave again.  
  
Claire’s wings drooped behind her and her face was full of disappointment.  
  
Jayden felt kind of sorry for Claire and irritation towards Derek that he would treat his sister like that. “It’s okay. You know how Derek is,” he told Claire softly.  
  
Claire still looked sad, though. “But he never wanna play…”  
  
Jayden was about to speak when Dylan suddenly entered the room.  
  
“But _I_ wanna play!” Dylan told his sister, approaching her with broad smile and with a jug of juice in his hand. “And I brought real juice! If you wanna drink juice instead of tea, that is… I dunno how to make tea.” He looked a little embarrassed about that and Jayden almost laughed at it.  
  
“Yay!” Claire chirped loudly, throwing up her arms in joy and grinning at Dylan as he came over to pour some juice into the small cups.  
  
“How thoughtful of you,” Jayden chuckled. “I was actually getting thirsty here.”  
  
Dylan chuckled and sat down to join them. He gently pushed some of Claire’s toys away so he didn’t sit down on them, and Claire looked really happy to have two guests at her tea party now.  
  
“You think Fuzzles and Fizzles wants tea too?” Claire asked, looking at Jayden.  
  
Fuzzles and Fizzles were their new cats. Midnight had passed away about one and a half years ago. She had been really old when she passed. Noah and Jayden had had to make the decision to take her to the vet when they saw she wasn’t feeling well anymore. The kids had been really sad to see her go, though, as had Noah. They had had the cat since before Nathan was born after all.  
  
After Midnight had passed, they hadn’t had a cat for a while. Not until three weeks ago when Jayden and Noah had finally bought two new cats, and the kids (mainly Claire) had named them Fuzzles and Fizzles. They were both female, about six months old. Fuzzles was a Maine Coon breed and Fizzles was a Burmese cat.  
  
Jayden laughed softly at Claire’s words. “No, cats don’t drink juice. I think it’ll make their tummies feel pretty bad. Water is better for them, and they have some in their bowls in the kitchen.”  
  
“Oh.” Claire glanced over her shoulder up at Fuzzles, who was resting lazily on top of the cat tree in the living room. Fizzles had gone outside through the cat door that was built into the backdoor in the kitchen, and had probably wandered off to catch mice around the neighborhood.  
  
Jayden drank some more juice before getting up to continue what he was doing earlier. Dylan stayed with Claire for a bit, who loved it when her brother played with her.  
  
Jayden continued cleaning up in the room, listening to Dylan playing with Claire in the meantime. He smiled as he listened to them, and enjoyed having the whole weekend off to be with his family. Sometimes it was annoying that his work required him to work late and work on the weekends sometimes, but he earned nice money from it, and the kids still had Noah. He really looked forward to Laura coming over to visit them soon, though. He didn’t see his sister that often anymore, and he was excited to see how much his little niece had grown since the last time he saw her.  
  
  
***  
  
  
At 2pm Laura and Nicholas showed up as promised.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed with Nathan that he still hadn’t come home, despite promising that he would be home before 2pm when their guests arrived. It was kind of rude not to be there when the guests came, especially since they didn’t see Laura all that often.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Laura smiled brightly when Noah and Jayden greeted her at the door. She was holding her little daughter Anna on her arm, and the baby demon was quietly sucking on her pacifier while glancing around at everyone with curious eyes.  
  
“Hey, squirt,” Jayden teased his sister with a smile before pulling her into a hug.  
  
Laura laughed and hugged him back, careful of her daughter on her arm. She smiled when Jayden greeted Anna next and was acting silly around her, making Anna laugh and drop her pacifier.  
  
Nicholas laughed at the scene as well before going inside with Laura to greet everyone.  
  
Noah came forwards to hug Laura and Nicholas welcome, and he grinned when Anna looked happy to see him.  
  
“Wanna hold her while I take off my shoes?” Laura asked Jayden, already moving her little daughter into her brother’s arms.  
  
“Sure,” Jayden said, reaching out to grab Anna. The baby didn’t seem to mind being switched into his arms, and he rocked her gently while smiling at her. “Hey, Anna,” he grinned. The baby responded with a small gurgle and stared at him with curiosity.  
  
Noah smiled at Jayden and Anna’s interaction, and was pleased when Derek, Dylan, and Claire finally showed up to greet their guests in the entrance hall.  
  
“Wow, nice wings, Derek!” Laura told Derek when she saw his new feathers. She had heard from Jayden that Derek had gotten his alpha feathers now, but today was the first time she saw them for herself.  
  
It was easy to see the difference in Derek’s feathers; before they had been kind of soft, but now they were rough and tough-looking, and you tell even in their half sharp state that they certainly weren’t soft anymore.  
  
“Oh, wow,” Nicholas said when he saw them too. “It looks good on you, Derek.”  
  
Derek couldn’t wipe the proud smile off his face, and his tail was swishing uncontrollably behind him. “Thanks!” His voice came out a bit more screechy than normal because his voice was starting to change more. It wasn’t that bad yet, but it was enough for Nathan to tease him about it sometimes – just like Derek had used to tease him about it once.  
  
Dylan still thought the whole deal with Derek’s new feathers was way overrated. He could understand why it was cool and all, but he thought Derek was exaggerating it way too much.  
  
“Auntie Laura!” Claire chirped loudly, turning everyone’s attention to her as she grinned up at her aunt with happiness.  
  
“Oh, hey, Claire!” Laura grinned, opening her arms and bending down to give her niece a warm hug. Claire grinned and hugged her back. Laura then leaned back a little, saying, “Aren’t you getting big! And Dylan too!”  
  
Both Claire and Dylan smiled proudly at that, and Noah chuckled at them before closing the door once the guests were all inside.  
  
“Is Nathan not home?” Laura asked, glancing around for him before looking at Jayden.  
  
“No, he’s over at friend Emily’s house,” Jayden explained. “He should be back soon, though.” He kept rocking Anna on his arm, who stayed quiet as she glanced around at everyone.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Derek let out a loud snort. “I doubt he’s coming home soon. He loves spending time with his _girlfriend._ ”  
  
Nicholas’ eyes widened in surprise. “Girlfriend?” He looked at Noah and Jayden, as this wasn’t something they had told him about before.  
  
Noah laughed softly. “Well, I don’t think they are together. They’ve been friends since they were kids, and they are in the same class in high school, so Nathan went to her place today to talk about an assignment for school.”  
  
“Ohh, I see,” Nicholas said.  
  
“So, he doesn’t date yet?” Laura asked. She reached out to grab Anna’s hand when her daughter started gurgling and babbling in baby language to get her attention.  
  
“Well, not exactly,” Jayden replied, not really knowing what to answer.  
  
Nathan hadn’t told them about him having a girlfriend yet, but Jayden had found condoms in Nathan’s jeans pockets when he was doing laundry the other day. He had found one unused condom and two empty wrappers, so it had made him wonder if Nathan was sleeping with someone. He didn’t want to pry in his son’s personal life and had thus not confronted him about it. He trusted that Nathan knew how to keep himself and his partner safe if they had sex, so Jayden didn’t feel like he had to butt in. He hadn’t even told Noah about the discovery.  
  
“Well, should be exciting when he does, right?” Laura chuckled. “I bet Noah will have a hard time accepting that his little boy is all grown up already.” She cast a look over at Noah and chuckled when she saw how freaked out he looked for a second.  
  
“Um, yeah. It will be… strange,” Noah admitted.  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at Noah’s nervous face before finally inviting everyone into the living room.  
  
They went over to sit on the couch so they could chat and catch up with the recent news in their families, and Noah went and got them something to drink.  
  
Claire was really curious about little Anna, and she crawled across Noah and Jayden’s laps on the couch to sit next to Laura and look at Anna, who was now seated on Laura’s lap.  
  
Laura thought Claire’s curiosity was really adorable, and it was obvious that Anna found her slightly older cousin just as interesting. They had met before, of course, but it had been a while.  
  
“Can we play?” Claire asked, looking up at Laura with begging eyes. She had Noah’s blue eyes and some of his feminine facial features, but her nose definitely resembled Jayden’s more.  
  
Laura laughed softly, unable to say no to her niece’s adorable face. “Sure. But remember she can’t play that wild yet, okay?”  
  
Claire’s face lit up and she nodded at Laura’s words.  
  
Laura smiled and got up from the couch to go over and put Anna down on the floor to play with Claire. “You wanna play a bit with Claire?” she cooed at her daughter, gently placing her on the floor.  
  
Anna was 22 months old and she could speak a few words, but still couldn’t really form any sentences.  
  
“Yeah!” Anna chirped, grinning widely. She seemed eager to play, and Laura put her on the floor a bit away from the couch so the girls could play.  
  
Dylan joined Claire on the floor with Anna to make sure that Anna stayed away from Claire’s smaller toys, which she could choke on if she decided to put them in her mouth. He could still listen to the adults talking while he was on the floor with his sister and cousin, and he quite enjoyed making little Anna laugh when he made faces or sounds that amused her.  
  
Derek stayed on the couch for a while, feeling forced to be social with the others. He didn’t say much, though, and just leaned back against the couch with his arms crossed in front of his chest.  
  
“Aww, Dylan is still so sweet,” Laura grinned as she watched the kids interact on the floor. She was sitting on the couch again, between Nicholas and Jayden, and Noah and Derek were on Jayden’s other side.  
  
“Yeah, he’s always so polite and considerate,” Nicholas added. “Whenever he’s stayed over at our place, he’s always offered to help us set the table for dinner or do the dishes afterwards. Nathan does it too, but it’s just more unusual for alphas to be so helpful with house chores.”  
  
“Yeah, and he almost doesn’t take no for answer when he wants to help,” Laura chuckled.  
  
Jayden laughed, feeling pretty proud of Dylan. “Yeah, he does like being helpful a lot.”  
  
Derek gave a small snort next to them, but didn’t say anything.  
  
Noah glanced over at Dylan, who was currently too busy entertaining the girls on the floor to properly listen to the adults talking. He had always felt proud of Nathan and Dylan and their helpful and gentle personalities, and it was nice to know that his sons were acting politely when they were visiting their family members. Derek, on the other hand, was quite the opposite, and that frustrated Noah sometimes, but he had come to accept that this was just how Derek was. And Noah loved him nonetheless.  
  
“I have the feeling that Claire will be just as much of a sweetheart when she grows up,” Laura smiled. The next second she was glancing between Noah and Jayden with a small smirk on her lips. “You guys wouldn’t happen to have plans of having more kids, would you?”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened and a deep blush formed on his cheeks, while Jayden laughed at his sister’s teasing.  
  
“No, I think we have all the kids we want now,” Jayden said, chuckling. “Four is more than enough for us. And Derek kind of counts for two.”  
  
“Hey!” Derek protested, making the others laugh. Derek glared at all of them before leaning back further into the couch, looking utterly offended. “I haven’t done anything…”  
  
“Well, you eat for two and you’re as loud as two kids put together, so…” Jayden teased, chuckling over at Derek who seemed to soften up a bit at the explanation.  
  
“I don’t eat for two, I just eat till I can’t eat anymore… And I’m not _that_ loud.”  
  
Nicholas laughed out loud at that, as did the others, and now Derek felt kind of offended again.  
  
They went back to chatting and catching up on some of the news in their families.  
  
However, just five minutes later they heard the front door open. They could hear someone enter the house and shuffle around in the entrance hall, and they all knew it could only be Nathan.  
  
“Neysan!” Claire exclaimed happily when she spotted her brother through the doorway. She jumped up from the floor and ran into the entrance hall to hug her brother.  
  
“Hey,” Nathan greeted her with a soft smile as he hugged her back. He quickly kicked off his shoes and took off his jacket before going into the living room with Claire and looking at everyone on the couch. “Hey, guys. Sorry I’m late.”  
  
“Hey, Nathan. Nice to see you again,” Laura greeted him. As always, she was kind of surprised by how fast he was growing. He looked a little more mature since she had last seen him about four months ago.  
  
“No problem about being late. Just glad you showed up,” Nicholas told him with a patient smile.  
  
Nathan still looked a little embarrassed about being late, and he held Claire’s hand as he led her over to Dylan and Anna again.  
  
“Is that Anna?” Nathan asked, his eyes widening a bit as he looked at his baby cousin. “Wow. She’s gotten big.”  
  
Laura laughed. “Yeah, she grows so fast.”  
  
Claire happily sat down on the floor to play with Anna again, and Nathan squatted down and greeted his little cousin, who was staring up at him with interest.  
  
“Nathan, next time you promise to be home at 2pm, please be home at 2pm,” Noah told him, still feeling a bit annoyed that Nathan had started slacking off more when it came to schedules and promises.  
  
“Yeah. Sorry, mom,” Nathan told him. “Emily and I kinda lost track of time…”  
  
Derek let out a giggle-snort, which made Nathan turn to scowl at him with narrowed eyes.  
  
“Yeah, I bet you were having lots of _fun…_ ” Derek murmured, suppressing a giggle as he smirked at his brother.  
  
“Shut up,” Nathan growled at him. “We were just working on our assignment, that’s all.”  
  
Derek rolled his eyes. “You’re such a nerd, spending four hours of your weekend doing _assignments._ ”  
  
“Just wait till _you_ start high school, Derek. I bet you’ll fail all your classes ‘cause you’re too lazy to finish your assignments in time,” Nathan spat back. “Or maybe ‘cause you haven’t got the brains for it.”  
  
“Hey!” Derek growled, rising from the couch and spreading out his wings. His feathers sharpened and pointed at Nathan in anger, and Claire flinched back in fear when she saw the knife-like feathers.  
  
_“Hey!”_ Jayden barked loudly, immediately making Derek lower his wings because he respected Jayden’s authority more than Nathan’s. “Stop arguing,” he told them, giving them both a stern look. “And Derek, don’t sharpen your feathers around your family. It’s not acceptable.”  
  
Derek groaned, looking like he wanted to protest, but still did as his father told him. He lowered his wings and let them turn back to their half-sharp state again. He kept glaring at Nathan, though, and hated how his brother looked back at him like Derek had just gotten what he deserved.  
  
Derek then let out an annoyed growl before sticking out his tongue at Nathan and leaving the room to head upstairs.  
  
Neither Dylan nor Claire liked it when their older brothers argued or when Derek behaved like that, and Dylan had to comfort Claire when she looked a bit upset about it.  
  
Jayden let out a heavy sigh when Derek left.  
  
“Um, wow. This is much worse than when they were younger,” Laura commented, looking a bit shocked. “Derek is already behaving much like a teenager, isn’t he?”  
  
“Yeah, you have no idea…” Jayden sighed. He lifted his hands up to his head to rub his temples from stress. “It’s gotten worse since he got his adult feathers… He’s rude and cocky, and won’t really listen to anything that’s being said.”  
  
Nicholas let out a small laugh. “Hasn’t he always been like that?”  
  
“Well, lately I feel like it’s getting worse,” Jayden admitted.  
  
“That’s an alpha thing, isn’t it?” Laura spoke. “Him trying to find his place in the house and all. And he’s a middle sibling. I’ve heard those don’t have it so easy.”  
  
Nathan let out a snort. “He’s just a brat, that’s all.” He went over and took Derek’s place on the couch next to Noah, hoping his presence would comfort his mom, who looked kind of upset about what had just happened.  
  
“You shouldn’t call him that,” Dylan said carefully, making Nathan turn his head to look at him. Dylan glanced up at his brother with a wary look. “When you call him that, he just gets more upset.”  
  
Nathan blinked, feeling a bit surprised that Dylan was standing up for Derek for once. “I guess… But he really is a brat. If he doesn’t want me to call him so, he should stop behaving like one.”  
  
“Well, it doesn’t make it better when you provoke him,” Jayden pointed out, giving Nathan a look to let him know that he should really stop provoking Derek so much.  
  
Now it was Nathan’s turn to look kind of offended. He let out a small snort and folded his arms in front of his chest as he leaned back into the couch, but his attitude wasn’t as rude as Derek’s had been.  
  
Nicholas let out a small laugh. “I don’t really look forward to our kids becoming teenagers… Especially since they won’t be that far apart in age.”  
  
Laura chuckled next to him and reached out to grab her mate’s hand. The two shared a soft smile, and Jayden stared quietly at them. It was nice for Jayden to see his sister so happy around her mate.  
  
“Wait,” Jayden said, suddenly realizing something. “Did I just hear that right?” He glanced over at Anna before looking at Laura and Nicholas again. “But, isn’t it just Anna?”  
  
Noah also looked kind of confused now, blinking at Laura and Nicholas and wondering if Nicholas had just said the words wrong. It sounded like Nicholas was talking about multiple children, but as far as Noah and Jayden knew they only had Anna.  
  
Laura blushed and stared into her lap, while Nicholas shifted nervously next to her.  
  
“Well,” Laura began, lifting her gaze to look at Jayden and Noah. “I’m actually pregnant again.”  
  
Jayden’s jaw almost dropped, and Noah, Nathan, and Dylan all looked surprised as well.  
  
“What? Really?” Jayden gaped, looking at Laura in amazement.  
  
When Laura nodded in confirmation, a big smile formed on Jayden’s face.  
  
“That’s great,” Jayden grinned. “Congratulations!” He reached out his wing to touch it against Laura’s, and his sister smiled happily at him as she returned the touch and bumped her tail against Jayden’s.  
  
“Thanks,” Laura said, smiling widely as she and Nicholas grabbed each other’s hand tighter.  
  
“Congratulations,” Noah told them, feeling happy for them both. He hadn’t expected them to have another baby so soon, but it was great news.  
  
“Yeah, congratulations,” Nathan smiled.  
  
“That’s cool! Congratulations!” Dylan grinned, looking really happy about the news as well.  
  
Laura and Nicholas thanked them and still couldn’t stop smiling from happiness.  
  
“That was sooner than expected,” Jayden said with a grin on his lips. “How far along are you?”  
  
“About eight weeks,” Laura replied, looking kind of sheepish when everyone’s attention was on her. “And yeah, it’s a bit soon; Anna is barely two years old yet, but we really wanted to have another. And… I might kind of have forgotten to take my suppressants for a couple of days…” She blushed in embarrassment, feeling stupid that she would forget such an important thing.  
  
Jayden let out an amused laugh. “Well, you always were kind of forgetful.” He laughed again when Laura reached out and slapped him on the thigh for insulting her.  
  
Noah chuckled at their interaction and smiled over at his sister-in-law. “But still, it’s great news. I hope everything goes well.”  
  
Laura beamed at his words. “Yeah, me too.”  
  
“What are suppressants?” Dylan asked, a deep frown on his face as he pondered the word. His frown got deeper when suddenly all the adults looked flustered and awkward.  
  
“Um, that’s…” Noah started, but trailed off.  
  
Nathan laughed. “Mom and dad will tell you about that later.” He turned to give his parents a smirk as he added, “Right?”  
  
“Yeah, sure… I guess it’s about time,” Jayden said, feeling a bit awkward with Laura and Nicholas in the room as well.  
  
Dylan still looked confused, while Nathan found the whole thing pretty amusing.  
  
“Oh god, that’s a conversation I do _not_ want to be a part of,” Nicholas laughed.  
  
“Why not? You’re a doctor, aren’t you?” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“Well, yeah, but I don’t usually have _these_ kind of conversations with my patients, you know.”  
  
Laura laughed. “I remember when you and Noah gave me that talk.” She looked at Jayden as she spoke, smiling as she thought back on the old days. “Thinking back on it now, you guys were pretty awkward about it…”  
  
Jayden rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, while Noah just blushed and shifted uncomfortably.  
  
“Well, yeah… It’s not a conversation you’d wish to give your little sister,” Jayden admitted.  
  
Laura laughed and felt kind of sorry for them both.  
  
Dylan still had no idea what they were talking about and it kind of annoyed him. He could tell they weren’t going to fill him in on it at the moment, so he decided to just turn his attention back to Claire and Anna, who weren’t really listening to the adults while they played around on the floor. Claire was sharing her favorite toys with Anna, and the two girls seemed to have a lot of fun. Anna sometimes crawled over to Dylan because she was curious about his colorful wings, and Dylan let her touch his feathers for a bit until he had to push her back a little when she began pulling on them.  
  
Everyone was still happy about the baby news, and Noah was glad that Jayden had taken the news so well. When Laura had announced her pregnancy to them back when she was expecting Anna, Jayden had looked kind of alarmed about it, although he hadn’t done or said anything rude. Noah knew that Laura would always be Jayden’s baby sister, so of course he was protective of her. Jayden liked and approved of Nicholas, but it was still kind of difficult for him to accept that Nicholas was her protector now and not Jayden. Alphas were quite protective of their mates and closest family members, so Noah couldn’t blame Jayden for feeling like that.  
  
Their conversation moved on, and Fuzzles eventually came down from her cat tree and went over to the kids. Anna was really curious about the cat, but Dylan had to make sure that she and Claire weren’t too rough with the cat. Fuzzles was gentle and patient around the children, but she didn’t like having her tail pulled, so Dylan had to stay alert.  
  
Noah was kind of surprised that Nathan stayed with them for a while instead of going to his room, but he was happy that he stayed. Laura asked Nathan lots of questions about school and his life, and Nathan answered all her questions and seemed glad that his aunt was interested. Nathan kept the conversation going by asking Laura and Nicholas about a few things as well, and both Noah and Jayden were pleased to see the social and kind side of Nathan again, which they didn’t see as often ever since he became a teenager.  
  
After about half an hour, Noah was getting a bit worried about Derek, who still hadn’t returned. “Did Derek go to his room?”  
  
“Yeah, I think he did,” Nathan confirmed. “He got offended earlier after all…” he snorted.  
  
“Be nice,” Jayden told him with a small sigh.  
  
Noah felt torn inside. He knew that Derek didn’t particularly like listening to the adults talking, but he also felt bad that he was missing out on all the social stuff, especially since they were all having a nice time. He wondered if Derek could hear their laughter upstairs and was maybe feeling too proud to come down and join them, and was just sulking in his room alone now.  
  
“I go get Derek!” Claire suddenly announced, jumping up from the floor in joy. She grinned brightly as she walked towards the door to go upstairs and get her brother, while the others looked kind of surprised.  
  
“I’m not sure he wants to come and join us,” Nathan pointed out, glancing over his shoulder at his little sister.  
  
“He does!” Claire insisted, stopping in her tracks to turn around and look at the others. “I’ll make him!” She turned again and kept walking, looking quite excited about going to get Derek.  
  
“Okay, but if he says no, don’t push him,” Noah called after her, feeling somewhat worried that Claire would end up annoying Derek even more. She could be quite stubborn sometimes. “You can tell him that we’re having cookies and cocoa soon. That should make him come downstairs,” he added.  
  
“Okay!” Claire chirped from the entrance hall, where she was already ascending the stairs.  
  
“Wow, what a determined little lady,” Laura chuckled.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, sometimes she is.”  
  
Dylan felt kind of worried for Claire as well, hoping that Derek wouldn’t be too harsh or rude to her if she tried to persuade him to come downstairs if he didn’t want to go. He wondered if he should go with her and was just about to get up when Anna suddenly wobbled over to him and wanted to play.  
  
Meanwhile, Claire climbed the many stairs until she reached the top. She panted from exhaustion, feeling like the stairs just went on forever, even though they only led to the second floor. She was too excited to wait and catch her breath, so she ran over to Derek and Dylan’s room right away, feeling just as enthusiastic as before. She stopped by the door before slapping her hands against the wood over and over, like she always did when wanting to enter a room and was waiting for permission.  
  
Inside the room, Derek instantly knew that it was his little sister who was knocking on the door, because she was the only one who knocked on the door like that. He was sitting at his desk by his computer when Claire started knocking on the door, and he let out a long, irritated groan before getting up to answer the door.  
  
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” he said loudly when Claire kept slapping her little hands against the door to get his attention.  
  
There was no key in the door because the room was shared by Derek and Dylan, and Derek had used to lock his little brother out sometimes just after they started sharing rooms, so Jayden had confiscated the key so he couldn’t do that anymore.  
  
Derek felt utterly annoyed as he went over and opened the door for his sister. He just wanted to be left alone and play his video games on his computer.  
  
Derek opened the door and stared down at little Claire, who had a big, happy smile on her face when she spotted him. Some of Derek’s irritation went away the moment he saw how happy his sister looked to see him.  
  
“What is it?” Derek asked her, trying to sound more annoyed than he was so that she would go away and leave him alone. He didn’t feel like being social at the moment.  
  
However, instead of going away Claire just grinned up at him before running into the room, right past Derek.  
  
“Hey!” Derek exclaimed, turning to see what she was doing.  
  
Claire ran over to Derek’s bed and climbed onto it. She grinned in mischief as she started jumping on the bed, not caring that each jump lifted her skirt. At least she was wearing stockings underneath, so Derek didn’t have to worry about going blind.  
  
“Hey, don’t jump on my bed! Mom and dad say we can’t!” Derek scolded, shutting the door as he went over to give his sister his ‘that’s-not-allowed’ look.  
  
“Derek come downstairs!” Claire chirped while she jumped around, getting more hyper by the minute.  
  
Again, Derek groaned in irritation. “But I don’t wanna. Just wanna be alone and play games, alright? And please stop jumping; you’re gonna fall through my mattress…”  
  
Claire just laughed, getting a funny image in her head as her brother said that. Her jumps got slower, but she didn’t quite stop. Instead, she jumped a little closer to the edge so that she was closer to Derek. “But everyone is happy downstairs. Derek needs to join. We misses you!”  
  
Derek looked quite unconvinced by that. “I seriously doubt they miss me, and I’m just fine here by myself. No stupid Nathan around to criticize everything I do…” He muttered out the last words with such bitterness it made Claire stop her jumping.  
  
Claire stared up at her brother, tilting her head a bit as she studied his face. She couldn’t quite interpret his expression, though, but she thought he looked kind of sad. She looked at him for a few seconds before quietly asking, “Is you sad…?”  
  
Claire’s words yanked Derek out of his thoughts. “What? No!” he quickly denied. “I just don’t wanna be around anyone, okay?”  
  
Claire’s wings drooped a little behind her, and Derek felt kind of guilty when he saw her face turning sad. “But why?” she asked, not understanding at all why Derek wouldn’t come join everyone and have fun.  
  
“Because… I dunno.” Derek shrugged. “Listening to the adults is boring, and Nathan’s always stupid… And I’m not one for tea parties and babysitting. My games are way more interesting.”  
  
Claire considered his words for a bit before reaching out and grabbing Derek’s arm. She was still standing on Derek’s bed, which made her more or less the same height as Derek now. “Derek downstairs!” she insisted. “I wants you downstairs… And mommy says we gonna have cooks and cocoa!”  
  
Derek frowned at her words. “Cooks?” It took him a moment to know what she meant. “Ah, you mean _cookies._ You’re saying it wrong,” he chuckled.  
  
“Cooks!”  
  
Derek laughed. “No, _cookies._ God, you’re such a dumbass.” He said the word ‘dumbass’ with affection.  
  
“Derek is dumbass!” Claire retorted, pouting in offense. She tugged on his arm, which she was still holding onto. “Downstairs.”  
  
“I already told you no…”  
  
“Downstairs!”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Downstairs.”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Downstairs!” Claire insisted, this time practically shouting the words for her brother to understand. She had that determined and stubborn look on her face that told Derek that she wasn’t going to give up so easily.  
  
Derek let out a long sigh of defeat and annoyance. “Okay, okay, _fine._ I’ll come downstairs.”  
  
“Yay!” Claire cheered, raising her arms as she grinned at Derek in victory. She then reached out her arms towards him, saying, “Derek carry me on back!”  
  
Derek’s eyes widened in horror. “What? No way!”  
  
When Claire started looking upset and sad about the rejection, Derek once again felt like he had no choice but to give in.  
  
“Okay, _fine,_ I’ll carry you… But not down the stairs; I’m afraid I’ll fall and kill us both,” Derek muttered while turning around to give his sister a piggy-ride. He softened his feathers so she wouldn’t get hurt, and was glad that no one was around to see it. He didn’t like softening his feathers around anyone; it felt uncool. But when it was just Claire then he didn’t mind it much. She was too young to judge him anyways.  
  
Claire was all cheerful again as she jumped up on Derek’s back, who had to stretch out his wings to make space for her. It was a bit difficult for angels, demons, and winged hybrids to give piggy-rides, but it wasn’t impossible. They just had to stretch out their wings, and the person riding on their back had to put up with getting feathers in their mouth every now and then. But since wings were personal and not meant to be touched by just anyone, piggy-rides were mostly only given to their closest family members or mates.  
  
Once Claire got settled against Derek’s back, she started humming happily and grasped a hold of his shirt and wings to have something to hold on to. Derek smiled a bit at her humming and made sure he had a good hold of her before he started moving around the room. Being all alone with his sister, he didn’t have to worry about anyone else judging any childish things he did with her, so he started pretending he was an airplane and Claire was the pilot, and grinned when he heard her squeal and laugh as they played.  
  
They fooled around for only a minute before Derek had enough. He was still too proud to do such childish things, but for some reason he liked making his sister happy and hear her laugh when he played with her like that. He didn’t spend a lot of time with Claire because he hated ‘girlish’ things, such as tea parties and dolls, and they pretty much only played together when the whole family was playing ball in the garden or played card games during the weekends.  
  
Claire was a little upset when Derek said she had to climb off his back because he didn’t want to carry her anymore, but eventually she did as she was told. Derek bent down to let Claire climb off him safely, and once she was off he let his feathers go back to their half-sharp state again.  
  
“Downstairs!” Claire begged again, grabbing a hold of Derek’s arm as she started dragging him out of the room.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I got it. I’m coming.” Derek rolled his eyes a bit before joining his sister.  
  
Claire was still all hyper and happy, and she seemed even happier after Derek had played a bit with her.  
  
Together they went downstairs to join the others and have cookies and cocoa.  
  
Derek didn’t say a word to Nathan when he joined everyone again, and Nathan didn’t talk to him either. They were quite irritated with each other lately, so it wasn’t uncommon for them to ignore each other.  
  
Noah was glad that Claire had managed to make Derek join them and that she was still as happy as ever. It looked like Derek hadn’t got that upset with her after all. He hated how Nathan and Derek acted around each other, though, but he was starting to get used to it. He just hoped that they would get along again soon.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The family spent the next few hours chatting and playing card games together. Playing cards was always fun, and Derek seemed happy that he had joined them because he loved playing cards.  
  
They went to the dining room to play cards, because it was easier to play at the table there, and Noah put some cookies and snacks on the table for them to eat while they had fun.  
  
The adults tried to take it easy on the kids and let them win a few times, and especially Derek was quite boastful whenever he won a game. He and Nathan got into a few arguments because Nathan hated how cocky Derek got when he won, but Jayden managed to contain the fighting. Claire was also playing, but she didn’t understand the rules of the more complex card games, so when they started playing the more difficult games she was just a spectator. Dylan could keep up with most of it because he was smart, and Derek got really upset when Dylan managed to win against him in one of the games.  
  
“You’re a sore loser, Derek,” Nathan mocked when Derek continued being upset that he had lost to Dylan.  
  
“Shut up! I _almost_ had him and then he just turns the table and beats my ass!” Derek complained. He glared daggers at Nathan, who was sitting on the other side of the table. Derek was sitting next to Claire, and on Claire’s other side were Noah and Laura. Jayden was at the table end because it was easier for him to get up once in a while and go check on the food that was cooking in the kitchen, and Nicholas, Nathan, and Dylan sat on the other side of the table. Anna was currently napping in the upstairs guestroom in Claire’s old crib.  
  
“Sorry,” Dylan giggled, though it was obvious that he didn’t feel sorry at all. If anything, he was kind of proud of himself that he had managed to beat Derek at a card game that Derek was pretty good at.  
  
Derek glared briefly at Dylan and looked more offended when some of the others laughed.  
  
“Dylan good!” Claire grinned over at Dylan.  
  
“Yeah, it was pretty good,” Laura agreed. “I wouldn’t wanna play cards with you when you get older. I have the feeling I’d never win.” She smiled over at Dylan, who blushed a bit at the compliment.  
  
Nathan couldn’t help but feel like it was good for Derek that someone finally knocked him off his high horse, when suddenly they heard doorbell ring.  
  
They weren’t expecting any more guests, so they all shared a look of confusion.  
  
“I’ll go see who it is,” Nathan said, volunteering to get up and open the door for the unknown visitor.  
  
“Okay. Thanks, Nathan,” Noah told him.  
  
Nathan just nodded before getting up to answer the door. He rushed over to the front door, wondering who would visit them at 5:50pm on a Saturday evening.  
  
Nathan quickly opened the door to see who was there, expecting it to maybe be Isaac who had a habit of showing up unannounced at times, but was surprised to see his friend Emily in the doorway.  
  
“Hey,” Emily smiled, shifting a bit as she glanced up at Nathan with a bright smile. Like Nathan, she had grown a lot in the past few years. She still had long blonde hair and grey eyes, except now she used make-up to give her cheeks more color and make her eyelashes more visible.  
  
Nathan blinked at her in surprise, not having expected it to be her at the door. “Hey,” he greeted her back. “What’s up? Don’t tell me I forgot something at your house…”  
  
“Well, you kinda did,” Emily chuckled, her tailing curling next to her in in an almost shy manner. She blushed as she reached out her hand and dropped something into Nathan’s hand.  
  
Nathan frowned and looked down to see what it was that Emily had put in his hand. His face became red like a tomato when he saw an unopened condom in his hand.  
  
“That’s one of the things you forgot,” Emily said, also kind of blushing now. “I don’t want my parents to find it; that would be embarrassing.” She chuckled a bit at Nathan’s flustered face before pulling out another item from her pocket. “And you also forgot this.” She handed him a USB stick, which she dropped into his other hand when he reached out for it. “For some reason you prefer USB sticks over things like Dropbox and so on, and then you even manage to forget it at my house.”  
  
Nathan groaned at himself for forgetting it. “Right. That’s ‘cause my nosey brother Derek once got on my computer and messed around with my Dropbox password to annoy me, and then suddenly it didn’t work when I had to access it at school. So I save my assignments on a USB stick now so I’m over that problem.” He was still all flustered and awkward as he quickly shoved the condom into his jean’s pocket and glanced around in paranoia to make sure that no one had seen it.  
  
Emily chuckled at him. It was that cute kind of chuckle that just made Nathan stare at her and forget about everything else.  
  
They both flinched when Jayden was suddenly standing right behind Nathan.  
  
“Oh, it’s you, Emily,” Jayden smiled when he saw her. “I was wondering who was coming over for a visit.”  
  
Nathan tried his best to act normal now that his dad was there, and Emily gave Jayden a polite smile as she looked up at him.  
  
“Yep, just me,” Emily grinned. “Nathan forgot his USB stick, so I came by to hand it back to him. He’s such a dummy.”  
  
Nathan gave her a small glare for calling him that in front of his dad, but Emily just giggled when she saw the displeased look on his face.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, sometimes he is.”  
  
“Har har,” Nathan murmured, rolling his eyes and looking a bit offended.  
  
Jayden chuckled at his son and patted him on the shoulder to cheer him up. “Wanna join us for dinner? I’ve made enough food for you to join as well,” he offered to Emily.  
  
Emily seemed surprised by the offer, because she knew that they had visitors at the moment. “Oh, no, I don’t wanna intrude. I just came by to return the, um, USB stick.”  
  
Nathan was relieved that Emily didn’t accidentally let it slip that the USB stick hadn’t been the only thing she had returned to him.  
  
“You sure?” Jayden asked, his brows furrowing with a surprise. “You used to eat at our place a lot when you were smaller, so…”  
  
“I’m sure,” Emily smiled. “Besides, my mom is making dinner for me, so…”  
  
Jayden was about to speak when Derek suddenly showed up behind them.  
  
“Oh, look! It’s Nathan’s girlfriend!” Derek exclaimed, giving Nathan a smug smirk when he saw his brother flinch and look all flustered.  
  
Nathan turned around and snarled at him, puffing out his feathers in anger. “Shut the hell up!” His feathers were only half-sharp and couldn’t turn fully sharp like Derek’s, so Derek didn’t feel very threatened by them.  
  
“Or what? You gonna burn my eyes out by kissing her in front of me?”  
  
“You little—!” Nathan growled as he reached out to strangle Derek, but Jayden quickly got in his way.  
  
“Okay, that’s enough! Both of you,” Jayden said in a raised voice as he looked between the boys with a stern and serious look on his face. “You’re behaving like little children! Derek, go be useful in the kitchen and help your mom get the plates and everything ready for dinner.”  
  
“But—”  
  
“Now.”  
  
Derek’s mouth snapped shut and he glared at his dad before turning on his heel and going to the kitchen to help out Noah. He muttered small curses under his breath as he went there, and Nathan glared at him until he was out of sight.  
  
“Sorry about that,” Jayden told Emily when he turned to look at her again. “You know how they are.”  
  
“Yeah,” Emily chuckled, suppressing the blush that had appeared on her face when Derek had made that comment earlier. “And I better head home now.” She turned to look at Nathan and smiled when their eyes met. “See you on Monday, Nathan.”  
  
“Yeah.” Nathan blushed a bit as he said goodbye to her, mostly because Derek had just embarrassed him in front of Emily and his dad.  
  
Jayden told Emily to greet her family from them before saying goodbye and closing the door once she was gone.  
  
Nathan let out a loud groan as he and Jayden turned to join the others again. “Dad, please allow me to permanently tape Derek’s mouth shut.”  
  
Jayden let out a laugh. “Sorry, buddy, but I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” He chuckled as he patted Nathan’s shoulder in sympathy and heard his son mutter a small curse before they joined the family again.  
  
“Who was it?” Laura asked them once they returned to the dining room.  
  
“Nathan’s friend Emily,” Jayden explained. “She came over to return something that Nathan forgot at her place earlier. And she didn’t want to stay for dinner, so she left again.”  
  
“Oh… That’s too bad. I haven’t seen her since she was a little kid. Would have been nice to see her again.”  
  
Nathan, however, was kind of glad that Emily had left. He felt like it would have been way too awkward if she had stayed around.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The family had a great time together. Dinner was really delicious, and Jayden had cooked one of Laura’s favorites – lasagna. It was all homemade, and Nicholas was impressed by Jayden’s good cooking. He had eaten Jayden’s cooking before, but never his lasagna.  
  
After dinner they spent a while chatting and playing more games together.  
  
Laura had to excuse herself a few times because her pregnancy made her feel unwell, and Dylan was a little worried each time he saw his aunt head to the bathroom to throw up. He had a bit of trouble understanding why the baby was making her sick.  
  
Laura and Nicholas were staying for the night, and at 8pm they went upstairs to the guestroom to put Anna to sleep. Anna had woken up just before dinner and she had been awake ever since, but now it was time for her to sleep again.  
  
8pm was also Claire’s bedtime on the weekends, and Laura had offered to tuck her in tonight. She really wanted to spend some time with her little niece, so Jayden and Noah had allowed her to put Claire to sleep.  
  
While Laura was reading Claire bedtime stories and helping her fall asleep in her room, Nicholas was in the guestroom, trying to calm down Anna and make her sleep.  
  
“Anna’s kinda loud,” Dylan commented as he stood at the bottom of the stairs and glanced up towards the second floor. He could hear Anna cries from the guestroom, where Nicholas was currently struggling to calm her down and get her to sleep.  
  
“Yeah, babies are like that,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“Is she gonna scream all night long?” Dylan glanced up his dad with a nervous look on his face.  
  
Jayden laughed when he saw Dylan’s face. “No, I don’t think so. She’ll be quiet once she falls asleep. Claire didn’t scream all night either when she was that little, remember?”  
  
“Well, sometimes she did…”  
  
Jayden opened his mouth to argue, but quickly snapped it shut again. “Well, you’re right. But that was only when she was sick. It wasn’t _every_ night.”  
  
Nathan, Noah, and Derek had just finished cleaning up in the kitchen and dining room when they went to see what Jayden and Dylan were up to in the entrance hall. Derek had been very reluctant to help clean up, but when he was promised pocket money for it he seemed much more eager to help. Nathan, Derek, and Dylan all got pocket money each month for helping out around the house, like taking out the trash, setting the table for breakfast and dinner, feeding the cats, doing laundry, etc.  
  
Jayden smiled when he saw Noah coming over to them, and Nathan and Derek grimaced when they saw their parents move closer and share a kiss in front of them.  
  
Dylan didn’t think it was all that gross to watch; he liked seeing them looking happy when they showed affection for each other. However, it wasn’t exactly something he was eager to watch either.  
  
Nathan let out a small cough to make his parents stop kissing. As much as he liked seeing them getting along and being affectionate, it was just pretty awkward to see them kiss like that right in front of him and his siblings. “By the way, didn’t you guys have something to tell Dylan?”  
  
Noah and Jayden pulled apart and shared a look of confusion before glancing back at Nathan.  
  
“No…? What are you thinking of?” Jayden asked, frowning.  
  
“You know… ‘The talk’,” Nathan reminded them, coughing again.  
  
The expressions on Jayden and Noah’s faces made Nathan laugh, while Dylan just looked more confused than ever.  
  
“Oh my god, they _still_ haven’t told him?” Derek exclaimed, his jaw dropping.  
  
“Told me what?” Dylan asked, glancing between all of them and looking quite annoyed that he had no idea what they were talking about.  
  
“Um…” Noah began, shifting nervously.  
  
Jayden tried not to let his awkwardness show and instead let out a deep sigh when he realized he had no choice. “Well, I guess it’s about time… He’s nine after all. Unless _you_ wanna tell him, Nathan? Since you seem so eager for him to know.”  
  
“Nah,” Nathan said, looking quite uncomfortable with the idea. “I just think it’s about time you told him before Derek does. And I don’t think it’ll be pretty if Derek tells him… Besides, I think he really needs to know already.”  
  
Derek looked kind of offended by Nathan’s words, but Jayden cut him off before he could complain.  
  
“Alright, fine. Let’s go to the living room so they can’t hear us upstairs,” Jayden said, rubbing his neck a bit as he led everyone into the living room.  
  
Noah felt kind of awkward about it. He kind of didn’t want Dylan to know about that stuff yet, but he also knew that his son needed to know about these things soon.  
  
“What are you gonna tell me?” Dylan asked, glancing between all of them with a confused frown as they gathered in the living room.  
  
“Well, there are a few things you need to know about growing up,” Jayden started, still rubbing the back of his neck from awkwardness. “And one of those things is to know where babies come from. Tell me, Dylan, what do you know about that?” He suspected that Dylan might know more than it seemed, but Jayden didn’t know exactly how much.  
  
“Oh.” Dylan blinked and started shifting a bit. “Um, well, some of the boys at school mentioned that it has something to do with our private parts… That, um, they gotta touch or something. But I dunno exactly what they mean.”  
  
Derek laughed. “I don’t think just _touching_ is enough.”  
  
Dylan’s face flushed. “Well, how am I supposed to know?!” he yelled, annoyed that Derek was such a smartass.  
  
“Boys,” Jayden said, stopping the fight before it could start. “Well, it does include very, um, intimate contact of your private parts,” he told Dylan, trying to explain to him how it worked.  
  
When it seemed like Jayden didn’t know how to proceed from there, Noah decided to help him out a bit.  
  
“Dylan, you know that each gender is different ‘down there’, right?” Noah asked patiently.  
  
Dylan nodded. “Yeah. Boys have a penis and girls don’t. Subs have them too, but they’re kinda different, right?”  
  
Noah nodded and felt more awkward than he had for a long time. “Um, yes, that’s correct. Girls don’t have a penis because they have a vagina instead. It’s like a hole that goes into their abdomen, and it’s where the baby comes out when it’s born.”  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened. “B-But I thought babies were cut out of the mommy’s stomach during a surgery? That’s how Benjamin was born, he told me.”  
  
“Well, some babies do get born like that, but mostly only when it’s not possible for them to be born in the natural way.”  
  
Dylan looked downright horrified. “But that… That must hurt! How can a baby come out down there?!”  
  
“Well, vaginas are very stretchy,” Jayden explained, chuckling a bit at Dylan’s horrified face. “I believe it does hurt a lot, but it’s still possible for a baby to come out without hurting the mother permanently.”  
  
Dylan looked like he couldn’t quite believe it, and Nathan and Derek both thought it was kind of amusing to watch his face.  
  
“But mommy’s not a girl,” Dylan pointed out. “So he doesn’t have a vagina, does he? Then how were we born?”  
  
Jayden watched as Noah’s face reddened like tomato, and he chuckled as he found it kind of cute. “Well,” he began, “subs don’t have vaginas, that’s right. Instead, the baby comes out from their, um, behind.” When Dylan looked confused, Jayden explained further. “Subs are built differently than betas and alphas; their butts are kind of like a vagina. It’s stretchy and wet inside, and like with females there is a sort of tunnel connected to it that leads to the womb, which is where the baby is created and stays until it’s ready to be born.”  
  
“I think you should tell him how the baby gets there,” Derek giggled. “I don’t think he gets it.”  
  
Dylan shot Derek a glare for implying that he was stupid, but Jayden spoke before they two could argue.  
  
“Alright,” Jayden began. “It isn’t just on the outside that the genders are different, but also inside. Males – meaning betas, alphas, and human and hybrid males, except for submissives – have something called sperm inside their bodies. And this, um, sperm contains the male’s DNA and so on. Girls and subs don’t have that, but they have tiny little eggs inside their bodies instead. And when a sperm cell and an egg meet, they merge and mix the DNA of both parents, and from that a baby grows.”  
  
“Oh,” Dylan said, blinking as he took in all the new information. “That’s why I look a bit like daddy and a bit like mommy?”  
  
“Yep,” Jayden grinned. “’Cause you have both of our DNA in you.”  
  
“That’s kinda cool,” Dylan grinned.  
  
“Yeah, it kinda is. But the sperm and egg have to meet, you know?”  
  
“Right. How do they do that exactly?” Dylan asked. He frowned a bit when both Derek and Nathan started giggling in the background.  
  
Jayden ignored his sons’ giggling and continued. “Well, the male’s sperm is inside his testicles, which are the balls located under your penis.” It felt so awkward explaining things like this, but he had to make sure that Dylan would understand. “And the egg is found inside the girl or sub’s ovaries, which are located near the womb. The only way to access the egg is through the vagina or a sub’s, um, hole.” He glared at Nathan and Derek who were still giggling. It was distracting him. “So, when a male wants to make a girl or a sub pregnant, he has to put his penis inside the girl’s vagina or the sub’s hole. Got it so far?”  
  
Dylan looked more mortified by the second, but there was also a hint of curiosity and amazement in his eyes. “That’s… Is that even possible? And doesn’t that hurt?”  
  
Noah was unable to speak from embarrassment, so Jayden had to continue.  
  
“No, it doesn’t hurt,” Jayden chuckled. “The vagina and a sub’s hole get very wet and slick during this process, so it eases the way. It’s called having sex, and all couples and mates do it. Your body gets very sensitive and every touch feels nice, and it encourages people to do it and make babies. When two people are having sex, eventually the male reaches a point where it feels so good that his body starts to release the sperm, and then the sperm goes into their partner’s body and finds the egg, and then they’ll have a baby.”  
  
“Oh. You mean you and mommy have actually _done_ that?”  
  
Jayden couldn’t suppress his blush this time. “Well, yeah, we have… Otherwise we wouldn’t have any of you.”  
  
“Ew, I don’t wanna think about it!” Derek exclaimed, looking absolutely traumatized.  
  
Nathan also looked a bit disgusted, but he was more mature about it than Derek was.  
  
Dylan was still kind of in shock that his parents had done something like that. He glanced up at Noah, feeling kind of sorry for him somehow. “It really doesn’t hurt?”  
  
Noah to strain himself to find his voice again. “Um, no, it doesn’t. The first time always kinda hurts, but that’s mostly only when you’re nervous and your muscles are all tight. But otherwise no, it doesn’t hurt. It, um, feels pleasant.”  
  
“And people don’t just do this to have a baby,” Jayden pointed out. “People do it because it feels nice and it makes you feel closer to your partner… And you can use protection, such as heat suppressants – as Laura mentioned earlier today – so you don’t get pregnant.”  
  
“Oh. How does that work?” Dylan asked.  
  
“Well, a submissive can only become pregnant when he’s in heat. Heat is when an egg is released inside the body, waiting to be fertilized by a sperm cell. Subs go into heat after they have mated with someone. You know a bit about mating and bonding, right?”  
  
Dylan nodded. “Yeah, it’s when you fall in love and choose to be together.”  
  
“That’s right. So a sub goes into heat after that and can become pregnant, but if he takes pills he can stop his heat and thus avoid getting pregnant, at least until he stops taking the pills. It’s the same for females, except that females can also become pregnant outside their heat. When females reach puberty – which is when your body matures, sexually – they start being able to get pregnant, even if they aren’t mated, but once they are mated they start having heats and have a higher chance of becoming pregnant.”  
  
“Oh, I see… So what Auntie Laura said earlier, she meant that she forgot to take her pill and then she got pregnant?”  
  
“Yeah, that’s right,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“That’s kinda stupid of her to forget,” Dylan pointed out.  
  
Nathan laughed. “You better not tell her that to her face.”  
  
Jayden chuckled in agreement. “Yeah, better not.”  
  
Dylan thought about everything his dad had just told him, trying to make proper sense of it. It did sound kind of gross in a way, but it also sounded kind of interesting. As far as Dylan understood, sex was a positive thing for couples and mates, and he wondered what it was like for both partners. Surely people wouldn’t be doing it so often if it wasn’t pleasant.  
  
“But remember,” Jayden added, making Dylan turn his attention back to him. “Sex isn’t something you do with just anyone, okay? And you have to be old enough for it – 15 years old, at least, and so does your partner. And there’s no shame in not having sex until you’re well into your twenties or thirties – sex should never be forced, which means you should never force anyone into sex who doesn’t want it, and you don’t have to have sex with someone else if you don’t want it. It’s something that always has to be consensual, otherwise it’s called rape and that’s a crime. You can seriously hurt someone if you have sex with them against their will, and you yourself can end up regretting it if you have sex with someone without being ready. So just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean you gotta do it as well. It’s an experience that shouldn’t be forced, alright?” He looked at all of his sons as he said that, hoping to get his point across.  
  
Nathan and Derek just nodded quietly, and Dylan did as well.  
  
“But still… Seeing Dylan’s face was kind of funny,” Derek smirked. “I’m surprised you didn’t know anything about that yet. You’re _nine_ already.”  
  
“Well, I don’t think it’s such a normal conversation between nine-year-olds,” Nathan pointed out. Once again he was annoyed at Derek for always being so condescending towards Dylan. “Besides, not everyone is as twisted in their heads as you and your friends, who started having such conversations when you were _seven._ ”  
  
“I was old enough to know!” Derek argued.  
  
“That’s debatable,” Jayden snorted. “You certainly weren’t mature enough.”  
  
“That’s not true!” Derek growled, angry whenever someone accused him of being immature.  
  
“Derek, calm down,” Noah said, keeping his voice soft so he could hopefully talk his alpha son down.  
  
Derek still looked annoyed and defiant, but stood down before the argument got worse.  
  
They all looked up when they heard Laura and Nicholas walking down the stairs to join them in the living room. They all stopped talking, not wanting things to get more awkward.  
  
“So, now both of the princesses are fast asleep,” Laura grinned as she entered the living room with her mate.  
  
Noah smiled at her. “That’s nice. Thank you.” He was kind of relieved that Laura and Nicholas had shown up again. Sex was always awkward to talk about, but he was glad that Jayden was pretty good at explaining those things without being too embarrassed.  
  
Nicholas, however, was already noticing everyone’s tense postures. “Why are you all looking so constipated? Did something happen?”  
  
“Well,” Jayden began, hesitating before looking down at Dylan. “Just gave the young man here his first lesson in the birds and the bees… So yeah, things are kind of awkward at the moment.”  
  
“Ah,” Nicholas chuckled, feeling kind of sorry for Jayden that he had to explain such things once again.  
  
“Ohh.” Laura stared between them all, and she couldn’t help but feel sorry for Noah when she saw his red face. “That must have been awkward. Kinda glad I wasn’t around.” She chuckled when Noah looked like he agreed before she turned to look at Dylan. “So, you feeling much more clever now?”  
  
“Kind of,” Dylan said, grimacing a bit. “It sounds a bit disgusting and painful.” They all laughed when he said that. “And there a few things that I still find confusing…”  
  
“Oh. Well, just ask you mom if you wanna know more. I bet he’ll be happy to tell you all about it.” Laura smirked as she looked at Noah and their eyes met.  
  
Noah looked quite unimpressed that Laura had said that on his half behalf, and she couldn’t stop laughing at his face. Although the whole thing was kind of embarrassing, Noah would still answer any question that Dylan had about it. He just hoped his son would ask him when they were alone, so he didn’t have Nathan and Derek around to giggle at them.  
  
The awkwardness disappeared when the family sat down to play more games and have fun. Derek and Nathan both stayed to participate, and this time they didn’t argue nearly as much.  
  
Dylan didn’t seem as confused anymore when Laura talked a bit about her baby, because she had explained to him that her sickness was because of hormonal changes in her body during her pregnancy. He felt kind of sorry for that she had to feel sick because of it, and he felt sorry for his mom too that he had had to go through the same all the times he had been pregnant.  
  
Dylan was quite fascinated by the whole baby thing, and he was starting to learn more about family dynamics now that he knew more about how relationship between mates worked, and how one’s body changed as it got older. He still had a lot to learn about it, though, but he felt pretty comfortable that he could talk to his parents about it and get answers. Nathan would probably explain some things to him as well, he figured, but he didn’t trust Derek to be serious with him if he asked.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nathan is all grown up now… I have to get used to that, because to me he’s still kind of a little kid :) 
> 
> I’ll be exploring more of Nathan’s relationships and teenage/adult life, and of course Derek and Dylan’s! They’re all growing up… it's kinda weird. But I hope you guys are enjoying the ride :)


	59. Chapter 59

**February 2067 (Noah is 40 (almost 41), Jayden is 42, Nathan is 17, Derek is 12 (almost 13), Dylan is 9, Claire is 4 (almost 5), Castiel is 77, Dean is 79, Eden is 53, Adrian is 50, Isaac & Lily are 46 years old).**  
  
Noah woke up in the morning when he felt Jayden embracing him from behind. His mate’s strong arms felt nice and protective around him, and he smiled as he leaned into the touch and took in the scent of his alpha.  
  
It was a Saturday, so they didn’t have to worry about getting up in time to prepare the kids for school or go to work.  
  
“Morning,” Jayden purred against Noah’s ear, placing a kiss there as he snuggled closer to him and wrapped his arms tighter around his mate.  
  
“Morning,” Noah replied in a raspy voice, still too sleepy to open his eyes. He hummed as he enjoyed Jayden’s arms around him, and wasn’t surprised when he felt his mate’s erection poking against his butt. The touch sent pleasant shivers through him and it got stronger when Jayden started rubbing his dick slowly between Noah’s buttocks, teasing him.  
  
Jayden let out a small laugh when he heard Noah grunt at the teasing, but he just couldn’t help his erection right now. As an alpha his libido was pretty high, and having his gorgeous mate sleeping naked right next to him certainly didn’t make him any less horny. He hoped that Noah was in the mood for sex as well, because Jayden certainly felt like he was bursting. He had been busy with work all week and they hadn’t had sex for five days already.  
  
“You’re a tease,” Noah complained when Jayden kept rubbing his cock between his buttocks. Noah could feel the arousal flowing through his body in response to Jayden’s touch, and his ass was slicking up heavily whenever Jayden’s thick cock rubbed against his hole in slow, teasing moves.  
  
“Mhmm, just trying to get you in the mood,” Jayden purred. His lips were curled into what Noah usually called an ‘idiot smile’, and he was kinda glad that Noah couldn’t see his face, otherwise the sub would smack him one. “Really wanna be inside you…”  
  
Noah couldn’t help the needy whimper that escaped his lips. His body was aching for its mate and he couldn’t take it anymore. He gently wriggled out of Jayden’s hold so he could roll over onto his back, and he spread his legs so Jayden could lie between them.  
  
The alpha wasted no time and quickly moved on top of Noah, fitting perfectly between Noah’s legs. He caught Noah’s wrists in a gentle hold and pinned them next to Noah’s head before catching the submissive’s lips in a heated kiss. Noah responded by bucking up eagerly and returning the kiss, and Jayden loved the way Noah reacted to his touches.  
  
Jayden let go of one of Noah’s slim wrists and brought his hand down to Noah’s hole, slipping his fingers inside to stretch the tight muscles.  
  
Noah welcomed the touch, moaning and writhing under Jayden as the alpha prepared him for sex and got him worked up even more.  
  
Once Noah was ready, Jayden pulled out his fingers and replaced them with his cock, sliding into his mate with ease and bottoming out inside him on the first thrust. He caught Noah’s moan as he pressed their lips together in a deep kiss, pinning Noah’s wrists to the bed once again.  
  
Noah’s body was on fire, enjoying every touch of his mate. He loved how powerless he felt when Jayden trapped his wrists like that, and the feel of his thick cock sliding in and out of him and filling him up. He writhed under Jayden’s larger body, trying to buck up and meet Jayden’s slow thrusts, but Jayden wouldn’t let him. He could tell that Jayden was eager to be in full control right now and decide how much pleasure Noah got from this, and it turned Noah on like crazy. His movements were completely limited as Jayden’s thrusts got harder and faster, and all he could do was to wrap his legs around the alpha just take it when Jayden pounded into him.  
  
Jayden kept pounding into him harder, and eventually broke their kiss to suck small bruises into Noah’s neck instead. The submissive let out a soft whimper and bared his neck to him, and Jayden couldn’t stop the pleased growl that escaped him when his mate gave up all control to him. He licked and sucked gently on Noah’s skin, marking him as his own while showing affection at the same time, and the feel of Noah’s muscles contracting and accepting him during sex spurred him on more. Noah was all warm and wet, and the harder Jayden fucked him, the wetter he got.  
  
They were almost at their climaxes now and Noah was starting to get a little loud. He couldn’t hold back his moans and whimpers of pleasure, and as hot as it was, it was also pretty inconvenient, seeing as all the kids were in the house too – and the fact that Jayden hadn’t locked the door.  
  
Noah had to bite down on his lower lip to shut himself up, but every time Jayden hit just the right spot inside him, his mouth fell open and his moans escaped. He quickly snapped his mouth shut again, praying that the kids hadn’t heard it.  
  
When Jayden sucked on one of the most sensitive spots on his neck, Noah just couldn’t take it anymore. He came hard, biting his lip to hold back his cries, and his entire body trembled and convulsed beneath Jayden.  
  
Feeling Noah’s body shake under him as his intense orgasm rippled through him was what pulled Jayden over the edge too. He came hard inside Noah, grunting and moaning his way through it, but tried to keep it down so no one outside the room could hear them.  
  
They panted for breath once it was over and clung to each other in the aftermath.  
  
Noah’s body tingled with satisfaction and he purred softly at the pleasant feeling. This was one of his favorite moments with Jayden; sharing soft touches and cuddling after an intense session of sex. Jayden could be very affectionate and sweet after they had sex, and Noah really liked that. He loved being caressed and cuddled afterwards, and right now Jayden was placing soft kisses on his neck while purring deeply in his throat.  
  
Jayden was busy worshipping his beautiful mate’s body when he suddenly felt Noah laugh under him. He blinked a few times and leaned back a bit so he could see his face. “What?” he asked, confused about what was so funny.  
  
Noah was still laughing, but stopped when he looked up and met Jayden’s eyes. “Nothing. Just… Your tail tickled my foot while you kissed me.”  
  
“Oh, is that so?” Jayden smirked, moving his tail down to tickle Noah’s feet again. “Like this?”  
  
Again Noah burst out laughing and tried to half-heartedly push Jayden off him. “Ahh, stop it!”  
  
Jayden just grinned and leaned down to kiss his mate’s neck, chuckling when Noah laughed again. He had the feeling that Noah’s laughter was partly caused by him being high from his orgasm at the moment.  
  
When he was done teasing Noah, Jayden leaned up on his forearms and glanced down at his mate with a soft smile. Noah was just as beautiful as always, despite years having passed and motherhood being kind of hard on him sometimes. He was still the adorable, cute submissive that Jayden had fallen in love with so many years ago.  
  
Noah noticed the smile on Jayden’s face and didn’t quite understand why he was staring at him like that. He frowned in confusion, and Jayden reached up one hand to caress his cheek with affection.  
  
“I love you,” Jayden whispered, staring at his mate with adoration.  
  
Noah blinked at him before blushing slightly. “I love you too, Connor.”  
  
Jayden let out a small laugh. “You still like calling me that, don’t you?”  
  
“Of course. I like your first name.”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but smile at the honesty in Noah’s voice. He admired his mate for a few more seconds before pulling away, and was as gentle as possible as he separated himself from Noah. The submissive whined at the loss when Jayden’s cock slipped out of him, and Jayden then gestured at him to roll over.  
  
Noah did as he was told, feeling a spike of arousal go through him as he rolled over onto his stomach and felt Jayden lean in to lick his hole clean. He gasped softly when he felt Jayden’s tongue lap at his hole and his hands rubbing his butt cheeks for comfort. It sent pleasant shivers through him, and he was almost embarrassed when his dick started hardening between his legs.  
  
Jayden chuckled when he noticed Noah’s arousal and gave him a playful slap on the butt. “You’re really eager this morning, aren’t you?”  
  
Noah blushed furiously. It always felt kind of embarrassing when Jayden teased him about being aroused. “So what? You just haven’t taken properly care of me this week, that’s all…”  
  
“Oh, so I haven’t fucked you enough, is that it?” There was a hint of teasing in Jayden’s voice and he chuckled as he gave Noah’s butt another slap, watching his mate flinch a bit. “I guess I better make up for that, huh?”  
  
Noah let out a long moan, not caring how desperate it sounded or how his ass was twitching around in front of Jayden, eager to be fucked again. He just really needed to feel his mate inside him once more.  
  
“But,” Jayden suddenly added.  
  
Noah froze, knowing that Jayden had something on his mind that was going to annoy the hell out of him. Jayden wasn’t going to just give Noah what he wanted when he spoke like that, and Noah’s wings twitched in irritation. Now he was just waiting to hear that one condition that Jayden had before he would give Noah the pleasure he needed, and Noah hoped it wouldn’t be something that would take too long.  
  
Jayden smirked. He loved teasing Noah every once in a while. It was so cute when he got frustrated and annoyed when Jayden didn’t him pleasure right here and now. “First I wanna feel that pretty mouth of yours around me… And once you have made me nice and hard again, I’ll let you have what you need. Okay?”  
  
Noah let out groan, but didn’t argue. He quickly got up and moved over to Jayden, who leaned up so that he was supporting himself on his knees and shins on the bed. Noah had good access to his cock like that, and Noah immediately got onto his hands and knees and leaned in to suck Jayden off.  
  
The moment Noah’s wet tongue reached out and licked at his cock, Jayden felt himself growing rock hard again. He gasped at the sight of Noah on his hands and knees in front of him, and how he was leaning down so his face was under Jayden’s cock. From that position Noah could look right up at Jayden’s face, and the alpha had to control himself when he saw Noah flutter his pretty eyelashes at him while he licked a long, teasing stripe across the underside of his cock before finally taking it into his mouth to suck him off properly.  
  
It had been so long since Noah had last done this for Jayden. They often didn’t have time to get kinky and instead just had intercourse (very nice and pleasurable intercourse) before going to sleep at night.  
  
This was one of the things that turned Jayden on a lot about Noah – how he had the ability to look cute, flustered, and innocent, but at the same time suck Jayden off like he was born to do it and know _exactly_ how to bring his alpha over the edge.  
  
It was Jayden’s turn to moan now, and he instinctively reached out and grabbed a hold of Noah’s dark hair while the submissive sucked him off like a pro. Noah’s mouth was wet and warm, and his tongue did all the right movements as it swirled across Jayden’s cock. He also knew exactly how hard to suck and how to time it to give Jayden maximum pleasure, but right now it seemed like Noah was teasing him a bit. He suddenly wasn’t sucking him as hard as he should be, and Jayden frowned as he glanced down at Noah.  
  
Noah met his eyes and smirked a bit around Jayden’s cock.  
  
“Oh, so you’re trying to tease me now, are you?” Jayden chuckled. He grabbed Noah’s hair harder, hearing Noah moan in surprise. “You do remember that I won’t give you what you need until you’ve pleased me enough, right?” He wasn’t being bossy or mean as he said it, it was more like he was teasing Noah back.  
  
The submissive’s eyes narrowed as they glared back up at Jayden, and it looked like he wanted to say something, if his mouth hadn’t been stuffed full of cock at the moment. Jayden chuckled when he saw it, and his cock twitched at how hot it was to see Noah like this.  
  
Noah had wanted to tease Jayden back for being so mean and not giving him what he needed earlier, but now he was starting to feel too desperate to waste time on teasing Jayden. He needed his mate to be inside him again, and he could feel his ass clenching and leaking slick because of his arousal and impatience. It was unbearable. So instead he upped his game and complied with Jayden’s command. He sucked harder and played with Jayden’s sensitive balls, doing everything in his might to please his mate and bring him as close to orgasm as possible.  
  
“Ah, fuck!” Jayden cursed, having almost forgotten how good Noah was at this.  
  
Jayden’s feathers sharpened in response to the immense pleasure he felt, and he had to strain himself to make them soften again. His hips kept bucking forward on their own, almost chocking Noah a few times, so he had to make himself stop doing that as well, but it was difficult when it just felt so _good._  
  
His orgasm was pooling in his abdomen now, warm and amazing, and Jayden almost gave in and let it flow through him when he remembered that he had a promise to keep.  
  
“Ah, okay, that’s enough,” Jayden said, gently pulling Noah off of his cock before he would come. “Otherwise I’m gonna come before I can keep my promise,” he chuckled.  
  
Noah panted and reached up to wipe his mouth clean from saliva and Jayden’s pre-come. His lips were swollen and red, and his face was all flushed. Jayden had to distract his thoughts so he didn’t come right then and there when he looked at Noah.  
  
Jayden shifted his position then, sitting down on the bed before pulling Noah onto his lap. The submissive let out a soft yelp and supported himself on his shins, placed on either side of Jayden, while giving his mate a questioning look.  
  
“Now, show me how much you want my cock,” Jayden purred, smirking at Noah’s face when the submissive’s eyes widened in understanding. He knew how shy Noah often was about riding Jayden’s dick, but Jayden loved it. He loved watching Noah’s cute blush and how soon he would lose control when he rode his cock.  
  
Noah almost hated Jayden for doing this to him, but he was too horny to argue. He placed his hands on Jayden’s shoulders for support and shifted so he was in just the right position before slowly sinking himself down onto the alpha’s hard cock. He sunk down slowly, moaning as he felt his body opening up and allowing the intrusion. Noah was really sensitive right now, so sinking down on Jayden’s cock like this felt almost like heaven.  
  
Once Noah was fully seated on Jayden’s cock, he wrapped his arms around his mate and clung to him for dear life as he began to move. He rocked himself against Jayden’s dick, feeling it fill him up perfectly and satisfy that itch he had felt. His wings unfurled, as did Jayden’s, and Noah moaned as he held onto to Jayden and started bouncing on his cock, taking the pleasure he needed.  
  
Jayden was already close to the edge because of Noah’s ministrations earlier, and he struggled to hold back his orgasm so that Noah could enjoy his own pleasure before Jayden came. He wrapped his arms around Noah, holding him tight as he bucked up to meet Noah’s thrusts.  
  
Even though Noah mostly preferred positions where Jayden was in control of their movements, they both really liked this position. It was intimate in a different way. It allowed Noah to take the pleasure he needed from Jayden, and Jayden could hold him close and comfort and encourage him as he did so. It also gave Jayden good access to Noah’s oil glands, and this time was no different.  
  
Noah had to stop the cry that threatened to escape his throat when Jayden started rubbing his oil glands and stimulating them. That, combined with how filled his ass was and how Jayden was embracing him, threw Noah over the edge far sooner than expected, and Jayden followed.  
  
They cried out their pleasure into each other’s shoulders, bucking and trembling together as pleasure flowed through their bodies and through their bond.  
  
Jayden didn’t stop stimulating Noah’s oils as their climaxes flowed through them, and it drove the submissive crazy. His body felt like it was exploding from overstimulation and satisfaction, and the touches were almost too much for him to take and only made him come harder.  
  
When it was over, Noah slumped against Jayden. He was completely fucked out and didn’t even have the energy to support himself anymore. Jayden had to use his strength to support Noah’s weight, otherwise he’d fall backwards and Noah would land on top of him.  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at it. “Too much for you?”  
  
Noah’s response was but an incomprehensive murmur and it made Jayden laugh again. It was adorable how Noah was just slumping against him now, but Jayden could still feel Noah’s muscles clenching slightly against his cock, which was still buried inside Noah’s tight ass.  
  
“You know, for someone who was so desperate to be fucked earlier, you sure came fast,” Jayden continued, teasing Noah a little more.  
  
This time Noah managed to lean back and give Jayden a hard glare. “Shut up. I can’t help it that my oil glands are so sensitive lately.”  
  
Jayden frowned. “Really? How come?”  
  
Noah blushed. “Because I’m having one of those periods where I’m extra, um, horny… And then my oil glands get more sensitive. You know that.”  
  
“Ah,” Jayden chuckled. “Or maybe they’re eager for me to use their oil to groom your wings again? Been a while since I last did that…”  
  
Noah hummed in agreement and let Jayden nuzzle his neck with affection. He was still sitting in Jayden’s lap, and he purred softly at how good Jayden’s cock still felt inside him. “Yeah… But yours need it more.”  
  
Jayden leaned back and gave him an offended look. “What? Are you saying my wings look ugly?”  
  
Noah let out a laugh. “A bit, yes. They really do need to be groomed… And I miss grooming them for you.”  
  
“Well, I don’t mind if you do it for me later. It’s kinda hot how much you like to groom my wings.”  
  
Noah blushed when Jayden gave him a cocky smirk before finally climbing out of Jayden’s lap. Their bodies were sticky and messy after sex, and Jayden went to get some towels from one of the drawers to clean them up with.  
  
It was already almost 8am, so they had to get up. Claire would be awake any minute now and she was still too young to be left alone, so they had to be there when she woke up.  
  
Noah and Jayden got dressed and shared a few loving kisses and touches before heading downstairs. Noah shot Jayden a few annoyed glares when the alpha started smirking about the way Noah was walking. Noah’s ass was still leaking some of Jayden’s come, and it felt a bit unpleasant when it leaked into his panties and made them wet. He would have to change his underwear later, even though he just put on new ones. Jayden, however, thought it was pretty hot.

  
***  
  
Claire woke up not long after Noah and Jayden went downstairs, and Dylan followed soon after. Derek and Nathan slept until around 10am when they finally showed themselves downstairs.  
  
It was an ordinary, quiet Saturday at the house. Jayden decided to get a few things done that he normally didn’t have the time for. He asked Nathan to help him repair the outdoor drying rack in the garden because he could use some assistance and because he missed spending time with his teenage son. Nathan didn’t seem to mind helping out his dad, so the two went outside and shared some father/son time together as they repaired the drying rack.  
  
Noah decided to rest for a few hours and read a book on the couch while looking after Claire. He was still reading his book when Dylan came over to him.  
  
“Mom, can I go to Benjamin’s house today?” Dylan asked.  
  
Noah lifted his eyes from his book to look at Dylan. “Um, sure. I don’t see why not, as long as Benjamin’s parents agree as well.”  
  
Dylan beamed. “Thanks! I’ll call him and ask if it’s okay with them. He texted me earlier and asked if I wanna come and I _really_ wanna go to his house today.”  
  
Noah smiled. Benjamin was a good friend to Dylan and the two of them barely ever got into trouble, much unlike Derek. “Okay, you do that.”  
  
Dylan was about to go when another question popped into his mind. “Oh, and can I ride there alone on my bike?”  
  
“Sure. You’re old enough,” Noah chuckled, surprised that Dylan would even ask, seeing as he had done it before.  
  
Dylan beamed once more before running off to call Benjamin.  
  
Claire was still playing on the floor, talking to herself and humming happily as she played with her toys. Sometimes she came over to Noah and asked him to play with her, and sometimes she spent a while watching cartoons on the TV. She had some friends in the neighborhood whom she visited sometimes, but this weekend she would be staying at home.  
  
Dylan had just left when Derek came into the room. He had just spent about ten minutes in the bathroom spiking up his hair a bit, which he did every morning before school and also during the weekends. He was starting to look quite handsome, and he was getting kind of tall. He was about as tall as Noah by now.  
  
“Hey, mom, can I go see Dwayne today?” Derek asked.  
  
Noah sighed. “No. You’re still grounded, remember?”  
  
Derek’s face scrunched up in displeasure. “That was three weeks ago! And today is the last day that I’m grounded! What does _one_ day matter?”  
  
“It matters because last time you visited Dwayne, you and him went to the local park and got into a fight with some other boys, remember?” Noah couldn’t keep the disapproval out of his voice, and he scowled at Derek as he talked to him. “You can go see Dwayne next weekend instead when you’re no longer grounded.”  
  
“Oh, come on! It’s just _one_ day!”  
  
“That doesn’t matter; rules are rules.” Noah had to be firm and stubborn about it, otherwise Derek would just take advantage of it in the future if he gave in. He could tell that Derek was getting more and more upset, but Noah didn’t give in. “If you don’t want to get grounded then you shouldn’t get into fights with other kids.”  
  
“I’m an _alpha_ – alphas fight, especially when someone pisses us off,” Derek argued, growling out the words. His feathers puffed out slightly and he was clearly very unhappy that his mom wouldn’t let him go. He hated having his freedom restricted. “What the hell am I supposed to do all day long if I can’t go anywhere?!”  
  
“You’ll figure something out,” Noah said, dismissively. He turned his attention back to his book, but Derek wasn’t done yet.  
  
“Can I at least go to the park alone? Just to skate around so I have _something_ to do at least.”  
  
“No, you can’t. I don’t trust you to not just go to Dwayne’s while you’re out. You’ll stay here today.”  
  
Derek was getting more upset by the minute, but Noah stood his ground about not letting him go.  
  
Claire had stopped playing with her toys and was now watching the interaction between Derek and their mom. She clutched her plush tiger toy close to her chest as she observed them, worried about what would happen next.  
  
“Gosh, you’re so unfair! Nathan gets to do everything, but I never get to do anything!” Derek finally burst out, unfurling his wings in frustration.  
  
Noah closed his book and met Derek’s glare with a firm stare of his own. “That’s not true. Besides, Nathan doesn’t get himself into as much trouble as you do.” He tried to keep his voice calm so that Derek would stay calm as well, but it didn’t seem to work much.  
  
“Oh yeah, _perfect_ Nathan and his _perfect_ manners,” Derek spat before turning and leaving the room in anger.  
  
Noah flinched a bit at the outburst, and his heart ached when he heard his son’s angry footsteps on the stairs and the hard slam of Derek shutting his bedroom door upstairs.  
  
Derek had started getting pretty touchy lately. Jayden explained that it was because Derek was entering puberty, and sometimes it was difficult for alphas to control the rising levels of testosterone – especially if they already had a short temper like Derek. Sometimes even the smallest thing could tick Derek off, but there were times where he was as normal as he was before. It came and went, but Noah still felt like he and Derek were constantly colliding lately and he didn’t like it. It didn’t make it any better that alphas were especially defiant towards submissives and had a hard time seeing them as authority figures.  
  
Just after Derek had left, Jayden and Nathan came back inside, unaware of what had just happened. Dylan, however, had heard Derek slamming the door shut upstairs, and came into the living room to see what was going on.  
  
Jayden and Nathan were both laughing about something when they came inside, but stopped when they saw both Noah and Claire looking upset.  
  
Claire started crying, and she ran over to Noah on the couch and climbed up to sit with him. “Why Derek so mad?”  
  
“Shhh, it’s okay.” Noah soothed her and hugged her close as she cried. “He’s just going through a tough phase, okay?”  
  
“Whoa, what happened?” Jayden asked, immediately sensing that something wasn’t right.  
  
“Yeah, I heard Derek slam the door shut upstairs…” Dylan said, glancing over at Noah and Claire with worry.  
  
Noah sighed as he tried to comfort little Claire. “Derek and I had a small fight. He wanted to visit Dwayne and got upset when I told him he can’t go anywhere because he’s still grounded. He got angry about it and went to his room.”  
  
Jayden let out a deep sigh and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.  
  
Nathan snorted. “Why can’t he just accept that rules are rules and just over it? He’s _always_ causing trouble!”  
  
“Well, you know how he is,” Jayden sighed. “I’ll talk to him later.” He turned to look at Noah again, who was still busy trying to calm Claire down. “Did he say anything rude to you? Anything I gotta lecture him about?”  
  
“No, it wasn’t that bad,” Noah replied. “I think it’s best to just let him cool off for a while…”  
  
Jayden nodded in agreement before coming over to sit down next to Noah. He smiled softly at little Claire, who was still quite upset about earlier. “Hey, princess. Wanna come sit on daddy’s lap for a bit?”  
  
Claire’s face lit up, and she stopped crying as she nodded and moved from Noah’s lap over to Jayden’s lap instead. Jayden grinned and gave her a tight hug, and Claire laughed and squealed when he blew raspberries against her neck. “Nooo, daddy!” she laughed, kicking her little feet and flapping her wings to make him stop.  
  
Noah smiled at the scene, loving seeing how Jayden interacted with Claire.  
  
Dylan laughed as he watched them and jumped up on the couch to join the fun. He threw himself at Jayden and tried to make him let go of Claire, but Jayden caught him and started tickling his stomach, making Dylan shriek and laugh. Claire laughed loudly as she watched Dylan being all ticklish, and Noah had to move a bit when suddenly there were two screaming and kicking kids on the couch.  
  
Nathan chuckled as he watched them all being silly. Jayden half expected him to just leave, but then Nathan came over and started tickling Dylan as well, making the shrieks and laughter increase.  
  
Noah enjoyed watching them having fun like that. He was about to leave the couch when things got worse, but suddenly Jayden grabbed him and started tickling him too. Now they were five people on the couch, laughing and shrieking and kicking, but it came to an end when Noah and Dylan managed to free themselves and get away.  
  
Jayden was pleased that Claire seemed a lot happier now. She had gotten hyper from all the fun, so he still had to help her burn off more energy before she was quiet again. He picked her up by her feet and stood up so that Claire was dangling upside-down in his hold. She laughed and shrieked, and her beating wings almost knocked things over on the couch table as Jayden walked over to place her on the living room floor instead.  
  
“Daddy, let go!” Claire shrieked, wriggling in his hold. Her shirt was rolling up in her face because she was upside-down, and Dylan couldn’t stop laughing at the funny scene.  
  
“You better let her go soon, dad. She’s gonna get a headache from that,” Nathan chuckled.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, I guess.” He grinned down at Claire, who was still dangling helplessly in front of him. “You wanna be put down?”  
  
“Nooo!” Claire cried.  
  
Jayden laughed again. “But you just asked me to put you down, remember?”  
  
“Nooo! Dun want play to stop!”  
  
Claire was afraid that once Jayden let her go, he wouldn’t play with her anymore. It kind of made Jayden’s heart ache.  
  
“Aw. Just because I put you down doesn’t mean we’ll stop playing,” Jayden told her. “How about when I let you go, we’ll go practice bike-riding outside? You still wanna learn how to ride a bike, right? Maybe Dylan and Nathan will help too.”  
  
Claire’s face lit up, even though it was getting pretty red from her hanging upside-down. “Yay!” She threw her hands up – or in this case down, because she was upside-down – and the others laughed at it.  
  
Jayden carefully put Claire down again, and Nathan went to help so that Claire didn’t flip over and hurt herself somehow because she was still thrashing around from joy.  
  
Claire was all excited now to have her dad and brothers teach her how to ride a bike, and Nathan couldn’t say no to her happy face, so he decided to join them outside.  
  
Before they would go outside to ride their bikes, Claire had to use the bathroom, so she rushed off to the bathroom to do her thing. Noah stayed with Jayden, Nathan, and Dylan in the living room, but would go assist Claire if she called for him.  
  
“You sure you’re up for it?” Jayden asked Nathan, reaching out to bump him gently on the shoulder.  
  
Nathan shrugged. “Sure, why not? I’m not as boring as Derek is.”  
  
Dylan laughed at that.  
  
“Dylan, did you call Benjamin yet?” Noah asked Dylan, suddenly remembering their conversation earlier.  
  
Dylan nodded. “Yeah, his parents don’t mind if I come over. Though I can’t stay the night ‘cause they have plans tomorrow, so I gotta go back home tonight.”  
  
Noah smiled. “Okay. When do you wanna go?”  
  
“After we teach Claire to ride a bike,” Dylan grinned. “Don’t wanna miss that!”  
  
Nathan laughed. “Yeah, me neither.”  
  
Dylan turned to look at Nathan then, his expression turning into wonder. “I thought you were gonna visit Emily this weekend?”  
  
Nathan stared back at Dylan in surprise. “Eh, why would you think that?”  
  
“’Cause she’s your girlfriend, right?”  
  
Nathan’s face turned bright red, and both Jayden and Noah seemed startled by Dylan’s statement. It wasn’t unusual for Derek to tease Nathan about Emily being his ‘girlfriend’, but Dylan hadn’t said it before and it didn’t sound like he was teasing Nathan at all. It sounded like he was serious.  
  
“What? Is there something you haven’t told us?” Jayden asked Nathan, a hint of amusement in his voice.  
  
“That’s…” Nathan trailed off before looking at Dylan again. “Why do you think she’s my girlfriend?”  
  
“’Cause I met Emily’s sister Jenny a few weeks ago, and she said that you and Emily have, um, um… done _the_ _thing._ ” Dylan squirmed awkwardly as he said it. He wasn’t sure if he should have mentioned it at all, especially with their mom and dad around, but Nathan had asked him why he thought that, and Dylan had just given him a reply.  
  
Nathan looked utterly surprised – and quite embarrassed – while Noah looked quite startled. It didn’t come as much of a surprise to Jayden, only that Jenny would know about it.  
  
There was a second of awkwardness in the room until Jayden laughed.  
  
“I always kind of had the feeling that you two might develop stronger feelings for each other than just friendship,” Jayden said, chuckling at Nathan and how embarrassed he looked. “You two always were very close.”  
  
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Noah asked, surprised that Nathan would keep it from them if he and Emily were really dating. He felt kind of hurt about it, actually. Did Nathan not trust them to be okay with it?  
  
Nathan still looked quite embarrassed, and he squirmed around a bit. “Um, actually… We aren’t together,” he admitted.  
  
Jayden and Noah frowned in surprise, wondering what he meant.  
  
“It didn’t really work out,” Nathan elaborated, shifting awkwardly and shrugging his shoulders. “We, um, did… you know, _that,_ but only a few times because we realized we’re better together as friends and not as a couple…” He was blushing really hard now. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have with his parents and little brother, but he was pretty glad that Derek wasn’t around to hear it.  
  
“Oh…” Noah didn’t really know how to feel. It was so strange for him that his son had grown up so much and had even lost his virginity, but he was also kind of happy for him. It was just sad that things hadn’t worked out for Nathan and Emily, but he knew that not all friendships were meant to become more than just friendship. He couldn’t help but feel kind of proud of Nathan that he had the guts to admit it so openly.  
  
“Ah…” Jayden felt the same about it as Noah did. He smiled and reached out to give Nathan’s shoulder a few pats of approval and reassurance. “Well, that’s just how things are. I’m just surprised you didn’t tell us about it before.”  
  
Nathan gave his dad an embarrassed scowl and started blushing again. “I _was_ gonna tell you if Emily and I _did_ end up being together. But I’m pretty sure I don’t have to tell you who I sleep with.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, you don’t have to tell us that. Just remember to use protection, yeah?”  
  
Nathan’s blush got even worse now. “Yes, of course. And jeez, dad! I don’t wanna have this conversation anymore!”  
  
Jayden laughed at Nathan’s embarrassment, but he understood his son’s feelings. It was indeed an awkward thing to talk with your parents about. Jayden knew that from experience.  
  
Dylan felt kind of bad for Nathan that it hadn’t worked out between him and Emily, and that the conversation had become so weird and awkward now. “I’m sorry… I really thought she was your girlfriend.”  
  
Nathan turned to look at Dylan. He blinked at him before shrugging lightly. “It’s okay. But we’re not together. We’re just friends.”  
  
Dylan was about to say something when they heard Claire’s call from the bathroom.  
  
“Mommy! I’m finished!”  
  
“I’m coming!” Noah called back before going to the bathroom to help Claire clean up.  
  
They all looked pretty relieved that the awkward conversation was over now. Dylan was glad that Nathan didn’t seem upset with him when Nathan reached out and ruffled his hair in a brotherly gesture.  
  
“Come on, let’s go get Claire’s bike ready so we can help her learn how to ride it,” Nathan said, smiling at Dylan as he spoke.  
  
Dylan grinned and pulled away from Nathan’s annoying hand. “Okay. I’ll beat you to it!” He ran out the door before Nathan could properly process the challenge he had just made him.  
  
“Hey!” Nathan laughed as he ran outside after Dylan, trying to get to the garage before him, but with Dylan’s head start he couldn’t make it.  
  
Jayden chuckled at his sons, who were in a hurry to get Claire’s bike out of the garage so she could learn to ride it. He then cast a glance to the ceiling, wondering what Derek was up to in his room. Jayden felt kind of bad about Derek just sulking in his room alone, but he knew that his son most likely wasn’t interested in helping Claire learn how to ride a bike. Still, he felt bad about just letting Derek sulk, so he decided to go upstairs and have a talk with him and see if he could encourage him to join his family downstairs.  
  
Meanwhile, Nathan and Dylan got the bike ready, while Noah helped Claire out in the bathroom. Once Claire was clean and had washed her hands, she took Noah’s hand and went with him outside. She was really excited to learn how to ride a bike, and the sight of her brothers taking her bike out of the garage made her grin and jump with happiness.  
  
Jayden came down soon afterwards and said that Derek didn’t want to join them after all. Derek was still sulking in his room and had buried himself in his video games, so it was nearly impossible to get him to talk or join them outside for fun.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but feel bad that Derek was all alone while the others were having fun. He wanted Derek to be part of it as well, but the boy was too proud and stubborn sometimes.  
  
Both Nathan and Dylan assisted Jayden as they ran with Claire up and down the sidewalks with her on the bike and Jayden holding the stick that was attached to the back of the bike, helping her keep her balance. She was still rather clumsy and somewhat scared to fall whenever Jayden let go of the stick, so it took a while before she learned to ride her two-wheeled bike without help. However, both Nathan and Dylan were cheering for her, and the two got on their own bikes to show her how it was done.  
  
Noah mostly observed them and took some photos, but he also ended up being the one holding the stick on the bike and running up and down the sidewalk with Claire when she insisted she wanted his help next.  
  
After an hour and a half of trying, Claire finally managed to ride her bike without any assistance at all, and the family cheered as they watched her go down the sidewalk with Nathan and Dylan riding next to her.  
  
A few of the neighbors had watched the scene as well and came over to cheer for her, and Noah was happy that they had such nice neighbors. He was also really proud of Nathan and Dylan for helping their sister overcome her fears of falling on her bike, and that they spent time helping her out and cheering for her.  
  
Dylan had been less afraid when he first learned how to ride his bike. Noah had actually expected him to have been kind of afraid, because he wasn’t as daring as Derek was, but he had handled it quite well. It had only taken him about twenty minutes to learn it, and ever since he had been pretty fearless riding his bike.  
  
They spent a while outside after Claire learned to ride her bike. She was eager to keep riding it, so Nathan and Dylan both rode with her around the neighborhood to help her get used to her bike. Jayden was keeping a close eye on them, but both he and Noah knew that Nathan was more than capable of taking care of his younger siblings, so they didn’t feel too worried when they disappeared from their sight.

  
***  
  
On the next day, Noah was going out.  
  
It had been years since Noah and his siblings had all been together, just them alone, so Eden and Lily had arranged for them all to meet up and have fun together. The others had been totally onboard with the idea, and Noah was looking forward to spending a whole day with his siblings without any of their mates or children present.  
  
Claire didn’t like it that Noah was going out. It was unusual for him not to be there on a Sunday, and she felt upset that he was leaving her behind.  
  
“Mommy, why you going?” Claire cried, clinging to Noah’s leg as he put on his shoes and jacket in the entrance hall, preparing to leave.  
  
Jayden was there as well, as were Nathan, Derek, and Dylan to say goodbye to Noah as he left.  
  
Noah smiled softly at his daughter and leaned down to level with her. He stroked her teary cheek gently with his hand, watching her sniffle and stare at him like she was begging him not to go.  
  
“Mommy will be back in the evening, okay?” Noah told her softly. “Now, be a good girl and behave while I’m gone, alright? I’m sure your daddy and brothers wanna play with you while I’m away.”  
  
Claire sniffled again before wrapping her arms around Noah’s neck. “But I want mommy to stay! Mommy play with us too!”  
  
Noah sighed and hugged her back. Claire could be a bit clingy sometimes, and Noah suspected it was because Jayden was rarely home because of his work. Claire never knew when her dad was going to be home and when she would get to see him, and now she was upset that Noah was going out and that she didn’t know when she would see him again.  
  
“I can’t, sweetie,” Noah sighed. “But I promise I’ll be back later tonight, and if you’re already in bed by then, you’ll see me tomorrow instead, okay?”  
  
Derek rolled his eyes at how clingy Claire was, but Nathan and Dylan were more understanding about it.  
  
“Don’t cry, Claire,” Dylan told her, hoping to cheer his sister up. “Maybe dad will take us to the park today and then we’ll play ball and go to the playground.”  
  
“Yeah, I think a trip to the park could be fun,” Jayden agreed, smiling patiently at Claire, who was still clinging to Noah.  
  
Claire pulled back, still sniffling and sobbing, but she seemed calmer now.  
  
Noah smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her cheek before getting to his feet again.  
  
“Be careful while you’re out, okay?” Jayden told him.  
  
Noah rolled his eyes. “Of course. And I won’t be alone, you know.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m fairly sure Uncle Adrian can take care of mom,” Nathan chuckled.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m just saying.” Jayden rolled his eyes a bit before going forward to kiss Noah goodbye. He placed his hands on his mate’s hips and leaned down to press their lips together in a quick but loving kiss. “Have fun. And greet everyone for me, yeah?”  
  
Noah smiled at him and nodded. “Thanks. And I will.”  
  
Noah turned to leave and said goodbye to the kids before opening the door and going outside to the car.  
  
The kids all gathered in the doorway, waving goodbye to him as he got in the car and drove off. Jayden picked up Claire and placed her on his shoulders so she could look past her brothers’ heads and wave goodbye to Noah.  
  
After Noah was gone, they all stopped waving and were about to go back to their daily lives.  
  
Derek, however, couldn’t resist giving Dylan a hard shove while they were still standing in the doorway, just to tease him. It caught Dylan completely by surprise, and the boy almost fell on his face before he managed to regain his balance.  
  
When he saw how Dylan almost fell on his nose, Derek laughed out loud. “Dude, you’re so easy to catch by surprise.”  
  
“Stop being an asshole, Derek,” Nathan growled at him. He had watched the whole thing and definitely didn’t approve of it.  
  
Derek was about to quip something back at Nathan when Dylan suddenly pushed him hard in the chest, putting all his strength and weight into it so that Derek fall back against Jayden, who was standing behind him. Jayden had been busy talking to Claire, who was still sitting on his shoulders, so he was completely unaware of what had just happened, and turned to look at them in confusion when he felt Derek bump into him.  
  
Dylan’s wings were spread and his feathers were puffing out in anger as he glared up at Derek, and Derek was kind of surprised by it until Dylan smacked him hard on the arm. Derek had gotten a nasty cut on his right arm recently, so he was glad that Dylan had chosen to smack his left arm instead.  
  
“Stop pushing me! I almost fell over!” Dylan growled at Derek.  
  
“Whoa, I was just playing around,” Derek said, laughing at how offended and angry Dylan looked.  
  
“Hey! Be nice,” Jayden growled at them both, finally realizing what was going on. “Don’t make me ground you again, Derek.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah…” Derek rolled his eyes and tried to ignore how Nathan was glaring holes into him.  
  
Claire clung to Jayden as she sat on his shoulders, and she stared between her brothers in worry. She was glad that they didn’t argue any further, though.

  
***  
  
Noah’s stomach was all fluttery with excitement as he drove towards the mall where he was supposed to meet up with his siblings. He wondered how they were all doing. They saw each other occasionally, but sometimes there were months in between their visits. Adrian was the one that Noah saw the least of. It wasn’t because they didn’t get along, but more because Eden and Lily were better at calling Noah and arranging a meeting together, and Isaac often made unannounced visits when he happened to be in town. Noah also knew that Adrian and Natalie both worked a lot and also attended a lot of events together, so they were almost always busy.  
  
When Noah arrived at the mall, he wasn’t surprised to see it filled with people. Sundays were busy with people going shopping and doing things they usually didn’t have time for during the week. He found a good spot in the parking garage and then made his way over to the bowling center located in the mall’s basement floor.  
  
They had agreed on going bowling together for their meeting, because it was fun and a good way to spend time together. They had talked about going to a restaurant or café, but Eden knew that Isaac would be recognized by people there, and they didn’t want too much attention, so they thought the bowling center would be better. Besides, the bowling center was way more interesting than just sitting in a restaurant all day.  
  
The bowling center was rather large and it had other entertainments as well, such as dart games, table soccer games, billiard, dance games, and many more. The place was noisy and full of blinking lights of all colors coming from the entertainments, and people’s chatter and laughter could be heard everywhere. It wasn’t as crowded as Noah had expected, but there were still a lot of people there.  
  
Noah scouted the room for his siblings, trying to spot them somewhere. He was pretty sure that at least Eden and Lily had already arrived, because his sisters always arrived at appointments 5-10 minutes early, but he couldn’t spot them anywhere at first glance.  
  
“Noah!” a familiar voice shouted from somewhere.  
  
Noah glanced around before spotting Eden and Lily waiting over by the bar area close to the bowling lanes. They had found a small table there to sit at, and they beamed when Noah spotted them.  
  
Noah lit up at the sight of his sisters and quickly went over to join them.  
  
Lily grinned as she got up from her chair to pull Noah into a tight hug. “So good to see you again! You look well!”  
  
Noah smiled and returned his sister’s hug. “Thanks. You too, Lily.”  
  
Lily pulled away with a bright smile, and Noah was pulled into a hug by Eden next.  
  
“Come here, little brother,” Eden grinned, hugging Noah real close and kissing him on the cheek.  
  
Suddenly Noah felt like a little kid again, but it wasn’t an unwanted feeling. His wings flared with joy and it was really nice to see his sisters again. They had of course aged a lot since they were all children, but they still looked young and good (benefits of having angel and demon genes).  
  
“Are Isaac and Adrian here yet?” Noah asked, glancing around to spot them somewhere.  
  
“Adrian’s here. He just went to the toilet for a bit. But we haven’t seen Isaac yet,” Lily replied.  
  
It was no surprise to any of them that Isaac hadn’t shown up yet. He had a habit of always being late.  
  
“Oh.” Noah glanced in the direction of the bathrooms, hoping Adrian wouldn’t take too long in there.  
  
“Maybe we should call Isaac to be sure he hasn’t forgotten about us,” Eden murmured, sitting down at the table again and glancing at the clock on her phone.  
  
Lily laughed. “Give him a few more minutes. He’s only three minutes late so far.”  
  
“Actually, I gave Isaac a different time to be sure he would show up in time, which means he’s actually thirteen minutes late now…”  
  
Lily couldn’t help but laugh, while Eden continued looking annoyed with their brother.  
  
Noah chuckled a bit at his sisters’ conversation. He was so busy being focused on his sisters that he almost didn’t notice that someone was standing right behind him now. His body froze when he finally noticed it. He could tell it was someone bigger and taller than him, and the person was definitely standing way too close than what was considered appropriate.  
  
Noah’s thoughts swirled around inside his head, thinking it was another pervert who couldn’t keep his hands to himself and who was being a creep by standing so close to him. He flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder and quickly turned around to confront the person, only to look up at Adrian’s face when he turned.  
  
“Relax. It’s just me,” Adrian chuckled, regarding Noah with amusement when he saw how he spooked he looked.  
  
Noah’s body immediately relaxed, and his wings lowered themselves after having risen up in a defensive posture when he thought there was a threat behind him. “Oh. Sorry… I thought you were someone else…” Noah couldn’t help but feel embarrassed now, and his cheeks blushed a bit when his siblings laughed softly at him.  
  
Adrian laughed before pulling Noah into a warm hug. “Nice seeing you again, Noah.”  
  
“You too,” Noah smiled, hugging him back.  
  
Adrian’s tail brushed against Noah’s leg in a brotherly gesture before they pulled apart. They shared a smile before they were interrupted by Isaac’s loud voice.  
  
“Hey! Why is everyone sharing hugs without me?!” Isaac exclaimed loudly as he came over to them. He was dressed in jeans and a hoodie, and was holding a cap in his right hand. He often wore casual clothes to attract as little attention as possible in public because he was a known actor.  
  
They all turned to look at him, and Isaac stopped when he was standing in front of Adrian and Noah.  
  
“You’re making me feel all left out here,” Isaac pouted, putting on a fake hurt expression.  
  
Adrian rolled his eyes at him. “Well, maybe if you for once arrived on time, we wouldn’t have to share all the hugs without you.” His lips curled into a smug smirk as he teased Isaac, and he was just waiting for Isaac’s usual insulted ‘Oi!’.  
  
“Oi! I’m always on time! It’s just everybody else who’s early!” Isaac said, pointing his finger at Adrian as he spoke.  
  
Adrian laughed at him. “Yeah, whatever.” He went forward and pulled Isaac into a light hug. Isaac hugged him back, and the two gave each other a few pats on the back before pulling away.  
  
“Noah!” Isaac exclaimed next, opening his arms wide and grinning like an idiot as he went over to Noah and hugged him. Noah yelped when Isaac pulled him into another one of his tight, squeezing hugs. “Missed you, little bro!”  
  
“I’ve missed you too,” Noah croaked as he hugged Isaac back.  
  
Isaac grinned and pulled away, turning to Lily and Eden next. “Aww, my twinnie!” he cooed as he went to hug Lily next.  
  
Lily laughed at him and hugged him back, entwining tails with her brother in a greeting. “Nice seeing you again, Isaac. Even though you’re kinda late.”  
  
“Hey, I already told you I wasn’t late! You just came early!”  
  
“Actually, I asked you to come ten minutes before our actual meeting time,” Eden pointed out. “And you were _still_ late.”  
  
Isaac and Lily pulled apart, and Isaac’s jaw dropped as he stared at Eden. “What?! You tricked me?!”  
  
“No, I just shortened the time that the rest of us had to wait for you,” Eden said, rolling her eyes a bit.  
  
“Damn, you’re mean!” Isaac accused. His voice was playful, as always, and Eden chuckled at him before pulling him into a hug that Isaac returned.  
  
“So, what took you so long to get here?” Adrian asked Isaac once he and Eden had pulled apart. “Is it really that hard showing up to an appointment on time?” Adrian raised an eyebrow as he studied Isaac, and his hands were buried casually in his pockets.  
  
Noah noted how Adrian almost hadn’t changed at all over the years. He was still cool and casual in his posture, and in many ways a lot like Dean. And he was still a very attractive alpha, judging by the many looks he got from several women and also men in the bowling center.  
  
“It is when you’re famous!” Isaac blurted. “Do you have any idea how many times I got stopped by someone on my way from my car to this place? People recognize me and they wanna take photos with me, and it’s pretty hard getting away from them!”  
  
“But you wore a hat on your way here, didn’t you?” Lily pointed out, gesturing to the cap that Isaac had been holding on to since he got there.  
  
Isaac looked at the cap in his hand. “What, this thing? Well, it helps a bit, but some people still recognize me. Just glad I didn't get spotted by any paparazzis. But my bodyguard will handle them for me.” He smirked as he glanced towards the corner of the room where they saw a muscular, strong-looking alpha demon standing around. “Glad I hired him. He’s hot as hell.”  
  
“Gosh, Isaac! You’re _mated_!” Eden exclaimed in outrage.  
  
“Hey, I ain’t cheating on Kaylen! Besides, Kaylen thinks he’s hot too,” Isaac quickly said in his defense. “If I’m gonna have a bodyguard, at least let him act as a bit of eye candy too, right?”  
  
Adrian groaned at that, while Lily laughed.  
  
“You’ll never change, Isaac,” Lily spoke as she smiled at her twin with fondness.  
  
Isaac just put on a cheeky grin, and now it was Noah’s turn to groan at how impossibly silly but also how lovable their beta brother was.  
  
They went up to the counter next to pay for using the lane they had booked and to buy drinks. It was before noon, so they all ordered sodas instead of alcoholic beverages. After getting their drinks they went to their lane and got ready to play. First they had to switch shoes because you had to wear a special pair of shoes in the bowling area so you didn’t slip on the smooth floor, and they also had to find the bowling balls they wanted to use.  
  
Noah had a hard time picking the bowling balls he wanted to use. He didn’t like the heavy ones because they were difficult for him to hold and they made his fingers hurt, but it was difficult to find the lighter ones because there were more of the heavy balls. He picked up a few and tried, only to find they were either too heavy or that the holes his fingers went into were too far apart for his small hands. Eden and Lily had kind of the same problem, but Isaac and Adrian didn’t seem to have many issues with it. Adrian picked two of the heavy balls to play with, and of course Isaac had to show that he too could hold the heavy balls – though it kind of backfired on him when he almost dropped one of them on his feet, making Adrian laugh at him.  
  
After they stopped laughing at Isaac’s mishap, they all went over to the lane and got ready. Eden and Lily typed their names into the machine so they could begin, while Noah, Adrian, and Isaac waited around.  
  
There were about twenty lanes in the bowling center, and eight of them were occupied at the moment. One lane next to theirs was empty, while the one on the other side was occupied by a group of college students. There was a bit of noise in the bowling center as people rolled their bowling balls across the lanes, people talking, laughing, and cheering for their friends, and there was a small group of alphas in the far end of the room that made a lot of noise.  
  
“Yo, Noah!” Isaac exclaimed while waiting for Lily and Eden to set up their game so they could begin. He went over to Noah and casually wrapped his arm around his little brother’s shoulders. “How’s Derek doing? I heard from Kaylen that he went to the ER again last week. Maybe he should permanently move there, seeing as he goes there all the time anyway.”  
  
Isaac seemed to find it pretty amusing that Derek ended up in the ER so often, but Noah didn’t.  
  
Noah let out a long groan at Isaac’s words, but didn’t try to wriggle himself away from Isaac. “He’s okay. He just cut himself during his Jeet Kune Do practice and needed a couple of stitches on his arm.”  
  
Isaac looked baffled. “How the hell do you _cut_ yourself during martial arts practice? They don’t use swords, do they?”  
  
“No. He, um, jumped into one of the new windows they had left standing around in the corner and it broke and he cut himself on the glass…”  
  
Adrian raised his eyebrow as he overheard their conversation. “Wow. He sure hurts himself in the most ridiculous ways, doesn’t he?”  
  
Noah let out a deep sigh. “Yes… He does.”  
  
Isaac laughed and let go of Noah again. “He’s totally like me sometimes!”  
  
“Only the part where he acts before thinks,” Adrian murmured before going over to prepare to play.  
  
“Hey!” Isaac barked, looking insulted again.  
  
Eden chuckled a bit at them before looking at Noah. “It’s fine, Noah. Maybe he’ll grow out of it soon.”  
  
“Yeah, Alec got lots of bruises too when he was a kid because he was always so reckless, but it stopped when he got older,” Lily said, smiling at Noah as she hoped to cheer him up.  
  
Noah sighed and seemed a bit unconvinced. “I guess… Though, Alec has always been calmer than Derek, and he’s a responsible kid. Derek isn’t exactly that responsible…”  
  
Lily laughed nervously. “Well, that’s true…”  
  
Eden reached out and placed her hand on Noah’s shoulder for reassurance. “It’ll be fine,” she smiled. “At least Kaylen often works shifts in the ER, so at least you have a familiar face there whenever Derek goes to the hospital.”  
  
Eden’s words didn’t exactly give Noah that much comfort, because he still hated it when one of his kids got hurt, and Derek’s recklessness had always frustrated and worried him.  
  
Isaac barked out a laugh. “Yeah, Derek’s one of his regular customers.”  
  
Lily looked at Isaac as if he had just said something very wrong. “That’s mean, Isaac…”  
  
Adrian purposefully bumped into Isaac from behind, sending Isaac flying forwards one step and almost falling over. It was Adrian’s way of teaching Isaac a lesson for being mean or stupid, and Isaac immediately swirled around to confront him.  
  
“Fuck! Stop that, you butt!” Isaac barked at Adrian.  
  
Once again, Adrian laughed at him. “You know, sometimes I don’t know whether I should laugh or cry at your insults, Isaac.”  
  
“How about you just shut up?”  
  
“You wish,” Adrian smirked.  
  
“Guys,” Eden groaned when she sensed it was getting out of control, and when she saw that Isaac looked like he was about to smack Adrian. She found their interactions very amusing, but it was kind of embarrassing when it was happening in public. “The game is ready, so let’s start.”  
  
“Yay!” Lily cheered with a wide grin. She turned to look at Noah. “Let’s kick Adrian and Isaac’s asses, shall we?”  
  
“Yeah,” Noah agreed, smiling back at her.  
  
“Ha! As if. You’re all gonna lose so badly,” Isaac smirked as they got started. The cocky smirk on his face didn’t make him especially popular with his siblings, although they laughed at him.  
  
“Keep dreaming, Isaac,” Adrian smirked back.  
  
“Oh, _I’ll_ show you how it’s done,” Eden said, giving Isaac a smug look before preparing to go. She was the first one to shoot, and they all gathered behind her to see how well she would do.  
  
Isaac looked pretty unconvinced that Eden could be better at him at bowling, but his confidence faltered when Eden let her ball roll across the floor and straight into the pins, achieving a perfect strike on the first try.  
  
Isaac’s jaw dropped in disbelief, while Lily jumped in amazement next to him.  
  
“Wow, that was great, Eden!” Lily cheered, thrilled that Eden had gotten the strike on the first try – and that she had managed to shut Isaac up.  
  
The screen above them made an animation in response to Eden’s strike, and Eden looked pretty pleased with herself as she turned around and let Noah go next.  
  
“Wow. Where’d you learn that?” Adrian asked, chuckling softly at Eden as she went back over to them.  
  
Eden shrugged modestly. “Jason and Daniel love bowling, so we come here a lot.”  
  
“Ah, you cheater!” Isaac blurted, pointing an accusing finger at his older sister. “You lured us all here just so you could kick our asses at the game!”  
  
“I did not!” Eden denied in offense. “Besides, this was just as much Lily’s idea as it was mine.”  
  
“Why, are you nervous now, Isaac?” Adrian asked, looking at Isaac with an amused smirk.  
  
“Hell no!” Isaac immediately denied. “I’ll find a way to kick her ass, don’t worry.” He looked at Eden like he was making her a promise, to which she responded by chuckling and teasingly sticking out her tongue at him.  
  
Adrian chuckled when he saw their interaction. “Gosh, you’re all such kids.”  
  
“Who asked for your opinion, _Mr. Mature?_ ” Isaac retorted, giving Adrian an annoyed but playful shove.  
  
Adrian just chuckled in response, but barely budged when Isaac shoved him.  
  
Eden and Lily giggled at them before turning their attention to Noah, who was up next.  
  
“Good luck, Noah,” Lily said, giving him the thumbs up.  
  
“Thanks…” Noah felt kind of nervous about shooting, though. He wasn’t very experienced with bowling, and he was pretty sure he couldn’t bowl half as great as Eden just did.  
  
Noah picked up the orange ball he had chosen earlier, which was lighter than most of the other balls, and got into position. He tried to ignore how everyone’s attention was on him as he made his move, but as expected his results weren’t quite like Eden’s. He managed to hit half of the pins, which meant he had to try again and see if he could hit the rest with the next shot. His sisters cheered for him, and he managed to hit all but two pins on the next try.  
  
Isaac, however, looked pretty relieved that Noah wasn’t as good a player as Eden was. “Phew. I might still stand a chance here…”  
  
“Hey, don’t judge people on their first shot,” Lily chastised him before going over to bowl next. After her it was Adrian’s turn and then Isaac’s.  
  
“He’s just a sore loser,” Adrian remarked, giving Isaac yet another teasing smirk as he glanced at him.  
  
“Fuck, I had almost forgotten how annoying you can be!” Isaac growled at Adrian. “Can’t you ever just shut up?”  
  
“Better than you can, actually.”  
  
“Oi!”  
  
Noah chuckled as he listened to Isaac and Adrian arguing. He had kind of missed listening to them bicker like that, and he was glad they hadn’t changed in that matter.  
  
Lily managed to do a spare when it was her turn, and after that Adrian scored a strike.  
  
Isaac was pretty fired up when it was his turn; he was determined to beat at least Adrian at the game, and the others watched as he made some silly move which he claimed brought him luck before he took his shot.  
  
It was with great anticipation that Isaac watched his ball roll down the lane. He held his breath when it looked like he was about to get a strike, but unfortunately three of the pins were left standing.  
  
“Noooo! Fuck! Shit!” Isaac cursed loudly, throwing up his arms in despair. “Shit, shit, shit, shit! _Why?!_ ”  
  
Adrian laughed at Isaac’s reaction and his curses, while Eden, Lily, and Noah were a bit embarrassed when Isaac’s loud exclamation made some of the others in the bowling center stare at them and laugh.  
  
They watched as Isaac went over to get another ball so he could try to achieve a spare by hitting all of the remaining three pins, and they giggled a bit at how funny it looked when Isaac was so determined to not embarrass himself again.  
  
Isaac threw the ball across the floor, and they all followed it with their eyes as it rolled down the lane and hit all three pins at the end, earning Isaac a spare.  
  
Adrian groaned as Isaac started cheering like he had just won the game, and once again some of the other players laughed and started whispering about them.  
  
“Gosh, Isaac. You’re overreacting way too much,” Lily groaned at him.  
  
“What, I got a spare!” Isaac said. “And since when did you get so boring? My twin has always appreciated my charming nature.”  
  
“Well, you’re being kinda embarrassing right now,” Lily muttered, glancing around in embarrassment when she noticed that people were still staring and seemed amused by them.  
  
Isaac glanced around as well, as if he hadn’t noticed the attention he was gathering until just now. His face split into a grin as he started waving at all the strangers and was pleased when some of them waved back. There was no doubt that some of them recognized him from the TV shows and movies he had been on, and a few of them starting taking pictures of him with their phones.  
  
Noah was utterly embarrassed by Isaac, and he tried to hide his face when the strangers took photos of them. Eden and Lily didn’t look like they wanted the attention either, while Adrian seemed not to care much.  
  
Adrian rolled his eyes as Isaac continued waving at people. He was quickly fed up by it and went over to yank back Isaac by the arm, dragging him back to the game. “Stop basking in strangers’ attention and pay more attention to your family.”  
  
“Hey! They’re my fans,” Isaac argued.  
  
“And we’re your siblings,” Eden murmured as she got ready for her turn again. She picked up one of the light, yellow balls, but decided it wasn’t good enough before picking up a light purple one instead.  
  
“Please stop attracting so much attention. I don’t wanna end up on any front pages,” Lily told Isaac. Her wings were folded tightly around her, as if trying to use them to shield herself from all the people taking photos with their phones.  
  
“Okay, okay, I’ll try,” Isaac sighed, rolling his eyes in defeat.  
  
“I thought you were trying to lay low today?” Noah asked, finding it strange that Isaac had tried so hard to get to the bowling center without being recognized and now he was suddenly basking in the public’s attention.  
  
“Eh, I _am_ laying low,” Isaac said. “Just didn’t want to attract any paparazzis outside. In here I was gonna be recognized by someone sooner or later, so what difference does it make?”  
  
“It makes a difference because _we_ don’t want the attention,” Eden said. She gave him a stern look, as if telling him that he better stop drawing all that attention to them, otherwise she was going to strangle him. Her stare made Isaac swallow nervously before Eden got ready for her next shot.  
  
Adrian laughed a bit at how Isaac seemed to respect Eden’s tone of voice and her stare just now. Eden could be scary when she wanted to.  
  
Eden took her shot, and the ball rolled down the lane in a straight line, going fast. They all gasped when the ball hit all but one pin.  
  
“Wow, you’re good,” Adrian remarked, still surprised at how good Eden was at the game.  
  
Eden grinned proudly and went over to pick up another ball so she could try to hit the last pin.  
  
Isaac was starting to look more nervous now, because it was obvious that Eden knew exactly what she was doing. And Isaac didn’t like losing.  
  
Eden rolled the next ball across the floor, hitting the last pin and scoring a spare. Once again, Lily and Noah cheered for her, and Eden went over to give them high fives. They were all competitors in the game, but it was clear that Eden and Lily weren’t going to make it easy for Isaac to win over them, and Noah also didn’t want to lose to their loudmouth brother.  
  
“Am I sensing a girls’ alliance here?” Adrian asked, chuckling softly at them.  
  
“We aren’t going to lose to you or Isaac,” Eden said, looking confident as she spoke.  
  
Noah wasn’t so sure that he could get more points than any of them. Lily, however, sensed his doubts and reached out to wrap her arm around his shoulders, giving him a smile that helped boost his confidence a bit.  
  
“Oh, right,” Lily suddenly said as she turned to look at Eden. Her arm was still wrapped around Noah, and her tail was curled lightly around his leg in a loving manner. “How are things going with Daniel’s baby?”  
  
Eden and Jason’s son Daniel was expecting his first child with his human mate Ida. He had once dated a girl named Sasha, but they broke up after a few years, and after that he had met Ida. They had been together for four years now, and Ida was eight months pregnant. The baby was going to be Dean and Castiel’s first great-grandchild, so the birth was very anticipated in the family.  
  
“Good. Things are good,” Eden smiled, her face lighting up as they talked about Daniel and the baby. “Daniel’s really excited. It’s kinda strange to see him so happy but also stressed out ‘cause he wants everything to be ready for when the baby comes.” She chuckled as she spoke, and it was clear that she was really proud and excited about her first grandchild.  
  
“Aww, Eden’s gonna be a grandma,” Isaac cooed. The teasing mocking in his voice earned him a killer glare from Eden, which almost made him nervous.  
  
Adrian smacked Isaac lightly with his tail. “Stop being an ass.” He glared at Isaac before looking at Eden again. “I’m glad it’s going well for them. Ida seems very nice.”  
  
Eden smiled. “She is.”  
  
Noah smiled as he listened to them talking. He was so happy for Eden that she was going to be a grandmother soon, although it felt strange that Daniel was having a baby. Noah still remembered when Daniel was a little boy and when he and Jayden had helped babysit him a few times. It was strange that he was all grown up now and was going to have a family of his own soon.  
  
“Actually,” Lily began, and gently moved her arm and tail away from Noah. She fidgeted a bit as she stared between all of them. “I’m, um… I’m gonna be a grandma soon as well.”  
  
Everyone’s mouths fell open as Lily dropped the news on them.  
  
“What, seriously?!” Isaac exclaimed, like he couldn’t believe it.  
  
Noah was shocked. Lily’s alpha son Alec was almost 22 years old now, and her twin daughters Jennifer and Marie were only 16. Alec didn’t have a mate or girlfriend as far as Noah knew, so he was confused about just how that was possible.  
  
“Whoa, wait,” Adrian said. “Alec isn’t seeing anyone, is he? Or did I miss something? Did he get someone pregnant by accident or…?”  
  
“Actually, it’s Jennifer who’s going to have a baby,” Lily sighed.  
  
“Whoa, that’s…” Eden began, but trailed off because of shock and surprise. “But she’s… She’s only 16 – turning 17 in the summer. How…?”  
  
“Well, she hooked up with a guy – I told her not to, ‘cause he’s bad news – and she ended up pregnant,” Lily said, slight bitterness in her voice. “Tony and I were kinda upset with her at first, because we’ve told her to always use protection, but I guess it just kinda slipped…”  
  
Unlike submissives, female demons and angels (and hybrids) could become pregnant even if they weren’t mated. They still ovulated without a mate, but once they were bonded and mated to someone, their ovulation would become much stronger and would become a heat. So even though Jennifer didn’t have a mate, it was still possible for her to get pregnant.  
  
“Damn,” Isaac said, looking like he still couldn’t believe it.  
  
“So I guess now papa and dad will have two grandkids to look forward to.” Lily let out a nervous chuckle, and it was clear that she was slightly conflicted about whether to feel happy or concerned.  
  
Eden reached out and placed a reassuring hand on Lily’s shoulder when she sensed that Lily was kind of freaked out by the situation. “What about Jennifer? Is she okay? Is she gonna keep the baby…?”  
  
“Yeah, she’ll keep it,” Lily confirmed. “She doesn’t have the heart to have an abortion, and Tony and I support whatever her decision is. But she does seem a bit freaked out by the sudden responsibility that’s facing her now.”  
  
“No surprise there. She’s only 16,” Adrian said.  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
Noah brushed his wing against Lily’s to reassure her. “I’m sure it’ll be okay. She has you and Tony to help her through it.”  
  
Lily gave Noah a grateful smile. “Yeah.”  
  
“Oh!” Eden suddenly exclaimed. “Noah, it’s your turn!”  
  
They had all forgotten about the game because the news of Jennifer’s pregnancy was such a shock to everyone.  
  
“Oh!” Noah quickly went over and picked up a ball to shoot with.  
  
“God damnit, now we wasted three minutes of the game!” Isaac exclaimed. “Three minutes I could have spent kicking your asses!”  
  
Adrian let out a loud snort at that. “Yeah, keep dreaming, Isaac. Your ass is gonna hurt once I’m done with you.”  
  
Isaac’s face scrunched up in disgust, and was it was pretty hilarious to watch. “You know, if you weren’t my brother, I might have found that pretty kinky…”  
  
Adrian slapped Isaac on the head for twisting his words into something perverted, and the others laughed as they watched their interaction.  
  
Eden and Lily’s tails were rubbing each other as Eden tried to reassure Lily about Jennifer’s baby. It was obvious that Lily was concerned for her daughter’s future, and they all knew that Lily and Jennifer had often had conflicts with each other. Jennifer was a quite difficult teenager; she was disobedient and spent a lot of time at parties and with boys, and didn’t listen to her parents’ rules, and that had resulted in her and Lily often arguing with each other. Marie, on the other hand, was the total opposite of her twin sister – she was quiet and kind, and always helped out at home and followed the house rules. Alec had a helpful personality as well, but as an alpha he had gotten himself into some trouble sometimes.  
  
Noah got a spare with his next shot and then went back to Lily and Eden. Lily still looked a little upset, so Noah didn’t want to ask further questions about Jennifer and the baby. Instead, he brushed his wing against hers and started talking about something else to make Lily feel better again. The whole deal with Jennifer wasn’t easy on Lily, after all.

  
***

  
They played for a whole hour and talked about a few things as they played. They chatted a bit about Isaac’s new movie contract, although he didn’t have a leading role in the movie. They also talked a bit about their families, but it was difficult to make any lasting conversations while they bowled. Most of the time was spent commenting on each other’s scores and competing to get the best score, and especially Adrian and Isaac were determined to not to lose to the other.  
  
When the game ended, Eden had the highest score, followed by Adrian, Isaac, Lily, and Noah.  
  
“Fuck! I can’t believe I lost to the two of you!” Isaac exclaimed once the game was over. He was frustrated to have lost, especially because he had promised himself he wouldn’t lose to Adrian. Now he was probably going to have to listen to Adrian mocking him for it the rest of the day, he thought.  
  
“Sore loser,” Adrian teased.  
  
Isaac growled when he saw the smirk on Adrian’s face and he wanted to wipe it off of him.  
  
“Actually, the order of the scores is kinda funny,” Lily chuckled. When the others looked at her in confusion, she explained, “’Cause it’s the exact order that we were born in; Eden, Adrian, Isaac, me, and little Noah.”  
  
Noah blinked when he realized she was right. It hadn’t occurred to him at all, and by the looks of his siblings’ faces neither had they.  
  
Isaac was quiet for a moment before blurting, “ _What?!_ Does that mean I’ve been destined since birth to come after Adrian?”  
  
Adrian laughed out loud at that. “Yeah, get used to it, Isaac.”  
  
Isaac growled and gave Adrian a harsh shove. “Shut up!” His strength wasn’t nearly enough to make a big alpha like Adrian budge when he pushed him, and it only frustrated him more.  
  
Eden laughed at them. “Stop being such a sore loser, Isaac. We all had fun, right?” She glanced at Lily and Noah, who both nodded in agreement. Eden beamed at that.  
  
“Well, next time let’s do something I’m actually _good_ at! Then I’ll beat all your asses.”  
  
“And what _are_ you good at?” Adrian asked.  
  
Isaac opened his mouth to quip a smart reply at him, but it closed shut when he didn’t know what to say. “Uh… Not sure. Acting?”  
  
“Acting isn’t a thing you can do with your friends and family for fun, like bowling is, though,” Adrian chuckled.  
  
“Shut up, man! I know that!”  
  
Eden and Lily giggled slightly at Adrian and Isaac’s bickering, and Noah quite enjoyed watching them all.  
  
“Am I the only one who’s starving?” Eden asked as they started walking away from their lane and over to the area with the shoes so they could put on their normal shoes again.  
  
“Oh my god!” Isaac exclaimed. “I just realized I’m hungry too!”  
  
The others laughed.  
  
“I think everyone’s hungry,” Lily said, glancing at Noah and Adrian, who nodded in confirmation. “Maybe we should get something to eat and then maybe come back here and try out some of the other activities?”  
  
“Sounds like a nice idea,” Adrian smiled.  
  
“Yeah,” Eden said. “And afterwards we’ll go to dad and papa’s place and have dinner.”  
  
Isaac’s face lit up at the mention of that. “Ohhh! I’ve missed papa’s cooking! Do they know we’re coming?”  
  
Lily laughed at how Isaac’s face lit up at the mention of their papa’s cooking. “Yeah, I told them.”  
  
_“Yes!”_ Isaac cheered, doing a small dance of happiness, which made his siblings somewhat embarrassed.  
  
They quickly put on their shoes and left to find a nice place to eat at, preferably somewhere where Isaac wouldn’t be spotted so easily. Isaac’s bodyguard, who had been standing quietly in the background the whole time, followed them, but kept his distance to let them all have some privacy.

  
***

  
After eating they headed back to the bowling center to try out some of the other activities there. They played mostly darts, billiard, and table hockey.  
  
Noah turned out to be quite good at table hockey, and Isaac cursed loudly every time he had to face Noah in the game and lost miserably. On the other hand, Isaac was quite good at playing darts, which ended up in a fierce competition between him and Adrian. Isaac barely won against Adrian, and all of them groaned when they had to listen to Isaac’s never ending cheers and cocky remarks that he had actually managed to score higher than Adrian, even if it was just by three points.  
  
At 4pm they decided to leave the bowling center in the mall and head home to Dean and Castiel, who were waiting for them in their childhood home.  
  
When they finally arrived, Castiel and Dean both greeted them at the door with wide smiles.  
  
“Hey, look who’s here,” Dean grinned at the sight of all his five children standing in his doorway.  
  
Dean and Castiel’s dog Carrie was barking with joy and jumping up on everyone as they entered the house.  
  
“It’s so good to see all of you again,” Castiel smiled, pulling everyone into hugs as they came inside.  
  
Dean also hugged them, and his tail was swishing with joy at seeing everyone again.  
  
Dean and Castiel were both in their seventies now, but their angel and demon genes made them look and feel younger than a human at that age. Still, they weren’t as young as they used to be, and grey hairs were starting to appear a bit on their heads. Their feathers would never lose their color, though.  
  
“It’s good to see you too,” Eden smiled, entwining tails with Dean during their hug.  
  
After hugging they took off their shoes and jackets.  
  
It was a strange feeling to Noah to be back at his childhood home with just his parents and siblings around. He couldn’t remember the last time where it had been just them and no one else, and although he liked having the others there as well, he quite enjoyed the feeling when it was just him, his parents, and his siblings.  
  
“Did you guys have fun?” Castiel asked, watching as his kids took off their shoes and jackets and made themselves at home.  
  
“Yeah, it was fun!” Isaac grinned. “I totally beat Adrian’s ass.”  
  
Adrian let out a loud snort at that while kicking off his shoes. “Yeah, you scored three points more than me at the darts game, but I was 74 points in front of you at bowling. So I wouldn’t exactly say that you ‘beat my ass’.”  
  
“Oi!” Isaac objected.  
  
Dean laughed at them. “Competition much?”  
  
“You have no idea,” Eden groaned, still annoyed by Isaac’s endless boasting after he won the darts game.  
  
“But Eden totally won when we played bowling,” Lily said, grinning proudly at her big sister. “Even Adrian lost to her.”  
  
Dean and Castiel both looked surprised at that, but also quite proud.  
  
“That’s my girl,” Dean grinned at Eden.  
  
Eden smiled modestly when everyone stared at her.  
  
“Yeah, she wasn’t half bad,” Adrian chuckled, giving Eden a friendly pat on the shoulder before heading into the living room. The others followed, and Carrie kept bumping her nose against Noah’s hand to make him pet her.  
  
“And then Noah beat us all at table hockey,” Lily added, smiling at Noah as they entered the living room together.  
  
“Fuck, I didn’t know he was that good at it!” Isaac exclaimed, groaning loudly at the reminder of how badly he had lost to his baby brother in that game.  
  
Dean seemed pretty amazed that Noah was skilled in such a game. “Really? Where’d you learn to play table hockey, Noah?”  
  
Noah blushed a bit as they all looked at him in amazement, and he petted Carrie behind the ears to distract himself. “From Christie, mostly. We sometimes went out and played it together with Lucas when we were in college, and I got kinda good at it. Christie used to beat me all the time at the game until I got better at it. Lucas got quite good at it as well.”  
  
“Damn. Make Christie teach me too!” Isaac said.  
  
Noah chuckled at Isaac. He was pretty glad that there was one game he was good at and that he had won, because it meant that he wasn’t a complete loser today. He knew that winning or losing didn’t matter as long as you had fun – and he had definitely had a lot of fun today – but it was still a pretty good feeling to win, especially against Isaac.  
  
“Do you even still talk to Christie?” Lily asked Noah, frowning a bit in wonder.  
  
Noah nodded. “Yeah, sometimes. But not as much as I used to…”  
  
“Well, you still gotta let her teach me how not to get my ass kicked at table hockey,” Isaac said. “Losing to my baby brother really hurts my pride…”  
  
“Oh, come on, Isaac. Give Noah a little chance of being good at something,” Adrian told him. “Besides, it was kinda fun watching him beat your ass.” His lips curled into a mean smirk, and as expected it immediately ticked off Isaac.  
  
“Shut up, man!”  
  
When Isaac reached out to smack Adrian, Dean said, “Hey! Don’t start acting like you’re back in kindergarten now, you two. You’re grown adults, for fuck’s sake.”  
  
“After what I saw today, they’re _definitely_ not adults,” Eden murmured, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Lily giggled next to her, and Noah looked rather amused as well.  
  
“Just let them, Dean,” Castiel told his mate in a soft voice. “And you know Isaac doesn’t grow up.”  
  
“Hey!” Isaac protested loudly, making everyone laugh at him.  
  
“Yeah, that’s definitely true,” Dean laughed, earning an annoyed glare from Isaac.  
  
Castiel chuckled at Isaac’s offended face, but he knew that his son was just as amused as he was annoyed by the comments about him.  
  
Cas then excused himself as he went over to the kitchen to get everyone something to drink, and Eden joined him to help.  
  
“Where’d you leave your hot bodyguard, Isaac?” Lily asked when she realized that she hadn’t seen the handsome alpha around since they left the mall.  
  
“I told him to go home,” Isaac said, waving it off with hand gesture. “As much as I like looking at him, I didn’t feel like having him standing around in the corner of the room while we’re all together here at dad and papa’s house. Besides, I doubt the paparazzis are gonna come for me here.”  
  
“Aww, how sweet of you,” Lily giggled, making Isaac glare a bit at her for sounding like she was mocking him.  
  
“You had a bodyguard with you to the mall today?” Dean asked, surprised.  
  
“Yeah, he keeps the paparazzis away,” Isaac explained. “And he’s hot as smokes.”  
  
“Ugh,” Eden groaned in disgust as she came over to them with glasses to drink from. “I seriously feel sorry for Kaylen that he’s got such a perverted mate as you…” She placed the glasses on the living room table, and Castiel came over with juice and soda for everyone.  
  
“I’m not perverted! I just enjoy the small things in life,” Isaac said to his defense. “And don’t think I haven’t seen _you_ stare at handsome men even when Jason is around!”  
  
“ _What?!_ I don’t!” Eden immediately denied. Her quick denial made everyone laugh and she couldn’t help but blush.  
  
“You shouldn’t do such things when you have a mate, Isaac,” Castiel told him, feeling pretty sorry for Kaylen as well.  
  
“Hey, he doesn’t mind! I wouldn’t be doing it if he really didn’t mind, ‘cause he’d cut my freaking balls off if I did.” Isaac shivered at the thought alone. Kaylen was scary when he was angry and Isaac didn’t like being around him when he was in a bad mood. It made him nervous.  
  
Adrian laughed at that. “I have no doubts about that. That guy’s tougher than he looks.”  
  
“I guess he has to be if he has to handle Isaac every day,” Dean remarked.  
  
Isaac glared at his dad when he saw him smirking at him, and the others laughed when Isaac crossed his arms like an offended child.  
  
They all got seated on the couch and poured something to drink for themselves. Castiel was seated in one end of the couch, followed by Eden, Lily, Adrian, Noah, Isaac, and Dean. Isaac had almost ended up sitting next to Adrian, but he knew his brother would only be a pain in his ass if he did, so he had quickly grabbed Noah and placed him between them before sitting down. The others had laughed at it, but Noah kind of felt like it was for the better that Adrian and Isaac didn’t sit next to each other. Just like Nathan and Derek, they were good at annoying each other, although Adrian and Isaac’s bickering wasn’t nearly as bad as Nathan and Derek’s. It was more like a brotherly bickering, and Noah had the feeling that the two bonded with each other by annoying the other. It made him wish it was the same with Nathan and Derek, but sadly they always ended up fighting and pissing the other off.  
  
“So, Eden, how’s it going with Daniel and Ida’s baby?” Dean asked, eager to know more about his and Cas’ first great-grandchild.  
  
“Things are going well,” Eden smiled, once again looking all proud and excited about the baby. “I think they’re both ready for the baby to come. They already have everything set up in the nursery, and Jason and I have helped them a bit.”  
  
“That’s nice,” Castiel smiled. “I’m excited to see their little girl.”  
  
Daniel and Ida had announced that they were expecting a girl. Since Ida was a human and Daniel was 1/2 human and 1/2 angel/demon hybrid, the baby would mostly have human features. The scan, however, had shown that the baby had a tail but no wings, so she wouldn’t be completely human.  
  
“So am I,” Eden grinned before glancing briefly at Lily next to her. “And… I think both of you can expect to have yet another great-grandchild soon.”  
  
Dean and Castiel shared a confused look.  
  
“What? Is Ida having twins?” Dean asked with a perplexed frown on his face.  
  
Eden laughed. “No, they’re only having one baby.” She chuckled at her dad one more time before looking at Lily again. “I think Lily better tell you the news herself.”  
  
“Yeah…” Lily agreed. She let out a deep sigh before explaining. “Well, like I told Eden and the others earlier today… Jennifer is having a baby.”  
  
The looks of utter surprise on Dean and Castiel’s faces made Isaac bust out laughing. There was complete silence from Dean and Cas for a moment before Dean finally spoke. “Wait… What?”  
  
“Is that true?” Castiel asked, his face still full of shocked surprise.  
  
“Yep…” Lily confirmed, shifting a bit on the couch. “It wasn’t planned. It just kinda happened ‘cause she didn’t protect herself. But she’s already decided to keep the baby.”  
  
“That’s… Wow.” Dean blinked several times, as if trying to clear himself from the shock. “Isn’t she only fifteen?”  
  
“Sixteen,” Lily corrected him, sighing again. “Which is way too early if you ask me, but I won’t let her get rid of the baby unless that’s what she wants, and she seems pretty determined that she wants to keep it.”  
  
“How’s that going to work, with her being in high school and all?” Adrian asked. “Can she afford it?”  
  
“No, but Tony and I will help her…”  
  
Castiel could tell that Lily was kind of distraught by it. He glanced at his daughter in sympathy, knowing how tense her relationship with Jennifer was already.  
  
“But it kinda sounds like you and her got closer after it happened,” Eden said slowly, looking at Lily.  
  
A small smile appeared on Lily’s lips. “Yeah. I spent an entire night just holding her while she cried ‘cause she was scared and felt like she had just ruined her entire future. Usually she always pushes me away, so that was definitely progress.”  
  
“Oh, those teenagers,” Isaac remarked with a sigh. “Their moods are all over the place. How the hell is one supposed to help them when everything you do is wrong to them?”  
  
“Finally you understand my life,” Dean said dryly. He laughed when Isaac turned his head to glare at him, and the others laughed a bit as well.  
  
“I’m sure she’ll be okay,” Castiel said, hoping to cheer Lily up a bit. “As long as you are by her side and support her, Jennifer is going to be fine. She’ll need you.”  
  
Lily smiled at her papa’s words and nodded slightly. “Yeah. I know.”  
  
“But damn,” Dean said. “I’m already having a hard time keeping track of all those grandkids, and now we’re having _great-_ grandkids as well? How are my grandkids even old enough for this yet?”  
  
“Well, Daniel is almost 28 already…” Eden pointed out, chuckling at her dad’s difficulties keeping track of his own grandkids.  
  
Castiel’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? I was certain he was only 25…”  
  
“No, he’s turning 28 in May,” Eden smiled. “Which kinda makes me feel really old.” She let out a nervous laugh.  
  
Isaac snorted loudly. “That’s ‘cause you _are_ old. Old as balls, actually… _Ow!_ ” He grunted in pain when both Dean and Noah smacked him for being rude.  
  
“Hey, be nice to your sister,” Dean chastised him, and gave Isaac his best don’t-you-dare-be-rude look.  
  
Noah was scowling at Isaac in disapproval and looking like he wanted to smack him again, and Isaac leaned a bit away from him.  
  
“Jesus, even Noah wants to kill me,” Isaac murmured, still finding it somewhat amusing.  
  
Eden and Lily were both shooting Isaac their deadliest glares, while Castiel and Adrian looked at Isaac in disapproval.  
  
“I’m not ‘old as balls’,” Eden finally said, still glaring at Isaac like she wanted to smother him. “And don’t say that about me, ‘cause in seven years you’ll be just as old as I am now.”  
  
“Well, only if I survive all the deadly glares I’m getting right now!”  
  
Dean let out a chuckle and shook his head in amusement as Isaac’s words, and the others seemed slightly amused as well.  
  
“Maybe you should improve your survival instincts and just shut up instead?” Adrian suggested.  
  
Isaac looked like he was considering Adrian’s suggestion for a moment until he found a flaw in it. “Nah. It kinda conflicts with my instinct to be funny and annoy the hell out of people, so I’m pretty sure it won’t work.”  
  
There was laughter and helpless groans from the others, and Isaac smirked smugly at his own comeback.  
  
Castiel sighed deeply. “Although I am happy that you are all still more or less the same, it wouldn’t hurt for you to act more mature, Isaac…”  
  
“Jeez, papa! Don’t ruin the single fun I have in life!” Isaac retorted with a pout.  
  
Now it was Eden’s turn to sigh. “You guys are crazy…” She reached out and took a sip from her soda to distract her thoughts, and rolled her eyes a bit when she heard Isaac bark out a laugh at her.  
  
“Why are you using plural?” Adrian asked. “As far as I know, it’s just Isaac who’s crazy.”  
  
“Hey, I’m not crazy! I’m just not boring!” Isaac retorted.  
  
Dean chuckled and seemed to enjoy watching his kids interact just like in the old days. He and Cas shared a look that told Dean that Cas felt the same way as him, and it made him smile more.

  
***

  
They spent the next hour chatting about their families and the latest news.  
  
Dean and Castiel told their kids a bit about the recent road trips they had been on. Since they had both retired they had gotten kind of bored just being at home all the time and had started travelling around a bit. They sometimes went on small road trips and spent the nights in motels, and sometimes they had Sam and Jess join them. Noah and his siblings were happy that their parents were content with their retirement, and it also gave them more time to babysit the youngest grandkids every now and then.  
  
At 6pm they had dinner. Castiel had prepared lasagna, which used to be one of the family’s favorites. He had always been very good at cooking it, and Noah was surprised to find out just how much he had missed eating his papa’s lasagna. There were many ways to make lasagna, and Castiel and Jayden used different recipes, so Cas’ lasagna tasted quite different. Noah couldn’t decide on a favorite, though; they were both very good.  
  
Isaac was being very loud during dinner, as usual, and Castiel tried to not let it get to his nerves how Isaac talked with his mouth full of food all the time. Adrian seemed pretty annoyed by it, though, while Dean was partially disapproving of it and partially amused.  
  
After eating, Noah, Eden, and Lily went to do the dishes.  
  
“Want some help?” Adrian offered when he saw them gathering in the kitchen and beginning to wash the dishes and put the plates in the dishwasher.  
  
“Nah, I think we’re good,” Eden told him, glancing over her shoulder at him with a smile. “I think we need some girl time here.” She giggled along with Lily, and Adrian watched as Lily pulled Noah close and ruffled his hair with fondness.  
  
Adrian chuckled at the sight and turned to leave. “Okay then. This corner is getting way too touchy-feely for me anyway.”  
  
“Aww,” Isaac mocked, having overheard their conversation. “And here I thought you were a girl, Adrian.”  
  
There was a loud smack when Adrian’s tail collided with Isaac’s shins. “Shut up,” he huffed, pushing Isaac out of his way when his brother tried to block his path.  
  
“Ow! I’ll tell dad!”  
  
Adrian smirked. “Go ahead. I don’t think he cares.”  
  
Isaac’s mouth snapped shut when he knew his brother was right, and instead he tried to glare Adrian down, who just laughed at him and walked towards the door to the terrace to see what Dean and Cas were up to outside. The dog had gotten pretty hyper after eating, so Dean had taken her outside to let her blow off some steam in the garden.  
  
Isaac was about to join Adrian when he suddenly felt an urgent need to use the bathroom.  
  
“Shiiiit, I gotta take a dump!” Isaac exclaimed before running into the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind him.  
  
“Isaac!” Eden chastised in outrage. “We don’t need to hear that!”  
  
Lily just giggled, and Noah was too used to Isaac’s bluntness to be surprised by it.  
  
Adrian, however, turned around and went over to the bathroom door. “Don’t forget to open the window in there, Isaac. You wouldn’t wanna gas yourself to death.”  
  
Eden, Lily, and Noah laughed as they heard Adrian mocking Isaac, and they could all hear Isaac muttering curses under his breath in there.  
  
“You can kiss the darkest part of my sweet ass, Adrian!” Isaac’s muffled voice came from the bathroom, following by the sound of him yanking at the toilet paper roll.  
  
Adrian laughed. “No, thanks, I think I’ll pass. And definitely don’t think your ass is sweet.” He was still laughing as he went down the hall and out the terrace door, and Isaac could be heard cursing after him in the bathroom.  
  
“Sometimes I don’t get how Kaylen can be around Isaac all the time and not go crazy,” Eden sighed as she continued washing the pot the lasagna had been cooked in.  
  
Noah chuckled. “I think Kaylen survives because he’s quite similar to Isaac in many ways.”  
  
“But he’s definitely smarter,” Lily remarked, making them all laugh.  
  
After laughing, Eden switched the topic. “So, Noah.” She turned to look at him over her should while finishing up with the dishes. Her lips curled into a smile as she said, “How’s Nathan doing? I don’t think you’ve talked much about him tonight. Does he have any girlfriends yet?”  
  
“Well, not exactly…” Noah put the last plate in the dishwasher and closed it before looking at Eden again. “He doesn’t have a girlfriend, but… It seems have him and Emily have been, um, intimate. But it didn’t work out for them.”  
  
“Ohh, Nathan has popped his cherry?” Lily asked, grinning.  
  
“Well, that’s when you know for sure that your kid has grown up,” Eden commented, laughing.  
  
“I guess,” Noah murmured. “It still feels odd to me. I know he’s seventeen now, but still… It’s so strange.”  
  
Lily gave him a sympathetic smile and placed a hand on Noah’s shoulder for support. “I know. It’s always hard when your kids suddenly grow up.”  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
They all looked up when they heard Carrie’s loud barking as she entered the house again, and Dean, Castiel, and Adrian came inside as well. Carrie immediately ran over to Noah, Eden, and Lily to get attention, and her tail wagged like mad when they petted and cooed at her.  
  
“You guys totally just missed how Carrie almost knocked Cas over,” Dean laughed.  
  
Castiel scowled at Dean for mentioning it, and the others laughed when they saw it.  
  
“Really? What happened?” Noah asked.  
  
“Your father threw her favorite ball at me and I caught it, and Carrie almost made me fall over when she jumped on me to get it,” Castiel explained, still looking utterly annoyed that Dean was making a joke of it.  
  
Adrian also seemed to think it was amusing, and although Noah, Lily, and Eden chuckled and laughed at it, they felt kind of sorry for their papa.  
  
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t fall over and break something, papa,” Eden told him.  
  
Dean laughed as he went over and wrapped an arm around Cas’ shoulders, pulling him closer. “Don’t worry; your papa’s made of strong stuff.”  
  
Castiel rolled his eyes at that, but before anyone could say anything more, Isaac suddenly stepped out of the bathroom. They all glanced in his direction and watched as Isaac took slow steps towards them while patting his stomach gently.  
  
“Phew. I wouldn’t advise anyone to go in there for the next half an hour or so,” Isaac said as he went over to join them.  
  
Adrian grimaced. “Should we call the CDC?”  
  
A loud bark of laughter escaped Isaac. “Nah, let’s just blow the house up instead.”  
  
There was a mix of disgusted groans and amused laughter from the others, and Castiel looked like he was telling himself inside that they were definitely not his sons, which only made the others laugh more.  
  
Noah was still laughing about it when he suddenly heard his phone ringing. Clumsily he dried his wet hands in his shirt after having handled the dishes, and reached for his phone in his pocket. It was a video call from Nathan, which surprised him a bit.  
  
“Um, sorry. Be right back,” Noah said, excusing himself as he went to the living room area away from the others to have a bit more privacy as he accepted the call.  
  
“Greetings from us!” Isaac yelled, grinning like an idiot as he watched Noah sneak away.  
  
Noah quickly accepted the call, and watched as Dylan and Claire’s faces appeared on his screen.  
  
_“Mommy!”_ Claire chirped cheerfully when she saw Noah’s face appearing on Nathan’s phone screen.  
  
_“Hi, mom,”_ Dylan said, smiling at Noah as he sat next to his sister on the couch.  
  
“Hey,” Noah smiled. “Did you guys steal Nathan’s phone…?”  
  
_“No, he said we could use it,”_ Dylan explained, and looked up somewhere that Noah couldn’t see from the screen.  
  
There was a bit of rustling and Noah saw them shifting the pone around until Nathan appeared on the screen.  
  
_“Hey, mom,”_ Nathan smiled. _“Claire wouldn’t stop begging me to use my phone for a video call, so I let her use it for a bit. Hope we aren’t interrupting something.”_  
  
“No, it’s fine,” Noah said, smiling at Nathan’s words.  
  
_“We had mac and cheese for dinner!”_ Claire exclaimed cheerfully, and grinned as she threw her hands up in the air.  
  
_“Yeah, and Dylan helped cook it,”_ Nathan added, grinning proudly over at Dylan.  
  
Nathan moved the phone so Noah could see Dylan, and Dylan blushed modestly at Nathan’s words.  
  
_“Well, it was fun,”_ Dylan said. _“Though I don’t think I’ll be that great a cook when I grow up…”_  
  
Noah chuckled and felt rather proud of Dylan that he had helped cook dinner for everyone. “Don’t say that. It just takes practice.”  
  
“Yeah, but Noah’s cooking still sucks!” Isaac yelled in the background.  
  
Noah froze in embarrassment and annoyance, and could hear the rest of his family shushing Isaac for interrupting his video call.  
  
“And Isaac sucks more!” Lily yelled back, making sure the kids could hear it on the phone.  
  
Nathan, Dylan, and Claire laughed, and Noah suddenly started wondering where Jayden and Derek where.  
  
“Are your father and Derek not there?” Noah asked, frowning.  
  
_“Dad’s currently making Derek help him do the laundry,”_ Nathan explained.  
  
When Noah looked surprised, Dylan explained, _“Derek brought his soccer ball into the house earlier today and hit Fizzles with it by accident… And now dad is punishing him for it.”_  
  
_“Poor Fizzles,”_ Claire cried, her wings drooping in sadness.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened. “Oh my god, is she okay?”  
  
_“I think so, yeah,”_ Nathan said. _“Though she ran out of the house so fast we couldn’t stop her, and we haven’t seen her since…”_  
  
_“I hope she comes back,”_ Claire said, looking like she was going to cry.  
  
_“I’m sure she will,”_ Dylan told her, using his wing to comfort his sister as he rubbed them together.  
  
Noah was at a loss of words that Derek had done that. The boy knew very well that all ball games were banished inside the house, and yet he had brought the ball into the house anyway and even hit the cat with it. Accident or not, Derek shouldn’t have played with the ball inside in the first place.  
  
_“Derek’s pretty mad that he has to help do the laundry now, but I think he has it coming,”_ Nathan murmured. It was clear that he didn’t feel sorry for his brother in the slightest.  
  
_“He didn’t do it on purpose, though,”_ Dylan argued softly.  
  
_“No, but he knows that soccer balls don’t belong in here.”_  
  
Claire suddenly grabbed the phone, and the video showed her face up real close as she leaned forwards. _“Mommy, when you coming home?”_  
  
Noah smiled at his daughter and how much she seemed to miss him already. He missed her too, but being apart wasn’t going to kill either of them. “Soon, sweetie.”  
  
_“When is soon?”_  
  
“I don’t know. In a few hours, maybe? You’ll probably be asleep by then.”  
  
_“Wills you come and kiss me goodnight?”_ Claire asked, her voice getting low and shy.  
  
“Of course I will,” Noah told her. “And so will your daddy when he tucks you in.”  
  
Claire’s face lit up, and it was the most adorable thing Noah had seen all day.  
  
_“Okay, guys, we better say goodbye now,”_ Nathan told his siblings as he grabbed his phone from Claire again.  
  
Claire whined in protest, but Nathan didn’t give in.  
  
“Yeah, let’s better say goodbye now,” Noah agreed, smiling. “And you have to sleep soon, Claire.”  
  
_“But dun wanna! Want mommy!”_ Claire cried.  
  
There was a bit of chuckling from Noah’s siblings and parents as they listened in. They thought it was adorable how attached Claire was to Noah and Jayden, but it could be a little difficult for them sometimes.  
  
“I’ll be home tonight, sweetie. I promise,” Noah told her patiently. “And I think your grandparents and aunts and uncles wanna say goodnight to you as well.” He could sense that Dean and Castiel especially were eager to greet their grandkids through the video call, so Noah shifted his phone so that the kids could see everyone.  
  
“Hey, sweetie,” Dean grinned when he saw Claire’s face on Noah’s phone. “Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of your mommy, and he’ll be home before you know it.”  
  
_“Promise, grandpa?”_ Claire asked, sniffling a bit.  
  
“Yeah, I promise.”  
  
Claire seemed a little more relaxed now, and Noah let everyone say goodbye to the kids before he told Nathan to take care of his younger siblings and then hung up on the call. He sighed heavily when the call was over, and put his phone back into his pocket again.  
  
“Aww, Claire is so sweet,” Lily grinned. “I just wanna cuddle her all night long.”  
  
“Yeah, she’s cute,” Eden agreed, chuckling. “And what was it that I heard? Did Derek hit one of your cats with his soccer ball?”  
  
Again, Noah sighed. “Apparently, yes… He often does reckless things like that.”  
  
“I guess he’s still wild, huh?” Dean said.  
  
Noah nodded. “Yeah… I have a feeling that that won’t change.”  
  
“I’m sure he will be a little calmer when he’s grown up,” Castiel spoke, feeling sorry for Noah about it.  
  
Adrian snorted. “You said the same about Isaac and _he_ hasn’t changed at all.”  
  
Eden and Lily laughed.  
  
“Yeah, he’s still a kid,” Eden smirked.  
  
“Hey!” Isaac protested. “Don’t you guys ever get tired of insulting me? ‘Cause I sure as hell get tired of listening to you!”  
  
“Maybe you should stop giving us something to talk about, then,” Adrian quipped.  
  
“Ha,” Isaac huffed in response. “Then you’d all be bored to death.”  
  
Isaac’s confidence was amusing as always, even though it sometimes felt like his ego was getting a bit too high. They all had the feeling that Kaylen was usually the one to keep Isaac’s ego in balance – the one to encourage him when feeling down and the one to knock him down a few steps when he was getting a bit too cocky. But Kaylen wasn’t there with them today, so Isaac did let his cockiness get a bit out of hand sometimes, even though he meant well.

  
***

  
They spent the next few hours talking some more, but also playing games at the table.  
  
It had been many years since they had all been together alone, and yet it kind of felt like yesterday to all of them that they were kids living at home with Dean and Castiel. Although they had all changed a bit and gotten more mature now that they had children of their own, they were still playful when they were together, and Dean and Cas were both happy to see that.  
  
At 9:20pm they decided it was best to head home. They all had to go to work on the next day, and they had already spent the entire day together.  
  
Dean and Castiel were of course quite sad to say goodbye to their kids, but they were promised they would all drop by and visit them again soon.  
  
Dean and Cas stood in the doorway as their kids went outside to the cars so they could head home. It was a little chilly outside and the sun had set, but otherwise the weather was nice and quiet.  
  
“Just so you know, next time we go bowling together I’ll kick all your asses at the game,” Isaac spoke as they went down the driveway together.  
  
Eden laughed. “Is that a threat or a promise?”  
  
“Both, actually.”  
  
An amused snort escaped Adrian, and he reached out to pat Isaac’s shoulder mockingly. “Keep dreaming, Isaac. Eden and I will always beat you. Heck, maybe Lily and Noah will learn to beat you as well.”  
  
“Hey!” Isaac protested, shoving Adrian’s arm off of him. “Who asked for your opinion? I don’t like your opinions!”  
  
Adrian just laughed, and the others giggled as they watched them.  
  
They were almost at their cars when Isaac noticed a familiar face on the sidewalk. His face lit up at the sight, and he wasted no time going over to greet the person.  
  
“Kevin!” Isaac grinned, coming over to Kevin with an idiotic grin on his face before pulling the baffled human into a tight hug.  
  
The others were surprised to see Kevin at the house. None of them had seen him for years, but Dean and Cas still saw him sometimes, seeing as his mom still lived next door.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Kevin croaked before being squeezed by Isaac. “Ugh, Isaac. I can’t breathe.”  
  
Isaac just laughed at him and pulled away, and the others gathered around them to greet Kevin as well.  
  
“Wow, you’ve gotten old,” Adrian laughed. He almost hadn’t recognized Kevin, who was about 56 years old now.  
  
Kevin got a slightly offended look on his face, but he was used to the family being pretty blunt. “Well, I don’t age slowly like angels and demons do… We humans get older faster.”  
  
“Yeah, I know. So does Jason,” Eden chuckled. “Still nice seeing you again.”  
  
“Yeah, you too.” Kevin smiled at everyone before looking up to the house’s front door, where Dean and Cas were. Kevin waved at them and they waved back before he turned his attention back to everyone. “And you guys almost haven’t changed since last time I saw you… But I still can’t get used to little Noah being a grown up now.”  
  
Noah shifted a little as the others laughed softly and glanced at him.  
  
“Yeah, he’ll always be the baby in this family,” Lily said, grinning fondly at Noah as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close.  
  
Noah groaned. “I’m not a baby; I’m 40 already.”  
  
“Still a baby!” Isaac insisted.  
  
They all laughed when Noah seemed a little offended about it.  
  
“What are you doing out here so late?” Eden finally asked Kevin.  
  
“Just visited my mom,” Kevin replied, shrugging his shoulders. “And now I’m heading home to my family. My car is parked a bit down the street ‘cause I helped my mom clean the driveway today. She’s getting too old to keep the house clean…”  
  
“Ah, I see.”  
  
“Well, we’re all heading home too,” Adrian said, burying his hands deep in his pockets to keep warm.  
  
“Well, I gotta pick up Kaylen first. He had weekend work,” Isaac said. “Which means he’s gonna bug me all the way home in the car… Fuck.”  
  
Lily laughed. “Oh, come on. Surely it can’t be _that_ bad?”  
  
“He keeps switching the radio station! He’s always done that and it pisses me off,” Isaac groaned.  
  
“I’m sure he just does it to provoke you,” Adrian chuckled.  
  
“I know he does, that’s why it pisses me off!”  
  
The others laughed at him before parting ways. They all shared hugs and said goodbye before going over to their cars, ready to head home. They made sure to wave at Dean and Cas, who were still standing in the doorway and waving back at them. Carrie was in the doorway as well, but Dean was holding her back so she didn’t try to run towards the others.

  
***

  
It was around 9:40pm when Noah finally got home.  
  
He was completely exhausted from all the fun he had had today, and he was a little surprised by how quiet the house was when he entered it. He could hear the TV in the living room and someone chatting quietly on the couch, but he couldn’t hear Derek or Nathan. The two often got into fights before going to bed because Derek never wanted to go to bed and Nathan always tried to make him do it, and it could get kind of loud when they argued. But tonight he couldn’t hear them.  
  
“I’m home,” Noah announced as he closed the door behind him and went over to hang away his jacket and take off his shoes.  
  
There was some noise from the living room before Jayden showed up in the doorway. The alpha smiled at the sight of his mate. “Hey. Did you have fun?”  
  
Noah smiled and nodded. “Yeah, we had lots of fun today.” He glanced around. “Did everyone go to bed?”  
  
“I tucked Claire in at 7pm, and Dylan went at 8:30. And Derek just went around ten minutes ago.”  
  
“Oh. What about Nathan?”  
  
“He’s in the living room. We were chatting a bit before you came,” Jayden smiled. He stepped aside when Nathan appeared behind him to greet Noah as well.  
  
“Hey, mom,” Nathan smiled as he appeared in the doorway next to Jayden.  
  
“Hi,” Noah smiled back. “I’m surprised you’re not in your room as usual.”  
  
Nathan shrugged. “Didn’t feel like sitting at the computer, and dad and I ended up talking, so I stayed downstairs.”  
  
“Yeah, we talked a bit about colleges,” Jayden explained. “Nathan has to start thinking about which college he wants to go to and what he wants to study, so we talked a bit about that.”  
  
Noah’s heart sunk somewhat in his chest. Of course he knew that one day Nathan would have to move out and go to college, but he had tried not to think about it. It was hard for him to accept that Nathan was that old already. The thought of his kids moving out scared Noah more than he wanted to admit.  
  
Nathan seemed to notice the look on Noah’s face, and he tried to reassure his mom by giving him a gentle smile. “Well, I won’t be going just yet, don’t worry. Still gotta finish high school, and after this semester I still have one more year left. I’m just a junior.”  
  
“Yeah, I know…” Noah tried not to sound more bothered by it than he was. “So, did you decide on anything yet?”  
  
“Well, I’m still not entirely sure what I wanna do when I’m older, but I was thinking maybe something in sales or something? I find it kinda interesting and I think I’d be good at it. But I don’t know for sure yet…”  
  
Jayden patted Nathan on the shoulder in a fatherly gesture. “No need to get a headache over it yet. You still have some time to decide.”  
  
Noah smiled. “I think sales would suit you, Nathan. You’re good with people.”  
  
Nathan shifted modestly as he smiled at Noah under his lashes. “Thanks…”  
  
Jayden slapped his son gently in the back, but it was enough to almost send Nathan flying forwards one step. “Now, go to bed. I don’t wanna deal with a sleep-deprived teenager in the morning. Dealing with Derek is more than enough.”  
  
Nathan scowled at his dad for pushing him like that. “Well, mostly it’s mom who deals with him ‘cause you’re still asleep.”  
  
Jayden laughed. “Well, true. That’s one of the good things about my odd working hours; I often get to sleep longer in the mornings.”  
  
Nathan rolled his eyes before heading towards the stairs. “I’ll head to bed, then. See you guys tomorrow. Good night.”  
  
“Good night, Nathan,” Noah told him, giving his son a smile before Nathan headed up the stairs.  
  
“Night,” Jayden said. He watched Nathan ascend the stairs and waited for the noise of Nathan’s door shutting upstairs before he went over to Noah and placed his hands possessively on his mate’s hips. “Phew, what a day,” he grinned.  
  
Noah chuckled and almost felt sorry when he saw how tired Jayden looked. “Was it that bad?”  
  
“Dealing with three boys who keep arguing and a little girl who constantly wants my attention? Yeah, it kinda was… But it could have been worse.”  
  
Noah chuckled at him, and leaned up when Jayden leaned down to place a kiss on his lips. The kiss was a chaste one, but Jayden’s hands on Noah’s hips definitely weren’t, nor was the tail that was currently wrapping itself around Noah’s ankle in possessiveness.  
  
“Mm. I’m totally in the mood for some naughtiness now. Aren’t you?” Jayden purred, rubbing his nose gently against Noah’s cheek to show affection.  
  
Noah closed his eyes, dwelling in the comforting closeness with his mate. But when he felt Jayden’s hands slowly sneaking their way up under his shirt to touch his skin, he let out a surprised yelp and pulled back. “Ah, your hands are cold!”  
  
Jayden laughed at Noah’s reaction. “Sorry. I just washed my hands in cold water a few minutes ago, and I guess the heat hasn’t returned to them yet.”  
  
Noah scowled at him as he rubbed his stomach to get rid of the cold feeling.  
  
Jayden thought Noah was being really adorable right now though, and he chuckled as he moved forward and placed a kiss on Noah’s jaw, slowly moving down to kiss his neck. “So… Naughty times or not?”  
  
Noah was really tired and they had already had sex in the morning, but listening to his mate’s seductive voice and feeling his sweet touches him made Noah kind of aroused. He sighed as he gave in. “Okay. But don’t drag it out. I’m too tired.”  
  
Jayden grinned in victory when Noah agreed, and he quickly placed a kiss on his mate’s neck before pulling back to look at him. “Well, I’ll try to make it fast then. I’m pretty good at making you come fast, aren’t I?”  
  
The submissive’s eyes narrowed somewhat. “Are you boasting?”  
  
“Maybe a little,” Jayden admitted, grinning like an idiot now.  
  
Noah blushed as he reached out and smacked Jayden on the arm. “Stop being so cocky. I’ve been with Isaac all day and that’s more than enough cockiness for me.”  
  
Jayden let out a laugh. “Okay, I’ll keep I contained, then.”  
  
The two of them turned off the lights downstairs and locked up the house before heading upstairs together.  
  
Noah made a quick stop to Claire’s room to place a goodnight kiss on her forehead before retreating to the bedroom with Jayden. The two of them had a lot of arousal to get rid of, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking a while to update. I'm about to move into a new apartment, so I'm kinda busy with that. My beta is also a little busy lately, so the writing and beta process is a little slowed down. 
> 
> But this chapter is probably my longest one yet, so hopefully that will compensate a bit :D


	60. Chapter 60

**June 2067 (Noah is 41, Jayden is 42 (almost 43), Nathan is 17, Derek is 13, Dylan is 9 (almost 10), Claire is 5 years old).**  
   
Summer had started and soon the kids would have holidays. Noah and Jayden had their holidays in July, so there was still some time before they could do any activities with the kids during the holidays. This year they were planning a trip to Disney World. Claire had been begging to go there ever since she watched a commercial about it on TV, and Dylan also really wanted to go there. Nathan and Derek had both been there before, but Derek had only been three years old, so he couldn’t remember it much.  
   
Today was an ordinary Saturday, and the weather was already incredibly hot in the morning. Noah and Jayden could feel it in their bedroom and had opened the window all night long, and the ceiling fan was also busy trying to cool them off.  
   
Noah and Jayden had woken up when they heard Claire and Dylan being noisy in the hallway outside. They were relieved that Nathan seemed to be awake and was attending to them, meaning that Noah and Jayden didn’t have to hurry to get out of bed before they managed to put on clothes.  
   
Jayden watched Noah from the bed as the submissive rummaged through the drawers, trying to find something to wear.  
   
“Can’t decide what to wear?” Jayden asked, teasing Noah a bit when his mate had been looking through the drawers for two minutes already. The alpha lay on the bed, his arm propped up on his elbow while supporting his head on his hand. His tail was swishing contently on the bed, and his wings were splayed out lazily behind him, not even trying to conceal his nudity.  
   
Noah scowled over at him before turning his attention back to his clothes. He had just gotten out of bed and wasn’t wearing anything but a pair of pink panties.  
   
Jayden admired Noah’s slender body and feminine curves as he watched him. He loved all the little details that made Noah so beautiful and adorable, like how his face got a frown on it when he contemplated which clothes to wear, how his feathers and hair were still messy and ruffled from sleep, and how he supported most of his weight on one foot while standing there and looking concentrated.  
   
“Hmm. I’m not sure what to wear,” Noah murmured, still staring at the clothes in his drawers and was unable to decide. “I don’t wanna wear something that will make me sweat too much… Most of my pants are uncomfortable to wear when it’s this hot outside…”  
   
Jayden let out a small laugh on the bed. “Just wear something. Anything looks good on you.”  
   
“Well, I wanna wear my shorts, but I’m afraid they might not look good on me anymore…”  
   
“Eh, why wouldn’t they look good on you? I love your shorts… They make your legs look super sexy.”  
   
Noah suppressed a blush and instead turned his head to look at Jayden. “You really don’t think I’m too old to wear super short shorts?”  
   
“Seriously? No fucking way, you’re still as gorgeous as ever,” Jayden insisted, almost offended that Noah would think otherwise. “And lots of women and subs wear short skirts and shorts at your age, especially angels and demons.”  
   
“Hmm. I guess you’re right…” Noah glanced into his drawers again and reached for his shorts. They were made of denim, but because they were quite short they usually didn’t make Noah feel too warm. “I guess I’ll put them on, then.”  
   
A pleased grin formed on Jayden’s face and his tail flipped in excitement. “Good. I’ve missed looking at your bare, sexy legs outside the bedroom anyway.”  
   
Noah’s face was as red as tomato as he swirled around and threw a pair of panties at Jayden. “Stop being so perverted all the time!”  
   
Jayden just laughed and caught the panties that Noah threw at him. “Or you could just wear these panties? I wouldn’t mind…”  
   
“But you’d mind if I went outside wearing _just_ them, right?”  
   
Jayden’s grin disappeared from his face immediately, and Noah couldn’t help but be slightly amused.  
   
“Yeah. Shorts it is,” Jayden said.  
   
Noah laughed and shook his head fondly at his mate before starting to pull on his shorts. He found a thin blue t-shirt to wear with it, and he felt kind of shy when he realized how much those clothes would show off his figure.  
   
“You might wanna do something about your feathers, though,” Jayden pointed out. “They look pretty messy.”  
   
Noah zipped up his shorts and glanced in Jayden’s direction as the alpha spoke. “Well, I was hoping you would, um, groom them for me.”  
   
A wide smile spread on Jayden’s face. “Sure. Was hoping you’d ask.”  
   
Noah threw his shirt on the bed, not wanting to put it on yet if Jayden was going to groom him. He smiled as he climbed onto the bed so Jayden could groom his wings for him.  
   
Jayden got up so Noah could lie down on his stomach on the bed while his wings spread out wide on either side of him. Knowing that Jayden’s nakedness would only arouse Noah and possibly disturb the grooming, Jayden quickly found a pair of boxers to pull on. Hopefully the clothing would let them both concentrate more on the task at hand instead of on sex.  
   
Once Noah was in position, Jayden gently framed his body with his legs so that he was sitting on top of Noah but was supporting his weight on his shins instead of on Noah.  
   
Jayden had to make Noah’s body produce oil from his oil glands in order to groom his feathers properly, so he placed his hands on Noah’s back and slowly started running them up and down the skin, massaging the muscles to make Noah relax.  
   
The submissive responded by purring softly in his throat. He trusted Jayden completely, so it didn’t take long until his body went all soft and his wings splayed out across the bed in relaxation.  
   
Once Noah’s body was relaxed, Jayden starting rubbing his oil glands gently. The first touch made Noah flinch a bit, but he soon got used to the stimulation and started purring louder as Jayden rubbed the buds a little harder, drawing the precious oil from them.  
   
The sweet scent of Noah’s oil made Jayde’s dick harden in his boxers, but he suppressed the sudden arousal and tried to concentrate on getting the job done. It was one of the most intimate parts of their relationship when Noah let Jayden use his oil to groom his wings, and Jayden savored every second of it. He took his time getting Noah worked up and making him produce enough oil before Jayden collected it on his hands and finally started rubbing it into the feathers. He started at the base, coating the feathers in the shiny oil and rubbing it in good.  
   
When Jayden started coating his feathers in his oil, Noah began squirming and wiggling slightly under him. It was very stimulating for him to have his oil glands touched and have his wings and feathers rubbed as Jayden coated his feathers in the oil, and Jayden loved watching Noah like this. He loved listening to the small, helpless moans escaping from Noah, and how his wings twitched and spread out further to show his love and trust for Jayden.  
   
Grooming could take a while, but they had time. And Jayden certainly wasn’t going to rush this.  
   
They groomed each other’s wings about once a month, but it was only around once every five or six months that they were extra thorough with it. And today Jayden was extra thorough.  
   
Noah was lost in bliss as he let Jayden take care of his feathers. He loved when Jayden did this for him, and he couldn’t wait to return the favor one of these days.  
   
Jayden was almost done grooming Noah’s wings when they suddenly heard noise from the hallway and a knock on the door.  
   
“What is it?” Jayden called. He chuckled softly at the annoyed moan that escaped Noah when he paused the grooming for a second.  
   
“Daddy, can I come in?” Dylan’s voice sounded on the other side of the door.  
   
Both Noah and Jayden were surprised that Dylan was asking to enter their room in the morning. It was a little unusual, since Dylan and Nathan were the ones in the house that were usually fine being by themselves in the morning, and they didn’t like to disturb their parents’ sleep.  
   
“Sure, come in. The door is open,” Jayden replied.  
   
Dylan opened the door and came inside. He stopped in his tracks when he saw his parents on the bed, and his eyes widened slightly when he saw what they were doing. “Oh. Sorry.” He grimaced as he looked away, although he was never quite as disgusted by this stuff as Derek and Nathan were.  
   
“It’s okay,” Jayden chuckled, sitting back a bit to look at Dylan. “Your mommy’s wings needed to be groomed, so I’m helping him out a bit.”  
   
Noah blushed and tried to hide his face in his pillow while glancing at Dylan out of the corners of his eyes. Grooming your mate wasn’t quite like sex, so it wasn’t bad that Dylan saw them, but it wasn’t something that you would do in front of others either. Usually it was done in privacy because of its sensual nature, and mated submissives usually didn’t let anyone but their mate see their wings when they were fully spread out and open.  
   
Dylan dared a glance at his parents again, but he was holding a hand in front of his face to block out most of the sight. He felt quite embarrassed to catch his parents like that and felt a little awkward.  
   
“I just wanted to ask if it’s okay that Claire and I ride around the neighborhood on our bikes for a bit?” Dylan finally asked. “Derek’s still asleep and Nathan doesn’t wanna join, so it’ll be just me and her. I promise I won’t take Claire that far away. It’s just that she’s really bored and keeps nagging me to play, so I thought that if we ride our bikes around the neighborhood maybe she’ll feel better?”  
   
“Um, sure,” Jayden said, blinking in surprise. “Just don’t ride too far away, and remember what I taught you about stranger danger, alright?”  
   
Dylan’s face lit up when his father agreed to it. “Okay, I promise. And thanks!”  
   
“And watch out for the cars,” Noah added before Dylan turned to leave. He was still quite embarrassed that Dylan was seeing them like this, but Jayden’s wings were shielding most of it from Dylan’s view.  
   
Dylan nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I know. We’ll be careful. See you later!” He quickly ran out of the door and closed it firmly behind him.  
   
Once Dylan was gone, Jayden folded his wings back behind his back and sighed. “Well, that was a mood-killer,” he chuckled.  
   
Noah huffed into the pillow. “Yes… Though, I’m happy that Dylan is taking care of Claire.”  
   
“Well, he probably still feels a little bad for having snapped at her the other day…”  
   
Dylan had been a bad mood the other day because some boys from his school had picked on him. He hadn’t really wanted to talk about it, which was a little unusual for him, and at one point during the evening he had ended up snapping at Claire when she wouldn’t stop nagging him to play with her. The sudden snap had come as a surprise to all of them, and Dylan had immediately felt bad about it and had apologized to Claire over and over. Although Dylan was very gentle and calm for an alpha, he sometimes had a short temper like most other alphas, but he was always quick to say he was sorry when he realized he had stepped over the line and had hurt the other person’s feelings.  
   
“Yeah…” Noah agreed. A grim, sad feeling spread in his chest as he thought about it. “I hope he’ll tell us about it next time those boys treat him like that… I don’t understand why he didn’t tell us right away.”  
   
“I’m guessing it’s because he didn’t want to worry us. And maybe because he’s growing up and is getting a little proud? It’s not easy for an alpha to admit when he’s getting picked on by others, but at least Dylan isn’t quite as proud as Derek is.”  
   
“Yeah. And I hope he won’t be.”  
   
Jayden just chuckled before starting to rub Noah’s shoulder blades again. “Anyway, where were we?”  
   
“Hmm. Just a few minutes from being done so you can take off your underwear and get inside me.”  
   
Noah’s blunt words made Jayden laugh out loud. “Oh yeah, I think you’re right.” He grinned as he leaned down and placed a teasing kiss behind Noah’s ear. “Impatient much? Aren’t you enjoying what I’m doing to you?”  
   
A small whine escaped the submissive as he shifted and wriggled in impatience on the bed under Jayden. “I am, but it’s making me so horny… I need more.”  
   
“Shh. I’ll give you more soon, baby,” Jayden shushed him, placing gentle kisses on the back of Noah’s neck and shoulder before going back to work.  
   
Noah mewled and bucked up into Jayden’s touch, but the alpha held him down as he kept attending to his wings, which were already glistening with oil and starting to look shinier.  
 

  
***

  
   
Meanwhile, Dylan was helping Claire get dressed to go outside. It was only 8:45am, and most of their neighbors were either still asleep or having breakfast now.  
   
Nathan was up early for once, and he went with Dylan and Claire outside to help them get their bikes from the garage.  
   
“You sure you guys will be okay alone?” Nathan asked Dylan as he helped his brother take out the bikes.  
   
“Yeah,” Dylan said, glancing briefly at Claire, who was humming happily and being all excited about riding her bike with Dylan. “I’m a little bored anyway, and riding around the neighborhood on the bike is fun. And I promise I’ll be careful.”  
   
“Yeah, I don’t doubt that. You’re twice as mature as Derek is,” Nathan huffed. He carried Claire’s bike out of the garage and put in the driveway so she could climb onto it. Her bike was pink with flowers on it, and Nathan thought it was pretty cute how Claire liked stuff like that.  
   
Dylan let out a small chuckle as he grabbed his helmet. Jayden and Noah were very strict about them always using their helmets, so Dylan had grown up knowing that he should always wear it whenever he was on his bike. Some of other kids his age thought they looked stupid wearing their helmets so they didn’t wear them, but Dylan would rather look stupid than get brain damaged if he had an accident.  
   
Nathan helped Claire put on her red bike helmet. He squatted down in front of her as he helped her put it on and fasten it, and he chuckled at how restless she was.  
   
“Hurry, Neysan! Wanna ride my bike!” Claire said, tripping around impatiently. She was still having trouble saying Nathan’s name right, but her brother thought it was pretty adorable.  
   
“Well, the more you move around, the longer it will take me to fasten your helmet,” Nathan said, chuckling. His words made Claire hold still so he could fasten the helmet. “And you know the rules, right? Never ride in the middle of the street or on the sidewalk, always look for cars when you make a turn or cross a road, and don’t go anywhere with strangers.”  
   
“Yeah, I know! And Dylan knows too!”  
   
Nathan smiled at her before straightening up again. He turned to look at Dylan, who was ready to go already. “Do you have your phone on you?”  
   
“Yeah, it’s in my pocket,” Dylan replied, patting the pocket in his pants to show his brother where his phone was.  
   
“Good. And if she gets hurt, I’ll kill you.” Nathan said the words with a smirk on his lips, but Dylan knew that Nathan would get pretty upset if Dylan somehow neglected to take care of their sister and caused her to get hurt. But there was no way that Dylan was going to let anything happen to Claire.  
   
“I know,” Dylan chuckled.  
   
Claire and Dylan got on their bikes and left, and Nathan waved goodbye at them. Claire almost fell off her bike when she tried waving back at Nathan, but Dylan quickly reached out and steadied her, preventing a fall.  
   
Nathan chuckled proudly at Dylan before watching them go. He knew Dylan would take good care of Claire, so he wasn’t worried.  
   
Meanwhile, Dylan and Claire rode down the street on their bikes. They were going slow, and Dylan made sure that Claire either rode in front of him or next to him so he always had her in his sight. She was still learning the rules of traffic, while Dylan was already very familiar with them.  
   
Claire was beaming with happiness, and her little wings were flapping behind her with joy. She always enjoyed doing activities with her siblings, but often when she asked them to play they didn’t have time. Nathan and Dylan were always busy with homework, and Derek wasn’t that interested in playing with her, so often Claire had to entertain herself unless she could make Noah or Jayden play with her. Dylan did play with her sometimes, but not as often as he used to. Now he was busy with his own friends, homework, and playing basketball with his friends after school. He had taken up basketball about a year ago because he wanted something to do after school, and since most of his friends were attending basketball practice, Dylan had decided to join them.  
   
The weather was still very hot, and some of their neighbors were watering the grass and flowers in their front yards to keep them from dying. Some kids were playing around too, but Dylan and Claire didn’t really know them.  
   
Dylan knew not to go too far from home, so he told Claire to make right turns every now and then so they ended up riding in a circle around the neighborhood. When there weren’t any cars around, Dylan rode up by Claire’s side, making his sister laugh because she loved when they were competing to see who was faster, although Dylan didn’t let her ride all too fast.  
   
They spent about twenty minutes riding around until they decided to stop for a bit. They were both thirsty, so they decided to drink from the water bottles that Dylan had attached to the back of their bikes earlier.  
   
Claire gulped down the water fast, and Dylan laughed when some of it ran down her chin and made her shirt wet.  
   
“Dun laugh!” Claire told him with laughter.  
   
“Sorry,” Dylan chuckled. He drank from his own bottle, feeling much better now that he finally got something to drink. The heat was almost unbearable, especially while riding his bike.  
   
Dylan was still drinking when an angel boy suddenly came over to them.  
   
“Hey! What are you doing here?!” the boy snapped, coming over to them with an aggressive attitude.  
   
At first Dylan thought it was just a random bully, but his eyes widened in dread when he noticed it was a boy from his parallel class. The boy’s name was Harley, and he and Dylan didn’t get along. Harley was an alpha and he certainly wasn’t one of the nice ones. He liked to pull girls’ hair, call other kids ‘losers’ and shove them around, and he always bragged about his father who had a high position in the military. Dylan had always thought he was very unpleasant to be around.  
   
Dylan put away his bottle and unconsciously got a bit in front of Claire. They had both gotten off their bikes to take a drink, and Dylan was kind of worried that if he tried to get on his bike now and ride away, Harley would just grab him and throw him off of it.  
   
“Nothing. We’re just riding around,” Dylan replied, acting calm.  
   
Harley stopped in front of them. His eyes narrowed as he glanced from Dylan to Claire, who was now trying to hide behind her brother when she saw the scary look in the boy’s eyes. Harley looked smug that he was scaring Claire, and Dylan found that he really didn’t like that.  
   
“Didn’t know your freak sister is such a pussy like you. But I should have guessed,” Harley mocked.  
   
Dylan’s eyes narrowed at the word ‘freak’. “We aren’t freaks. And you shouldn’t call people that… It’s not nice.”  
   
“And I’m not using the word to be nice,” Harley spat back, glaring Dylan down. “And who told you that you can come near my home? Go away!”  
   
Dylan frowned. “I don’t even know where you live. And this is a public street; we’re allowed to be here.” He was still standing in front of Claire, and he could feel her grabbing his feathers and trembling slightly. His protective instincts kicked in and he decided he should leave and bring Claire to safety, but the moment he tried to get on his bike, Harley was right in front of him.  
   
“Don’t be sassy with me!” Harley snarled, pushing Dylan hard in the chest.  
   
“Dylan!” Claire cried when she saw her brother getting pushed like that. She was scared and confused, and she didn’t like how the other boy was treating her brother.  
   
Harley laughed when he saw Dylan getting in front of Claire again, and how Dylan wasn’t even trying to shove him back. “What? Are you scared like your sister? I’m not surprised. You’re both such freaks anyway and no one wants you around.” He shifted his cold stare to Claire. “And that pretty blue dress doesn’t make you look any less ugly!”  
   
The words cut Claire like a knife and she completely froze behind Dylan.  
   
Harley’s words made something snap inside Dylan. He could tolerate people saying mean words to him, but not his sister. Dylan knew that a racist’s words weren’t worth listening to – his parents and Nathan had taught him that – but Claire didn’t know much about it yet. She was innocent, and seeing how much Harley’s words hurt her made Dylan angry.  
   
Before he could think, Dylan launched forward and pushed Harley to the ground. Harley was too surprised to react when Dylan came at him, and they both ended up on the ground with a loud thud. Harley snarled and tried to kick Dylan off him as he lay on his back, but before he could that Dylan had grabbed his arm, forced him to his side, and then pushed him onto his stomach while holding Harley’s arm. Harley was completely immobilized as he lay on his stomach with his arm forced behind his back and with his face pressed into the warm asphalt.  
   
“Argh! Nooo, get off me!” Harley snarled. He tried to buck and throw Dylan off of him, but Dylan was holding his arm in a death lock and was using his knee to keep Harley’s wing down so he couldn’t use it to throw him off with. Harley was completely trapped and helpless as Dylan had him pinned, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t free his twisted arm from Dylan’s grip.  
   
Dylan’s wings were raised in anger as he held the other boy down, but he was careful not to suffocate him as he rested his weight on him. “Don’t talk to my sister like that!” Dylan finally snapped at him, pulling a bit at Harley’s arm to state his point.  
   
Harley let out a pained sound as Dylan twisted his arm even more, and he was still trying to push him off even though all his attempts were futile.  
   
“And stop calling people freaks, and stop bullying everyone you don’t like!” Dylan continued, growling out the words as he pressed Harley into the ground. “It’s not nice and I’m fed up with it!”  
   
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry!” Harley gasped out.  
   
Claire was just staring at the scene in utter surprise. She had no idea what say or what to do, and she didn’t fully understand what was going on, so all she did was watch the scene in front of her.  
   
“And apologize to my sister,” Dylan growled out next.  
   
Harley let out a long groan. He obviously didn’t want to apologize, but it was very uncomfortable for him to be pressed into the asphalt like that, and his arm hurt in Dylan’s grip and he just wanted to get away. “Okay, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it!” He looked at Claire as he spoke, hoping Dylan would finally let him go once he apologized. “I’m sorry! Please let me go.”  
   
Dylan seemed pleased enough with the apology and slowly got off of Harley. The other boy let out a sigh of relief when his arm was free again and when he no longer felt trapped under Dylan.  
   
Dylan got up and went back to standing in front of Claire like a protective guardian while Harley got to his feet.  
   
Harley kept his eyes on Dylan the whole time as he got to his feet, and he looked nervous and somewhat scared. He stared at Dylan for a few moments, who glared right back at him, before he finally took off and ran away.  
   
When Harley had run off back to his house, Dylan could finally breathe normally again and calm down.  
   
Slowly, Dylan turned around to look at Claire, who was still quite baffled by what had just happened.  
   
“Come on, let’s go home,” Dylan told her, getting on his bike again.  
   
Claire blinked for a few seconds before going over to her bike too. She hesitated for a few moments before looking up at her brother. “Is dat boy gonna say more mean words?”  
   
“I hope not,” Dylan said, lowering his glance a bit. “And don’t listen to what people like him say, okay? Some kids think it’s fun to hurt others, and it doesn’t mean that anything they say is right. You’re not ugly, no matter what he says.”  
   
Claire nodded slowly. “Has he said bad things to you too?”  
   
Dylan was silent for a few seconds before nodding. “Yeah, he has. But I don’t listen to what he says. He’s just mean.”  
   
“Yeah… And I think Dylan is great!” Claire’s face was all bright as she grinned up at her big brother like he was her savior.  
   
Dylan met her eyes and smiled modestly at the way Claire was beaming at him.  
   
The two of them got back on their bikes and rode home together. Claire quickly forgot about Harley and the mean things he had said, and Dylan was glad that Claire didn’t seem upset by it anymore.  
 

  
***  
 

  
After Noah’s wings had been thoroughly groomed and they had had some sexy times together, Noah and Jayden went downstairs to have breakfast and see what the kids were up to. Dylan and Claire had just gotten back when Noah and Jayden came downstairs, but the two quickly disappeared into the garden to play.  
   
“Wow, Dylan sure spends a lot of time playing with Claire lately,” Jayden chuckled fondly as he and Noah watched them head out into the garden to play.  
   
Nathan, who was in the kitchen with them, nodded in agreement. “Well, he did say he was kinda bored and that Claire is bored too. And they get along pretty well.”  
   
Noah smiled at that, but couldn’t help but think of Derek. It saddened him how Derek’s bond with his siblings wasn’t as strong as it should be.  
   
“Is Derek still sleeping?” Jayden asked Nathan as he went over to the fridge to get some cheese and ham, while Noah took out the bread from one of the cupboards.  
   
Nathan snorted. “Yeah, what’d you expect? It’s only 10am or so.”  
   
Jayden laughed at that. “Well, true. And I’m honestly surprised that _you_ aren’t still sleeping at this hour.”  
   
Nathan shrugged lightly. “I was really tired last night so I went to bed at 11pm. Those physics assignments drain my brain like crazy…”  
   
Jayden chuckled. “Yeah, I think both your mother and I can agree with that.” He looked at Noah and laughed a bit when he saw his mate scrunch his nose at the mention of physics assignments.  
   
Nathan chuckled at bit at his mom’s expression before reaching up to rub his temples. “And I really don’t feel like doing the rest of my assignment right now… I guess I’ll just go play with Dylan and Claire outside.”  
   
“You still have a few more days to do it, so it’s fine,” Jayden smiled. “And I think Dylan and Claire will be happy if you join them.”  
   
“Yeah. Let’s see how long we can play before the heat kills us,” Nathan remarked with a chuckle before turning to leave. He grabbed an apple from the fruits bowl on the table before going outside through the backdoor in the kitchen.  
   
“And please make sure that both of them are wearing sun screen! And you too!” Noah yelled after him.  
   
“Sure, mom!” Nathan yelled back, his voice fading away as he walked further into the garden.  
 

  
***  
 

  
The sound of the kids playing outside was sweet music to Noah and Jayden’s ears as they sat down on the terrace under the shade of the parasol and ate their breakfast.  
   
Nathan was teaching Dylan and Claire some soccer tricks. He was pretty good at balancing the ball on his feet and with his knees, and Claire thought it was the most amazing thing to watch. Nathan taught Dylan to do it a bit, but it was going to take a lot of practice before he got it right.  
   
At 10:15 Derek finally showed up. They were all a bit surprised that he was up before 10:30, but judging from his sleepy eyes and ruffled feathers it seemed that he just hadn’t been able to sleep from the heat.  
   
“Oh, look! It’s the night hermit! Let’s all run away before it eats us!” Nathan yelled from the garden when he saw Derek appearing on the terrace to steal some bread from their parents’ breakfast table.  
   
Dylan and Claire cracked up at Nathan’s joke, and Jayden couldn’t help but laugh too, while Derek shot his older brother a deadly glare.  
   
“Shut up!” Derek growled at him before grumpily fixing himself two pieces of bread with butter and ham.  
   
Derek’s annoyed snap only made Nathan laugh more, and it was obvious that Derek was further agitated by that.  
   
“Are you sure you don’t want to eat with us?” Noah asked when he noticed that Derek was preparing to leave.  
   
“If I stay out here I’ll just melt into a puddle,” Derek mumbled. “And Nathan pisses me off.”  
   
“You do know he’s only joking, right?” Jayden told him, chuckling a bit. “And you’re pretty good at teasing him too.”  
   
Derek just snorted before grabbing his plate and a glass of juice and turning to leave.  
   
Nathan wasn’t surprised that Derek was leaving again, and neither was Dylan. Claire, however, seemed quite sad when she saw Derek disappear into the house again.  
   
“Why Derek not play wif us?” she asked, her wings drooping behind her.  
   
“’Cause he’s a hermit,” Nathan snorted.  
   
Claire frowned at the word and didn’t understand its meaning.  
   
Dylan turned to face his sister to answer her question. “He can’t play when he’s gonna eat breakfast,” he explained. “And I think the heat is making him in a bad mood.”  
   
“Oh…” Claire said.  
   
“Yeah, it really is freaking hot,” Nathan complained, using the back of his arm to wipe the sweat off his forehead. They had some big trees in the garden and luckily they cast shade on the lawn, meaning that the kids could play in the shade as long as they stayed in the far back end of the garden. Nathan reached out for the ball with his foot and swiped it off the ground with a swift move. He used both of his feet to keep the ball off the ground, switching between kicking it up in the air with his left and right foot. “Wanna see which one of you can retrieve the ball first?” he asked with a smirk on his lips.  
   
“Yes!” Claire happily threw her arms up in the air. “Please, please!”  
   
Nathan laughed at his sister’s enthusiasm before kicking the ball far away.  
   
Claire immediately ran after the ball, which was flying through the air and over to the bushes in the other end of the garden. Dylan ran after her to see which one of them could get to the ball first and kick it back to Nathan.  
   
Claire squealed with joy as she ran after the ball with Dylan, and they watched as the ball landed in the bushes. They quickly ran after it and into the bushes.  
   
The bushes were thick and full of branches that had fallen from the taller trees. Noah and Jayden hadn’t tidied up in that end of the garden for a few months, so Dylan wasn’t surprised by how messy it was.  
   
While searching for the ball in the bushes, Dylan suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right wing. The pain made him yelp loudly and flinch away. He realized he had grazed his wing bone against a sharp piece of old metal that was hiding in the bushes, and that it had drawn blood. He wondered where the metal came from, and figured it must have flown into their garden or something during one of the storms in the early spring. But before Dylan could properly assess the wound he heard Claire cry out.  
   
“Found it! Found it!” Claire cried out in joy before picking up the ball and running back towards Nathan with it.  
   
“Hey, wait!” Dylan said as he stumbled out of the bushes and followed her. His wing felt a little sore, but Dylan didn’t pay much attention to it. It wasn’t bleeding that badly either.  
   
Claire squealed as Dylan threatened to catch up with her and steal the ball, but he let her get to Nathan before he could take the ball, making Claire very happy.  
   
The kids were still playing around with the ball when Jayden heard the doorbell ring. He and Noah shared a glance, as they weren’t expecting any visitors today. When the doorbell rang again just three seconds later, Jayden frowned and got up to head inside and answer the door.  
   
On his way through the living room Jayden met their cat Fuzzles, who ran away when the doorbell rang once more. The cats weren’t always fond of the loud noise of the doorbell ringing.  
   
“Coming, coming!” Jayden shouted, wondering why the hell this person was ringing the doorbell so persistently. He was half expecting it to be Isaac, who liked to ring doorbells in the most annoying ways, but when he opened the door he was met by a large alpha angel wearing military clothes.  
   
Jayden frowned at the sight of the stranger, and noticed a boy around Dylan’s age standing next to the man.  
   
“Can I help you, sir?” Jayden asked. He couldn’t help but think there was something familiar about the guy, but he couldn’t quite remember where he had seen him before.  
   
Noah had followed after Jayden to see who it was, and the kids had briefly gone inside to get something to drink. Curious, Dylan went towards the door to the entrance hall, wondering who was at the door.  
   
“About time you answered the door,” came the alpha’s rude and annoyed reply. He glared at Jayden like he had some sort of personal problem with him before saying, “Is that freak son of yours at home? He assaulted my son on the street this morning!” The alpha growled and gestured at the boy next to him, who was staring up at Jayden with a wary look on his face.  
   
Jayden was baffled by the statement. “Sorry, what?”  
   
“Your son! Dylan or something. He assaulted my son on the street earlier this morning – knocked him to the ground and almost broke his arm! What do you have to say to your defense about that, huh?”  
   
Jayden was stunned. He glanced to his right and saw Dylan lingering at the door to the living room. When he saw the guilty expression on his son’s face he knew that Dylan must have had something to do with it. Jayden didn’t know what to say or do. He had no idea of what had happened this morning, and it certainly didn’t sound like Dylan that he would knock another kid over and try to break their arm.  
   
Noah came over to the door then, feeling just as surprised as Jayden about the accusation. “Are you sure this is not a mistake?” he asked the alpha. “Dylan wouldn’t do such a thing—”  
   
“Except that he _did!_ ” the alpha interrupted him, growling. “And I demand an apology! And that you fucking learn how to raise your son so he doesn’t go around bullying others like that!”  
   
Nathan and Claire had picked up on the commotion as well, and even Derek had come out of his room and was listening to them upstairs.  
   
Finally, Dylan came forward. “I didn’t try to break his arm!” he stated firmly, glaring up at Harley’s dad in defiance before glaring at Harley himself. “He’s been harassing me at school all year!” He pointed an accusing finger at Harley as he spoke, watching the other boy flinch back. “And this morning I was riding around the neighborhood on my bike with my sister when he came over and said mean things to us! He called Claire ugly and called both of us freaks, so I pushed him over and made him apologize! I just pinned him down and held his arm behind his back so he couldn’t move; I didn’t try to break it.”  
   
Jayden and Noah were quite stunned to hear that Dylan had done that, and Nathan and Derek were equally surprised.  
   
“Is that true?” Noah asked, looking at little Claire who was hiding behind Nathan as she watched the scary alpha in the door glare at Dylan.  
   
Claire nodded quietly. “Yeah, that boy was mean…” She started crying in distress, and Nathan leaned down to hug and comfort her.  
   
Jayden growled before looking at the alpha in his doorway again. “Apparently it’s _you_ who needs to teach _your_ son some manners. If I remember correctly, we met at the kids’ school about four months ago after your son tripped Dylan and made him fall and hurt his knee in the corridor at the school, am I right?”  
   
Jayden’s words and his sudden attitude made the other alpha take a step back. He looked a little conflicted now, which wasn’t a surprise, seeing as things didn’t seem to go the way he thought they would.  
   
When the other alpha remained silent, Jayden took a bold step forward, keeping his eyes on the guy the whole time as he growled out, “Now, kindly get the hell off my doorstep and go home and teach your son how to behave around other kids. You wouldn’t want him to turn into some kind of bully now, would you?”  
   
Upstairs, Derek was grinning like an idiot when he heard how badass his dad was being, and he almost felt sorry for the military alpha who was dealing with his dad right now.  
   
Harley’s dad blinked at Jayden a few times before his eyes turned cold. He looked like he wanted to throw a fuss and beat Jayden up for saying such things to him, but he was on Jayden’s property right now and he couldn’t deny that Jayden was right.  
   
After a couple of seconds, the alpha let out a growl and grabbed his son’s arm. “Come, Harley. We’re leaving.” He yanked his son away from the house as he strode off fast, looking frustrated and angry as he left.  
   
Jayden snorted before closing the door a little harder than necessary.  
   
The whole family sighed in relief once the alpha was gone, but Dylan still looked a little nervous. Slowly, the boy glanced up at Jayden, murmuring, “Sorry I got into trouble, dad. Harley just really pissed me off, so I got mad and threw him to the ground. I just wanted him to apologize and stop harassing me, that’s all.”  
   
Dylan’s sudden apology came as a surprise to Jayden. “Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. If it was him who started it, then it’s alright to defend yourself and teach him a little lesson, as long as you don’t hurt him.”  
   
“I promise I wasn’t trying to break his arm!”  
   
Jayden laughed. “I know. I think Harley’s dad was just exaggerating the matter. Harley’s arm was probably just sore after you twisted it, so his dad made a bigger deal out of it than what it actually was. Parents do that sometimes, especially if they’re angry.”  
   
“So… You’re not mad?”  
   
“No.” Jayden let out a soft chuckle as he reached out and ruffled his son’s hair with fondness. “I’m proud of you that you stood up for yourself and Claire.”  
   
“Yeah, it sounds great what you did,” Nathan agreed, smiling at Dylan who seemed a little surprised to get praise for it. “Unlike someone else in this house, you didn’t punch the hell out of someone to solve the problem.” Nathan raised his voice a little because he knew Derek was listening to them upstairs.  
   
“Bite me, Nathan!” came Derek’s annoyed voice from upstairs.  
   
Noah was also very pleased that Dylan had taken care of Harley by holding his arm so he couldn’t move instead of punching or kicking him as Derek usually did. It was often better to use another alternative than beating someone up.  
   
Jayden laughed a bit at Derek’s remark, and a few seconds later they heard the door to Dylan and Derek’s room close shut as Derek went back to his room again.  
   
Claire was starting to feel better now that Harley and his dad were gone, but she was still a little upset. Noah went over and picked her up when she sniffled a bit, and the girl wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder as she let him comfort him.  
   
Jayden smiled sadly at Claire and went over to cheer her up. “Hey, sweetie. How are you feeling?”  
   
Claire sniffled again, tightening her arms around Noah. “Okay,” she rasped.  
   
Noah held her close and ran a soothing hand up and down Claire’s back. She was a little heavy because she was five already and Noah wasn’t particularly tall or strong, but he still managed to hold her.  
   
Dylan felt a little worried when he saw his sister cry a bit. He hated Harley for having said those mean things in the first place.  
   
Claire continued to cling to Noah for a bit more, but it was obvious she was feeling better now.  
   
Nathan and Dylan stayed downstairs and played with Claire, while Derek spent most of the day in his room. The young teenager was being anti-social as usual and they couldn’t convince him to come downstairs and keep them company. Noah was a little concerned about that, while Jayden was pretty sure that the hot weather was partly to blame as for why Derek wouldn’t leave his room.  
 

  
***

  
   
The weather continued to be hot for the rest of the day, and in the evening it was still pretty warm despite the temperature having lowered a little.  
   
After having dinner outside on the terrace, Derek, Dylan, and Nathan helped each other with the dishes and carry everything back into the kitchen.  
   
Derek was a little grumpy that he had to help, but Jayden had reminded him that he wouldn’t get any pocket money if he didn’t do his chores, so he helped anyway.  
   
“Gosh, Dylan, have you still not cleaned your feathers?” Derek complained as he and Dylan started putting the dishes into the dishwasher and putting away leftovers for the next day.  
   
Dylan had spent the whole day playing outside with Claire and Nathan, and at one point he and Claire had started rolling around on the lawn to cool down, making their wings pretty dirty. The cut Dylan had gotten earlier still hurt a little, but it didn’t bother him much.  
   
Dylan glanced at his feathers before replying, “I didn’t have time for it earlier. I’ll just shake the dirt off before bed and then I’ll be fine.”  
   
“You better not drag that dirt into our room. I don’t wanna clean up your mess,” Derek grumbled, putting another dirty plate into the dishwasher.  
   
Nathan was washing off the pots in the sink, and he rolled his eyes as he listened to Derek’s complaints. “Yeah, your world would end if you ever had to do more chores than necessary. I’m amazed that you’re actually surviving putting plates into the dishwasher.”  
   
“Shut up, Nathan!” Derek growled at him.  
   
Dylan giggled at Nathan’s sarcastic comment, but stopped when Derek shot him a glare.  
   
Jayden entered the kitchen then, noticing the tension between his two oldest sons. “Not arguing again, are you?” he asked as he went over with the leftovers of their salad to throw it away in the trash. The salad would be bad on the next day and there wasn’t much left anyway.  
   
“No, it’s just Nathan being his usual stupid self,” Derek snorted.  
   
Nathan smacked Derek on the leg with his tail, making Derek growl out an annoyed “Hey!” at him.  
   
“Okay, enough, boys,” Jayden interrupted them. “Behave yourselves or there will be no dessert.”  
   
Dylan’s eyes lit up at the mention of dessert. “Really? What kind of dessert?”  
   
Jayden just put on a secretive smirk. “You’ll see.”  
   
The boys all groaned when their dad wouldn’t tell them what it was.  
   
They all looked up when they heard Claire come running into the kitchen. “Daddy, daddy! Look! I found a worm outside!” She raised her hands and showed Jayden the green worm that was twisting around in her palms.  
   
Jayden blinked at the sight before laughing softly. “That’s not a worm, that’s a caterpillar.”  
   
Claire’s eyes widened. “Like, a butterfly?”  
   
“Yeah,” Jayden grinned. “It’ll be a butterfly one day after it makes a cocoon and comes out of it. Where did you find it anyway?”  
   
“On da wall,” Claire said, lowering her hands to look at the caterpillar that was crawling across her palms.  
   
Derek laughed. “That’s Nathan’s dessert. You better not throw it away.”  
   
Nathan let out an annoyed growl as he once again slapped Derek’s leg with his tail for making such a comment, and Dylan couldn’t help but laugh at them.  
   
Claire frowned at Derek and protectively moved her hands to the side, away from her brothers. “No! Dun eat it! It’s cute!”  
   
Jayden laughed at that. “Don’t worry, I don’t think anyone wants to eat that.”  
   
“Nathan does,” Derek giggled.  
   
Once again Derek was slapped on the leg by Nathan’s tail, only this time Nathan turned to face him with a very annoyed scowl on his face.  
   
“Would you shut up already, you brat!” Nathan growled at him.  
   
“Ha! As if _you_ never tease me like that.” Derek stuck out his tongue at Nathan, enjoying pissing Nathan off like this.  
   
“Um, could you please stop arguing?” Dylan asked softly, looking at his brothers with concern. Claire was witnessing the whole thing and Dylan knew how much it upset her to watch them fight. Dylan himself also didn’t like it when Derek and Nathan behaved like this.  
   
Derek snorted loudly. “Always the peacemaker, Dylan. And here I thought you had finally grown some balls today.”  
   
“Unlike you,” Dylan murmured quietly, scowling bitterly at Derek.  
   
Derek, however, seemed to have heard what Dylan said, and his wings immediately spread out in response to his little brother’s provocation. “What’s that?!”  
   
 _“Hey!”_ Jayden roared, immediately making the boys stop what they were doing and calm down.  
   
Claire’s eyes teared up with distress as she witnessed her brothers fighting. She completely forgot about the caterpillar in her hands until she felt it slip from her grip and land on the floor. “Ah!” She quickly bent down and carefully picked it up again, afraid it had gotten hurt. She was relieved when she saw that it was still moving.  
   
Nathan scowled at Derek one more time before going over to Claire. “Come on, let’s go put that caterpillar back outside, yeah? It doesn’t belong in the house.”  
   
Claire nodded quietly and let Nathan escort her outside to put the caterpillar away in a safe environment.  
   
Jayden sighed. It could be pretty exhausting having three boys who were always fighting and have a daughter who was always easily upset when her brothers behaved like that. He was glad that Noah was in the bathroom at that moment and hadn’t witnessed it too.  
   
Derek and Dylan helped each other finish with the dishes. They didn’t talk much, but there wasn’t a hostile atmosphere between them either.  
   
When the dishes were done, the family went back to the table on the terrace to have dessert together. Jayden brought ice cream from the freezer and a bowl of cut bananas and some chocolate syrup. The kids were excited to have banana splits for dessert – they all enjoyed it very much. Noah also really liked banana split, but was annoyed when Jayden laughed at him when he got some syrup on his chin and hadn’t noticed it until there was laughter.  
   
It had been a while since they had all been together to share family times like this. Jayden had been busy with work in the past few weeks and had come home late very late on most nights, so everyone enjoyed being together and having fun. Even Derek seemed to have fun, even though he and Nathan sometimes got a little annoyed with each other.  
 

  
***

  
   
The next morning was pretty warm as well, but not as hot as the day before.  
   
Noah woke to the sound of birds tweeting outside the window. It sounded a bit like they were having a fight, and he wondered absently if it was because one of the birds had made advances on another birds’ mate.  
   
Noah was still in the early stages of waking up and become aware of things around him when suddenly someone knocked on the bedroom door.  
   
Jayden had been fast asleep and splayed out across the bed until he too was awoken by the noise.  
   
They both grunted in annoyance until they heard Derek’s voice outside.  
   
“Mom? Dad? Are you guys awake?”  
   
Jayden rolled over onto his stomach, still annoyed to be woken up like that when all he wanted to do was sleep. “Yeah, _now_ we are,” he replied, trying to sound as annoyed as possible. “What is it?” He felt ready to doze off again as his face was pressed into the soft pillow under him, and he was barely aware of Noah shifting behind him.  
   
“You gotta come check on Dylan. I think he’s sick or something,” Derek said, his voice slightly muffled as he spoke from the other side of the door.  
   
Noah frowned. He glanced at the clock which read 7:37am. Derek was usually never awake at this time on a Sunday, so whatever was wrong with Dylan must be pretty serious to make Derek come wake them up at this hour.  
   
“I’m coming,” Noah replied, getting out of bed and throwing on a shirt and sweatpants before going over to unlock the door and step outside.  
   
Derek was waiting for him in the hallway, and he led Noah towards his and Dylan’s shared room.  
   
Claire and Nathan were still asleep it seemed, and Noah quickly went over to Dylan’s bed. He was kind of shocked when he found his son lying on the bed, twisting in discomfort and sweating heavily.  
   
“Dylan? What’s wrong?” Noah asked and sat down at the edge of the bed. He tried to keep the shaking out of his voice, and reached up to place a hand on Dylan’s forehead. The boy was very warm and feverish, and seemed to be in great discomfort.  
   
Slowly, Dylan’s eyes opened. He blinked up at his mom with his blue/grey eyes, but seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes open. “M-Mom. I dun feel so good…”  
   
That was when Noah noticed that Dylan was hyperventilating a bit. It wasn’t that bad, but it was definitely not normal breathing either.  
   
Jayden showed up then, dressed in nothing but a pair of boxers. He lingered in the doorway and glanced over at Dylan with a worried and confused frown, and saw how Derek was just standing there like he didn’t know what to do. “What’s going on?”  
   
Noah didn’t manage to give him a reply before he saw Dylan close his eyes and seem to doze off.  
   
“Dylan!” Noah shouted, placing a hand on his cheek to wake him up, but Dylan wasn’t responding.  
   
Jayden was at the bedside in a heartbeat, trying to shake Dylan awake as well. “Dylan! Hey, wake up!”  
   
Derek watched on in terror as Dylan was barely responding to his parents’ pleas for him to wake up. The whole world was swirling around him and it was like reality was being dragged into one deep pit as he watched his brother doze in and out of consciousness while their parents screamed at Dylan to stay awake.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. As I mentioned in the previous chapter I just moved into a new apartment and have been busy with that. I also kinda ended up losing my mood to write, so it’s taken me a while to put up this update.
> 
> I’m also sorry for stopping the chapter at such a cliffhanger! And that I won’t be able to update for at least 2-4 weeks… Hope you’ll survive! :)


	61. Chapter 61

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seeing as I have no knowledge of anything related to medical stuff, some of the things in this chapter might be wrong. I did some research and that's all I have to go on, but I apologize if it's not correct.
> 
> I hope you'll still enjoy reading this chapter!

**June 2067 (Noah is 41, Jayden is 42 (almost 43), Nathan is 17, Derek is 13, Dylan is 9 (almost 10), Claire is 5, Castiel is 77 (almost 78), Dean is 79, Kaylen is 42 years old).**  
  
Derek was still staring on in horror as his dad picked up the sick Dylan and carried him downstairs in a hurry. They were going to drive him to the hospital as quickly as possible, and Noah stayed with Dylan downstairs as Jayden went back upstairs to get dressed and got some clothes for Noah as well.  
  
Derek had never seen his dad get dressed that fast before, and he was too confused and shocked to properly process what was going on. He heard his dad yell at him to wake up Nathan and tell him to call their grandparents, and in the next moment Noah and Jayden carried Dylan out into the car and drove off in a hurry. They didn’t want to wait for an ambulance and instead just hurried off to the hospital as fast as they could while calling 911 on their way there.  
  
Everything went so fast, and Derek couldn’t remember ever having seen his parents looking so panicked and scared before.  
  
After his parents drove off in the car, Derek did as he was told and went to wake up Nathan. His brother was angry at first to be woken up, but all anger was forgotten when Derek told him what had happened.  
  
Derek was left to attend to Claire when his sister suddenly woke up, while Nathan called Dean and Castiel.  
  
Leila and Micah were away this weekend to visit some friends, so Nathan didn’t want to call them and disturb.  
  
Less than fifteen minutes later, Dean and Castiel arrived at the house and took all the kids into the car to drive to the hospital and see what was wrong with Dylan.  
  
Claire didn’t understand what was going on, and all the panic and confusion made her cry. They hadn’t even had time for breakfast yet and Claire was getting hungry. Nathan comforted her on the backseat all the way to the hospital, while Dean tried to drive as calmly as possible despite being scared out of his mind that something really bad had happened to Dylan.  
  
When they arrived at the hospital, Castiel took Claire into his arms and held her as they hurried inside and tried to find out which room Dylan had been placed in.  
  
Dean almost shouted at the nurse at the reception when she said her computer was having a glitch and it would take a moment for her to know where Dylan was. Castiel to place a hand on Dean’s shoulder to calm him down until the nurse finally told them where to go. The fact that Dylan was in the Intensive Care Unit only scared them even more. Only patients in really bad condition were placed there.  
  
They hurried off towards the ICU while trying not to get separated from each other in the crowds of people in the corridors. They were all panicked and scared, and all they could think of was getting to that room as fast as possible.  
  
“Neysan? Dylan gonna be okay?” Claire asked Nathan as she walked by his side on their way to the ICU. Castiel wasn’t strong enough to keep holding her, so he had put her down on the floor again when they had arrived at the reception.  
  
Nathan was holding her hand tightly so he wouldn’t lose her, and Claire didn’t like how her hand hurt a bit from his grip.  
  
Nathan glanced down at his sister. For the first time ever, he had no idea what to say to her. “I-I don’t know. We’ll see, okay? The doctors will tell us.”  
  
Claire nodded quietly and tried to keep up with everyone’s fast pace.  
  
When they arrived at the ICU they found Jayden and Noah standing in the hallway in front of a room where the curtains were drawn so you couldn’t look inside. It was likely the room that Dylan was in.  
  
Noah was crying into Jayden’s shirt and was looking really upset. Jayden was trying his best to comfort him, but it was clear that he had no idea what to do.  
  
Next to them was Kaylen, dressed in his green nurse uniform. By the look on his face they could tell that he also didn’t really know what to do or say at the moment to help Noah and Jayden feel better.  
  
“Hey!” Dean called as they ran over to meet up with Noah and Jayden. “What happened? Is he okay?”  
  
They waited in anticipation, hoping to hear some good news about Dylan’s condition and about what was wrong with him. But both Jayden and Noah were too upset to reply, so Kaylen stepped forward to do it.  
  
“The doctors are treating him at the moment,” Kaylen said. “I’m not exactly sure what’s wrong, but I overheard the doctors suspecting that it’s blood poisoning and that his internal organs have started to fail…” His voice cracked and he had to swallow and look away. His body was trembling as he tried to stay calm and professional, but it was nearly impossible when it was his own family that was involved.  
  
The mention of ‘blood poisoning’ and ‘internal organs failing’ slapped everyone in the faces. They all stood there in shock and had absolutely no idea what to do or say. It was all so surreal to them, and the fact that Dylan’s life could be in danger was terrifying. Derek and Claire weren’t entirely sure what it meant, but Nathan and the adults all understood that it was bad.  
  
Noah began crying even harder, grasping desperately at Jayden’s shirt as he cried out his emotions into his mate’s chest. All Jayden could do was to hug him tight and try to swallow back his own tears, but he couldn’t stop a few from rolling down his cheeks.  
  
Castiel and Dean both felt completely helpless. They could nothing to reassure their son and grandchildren, and the fear of losing Dylan paralyzed them both.  
  
Claire started crying as well. Watching her parents so upset scared her, and Nathan to wipe his own shocked tears away and turn his attention to his sister. “Hey,” he said softly, making Claire look up at him. “How about we go to the waiting room down the hall, hm? They have some toys there too.” Nathan gently led Claire towards the waiting room at the end of the hallway, which was full of Legos and children’s books for children to be entertained with. Claire nodded and slowly followed him over there.  
  
Derek lingered with the adults for a few seconds before following after Nathan and Claire. He hadn’t said a word this entire time, and he swallowed back his tears and tried to shift his focus elsewhere.  
  
The others had to leave the hallway as well, as they were standing in the way of the personnel. They went to the waiting room to sit down and wait for news about Dylan's condition.  
  
The waiting room was almost empty, and Jayden led Noah over to some of the available chairs to sit down. Noah was still crying, and Jayden held him close and tried to offer him some comfort.  
  
Kaylen had followed them there as well, and he looked like he didn’t know what to do with himself. Castiel went over and pulled him into a hug when he could tell that the submissive was about to break. Kaylen burst into tears the moment Castiel hugged him, not caring that another nurse gave him and odd look when she looked inside the room.  
  
“Fuck. I’m so sorry I can’t stay professional about this,” Kaylen croaked into Castiel’s shoulder.  
  
“Shh. It’s okay. No one expects you to,” Castiel told him softly, rubbing his back for comfort. Tears rolled down Castiel’s cheeks, but he tried to stay strong so he could comfort Kaylen better.  
  
Dean let out a frustrated growl when he realized there was nothing he could do to help anyone. All he could do was wait and hope the doctors could do something, and Dean didn’t like that. He hated feeling helpless and not being able to do a damn thing, especially when it concerned his family.

  
***

  
It felt like ages had gone by without any news from the doctors. With each minute, everyone was getting more impatient, upset, and swallowed by the panicking thought that maybe Dylan wouldn’t make it through.  
  
Finally, after several long hours, a doctor finally came into the waiting room to let them know how Dylan was doing. Noah and Jayden immediately got up from their chairs to listen to the doctor’s words.  
  
The doctor was a human man in his fifties, and according to Kaylen he was one of the most experienced and respected doctors at the hospital.  
  
“He’s alive,” was the doctor’s first words in order to calm the family down.  
  
Everyone sighed in relief when their worst fear hadn’t come true.  
  
When everyone looked slightly more comforted, the doctor went on. He looked at Noah and Jayden as he spoke. “Your son has a serious case of blood poisoning. It appears the infection got into his blood through a wound in his right wing, which was probably caused by an unclean object and lack of proper cleansing of the wound. Since your son was born too early as part angel/demon hybrid, his immune system isn’t as strong, therefore his body can’t fight off infections that well. He went into septic shock that caused his internal organs to start shutting down. Luckily, we managed to avoid a failure of his organs for now. We have given him a blood transfusion to clear out most of the infection in his blood, and he’s currently getting fluids and antibiotics. We’re going to keep him here in the ICU until the infection is gone and your son is ready to go home. That might take a few days though, as he might still get relapses in his condition.”  
  
Noah was relieved that Dylan had been treated and was being taken care of, but he was still worried. “Is he gonna be okay? Will he recover fully?”  
  
It was easy for the doctor to see the concern on Noah’s face, and he tried his best to reassure him but stay honest at the same time. “If the infection goes away as expected then yes, he should make a full recovery. But for now his condition is still critical until the infection has been fought off. Right now, things can still go both ways…”  
  
Noah flinched slightly when the doctor said that Dylan was still not out of danger. He had really hoped to be told that everything was going to be alright. However, the doctor had said that Dylan was being treated and that it was going pretty well so far, so Noah decided to cling to the hope that things would go well.  
  
“Okay. Thanks, doctor,” Jayden told the doctor when he was finished speaking. Like Noah, he was concerned about Dylan still not being completely stable, but he felt safer now that his son was in the hospital and was receiving the treatment he needed.  
  
The doctor nodded before walking off, leaving the family to deal with the harsh information they had just gotten. Noah cried when he realized how close to death Dylan had been and maybe still was. He couldn’t believe this was happening, and he prayed that Dylan was strong enough to pull through it soon.  
  
While everyone comforted each other in the waiting room, Kaylen snuck off into Dylan’s room to ask his colleagues if it was okay that the family saw him now. A few minutes later he came back, smiling as he said, “You can come see him now, but only for a bit. He’s a little weak and confused, so don’t expect him to talk much.”  
  
Castiel smiled as he watched Noah and Jayden get up to go see their son. It was a relief to everyone that Dylan was still alive, but they were also worried because he was still fighting the infection and things could still go sideways.  
  
When they came to the room, Dylan was lying quietly on the bed with a couple of nurses around him, who were checking his IV and his heartbeat on the monitor next to him. His right wing was wrapped in bandages at the joint of his wing bone. It was where he had cut himself yesterday, and the doctors had cleaned the wound and wrapped it up. He still looked pale and a little sweaty, but he opened his eyes when he heard his parents come into the room to check on him.  
  
“Dylan!” Noah exclaimed in relief, quickly rushing over to the bed and grabbing a hold of Dylan’s hand, which had rested on the bed outside the blanket. His son looked so fragile and weak as he lay on the bed, so Noah was too afraid to hug him even though he wanted to.  
  
Dylan’s face lit up somewhat when he saw his mom and dad at his side. “Mom. Dad. Hi…”  
  
Jayden grinned when Dylan seemed slightly more coherent than he had been this morning. He reached out and placed his hand on Dylan’s leg, which was covered by the blanket. “Hey, buddy. How are you feeling?”  
  
“Sick,” Dylan murmured weakly. “Wanna go home…”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at that, and Noah placed a soft kiss on Dylan’s hand, which he couldn’t make himself let go of again.  
  
Nathan, Derek, and Claire came into the room as well, and Dean and Castiel lingered in the doorway to give them space and to show Dylan that they were there too.  
  
“Dylan!” Claire cried. She tried to run over and jump up on the bed, but Jayden held her back.  
  
“Shh, not so loud,” Jayden shushed her gently. “And don’t climb onto his bed. Dylan needs to rest, okay?”  
  
Claire looked disappointed, but she was still happy to see Dylan.  
  
Dylan smiled weakly before looking like he was about to doze off again. He had been going in and out of consciousness the whole morning even as the doctors attended to him, and he still wasn’t quite aware of why he was in the hospital.  
  
“I think he needs to rest,” Kaylen spoke softly. “He’s still fighting the infection and his condition isn’t stable yet… I hate to ask you to leave.” His eyes lowered a bit, as he didn’t like having to tell everyone to leave when they finally just got to see Dylan.  
  
“It’s okay. We understand,” Jayden told him, smiling at Kaylen to reassure him.  
  
Noah didn’t want to go, though. He clutched Dylan’s hand between his own before reluctantly getting up to leave.  
  
“See you later, Dylan,” Nathan told Dylan, giving him a small wave and a smile as he turned to leave.  
  
Derek didn’t say anything, but he hadn’t taken his eyes off of Dylan the moment they entered the room. He looked reluctant to leave as everyone started walking outside, but he still forced himself to join them.  
  
Noah wiped away new tears as soon as they were in the hallway outside. He didn’t want to leave his son’s side, but he didn’t have a choice when Dylan needed to rest.  
  
A few doctors went into the room again after they had left, likely to run more tests and check on his condition.  
  
The family gathered together and reassured each other. It had been a relief to see Dylan, but they all knew that he was still in critical condition, and they were afraid it could make a turn for the worse, despite the blood transfusion and antibiotics.  
  
“Did he really get that sick just ‘cause he cut his wing?” Derek finally asked after the question had been bothering him for a while. He could barely believe that it was possible.  
  
Everyone turned to look at him, but it was Kaylen who replied.  
  
“Yeah,” Kaylen confirmed. “If you get a cut and don’t clean it, then it can happen. Especially if the wound gets dirty or if the item you cut yourself on was full of bacteria, then the infection gets into your blood and gets transferred through your body and to your organs.” He turned to look at Noah and Jayden. “I guess he didn’t clean the wound he got on his wing?”  
  
“I didn’t even know he cut himself,” Jayden admitted. Noah nodded next to him, as he hadn’t known about it either.  
  
“Oh. I remember that his wings were very dirty yesterday, and I saw some blood on his wing too,” Derek said. “I just didn’t know that you can actually _die_ from that.”  
  
The others flinched slightly at the mention of death and Derek immediately felt bad for saying it.  
  
“Blood poisoning is very dangerous, and it can be difficult to spot,” Kaylen explained softly. “That’s why it’s important to always clean your wounds as thoroughly as possible, especially if you get bit by an animal or get cut by something that’s rusty or dirty.”  
  
“I’ll try to remember that…” Derek murmured. It was usually always him who hurt himself, and he had never considered how important it was to always clean your wounds. He made a note in his mind to definitely remember that from now on.  
  
After staying in the hallway for a bit, the family decided to go to the cafeteria. They hoped to be able to visit Dylan again later, but until then they didn’t know what to do. They hadn’t really had any breakfast, except for buying a few small snacks from the vending machine while waiting, so going to the cafeteria to eat seemed like a good idea.  
  
Noah didn’t feel particularly hungry, though. All the worry and crying had killed his appetite, but Castiel made him eat something anyway. The next few days were going to be tough, and Noah needed his strength.

  
***

  
Dylan continued to be in a bad shape for the rest of the day and during the night.  
  
The doctors kept a close eye on him, but during the night there were complications with Dylan’s lungs. It took the doctors several hours to make his condition stable again, and they feared that it wouldn’t be the last time that it would happen during his stay. It was difficult for Dylan’s body to fight the infection when he had had a weaker immune system since birth, so the relapses were expected.  
  
Noah and Jayden both took the next days off to stay at the hospital with Dylan. They didn’t want to leave their son’s side, although they weren’t allowed to be with him all the time.  
  
Micah and Leila also showed up to see how Dylan was doing, and Noah got messages from his siblings who were all wishing Dylan a good recovery. Isaac had dropped by last night, but Dylan had been asleep at that time so he hadn’t seen him.  
  
Dylan had been sleeping most of the time and was barely aware of what was going on around him. It wasn’t until on the third day that he finally regained his senses properly, and he smiled as he opened his eyes to see his mom and dad by his side.  
  
“Hi, mom,” Dylan smiled weakly.  
  
Noah smiled wider than ever when he saw that Dylan was awake. He and Jayden had been staying in his room for about an hour that morning, but Dylan had been asleep until now. Noah immediately leaned down to press loving kisses to Dylan’s forehead, and chuckled when Dylan made an annoyed, embarrassed grunt.  
  
“Mom, you’re making my forehead wet,” Dylan complained softly.  
  
Jayden laughed at Dylan’s comment and grabbed his son’s hand tightly. He was sitting on the other side of the bed, and his eyes filled with happy tears when he saw how Dylan was awake and talking. “Hey, don’t be so hard on your mom. We’ve been worried to death about you.”  
  
Dylan gave Noah an apologetic smile before glancing up at his dad. His eyes were still adjusting to the light in the room, and he felt dizzy and disoriented after having slept for so long. “Am I still in the hospital?”  
  
“Yeah, you’ve been here for three days already,” Jayden explained, stilling holding Dylan’s hand tight and smiling at him.  
  
Dylan let the information sink in before glancing at his mom again. “Were you here the whole time…?”  
  
“Of course we were here. We would never leave your side,” Noah said. Relief made tears roll down his cheek as he spoke, and he couldn’t stop rubbing his thumb across Dylan’s hand, which he was holding tightly between his own.  
  
Dylan smiled weakly, and looked at Jayden when his father spoke up next.  
  
“So how are you feeling, buddy?”  
  
“My head hurts,” Dylan murmured, making Jayden and Noah laugh softly at how his eyebrows furrowed with grumpiness. “And I feel like I’ve slept for a hundred years…”  
  
“Well, it was only three days, but that was more than enough if you ask me,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“I never wanna sleep again,” Dylan groaned, gently freeing his hand from Jayden’s hold to touch his forehead. His head felt like someone had played basketball with it, and his body felt oddly numb from not having moved for three days. All he wanted to do was to go home and play with his friends.  
  
Noah and Jayden both laughed at that, but looked up when a male nurse came into the room. The nurse was a young beta demon, and he smiled when he saw that Dylan was awake.  
  
“Hey, buddy. Looks like you’re ready to get something to eat?” the nurse said.  
  
“I dun really feel hungry…” Dylan murmured.  
  
“I know, which is why I only brought you some yogurt for now. You think you can eat that?”  
  
Dylan watched as the nurse placed a plate with some strawberry yogurt in front of him. The bed was equipped with a tray that could be folded up in front of the patient, but without resting on the person.  
  
Seeing the food in front of him actually did make Dylan feel a little hungry, and his parents smiled when Dylan slowly propped himself up a bit so he could eat.  
  
Noah and Jayden stayed with him as Dylan started eating. He learned that his siblings were all in school and kindergarten today, but that they would come visit him in the afternoon. The doctors still wanted to keep him in the hospital until they were sure that he wouldn’t experience another relapse, so he couldn’t go home just yet.  
  
After eating, Noah and Jayden had to leave for a bit while a doctor came in to check on Dylan and do a few tests on him.  
  
There were no words that could describe the relief that Noah and Jayden felt after seeing that Dylan was alright. Their son was finally awake and talking again, and for the first time in days they were convinced that everything was going to be just fine.  
  
After the doctors checked up on Dylan and found his condition to be stable and improving, they decided to move him to another room, away from the ICU. He still needed to stay in the hospital and have the doctors watch over him, but there was no longer a need for him to stay in the Intensive Care Unit.  
  
Jayden gently helped Dylan down from the bed so he could walk to his new room. The boy was wobbly on his feet from not having moved for so long, so he had to stand still for a few seconds to adjust to it before he could walk. Jayden stayed close to him, ready to catch him if he should fall.  
  
“I’m not a baby, dad!” Dylan complained softly when his father’s hand on his shoulder was becoming embarrassing. It made him blush when the other people in the corridor outside saw how his dad was walking next to him as if he was a baby that was learning how to walk.  
  
Jayden laughed softly before apologizing. “Sorry, I just don’t want you to fall.”  
  
“I won’t fall,” Dylan stated stubbornly, and gently smacked his dad’s hand away.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but smile at how Dylan was acting proud all of sudden, but he could understand why it was embarrassing for a 9-year-old alpha to have his dad help him walk.  
  
Noah carried the bag with Dylan’s stuff inside all the way to the new room, which was on the floor above. They had to take the elevator there, and for a moment Noah was worried that Dylan was going to throw up when he saw his son looking all pale when the elevator moved. Dylan was still pretty dizzy, so the elevator ride wasn’t something that was going to make him feel better.  
  
The new room was a little bigger than the other one because it was a shared room. There were three beds inside, but only one of them was occupied at the moment. Dylan noticed how the bed in the middle was ruffled from use, and saw flowers on the table as well as various stuffed animals lying around on the bed and on the chair beside the bed. He could tell that it was likely a girl who was sharing rooms with him, but she wasn’t there at the moment.  
  
Noah, Jayden, and the male nurse helped get Dylan settled in the bed. He got the bed closest to the door, and he couldn’t stop glancing at the bed next to his.  
  
When the nurse noticed Dylan’s curious glance, he smiled and said, “Your roommate is in the operating room at the moment. She probably won’t be back until tonight. You’ll meet her then. She’s a nice girl.”  
  
“Oh.” Dylan glanced at the bed one more time, wondering what kind of operation the girl was going through and if she’d be alright. After staring at the other bed for a few seconds he turned his attention back to his parents. “Why do I feel so tired even though I just slept for three days?” he mumbled grumpily.  
  
Jayden laughed softly and reached out to ruffle Dylan’s hair. “Your body went through a lot, so it’s not that strange that you feel tired.”  
  
“I’m still not even sure what happened…”  
  
Noah and Jayden shared a glance before the nurse spoke up and replied to Dylan’s question.  
  
“Your blood was infected and that made your body very ill,” the nurse explained patiently. “You’re very lucky to still be alive.”  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened in shock. He was still confused about what had happened, but the nurse began explaining and helping him understand it.  
  
As the nurse explained to Dylan what had happened to him, Noah and Jayden held hands and watched as Dylan tried to comprehend just how bad it had been. They were surprised by how well he took it, but they knew he was probably still too young and too tired to understand it fully.

  
***

  
For the next couple of hours, Dylan stayed awake and played a few games on his tablet, as well as talking with his parents.  
  
Noah and Jayden were talking to the doctors every now and then, and at 3:30 Jayden went and picked up Nathan, Derek, and Claire from school and kindergarten so they could come see Dylan at the hospital.  
  
When his siblings finally arrived, they were all really happy to see Dylan.  
  
Nathan had a wide smile on his face when he entered the room and went over to Dylan to hug him. “It’s so nice to see you awake again!” He tried not to hug his brother too hard, afraid that he’d somehow break him, but he couldn’t suppress the happiness he felt when he saw his baby brother.  
  
Dylan smiled and returned the hug. “Yeah, I’m so tired of sleeping.”  
  
Nathan laughed softly before pulling back, only to almost get pushed out of the way by Claire, who stormed over to stand beside the bed so she could see Dylan.  
  
“Dylan! So happy you awake!” she chirped, grinning widely and looking like she wanted to jump up and hug him.  
  
Dylan smiled at his sister and couldn’t help but chuckle at how happy she looked. “Hi, Claire. I’m also happy to be awake again.”  
  
Both Nathan and Claire were smiling brightly in front of Dylan, while Derek lingered slightly behind them. It wasn’t until Nathan discreetly stepped on his foot that Derek finally came forward. The young alpha coughed as he went to stand next to the bed, glancing at Dylan with almost shy look. “Glad you’re awake again. I was getting tired of watching you sleep.”  
  
Dylan snorted out a small laugh at that. The two alpha brothers then stared at each other for a few seconds until Derek finally reached out and ruffled Dylan’s hair into a mess.  
  
“And next time you get hurt, just fucking clean that wound. Got it?” Derek said, ruffling Dylan’s hair with force until his younger brother swatted his hand away hard.  
  
“Yeah, I got it! Stop touching my hair!” Dylan glared daggers at Derek while trying to correct his hairstyle.  
  
Derek smirked as he watched how Dylan was trying to get his hair to look nice again. “Don’t bother; it looked messy to begin with.”  
  
Nathan wasn’t impressed by Derek’s treatment and comments about Dylan’s hair, though. “Well, I’m pretty sure his hair was the last thing that any of us have been worried about for the past few days, so one’s bothered to comb it.”  
  
“Hmm, and no one’s cut it either,” Derek commented, tilting his head a bit as he looked at Dylan’s hair. “You should get a haircut; you’re starting to look like a girl.”  
  
Dylan lashed out and slapped Derek on the arm for annoying him. “Shut up! It’s not even that long, you dumbass!”  
  
Derek just laughed at him, making Dylan glare harder at his brother for being so annoying.  
  
Although they were arguing and slapping each other, Claire could sense that they were just joking around, and that made her laugh. She jumped in excitement over Dylan being back again, and suddenly she was climbing up on the bed to sit next to Dylan.  
  
At first Nathan wanted to stop her, but then Jayden put a hand on his shoulder and told him it was alright. Dylan was feeling better now, so it was okay for Claire to climb up and sit with him.  
  
Dylan scooted over a bit to make place for his sister, but Claire was quite clumsy as she crawled up to sit next to him. Dylan tried to hold back the pained grunt that escaped him when she crawled across his lap and accidentally kicked him in the crotch.  
  
Derek barked out a laugh when he saw Dylan’s reaction, and the others couldn’t stop laughing at bit as well.  
  
Dylan glared daggers at Derek before Claire had settled down and was leaning into him. She was sitting on the other side of his injured wing, so it was fine.  
  
Noah smiled when he saw the happy grin on Claire’s face. For days she had wanted to climb up and sit next to Dylan, but she hadn’t been allowed, so now she was really happy that she finally could.  
  
“Claire really missed you,” Nathan said, chuckling at them both.  
  
“Yes! Dun like when Dylan is sick,” Claire said, looking all sad as she glanced at Dylan.  
  
Dylan gave her a small smile. “Yeah, I don’t like it either.”  
  
Meanwhile, Derek was watching them with a scrunched-up nose and crossed arms. “Bah, you guys are so girly.”  
  
Nathan turned and smirked at Derek as he said, “Coming from the guy who said that if Dylan pulls through, he’d give him the biggest hug he had ever given anybody. And now I wonder… where is that hug? Feeling too shy to hug him now?”  
  
Derek’s face flushed bright red and he immediately lashed out and smacked Nathan hard on the arm. “Shut up! I did _not_ say that!”  
  
Nathan laughed. “Yeah, you totally did.”  
  
When Nathan kept laughing and also made the others laugh, Derek smacked him again and continued looking all flustered and angry.  
  
When Derek was about to smack Nathan for the third time, Jayden interfered, although with a chuckle. “Guys…”  
  
Derek pulled his hand back reluctantly, but he didn’t stop glaring at Nathan for being stupid.  
  
Noah just stood there, smiling brightly as he watched his family being back together again. Everyone was behaving the same as always, and he wiped away a happy tear when he saw Dylan chuckling and looking like he was doing better now.  
  
They stayed with Dylan for the next few hours, catching up on things and just being together.  
  
Claire refused to move away from Dylan’s bed, so the two sat there together until they had to go have dinner. Dylan got permission to leave his bed to join his family for dinner, on the condition that they would alert the nurse if he suddenly started feeling unwell, and that he would return to his room as soon as possible to rest.

  
***

  
Dylan was really tired after having had dinner with his family in the hospital cafeteria. It was kind of exhausting to be so social after having slept for so long and still feeling kind of sickish, so he was kind of relieved to finally be back in the hospital bed. His family stayed around for a couple of hours more before going home, leaving Dylan alone in the hospital with the nurses and doctors.  
  
Dylan didn’t feel like sleeping yet. He had done enough sleeping in the past few days, so he decided to read some of the comic books that his family had brought for him. The girl he was sharing a room with hadn’t come back yet, which he thought was kind of strange, seeing as it was 8pm already.  
  
After half an hour of reading, Dylan felt the need to use the bathroom. He knew he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere on his own because he was attached to an IV and the machine next to him was monitoring his vitals, so he pressed a button next to the bed to call for a nurse. He waited a few seconds before the nurse came, and was rather surprised to see Kaylen showing up.  
  
Kaylen smiled widely as he entered room, and he seemed amuse by Dylan’s shocked face. “What, aren’t you happy to see someone you know?” he teased as he went over to the bed.  
  
Dylan blinked at him a few times before replying. “Yeah, but… I wasn’t expecting _you_ to come.”  
  
Kaylen shrugged lightly. “Well, I volunteered to be your nurse for the next few days. I told them you’re troublesome and will only obey _my_ orders, so they gladly gave me the honors.”  
  
Dylan glared lightly at Kaylen, who was smirking big time because he loved teasing his nephews. Dylan couldn’t help but chuckle a bit as well, knowing that Kaylen was just screwing around. He liked Kaylen a lot, and he always thought that he and Isaac were fun to be around.  
  
“So, why did you call?” Kaylen finally asked.  
  
“Oh!” Dylan had almost forgotten about it again. “I, um… have to use the bathroom.”  
  
“Ah. I thought so,” Kaylen chuckled, and began helping Dylan away from the machine and the bed. “I hope you can do your business on your own.”  
  
“I’m not a baby!”  
  
Kaylen laughed at how offended Dylan sounded. “I know. But there are some patients who need help, so…”  
  
Dylan looked mortified at that. “Ugh, no thanks. I can do it on my own…”  
  
Kaylen just laughed and led him towards the bathroom. He let Dylan in and waited outside, just in case Dylan should suddenly collapse or need help.  
  
The medicine Dylan had gotten made his stomach a bit upset, so it took a while in the bathroom before he was done. He was kind of embarrassed to face Kaylen afterwards, but he relaxed when Kaylen ruffled his hair fondly and did the ‘you have something on your shirt’ trick, which Dylan fell for. Dylan was embarrassed to have fallen for that old trick, and Kaylen was laughing his ass off after he had booped Dylan’s nose when the boy had glanced down to look at his shirt, which of course hadn’t been dirty at all.  
  
Fooling around with Kaylen made Dylan in a better mood, and he was almost disappointed when they were back in his room again.  
  
However, his disappointment was forgotten when he noticed that someone was sitting on the bed next to his. His roommate had finally appeared, and she was sitting quietly on her bed, staring into the room. She lifted her head and glanced their way when they came inside. Someone had turned off almost all the lights, but Kaylen turned on the light above Dylan’s bed, which cast a ray of light towards the girl, making Dylan able to see her face.  
  
The girl was around Dylan’s age, with long blonde hair and a skinny appearance. Her wings were white with some grey and red feathers, and she was dressed in a hospital gown. She looked kind of sad and pitiful as she sat with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms embracing them, and Dylan immediately noticed that her left wing was wrapped tightly in bandages. She had a few scratches and bruises on her cheek and chin as well, and her eyes looked dull and dead as she stared back at Dylan.  
  
“Oh, you must be Melody,” Kaylen greeted the girl, smiling gently at her as he led Dylan back to his bed and reattached the IV and electrodes. The IV was still needed so that Dylan could get the fluids and antibiotics he needed.  
  
The girl said nothing, but kept glancing over at them every now and then.  
  
Dylan thought it was a little weird that the girl didn’t say anything, but he guessed she probably felt sick and didn’t feel like talking. He also thought her name was really strange. He had frowned when Kaylen had said it, wondering if it was even a name at all. It certainly wasn’t a name that he had heard before.  
  
After Dylan was all set, Kaylen turned to the girl again. “Do you need anything before I go?”  
  
The girl quietly shook her head and murmured a small “no”.  
  
Kaylen nodded before saying good night to Dylan and leaving the room.  
  
Dylan felt kind of sad when Kaylen left, but he knew his aunt had other patients to attend to. Again, he glanced briefly at the girl in the other bed, only to see her staring into space again. The silence in the room quickly became awkward to Dylan, and he looked at her for a few moments before carefully asking, “Is your name really Melody?”  
  
The girl slowly turned her head to look at Dylan, looking a little surprised that he was speaking to her.  
  
Dylan finally got to see her face a little better now, and he noticed how pretty she was. He stared mesmerized at her facial features before he saw her face twisting into an annoyed scowl.  
  
“You don’t like my name?” the girl asked, sounding almost angry.  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened. “What? No! I mean, I like it, it’s just… I haven’t heard that name before.”  
  
The girl studied him closely, and Dylan almost felt nervous under her stare before he saw her face soften up a little.  
  
Melody looked away, pulling her knees even closer to her body. “Yeah, I hear that a lot…”  
  
The girl’s voice was small and bitter as she spoke, and Dylan immediately got the feeling that something was really bothering her. He waited a few seconds before carefully asking her another question.  
  
“Is… Is your wing okay? It looks kinda scary, all wrapped up like that…”  
  
The girl’s body tensed at the mention of her wing, but only for a few seconds before she finally spoke. “No… My wing is not okay.” Her voice shook and cracked as she spoke, and suddenly she started sobbing and burying her face in her arms, which were still embracing her legs tightly.  
  
Dylan panicked for a second, feeling like he had done something wrong, but as he listened to her sob quietly on the bed next to him, he wanted to help her feel better again. “But… Your wing is gonna be okay, right?”  
  
The girl stopped sobbing and sniffled a few times before answering, “N-No. It’s all twisted and ugly, and the doctors said they probably can’t make it look the same ever again. I’m gonna be ugly.” This time she starting crying, even louder than before, and Dylan had no idea what to do about it.  
  
Dylan watched helplessly as the girl cried. He wanted to comfort her, but he wasn’t sure how, and she was crying so much that she might not hear him if he talked. He waited a bit until her crying had died down a bit before he finally spoke again. “Sorry about your wing…” he spoke softly, and noticed how the girl’s posture relaxed a bit when he said that. He considered his words before speaking again. “What happened?”  
  
There was more sniffling as the girl tried to stop her crying so she could talk. “Some mean boy at school pushed me down the stairs… And my wing broke pretty bad… And then he starting kicking it, and he laughed at me when I cried. _Everybody_ laughed.”  
  
Dylan frowned, feeling angry with the boy and the other kids for laughing at something like that. He hated bullies, and he felt sorry for the girl for what had happened.  
  
“And now he’s gonna call me ugly,” the girl cried.  
  
“I don’t think you’ll be ugly,” Dylan said in a soft voice. “My dad says that ugly is something you do and not how you look. If anything is ugly, it has to be that boy.”  
  
The girl stopped crying a second. She let out a small chuckle at his words, but then the crying took over once again.  
  
“And even if your wing will be twisted, I don’t think you should call it ugly. It’s still a part of you,” Dylan continued. “Besides, I can think of far more ugly things than twisted wings. Like… when my brother opens his mouth so I can see all the chewed food inside while we’re having dinner.” Dylan grimaced at the memory of last time Derek had done that. It was pretty disgusting, although Dylan did find it a little bit funny.  
  
A sudden loud laugh escaped from Melody, but it sounded a little cracked because of her crying. She giggled a bit afterwards, and Dylan felt pleased that she didn’t seem all that sad anymore.  
  
After Melody finally regained control of her giggling, she said, “My older brother does that too sometimes. It’s so disgusting.”  
  
Now it was Dylan’s turn to laugh. There was a comfortable atmosphere as the two of them sat in their beds, giggling and laughing at their silly older brothers. Melody certainly seemed to feel a lot better now, and she gave Dylan a shy smile as he looked at her.  
  
“What’s your name?” Melody finally asked, twisting shyly and looking at Dylan from under her lashes.  
  
“I’m Dylan,” he replied, offering her a gentle smile.  
  
There were a few seconds of hesitation before Melody asked, “Your wings… Are you an angel/demon hybrid?”  
  
Dylan nodded. “Yeah, my mom is one, and my dad is a demon, so that makes me a hybrid as well.” It always made him feel a little nervous to talk about this, as some people didn’t react very well to it, but Melody seemed to be fine with it.  
  
Melody looked at him with hesitation for a few seconds before she shifted, and Dylan’s jaw almost dropped when he saw a demon tail appearing from under the blanket and curling at Melody’s side.  
  
“What, you’re an angel/demon hybrid too?!” Dylan exclaimed, almost not believing it.  
  
Melody nodded shyly. “Yeah. My dad’s an alpha angel and my mom’s a demon.”  
  
“That’s cool!”  
  
Melody looked as though she had never met anyone who was so thrilled by her heritage before, and the two of them couldn’t stop smiling at each other.  
  
Dylan was about to ask his new friend something when there was a knock on the door and a female demon nurse came into the room.  
  
“Are you kids still awake?” the nurse asked, smiling kindly at the two. “You should lie down and sleep. It’s almost 9pm already and far past your bedtimes.”  
  
Melody curled up. She seemed nervous about sleeping, which Dylan guessed was because her wing was sore after the operation.  
  
“I don’t feel like sleeping, though,” Dylan said. “I’ve just slept for three days.”  
  
The nurse just smiled. “Well, sleeping will still be good for you. But you can keep reading your comics for a bit longer; they will probably help you feel sleepy.”  
  
The nurse went over to Melody to help her lie down, and Dylan opened his comic book to keep reading. He glanced over at the other bed as the nurse helped Melody get comfortable with her wing. He winced when Melody sobbed and cried a bit because of the pain, but the nurse gave her something to help ease the pain.  
  
It took a while for Melody to calm down and get comfortable, but the nurse didn’t leave until she was comfortable and fast asleep.  
  
Dylan kept reading his comic books for a couple of hours more until he finally felt sleepy, and he fell asleep with his comic splayed out across his chest.

  
***

  
After a few more days in the hospital, Dylan was finally released and sent home.  
  
It had been a tough period for the family, not knowing if Dylan would pull through and recover, so everyone was happy when the doctors said he could go home and that he hadn’t suffered any permanent damage, except that his wing would probably always have a small scar on it.  
  
Dylan was pretty glad to be wearing his normal clothes again, and it almost felt odd as he walked in the front door of his home.  
  
“Glad to be home, buddy?” Jayden asked, patting Dylan gently on the shoulder as he led his son back into their house.  
  
“Yeah. I’m really tired of hospital clothes and food,” Dylan said as he dropped his bag on the floor and bent down to take off his shoes. He had missed the smell of the house, and he took it all in and basked in it.  
  
Noah, Nathan, Derek, and little Claire walked inside as well, chuckling at Dylan’s words.  
  
“Aww, and here I thought you liked wearing gowns,” Derek mocked, ruffling Dylan’s hair so it was all messy.  
  
Dylan responded with a growl and slapped his brother’s hand away. “Stop being an ass!”  
  
Derek just laughed, and Nathan snorted behind them.  
  
“You know he can’t help it, Dylan. It’s the way he was born,” Nathan said, hanging his own jacket back into the closet.  
  
“Hey! Speak for yourself!” Derek quipped back at Nathan, spreading his sharpened feathers a little as he glared back at his older brother.  
  
“Boys,” Jayden sighed, getting between them to stop the fighting. “We just got back home and the first thing you do is fight?”  
  
Derek and Nathan both looked a little guilty about that.  
  
“Sorry,” Derek muttered, staring at the ground.  
  
“I don’t think it’s the ground you’re supposed to apologize to,” Nathan remarked with a snort.  
  
Derek lifted his head to glare at him, but he resisted the urge to yell at his older brother because he didn’t want to get scolded again. “Well, I’m certainly not apologizing to _you,_ ” he quipped, before turning to look at Dylan. “I’m sorry for fighting with Nathan just when you get back home, but you know how annoying he is.”  
  
“Hey!” Nathan exclaimed, almost outraged.  
  
Dylan blinked at Derek before laughing, because there was just something so hilarious about the way he had said it.  
  
Claire also began laughing, and Nathan glared at Derek as the whole family laughed.  
  
When Dylan was done was taking off his shoes and jacket, he was suddenly tackled by a very happy Claire, who immediately wrapped her arms around his waist and grinned up at him.  
  
“So happy Dylan is home!” she chirped, grinning at Dylan wider than ever. “I missed you!”  
  
Dylan was a little startled by the sudden hug, but eventually hugged her back. “I’ve missed you too, Claire.”  
  
Claire grinned up at her brother once more before stepping back, and then Noah walked forward to stand in front of Dylan. The boy blinked at his mom as Noah reached out and placed a motherly hand on Dylan’s cheek.  
  
“I’m so glad you’re back home,” Noah said, holding back a tear as he smiled at his son.  
  
Dylan smiled, feeling kind of shy in front of his brothers. “Me too, mom.”  
  
Noah pulled him into a hug that Dylan returned, and everyone was surprised that Derek wasn’t even making fun of it; he was just watching them quietly in the background.  
  
When Noah pulled away, Nathan came over and patted Dylan’s head in a brotherly gesture, as well as curling the tips of their tails together, the way siblings would do to show affection for each other.  
  
Dylan smiled at his family, feeling happy that they were all so glad to see him back home. When his glance accidentally moved towards Derek, his older brother responded by taking a step back and grimacing.  
  
“Oh, no way, you’re not getting any hugs from me! I’ve already welcomed you back when I messed up your hair,” Derek said.  
  
The others laughed, although Noah didn’t seem very pleased that Derek was still so afraid of showing affection.  
  
“So,” Jayden said, clapping his hands together to get their attention. “Tonight I’m making Dylan’s favorite for dinner, _and_ there will be dessert. So how about you kids go play video games until dinner is ready?”  
  
Their faces all lit up at the idea of playing video games and having a nice dinner and dessert, and Jayden laughed when the kids almost tripped over each other as they ran into the living room.  
  
Nathan wasn’t in as much of a hurry as his younger siblings, and just rolled his eyes at how Derek and Dylan went nuts at the mention of video games. Claire also like playing – at least when they were playing children’s video games – so she too had run off to the living room. Nathan followed them to make sure they didn’t wreck the room, while Noah stayed with Jayden and smiled as he watched the kids go.  
  
Jayden pulled his mate close and pressed a soft kiss on top of his head as they listened to the children talking in the living room. Noah leaned into his touch, feeling so relieved that their family was back together again and that everything was fine.  
  
“Come on; let’s leave the kids to have fun for a few minutes,” Jayden suggested, and slowly led Noah towards the kitchen.  
  
Noah felt kind of reluctant to leave Dylan just after he finally got him back home, but he eventually followed Jayden to the kitchen.  
  
It was nice that things were back to normal again, although Dylan did feel like something had changed a bit when it came to Derek. Usually Derek was never afraid to shove him out of his way or tackle him when they were fighting over which game to play, but now Derek seemed more cautious – careful, even. Although he was still being somewhat of an ass, he wasn’t quite as rude or violent as usual. Dylan thought it was a little strange, but he didn’t mind the change.  
  
Dylan’s thoughts shifted briefly to the new friend he had made at the hospital, and whom he probably would never see again. He wondered if Melody was going to be alright, but his thoughts were disturbed when Derek beat him at the video game. Dylan had gotten distracted by his thoughts, and when Derek started bragging out loud, Dylan had to push the thoughts aside and try to do better in the next round so that he could pay his brother back.  
  
Nathan laughed at them as he sat with Claire on his lap and the joystick in his hands. Claire was too young to play this game, but she enjoyed sitting with Nathan and watching her brothers play.  
  
From the kitchen, Noah and Jayden could hear the kids laughing and arguing while playing, and Claire’s loud, amused shrieks.  
  
It was like all the pain and worry from the past days had finally gone away, and was now replaced by the usual cheerful (and sometimes exhausting) mood in the house.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said at the beginning, I don't know anything about illnesses, hospitals, and medical stuff, but I hope I got most of it right for this chapter.
> 
> Sorry for leaving you guys with the cliffhanger for so long. I should really stop trying to estimate how long this story is going to be or when my next update will be, because I'm always wrong about it XD; But I do plan to end it soon. Sadly I've gotten tired of writing it and just want to move on with my life, but I'm stubborn and want to write the story to its end. I will write a few more chapters with some time jumps before wrappig it up and ending it. I can't really say when that's going to be, though...
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading the chapter :)


	62. Chapter 62

**August 2068 (Noah is 42, Jayden is 44, Nathan is 18 (almost 19), Derek is 14, Dylan is 10 (almost 11), Claire is 6 years old).**  
  
As August came around so did the new school year. This year, however, was going to be different for the family – Nathan was starting college. Starting in college meant that Nathan was moving out of his parents’ house and would be living in the school’s dormitory until his studies were over.  
  
It was the first time that one of Noah and Jayden’s kids was moving out, and it was an odd feeling. Noah didn’t like it. He had always known the day would come, but now that the day was finally there, it felt surreal and almost cruel. He felt like he had no idea how proceed with his life when Nathan had moved out and it scared him. Things wouldn’t be the same for the family anymore.  
  
Jayden was more relaxed about it than Noah was, although he wasn’t particularly happy about it either. Of course he wanted to always have his son around, but he knew that Nathan was really looking forward to starting his life at college, and Jayden was happy for him.  
  
Derek seemed like he was the only one who was happy about Nathan moving out, but they all knew that sooner or later he too would miss his older brother.  
  
Claire, however, didn’t understand why Nathan had to move.  
  
“Nathan, why you leaving?” Claire asked as she tried to cling to her oldest brother, who was currently busy packing the car with his stuff so he could move into his dorm. Claire had been running in his heels all morning, trying to understand why he was leaving. She was upset and scared, and she looked up at Nathan with her bright, blue eyes, filled with tears.  
  
They were in the driveway by the car, and Nathan had just thrown the last of his bags into the trunk. They were all getting ready to drive Nathan to the dorm and help him settle in. He’d be sharing rooms with one of his best friends Josh, and Jayden and Josh’s father had already been to the dorm to put up curtains and hang up a few shelves on the walls the weekend before, so the place was now ready to be moved into.  
  
Nathan almost felt bad when he glanced down at his little sister and saw her teary eyes. He sighed heavily and squatted down to level with her.  
  
“Hey.” Nathan’s voice was patient and soothing as he addressed his younger sister, and he placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. “You’ll still see me. I’ll still come visit you on the weekends and during the holidays. I won’t be leaving you forever, little Pumpkin Face.”  
  
Claire sniffled as Nathan smiled and booped her nose gently. “B-But I dun wants you to go…” She began crying, and Nathan wrapped his arms around her to soothe and comfort her.  
  
Jayden came out of the house, carrying a bag with towels for Nathan that Noah had wanted him to have. He threw the bag in the trunk and smiled at the scene of Nathan and Claire, feeling his heart ache a bit as he watched them.  
  
Derek, Dylan, and Noah came outside, ready to leave. They stopped when they saw Nathan and Claire, and Noah couldn’t help the empty feeling in his stomach when he thought about how Nathan wasn’t going to be living with them anymore.  
  
Dylan also felt sad that Nathan was leaving, but he understood why. But he kind of dreaded it because that would leave him alone to deal with Derek when their parents weren’t around, and Derek could still be somewhat of an ass sometimes.  
  
Derek, however, was getting a little impatient when things with Claire dragged out. He stood with his arms crossed in front of his chest, and he looked very impatient to go already. He had gotten quite taller in the past year, and was now just as tall as Nathan was – and still growing. He was gaining more muscle as well, and he was likely going to have a similar build as Jayden once he grew up.  
  
“Can we just go already? We were supposed to go like ten minutes ago,” Derek complained, rolling his eyes in irritation. His voice was a bit deeper than it had been a year ago as well. It wasn’t as screechy anymore as it had been when he was 11-13 years old.  
  
“We’re not in a hurry,” Jayden said calmly. “It’s not like we have a specific deadline we have to keep. Besides, it’s only 10am, so we have all day.”  
  
Again, Derek rolled his eyes, and Nathan glared at him for being such a troublesome teenager.  
  
Nathan slowly pulled away from Claire and got up. He smiled over at Noah, who still looked reluctant to let him go, before looking at his dad. “I’m ready when you are.”  
  
“Good,” Jayden grinned. “Then let’s go.”  
  
“Noooo! I don’t want Nathan to go!” Claire complained, clinging to Nathan once more.  
  
Nathan laughed softly at her and gently tried to pry her off of him. “Hey, don’t be like that… I’ll sit next to you in the car, okay?”  
  
Claire still put up a fuss, but eventually they managed to persuade her to get into the car so they could go. She sat next to Nathan and grabbed tightly onto his arm, as if she never intended to let go of him again.  
  
It was kind of cute how clingy Claire was, but Noah couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. He knew very well what it felt like to see one of your older siblings move out of the house and not be around anymore. It was a very lonely feeling.

  
***

  
The college was the same one as the one Noah had studied at. It felt nostalgic for him to be back there, and all the memories of his own time in college came flashing back to him as they entered the campus and made their way over to the dorm to find Nathan’s room.  
  
The sun was shining brightly and there were people all over campus. It was a Saturday, so a lot of new students were settling into their dorm rooms today. There was chatter and talking everywhere, and the crowds only made Claire cling tighter to Nathan as they walked towards the dormitories.  
  
Nathan’s friend Josh was already in the room, and he greeted everyone when they came inside. Nathan and Josh had met in high school, and Josh was a beta angel with brown wings and a few white feathers in them.  
  
Nathan and Josh had applied for the same major – International Business Communication – so they were going to attend the same classes. This would make it quite easy for them to share rooms together, as their schedules would be pretty much the same.  
  
It was a little crowded in the room once everyone had stepped inside. The room had two beds, two closets, and a big window. There were no desks included in the dorm room, as students had to bring their own. Jayden and Noah had brought a new desk for Nathan for when he moved out, and it was standing in the corner, waiting to be unpacked and assembled. Josh and his father had already assembled his, and it was standing by the wall near his bed.  
  
“Oh, it looks pretty nice,” Dylan remarked after everyone had greeted Josh and had started taking a look around.  
  
“Yeah, it’s not bad for a dorm room,” Jayden said, and went over to start unpacking the desk.  
  
Claire still clung to Nathan, who didn’t seem to mind it that much, even though his friend was watching.  
  
Derek was antisocial as usual, and stayed over by the closed door with his arms crossed in front of his chest.  
  
They could hear people talking and screaming in the corridor outside, and right now it sounded like someone was having a water fight, judging by the loud shrieks and running, and how someone was yelling that he would shoot the other guy’s ass full of water.  
  
Nathan groaned at the noise. “I really hope they’ll shut up tonight.”  
  
Josh laughed. “Yeah, me too.”  
  
“When I was in college, I heard that the male dormitories were always noisy at night, though,” Noah said.  
  
Both Nathan and Josh groaned loudly at that, and Dylan couldn’t help but laugh.  
  
“Well, that was a few years back, but I doubt it has changed much since then,” Jayden chuckled. He lifted up the unassembled parts of the desk and looked at Nathan. “Where do you want it?”  
  
Nathan came over to help his dad out and showed him where he wanted the desk to be, though it wasn’t like there were many options as to where it could be placed. Jayden, Nathan, and Josh helped each other assemble it, while the others watched and tried not to get in their way.  
  
Noah started unpacking some of Nathan’s towels and putting them into the drawers, but he was careful not to mess with Nathan’s clothes, as he imagined that his son wouldn’t want him touching his underwear.  
  
When the desk was assembled and in its place, the room finally looked like it was ready to be lived in. Now all Nathan had to do was to unpack his clothes and things, but he’d do that on his own later.  
  
“Really hoping you’ll settle in well and feel comfortable here,” Jayden said afterwards. He was looking mostly at Nathan, but also at Josh.  
  
“Yeah, me too. Thanks for your help, dad.” Nathan went forward to hug his dad goodbye, and Jayden returned the hug and patted him proudly in the back before stepping back.  
  
“And don’t get into trouble, you two,” Jayden said with a hint of a joke in his voice.  
  
Josh laughed. “Yeah, we won’t, sir.”  
  
Jayden looked pleased with that and grinned at the two young men.  
  
Noah went over to hug Nathan goodbye next and he didn’t want to let him go again. He held him tight and tried not to cry, and Nathan could tell that saying goodbye was really hard for him.  
  
“I’ll drop by every now and then on the weekends, mom. I promise,” Nathan spoke as he hugged him back.  
  
“Yeah. You better,” Noah murmured into Nathan’s shoulder, and breathed in the scent of his son one more time before stepping back. He smiled proudly at Nathan, and as his son smiled back at him, he knew that Nathan would be alright at the college.  
  
Claire was starting to get fussy again, so Noah gently pulled her away as he let Dylan and Derek say goodbye to Nathan next.  
  
Dylan didn’t hesitate to hug his brother goodbye, but he felt sad as he did so. “I hope to see you around again soon.”  
  
Nathan smiled as he hugged Dylan back tightly. “Yeah, you will. And take care, okay?” He pulled back to smile at Dylan, whom he was definitely going to miss. “And don’t let Derek bully you too much, yeah? If he does, just tell me and I’ll come home and kick his ass.”  
  
There was a loud snort from Derek in the background. “Yeah, right. As if you’d be able to.”  
  
Nathan and Derek shared a brotherly glare, and Dylan laughed at them.  
  
“I think I can handle him,” Dylan said, looking confident as he smirked up at Nathan.  
  
Nathan just laughed and patted Dylan’s shoulder proudly. “Yeah, you’re getting pretty badass at self-defense.”  
  
Dylan still preferred defensive forms of martial arts rather than the more aggressive fighting styles that Derek liked. He didn’t take classes like Derek did, but instead he had learned the moves on his own and was getting pretty good at it. He didn’t like starting fights, but he liked to defend himself and the people he cared about.  
  
“He should learn to kick the bullies’ asses instead of just pacifying them. Most of them don’t deserve to get away so easily,” Derek muttered in the corner.  
  
Nathan sighed. “Oh, Derek. Always the violent one…”  
  
Josh laughed a bit at that, while Derek just glared at Nathan in offense.  
  
They would be leaving soon, and when Derek didn’t make a move to go and say goodbye to Nathan, Jayden had to send him a pretty hard look before the teenage alpha finally went over to say goodbye to his older brother.  
  
Derek walked up right in front of Nathan, and the two of them looked each other in the eye. They were the same height now, and Dylan rolled his eyes when he saw Derek trying to straighten up more to look taller.  
  
“I’m not gonna miss you that much,” Derek said with pure honesty, looking Nathan straight in the eye.  
  
“Derek!” Noah exclaimed in outrage at how rude Derek was being.  
  
Nathan didn’t say anything, but kept staring back into Derek’s eyes. His eyes narrowed a bit at Derek’s words, though.  
  
After a few seconds of hesitation, Derek added. “But… I might kinda miss having you around to tease…”  
  
Derek’s words made a large grin appear on Nathan’s face. He knew it was about as close to saying ‘I love you and I’ll miss you’ as Derek could get, and Nathan was very pleased with that.  
  
Bringing up his arm, Nathan gave Derek a hard, brotherly shove in the shoulder with his fist, making Derek take a step back because he lost his balance a bit.  
  
“I’ll miss you too, you little worm,” Nathan grinned fondly.  
  
Derek just grinned back at him and smacked Nathan’s tail lightly with his own, as payback for what Nathan had just called him.  
  
As Derek stepped back, Claire ran over to cling to Nathan once more. She cried as she wrapped her arms tightly around Nathan’s waist and glanced up at him with her big, teary eyes. “You really gonna stay here?” she croaked.  
  
“Yeah, I’m afraid so, Pumpkin…” Nathan said, giving her an apologetic smile and gently swiping his hand through her blonde hairs.  
  
Claire sniffled. “But… Imma miss you…”  
  
“Aw.” Nathan squatted down to pull his sister into a tight hug. “And I’ll miss you even more.”  
  
Claire clung to her brother as he hugged her, but eventually he had to gently push her back so they could pull apart. When they had pulled away from each other, Nathan gave her a warm smile and booped her nose, making Claire giggle and shrink back.  
  
“Remember to behave, yeah?”  
  
Claire nodded at his words. She smiled up at Nathan as she backed away, and she relaxed when she felt Jayden’s hands on her shoulders. She leaned back against her father’s body as she stood in front of him, and they all smiled at Nathan and Josh once more before leaving the room.  
  
The corridor was still noisy and full of college students running back and forth, and Claire tried to find safety with Jayden so she wouldn’t get pushed away by the crowd.  
  
Nathan and Josh waved at them in the door as they all walked down the hallway and disappeared from sight.  
  
The ride home felt kind of lonely and strange for everyone, as they were used to having Nathan around.  
  
Claire was still upset that Nathan had moved out, but Dylan managed to cheer her up a bit.  
  
It was really tough for everyone that Nathan was moving out, but they knew he would be okay. He was a good boy and he knew how to take care of himself, so they weren’t worried. Everything was going to be okay.

  
***

  
Weeks passed and September arrived. The weather was still hot and sunny, and as a result the grass had started to dry out in most of the neighborhood.  
  
Over the past few weeks, the family had started adjusting to not having Nathan around. It was all pretty strange to them, especially to Derek, Dylan, and Claire, who had been used to having Nathan around all their lives. Noah and Jayden had some difficulties adjusting as well. Sometimes Noah would forget that Nathan wasn’t in his room when he woke up the kids in the morning before school, and he was filled with sadness when he remembered that the room inside was empty and the bed unslept in. Nathan had told them that college was going really well for him though, and that thought cheered everyone up a bit, even Noah.  
  
Today was an ordinary Friday.  
  
Noah was tired after a difficult day at work; one of the new students in his English class was a little troublemaker, and Noah had spent most of the day trying to get the alpha boy under control. When he finally got home, he suddenly had three more alpha boys to look after, since Derek had decided to bring his friend Dwayne over for a sleepover. Mostly the two boys kept to themselves and didn’t play as recklessly as when they were little kids, but Noah was still alert.  
  
Noah had picked Dylan and Claire up from school and driven them home, while Derek and Dwayne had been out in the park all afternoon and didn’t show up until around 5:30. Jayden was working until 6pm, so he would be coming home in about an hour.  
  
Noah was with Claire in the living room when the two young alphas came home at 5:30. The boys only said a quick hello to them before they disappeared upstairs.  
  
Dylan was doing his homework by the desk in his and Derek’s room when the door was unceremoniously opened and Derek and Dwayne walked in.  
  
“Dylan, beat it. We’re gonna play videogames,” Derek told him, tossing his school bag away on his bed before turning to give Dylan an authoritative look.  
  
Dylan turned in the chair to face his older brother, and his eyes narrowed in a scowl as he glanced from Dwayne to Derek. “Hey, this is my room too. Don’t be so rude.”  
  
“Well, it was my room before it was yours, which makes it my room the most,” Derek argued. His attitude was condescending as he talked to Dylan, and it had been like that ever since he started in high school last month. He was behaving more and more like a rebellious teenager, and was treating his siblings with less respect. It got on Dylan’s nerves a lot. “Go do your homework in the dining room or something. You’re in my way in here.”  
  
Dylan glared at him, and he hated how Dwayne was snickering behind Derek. They were both behaving like arrogant assholes in his mind.  
  
As he glared at the both of them, Dylan suddenly noticed that Dwayne was holding a plastic bag in his hand. He couldn’t see what was inside, but it looked a bit like big bottles, judging from the shape. It rose some suspicion in Dylan’s mind. “What’s that?” he asked, gesturing at the bag.  
  
Dwayne tried to swing the bag behind him and out of sight, and whatever was inside the bag made a clashing sound, like two glass bottles hitting together.  
  
“Stop being so curious about everything and go back to being a school nerd,” Derek remarked with a sneer. “And it’s not for little kids like you anyway.”  
  
Derek’s remark made Dylan glare even harder at him, but after a few seconds he packed up his laptop with anger. “You should sign up for an asshole competition; I’m sure you’d both win.”  
  
“What’s that?!” Derek snapped, taking a step forward and growling as he raised his sharpened wings as a warning.  
  
“You heard me!” Dylan snapped back, glaring right back at Derek in defiance.  
  
The two brothers glared each other down, and even Dwayne was feeling the tension in the room. He shifted uncomfortably behind Derek. “Dude, he’s your brother… Don’t raise your wings like that.”  
  
Derek just growled in annoyance and kept glaring Dylan down, daring him to back off.  
  
Dylan glared back at him for a bit longer before saying, “You’re such an asshole, Derek.” He left the room in anger and slammed the door behind him just to state his point to Derek, and then ran down the stairs before Derek could open the door and shout at him. Derek didn’t come after him though, and Dylan felt relief when he was finally downstairs.  
  
Noah had heard the slamming of the door upstairs and went to see what was going on. He ran into Dylan in the entrance hall, who was looking angry as he went towards the dining room to set up his laptop in there.  
  
“What’s going on?” Noah asked, following Dylan carefully.  
  
Claire was still playing with her toys in the living room, humming happily to herself and not realizing what was going on.  
  
Dylan let out an annoyed grunt as he put his laptop on the dining table. “Just Derek being an ass, as usual.”  
  
“Oh…”  
  
“He totally kicked me out of the room! Just ‘cause he and Dwayne are gonna play video games. Why can’t he just ask me nicely if I wanna leave instead of trying to look tough in front of his friend and being mean?”  
  
Noah sighed and went over to place a hand on Dylan’s shoulder to calm him down. “I don’t know. Don’t take it personally, though. He’s a teenager and sometimes he doesn’t think straight.”  
  
“It’s like he doesn’t think at all,” Dylan muttered, still full of anger towards his brother.  
  
Noah chuckled a bit at that.  
  
“I hope I won’t be an asshole like him when I’m 14,” Dylan murmured quietly.  
  
“I’m sure you won’t be if you don’t want to,” Noah said patiently. “And don’t say that word. I don’t like it.”  
  
“Sorry…” Dylan lowered his head a bit in shame. “But he really _is_ one! He’s always so mean and bossy! I miss Nathan – at least _he_ could make Derek shut up sometimes…”  
  
Noah sighed and pulled Dylan into a light hug, hoping to calm him down. “I know. We all miss him.”  
  
“Do you think I can have his old room?” Dylan murmured quietly into Noah’s shirt. “I’m tired of sharing rooms with Derek… He’s always picking a fight with me.”  
  
“We’ll see. I’ll talk to your dad about it, okay?”  
  
Dylan nodded and finally seemed to have calmed down from his anger towards Derek.  
  
Noah pulled away from his son and gave him an encouraging smile. “Now, do your homework before dinner is ready, okay? Then you’ll have the rest of the evening to do fun stuff.”  
  
Dylan nodded and smiled back at him before sitting down to finish his homework. He was almost done with it anyway, and he couldn’t wait to get it over with.  
  
Noah smiled at him one more time before going back to the living room to check on Claire. She hadn’t moved from the spot and was still playing loudly with her toys.

  
***

  
Jayden came home about an hour later, and Claire greeted him eagerly at the front door. She jumped into his arms with a wide grin and squealed when he lifted her up and swung her around.  
  
Dylan had finished his homework and was now in the living room, where he had been watching some TV while Claire had played around. Noah had gone to the kitchen to make some preparations for dinner.  
  
Jayden placed Claire on his hip and walked with her into the living room. “Hey, Dylan,” he greeted his son when he saw him on the couch. “Did you have a nice day at school?”  
  
“Yeah, it was okay,” Dylan replied, turning his head back to look at Jayden. “I still don’t like having P.E. class in this hot weather, though… It’s way too exhausting.”  
  
Jayden laughed at that. “Yeah, nobody likes it.” He glanced around the room before asking, “Where’s Derek? Upstairs?”  
  
“He’s playing video games with Dwayne,” Dylan muttered, sinking into the couch a bit in a sulking manner at the mention of Derek.  
  
“Oh, Dwayne is here?” Jayden asked, sounding a little surprised. “I’m surprised the house is still standing.”  
  
Dylan laughed at his dad’s joke, and Claire laughed at it too, even though she didn’t understand it as well as Dylan.  
  
Jayden placed a loving kiss on Claire’s head before putting her down, and together they went to join Noah in the kitchen.  
  
They were going to have French fries and sausages for dinner. It was quick and easy to cook, and the kids liked it when they could have junk food on Fridays.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden greeted Noah in the kitchen, and went over to pull him into a soft kiss. “Still alive?”  
  
Noah kissed him back and chuckled a bit at his comment. He knew Jayden was referring to the fact that Derek had brought Dwayne over, and that the two could be quite a challenge for Noah sometimes. “Yeah, I’m alive. Derek and Dwayne have stayed in the room since they came home.”  
  
Jayden hummed in response to Noah’s reply, and nuzzled his mate’s cheek gently as he kept standing close to him.  
  
Claire was in a playful mood and went over to pull at Jayden’s arm, wanting his attention, but Jayden was ignoring her for now. As she started pulling harder, Jayden and Noah chuckled at each other, but still didn’t look at her.  
  
“I think I should go to the doctor with my arm… It’s acting really strange,” Jayden said and suppressed a chuckle. His lips were curled into a smirk as he and Noah looked at each other, but they both kept up the act to entertain Claire for a bit.  
  
“Yeah, you should. Might be deadly,” Noah chuckled.  
  
Claire laughed and kept pulling at Jayden’s arm, but she wasn’t strong enough to make him move even one inch.  
  
“Yeah. I think…” Jayden paused and finally turned towards Claire. “…it’s a deadly parasite!” he exclaimed before picking up Claire and pretending he was going to eat her.  
  
Claire laughed, kicked, and squealed in his hold, and Noah had to step back when he almost got hit in the face by her swishing tail.  
  
“Nooo, daddy! Put me down!” Claire yelled between all her laughter and squealing.  
  
“I can’t put you down until I have killed the parasite,” Jayden argued, and kept swinging her around while ‘eating her’.  
  
Claire was getting pretty loud as she laughed and shrieked, and eventually Dylan showed up to investigate what was going on. He watched them from the doorway and chuckled at the scene.  
  
When Jayden spotted Dylan, he put Claire down and exclaimed, “Oh, another parasite!” before running after both of them.  
  
Now there were two kids squealing and running around the house as Jayden chased them, and the noise echoed through the house. When they came running back into the kitchen where Noah was still standing and laughing at them, Jayden suddenly went for Noah as well. Noah’s eyes widened before he took off running, and the kids laughed as they watched their mom trying to get away from their father, who was in a very playful mood at the moment.  
  
Derek and Dwayne both stayed in the room upstairs, although they could hear the others pretty well. Derek rolled his eyes at his family, thinking it was kind of embarrassing when Dwayne was around, but Dwayne didn’t seem to mind the noise much. He had two younger siblings at home, so he was kind of used to the noise.

  
***

  
At 7pm dinner was ready, and there was a bit of tension between Derek and Dylan when they all sat down to eat. They were sitting opposite each other, and Dylan was still upset about the way Derek had treated him earlier so he kept glaring at him. Derek hated having his brother’s eyes on him like that, so he kicked him under the table to make him stop. Dylan kicked him back, and they were about to snap mean words at each other before Jayden cut them off when he noticed what was going on.  
  
After dinner, Derek and Dwayne went back upstairs to play more video games, and Dylan was still forbidden access to the room. It wasn’t like he wanted to be in there anyway when Dwayne was over, but he was still moody about it. It was his room, too.  
  
Claire noticed how bad Dylan’s mood was. She didn’t like it when he was like that, so she decided to cheer him up. She somehow managed to persuade Dylan to play hide and seek with her, so now the two were playing while Jayden and Noah sat on the couch and relaxed in front of the TV for a bit.  
  
Noah sat with his legs folded to the side and was leaning into Jayden, whose arm was resting around Noah’s shoulders. It was nice and comfortable, and Noah liked how Jayden occasionally picked a bit at his feathers to put them into place.  
  
“I wonder what Nathan is up to…” Noah murmured quietly as they watched an episode of a TV show together that they had already seen once before. He leaned closer to Jayden and rested his head on his mate’s shoulder for a bit.  
  
Jayden pulled him close with his arm. “He’s probably having fun with the other students in his dorm. Maybe a party or something.” When he sensed Noah tense, he chuckled and added, “He’s fine. Nathan is responsible and can take care of himself. He won’t do anything reckless.”  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
They sat for a bit in silence after that, listening to the TV and to Dylan and Claire, who were still playing hide and seek. However, when they suddenly heard Claire crying, they both perked up and looked over to Claire, who entered the living room while sobbing.  
  
Dylan, who had been hiding in the dining room, quickly came to see what was wrong as well.  
  
“Hey, what’s wrong, princess?” Jayden asked, getting up to comfort her and find out what was going.  
  
Claire sobbed as she looked up at her dad to explain. “I-I went to Derek and Dylan’s room to look for Dylan, and Derek shouted at me…” She sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. Her eyes were red and teary as she looked up at Jayden, and her wings and tail were lowered as she cried.  
  
“Oh…” Jayden squatted down and pulled her into a hug.  
  
“I opened the door and he got angry. He s-said I should go away,” Claire sobbed, wrapping her arms around Jayden’s neck as she cried into his shoulder.  
  
Dylan let out a small growl, feeling angry at Derek for doing that to their sister.  
  
Noah was kind of shocked that Derek would do that to Claire. He was usually gentler with her and wouldn’t do anything to make her upset like that.  
  
“A-And they were drinking juice,” Claire added, her words muffled as she spoke into Jayden’s neck.  
  
Jayden frowned and gently pulled away to look at her. “Juice?”  
  
Claire nodded and wiped her teary eyes. “Yeah. But they wouldn’t let me have any. And the bottles looked strange… So big.”  
  
Jayden’s frown grew deeper with suspicion. He had the feeling that something was going on up in that room, but he wasn’t entirely sure what.  
  
Pulling away, Jayden patted Claire’s head lovingly before getting back to his feet. “I’ll go check it out, okay? You guys wait here.”  
  
“Okay.” Noah watched as Jayden went to investigate, and he pulled Claire closer to comfort her. She wasn’t crying much anymore, but was still a bit shocked by the way Derek had treated her.  
  
Jayden made his way upstairs and could hear Derek and Dwayne in the room as he approached it. They were laughing and yelling, and it sounded like Derek was beating Dwayne in their videogame. When he reached the door, Jayden waited for a couple of seconds to see if he could hear anything suspicious from inside, but it sounded normal to him. Then, he finally knocked on the door and opened it.  
  
When the door swung open, Derek and Dwayne hastily threw a blanket over in the corner of the room and turned around to face Jayden.  
  
Jayden’s eyes narrowed when he saw the blanket the boys had thrown in the corner for no reason. There seemed to be something under it that they didn’t want him to see.  
  
“Hey, dad. What’s up?” Derek asked, sounding almost _too_ innocent.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden greeted them, not liking how the two were smiling at him like little saints. It was just an indicator that something was definitely off. “Why did you yell at your sister?” he asked Derek, going straight to the point.  
  
A flicker of shame was visible on Derek’s face, but only for a second before he shrugged his shoulders casually. “’Cause she came into my room without knocking. She knows not to do that. And I didn’t yell at her _that_ bad.”  
  
Jayden quirked an eyebrow at him, and Derek immediately knew that his father wasn’t quite convinced.  
  
“Even if she came in here without knocking, it’s no excuse to make your sister cry. She came into the living room to us, completely heartbroken. You owe her an apology.”  
  
Derek groaned and rolled his eyes heavily. “Fine, I’ll go talk to her later. You know, this wouldn’t be an issue if you hadn’t confiscated my room keys in the first place.”  
  
“I had to take the keys to this room. You were locking Dylan out of the room whenever you pleased and it’s his room too,” Jayden argued, getting slightly fed up with Derek’s attitude. Now that the thing with Claire had been addressed, Jayden finally gestured at the blanket the boys had thrown earlier. “What’s that?”  
  
Derek and Dwayne both got a look of panic on their faces, but Derek was quite a good actor when it came to playing innocent, so his face quickly turned neutral again.  
  
“Nothing. Just a blanket,” Derek said, shrugging.  
  
Jayden wasn’t convinced, though. He walked over to pick up the blanket, but suddenly Derek got up and blocked his way.  
  
“Whoa! What are you doing, dad?” Derek asked, holding up his hands as he tried to keep Jayden back. “You can’t just go around messing with my stuff.”  
  
“Really?” Jayden crossed his arms in front of his chest as he stared Derek down. “Then tell me what it is.” He was using his dad-voice again, and Derek hated that.  
  
“It’s… nothing. I already told you.”  
  
“Well, if it’s ‘nothing’, then you don’t mind me looking, right?” Jayden said, flashing Derek a smirk because his son really sucked at covering up the loopholes in his creative excuses.  
  
Before Derek could act, Jayden bent down and removed the blanket, revealing two bottles of what was most definitely booze.  
  
Dwayne and Derek both gasped in horror when their little secret was revealed. They both knew they were so dead now.  
  
“You smuggled _booze_ into your room?!” Jayden yelled, turning his angry eyes to Derek as he spoke. His wings spread out in anger, and even though he had suspected something like this, he was still in disbelief over what Derek had done.  
  
There wasn’t much missing from the bottles, so it seemed like the two had only drank a little bit for now and were saving the rest for when everyone else had gone to bed.  
  
There was no shame in Derek’s face as his father yelled at him for it, instead he just glared back at him in defiance. “So what? I’m not a little kid anymore, and neither is Dwayne! We’re fourteen!”  
  
“Fourteen is far away from twenty-one, which is the minimum age to drink booze,” Jayden growled back and picked up the bottles to get rid of them.  
  
“As if _you_ didn’t drink before you were twenty-one!” Derek snapped back and tried to block his dad’s way so he couldn’t leave with the bottles. “And give them back, they’re mine!”  
  
“You’re not getting yourselves drunk in my house at your age,” Jayden snapped back. “If you wanted to try alcohol, then I might I have let you have some under my supervision, but I won’t tolerate it when you bring friends over and sit here in your room, getting yourselves drunk!”  
  
Derek was getting more and more angry, and so was Jayden. The tension in the room was suffocating, and Dwayne just sat quietly and observed them. He was feeling a bit scared of Jayden at the moment, so he didn’t dare to say a word.  
  
Upset, Derek spread his sharpened wings and growled at his dad. “You know what? You’re such an asshole! You _always_ let Nathan do whatever he wants, and I got scolded no matter what I do!”  
  
Derek immediately shut his mouth when his dad turned to face him once more and let his large, spread-out wings tower over him. There was no doubt that Jayden was furious with him right now, more furious than Derek could remember ever having seen him before, and it was kind of scary.  
  
“Downstairs. _Now,_ ” Jayden growled at him before looking over at Dwayne. “You too. I’ll call your parents and have them pick you up.”  
  
Dwayne swallowed nervously at the mention of his parents, and all he could do was nod as Jayden’s eyes drilled into him.  
  
Derek was not happy that Jayden was going to call Dwayne’s parents and ruin their sleepover. “I’m sick of you being so goddamn unfair to me!” he yelled at Jayden in anger before looking at Dwayne over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s beat it.”  
  
Dwayne nodded in agreement and ran with Derek out of the room.  
  
“Derek!” Jayden shouted angrily, but the two young alphas hastily ran down the stairs and made it towards the front door.  
  
Jayden put away the bottles he had still been holding and ran after them, but the boys were faster.  
  
“ _Derek!_ Come back here!” Jayden shouted as he stormed down the stairs after them.  
  
All the shouting and running on the stairs made Noah peek into the entrance hall to see what was going on, and he saw Derek and Dwayne grabbing their shoes before opening the front door and disappearing outside.  
  
Three seconds later, Jayden came storming down the stairs after them, but the boys had already grabbed their bikes from the driveway and hurried off down the street. They hadn’t even put on their shoes yet because they were in a hurry to get out of there.  
  
Jayden ran outside after them, but had to give up the chase when he reached the street. The boys were already gone, and all he could do was stare at their backs as they rode away as fast as they could down the street, not looking back.  
  
Jayden growled in frustration and felt so angry at Derek right now. He could not believe Derek had ran out on him like that.  
  
Noah was in shock when he realized that Derek had just taken off like that with Dwayne. He had no idea what had happened in the room upstairs, but Derek looked pretty angry as he had left, and so did Jayden right now. He slowly walked outside and approached Jayden, who was still trying to calm down from his anger and frustration.  
  
Dylan stayed in the house with Claire, and they were both clueless about what had happened.  
  
“What happened?” Noah asked as he approached Jayden carefully on the street.  
  
Jayden’s feathers were still sharpened and spread from anger, and he was pacing around on the asphalt in his bare feet. “Derek and Dwayne smuggled two bottles of booze into the room. They had already drank some of it when I discovered it.”  
  
Noah gasped in shock and almost couldn’t believe it.  
  
“I got angry, and so did Derek when I said I’d call Dwayne’s parents, and then they took off,” Jayden finished, still pacing around in frustration. _“Fuck!”_  
  
Noah hadn’t seen Jayden this upset for a long time. He knew it was because Jayden was growing increasingly frustrated with Derek lately, because the boy wasn’t listening and was starting to display more rebellious behavior. He was getting into fights at school, and the teachers said he didn’t do all of his homework and had even skipped a couple of classes to hang out with his friends instead. He had only been in high school for a month and the teachers were already saying he was causing trouble. Not to mention how he was behaving at home – always hiding in his room instead of being social, not helping out around the house, and bossing Dylan around instead of being there for his younger brother. It was starting to take a toll on both Noah and Jayden, but especially on Jayden, who saw it as his responsibility to raise Derek to be a good and proper alpha, but Derek’s behavior was the exact opposite.  
  
Slowly, Noah reached out to place a hand on Jayden’s arm to calm him down, but also to let him know that it wasn’t his fault.  
  
Jayden relaxed a bit at the touch of his mate. His wings lowered a little and his aggression faded. Taking a deep breath, he managed to calm down and clear his thoughts before glancing at Noah with a grateful smile. He gently touched his tail against Noah’s leg to say thank you, before saying, “I’ll go after them and see if I can find them somewhere.”  
  
Noah frowned in worry. “Are you sure? How about just letting them return when they have calmed down?”  
  
“I can’t wait for that. Dwayne is currently my responsibility and I don’t wanna have to tell his parents that something has happened to him. Besides, Derek was pretty upset when he left, so who knows what kind of trouble he’ll get himself and Dwayne into.”  
  
Noah nodded in understanding. “Okay. Bring them both back safely.”  
  
“Safely, yes, but un-scolded? Certainly not,” Jayden smirked.  
  
Noah laughed a bit at that and went with Jayden back to the house. Jayden went inside to get the car keys so he could drive off and go looking for the boys. He had some ideas of where to look, but he knew it might take a while.  
  
Dylan and Claire were both still unsure of what was going on, but Dylan knew that Derek must have done something pretty wrong and that he had ran away because of it.  
  
Noah and the kids waved goodbye to Jayden as the alpha finally took off in the car to go looking for Derek and Dwayne. Noah hoped that he would be able to find them both soon and that they wouldn’t get themselves into any trouble.

  
***

  
This wasn’t the first time that Derek had left the house in an upset mood, but it was the first time he had been so disrespectful about it and had dragged a friend with him. Jayden knew his son pretty well, and he had some ideas of where he might go. He doubted they’d go to Dwayne’s place, so Derek had probably gone to a park, a skating ground, or some random playground either near the parks or in a school. There were lots of places like that in the city, so Jayden knew it could take a while to find the boys.  
  
He drove around, searching park after park, and in the skating grounds and schools as well. After almost two hours of searching, he still hadn’t found the boys.  
  
It was already past 10pm now, and Jayden was starting to get a little concerned. It wasn’t safe to be out at this hour on a Friday evening, and he was getting worried about what kind of trouble Derek could be getting himself into.  
  
Noah had already called him three times because he was worried to death about Derek, and Jayden knew it was only a matter of time before his mate would call him again. He knew how worried Noah got about the kids when their whereabouts were unknown and when he didn’t know if they were safe or not. Jayden felt the same. But all he could do now was to keep looking and hoping he would find the boys soon.

  
***

  
After running away from the house on their bikes, Derek had taken Dwayne to a park far away from his home. He didn’t want to be anywhere near his dad at the moment, and this park had a lot of trees and hills to hide in, so he knew Jayden wouldn’t find him so easily if he came to look for him there.  
  
Dwayne could easily tell that Derek was in a bad mood, so he tried not to make it any worse by trying to talk about it. Instead, he joined Derek as he began blowing off steam on the obstacle course in the playground. It was one of the better obstacle courses in the city, with lots of good challenges for teenagers and not just little kids.  
  
The two of them spent most of the time on the obstacle course, challenging each other and just having fun. Derek was better than Dwayne at swinging himself across the rope net, where all his weight was carried by his arms as he swung across it. Dwayne kind of envied how good Derek was at these things. He had always been pretty good at physical challenges, but Dwayne was better at some of the things they did in school, such as writing essays and participating in group work. Derek wasn’t particularly good at that, or at least didn’t show much interest in it.  
  
The two of them had the place for themselves, as the park was more or less abandoned after nightfall. There were street lights inside the park, so Derek and Dwayne could keep having fun there despite the sun having set already.  
  
It wasn’t until around 10pm that someone else showed up.  
  
A group of older teenagers appeared and showed interest in the obstacle course as well. Neither Derek nor Dwayne knew them, so they likely went to a different school.  
  
The group consisted of three alphas – one demon and two angels – and one demon/human hybrid, as well as one human guy. They all seemed to be around 17-19 years old, so they were a little older and taller than Derek and Dwayne.  
  
“Hey, look at that,” said the alpha demon as they approached Derek and Dwayne. He smirked with confidence and malice and glanced at Derek and Dwayne and then at his friends. “Two losers have taken our favorite spot.”  
  
There was a mocking laughter among the crowd, and they seemed to form a circle around Derek and Dwayne.  
  
Dwayne backed off a bit, feeling that now was a good time to get out of there, but Derek wasn’t going to put up with the insult so easily.  
  
Derek glanced between the older boys and didn’t lower his wings like Dwayne did. Instead, he stood his ground and let out a snort at the alpha demon’s words. “I don’t know about that. I think this place prefers us ‘losers’ over you assholes.”  
  
The smile disappeared from the alpha demon’s face, and his buddies all gasped before going silent and glancing between their leader and Derek.  
  
The alpha demon growled at Derek’s challenge and walked right up to him, pushing him in the chest. “You’ve got some nerve for a kid. Are you plain stupid or don’t you know when to back off?” He sneered the words into Derek’s face before saying, “Get the fuck out of my playground or I’ll beat you crazy.”  
  
Still angry about this fight with his dad earlier, and not being able to ignore it when someone was challenging him or pissing him off, Derek gave the guy a harsh shove in the chest, sending him two steps backwards. “Why don’t you fucking try it, asshole?” he dared and spread out his wings, challenging the older alpha.  
  
“Derek!” Dwayne gasped, trying to pull his friend back by the arm. They were outnumbered, and even though they were both pretty good at martial arts, Dwayne was pretty sure these guys knew how to fight as well. “Let’s just go home, man.”  
  
“Yeah, listen to your buddy, you pussy,” the alpha demon mocked, laughing in Derek’s face.  
  
Just like that, Derek saw red. He grabbed the alpha demon by the shoulder and prepared to bring him down with one of the moves he had learned in his Jeet Kune Do classes, but unfortunately for Derek, the other guy seemed practiced with martials arts as well. The guy managed to block Derek’s move, taking him by surprise, and before Derek had any time to react, he was punched right in the face and hit the ground instantly.  
  
Dwayne gasped when he saw Derek go down. He had never seen anyone take down Derek that fast before and it completely shocked him.  
  
There was laughter among the guys as Derek went down, the alpha demon seemed pretty pleased with himself.  
  
In his shock and rage, Dwayne charged at the guy without thinking, but quickly stopped when he saw him getting ready to punch him down too. He backed off immediately, lowering his wings and tail to show submission towards the older alpha.  
  
Again, the others laughed, and Dwayne winced at himself for being such a pussy.  
  
“Oh, good. At least one of you knows when to back off,” the alpha demon said, sounding so pleased that Dwayne felt like throwing up.  
  
Derek was still on the ground, half unconscious from the punch and with his face covered in blood. He had hit the ground pretty hard with his head when he fell, and he found it difficult to stay conscious.  
  
Dwayne bit his lip and sucked it up as the alpha demon went over to him and patted his shoulder like one would pat their dog if it had behaved well. He wanted to swat the guy’s hand away, but he didn’t want to end up like Derek. So, he sucked it up and waited for the guys to occupy themselves with the obstacle course instead.  
  
Once he was free from the other boys’ attention, Dwayne quickly went over to Derek and tried to wake him up.  
  
Derek was groggy and confused as Dwayne gently slapped his cheek to wake him up. His nose hurt like a bitch and there was blood everywhere on his face. He spat out the blood that had gotten in his mouth, and let Dwayne help him to his feet.  
  
Once Derek was standing with the support of Dwayne, he growled and shouted, “I’ll fucking kill that asshole! Let me go!”  
  
“No!” Dwayne barked, so loudly and firmly that it made Derek close his mouth and stare at him in surprise. “Let’s just go.”  
  
Derek wanted to argue, but his head hurt so much that he ended up doing as Dwayne told him. With his arm over Dwayne’s shoulder, Derek walked away from the playground with his friend, trying to ignore the laughter they could hear behind them.  
  
Dwayne took them to a park bench far away from the playground, where the guys couldn’t see or hear them anymore. He carefully helped Derek sit down on the bench before sitting down next to him.  
  
“I’ll fucking kill that bastard,” Derek growled under his breath as he sat hunched over on the bench. The bleeding had stopped, but his nose and head hurt so much it almost brought tears to his eyes.  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Dwayne sighed. “But I think it’s more likely that he will kill _us._ ”  
  
Derek’s response as an annoyed grunt. “Yeah. And so will my dad…”  
  
“True,” Dwayne agreed. “I don’t know which one I prefer; the guy from earlier or your dad. Both are equally scary to me.”  
  
Derek snorted out a laugh at that, and Dwayne couldn’t help but laugh too.

  
***

  
After having searched a nearby skating ground without finding any trace of Derek and Dwayne, Jayden pulled his car into the parking lot of a park and went to search for them there. He shouted their names as he walked around, and it didn’t take long before he finally spotted two figures sitting on a bench under a lamp post. By their shape and clothing, he could tell it was Derek and Dwayne.  
  
Relief washed over Jayden when he found his son and Dwayne, and he quickly ran up to them. However, when he saw Derek sitting with his face smeared in blood, his blood ran cold.  
  
“Jesus Christ, what happened?” Jayden demanded, running over to check if Derek was okay.  
  
Derek let out an annoyed grunt as his dad kneeled in front of him and tried to bring up his hands to his face to inspect it. “Ow, don’t touch me! It hurts!”  
  
“What the hell did you do?!” Jayden demanded, his angry growl mixed with worry.  
  
Derek looked away as if in shame and muttered small curses under his breath. He was still upset about what had happened. Not just that he had gotten beat up and everything hurt, but also that his pride was completely and utterly torn to pieces. It was the worst feeling ever, and Derek wasn’t good at handling it when his pride got hurt. It was even worse than when he was physically hurt.  
  
When Derek didn’t answer, Dwayne spoke up to reply to Jayden’s question. “Uh, there was a group of guys, a little older than us, and one of the alphas knocked out Derek with a single punch. I… I think maybe his nose is broken.”  
  
Jayden moved his hand up to Derek’s chin, forcing his son to lift his head to look at him so he could inspect the damage. Derek tried to wrestle his face free from his grip, but Jayden wouldn’t let him. Eventually Derek gave in, and looked anywhere else but at Jayden as his dad studied his bloodied face and nose.  
  
After looking at his son for a few seconds, Jayden sighed and let go of him. “It’s most likely broken. Seems we have to go the hospital. Again.”  
  
The word ‘hospital’ made Derek groan loudly in protest. He hated hospitals and he definitely didn’t feel like going there.  
  
“But, dad—” Derek began, but closed his mouth shut when Jayden gave him a sharp look.  
  
“You two are in serious trouble, you know that?” Jayden said, glancing between the boys. Both of them avoided his gaze as he looked at them. “Not only will I not put up with the disrespect you showed me earlier, Derek, but I won’t put up with how you smuggled booze into my house behind my back – _or_ how you got yourself into yet another fight tonight. Look forward to some serious consequences once we get back home,” he growled. “And Dwayne can look forward to me telling his parents about how he joined you in your mischief.”  
  
Dwayne winced at that, while Derek seemed more annoyed than afraid about the consequences.  
  
“I’m guessing your bikes are around here somewhere and hopefully locked?” Jayden asked as he got to his feet again.  
  
Dwayne nodded. “Yeah, we locked them and hid them in the bushes.”  
  
“Good. Then they’ll survive staying here until tomorrow, while I drive Derek to the hospital and you back home, Dwayne.”  
  
Again, Dwayne nodded and looked quite uncomfortable at the thought of his parents hearing about this.  
  
Jayden helped Derek get to his feet, even though Derek tried to resist him because of his pride. They then walked over to the car and got in so they could go to the hospital. Jayden was a little worried that Derek could have a concussion besides his broken nose, so he took both boys to the hospital before driving Dwayne home afterwards.

  
***

  
Over an hour and a half passed as they first went to the hospital, where Derek was treated for his broken nose and slight concussion, and afterwards went to Dwayne’s house to drop him off. Jayden knew it would take a little while to explain to Dwayne’s parents what had happened, so he had taken them to the hospital first because he wanted to get Derek looked at as soon as possible. Dwayne didn’t mind joining them at the hospital, but he avoided looking Jayden in the eye all night.  
  
Dwayne’s father was apparently not home when they dropped him off, and his mother had gone to sleep, so she was woken up when Jayden rang the doorbell and Dwayne used his key to enter the house. She was furious at her son when Jayden told her what had happened. Even Derek got a little scared when she started yelling at Dwayne for having drunk booze at Jayden’s house without consulting Jayden or Noah about it. She was a rather big female demon and she had a loud voice, so hearing her yell at Dwayne like that was pretty scary.  
  
The conversation with Dwayne’s mom made Dwayne reveal that the alcohol came from his older cousin. At first Dwayne said it was him who had made his cousin get it for them, but when Jayden pressured him after sensing that he was lying, he admitted that it had been Derek’s idea and that Derek had given his cousin money for the bottles. Jayden was not pleased.  
  
After dropping off Dwayne, Jayden got back to the car where Derek was waiting. He had been too dizzy to join them and had said goodbye to his friend in the car. But even from the car he had heard Dwayne’s mother yelling at him, and he was pretty glad it wasn’t him she had yelled at like that.  
  
The atmosphere in the car was unpleasant as Jayden started the engine and drove off home. There was a tension in the air, and even though Derek rolled down the window a bit, it still felt suffocating.  
  
Jayden tabbed the steering wheel as he drove through the almost empty streets. Derek knew it meant that his father was contemplating what to say, and he was just waiting to get scolded by him.  
  
After a few moments of silence, Jayden finally spoke. “Do you know who those guys were? In the park.”  
  
“No. Never seen them before,” Derek muttered, sinking back into the car seat.  
  
Jayden let out a sound that sounded almost like frustration or disappointment. “You seriously need to know how to pick your fights. Five guys against two. What the hell where you thinking?”  
  
“The guy got on my nerves!”  
  
“Then let him!” Jayden barked. “There are always gonna be people who get on your nerves, and you can’t just go around picking fights with all of them! You could have gotten seriously hurt, as could Dwayne! If you don’t learn when to back off from a fight, you’re gonna get yourself killed – or others.”  
  
“I thought I could take him,” Derek muttered angrily. He didn’t like it when his dad told him what to do.  
  
“Well, obviously you couldn’t,” Jayden cut in before Derek could say anything else. “You’re lucky you got away with just a broken nose and a concussion.”  
  
Derek let out an annoyed snort and stared out the window. “Next time I see him, I’ll beat his ass,” he muttered quietly. He hadn’t meant for his dad to hear him, but he did.  
  
“If you even _try_ to do that, I will ground you for a year,” Jayden growled. “Which brings us back to the main reason why you ended up in that park in the first place and got beat up. Just so you know it, you’re grounded for a month. No staying over with friends and no video games, even at home.”  
  
_“What?!”_ Derek exclaimed, turning his head to look at his dad again. “Are you serious?!”  
  
“ _Yes,_ I’m serious,” Jayden barked, turning his head briefly to glare at Derek before looking back at the road again.  
  
Derek let out a loud, angry growl and crossed his arms across his chest in defiance as he sunk back even further into his seat. He was boiling with rage and his wings were trembling from it. He wanted to punch something, but if he smashed up the car his dad would kill him, so he had to restrain himself, even though it was hard.  
  
Jayden let Derek cool off for a few moments before he spoke again. “And you really worried your mom by running off like that.”  
  
Derek tensed slightly at the mention of his mom. Guilt washed over him, making his body relax a bit after being so tense.  
  
“He called me like a thousand times while I was out looking for you and Dwayne,” Jayden went on. “When you were in the hospital being checked by the doctor, I had to call him and tell him we were there. He started crying when I told him what had happened.” He glanced briefly at Derek to see his reaction and felt slightly relieved to see guilt in his son’s body language. “So make sure you give him a hug when we come home, okay?”  
  
Derek wasn’t really one for hugs, but he nodded quietly at Jayden’s words. Jayden was pleased with that.

  
***

  
After five more minutes in the car, they were finally home.  
  
The lights were on in the living room, so Jayden knew that Noah was still awake. He hadn’t counted on him being in bed yet anyway, seeing as he was worried to death about Derek.  
  
Jayden pulled the car up into the garage and they both got out and headed up to the house. Noah was waiting for them in the doorway, having already opened the door for them and was standing in the threshold. When he saw Derek, he quickly ran over to him and wrapped his arms around him in a hug.  
  
Derek tensed slightly when his mom hugged him so tightly all of sudden. He was taller than Noah now, so he could feel his mom breathing against his neck as he held him close. Slowly, Derek moved his arms up to return the hug, feeling a wave of comfort during the embrace.  
  
Dylan appeared in the doorway behind them, his silhouette visible as the light from the house was behind him. Derek had expected him to have gone to bed already, but it seemed he had stayed awake to keep Noah company while waiting for them to come home. Claire was nowhere to be seen, though. She had likely been put to bed already, as she wasn’t able to stay awake for as long as the others.  
  
After a few moments, Noah reluctantly pulled away from the hug to look at Derek. “I was so worried!” he said, almost scolding him.  
  
Derek opened his mouth to say a protest, but closed it shut when he saw the worried but angry frown on Noah’s forehead.  
  
“Don’t you do that again!” Noah said next, glaring at Derek with tears in his eyes.  
  
Derek hadn’t expected his mom to have been _that_ worried about him, and it both startled him and made him feel loved. He didn’t really know how to react to that and instead just nodded as he looked at him.  
  
Finally, Noah turned his attention to the small band-aids that was placed across Derek’s nose. He winced at the sight. “Oh my god, are you okay? Does it hurt much?”  
  
“Nah, I’m good,” Derek said, shrugging a bit.  
  
“Yeah, the doctors gave him painkillers, so he might be a bit high and stupid on those,” Jayden joked in the background.  
  
Derek glared over his shoulder at him for saying that, but Jayden just chuckled.  
  
“And he’s got a concussion,” Jayden added, more serious now.  
  
Noah winced in sympathy before they started heading back into the house.  
  
Dylan kept staring at Derek’s nose, feeling a bit sorry for him, but also felt like it was Derek’s own fault in the first place. He backed away from the door when the others came inside, and Jayden made sure to lock the door behind them.  
  
“Did Dwayne get punched too?” Dylan asked.  
  
Derek shook his head and tried not to let it show that it hurt a bit to do that. “Nah, I think he stuck his tail between his legs when those guys came up to him.”  
  
“Good. Then he’s wiser than you,” Jayden remarked next to him.  
  
Derek glared slightly at Jayden for that, but didn’t argue.  
  
Derek was still taking off his shoes when they heard a bedroom door open upstairs. Suddenly there were quick, tiny footsteps on the stairs, and seconds later Claire appeared. She was still in her nightgown, and when she saw Derek she ran over to him before either of them could say anything and wrapped her arms around her brother’s waist as she hugged him.  
  
“Derek!” Claire cried, burying her face in his shirt as she clung to him.  
  
Derek was a little startled by the hug, especially after how he had yelled at his sister earlier that day. For a moment he didn’t know what to do with himself before he finally hugged her back, though a bit awkwardly. “Hey, Frog girl,” he greeted her fondly.  
  
Nathan always called Claire ‘Pumpkin face’, while Derek had started calling her ‘Frog girl’ recently. He had given her that nickname after she had become obsessed with Disney princesses and had said that she wanted to find a frog she could kiss so it would transform into a prince for her. Derek had told her it was complete nonsense, but she still insisted and was convinced she would find the right frog someday – hence the nickname ‘Frog girl’.  
  
Claire giggled at the nickname and lifted her head so she could look up at her brother. “Am not a frog girl!”  
  
“Yeah, you are,” Derek argued, chuckling a bit.  
  
The others couldn’t help but laugh at it, especially when Claire just giggled again.  
  
Claire’s face suddenly turned sad, though. “Are you still mad at me? For going into your room without knocking… I’m sorry about that…”  
  
“Nah, I’m not mad anymore,” Derek told her. He felt a little awkward when his sister was hugging him like this while everyone was watching, but he didn’t have the heart push her away. “Just… Please knock in the future, okay?”  
  
Claire nodded. “I will!” she promised, flashing him that charming grin of hers before she started looking worried again. “You sure it don’t hurt?” She knew the band-aid on Derek’s face must mean it hurt, and she didn’t like seeing him with that.  
  
“Yeah, I’m sure. You know I can’t get hurt. I’m a bit like Superman,” Derek joked, gently wrestling himself free from his sister’s hug, which had lasted for way too long in his opinion.  
  
Claire was a little reluctant to let go of him, but eventually she let go when he poked her in the side to make her release him. She giggled loudly and squirmed before taking a step back.  
  
Jayden snorted a bit at Derek’s joke, but knew he had only said that to cheer Claire up and make her worry less about him.  
  
Claire was smiling brightly now that she knew that Derek was okay. Noah had tried not to worry her and hadn’t really told her much about what was going when Derek and Dwayne were missing, but she knew that _something_ had been wrong.  
  
“And you, you little troublemaker, have to go straight back to bed now,” Jayden spoke and smiled at Claire. He went over to her as if to chase her, which made her squeal loudly and hide behind Noah’s wings.  
  
“Noooo! Dun wanna! Wanna be with Derek and Dylan!” Claire protested, and laughed as she hid behind Noah. She grabbed onto his feathers as she used them as a shield, and Noah couldn’t help but chuckle at the interaction.  
  
“Well, Derek and Dylan have to go to sleep too, and so do you,” Noah told her, twisting around slightly so he could see her behind his wing.  
  
Claire pouted up at him, still not wanting to go.  
  
“Well, I’m pretty sure I can get upstairs and jump into my bed before you can,” Dylan challenged his sister, knowing this would definitely encourage her to go to bed.  
  
Claire gasped. “Nooo! You can’t!”  
  
When Dylan turned towards the stairs, Claire suddenly ran over in front of him and started running up the stairs in a hurry. Dylan was right in her heels, chasing her all the way up the stairs until they both headed into her rooms to see who got into bed first.  
  
“Night!” Claire quickly yelled at everyone as she hurried into her room, laughing and shrieking all the way.  
  
Jayden and Noah laughed and yelled ‘good night’ at her as well. Even Derek was laughing a bit, but not much because it made his head hurt more.  
  
Dylan only stayed in his room for a few seconds before going to Claire’s room to congratulate her on winning, and then helped his sister get settled into the bed. It only took a minute before she was ready to sleep again, and then Dylan went and said good night to the others from the stairs before going to bed too. He was dead tired from waiting for Jayden and Derek all night, so he went to sleep straight away. It was already past midnight now.  
  
“I can go to bed too, right? I’m fucking tired,” Derek groaned after Dylan had gone to bed.  
  
“Stop swearing,” Jayden told him with a stern look.  
  
“Sorry…” Derek muttered.  
  
“And yeah, you can go to sleep. Usually they say sleep is bad when you have a concussion, but that’s not entirely true. Besides, your concussion isn’t that bad, so I doubt you’ll fall unconscious. But if you aren’t up at 11am tomorrow, I’ll come check on you.”  
  
“Yeah, fine,” Derek yawned and made his way over to the stairs.  
  
“And remember that you’re grounded,” Jayden added, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “If I catch you playing video games or video chatting with your friends, you have to clean the whole house as punishment. Got it?”  
  
Derek let out a loud groan. “Yeah, I got it. Fucking slave trainer…” he muttered as he walked up the stairs.  
  
_“Language!”_ Jayden growled at him.  
  
Noah put a hand on Jayden’s arm to calm him down. He easily got upset when Derek was being disrespectful – which was fair enough, because Derek needed to show respect, but right now Derek needed rest more than a scolding.  
  
Once Derek had gone to bed, Jayden let out a deep sigh. “That kid will be the death of me…” He rubbed his temples from stress, but didn’t feel like it helped much.  
  
“I know. Just bear with him for tonight,” Noah said and rubbed Jayden’s arm for comfort. “I’m glad you found him, though.”  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Jayden sighed before turning to look at Noah. “I hope you didn’t doubt that I would.” His lips curled into a small smirk, at which Noah laughed softly.  
  
“No, I didn’t doubt you. But Derek is pretty good at hiding, so…”  
  
“Well, he can’t escape my hawk eyes,” Jayden joked, and placed his hands on Noah’s hips as he gently pulled him closer.  
  
Noah laughed at that, thinking Jayden was getting way too silly now, which was just an indication that he was tired. “Come on, sleepy-head. Let’s go to bed.”  
  
“Mmhm.” Jayden hummed in agreement and leaned in to nip Noah’s ear gently.  
  
Noah giggled softly and pulled away from him.  
  
They quickly locked up the house and turned off the lights before heading to bed.  
  
It had been a long day and they couldn’t wait to get some sleep and rest in each other’s embrace.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My mood writing is pretty good lately, so I don't think you have to wait that long for the next chapter :)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	63. Chapter 63

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Derek's old friend Steven will make a reappearance in this chapter. His first appearance was in chapter 50, for those of you who don't remember him.

**October 2070 (Noah is 44, Jayden is 46, Nathan is 20 (almost 21), Derek is 16, Dylan is 13, Claire is 8 years old).**  
  
It was just like any other morning before school. Everyone was fast asleep at 5:30am, blissfully unaware of what the time was and when their alarms would go off to wake them.  
  
However, there was one of them who was lying in the bed, wide awake that morning. Claire had been woken up by a distant rumble which kept coming closer and closer. When she started seeing lightning behind her curtains, she quickly jumped out of bed and ran towards her parents’ bedroom, seeking comfort from the scary weather.  
  
Noah and Jayden were both fast asleep when Claire came into their bedroom. They were both too tired to wake up from the rumbling that was getting closer and closer every minute, but they woke up when they felt a weight climb onto the bed and when Claire dropped down to lie between them.  
  
“Jesus,” Jayden exclaimed, startled by Claire suddenly crawling into bed with them. He felt pretty glad that he was wearing his boxers and a t-shirt, and that Noah was wearing a nightgown. After their sexy activities last night, they had decided to get dressed again just in case something like this should happen.  
  
“Daddy, I’m scared,” Claire whined, curling into a ball and leaning into Jayden for comfort.  
  
Noah was also woken by the noise and how Claire’s tail had accidentally slapped his arm as she lay down between them. His mind was still really groggy though, and he turned around to see what was going on as Jayden wrapped his arms around Claire and pulled her closer.  
  
“Shh, it’s okay, princess,” Jayden soothed their daughter, pressing soft kisses to her head. “It’s just thunder.”  
  
“I dun like it,” Claire murmured.  
  
Noah smiled a bit as he looked at them in the dark. He knew that Claire was afraid of thunder, but he also knew that it was just an excuse for her to cuddle with her parents in bed and get spoiled.  
  
There was another rumble, this time closer and louder, and Claire flinched and cuddled closer against Jayden.  
  
Jayden laughed softly at his daughter. “Aren’t you a bit too old for this?”  
  
“No, I’m only eight,” Claire protested.  
  
“’Only eight’?” Jayden repeated, snorting softly. “Last night you said you were ‘already eight’ when you argued for why you should be allowed to stay up longer at night.”  
  
They couldn’t see Claire, but they knew she was definitely wearing her famous pout at the moment.  
  
Noah stretched to wake up his muscles before lazily turning to see what the time was. His alarm clock was on the nightstand next to the bed, and its numbers were illuminated by red lights. He let out a long groan when he saw it was 5:30am.  
  
“It’s already 5:30…”  
  
“Really?” Jayden asked, trying to look at Noah in the dark room. “Only 45 minutes until the alarm goes off…”  
  
Again, Noah groaned loudly, and dropped onto his back on the bed. He hated being woken up less than two hours before the alarm was supposed to go off. He always set the alarm for 6:15am. Usually it took him fifteen minutes of snoozing before he was ready to get up, so at 6:30 he’d be up and prepare breakfast for the kids before waking them up and preparing them for the bus at 7:19.  
  
Jayden was lucky; he could keep sleeping after that, as his work didn’t start before 10:30am at the earliest, depending on his shifts.  
  
“But there’s thunder,” Claire argued, feeling a little guilty that she had woken up her parents that early. “I just wanted to lie in your bed…”  
  
“That’s okay,” Jayden told her, hugging her closer. “You think you can sleep for another hour or so? I’ll protect you from the thunder.”  
  
Claire giggled as Jayden tickled her a bit, and she nodded before settling down to sleep for a bit more.  
  
“And no kicking,” Noah warned her softly, knowing how active Claire’s legs could get when she tried to fall asleep.  
  
“I’ll try,” she giggled in response.  
  
Noah settled down to get some sleep as well, but sometimes it was difficult for him to fall back asleep when he had been woken up like that. He turned onto his side and moved up to hug Claire from behind so that she was squeezed between him and Jayden, but not too tightly.  
  
Having both of her parents comfort and protect her from the bad weather made Claire feel better, and she smiled as she closed her eyes to sleep again.  
  
Jayden also went back to sleep, and even Noah managed to fall back asleep before the alarm went off 45 minutes later.

  
***

  
The frightening thunderstorm went away an hour later, and the clouds started disappearing to reveal a bright sun behind them.  
  
The family proceeded with their daily morning routines, and the kids got on the school bus on schedule.  
  
Claire and Dylan were on the same bus to school, while Derek took a different bus to go to his high school.  
  
Although Jayden and Noah tried the best they could to make Derek behave, he was still causing a lot of trouble, especially at school. He was part of a group of alphas who had a reputation around the school as being troublemakers and sometimes even bullies. Mostly it was Steven – the head of the group – who was the bully, along with two of the other alphas. Derek and Dwayne did bully others occasionally, but never as maliciously as Steven sometimes did.  
  
Neither Jayden nor Noah had been happy to hear that Derek’s old, dreaded friend from elementary school Steven had joined Derek’s class in high school in the new school year. Steven had always had a bad influence on Derek, but he had switched schools in the third grade due to bad behavior. They remembered him and his sexist older brother well, and unfortunately Steven was becoming more and more like his older brother.  
  
Despite his parents not approving, Derek still liked Steven and hung out with him a lot. He lied to parents about how much time he actually spent with him, because he knew they didn’t approve. But what they didn’t know couldn’t hurt them, he thought.  
  
Derek had classes from 8am to 3:30pm that day and he wasn’t particularly thrilled about it. He easily lost his concentration during the day and often did other things during classes. Dwayne and Steven had the same problem, which was why they all decided to skip the class that came after their lunch break.  
  
The three of them, and two other alphas from their group – alpha demon Ricky and alpha angel Miguel – went around to the back of the school to hang out on the benches there. The weather was a little chilly, but it was sunny and nice, so they sat down on one of the picnic benches and played a multiplayer game on their phones with each other.  
  
“So, Derek,” Steven began while they were all playing on their phones together. He was standing up in front of the picnic bench that Derek was sitting on top of, while Dwayne and the others were sitting on the seats of the bench. “When are you gonna get laid again? Didn’t you and Alisha have some nice fun at the party last weekend?” He gave Derek a knowing smirk of approval.  
  
Derek glanced up from the game to look at Steven before looking back on his phone again. “I don’t know. Maybe at the next party? She did say I’d see her again next time Thomas throws a party.”  
  
Derek had attended a party last weekend, though he had told his parents he was just going to stay over at Dwayne’s, but they had both snuck out during the night to go to a classmate’s party. It had been crowded and noisy at the party, and there had been some alcohol as well, which some of them had smuggled in. Derek had met a demon girl named Alisha there, who was about his age. Neither of them had had much to drink before they went upstairs and had sex against the wall in the storage closet. Of course, Derek’s friends had celebrated it later when they found out that he had popped his cherry that night, and they were still talking about it.  
  
Now Dwayne was the only one in the group who was still a virgin, but Derek had the feeling he wouldn’t be a virgin for long – there had been a couple of girls at the party who had shown interest in Dwayne as well.  
  
“Ohh, you horny dog, you!” Ricky laughed at Derek’s words.  
  
“Does she have a good pussy?” Miguel asked, grinning along with the other guys as they kept celebrating the loss of Derek’s virginity.  
  
Derek thought about it for a second before answering, “You know, it’s actually the best I’ve had.”  
  
The others burst out laughing at that, and Derek grinned before paying attention to the game again.  
  
“And I really hope Mrs. Clearwater doesn’t find us,” Dwayne murmured, wincing at the thought alone.  
  
“If she does, I won’t move unless she drags me away personally,” Steven spoke, snorting a bit.  
  
Miguel laughed. “Yeah, I doubt she can do that. Those humans haven’t got much strength.”  
  
Steven hummed in agreement while playing on his phone. “Yeah. _And_ she’s a woman. Women and subs are way too weak to make us alphas do anything.”  
  
Miguel and Ricky nodded in agreement, while Derek mostly only listened. He was too busy trying to beat Steven in the game.  
  
“God damn it!” Steven suddenly exclaimed when his lack of concentration caused Derek to beat him. He playfully punched Derek on the arm. “Why do you _always_ beat me at this?!”  
  
Derek laughed. “’Cause you’re too busy not paying attention.”  
  
Steven just grumbled, knowing he was right.  
  
They boys were about to start another game when they suddenly heard someone chatting nearby. It came from around the corner of the building, and they all looked over to see who it was. If it was a teacher, they would be in big trouble.  
  
They were relieved to see it was just a small group of nerds – one human girl, one angel girl, and one submissive angel. They probably had a free period since they walked around during classes.  
  
The ‘nerds’ hadn’t noticed the boys yet, and were giggling and chatting as they walked around the corner. They were what most students at the school would call ‘outcasts’; not particularly popular, getting good grades, and always attending classes. They were just the type of students to get picked on by other students.  
  
Steven shared a malicious smile with his friends before going over block the girls’ path. “Oh, look at that!” he exclaimed. He loved how the girls’ and the sub’s faces lost color when they spotted him. “A bunch of nerds walking straight into our net!”  
  
Miguel and Ricky laughed and went to join Steven.  
  
Derek hesitated a bit before jumping down from the bench and going to join them with Dwayne. He saw the submissive angel trying to walk around Steven to get away, but Derek quickly went over and blocked his path before he could escape.  
  
“Nuh-uh, not today,” Derek smirked at the sub, not letting him get past them.  
  
The submissive had a very skinny build, and his wings were snowy white with a few light grey feathers in them. They looked pretty and really soft. The submissive mostly kept his head down, and his black hair was long enough to shield his eyes as he looked down and away from Derek. He clutched his laptop close to his chest and looked a little scared, but there was some defiance in him, Derek could tell.  
  
The other boys laughed, while the girls glared at them in utter annoyance.  
  
“Move it, you dickheads,” said the angel girl as she glared at them.  
  
“You don’t get to tell us what to do,” Steven said. His voice was calm, but there was venom in it as well. The girls and the sub didn’t doubt that he despised nerds like them. “How about you all just drop to your knees and do what you were born to do? Then we might let you pass.”  
  
All of them knew exactly what he meant, and the girls got a disgusted and very uncomfortable look on their faces. The sub looked up a bit to send Steven a dark scowl, but Steven wasn’t bothered.  
  
“As if,” the human girl snorted, trying to push past the boys, but Miguel pushed her back and into place.  
  
The situation got tenser, and the boys were all riled up from being in control – even Derek. Some part of Derek knew it was wrong to bully them like this, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He wanted to be part of the group and stay on good terms with Steven, so he joined and let himself enjoy the feeling of being in control of others. It wasn’t like they were harassing them daily or anything, he thought to his own defense.  
  
Once again, the girls and the sub tried to get past them, but were pushed back by the boys, who seemed to have way too much fun pushing them around. When they tried to turn around and walk back the way they came from, Steven grabbed onto the angel girl’s arm. She fought back and smacked him on the arm and shoulder, but he just laughed and grabbed both of her arms, making her helpless.  
  
“Hey! Let her go!” the submissive shouted, putting his laptop on the ground and going over to help his friend, but then Derek stepped forward and grabbed his wrists, immobilizing him. The sub hissed at him and his body tensed up as Derek touched him, but Derek didn’t let go.  
  
“Oh, come on!” Steven laughed when the girls kept resisting. “You know you like it. Why don’t you give me a little kiss, sweetheart?” He was clearly mocking them for their helplessness, and he even pouted his mouth for a kiss just to bully them further.  
  
“Fucking jerk!” the angel girl snarled at him before wrestling herself free.  
  
Steven let her go with a laugh, having already had his fun for now.  
  
Derek decided to let go of the submissive as well, who flinched away from him the moment he let go of his wrists. The boy glared sharply at him, though still with his head somewhat down. His wings were folded tightly against his body, showing forced submission, and the way they trembled showed that he was both angry and frightened. The submissive quickly got his laptop and went back over to his friends, and they all glared at the boys before getting out of there in a hurry.  
  
Once the girls and the sub were gone, Steven burst out laughing. “Fuck yeah, that was fun!”  
  
Derek laughed along with the others and found that he agreed quite a lot with that.  
  
After the others turned to walk back to the benches, Derek stood still for a moment and glanced down at his hands. He had never really touched a submissive before – besides from the ones in his family – and he was a little surprised by how small and frail those wrists seemed in his hands.  
  
For a brief moment, Derek felt a strong instinct in his body; the instinct of wanting to protect and be gentle with those weaker than himself, but he shook the thought away as fast as it came, as if it was never there. He then went back to his friends to celebrate how they had just shown those girls and the sub ‘their rightful places’.

  
***

  
After skipping the class after the lunch break, the boys decided they better head to their final classes for the day to avoid too much trouble with the teachers and the headmaster.  
  
Derek had physics in his last period, which he absolutely hated. The teacher was some older human guy, and he was most the boring teacher ever, Derek thought. He spent most of the class trying not to fall asleep, and Dwayne had to poke him in the side to wake him up before the teacher noticed.  
  
After classes, the group was heading down the school corridors together. Derek and Dwayne had Jeet Kune Do classes to attend tonight from 7-9pm, but they planned to head to the mall with Steven and the others before that to get something to eat and to hang out.  
  
However, fate would have it that they ran into the submissive and the two girls from earlier on their way through the corridor. The three ‘nerds’ had just left a classroom together, and Steven stopped when he spotted them.  
  
“Oh, look who it is,” Steven smirked, watching them with Derek and the others.  
  
Ricky laughed in victory. “Oh, today is our lucky day!”  
  
Derek felt a moral conflict inside him. It burned in his chest and made his knees feel a bit week, but he quickly decided to turn the deaf ear to his conscience and join his friends instead.  
  
Steven walked up the girls and the submissive, who were still completely oblivious to their presence as they had their backs to them.  
  
“Oh, will you look at that,” Steven said loudly right behind the girls and the sub.  
  
The three of them flinched and turned around to see who it was, and Derek could tell they were definitely not pleased to see Steven and the others.  
  
“You’ve come back for more?” Steven asked, lewdly grabbing at his crotch as he smirked at them.  
  
Ricky and Miguel burst out laughing in the background. Derek and Dwayne laughed as well, though not as loudly.  
  
“You’re fucking disgusting, you know that?” the human girl said, giving Steven a repulsed sneer.  
  
“You’ll be just as disgusting when I’m done with you, baby,” came Steven’s lewd reply.  
  
The girls and sub all glared at them before turning to walk away, but then Steven reached out and grabbed one of the two bags that the submissive was carrying. One was a laptop bag, but this bag was different and kind of old-fashioned.  
  
“Hey!” the submissive exclaimed, reaching for his bag, but Steven was way taller than him, so he couldn’t reach it.  
  
Steven smirked with arrogance before throwing the bag away. It landed a few feet away with a thud.  
  
The corridor was pretty much empty now, as most students had gone home, and the few people who did pass by didn’t do anything about the situation. No one wanted any trouble with a group of alphas who had picked their targets.  
  
The submissive quickly went over to get his bag, but Derek picked it up from the floor before he had the chance. The submissive lifted his head to look at Derek, who was now holding up the bag just like Steven had.  
  
“What? You want this?” Derek asked, raising the bag so high that the sub had absolutely no chance of reaching it.  
  
“Give it back,” the submissive said, standing up straight and looking right at Derek. There was an angry frown on his feminine face, and his messy dark hair almost reached his eyes.  
  
“Nah,” Derek said with a devilish grin. He then tossed the bag over to Dwayne, who grinned and threw it over to Miguel.  
  
The submissive looked on as his bag was tossed between the bullies, and it looked like he didn’t know what to do with himself. He bit his lip nervously, but Derek was having too much fun to notice how distraught the submissive was.  
  
“Fucking cut it out!” the angel girl yelled at them, but it didn’t stop them.  
  
When the bag was tossed back to Derek, he got a little curious about the contents of the bag. It didn’t contain the sub’s laptop, because that was in another bag that he was holding, so what was inside? It felt strangely light, like it had almost no contents.  
  
“Let’s see what’s inside,” Derek announced with a mean smirk, already opening the zipper on the bag.  
  
“No!” the submissive protested, but then Derek turned the bag upside-down, causing the contents to fall out.  
  
Lots of loose papers fell out and landed on the floor, along with a paper folder, various pencils, and a pencil case.  
  
The boys were stunned to see something so old-fashioned in the bag, as everyone these days used computers and not paper.  
  
“What the hell is that?” Steven asked with a mocking laugh.  
  
As Derek glanced down at the papers, he saw that they were in fact drawings. Really good ones. Beautiful pencil sketches of people and nature, and for a moment he was pretty stunned by the submissive’s talent.  
  
“Give it back!” the submissive growled, grabbing his bag from Derek while Derek was spacing out. He frantically began gathering his drawings and putting them back into the bag, glaring up towards Derek every now and then.  
  
The girls had gasped in horror when they saw what happened, and they didn’t hesitate to go over and help their friend.  
  
“Are you okay, Milan? I hope your drawings aren’t damaged,” the human said as she kneeled down beside him to help him pick up the drawings and pencils.  
  
“Yeah, I think they’re fine,” the submissive – who was apparently named Milan – said.  
  
Steven, Ricky, Miguel, and Dwayne were all laughing, while Derek just stared as he watched the girls help Milan pick up the mess.  
  
“God, what a nerd,” Ricky laughed.  
  
“But I bet he can draw better cocks than you can,” Miguel told Ricky in response, making them all burst out laughing again.  
  
The angel girl lifted her head to glare at them. “Wow, you guys are fucking mature.”  
  
Again, Steven placed his hand over his crotch with a smirk. “Indeed we are.”  
  
There was laughter again, and the girls groaned at Steven’s lame sexual reference.  
  
Even Derek couldn’t help but laugh loudly at that, and the submissive glared at him as he got to his feet and turned to face him.  
  
Milan seemed really upset. His lip was trembling with anger and humiliation, and right now all his attention was directed at Derek.  
  
“What?” Derek asked when he saw how the sub was glaring at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t piss on your drawings. It was all just for good fun.”  
  
Derek’s words, his attitude, and his complete disregard for the situation that Milan and his two friends were in made something snap inside the submissive.  
  
The words had only just left Derek’s mouth before he was slapped really hard across the cheek by Milan.  
  
The slap came as a complete surprise to Derek. He was in shock for a second while the others gasped in horror and surprise.  
  
There was complete silence in the corridor for the next few seconds, as no one could believe what they had just seen.  
  
When Derek’s mind finally starting working again, he immediately turned to growl at the submissive and raise his sharpened wings in aggression. He was about to shout the meanest words at him for daring to do such a thing to an alpha like himself, but he stopped when he looked right into the boy’s eyes. He had never seen such bright green eyes in his life before, nor had he really noticed how pretty the submissive actually was. He was stunned for second.  
  
There were tears in the corner of Milan’s eyes as he glared at Derek with so much spite that it shook Derek to the core and made him feel so guilty he couldn’t move.  
  
“You’re a real fucking asshole, you know that?!” Milan told him next, still standing right in front of him and with his arm half raised after having delivered the slap.  
  
Steven and the other alphas were waiting for Derek to do something, but instead Derek’s mouth fell shut as he had no idea what to say to that.  
  
The girls eyed Derek warily as they slowly went over to pull Milan away, like he was a predator who was going to eat them if they got any closer.  
  
“Come on, let’s go, Milan…” the angel girl said. She slowly pulled Milan away from Derek, eyeing the alpha with caution.  
  
Milan kept glaring at Derek for another few seconds before finally turning and walking away with his friends.  
  
The girls began running down the corridor, as if afraid that Derek would come after Milan and beat him up, and soon they were out of sight.  
  
Derek was still standing in the corridor like an idiot, unable to react or move.  
  
Steven and the others shared a look before laughing.  
  
“What the hell was that, man?” Steven laughed, coming over to Derek. “Did that sub slap your brains out?”  
  
“Yeah, you just let him get away with it!” Miguel exclaimed.  
  
“Are you okay, Derek?” Dwayne asked, eyeing Derek with genuine worry. He had never seen Derek ignore it when someone treated him like that, submissive or not.  
  
Derek finally snapped out of it and blinked a few times before looking at his friends. “Uh… Yeah, I’m okay. Just… pretty startled.”  
  
Ricky burst out laughing. “You don’t say.”  
  
“Why the hell didn’t you show that little whore his place?” Steven asked, his voice almost demanding now.  
  
“I don’t know,” Derek said honestly, shrugging a bit.  
  
Ricky and Miguel just laughed, while Steven didn’t look very satisfied with that answer, but surprisingly he let the matter drop.  
  
Dwayne still eyed Derek like he was worried he had gotten sick or something, but he didn’t say anything.  
  
Derek himself wasn’t entirely sure why he had frozen like that either, and he didn’t want to think about it. He tried to push it off his mind and get back to his daily life, but it kept bothering him in the back of his mind all the way out of school as they headed to the mall to grab something eat.

  
***

  
Derek wasn’t the only one who was making his way to the mall that day – Dylan was also at the mall with his best friend Benjamin. They two were going to the movies together to see a new popular science fiction movie, but before that they were going to grab something to eat. It was the same mall that Jayden worked at, but they picked another restaurant because they preferred to have a different menu today.  
  
After eating, they had another 45 minutes before their movie began, so Dylan and Benjamin had some time to kill. They went to small shop and bought some cotton candy which they ate as they walked around.  
  
Both Dylan and Benjamin had grown a lot in the past couple of years. Dylan was now just as tall as Noah, which felt really odd to him and for Noah. His voice was getting more screechy because he was a teenager now, and he was also gaining a bit more muscle, though he still looked a little scrawnier than Derek had when he was his age.  
  
Even though Dylan had just turned 13 years old last month, his feathers had yet to start molting. It was something Derek was making fun of a lot, which annoyed Dylan to no end. Most alphas got their alpha feathers when they were 11-13 years old, so Dylan’s feathers were due to start molting any time now. He wasn’t as impatient for it to happen as Derek had been, but he still wanted it over with – mostly just so he didn’t have to listen to Derek’s endless comments about it.  
  
“What are you doing this weekend?” Benjamin asked his friend as they walked around.  
  
Dylan took a bite from his cotton candy before answering. “Gonna stay at home. Nathan’s coming over.”  
  
“Ohh, nice.”  
  
“And he’s gonna bring over his new girlfriend,” Dylan added, chewing his cotton candy.  
  
“Oh right, I remember you mentioning that he’s got a girlfriend now,” Benjamin said. “What is she?”  
  
Dylan knew he was asking about what species she was. “She’s a demon/human hybrid. I think they’ve been dating for like two months now, so my parents think it’s about time that he introduces her to us. I’m kinda excited to see what she’s like.”  
  
“Yeah. I wonder if she’s hot,” Benjamin joked, laughing.  
  
Dylan almost choked on his cotton candy as he laughed, and he had to step aside when he almost walked into a group of girls passing by. There were so many people in the mall that it was difficult not to walk into someone occasionally. “Yeah, I wonder too,” he laughed.  
  
They rounded a corner near an area with lots of restaurants, not far from where Jayden worked, and almost bumped right into Derek and his friends.  
  
Dylan stopped in his tracks when he saw his big brother, and Derek stopped as well, looking a little surprised to see him.  
  
“Hey,” Dylan greeted him awkwardly.  
  
“Oh. Hey, squirt,” Derek greeted him back. He frowned as he looked at Dylan’s and Benjamin’s cotton candy. “Aren’t you guys getting too old for that?”  
  
Dylan glared at Derek for making fun of it, especially as his friends laughed behind him. “It’s food. You don’t get too old for food.”  
  
“Not for astronaut popsicles either?” Derek mocked, laughing with his friends.  
  
“I haven’t had one of those since I was ten,” Dylan argued, insulted. “And stop being such an ass all the time.”  
  
“Aww, ain’t your brother cute,” Miguel teased, obviously referring to the conversation just now but also to Dylan’s ‘baby feathers’. The others laughed out loud at that.  
  
Dylan glared at the guys, while Benjamin looked a little uncomfortable in the presence of all those alphas. Benjamin was a beta angel, so being around so many older alphas was kind of intimidating.  
  
“What happened to your cheek?” Dylan asked when he noticed Derek’s left cheek was all red.  
  
Derek’s face flushed, and his friends all burst out laughing behind him. He had to bite his cheek to control his annoyance. He hated it when Dylan blurted out random questions just like that. “Nothing. Just some guy at school.”  
  
Derek’s friends laughed and snickered even harder at that, and Derek sent them a dark glare for it. He was relieved they didn’t tell his little brother that it was actually a submissive who had caused that bruise on his cheek. That would only hurt his pride even more. Strangely, he didn’t feel angry as he thought about the submissive who had done it. Instead there was an odd feeling in his chest when he thought about how Milan’s face had looked in that moment, but he pushed the image away as soon as it popped up in his mind.  
  
“Let’s move. I’m starving,” Steven said, slapping Derek’s shoulder lightly to make him end the conversation.  
  
Derek glared briefly at Steven, not liking it when he bossed him around with that attitude. He was about to say bye to Dylan when his little brother spoke.  
  
“Isn’t that Steven?” Dylan asked, frowning as he looked at the alpha demon next to Derek.  
  
“Yeah, well spotted,” Derek said dryly, trying to act as cool as possible. He had almost panicked when Dylan recognized Steven, because he knew his little brother would go tell their parents that he was hanging out with Steven again, and then they would once again tell Derek to not hang out with him. He didn’t want his parents to interfere with his life and who he was friends with.  
  
Steven didn’t like the way Dylan was staring at him with skepticism, but he tried to act nicely when Derek was around. “Nice to see you too, squirt,” he told Dylan. “You’ve gotten bigger since last time I saw you.”  
  
“Yeah, so have you,” Dylan murmured. He kept staring at them with that skeptical stare of his, and Derek didn’t like it one bit.  
  
“Whatever,” Derek said, breaking the awkward silence. “See you later,” he told Derek before walking away with his friends.  
  
“Yeah, see you,” Dylan replied, watching his brother closely as Derek walked past him and over to a nearby restaurant to get burgers with his friends. He watched as Derek laughed at some sexist joke Steven made about a girl who walked by with a short dress on, and Dylan grimaced in disapproval.  
  
“What was what about?” Benjamin asked once they were gone.  
  
Dylan turned to look at him. “Oh. That was Steven… Some old friend of Derek’s. I’ve never liked him. He’s always been a bully and a pervert. He’s bad news.”  
  
“Oh.” Benjamin glanced over his shoulder towards the restaurant where Derek and his friend were, looking at them as they stood in the line inside. “Why’s Derek friends with him then?”  
  
“Dunno. Guess it makes him feel cool.” Dylan shrugged and began eating from his cotton candy again.  
  
Benjamin decided not to ask more about it and joined Dylan as they walked around some more.  
  
Dylan almost didn’t believe it when they rounded the next corner and met another familiar face.  
  
Just around the corner was Laura with her two little daughters, Anna and Madison, who were now five and three years old.  
  
Again, Dylan stopped in his tracks, this time staring at his aunt in disbelief.  
  
Laura noticed him at almost the same time as Dylan noticed her, and her face lit up when she saw him. “Ohh, look at that! One of my favorite nephews!” she grinned, coming over to them. “Hey, Dylan. What’s up?”  
  
“Hi, Aunt Laura,” Dylan greeted her, still blinking in surprise. He was aware that Benjamin was standing next to him, confused and bewildered about all the people they ran into that Dylan just happened to know, but he ignored him for now.  
  
“Wow, you’ve gotten tall,” Laura suddenly said, eyeing him like she couldn’t believe her own eyes. “When did you get almost as tall as me? And you must be as tall as Noah now!”  
  
Dylan chuckled at her words and shifted a bit. “I don’t know. A few weeks ago? Maybe months.” He hadn’t seen Laura for two or three months, so he had indeed probably grown a bit since then.  
  
Anna and Madison were standing next to Laura, staring up at their cousin in amazement.  
  
“Yeah, Dylan got bigger!” Anna exclaimed, grinning as she stared at him in fascination.  
  
Dylan chuckled at her words and felt a little sheepish. “Where’s Nicholas?” he asked when he noticed that Laura’s mate wasn’t around.  
  
“He’s at home,” Laura explained. “He got himself a cold, so he’s on the couch all day. I took the girls to the mall to get them new clothes – and to drop by and see my brother at the restaurant, ‘cause he apparently doesn’t know how to use his phone to call me.”  
  
Dylan laughed at Laura’s words and how insulted she looked. “That’s funny; he keeps saying that you never call him either.”  
  
Laura opened her mouth to argue, but shut it again when she realized he was probably right. “Well, I guess we both need to learn, then,” she laughed.  
  
Dylan chucked at that, as did Laura’s daughters.  
  
“Anyway, I’ll go see him now. We agreed to meet during his 15-mintute break, which is in three minutes,” Laura said as she glanced at her watch. “Wanna join me?”  
  
“Nah, I see my dad pretty much every day,” Dylan told her. “Besides, I’m going to the movies with Benjamin.” He gestured at his friend next to him.  
  
“Oh, that’s nice,” Laura smiled, looking between the two of them. “Well, have fun then! I’ll let Jayden know that I ran into you and that you’re ruining your teeth with that stuff.” She pointed at the cotton candy, at which Dylan just laughed.  
  
“Okay. Bye,” Dylan chuckled, waving at the girls as he walked away with Benjamin.  
  
“Bye bye, Dylan!” the girls said in unison, waving back at him. Laura waved at him as well until he was out of sight.  
  
When they had put some distance between Laura and themselves, Benjamin turned to look at Dylan and chuckled. “Wow. Do you always run into that many people you know when you’re out? I think last time we went here together, we met one of your cousins in one of the corridors.”  
  
“Well, my family is pretty big, so…”  
  
“Yeah, no shit. How do you even remember all their names? And who’s who?”  
  
“Actually, I _do_ forget it a bit sometimes,” Dylan admitted, feeling a little ashamed of that. “At least the ones that I don’t see very often, like my cousins’ children for example. Sometimes I forget their names and who is who…”  
  
Benjamin seemed to find that very amusing as he laughed. “I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t be able to remember all that either.”  
  
Dylan chuckled absently at that.  
  
They finished their cotton candy and headed to the cinema together, looking forward to watching the movie and stuffing themselves with more candy.

  
***

  
On the following Saturday, Nathan would be coming home to introduce his girlfriend Joanne. Everyone was excited to meet her, but especially Claire was really impatient for them to come. She had been restless all morning, wanting to know who her big brother’s girlfriend was.  
  
Noah was also really excited to meet Nathan’s girlfriend, but also for his son to come home again. After Nathan had started college, he had been pretty good at coming home to visit them for the first year or so, but after that he had begun showing up less often. Jayden had told Noah that it was just a sign that Nathan was more grown up now and had his own life, and that was a good thing, but it still felt hard not to see his son that often.  
  
It was almost noon and Nathan would be showing up any minute now.  
  
Jayden was pretty relaxed about it, as he had more patience than most of the others in the house. But when he came out of the shower and noticed that Noah wasn’t to be found anywhere downstairs, he headed upstairs to find him, wondering what he was up to. He found his mate in their bedroom, standing over by the dresser and looking through his clothes.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden spoke as he entered the room and closed the door behind him when he saw that Noah was just wearing his panties. “What was wrong with the clothes you wore earlier? Why are you changing?”  
  
Noah kept looking through his clothes, trying to find something to wear, while Jayden walked over to him and ran a gentle hand through his feathers. Noah shivered at the pleasant touch, but didn’t take his eyes away from the dresser. “Claire smeared dough on me while we were baking earlier,” he explained.  
  
Noah and Claire had baked buns together for when the guests came, and Claire had gotten a little mischievous and had smeared wet dough on Noah’s shirt. Noah blamed Dylan for it because he had seen how her hands had been covered in dough and had said that she better not touch Noah with it, and then Claire had taken it as a challenge and had done it anyway.  
  
“Oh,” Jayden chuckled, amused. “And here I thought you were feeling wrong in the other clothes and had decided to wear something else.”  
  
“No… I liked the clothes, and now I don’t know what to wear.”  
  
Jayden let out a chuckle when Noah sighed. “Just wear anything. It all looks good on you, and I’m sure neither Nathan nor Joanne care that much about what you’re wearing, as long as you don’t wear only your panties. Even though they _do_ look pretty sexy on you…”  
  
Noah smacked Jayden’s arm for being stupid, and the alpha laughed at him. “You’re a jackass,” Noah muttered, glaring a bit at him with a flushed face.  
  
“I know,” Jayden laughed. “I can’t help it when you look so sexy…” He slowly leaned in to give Noah’s earlobe a gentle bite, and the submissive purred at the sensual gesture. Jayden let his hand move through Noah’s feathers again, pleased when his mate relaxed his wing and welcomed his touch.  
  
Noah closed his eyes and enjoyed the touch of his mate and his soapy smell after the shower, until he suddenly felt Jayden’s hand moving down to his ass and giving it a small squeeze. Noah yelped and jumped at the unexpected touch, and he instinctively lashed out with his wing, pushing the naughty alpha away.  
  
_“Connor!”_ he scolded, quickly wrapping his wing around himself and turning towards him so Jayden couldn’t touch his ass anymore.  
  
Jayden just laughed at him. “Sorry. I couldn’t help it.”  
  
“We don’t have time for that now,” Noah hissed, his face all red. He felt lust rise in his body and his ass slicken up, but they really didn’t have time for that now. He glared at Jayden when the alpha smirked, because there was no doubt that Jayden could tell how it had affected him.  
  
“Okay, okay, I’ll back off,” Jayden said, chuckling as he brought up his hands and took a step back.  
  
Suddenly there was a noise from the corridor, and they could hear Claire’s small, quick footsteps as she ran up the stairs. Seconds later the door was opened abruptly and Claire came inside.  
  
“Mommy! Nathan is here!” Claire announced, jumping in excitement before running back downstairs, leaving the door open.  
  
Noah had shielded his body with his wings, so she hadn’t seen anything, but he wasn’t even dressed yet, so he panicked a little when Claire said that the guests were there already. He quickly turned to find some clothes, and Jayden found his hurry kind of amusing.  
  
“Just put on something. I’ll see you downstairs,” Jayden told him, chuckling as he let his tail touch Noah’s leg before he walked out of the room and down to greet their guests.  
  
Meanwhile, Dylan opened the door for Nathan and Joanne when they arrived. He smiled at his brother who pulled him into a quick hug, and then stepped aside to let them enter.  
  
Nathan stepped inside first, and behind him came Joanne, who looked a little sheepish and nervous. Dylan couldn’t blame her – it was the first time she was meeting the family, after all.  
  
“Hi, I’m Dylan,” Dylan greeted Joanne with a polite smile and extended his hand towards her when she came forward to step into the house.  
  
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Joanne” she greeted him back, shaking Dylan’s hand with a big, friendly smile on her face.  
  
Joanne was about 167cm (65.75 inches) tall with bright blue eyes and long blonde hair set up in a ponytail. She was a human/demon hybrid, but she had only a tail and no wings.  
  
Nathan showed his girlfriend where to put her shoes, and Dylan had just closed the door when Claire came running down the stairs, followed by Derek, who was in much less of a hurry than her.  
  
Even though Claire had been in such a hurry to go down the stairs and greet them, she stopped once she reached the floor and stared shyly at Joanne. “Hi,” she said, shifting and smiling sheepishly.  
  
Nathan laughed at how shy Claire suddenly was. It wasn’t really like her.  
  
“Hello,” Joanne greeted her with a patient smile. “You must be Claire?”  
  
Claire nodded and felt a little more confident to step forward. She stared up at Joanne with interest, but seemed to walk a little closer to Dylan instead of their guests, as if seeking some reassurance from him.  
  
Nathan laughed at her again. “Jeez, Claire. Joanne won’t bite you.”  
  
“I know!” Claire said, flushing in embarrassment before looking at Joanne again.  
  
Derek had stopped on the last step of the stairs, and he was rolling his eyes a bit at his sister. His hands were buried deep in his pockets, and he was wearing a hoodie, even though he knew his dad would likely complain about him wearing such clothes around their new guests, but Derek didn’t care.  
  
Jayden came down the stairs just as Claire finally went over and greeted Joanne properly by shaking her hand, just like she was raised to do.  
  
Joanne didn’t seem to mind Claire’s shyness one bit, she appeared to think it was extremely cute. She smiled as she shook Claire’s hand, and looked up when Jayden appeared.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden greeted them with a friendly smile. “Nice to finally meet you, Joanne. I’m Jayden.”  
  
Joanne had straightened up a bit when Jayden appeared, and she smiled as she shook his hand. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you too. Nathan has told me a lot about you guys.”  
  
“Yeah? Nothing bad, I hope,” Jayden joked.  
  
Joanne laughed at that, and Nathan rolled his eyes a bit as he shifted awkwardly behind her.  
  
Derek was still standing on the stairs, but when Jayden turned to look at him, he stepped down and came forward to greet Joanne next.  
  
“Hi,” Derek said, reaching out to shake her hand. “I’m Derek.”  
  
Joanne’s face lit up like she had heard the name before, which she definitely had if Nathan had told her about his family. “Hi. Good to meet you.”  
  
Even though Joanne had probably heard some negative things from Nathan about Derek, she still smiled at him politely and gave him a firm handshake. She stayed close to Nathan though, and their tails touched as they stood beside each other.  
  
“Noah will be here in a moment,” Jayden announced when Joanne seemed to look around for him carefully. “Apparently Claire smeared dough on his shirt, so he went to change.” He turned and gave Claire a look of disapproval, to which his daughter just grinned innocently and went over to hide behind Dylan.  
  
Dylan scowled a bit at her for being naughty, but he still chuckled about it.  
  
Joanne couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s okay. I can wait.”  
  
Nathan groaned and rolled his eyes. “Jesus, Claire. Is Derek’s bad behavior rubbing off on you?”  
  
“No…” Claire denied, still shifting and giggling innocently.  
  
“Hey,” Derek protested, glaring over at Nathan and spreading his wings a little.  
  
Nathan just glared back at him, but Jayden got between them before they could start an argument.  
  
“Please, make yourself at home,” Jayden told Joanne. “How about we head to the living room to sit down for a bit until the food is ready? I think Claire and Noah baked something for us.”  
  
“Yep!” Claire confirmed, grinning proudly.  
  
“Oh, that sounds nice,” Joanne grinned, following after the others as they went to the living room.  
  
Fizzles and Fuzzles – the family cats – were in the living room as well. Fizzles was laying lazily on the top of the cat castle, but Fuzzles ran out the room when they all came inside. Joanne let out a small yelp of surprise when the cat came running between her legs all of sudden, and she glared a bit at Nathan when he laughed at it.  
  
Just after Fuzzles had run out the room, they could hear footsteps on the stairs.  
  
“Ah, I think Noah is coming,” Jayden said.  
  
And he was right. Seconds later, Noah appeared in the doorway, wearing dark pants and a nice blue shirt. He looked a little embarrassed that he hadn’t been there to greet them at the door, and came forward to greet the new guest. “I’m so sorry; I had to change my clothes. It’s really nice to meet you,” he said as he shook Joanne’s hand.  
  
“Oh, no problem,” Joanne grinned, shaking his hand back. “It’s nice to meet you too.”  
  
Noah smiled at her and had a good feeling about her so far. She was polite and smiling, and Nathan seemed very relaxed around her. He was a little unused to seeing his son touch tails with a girl like that, even though the touches they shared were subtle and not inappropriate in any way. He was pleased that Nathan was so content around Joanne.  
  
After greeting Joanne, Noah greeted Nathan as well, who came over to give him a tight hug before they all sat down on the couch.  
  
Claire eagerly sat down next to Joanne, already feeling less shy around her, while Nathan sat on Joanne’s other side. Joanne didn’t seem to mind it one bit that Claire had sat down next to her straight away, and the two girls shared a small grin.  
  
“Oh, Claire definitely seems to like you,” Jayden laughed. He had seated himself in the chair next to the couch, as there wasn’t much space on the couch for everyone.  
  
Nathan laughed about it as well.  
  
“Yeah, she’s nice!” Claire grinned, flicking her tail with joy.  
  
Noah sat on Claire’s other side with Derek on his other side, while Dylan sat over on Nathan’s right side.  
  
Derek was sitting closest to Jayden, which he didn’t seem to be that happy about, because then he couldn’t use his phone without his dad seeing it, but it was still way better than sitting next to Nathan.  
  
Everyone was interested in getting to know Joanne better, so they asked her a lot of questions about her life and how she and Nathan had met each other.  
  
Joanne was studying to be a paramedic at the nearby medical college – a different college than Nathan’s – and the two had met each other one night in a club for adults under 21 years. Apparently, they had common friends and had gotten to know each other that way. They had met about four months ago, but had first started dating two months ago.  
  
As they talked, they learned that Joanne came from a family that was very open towards angel/demon relationships, and that her demon cousin was dating an angel. It was nice for everyone to know that angel/demon relationships were getting more common, even though there was still a long way until it would be viewed the same as human/demon and human/angel relationships.

  
***

  
About an hour later, the buns were finally ready to be served.  
  
Noah went to the set the table in the dining room, and Joanne insisted that she help. At first Noah didn’t want the guest to help, but she still insisted. In the end, they all ended up helping each other set the table and prepare to have lunch.  
  
Derek didn’t help much, as usual, and mostly stood in the corner with his hands buried in his pockets. Nathan made a few remarks about it that pissed Derek off, but Jayden had to get between them before it escalated.  
  
Claire, however, was really eager to help out. The family was glad that she had taken such a liking to Joanne. She kept staying close to Joanne, and Nathan was even starting to feel a bit like his little sister was stealing his girlfriend. As a joke, he pulled Claire against himself in a tight grip and then started to tickle her, which made her beat her wings and struggle against him as she shrieked and begged to be let go. Joanne thought it was really amusing, and everyone laughed until Nathan had to let Claire go when his arms starting hurting from trying to hold her trapped.  
  
The buns were really tasty as they started eating, and Noah was pleased that their baking had been successful. Claire really liked baking, and he and Claire often spent time together baking stuff. Noah had never been good at cooking, but Jayden had taught him a few baking recipes that were easy and that Noah could make quite well.  
  
Dylan and Derek ended up sitting across from each other while they ate, which resulted in a bit of a bickering because Derek couldn’t resist annoying his little brother by placing the butter too far out of his reach.  
  
Derek was still kind of upset with Dylan after his brother had told their parents that he had seen Derek hanging out with Steven at the mall the other day. Jayden and Noah had not been happy about it, and Derek had had to listen to his Jayden’s endless ranting about why Steven was a bad influence and that he didn’t want Derek to be around him. Derek had just pretended to be listening to him, but didn’t actually intend to do as his father said.  
  
“Derek, could you pass me the butter, please?” Dylan asked, glaring at his older brother, because this was the second time that Derek had purposefully put the butter so far away that only he could reach it.  
  
“I _could_ … The question is if I _would,_ ” Derek teased, smirking at him.  
  
Nathan was sitting next to Dylan with Joanne on his other side and Jayden at the table end. Derek was on the other side of the table with Claire and Noah. He was sitting furthest away from Jayden, which was why he had no problems teasing Dylan.  
  
Dylan kicked Derek lightly on the shin under the table, feeling so annoyed at his brother right now that he didn’t care that he wasn’t supposed to do that.  
  
He had half expected Derek to get pissed off about it, but instead his brother just laughed.  
  
“Aww, there’s an alpha in your after all, even though you still only have your baby feathers,” Derek mocked with a smirk before grabbing the butter and passing it to Dylan.  
  
“Dumbass,” Dylan growled under his breath and grabbed the butter.  
  
Derek just laughed, but then Claire was suddenly pulling at his sleeve, making him turn to look at her.  
  
“Derek, why you being mean again?” she asked, being the only one who had noticed what was going on because everyone else was busy talking to Joanne.  
  
“I’m not. I’m just teasing him a bit, that’s all,” Derek said.  
  
“Isn’t that the same?” Dylan grumbled, still glaring at him.  
  
Derek rolled his eyes at that and explained to Claire, “It’s an alpha thing. Don’t worry about it.”  
  
Claire pondered about Derek’s words for a couple of seconds before saying, “So being an alpha means that you’re mean?”  
  
Dylan almost choked on his food when he started giggling at her words and at Derek’s expression.  
  
“No,” Derek said, frowning. “Well, not exactly. Sometimes you gotta be mean so that others can toughen up. I’m just teaching Dylan to be a man.”  
  
“That’s bullshit,” Dylan spat.  
  
“Hey!” Jayden cut in when he heard Dylan swear. “What kind of language are you guys using down there? I don’t wanna hear it at the table.”  
  
Dylan shrunk a bit at his dad’s angry voice, and he glared daggers at Derek when his brother laughed at him getting scolded for it. Words could express how pissed off Dylan felt with his older brother right now. It was all extra embarrassing because Joanne was present.

  
***

  
After eating, they spent some time playing card games at the dining table. It was a good way to have fun and for Joanne to ease her nerves a bit, because she was still a little nervous around everyone at their first meeting.  
  
They played most of the afternoon, but took breaks to go outside in the fresh air for a bit before going back inside. Derek spent most of the time with them, as he liked playing cards, but he did disappear up into his room for about an hour to be alone for a bit before they had dinner.  
  
By the evening, it was almost like they had known Joanne for a few weeks already, which made it a lot easier for everyone to be themselves and talk freely.  
  
Nathan was starting to feel more confident about showing affection towards Joanne in the presence of his family. Noah smiled as he watched him place his arm casually around Joanne’s shoulders as they chatted, or how they sometimes held hands on top of the table.  
  
Jayden had prepared chicken with potatoes and French fries for dinner (some of them preferred potatoes and others prefer French fries, that’s why they had both), along with some salad. Jayden’s chicken always tasted good, and Joanne was impressed as they all sat down to eat.  
  
After dinner, Noah, Jayden, and Dylan did the dishes while the others went to living room. Derek was about to disappear upstairs again before Jayden caught him and forced him to come help them out in the kitchen. Derek was clearly not happy about that, but he still did what his father told him.  
  
It was just Nathan, Claire, and Joanne in the living room since everyone else was in the kitchen.  
  
Nathan had looked forward to sitting with his girlfriend on the couch for a bit, but then Claire suddenly butted in and sat down on Joanne’s other side.  
  
Nathan frowned as Claire giggled and tried to whisper something to Joanne. Joanne leaned down to hear what she was saying, and Nathan got curious about what they were talking about.  
  
Suddenly, Joanne gasped and started laughing.  
  
“No, not any time soon,” she laughed, looking a little flustered as well.  
  
Claire frowned in disappointment, leaning back against the couch. “Why not?”  
  
“Because… People have to know each other for a bit longer before doing that,” Joanne explained, giggling in embarrassment.  
  
“What? What did she say?” Nathan asked, leaner closer because he was curious.  
  
Joanne was too embarrassed to answer, but Claire spoke up when she noticed how confused Nathan looked.  
  
“I asked her when you’re going to have a baby together,” Claire said, like it was a totally normal thing to ask about.  
  
Nathan’s face flushed bright red with embarrassment, and he almost couldn’t believe that Claire had straight up asked that.  
  
“Claire, that’s… not something you ask people…” Nathan tried to explain, stumbling over the words because he was so embarrassed.  
  
Claire’s face only got more confused, and she tilted her head to the side. “Why not?”  
  
“Because… It’s a private thing and you don’t ask people that.”  
  
“Oh.” Claire pondered for a bit before asking, “But babies come when two people love each other, no?”  
  
“Yeah, but that’s… Uh. Well, it’s embarrassing,” Nathan said, not knowing how else to explain it.  
  
“Oh.” Claire still didn’t seem to understand it fully, which would have been amusing to Nathan if he wasn’t so embarrassed right now.  
  
“What’s embarrassing?” a voice suddenly asked behind them, making them all turn to look at Derek, who had just appeared in the doorway to the laundry room.  
  
“Nothing,” Nathan said, glaring at Derek for being so god damn curious.  
  
“Nathan says it’s embarrassing to talk about babies,” Claire blurted, completely oblivious of the embarrassment she was causing.  
  
Nathan’s jaw dropped in horror, and Derek just blinked at Claire for a couple of seconds before he burst out laughing.  
  
Joanne was really embarrassed as well, and Nathan sent Derek a dark glare when the alpha kept laughing.  
  
“Stop laughing already,” Nathan growled at his brother.  
  
“No way! It’s hilarious,” Derek laughed. He laughed so hard he almost couldn’t breathe anymore, and that was when Jayden showed up.  
  
“What’s so funny in here?” Jayden asked, looking between them in confusion. He hadn’t seen Derek laugh that hard for a long time, so he really wondered what was wrong.  
  
“Nothing,” Nathan bit out, still glaring at Derek. “Just Derek being an asshole, as usual.”  
  
Jayden frowned and looked at Joanne, whose face was so red it almost looked uncomfortable.  
  
“It’s nothing,” she said, trying to give Jayden a convincing smile.  
  
Jayden just stared between them like they had lost their minds before shrugging and going back to the kitchen, and Derek laughed more at that.  
  
Claire was starting to feel like she had done something wrong, and slowly sank down into her seat. She didn’t know what was so funny or why Nathan looked so angry now, but she relaxed a bit when Joanne put a hand on top of hers to reassure her.  
  
“Stop laughing and beat it already,” Nathan growled at his brother.  
  
Derek finished laughing before looking at Joanne, saying, “Sorry about that. It was just so funny seeing Nathan’s face.”  
  
“Yeah, I know,” Joanne chuckled awkwardly, her face still red.  
  
Derek laughed a bit more before going back to the kitchen when Jayden called for him.  
  
Nathan kept glaring after him before he finally relaxed again. “He _seriously_ drives me crazy sometimes,” he grumbled.  
  
Joanne chuckled in sympathy. “Yeah, I know. You’ve told me.”  
  
When Nathan kept looking upset about Derek making fun of him, Joanne leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his lips to cheer him up.  
  
At first, Nathan was kind of flustered because Claire was watching, but he relaxed when Joanne put a hand on his thigh to calm him down.  
  
Claire smiled and giggled as she watched them share a kiss. It was odd for her to see her brother like that, but she also thought it was pretty romantic and she liked that.  
  
When the others were done with the dishes and cleaning up, they went to the living room to join the others.  
  
Derek had been about to disappear upstairs, but Jayden told him to stay because it was rude to walk away when they had a guest.  
  
Noah was the last one to leave the kitchen and he frowned when he noticed grey and red feathers lying here and there on the floor in the kitchen and laundry room. He picked them up as he walked by, and grabbed a bag from the laundry room to put them in. He couldn’t quite tell if they were Dylan’s, Derek’s, or Nathan’s. Both Dylan and Nathan had mostly grey feathers, but also some red, while Derek’s wings were mostly red with some grey. There seemed to be more grey than red feathers, so he guessed it was probably Dylan’s. Dylan’s wings were due to start molting any time soon, and Noah also remembered having seen Dylan scratching his wings during dinner, so he guessed the molting was about to start now.  
  
Meanwhile in the living room, Claire had jumped off of the couch and over to Dylan when she saw him enter the room. She was feeling hyper and playful after dinner, so she tackled Dylan and tried to push him backwards. Dylan, however, stood his ground, chuckling at his sister’s attempts to make him move.  
  
They often had these kind of ‘wars’ where Claire would try to push her brothers back like that, but most of the time she couldn’t do it because they were a lot stronger. Derek never budged, but sometimes Dylan or Nathan would give in and step back, letting her win.  
  
“Nooo,” Claire whined when Dylan didn’t move. “Move!”  
  
Dylan just laughed at her. “You’re gonna have to push a lot harder than that.”  
  
Claire stepped back before running into him, trying to use more force to push him back. It was enough for Dylan to lose his footing and take a single step back, at which Claire cheered.  
  
“Yay! I won,” she grinned, stepping back to celebrate.  
  
Joanne laughed at the game, thinking it was kinda cute, while Derek rolled his eyes at his siblings.  
  
“Again!” Claire begged Dylan.  
  
Dylan let out a sigh. “Nah, we already played. Stop being so hyper, Claire.”  
  
Claire pouted at him in disappointment. When Dylan tried to walk around her and over to the couch, she reached for his arm to grab it and hold him back, but instead she accidentally grabbed onto some of his feathers. The next second she let out a horrified gasp when Dylan’s feathers came free and she was left standing with her hand completely full of her brother’s feathers. That had never happened before and she was genuinely freaked out.  
  
Dylan had barely felt his feathers ripping out, only a small tug at his wing, and he turned around to look when he heard Claire’s gasp. He stared in disbelief when he saw all the feathers in her hand, and his sister looked from her hand to Dylan’s face a few times before she suddenly started crying.  
  
“I’m so sorry!” Claire cried, thinking she had hurt her brother.  
  
Now Dylan was freaking out because Claire was crying, but Jayden quickly got up and went over investigate.  
  
“Oh,” Jayden said when he realized what had happened. He laughed softly at Claire, who was crying like she had just killed someone by accident. He went over to pick her up and comfort her. “Hey, it’s alright. I think Dylan just started molting, that’s all.”  
  
“Oh, did he?” Nathan asked, eyeing Dylan’s wings closer as he glanced over his shoulder to look at what was going on behind the couch. He quickly noticed all the feathers in Claire’s hand and on the floor, and how you could already see a few feathers missing on Dylan’s wings. “Oh, you’re right. Congratulations,” he grinned at Dylan.  
  
Noah came into the room just as Jayden picked up a crying Claire. He was still holding the bag he had put the feathers in, and when he looked at Dylan’s wings he saw more feathers falling out.  
  
Dylan blinked a few times before sighing in relief. “I _did_ feel them itching all day…” he said as he reached behind himself to scratch his left wing a bit.  
  
“That was about fucking time,” Derek commented from the couch. “And here I thought you’d always be a baby.”  
  
Dylan glared over at Derek when he heard the mocking in his brother’s voice.  
  
“Hey, be nice,” Nathan scolded Derek lightly.  
  
“What? He’s 13 already,” Derek argued.  
  
“Well, not everybody starts molting when they’re 12.”  
  
Claire was still crying a bit, and she looked confused when everyone was talking about molting. “What’s molting?” she asked between hiccups.  
  
“That’s when you lose the feathers you have as a child and start growing your adult feathers,” Jayden explained to her, still holding her on his arm. She was kind of heavy now though, so Jayden could only hold her for a few minutes. “It means Dylan’s growing up.”  
  
“Oh.” Claire blinked as she looked over at Dylan, who was still scratching his itchy wing. “It doesn’t hurt?”  
  
Dylan looked up when Claire asked him a question. “No, I didn’t feel it when my feathers came out. Don’t worry.”  
  
Claire looked relieved that she hadn’t hurt her brother after all, and she soon stopped crying.  
  
Noah smiled proudly at Dylan before going over to Claire so she could toss the feathers in her hand into the bag. She giggled a bit as she did so, and everyone was happy that she was feeling better now.  
  
“Congratulations on your feathers, Dylan,” Joanne said, smiling over shoulder at Dylan, who was still standing behind the couch. “I know that’s a big deal for alphas.”  
  
Dylan shrugged modestly. “Thanks. But I wasn’t as impatient for it as Derek was back then.”  
  
Derek snorted in the background, and Joanne chuckled at them.  
  
“Yeah, I still remember the day Derek started molting. You’d think he had won the lottery, that’s how loud and happy he was about it,” Nathan snorted.  
  
Derek sent Nathan a dark glare for mocking him like that. “As if a beta like you would understand.”  
  
Now it was Nathan’s turn to glare at Derek. “And as if such a stuck-up alpha like you would understand anything beyond the tip of your own nose.”  
  
Derek’s feathers sharpened in anger and he was just about to snap something back at Nathan when Jayden interrupted them.  
  
“Hey, that’s enough!” Jayden said sharply as he glared between his two oldest sons. “Can’t you two try to get along for just _one_ day?”  
  
Nathan and Derek both looked a little guilty and quickly looked away from each other with a small snort.  
  
Joanne had been warned that they could be like that sometimes – Noah had told her about it earlier that afternoon – but it still made her feel a little uncomfortable and surprised.  
  
Dylan felt a little awkward about his brothers’ bickering and decided to get away from the odd atmosphere in the room. “Well, I think I’m go use that wing cream that you bought, dad.”  
  
“Yeah, it should help with the itching,” Jayden said, smiling at Dylan as his son went towards the bathroom.  
  
Dylan grabbed the bag from Noah and took it with him to the bathroom so he could tidy up after himself. His wings were leaving a mess everywhere he went.  
  
After Dylan had gone to the bathroom to tend to his wings, Nathan turned to look at Joanne. “You still sure you wanna sleep over here tonight?”  
  
Joanne smiled as she nodded. “Yeah, sure. I don’t mind.”  
  
“That means Dylan will have to sleep in Derek’s room,” Jayden said as he put Claire back on the floor. Claire was feeling better now and had stopped crying, and Jayden couldn’t hold her all night.  
  
A few months after Nathan had started in college, they had decided to move Dylan to Nathan’s old room. Nathan didn’t mind it, because he wasn’t home all that often anyway. Most of Nathan’s old stuff had been packed away and put into the attic, and Dylan had then taken over the room and made it his. When Nathan was home, he usually slept on a mattress in Dylan’s room, but now that Joanne was there as well, Dylan had to sleep in Derek’s room.  
  
Derek groaned at Jayden’s words. “Great. Then I’ll have to listen to him turning in bed all night ‘cause his wings are itching.”  
  
“No one forbids you from sleeping on the couch instead, Derek,” Nathan told him.  
  
Derek was about to snap something at Nathan when Noah spoke.  
  
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Noah said, going over to sit down on the couch with Claire. “You’ve shared rooms all your lives anyway.” He looked at Derek as he spoke, whose mouth closed when his argument died on his lips.  
  
Derek crossed his arms and leaned back against the couch with a sigh. “Fine. But I’ll sleep on the couch if he’s too noisy. Or make _him_ sleep on it.”  
  
Jayden laughed, but didn’t feel sorry for him at all. “You can sleep on it if you want. Just don’t wake up everyone with your snoring.”  
  
“I don’t snore,” Derek protested, glaring as the others laughed.  
  
“Dylan says you do!” Claire blurted and giggled as she sat down between Joanne and Noah.  
  
Derek got an offended look on his face, and the others laughed even more.

  
***

  
The family stayed up until very late that night. They were having fun as they chatted and played a few more games, and time passed quickly.  
  
Claire had been put to bed at 9:30pm. She was completely exhausted by then, and Noah had gone to tuck her in before joining the others again.  
  
At 12:40am, the others decided it was finally time to head to bed.  
  
Dylan wasn’t impressed when he found out that he had to sleep in Derek’s room, but he didn’t protest about it. Nathan had been so kind to set up a mattress for him in Derek’s room earlier when he had gone upstairs with his and Joanne’s stuff, so Dylan didn’t have to worry about doing that.  
  
Derek was giggling behind Dylan as they watched Nathan and Joanne head up the stairs after having said good night to everyone. Jayden and Noah were in the kitchen now, and Derek and Dylan were in the entrance hall by the stairs.  
  
“I’m glad it’s not _my_ bed they’re going to sleep in together,” Derek snickered.  
  
Dylan scowled at him over his shoulder. “What does it matter? Sheets can be changed.”  
  
“But still… Don’t wanna sleep in a bed where Nathan has been doing the naughty.” Derek shivered in disgust at the idea alone.  
  
“Who says they’ll do that?” Dylan asked, annoyed by Derek’s comments. “Nathan’s not a jerk. I don’t think he’ll do that in my bed.”  
  
“Who knows. Still glad it’s not _my_ bed,” Derek said, smirking at Dylan as he went to head upstairs too.  
  
“You almost sound jealous,” Dylan snorted.  
  
Derek stopped in his tracks before turning to look at him. “Jealous of what?” he demanded. “I don’t need a _girlfriend._ ”  
  
Dylan shrugged. “Then maybe you’re jealous of him having sex?”  
  
Derek’s eyes narrowed a bit before he snorted. “I’m not a virgin, Dylan. I’m not jealous of that.” He ignored his little brother’s surprised face before turning to walk up the stairs. “Don’t make too much noise when you go to bed, or I’ll kill you!” he warned him before ascending the stairs and disappearing from Dylan’s sight.  
  
It took Dylan a moment to recover from the shock of knowing that Derek had had sex with someone. He wondered if Derek was lying about it, but it didn’t seem like he had. He stood and thought about it for a few seconds before shrugging it off and going to say goodnight to his parents in the kitchen and then head to bed as well.  
  
After everyone had gone to bed, Noah and Jayden decided it was time for them to go as well. They locked up the house and turned off the lights before going upstairs together.  
  
The house was all quiet now that everyone was sleeping, but they could hear some laughter from Dylan’s room where Nathan and Joanne were sleeping. They both smiled when it sounded like Joanne was laughing at something Nathan had said or done, before entering their bedroom and locking the door.  
  
Noah went over to the bed and started undressing, feeling completely depleted after such a long day.  
  
Jayden slowly walked up behind him, wrapping his strong arms around Noah after the submissive had undressed down to his panties.  
  
“She seems pretty nice. Joanne that is,” Jayden murmured next to Noah’s ear.  
  
Noah leaned back into him, closing his eyes a bit because he was so tired. “Yeah, she does. They seem happy together.”  
  
“Yeah. And I think Claire definitely approves of her,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Noah chuckled as well. “Yeah. I was wondering how she would act around Nathan’s girlfriend. I was a little nervous that maybe she wouldn’t like her.”  
  
“I’m sure Nathan was a little nervous about that as well,” Jayden said, chuckling softly. He was silent for a few moments before saying, “And who knows… Maybe we’ll be grandparents soon.”  
  
Noah opened his eyes and turned around to look up at Jayden. “Hopefully not yet. They’re still in college! How would they afford that?”  
  
Jayden laughed at the way Noah was sounding almost protective now. “Oh, there he is; my mate, the protective mother hen,” he teased as he laughed.  
  
Noah blushed a bit, and scowled when Jayden laughed at him. “I’m just saying that it’s not good timing. Besides, they have only known each other for like four months.”  
  
“I know, I know,” Jayden chuckled. “I was just kidding.” He gently placed his hands on Noah’s shoulders to calm down his mate. “But it’s bound to happen one day. Both with Nathan, but also with the other kids.”  
  
Noah’s wings slumped lightly behind him. “Yes, I know… I don’t wanna be that old…”  
  
“Hey, you’re not old,” Jayden argued softly, placing his hand under Noah’s chin to make his mate look up at him again. “And even when we get old, I’ll still love you, wrinkles and all.”  
  
Noah grimaced at the word ‘wrinkles’, which made Jayden laugh again.  
  
“Come on, let’s get some sleep. You look like you’re about to fall over.” Jayden chuckled and led Noah over to the bed to lie down.  
  
Noah clumsily got into the bed and pulled the covers over his body. He was too tired to keep his eyes open as Jayden undressed, which told Jayden that Noah really _was_ tired tonight.  
  
“And now Dylan is growing up too…” Noah murmured after Jayden had gotten into bed and spooned up behind him. “It’s going too fast…”  
  
Jayden sighed and pulled Noah a little closer to his chest. “Yeah, I know. But we can’t do anything about it.”  
  
Noah hummed in agreement and disappointment.  
  
They fell silent, and Jayden kept thinking about Noah’s words for the next few minutes until he eventually heard Noah’s breath even out as the submissive fell asleep.  
  
Jayden pressed his nose against the back of Noah’s neck, inhaling his mate’s scent as he slept.  
  
He spent a few more minutes thinking about their conversation and wondering what the future would bring before finally falling asleep as well, holding Noah close the whole time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Managed to finish this chapter pretty quick! Grateful for my good writing mood :)
> 
> I'll be shifting more focus to Noah and Jayden's kids. I hope you guys don't mind that. There's just a lot to tell about them right now, and I wanna explore it as they older. I'll of course try to write chapters that include more of the family as well!


	64. Chapter 64

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: This chapter has mentions of a sexual assault.

**March 2071 (Noah is 44 (almost 45), Jayden is 46, Nathan is 21, Derek is 16 (almost 17), Dylan is 13, Claire is 9 years old).**  
  
Months passed and March 2nd arrived. Today it was exactly nine years ago that Claire was born, and she was of course extremely excited for her birthday. She was less excited that today was a Monday and therefore a school day, but that didn’t stop her joy.  
  
As always on her birthday, Claire got up very early in the morning and was wide awake from excitement. She quickly jumped out bed, got herself dressed, and then ran off towards the parents’ bedroom to share her excitement with them.  
  
“Mommy! Daddy!” Claire shouted as she burst into their bedroom at 5:43am, jumping straight into their bed. She ignored their groans of irritation at being woken up like that, and sat down cross-legged on the edge of the bed, smiling at them with exhilaration. “Today’s my birthday!”  
  
Jayden rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times before turning on the lights so he could see his daughter better. “Yeah, indeed it is, princess. Happy birthday.”  
  
Claire just grinned, and her tail flicked with joy against the bed.  
  
Noah rolled onto his stomach and buried his face in his pillow, hating it when Jayden turned on the lights before he was ready to open his eyes yet. “Happy birthday, sweetie,” he murmured into his pillow. “But you don’t have to wake us up like this every year… I’m too tired for this.”  
  
“Sorry,” Claire giggled innocently. “But I couldn’t sleep anymore.”  
  
“Well, you’ve certainly made sure _we_ can’t sleep anymore either,” Jayden chuckled and prepared to get up. “Scoot,” he told his daughter playfully so he could get up without having to push her off the bed first.  
  
Claire just giggled and got off the bed, jumping around impatiently.  
  
Jayden chuckled at his daughter as he walked past her and over to the wardrobe, trying to find something to wear. He was wearing his underwear and a t-shirt, and his wings helped shield his body from Claire’s view. “Just let me and mommy get things ready downstairs first. You can go wake up your brothers in the meantime.”  
  
“Okay!” Claire chirped before running off to wake up Derek and Dylan.  
  
Noah felt sorry for his sons that they were going to be woken up by Claire any second now, but he couldn’t help but chuckle about it.  
  
Claire immediately ran over to Dylan’s room, knocking at the door to wake him up before going inside. Unlike Derek, Dylan never slept with his door locked, though he did lock it sometimes during the day.  
  
“Dylan, wake up! It’s my birthday!” Claire grinned as she ran over and jumped up on Dylan’s bed. Dylan’s bed was spacious, so there was enough room for her to sit on it while Dylan was laying there.  
  
Dylan let out a long groan and rolled onto his stomach. “Oh come on, Claire… It’s not even 6 yet.”  
  
“I know! But we always get up earlier when it’s someone’s birthday so we have time for presents before going to school!”  
  
Dylan just groaned again before turning his head to look at his sister. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw her excited face. “Well, happy birthday.”  
  
Claire grinned widely. “Thanks!”  
  
“And aren’t you turning nine today? Aren’t you gonna be too old for this excitement soon?” Dylan yawned as he looked at Claire through his sleepy eyes.  
  
Claire looked almost offended at that. “No way! I love having a birthday. And I wanna see if mom and dad got me the dress I really want!” She had seen a pretty flowery dress in the mall a few weeks ago when Noah had taken her there to get new clothes, but Noah had told her the dress was too expensive for their budget right now, so he hadn’t bought it for her that day. Claire hoped that she would get it for her birthday instead.  
  
“A dress?” Dylan repeating, still yawning. “So you don’t want toys this year?”  
  
“I do! But I want the dress the most.”  
  
“I see…”  
  
Claire finally jumped down from the bed. “Now I’ll go wake up Derek. He has to eat breakfast with us too.”  
  
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Dylan asked, but Claire had already run out the room. He cringed when he thought about how annoyed Derek would get when Claire woke him up, and he decided to get up just in case Claire needed some back-up. Derek could be pretty cranky in the mornings, after all.  
  
Claire was a little more careful as she went over to knock on Derek’s door next. She didn’t knock as hard, but enough for her brother to be woken up. “Derek, wake up! It’s my birthday!” she shouted outside the door. She tried to turn the doorknob to enter, but it was locked. “Derek!”  
  
“Yeah, I hear you!” came Derek’s irritated, raspy voice from inside the room. “Stop waking me up at shit o’clock! Christ!”  
  
“Dad says you can’t swear,” Claire scolded him. “And you have to get up!”  
  
There was a thud from inside the room and Claire could hear Derek muttering a series of curses.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I heard you! I’m coming,” Derek said inside the room.  
  
Claire hesitated for a couple of seconds before going over to the stairs, away from Derek’s room. She looked up when the door to the master bedroom opened, and grinned when she saw her parents exit the room.  
  
Jayden stopped when he saw Claire in the hallway. “Did you wake up everybody?”  
  
“Yep,” Claire grinned, like she was proud of it.  
  
Jayden looked pleased. “Good. Now, off to your room. You’re not allowed outside your room until all the presents are downstairs.”  
  
“But I wanna see!”  
  
Jayden shook his head firmly, but with a smile. “No, you’ll see later. Now go.”  
  
Claire gave him a big pout before reluctantly turning on her heels and going back to her room.  
  
Once the door to Claire’s room was closed, Jayden and Noah quickly got the presents for her, which they had hidden in their closet and under the bed, and went downstairs to put them on the kitchen table for Claire to open soon.  
  
Meanwhile, Derek and Dylan got dressed and took the presents they had bought for Claire downstairs as well.  
  
Dylan and Jayden were feeling pretty awake already, while Noah and Derek both had problems waking up in the mornings. Derek was a lot crankier than Noah though, so Dylan tried not to do anything to piss his brother off. He didn’t want to get into a fight with Derek on Claire’s birthday.  
  
The family quickly prepared some breakfast together. They were going to have bread, and there was butter, cheese, ham, and peanut butter (which Dylan couldn’t eat because of his allergies) to choose from, as well have juice and cocoa to drink. They didn’t usually have this kind of breakfast, only sometimes on the weekends and when someone had a birthday, otherwise they mostly ate cereal or fruit in the mornings.  
  
Noah kept yawning because he was so sleepy. Jayden found it kind of amusing, because he had only been woken half an hour earlier than usual, but he made it look like it was at least three hours earlier.  
  
“I’m glad to see you guys remembered to buy something for your sister,” Jayden spoke as he watched Dylan and Derek place their presents on top of the others on the table in the kitchen. They usually always ate in the kitchen when they were alone, and mostly used the dining room for guests or for special occasions.  
  
“Of course we did,” Dylan spoke, trying to arrange the presents so it looked nice and tidy.  
  
Derek just snorted softly and didn’t say anything.  
  
Noah stood next to Dylan, trying to help him arrange the presents a bit. He still could not get used to Dylan being taller than him now. His son was already 5cm (1.97 inches) taller than him now, and Derek was about the same height as Jayden. Noah didn’t think he would ever get used to it.  
  
Since Dylan had started molting last year, he had grown his new alpha feathers and his wings had gotten a bit more muscled. He always kept his feathers in either their soft or half-sharp state, and only very rarely used the sharp state. The only times he sharpened his feathers was by accident when he got angry or upset, then they would sharpen on reflex. Derek’s didn’t like how Dylan kept his feathers in their soft state so often at home – according to him, an alpha should never show their soft state unless it was around their mate or small children, and that didn’t include parents and siblings. Dylan didn’t care much as long as it was just his family who was around him.  
  
“You’re not going to work this afternoon, right?” Noah asked Dylan as they helped each other with the presents.  
  
“No, of course not. It’s Claire’s birthday,” Dylan replied, like it was obvious.  
  
Dylan was 13 now, which meant that he was old enough to have a part time job as a youth worker. Jayden had gotten him a job as a dishwasher in the same restaurant where he worked. He had been working there for five weeks now and it was going well. Dylan enjoyed being around his dad in the kitchen at the restaurant, even though the job as a dishwasher wasn’t the most interesting one.  
  
“Good. I plan to do something with Claire this afternoon before Jayden is home from work, and I’d like for the two of you to join us.” Noah looked at Dylan and Derek, hoping they would both want to join.  
  
Derek groaned. “As long as Claire doesn’t drag one of her friends along… Gosh, those girls are freaking noisy.”  
  
Dylan scowled at Derek and gave him a small shove for being rude. “Don’t be such a jerk. As if you and Dwayne have never been noisy when you’ve played here. I remember being woken up a lot when I was younger after I had gone to sleep while the two of you were still awake.”  
  
“That’s different,” Derek said, snapping a bit. “Girls are freaking noisy with their high-pitched screams and constant giggling. It drives me crazy.”  
  
Jayden got between them before any of them could say anything else. “Well, it’s Claire’s birthday today, so just try to make her happy, okay? I hope you’ll join, Derek.”  
  
Derek had to give in when his father sent him that sharp look of his, but he wasn’t really looking forward to it much, even if Claire’s friends didn’t join.  
  
Dylan turned to address Noah. “When will you come pick us up? I’m free at 3pm. I think Derek is too.”  
  
“I’ll call you about it,” Noah said, smiling at Dylan before Jayden spoke up.  
  
“Okay, I think we’re ready now. Let’s go wake up the birthday child,” Jayden grinned.  
  
Both Noah and Dylan couldn’t wait to see Claire’s reactions to her presents, while Derek didn’t particularly care.  
  
Noah went up to get Claire, who ran down the stairs in excitement when she was finally allowed to open her presents.  
  
They all sat down to eat while Claire opened her presents one by one. She did it much slower now than when she was younger – back then she had torn through one present after the other, but she was more patient now and had time to appreciate every present before opening the next.  
  
Claire got a few toys she had wanted – mostly from Dylan and Derek – and from Noah and Jayden she got a new tablet for school because her other one was not doing so well anymore. She also got some poster she had wanted with the characters from her favorite Disney movie, some new clothes, and – much to her delight – the flowery dress that she had seen in the mall a few weeks ago.  
  
When she had opened all the presents, Claire got up and went over to everyone to give them a hug and thank them for the presents. Derek tensed a little when she gave him a big hug, but he still hugged her back.  
  
Noah and Jayden were glad that Claire was so happy about her presents, though Claire was disappointed that she couldn’t wear her new dress today because it had to be washed first. Noah always let the kids try on the clothes before he took off the price tags and washed them, just in case they didn’t fit and they had to return it to the store. Noah promised her he would wash it tonight so she could wear it tomorrow, and she seemed happy enough about that.

  
***

  
The kids went to school in the morning as usual, and Noah went to work.  
  
The days always seemed longer when he was looking forward to something, and Noah couldn’t wait to get off from work, pick up the kids and go have some fun somewhere. He was planning on taking them to the local aquarium. It had been a long time since they last went there – years, probably – and they had recently added some new building with a big underwear tunnel where you could see all the sea animals swimming around you. He knew that Claire and Dylan would definitely like that, and Derek probably also would once they were there. At first, Noah didn’t want to go there alone with the kids, because he wanted Jayden to join them and share the experience, but then his mate told him he would get off from work at 4:30pm and would come join them then.  
  
At 2pm there was a small break before the last class of the day, and Noah went to the teachers’ room to get a glass of water and relax a bit before his next class. The room had a long table for the teachers to sit at, but it was used mostly for meetings, because the kindergarten teachers always ate together with the children.  
  
Noah needed to clear his head for a bit. It had been a long day and there had been a group of young boys in his previous class that had caused him some trouble. A cold glass of water and just staring out the window for a bit always helped him relax and gather energy for the next class.  
  
Lucas was going home already; it was one of his shorter days today. He went to the teachers’ room to see Noah and talk with him for a bit before Noah’s next class began.  
  
“Excited to go out with the kids?” Lucas asked him as he walked over to him with a smile.  
  
“Of course,” Noah replied, returning the smile as he turned to look at Lucas. After all these years, the two of them were still close friends. “I just hope that Claire will like what I have planned.”  
  
Lucas laughed softly. “I’m sure she will.”  
  
“How is Nina, by the way?” Noah asked when he remembered that Lucas had recently announced that his daughter was pregnant with her first child.  
  
“She’s good,” Lucas smiled. “It’s really odd, though… I’m gonna be a grandmother.”  
  
A soft laugh escaped Noah when he saw the look on Lucas’ face. “Yeah, I can imagine. She’s only 19, and younger than Nathan.”  
  
“Doesn’t Nathan have a girlfriend now? Maybe it’ll be your turn to be a grandparent soon as well.” Lucas gave Noah a small smirk, just to tease him.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened a bit. “I hope not… They’re still in college.”  
  
“And Nina just finished high school.”  
  
“True…”  
  
Noah still didn’t think that Nathan was planning on having kids just yet, though. He and Joanne hadn’t even mated yet, but females could get pregnant even without having a mate, so you could never know.  
  
Noah was about to speak when his phone suddenly rang in his pocket. He frowned as he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. He immediately felt his heart sink when he saw on the display that it was the headmaster at Derek’s school. Noah had plugged his number into his phone because it happened sometimes that he called him and Jayden in for a meeting about Derek’s lack of motivation at school and the troubles he caused.  
  
“Excuse me,” Noah told Lucas as he turned around to pick up the call. “Hello, this is Noah speaking.”  
  
_“Mx. Williams?”_ came headmaster’s voice. _“Sorry if I’m disturbing you, but I need you and your mate to come to the school as soon as possible.”_  
  
A worrying weight settled itself in Noah’s chest. “Why? What’s wrong? Did something happen with Derek?”  
  
The headmaster hesitated for a couple of seconds before saying, _“Please… Just come. There’s a serious matter we need to talk about. Your son has gotten himself into quite some trouble with his friends. I need you here now. Please let Jayden know that he should come as well. I haven’t been able to reach him.”_  
  
A thousand thoughts went through Noah’s minds. What the hell had happened? What had Derek done? Was he hurt? Had he hurt someone else? Why was the headmaster’s voice so tight and serious? Noah didn’t like it one bit.  
  
“Of course. We will be there as soon as we can,” Noah told him before hanging up. He was shaking a bit from worry and shock as he turned around to face Lucas again. “I’m so sorry… Can I ask you to cover my last class for me? I really have to go. It’s about Derek.”  
  
Lucas watched him with a concerned frown and nodded. “Yeah, of course. Go.”  
  
“Thank you so much.” Noah placed his hand on Lucas’ shoulder as a thank you before quickly grabbing his bag and leaving his work to go to the high school. He would call Jayden on the way there and he prayed that his mate would pick up the phone.

  
***

  
Noah managed to get a hold of Jayden, who also left work immediately to go to the high school for a meeting with the headmaster.  
  
They met in the parking lot and hurried inside together, pushing their way through a crowd of students who were leaving school for today.  
  
All kinds of thoughts and worries were flying around inside Noah’s head, and he couldn’t wait to see Derek and make sure he was okay.  
  
They headed to the headmaster’s office – which they had gotten quite familiar with lately – and found Derek sitting on one of the chairs in the corridor outside. Further down the corridor were Steven, Miguel, Ricky, and their parents, and next to Derek was Dwayne, whose parents hadn’t shown up yet.  
  
“Derek!” Noah exclaimed, quickly running over to him.  
  
Derek looked up and was a little startled when his mom suddenly leaned down and wrapped his arms around him in a hug.  
  
“Are you alright?” Noah asked, pulling away to check him for injuries. Last time they had been called to the headmaster’s office, Derek had had a run in with another group of alphas and had been kicked in the jaw. Luckily, he had escaped with only bruises and a very sore jaw back then.  
  
Something was definitely off as Derek leaned back with his hands in his pockets and wouldn’t meet their eyes. “Yeah, I’m okay.”  
  
Jayden frowned, wondering what had happened. He glanced at Dwayne, who also refused to look at them, and then over to where Steven was sitting. He couldn’t help but glare at Steven and his father when Steven’s father lifted his gaze to stare back at him. Jayden had always thought that Steven’s father was a real asshole; he didn’t care what his sons did in their spare time or who they hurt.  
  
Jayden and Noah looked up when the door to the headmaster’s office opened and a young, blonde demon girl walked out. She was crying heavily, and her mother was trying to comfort her as the girl walked out with her mother and father by her side. The girl tensed when she saw the boys sitting in the corridor, and Jayden noticed how Derek looked away from her instantly.  
  
This was definitely not a good sign.  
  
The girl was led away by her parents, and the headmaster cleared his throat as he looked at Jayden and Noah next.  
  
“Please come inside,” the headmaster said, glancing at Derek as well.  
  
Derek reluctantly got up from his seat and walked into the headmaster’s office with his parents. He cast a look back at Dwayne, who eyed him with sympathy, before going into the room and sitting down as the headmaster closed the door behind them.  
  
Derek picked the chair furthest away from the headmaster and the two other chairs, which were for the parents.  
  
“What’s this about?” Jayden asked the headmaster as they seated themselves.  
  
The headmaster, who was an alpha angel in his forties, cleared his throat a bit before speaking. “Well, there isn’t an easy way to say this, but… Your son has been involved in bullying and an attempted sexual assault on a female student at this school.”  
  
Noah and Jayden almost couldn’t believe their own ears. They were in shock for a couple seconds, staring at the headmaster in utter disbelief.  
  
Noah especially was shocked that his son had done something as vile as sexually assaulting another student. It upset him so much that he couldn’t hold back a sob as tears threatened to appear in his eyes.  
  
Derek sank back in his chair in shame, still not daring to look anywhere near them.  
  
Jayden sent Derek a sideways glare before addressing the headmaster again. “What happened?” His voice was deep and demanding, and he was clearly full of anger and disappointment towards Derek right now.  
  
“Well, the girl explained that she was alone in the gym showers when your son and his friends appeared,” the headmaster began, casting a small glance towards Derek before looking at Jayden and Noah again. “She says she was getting dressed after showering when the boys came inside and went over to her. According to her, it was Derek’s friend Steven who did most of the harassment. He made a series of sexual comments and taunts, and even tore the towel away from her, which she had tried to hide her modesty behind. She was wearing only her underwear when Steven attempted to touch her while he made one of the other boys film it on their phone. It was Derek who did the filming.” He turned to look at Derek then, whose head snapped up to glare back at him.  
  
“It wasn’t my idea!” Derek snapped in defense.  
  
“Shut up!” Jayden barked at him.  
  
Derek’s mouth closed shut immediately before he looked away in shame again.  
  
Jayden’s loud, angry voice had made Noah jump. He wasn’t used to Jayden being this angry, and part of him didn’t approve of him yelling at their son like that, even though Derek kind of deserved it.  
  
“I don’t think you have the right to say anything right now,” Jayden said, his voice like a growl as he glared hard at Derek.  
  
The headmaster shifted awkwardly at the exchange, but didn’t speak.  
  
Jayden had to get his anger under control before speaking again. He looked straight at the headmaster. “So, what kind of consequences are we looking at for Derek now? Will he have to leave the school?”  
  
Derek tensed nervously when Jayden asked that.  
  
The headmaster sighed. “Your son is expelled with immediate effect, as are all the boys involved.”  
  
The words hit Noah like a freight train, while Jayden didn’t seem quite as shocked. He was shocked, of course, but he had expected it after hearing how serious the matter was. This wasn’t something you could get away with without being expelled.  
  
Derek sunk even lower into the chair, if that was even possible. There was panic and fear on his face now, but he didn’t dare to protest while his dad was there.  
  
“You will have to find a different high school for him to finish the rest of his school year at,” the headmaster said, looking a little sympathetic as he glanced at Noah. “I’m sorry, but I can’t have boys at my school who do these kinds of things to our female students. Not to mention that I have to take Derek’s previous incidents into account as well.”  
  
Jayden bit back the anger he felt – which was completely directly at Derek and not the headmaster – before calmly replying, “Of course. Thank you, sir. We apologize for all the trouble. This is not how I remember raising my son.”  
  
Jayden glared over at Derek again, who didn’t want to look at back at him because he was afraid to see all the disappointment in his dad’s eyes.  
  
“Will this have any legal consequences?” Jayden asked next, his face tight with seriousness.  
  
“The girl is still considering if she wants to press charges,” the headmaster replied honestly. “Her father was very upset and definitely wants to get the police involved, but I can’t say if they will or not.”  
  
Derek swallowed nervously. The thought of police scared him more than his own dad. He still didn’t protest, even though Jayden was expecting him to open his mouth again any time soon and start shouting about how it wasn’t his fault or how it had just been a joke or something like that, but Derek didn’t.  
  
Jayden glanced from Derek back to the headmaster. “Alright. Thank you, sir.”  
  
Jayden rose from his chair, as did Noah, and reached out his hand to shake the headmaster’s as they said goodbye.  
  
Noah shook hands with the headmaster as well before leaving the office with Derek.  
  
Derek’s head was still low and he didn’t dare walk too close to his dad right now. He glanced over at Dwayne when they came into the corridor again, but he had to go when his dad stalked out of there in anger.  
  
Dwayne could clearly tell that things hadn’t gone well, and Noah could see the dread on his face as the boy wondered about his own fate.  
  
Jayden walked out of the school so fast that Noah and Derek both had trouble keeping up with him. The alpha was boiling with anger. He was walking fast on instinct, and it burned off some of the rage and disappointment he felt inside, but not nearly enough.  
  
Derek was falling behind, but not because he couldn’t keep up, but because he didn’t dare to go anywhere near his dad at the moment. He already dreaded the car ride home, and really hoped that he could ride with Noah.  
  
When they reached the cars, Derek immediately made his way over to Noah’s car, but Jayden stopped him.  
  
“No, you’re driving home with me,” Jayden said, his voice like a growl. “The two of us have a serious conversation we need to have.”  
  
Derek had never felt so tiny in his life before, but he covered it with anger and irritation. “Fine,” he bit out, giving his dad an angry glare before he went over and got into Jayden’s car.  
  
Noah gave Jayden a look that silently asked him not to be too rough on him, but Jayden ignored it and got into the car as well.  
  
“See you at home,” Jayden told Noah after he had rolled down the car window to speak to him.  
  
Noah nodded and watched as Jayden pulled out of the parking with a little more aggression than necessary and then disappeared out onto the street.

  
***

  
Jayden and Derek drove him in silence, but it was by no means a comfortable silence.  
  
The air was tense and tight in the car, and when Derek rolled down the window to get some fresh air inside, Jayden immediately rolled it back up by pressing the automatic button.  
  
The drive home seemed to last forever, and Derek had no idea what to do with himself. He was both ashamed, angry, and really frustrated. The thought that he might face charges for what he had done made his chest feel heavy with fear and anxiety. It was an uncomfortable and terrifying feeling, and the only way he knew how to deal with it all was to get angry. Rage boiled inside him as all the feelings intensified, and he just wanted to go home to his room and smash everything up.  
  
When they got home, Derek let his dad go first as they walked up to the house and went inside.  
  
Noah had gone to pick up Dylan and Claire, so it would be a while before the others would be home.  
  
Jayden angrily took off his jacket and shoes, while Derek did the same.  
  
Derek had only just taken off his shoes when Jayden turned to him and said, “Room. _Now._ ”  
  
Derek glared back at his dad for ordering him around like that. _“Fine.”_ He stalked over to the stairs and made sure to step down on each step really hard, just to show his dad how annoyed he was with him.  
  
Jayden growled and a ran a hand through his hair as he tried to get his emotions under control. He was feeling so much right now, but most of all he was feeling rage. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so angry. He knew that Derek deserved the anger, but Jayden didn’t want to raise his son with just anger.  
  
He fought to get himself under control while wondering how the hell he should talk to Derek about this. How could he make his stubborn, proud son see reason?  
  
After a couple of minutes, Jayden had finally managed to calm himself down a bit. He took a deep breath before slowly going up the stairs towards Derek’s room.  
  
Derek was lying in his bed, choking his pillow from frustration and anger, when he heard his dad knock on his door. He was about to yell at him to piss off when Jayden came inside and gave him a firm look – a look that said ‘we need to talk’. Derek hesitated for a couple of seconds before growling and sitting up on his bed, swinging his legs over the edge.  
  
Jayden walked to the bed before carefully sitting down next to Derek on the bed.  
  
There was a tense silence for a few seconds where neither of them said anything.  
  
Eventually it was Derek who broke the silence. “What? Aren’t you gonna shout at me? Shake me? Tell me what a fucking asshole I am? Then go ahead, ‘cause I’m just waiting to hear it!” he snapped, glaring angrily at Jayden as he unable to handle all the emotions inside of him.  
  
Jayden turned his head and glared right back at Derek. “Trust me, I wanna do all those things, but I feel like I’d just be repeating myself. And you never fucking listen to me anyway.”  
  
Derek snorted and looked away with disinterest.  
  
His son’s attitude pissed Jayden off. “Are you even fucking aware of what the hell you have done?!”  
  
Derek’s jaw tensed. “I’m aware I fucked up, obviously. But it was still Steven’s idea.”  
  
“I don’t care whose idea it was!” Jayden snapped at him, unable to hold back his frustrated anger now. “How on _earth_ could you even _think_ about treating another person like that?!”  
  
There was a bit of guilt in Derek’s body language, but he pushed it away as he turned his head to look at his dad again. “We were just fooling around… And it escalated.”  
  
_“Fooling around?!”_ Jayden repeated, and Derek almost flinched at the venom in his voice. “No, throwing rocks at windows or breaking a lamp is to ‘fool around’! But bullying and sexually assaulting someone? That is the _worst_ thing you can do someone and there’s not even a word to describe how fucking wrong it is! Are you even _aware_ of what you’ve done to that poor girl?”  
  
“I…” Derek trailed off. He really didn’t know what to answer.  
  
“Females and subs are _not_ toys for alphas to use,” Jayden growled. “They live every day being humiliated and pushed around by sexist people, who have absolutely no regard for how it makes them feel. How would _you_ feel if someone bullied, groped, or sexually assaulted Claire?”  
  
Derek’s response was immediate and with no hesitation. “I’d fucking kill him,” he growled.  
  
“Yeah? Then what makes you think it’s okay for you to do that to someone else?”  
  
Derek’s mouth fell shut. He blinked at Jayden as he thought about what to say, but then realized there really was nothing to say to it, because it wasn’t okay for him to do that.  
  
“Stop being so god damn obsessed with what other alphas think of you, and stop to think what _others_ think of you when you behave like that,” Jayden went on. “While you’re so busy trying to get ‘respect’ from Steven and his group by skipping classes, bullying others, breaking school property, and now even sexually assaulting someone, others become scared of you, even despise you. They do not respect you. Do not even for _one_ moment think that acting like an asshole will gain you any respect from anyone, especially not girls or subs. Not even most betas and alphas would respect the things that you’re doing. To them you’re just another asshole who thinks he’s cooler than everyone else, and nobody likes someone like that.”  
  
Derek opened his mouth to protest, because he really felt under attack at Jayden’s words, but once again he did not have any arguments. That was when he realized his dad was right.  
  
Jayden’s voice softened a bit when he noticed how Derek was finally listening. “You have to put yourself in other people’s shoes sometimes, Derek. The world isn’t just about you, it’s about everyone. And sometimes the things you do can really hurt someone.”  
  
Derek looked down into his lap as if ashamed.  
  
Jayden went on. “Alphas are not supposed to be ‘cool’ and super strong, they’re supposed to protect and respect others. And to get respect, you need to respect others as well. Once you learn to do that, you can call yourself a true alpha; one who stands up for those who need it or can’t stand up for themselves. Someone who protects and keeps things in order.”  
  
Derek was all quiet now, just staring into his hands, which were resting in his lap. He took in every word his father said, and swallowed guiltily as he thought about the events today.  
  
“I…” Derek began, but trailed off for a bit.  
  
Derek looked conflicted about everything and like he really wanted to speak, but was unable to form the words. Jayden waited patiently for him to find his voice and the right words so he could speak.  
  
After a few seconds of swallowing and staring into his lap, Derek finally began talking. “W-When I saw the girl today, I didn’t really think much about how she was feeling… I just did what Steven and the others did, and so did Dwayne. She looked scared and was crying, but that just made us all feel… more powerful.” He frowned at the word because it didn’t feel right, but he didn’t have a better word for it. “It wasn’t my idea to film her. Steven told me to. I said no at first, but he barked at me that I should shut up and do it, so I did. I filmed the whole thing as he crowded her up against the wall and touched her chest while she screamed and kicked at him.” He felt so ashamed saying it out loud, and he really wished he could take it back. “I just didn’t want to lose the respect of my friends.”  
  
Derek felt tears sting in his eyes, but he desperately tried to hold them back and not let his dad hear that he was about to cry. He just kept staring into his lap so Jayden couldn’t see his face. He continued when his voice felt ready again. “Steven was about to touch her ‘down there’ when the girl kicked him between the legs and ran off. I deleted the video right after that. It just felt wrong…”  
  
Jayden was glad that Derek was finally talking about it and was showing a bit of progress. He smiled as he felt proud of his son for the first time in a long time, and gently placed a hand on Derek’s shoulder when he sensed that his son was getting pretty upset talking about it.  
  
Derek had tried not to think about the girl’s feelings when it had happened. He had ignored the scared look on her face and pushed his own shame away so he could keep the respect of his friends, but now he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He saw the girl’s terrified face before his eyes all the time, and he couldn’t hold back the guilt and shame he felt anymore. It surged up inside him, making him break.  
  
“Fuck. I’m so sorry, dad,” Derek said, finally unable to hold back his crying. He tightened his fists into balls on his thighs and grasped his jeans tightly as an unfamiliar surge of emotions went through him. “It keeps replaying in my head now and I don’t know how to stop it.”  
  
“Hey,” Jayden said softly, gently pulling Derek into an embrace when he heard Derek’s voice crack. He felt Derek tense as he pulled him close and wrapped his arms around him, but after a few seconds his son relaxed a bit. “It’s okay to cry, you know?”  
  
“It’s girly,” Derek muttered against Jayden’s shirt as he tried to control his sudden hiccups as he cried. He had never felt this awkward and vulnerable around his dad before and it was kind of frightening and unfamiliar.  
  
Jayden laughed a bit at that. “No, it’s normal. Everybody cries because everyone has feelings. There’s nothing wrong with that. If you ask me, it’s a strength.”  
  
Derek let out a noise between a snort and a chuckle, and Jayden chuckled as he continued to hold him close.  
  
Derek closed his eyes for a moment, but was tormented by the image of the girl in shower room. He had never felt so bad about something before and it ate him up from the inside. He could not begin to imagine the terror that he and his friends had put the girl through. All he could think of was; what if it had been Claire? How would she have felt? Derek didn’t even want to imagine that happening to his sister.  
  
They sat in an embrace for a few minutes as Jayden tried his best to comfort his son. He was pleased that it seemed like he had finally managed to get through to Derek, and he hoped it would make his son think twice before ignoring his morals just to be part of a group or try to be respected. Jayden had always felt that Derek’s friendship with Steven was more of a control thing than an actual friendship. It seemed like Steven was using the other alphas in his group to make himself look superior, and the way he had snapped at Derek when Derek didn’t want to film the scene today just confirmed it.  
  
They were sitting in silence when they heard the front door open downstairs. Noah, Dylan, and Claire were home now, and they could faintly hear their voices in the entrance hall.  
  
Derek finally snapped out of it and started to pull away from Jayden, who reluctantly let go of him. The boy quickly wiped his teary eyes and sniffled.  
  
“Thanks, dad…” Derek murmured quietly.  
  
Jayden blinked at the unexpected words before smiling and saying, “You’re welcome. I hope you’ll think twice from now on.”  
  
Derek nodded weakly, but didn’t look at him. Instead he stared into his lap again.  
  
After a few silent seconds, Jayden got up from the bed. “Come on,” he said, looking at Derek. “You and I are going for a ride.”  
  
Derek finally lifted his head and blinked at him “Where?”  
  
“To see that girl from today,” Jayden replied, serious. “I’m not gonna sleep properly until I know my son has apologized for what he’s done. You owe her an apology and you will give it to her. Right now.”  
  
A look of dread spread across Derek’s face. “What? No! I’m not going to her house!”  
  
“Yes, you are,” Jayden replied with a stubborn growl. “You don’t get to run away from what you did. You’ll go to her house and give her the apology you owe her. It’s called ‘taking responsibility for your actions’. You don’t get to just hide in your room after what you did. I won’t allow it.”  
  
“But, dad! She’s not gonna want to see me—”  
  
“You’ll go and apologize,” Jayden cut him off with a growl, and Derek knew this was the end of the discussion.  
  
Derek stared at his dad in disbelief before growling in irritation and anger. _“Fine.”_  
  
Derek really didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to look at the girl after what had happened today, but it didn’t seem like his dad was giving him a choice. Once again, he felt angry at his dad for bossing him around, even though part of him knew it was the right thing to do. He was just too afraid to.  
  
Derek reluctantly followed his dad out of the room and down the stairs. He crossed his arms across his chest, showing defiance about Jayden’s decision, and a dark, grumpy look covered his face.  
  
Noah, Dylan, and Claire were in the living room, and Noah went to the entrance hall to see what was going on when he heard Jayden and Derek come down the stairs. He looked worried when he saw Derek looking upset and how he staying behind Jayden.  
  
“What is it?” Noah asked Jayden when he felt something was going on.  
  
“Derek and I are going for a small ride,” Jayden announced and he opened the closest under the stairs and pulled out his jacket. “Derek’s going to take responsibility for his actions today and apologize to that girl.”  
  
Derek looked away with an angry pout, still not liking this idea one bit.  
  
“Oh.” Noah seemed surprised by the decision as well, but he agreed it was a good thing to apologize for it. “Alright. We’ll wait for you to come back. But remember to pick up Nathan.”  
  
They would be having a nice dinner tonight for Claire’s birthday, and Jayden was supposed to go pick up Nathan tonight so he could join them.  
  
“Yeah, we’ll pick him up on the way back,” Jayden said, smiling at Noah as he leaned in to kiss him goodbye for now.  
  
They all looked up when a very upset Claire came running into the entrance hall. “Nooo, don’t go! It’s still my birthday, and we never got to go anywhere with mom!”  
  
Claire had been really disappointed that their afternoon plans were ruined, but she had been even more worried about Derek when she heard that he had gotten into trouble. She glanced up at Derek as she begged them not to go, but her brother wouldn’t quite meet her eyes.  
  
“Aw, I’m sorry, sweetie…” Jayden bent down to press a soft kiss to the top of Claire’s head. “We’ll all go do something together next weekend instead, okay? But Derek and I have to go for a bit now…”  
  
Claire looked disappointed but understanding. She knew her dad wouldn’t leave on her birthday unless he had to.  
  
Dylan was standing behind them, leaning against the doorframe of the living room as he observed them quietly. He looked at Derek, who refused to look at any of them. He had heard from Noah that Derek had gotten expelled from his high school, but it hadn’t really surprised him much. He knew how Derek always got himself into trouble and he had just been waiting for it to get worse.  
  
Derek silently put on his shoes before following his dad out of the house and out to the car.  
  
Claire waved goodbye at them from the front door as they drove away, and Derek bit his lip nervously inside the car when he realized there was no turning back now.

  
***

  
Jayden got the address from Derek, who remembered having seen the girl, whose name was Sarah, on the school bus a few times and knew where she usually got on and off the bus.  
  
Derek’s palms were sweaty from anxiety as they drove towards the house where Sarah lived. His heart was hammering in his chest, and he definitely did not want to face the girl after what had happened between them today. He was also pretty sure that Sarah had no interest in seeing him either. But Jayden insisted that they had to do it, and Derek knew there was nothing he could say to make his dad change his mind. He knew his dad had a point, though. He had to man up and take responsibility, even if he was too scared to.  
  
It took about ten minutes to drive to the house. After Jayden confirmed that the name on the mailbox was right, he pulled the car into the driveway.  
  
The house was a white one-story house in a quiet neighborhood, and it didn’t look particularly big.  
  
Jayden got out of the car and waited for Derek to follow before walking up to the front door.  
  
It was getting cloudy now and a few drops of rain were falling, fitting the mood almost perfectly.  
  
Derek stayed behind his dad as they walked up to the house, feeling kind of afraid that they would spot him from the windows.  
  
Jayden walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell, waiting for someone to open. This wasn’t going to be easy, he knew that, but he knew it was important for Derek as well as for Sarah that Derek said his apology.  
  
After a few seconds the door was opened by a beta demon, who eyed Jayden with suspicion. It was the girl’s father, whom Jayden had seen leave the headmaster’s office with the girl earlier today.  
  
When the beta demon recognized Jayden from the school and saw Derek lingering behind him, he immediately spread his wings and growled in anger.  
  
“How dare you show up at my house after what you did?!” the beta snarled at Derek.  
  
Derek stepped back a little, but he wasn’t really intimidated by a beta.  
  
Jayden got in front of the beta, blocking his view of Derek. “He’s here to apologize for what he did earlier,” he explained, his voice calm to avoid a fight. “I’m sorry for showing up at your door like this after everything that’s happened. He’s got no excuse for what he did, but he really wants to offer your daughter an apology. I’m hoping you will let him, so he can learn to take responsibility for his actions.”  
  
The beta demon looked a little surprised that they had come to apologize. He eyed Jayden with utmost suspicion before glancing over Jayden’s shoulder at Derek, who lifted his gaze a bit to meet his.  
  
“Please let him do this,” Jayden went on when the beta seemed to hesitate. “It won’t take long, and I think your daughter deserves an apology after what she’s been through. It might help her heal…”  
  
The beta seemed to ponder Jayden’s words and what to do. After what seemed like ages, he finally seemed to soften up a bit.  
  
“Alright. I hope this apology will help make daughter feel a little better, though I kind of doubt it,” the beta said, his voice tight. “But this does _not_ mean that I won’t involve the police in this! I won’t have someone do this to my daughter without consequences!”  
  
Derek flinched a bit at the mention of police.  
  
“I understand,” Jayden spoke, still calm. “We’re not here to talk you out of it, just to take some responsibility.”  
  
The beta nodded, seemingly pleased. He then excused himself as he went inside to get his daughter.  
  
Derek and Jayden waited almost a minute at the door in awkward silence.  
  
Derek was shifting nervously. All he wanted to do was to run away from it all, but his dad would kill him if he did. Besides, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get that girl’s face out of his head before he had talked to her and had gotten the apology off his chest.  
  
A minute later, the beta appeared at the door again. Next to him was the girl from earlier – Sarah. Her eyes were red from crying, and she hugged her arms around herself as she stood next to her father. She glanced a bit up at Jayden before looking at Derek. Her body was tense, and it was pretty clear that her father had had to persuade her to come to the door and face Derek again.  
  
The beta went to stand behind his daughter in the doorway, while Jayden gently pushed Derek forward.  
  
Derek and Sarah were now standing in front of each other, both trying not to look at the other, but being painfully aware that their fathers were watching.  
  
Seeing Sarah so upset and her eyes so red from crying only made Derek feel worse. He had noticed the way she had flinched back a bit when he stepped forward, and he didn’t quite like that either.  
  
“I, um…” Derek began, keeping his head down and his hands in his pockets as he dared a glance at the girl, who still would not meet his eyes. He brought a hand up and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. It took a few seconds before he could speak again. “I’m sorry… about today. I was being a jerk. I just… I didn’t want to get on Steven’s bad side if I didn’t join. I’m really sorry that I hurt you.”  
  
Sarah swallowed, taking a moment to process Derek’s apology. She still did not look at him, but after a few seconds she finally lifted her gaze to glare at him. “Did you just come here ‘cause your dad told you to?”  
  
There was anger in Sarah’s voice and Derek couldn’t really blame her. He had no idea what it was like to be cornered by a group of sexist alphas and groped and humiliated like that, but he could imagine that it was one of the worst feelings ever. That only made him feel more guilty.  
  
“At first, yeah,” Derek admitted, shifting awkwardly again. “But I would have come here sooner or later anyway. I feel bad about what happened.”  
  
Sarah’s face softened just a little bit when she heard the sincerity in Derek’s voice.  
  
“I just want to say I’m sorry. I should not have joined when Steven walked into that shower room, and I should have talked him out of it.”  
  
Both Jayden and Sarah’s father were watching them quietly, and Sarah went a bit quiet after Derek’s words. She stared at the ground as if wondering what to say to that.  
  
After a few moments, Sarah spoke again. “I… I know you said no when Steven told you t-to film me.” Her voice broke and new tears appeared in her eyes. She sobbed and looked away to wipe the tears from her eyes before looking at the ground again. “But you’re still a fucking asshole for doing it.”  
  
Derek cringed. He couldn’t really be angry at her for calling him an asshole because he knew she was right, but it still wasn’t pleasant to have a girl talk to him like that in the presence of his dad. It was pretty humiliating. But he sucked it up and nodded quietly instead. “Yeah, sorry…”  
  
“But…” Sarah began, and Derek lifted his gaze to look at her when she hesitated. She cleared her throat a bit before saying, “Thanks for apologizing, at least. The others didn’t do that. No alpha has ever apologized to me like that before… They usually never care.”  
  
Jayden smiled when he could see that Derek’s apology had had a positive effect on Sarah, even though she was still really upset about today.  
  
Derek just blinked, surprised to hear her thank him.  
  
The beta placed a hand on his daughter’s shoulder and gently pulled her back from Derek. There was nothing left to discuss now and he wanted his daughter back inside the house where it was safe.  
  
Derek watched quietly as Sarah walked back into the house, and then the beta placed himself in the middle of the doorway as if to protect his home.  
  
Jayden knew it was time to go now, but he addressed the beta before that. “Thank you for letting my son say his apology. I’m really sorry about what happened, and I hope your daughter will be okay.”  
  
The beta nodded quietly. He seemed much calmer now than he had when they had first shown up.  
  
Jayden and Derek were about to leave when the beta suddenly spoke up.  
  
“Hey.”  
  
Jayden turned and looked at the beta again, blinking.  
  
The beta cleared his throat awkwardly before saying, “I, uh… I think your son seems to have learned his lesson today, being expelled and all… So, uh… I’ll consider not pressing any charges against him and the other boy Dwayne. Sarah told me that they both stayed in the background and only participated ‘cause of that boy Steven. But I won’t let those others boys get away with what they did.”  
  
The beta said the words with an angry growl, and Jayden couldn’t blame him for being so angry. Jayden would angry as well if someone ever did that to Claire.  
  
Jayden offered him a grateful smile and a nod. “Thank you for that. And yeah, Steven is definitely bad news… I’m afraid he’s the type that won’t learn his lesson so easily. I’m sorry your daughter had to be his victim.”  
  
The beta nodded, and Jayden wished him a good night before walking away from the house with Derek.  
  
Jayden was pleased that it had gone so well. He had expected a lot more trouble than this, and he was pleasantly surprised that Derek had controlled his temper and had apologized properly to the girl. He almost couldn’t recognize his own son anymore, but that was a good thing. Maybe Derek’s troublesome behavior would change a bit now that he had gotten an eye-opener like this.  
  
Jayden and Derek walked down the driveway and got into the car in silence. Jayden waited for a couple of kids on their bikes to pass them before pulling the car into the street and driving off.  
  
The mood was definitely a lot lighter now, and Jayden glanced at Derek every now and then to see his son staring out the window and not into his lap anymore. He saw that as a sign that a big weight had been lifted off of Derek’s chest, which was good. The boy would learn from this.  
  
Jayden set the course for the college where they had to pick up Nathan so he could home with them for Claire’s birthday. He was a little upset that Claire’s birthday had kind of gotten ruined because of what Derek had done, but that couldn’t be helped now. He just hoped that Claire wasn’t too sad about it.  
  
After driving most of the way in silence, Jayden finally spoke.  
  
“That was real nice, what you did,” he said, glancing at Derek with a proud smile. “You said the words well and you controlled your temper when she badmouthed you. I’m proud of you for that.”  
  
He saw Derek tense a little before his son turned to look at him in surprise. It was very rare that Derek ever did anything to deserve those words from Jayden, but Jayden felt he had definitely deserved them now.  
  
“But,” Jayden said next, noticing Derek tense again. “You’re still in really big trouble for what you did today, you know that, right?”  
  
Derek cringed and nodded quietly. “Yeah, I know…”  
  
“Don’t even for _one_ second think that you won’t face any consequences for this,” Jayden went on, his voice tight and serious as he turned his attention back to the road. “I haven’t made up my mind yet for long you should be grounded, not to mention all the housework I’ll have you do as punishment. Now that you’re expelled, it will take a couple of weeks before we can get you into a new school, so you’ll have lots of time to clean every single room in the house.”  
  
Derek groaned loudly. “Fucking great…” he muttered, staring out the window with a moody expression.  
  
Jayden ignored Derek’s attitude and went on. “And I hope you’ll spend the night reflecting on all the bad things you’ve done and the pain you’ve caused today, ‘cause it’s going to stick with that girl for the rest of her life, you understand? You might have apologized to her – which was the right thing to do and it probably helped her feel a little better – but she’s going to be marked with this experience for the rest of her life. Your actions have consequences, remember that.”  
  
Derek nodded and sank a little into his seat. “Yeah, I know.” He folded his arms across his chest and kept staring out the window, away from his dad.  
  
Jayden glanced at him, seeing that Derek was in deep thought about what he had just said, even though his attitude had gotten bad again. Jayden decided not to comment on it, though, and they drove the rest of the way to the college in silence.

  
***

  
When they arrived at the college, Jayden called Nathan on the phone to tell him where they were parked so he could come out and find them.  
  
Jayden and Derek waited in the car in silence for about five minutes until Nathan finally showed up.  
  
“Hey,” Nathan greeted them with a smile, getting into the backseat and pulling on his seatbelt.  
  
“Hi,” Jayden greeted him back, turning his head around to smile at him before starting the car again. “Did you have a nice day?”  
  
Nathan shrugged lightly. “Yeah, it was okay. Just busy with projects and stuff.” When Jayden began driving, Nathan spoke again. “So what’s up? Did Claire get any good presents today?”  
  
Jayden laughed softly. “Yeah, I think she liked them a lot. Particularly the dress she had wanted for so long.”  
  
“Oh, you got it for her? Good, then I won’t have to listen to her talking about how much she wants it anymore,” Nathan chuckled.  
  
Jayden laughed at that, while Derek didn’t say anything. Derek just stared out the side window, absently listening to their conversation, which he wasn’t much interested in.  
  
When Nathan noticed Derek’s absentness, he commented, “What crawled up Derek’s ass and died?”  
  
Derek just snorted, not bothering to reply to Nathan’s stupid comment.  
  
Jayden cast a quick glance at Derek. When his son didn’t offer a reply, Jayden decided to answer Nathan’s question. “Don’t mind him. He’s got a lot to think about after he got himself expelled from his high school today.”  
  
Nathan’s eyes widened in shocked surprise, though it was probably more shock than surprise.  
  
Derek glared a bit at his dad for mentioning it to Nathan, but he knew there was no chance of going through tonight without Nathan hearing about it. He still didn’t say anything, though.  
  
“Whoa, seriously?” Nathan finally said, blinking between the two. “What the hell did you do now, Derek?”  
  
Derek wanted to snap at his older brother for talking to him like that, but instead he just sank a bit into his seat and kept staring out the window. “I fucked up. Is that what you wanna hear? ‘Cause that’s what happened and I don’t wanna talk about it.”  
  
Nathan blinked a bit, surprised that Derek didn’t get more defensive about it. He had expected him to be all hell and fury about it, but instead he was just being irritable and shut off.  
  
Jayden glanced a bit between the two before telling Nathan, “I’ll tell you about it later. It’s a long story.”  
  
Nathan just nodded and sat back into his seat, wondering what had happened.

  
***

  
When they got home, Claire was jumping around in excitement that Nathan was finally there. As soon as he walked in the door, she ran over to hug him.  
  
“Nathan! So happy to see you!” Claire grinned, wrapping her arms tightly around her oldest brother.  
  
“Hey, Claire,” Nathan greeted her, returning the hug. “Happy birthday!”  
  
“Thanks,” she grinned, stepping back to look at him. She frowned when she noticed that Joanne was absent. “Where’s Joanne?”  
  
“She had to study and couldn’t come,” Nathan told her, feeling a bit bad because he knew how much his sister liked her. “But she promised she’d come home with me next time.”  
  
Claire pouted a bit, but was understanding about it.  
  
Noah and Dylan went to hug Nathan as well. It had been almost a month since they had last seen him and they had missed him.  
  
Derek lingered in the background, keeping his hands in his pockets and looking away. He didn’t feel like being social after everything that had happened today, but he didn’t want to upset his sister by just going to his room straight away.  
  
“Still no girlfriend, Dylan?” Nathan asked him after they pulled away from their hug. He pushed his little brother playfully on the shoulder as he grinned at him. “Or boyfriend, maybe?”  
  
A small blush appeared on Dylan’s cheeks. “Nah… I’m only thirteen, you know.”  
  
Nathan laughed. “Yeah, I know. I was just asking.”  
  
“I wanna meet Dylan’s girlfriend or boyfriend too!” Claire blurted, already looking excited about it.  
  
Nathan laughed and Dylan’s cheeks got a bit redder.  
  
“But I don’t have one,” Dylan said, chuckling awkwardly.  
  
“But when you do, I wanna meet them!”  
  
Jayden laughed at that and gently ruffled Claire’s hair. “I’m sure Dylan will let you meet his future girl- or boyfriend when he gets one.”  
  
Noah chuckled at the exchange, and felt a little sorry for Dylan when he noticed his red cheeks.  
  
When Nathan, Claire, and Dylan went into the living room so Nathan could give Claire the present from him, Noah went over to Jayden who was still in the entrance hall with Derek.  
  
“How did it go?” Noah asked, glancing between Jayden and Derek.  
  
“It went pretty well,” Jayden smiled. “Derek said his apology really well, and I think it was well received.”  
  
Noah sighed in relief before smiling proudly at Derek. “That’s good. I’m glad you apologized to her.”  
  
Derek shifted awkwardly and nodded at his mom’s words.  
  
Noah’s face then turned more serious. “But don’t you _ever_ do that to anyone again!” he scolded.  
  
Both Jayden and Derek were surprised by Noah’s sudden scolding and how he was glaring at Derek.  
  
“I will _not_ accept any of my children being bullies!” Noah went on, his voice tight with anger and disappointment. “I don’t want you to ever see that Steven again!”  
  
Derek was still somewhat in shock about Noah scolding him like that with no warning. Part of him was defiant, because he really didn’t like being bossed around by submissives, but he kept quiet and instead just nodded. “Yeah, got it. Sorry…”  
  
Jayden smiled, pleased that Derek hadn’t gotten defense or upset by Noah talking to him like that. He knew how Derek had authority problems and would only listen to alphas, whom he considered to be the only equals to himself.  
  
“Mommy! Daddy! Derek!” came Claire’s voice from the living room, snapping everyone back to reality. “Nathan says I can’t open my present until everyone is here! So hurry up! I wanna open it!”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at that. “We’re coming! Don’t open it yet!”  
  
Jayden went to the living room first, while Derek hesitated a bit. He didn’t go until Noah gave him a gentle smile and nodded for him to come and join them.  
  
They headed to the living room where Claire could finally open her present, which turned out to be a very fluffy bunny plushie. She still liked stuffed animals a lot and had a whole collection in her room. Noah kind of had the feeling she was one of those kids who would keep their stuffed animals when they were adults as well.  
  
Claire was ecstatic about the present and gave Nathan a big hug as she thanked him.  
  
After Claire had gotten her present, Jayden went to prepare dinner with Noah while the kids stayed in the living room to be social. Derek didn’t say much that night, and Nathan learned about what had happened when he went to the kitchen to ask his parents about it.  
  
None of them approved of what Derek had done, but it was good that Derek seemed to have learned from it and was reflecting on his actions.  
  
Claire had been really disappointed that they hadn’t gotten to do all the fun stuff on her birthday that she had looked forward to, but being around all of her brothers made her feel a little better. She forgave Derek for kind of screwing up her birthday, and she tried to cheer him up a bit when she sensed that his mood was bad.  
  
Jayden and Noah easily noticed how quiet things were between Nathan and Derek that night. They usually got into fights over the smallest things, but Derek wasn’t as snappy as usual, and Nathan didn’t do as much to try to provoke him as he usually did. It was nice that they had a quiet night for once, and Dylan thought so too.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've planned that conversation between Jayden and Derek for months now, but it was still pretty tricky to write it. I hope it turned out well :) Expect to see some changes in Derek from now on!
> 
> And my beta informed me that in the US, you can't work before you're 15 years old. In my country it's 13, and since this story is in a fictional universe far into the future, I've decided to bend the rules from reality to make it fit my story. Just so Dylan can keep his part time job :)  
> I'm probably bending those rules a lot, so please don't pay too much attention to things that are different from real life.


	65. Chapter 65

**August 2071 (Noah is 45, Jayden is 47, Nathan is 21 (almost 22), Derek is 17, Dylan is 13 (almost 14), Claire is 9 years old).**  
  
In August came the day that all kids dreaded – the first day of school in the new school year. The summer holidays were over and the kids had to go back to school and learn new things with their classmates.  
  
Claire was rather excited to go back to school. She looked forward to seeing her friends again, although she wasn’t very excited about the homework.  
  
Her excitement about seeing all her friends again made her jump out of bed as soon as Noah had woken her up and had told her to get dressed and come downstairs for breakfast. She quickly got dressed and went out of her room, but instead of going downstairs just yet, she went over to Dylan’s room.  
  
“Dylan! You have to get up! It’s the first day of school!” Claire told him through the door, unable to hide her excitement.  
  
She heard a murmuring noise from inside the room, but she couldn’t hear what Dylan was saying. Knowing that Dylan wasn’t going to be angry like Derek if she went into his room, she opened the door and jumped inside.  
  
“Are you up yet?” she asked, grinning as she jumped over to Dylan, who was still in bed.  
  
“God, Claire… How can you be so awake already?” Dylan chuckled, lying on his stomach on the bed and lifting his head a bit from his pillow to look at his sister. He was dressed in a t-shirt and his boxers, and his feathers were all ruffled and messy from sleep.  
  
Claire just giggled and pointed at Dylan’s messy feathers. “You’ve got bed feathers!”  
  
Dylan picked up his pillow at threw it at his sister, who laughed when the soft pillow hit her and afterwards landed on the floor. “And you’ve got bed hair, young lady, so don’t point your finger at me,” he told her with a chuckle.  
  
Claire unconsciously moved her hands up and ran her fingers through her dark blonde hair, realizing he was right. “Yeah… I forgot to brush it.”  
  
“Be careful the birds don’t start nesting in there.”  
  
Claire picked up Dylan’s pillow and threw it at him. “They won’t!”  
  
“You sure about that?” Dylan asked, smirking. He grabbed the pillow after it hit his shoulder and put it back down into its right place on the bed again.  
  
For a moment Dylan could see the tiniest bit of doubt on his sister’s face, which was pretty hilarious, before she got a stubborn look on her face and shook her head heavily.  
  
“Yeah, I’m sure!”  
  
Dylan chuckled at her. “You’re supposed to nod your head when you agree, not shake it, you dummy.”  
  
His sister’s face blushed with embarrassment over her error, and then she threw herself at Dylan on the bed to smack him. “Stupid Dylan!” she laughed, and Dylan laughed too as he tried to capture her hands.  
  
The two of them were pretty loud as they wrestled around playfully, and they forgot all about the door, which was wide open and making their noise echo through the upstairs hallway. Jayden was still asleep, and Derek was probably still snoozing.  
  
It didn’t take long before they heard Derek’s annoyed footsteps just outside the door, and they looked over to the door to see their big brother standing in it, glaring at them.  
  
“Fuck, you two are so noisy,” Derek complained, looking utterly annoyed. His eyes looked sleepy and his feathers were ruffled from sleep. His hair was a little messy as well as he hadn’t had the time to put gel into it yet to style it. His hair wasn’t as long as Dylan’s, but it was shorter in the sides than at the top. It was at the top he usually used some gel to spike it up a bit.  
  
The two of them felt a little guilty about disturbing Derek’s sleep, but then Claire suddenly laughed and pointed at Derek.  
  
“Derek has bed hair and feathers too!” she exclaimed, giggling like crazy.  
  
The offended frown that appeared on Derek’s face made Dylan crack up, and that only made Derek glare at him more.  
  
Derek rolled his eyes at them before leaving again and heading to the bathroom.  
  
Dylan was still laughing, and Claire giggled when she saw how amused Dylan was.  
  
Dylan half expected their dad to come out of his room too, because there was no doubt he was able to hear their noise as well, but he didn’t show up. Dylan guessed he was probably too tired to get up and tell them to be quiet. Jayden had worked until midnight last night, so he was probably dead tired now.  
  
“Now scram. I’m gonna get dressed,” Dylan told his sister with a fond tone after Derek had gone. He gently pushed her off his bed and got to his feet as well.  
  
“Eww!” Claire exclaimed, covering her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see her brother undress.  
  
Dylan laughed at her as she went to leave the room and how she tried to find the doorknob so she could close the door behind her while still covering her eyes. She fumbled around for a bit before finding the doorknob and closing the door behind her as she left.  
  
Once she was gone, Dylan went to get dressed for school.  
  
Dylan felt pretty sad about the holidays already being over, but he did look forward to seeing his classmates again. He wondered what they had all been up to. Dylan and the family hadn’t done that much this summer except for going to the aquarium, to an amusement park in L.A., and visiting family members. He and Claire had spent four days at Dean and Castiel’s house on holidays, which had been pretty fun. Derek hadn’t joined; he had stayed at Dwayne’s house, and Nathan had been with Joanne for most of the holidays.  
  
Dylan yawned as he rummaged through his dresser, trying to find something to wear today. Every shirt he found wasn’t really what he wanted to wear, and he ended up searching for about a minute until he found one of his old favorites. Unfortunately, the shirt turned out to be too small for him now. He let out a loud, annoyed groan when he realized it didn’t fit him anymore and that he would have to get new clothes again soon. He was growing so fast and it was difficult to keep a proper wardrobe with that.  
  
He found another shirt to wear and got dressed before heading downstairs.  
  
Derek was still in the bathroom, and Dylan rolled his eyes at that, wondering how long it could possibly take for his brother to be finished in there. At least they had two bathrooms, so Dylan could just go downstairs to pee instead.  
  
Claire was already almost done with her cereal when Dylan showed up in the kitchen.  
  
“Morning,” he greeted Noah, yawning.  
  
“Good morning,” Noah smiled as he stood at the kitchen counter and prepared lunch for everyone. “Did you sleep well before your first school day after the summer holidays?”  
  
“Yeah, kind of,” Dylan replied with a yawn before going over to Noah.  
  
Noah looked up when Dylan placed an old shirt of his next to him on the kitchen counter.  
  
“It doesn’t fit anymore,” Dylan explained. “I, uh… Can I get a new one? It’s the third shirt this month that doesn’t fit me anymore…”  
  
Dylan was still working part time at the restaurant after school, but Noah insisted that he and Jayden would continue buying clothes for him until he was eighteen, so that Dylan should use his money for other things that he wanted.  
  
“Yeah, sure,” Noah said, looking at the shirt with a small frown before looking back at Dylan. He was still trying to get used to Dylan being taller than him now, and it almost felt like he had to look up a little further at him every day. “Just find something online that you want and then I’ll buy it for you.”  
  
“Thanks, mom,” Dylan smiled before going over to the table where Claire was eating. He sat down opposite her and poured some cereal for himself.  
  
“Did Derek fall into da toilet?” Claire asked, giggling.  
  
Dylan laughed. “I don’t know. I didn’t hear any splashes when I walked by the bathroom earlier. Even if I did, I don’t really want to go in and help him up…”  
  
Claire laughed out loud, and even Noah couldn’t help but chuckle at it.  
  
A few moments later, they heard a noise from the stairs. A few seconds after that, Derek appeared in the kitchen, looking sleepy and grumpy in the morning as usual. He quietly sat down next to Claire at the table and poured some cereal.  
  
“Good morning, Derek,” Noah said when Derek forgot to say anything.  
  
“Morning,” Derek murmured.  
  
“I think Derek is sleepy,” Claire giggled.  
  
“Yeah. I don’t know whose idea it was for school to start so early, but whoever it was, I hate that guy,” Derek muttered as he poured milk into his cereal and began eating.  
  
Claire laughed at that and Dylan chuckled in agreement.  
  
Noah paused what he was doing for a moment and turned to face the kids, looking at Derek. “Are you going to your practice tonight?” He was referring to Derek’s Jeet kune Do classes, which were 4-5 days a week at 7-9pm.  
  
“No, but tomorrow I am,” Derek replied with his mouth full of cereal.  
  
“Can I ask you to pick up Claire from Maria’s house tonight then? She’s going there after school. Your father and I have a meeting at the bank at 6:30, and we won’t be home until around 8pm because we’re going to shop for some groceries afterwards.”  
  
Derek let out an annoyed groan. “Why don’t you ask Dylan to pick her up and walk her home?”  
  
“’Cause I’m working tonight,” Dylan explained, giving his brother an accusing glare for being so troublesome.  
  
“Fine,” Derek grunted. He turned to look at Claire, who felt a little awkward at the moment. “I’ll come pick you up at around 6pm, okay? You better be ready then.”  
  
Claire nodded, smiling at the prospect of being picked up by Derek and being alone with him at home before their parents showed up. “Okay!”  
  
Dylan felt a little worried, though. He wondered if Derek could handle being on his own with Claire without just heading up to his room like usual. Claire would be really sad if he just left her alone like that.  
  
Suddenly, Dylan turned his head and looked over at Noah with a frown. “Isn’t 6:30 a little late for a meeting at the bank?”  
  
Noah sighed. “Yeah, but it’s the only time we have for it. Your dad is really busy at work lately after his boss got sick, so most of the responsibility rests on him now.”  
  
Jayden’s boss, who was the owner of the restaurant, had recently had an embolism and was now on a sick leave. Jayden was the next in the line of command, so he had to take over while his boss was away. It was kind of stressful and there was a lot to do, so he spent more time at work than usual. These days he was at work for about 10-16 hours a day, five days a week, and sometimes he had to work for 5-10 hours a day on the two remaining days of the week, where he would otherwise usually be free.  
  
Dylan mostly worked 2-4 hours at the restaurant after school, and sometimes for up to 6 hours a day on the weekends. As a young worker under 18 years of age, he wasn’t allowed to work as much as an adult. There were certain rules about that.  
  
“Ah, I see…” Dylan said when he got his answer.  
  
“I dun like how dad is always working…” Claire murmured, leaning back into her chair with a sad look on her face.  
  
“Yeah, but he has no choice,” Dylan told her. “And I don’t think he likes it either…”  
  
Noah smiled sadly at Claire. “Don’t worry. I’m sure his boss will be okay again soon, and then your dad will work less and have more time at home again.”  
  
Claire still looked a little upset, though, but she knew it couldn’t be helped.

  
***

  
The kids took the bus to school as usual, having mixed feelings about going back to their schools.  
  
Dylan’s classes started at 8am that day. It was a little odd to be back in school again, but it was nice seeing all his classmates after the holidays, especially his friend Benjamin, who had been with his family on a vacation to Europe for the past three weeks.  
  
Dylan was still in middle school, but next year he would start as a freshman in high school. He didn’t really look forward to that. He liked his school and he didn’t want to move to a new one. But at least there was a whole year until then.  
  
The first day of school after the holidays went by quietly, as the students as well at the teachers first had to get used to their daily routines again.  
  
Dylan thought the day passed by rather slowly, which was actually a bit annoying.  
  
After lunch they had P.E. class. It was the class that everybody hated the most, especially when the weather was as hot as it was today.  
  
Dylan and Benjamin changed into their P.E. clothes and went outside on the field to wait for the rest of the students and the teacher to appear. The two of them were chatting about their holidays and Dylan was laughing at some story Benjamin told him about his trip to Europe, when suddenly a tennis shoe was thrown over to them and landed on the ground in front of Dylan.  
  
Dylan bent down to pick up the shoe and give it back to the person he could sense was running over to get it. “Here,” he said with a friendly smile when he straightened up and handed the shoe back to the girl whom it belonged to.  
  
Suddenly, Dylan looked right into a familiar face.  
  
There was an angel/demon hybrid girl standing in front of him. He immediately recognized those icy blue eyes, the long blonde hair, the pretty facial features, as well as the white wings with grey and red feathers, and how the left wing was a little crooked from an old injury.  
  
“Thanks,” the girl said, giving him a grateful smile as she took the shoe from his hand. Her expression suddenly changed when she seemed to find him familiar as well, and her eyes soon widened in recognition. “Dylan?” she asked carefully, her jaw dropping a little in disbelief.  
  
“Melody,” Dylan grinned, his tail flicking a bit behind him at the joy of seeing his old roommate from the hospital again. He remembered her quite well from back when he had been hospitalized when he had had blood poisoning. They had shared rooms for a few days and had kept each other company during their recovery.  
  
Melody had grown quite a bit since they last saw each other, but she wasn’t as tall as Dylan was now.  
  
Dylan was a little surprised to see her, and he caught himself staring at the boobs she hadn’t had last time he saw her, before looking away quickly and hoping that no one noticed that.  
  
“Wow, what a coincidence,” Melody grinned, still holding her shoe and unconsciously pressing it against her chest while being so excited. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”  
  
Dylan ignored how Benjamin was staring between them in utter confusion and was probably wondering how Dylan knew that girl.  
  
“Yeah, same,” Dylan grinned back. “And since when do you go to this school?” He couldn’t remember having seen her at the school before, and since they were in the same P.E. class, that would mean that Melody was in his parallel class.  
  
“I just started here today,” she admitted, shifting shyly as she smiled at him. “I, um… I had to leave my old school in the other end of town and then I got transferred to this school. Honestly, I couldn’t remember if it was this school or the other nearby that you attended, but I’m pretty glad it’s this one.”  
  
Dylan smiled and tried not to blush when she said that she was glad to have ended up in the same school as him.  
  
Melody gave him a shy smile before she got down on one knee to put on her shoe and tie the shoelace. She had been wearing only one shoe during their talk, and Dylan guessed someone had taken the other shoe before she could put it on and had thrown it across the field.  
  
“Who threw your shoe?” Dylan asked, frowning. He glanced around at the other students on the field, wondering who would be so cruel to a new student.  
  
“Ah, it was one of the girls,” Melody said, getting to her feet again after she had put on her shoe. “I actually know one of the girls a little bit from elsewhere before I started at this school, and the girl who threw my shoe is one of her friends. I think she was just messing with me.” She glanced over her shoulder at the demon girl in question, who was busy laughing at something with a couple of boys.  
  
When the demon girl noticed Melody looking her way, she quickly ran over to her and Dylan.  
  
“Sorry for throwing your shoe away!” the girl said, giving Melody a look of apology. “That’s how new members of our group are initiated.”  
  
A couple of other girls came over, laughing friendly and gathering around Melody.  
  
“Don’t listen to her. She’s just a prankster who enjoys doing those things,” said one of the other girls, who was a brunette human girl. Dylan knew she was called Maggie. He guessed it was probably her whom Melody knew from elsewhere, judging by the way Melody moved a little closer to her.  
  
The demon girl laughed. “Yeah, sometimes I can’t help it. Don’t mind me.”  
  
Melody chuckled and seemed very forgiving of the mischief. “It’s okay.”  
  
“Still wanna hang out with us?” the demon girl asked, laughing as she wrapped a friendly arm around Melody’s shoulders and led her away in the direction of the teacher, who had just arrived.  
  
“I’ll give it a try,” Melody chuckled, making the other girls laugh.  
  
Dylan was glad that Melody seemed to have made some friends already. He knew those girls from his parallel class. The demon girl – Andrea was her name – was a bit like a female version of Isaac; very outgoing, loud, and liked to pull pranks. The girls were all very nice, though, and they always stood up for others, so Dylan knew that Melody was in good company.  
  
Melody went with the girls over to the teacher, but glanced over her shoulder at Dylan. She gave him a shy, friendly smile, and Dylan felt his heart jump in his chest before smiling back, feeling a little awkward all of sudden.  
  
When Dylan finally snapped out of it and looked away from Melody, he noticed how Benjamin was snickering next to him. Frowning, Dylan turned and gave his friend a questioning look.  
  
When noticing Dylan’s look, Benjamin said, “Someone’s popular with the girls, huh? How do you know that girl?”  
  
“Oh. I, uh… Remember when I was at the hospital for blood poisoning a few years back?”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Well, she was my roommate when I stayed there,” Dylan explained, shrugging a bit. “We became friends, that’s all.”  
  
“Really?” Benjamin quirked his eyebrow a bit. “That’s like four years ago and she still remembers you. You guys must have gotten _pretty_ good friends in just three days or however long you shared rooms for.”  
  
Dylan felt his cheeks blush when he sensed what Benjamin was implying. “Hey, we were just kids!”  
  
Benjamin laughed and dodged Dylan’s hand when his friend tried to smack his arm. “I know, but still… She seemed pretty happy to see you again.”  
  
“Well, yeah… She’s an angel/demon hybrid like me. It’s not often we meet others like us outside our families, so of course we’d remember each other and be happy to see the other again.”  
  
“Yeah, good point…”  
  
Dylan was still blushing a bit as the teacher called for everyone to gather around him so he could give them instructions about what they were going to do for today’s class. Dylan felt himself glance at Melody every now and then, and saw that she glanced at him too. Every time she smiled at him, Dylan felt his heart jump in an odd but pleasant way.

  
***

  
Meanwhile, Derek was trying to get through his day at his new school.  
  
After being expelled from his previous high school, Derek got enrolled in another high school in the end of March. The school was west of his house, while the old school had been to the east. The distance between his house and the school was more or less the same as before, but this high school was a little smaller than the other one.  
  
Neither Derek nor Dwayne had been charged with anything after the incident with the demon girl Sarah back in March. Steven, Ricky, and Miguel, however, had all been reported to the police by Sarah’s father after they had sexually assaulted his daughter.  
  
Steven had not been very happy about someone filing a police report against him, and neither had his father. They had both shown up at Derek’s house a few days later, accusing Jayden of being involved in it, but Jayden had sent them away with a warning that next time they showed up at his property like that, he’d report them to the police as well.  
  
Derek hadn’t spoken to Steven and the others since the incident and neither had Dwayne. He and Dwayne were still good friends, and they had both started in the new high school together in late March, while Steven and the others had gone elsewhere.  
  
They were glad to finally be rid of Steven, and it wasn’t until they were both on their own that they realized what bad company Steven had been. It was a relief to no longer be bossed around by him and feeling pressed into bullying others, but now they had to start all over on finding new friends and not ending up like losers at the school. The first few weeks at the new school had been difficult, though, especially because a lot of the alphas there knew Steven and his brother. They had found a few guys to hang out with sometimes, but they didn’t spend that much time with them.  
  
Derek’s first class of the day was English, and it had been really difficult to not fall asleep during class. After that they had had math and physics, and it wasn’t even noon yet before Derek already felt fed up with classes. He was glad he shared a lot of his classes with Dwayne, at least then he wouldn’t get too bored.  
  
When it was time for lunch, Derek and Dwayne went to their lockers to get their lunchboxes, which they had stored in there.  
  
As they stood in front of their lockers, an alpha angel walked past Dwayne and purposefully walked right into his wing, almost making Dwayne lose his balance and stumble over. When Dwayne looked to see who it was, he saw the alpha angel giving him a mean smirk, and cold shivers ran up Dwayne’s spine when he noticed it was one of Steven’s buddies.  
  
Derek saw what happened and he bit his lip as he tried not confront the guy. He hated turning a blind eye when someone was being an asshole to him or Dwayne, but he didn’t want to get into trouble again. His fists were clenching and his feathers sharpened themselves from anger and his effort to restrain himself.  
  
“What a fucking asshole,” Dwayne muttered after the guy was gone. “I bet Steven told him to annoy the crap out of us.”  
  
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Derek muttered, almost growling.  
  
The two of them closed their lockers and turned to go outside to eat, but then someone further down the corridor caught Derek’s eye.  
  
Derek was surprised to Milan walking through the corridor – the submissive angel whom he had bullied with Steven and the group at the previous high school. The same submissive who had slapped Derek hard across the cheek and called him an asshole once.  
  
Milan was walking with his wings tight against his body and was holding his shoulder bag real close. Derek recognized it as being the same bag that he had once grabbed from him and which had contained Milan’s beautiful drawings.  
  
Derek wondered why Milan was at this school. Had he changed schools as well? But why?  
  
He was so lost in thought that he forgot to look away when Milan came closer.  
  
Suddenly, Milan was only a few feet away, and he stopped abruptly when he spotted Derek and Dwayne.  
  
Derek watched as Milan’s eyes widened in horror, and Derek felt a sting of guilt right in his chest.  
  
Milan kept staring at them in what could only be described as panic. He then took a couple of careful steps back before turning and getting out of there in a hurry, pushing past the other students in the corridor.  
  
“Hey, wasn’t that the sub who bitch-slapped you once?” Dwayne commented next to him, snickering.  
  
Derek glared at him for phrasing it like that. “Yeah, it was. Milan or something…”  
  
“Isn’t he at the wrong school?” Dwayne joked, chuckling.  
  
Derek shrugged and didn’t comment on it. He tried not to think any further about it as he and Dwayne went outside to eat their lunch.

  
***

  
The first day at school went well for Dylan, but he was pretty relieved when his last class ended. He only had an hour and a half until he had to start his shift at the restaurant, so he hung out a bit with Benjamin before going to work.  
  
Dylan’s shift started at 4:30pm and tonight he was working until 8pm. Jayden was leaving at around 6pm to go to the bank with Noah, and afterwards they would come and pick up Dylan when his shift was over. He kind of dreaded that his dad would stay at work when they came to pick him up, though. Everything was so busy with the boss gone, and Jayden had to keep the place running.  
  
It was 6:07pm now, and Dylan was busy working as a waiter. He was actually hired to be a dishwasher, but three weeks ago one of the part time waiters had had a terrible accident and was on sick leave, so Jayden had asked Dylan to step in for a while. Most restaurants didn’t hire waiters who were under 15 years of age, which was why Dylan had been a dishwasher at first. He had been excited to try the job as a waiter, and he was quite good at it. He took orders from the customers that came into the restaurant and served the customers their food when it was ready. He often got strange looks from people – especially the older generation – when they saw him; a young teenage alpha, working as a waiter. It was a job you would mostly see betas doing, while alphas tended to look for more physical jobs. But Dylan ignored their strange looks and was actually quite happy with his new temporary job function.  
  
Dylan had just served a young couple their steaks when he saw a small group of girls entering the restaurant and seating themselves in the corner. He quickly grabbed some menu cards and made his way down to them, putting on his customer-friendly smile.  
  
When he arrived at the table, Dylan was pretty surprised to see that it was Melody and her new friends who had come into the restaurant, and when they spotted him, they looked just as surprised as he was.  
  
“Oh! It’s the shoe guy!” Andrea – the mischievous demon girl – exclaimed and pointed at Dylan.  
  
A few other customers glanced up, making Dylan feel uncomfortably self-conscious, but he chuckled at her words.  
  
“Shouldn’t you have the honor of having that title? Since it was you who threw the shoe,” Dylan said as he placed the menu cards in front of the girls.  
  
Melody was staring at him, clearly amazed to have run into him unexpectedly twice today already.  
  
The human girl Maggie was sitting next to Melody at the table, and Andrea was seated opposite from Melody. Next to Andrea was a dark-skinned human/angel hybrid girl with brown wings, whose name was Sheila.  
  
Andrea laughed at Dylan’s comment and accepted the menu card when he handed it to her.  
  
“You work here?” Melody asked, still blinking at Dylan in disbelief.  
  
“Yeah,” Dylan confirmed, shifting sheepishly. “My dad is the manager of this place, so he helped me get a job here. I’m actually a dishwasher, but one of the part time waiters had an accident, so I’m covering for him for a while.”  
  
“Wow, an alpha waiter,” Andrea commented with a teasing chuckle.  
  
Dylan shrugged. “I don’t mind it. It’s actually quite fun, and I earn some money this way.”  
  
Melody smiled as he spoke, being too busy staring at Dylan to even look at the menu card yet.  
  
“But you better work for your tip!” Andrea added, grinning as she pointed a firm finger at him.  
  
The other girls laughed, and Melody almost felt sorry for Dylan because Andrea was attracting so much attention to them with her loud voice.  
  
“Yes, ma’am,” Dylan chuckled, playing along with her silliness. “I’ll come back in five minutes and see if you guys are ready to order.”  
  
“Thanks,” Melody told him with a smile.  
  
Dylan gave them all a smile before turning to leave, ignoring how some of the other customers were staring a bit.  
  
Melody kept looking at Dylan as he walked away, which did not go unnoticed by her friends.  
  
Suddenly, Andrea leaned across the table and looked at Melody with a knowing smirk. “Ohh, it seems like our newest friend here has a thing for Dylan.”  
  
Melody turned to look at her with wide eyes.  
  
“No way!” Maggie gasped.  
  
The human/angel hybrid – Sheila – made a comment that made Melody blush even more. “Well, he _is_ pretty hot…”  
  
Both Andrea and Maggie laughed at that.  
  
“Hey!” Melody protested, her eyes still wide and her cheeks all red now. “I _don’t_ have the hots for him! I just… I know him, that’s all.”  
  
Andrea made a sound between a snort and a giggle. “Oh, you hear that, girls? She ‘knows him’.”  
  
“Do tell,” Maggie grinned, looking pretty interested now.  
  
Melody glared at them all for being so curious, but she gave in and told them the story.  
  
Meanwhile, Dylan went to the opening between the kitchen and the restaurant itself, where the cooks would place the orders that were ready to be served. He carefully picked up a plate with salmon and potatoes and another plate with steak and béarnaise, trying to balance them on the same arm so he could hold a third plate in his other hand. It had taken him a while to learn to do it right and he had smashed several empty plates during his training, but he was getting pretty good at it now.  
  
“Hey,” came Jayden’s voice as he showed up on the other side of the opening.  
  
Dylan had seen him coming over and was thankfully not surprised to be addressed all of sudden. He glanced up at his dad. “Yeah?”  
  
“I’m gonna leave now to go to the bank with your mom,” Jayden said. He rested his arms on the table that Dylan had just taken the plates from, and looked at his son. “Will you be okay for the rest of your shift?”  
  
Dylan rolled his eyes softly. “Yeah, I’m good. I know how to do this now, dad,” he chuckled. “And I can always ask Ben if I have questions.”  
  
Jayden cast a glance at the other waiter Ben, who happened to walk by behind Dylan before disappearing into the restaurant. “Yeah, but you know how he is…”  
  
Ben was a human, and he was somewhat of a skirt chaser. He was always more busy teaching Dylan how to score instead of how to be a waiter, which was a little annoying, but Ben was still pretty good at his job.  
  
“Yeah, I think I know at least a hundred different ways to woo a girl by now,” Dylan chuckled.  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at that.  
  
“I’ll be fine,” Dylan told his dad when he noticed his somewhat worried look. “There’s still Anna and Joe I can ask, though they are always more busy than Ben.”  
  
Jayden nodded and smiled at him again. “Good. See you later. We’ll come pick you up at around 8, okay?”  
  
Dylan nodded and said goodbye to his dad as he left.  
  
After Jayden was gone, Dylan turned his attention back to his work. He managed to balance the plates perfectly and went to serve them to the customers. After that he headed back over to Melody’s table to take their orders, and he felt a little nervous as he approached them.  
  
When Dylan returned, Melody looked up and smiled at him again.  
  
Dylan smiled back before looking at the others as well. “Are you ready to order yet?”  
  
“Yep,” Andrea grinned and watched as Dylan found the small electronic device that the waiters used to register orders with. “But before I tell you, I have to ask…”  
  
Dylan looked up, wondering what she was going to say next.  
  
Andrea could probably see the question on his face as she laughed and said, “Well, my new friend Melody here is wondering if you’re on the menu as well, otherwise she won’t order anything.”  
  
Melody let out a loud, horrified gasp at that.  
  
Dylan’s face must have looked pretty hilarious, because soon all the girls at the table cracked up and laughed so hard they almost couldn’t breathe.  
  
Melody, on the other hand, groaned and buried her face in her hands, obviously thinking this was the most embarrassing thing ever. “I need to pick better friends…” she murmured to herself.  
  
Andrea got herself under control again, but was still laughing a bit when she spoke. “Sorry, I just had to make that joke.” She gave Melody an apologetic smile before looking at Dylan again. “Okay, I’ll be serious now. Sorry about that.”  
  
Dylan just chuckled and shifted awkwardly before starting to write down their orders.  
  
When he was done, Dylan pressed ‘Send’ on the device, which would automatically send the order to the cooks in the kitchen. He then smiled at the girls and moved on to take the next order from other customers. He couldn’t help but feel that he had been quite clumsy in his hurry to get away from the table, but Andrea’s comment had made both him and Melody feel pretty awkward.

  
***

  
Melody and her friends stayed at the restaurant for about an hour, eating their meals and chatting. Andrea was still pretty loud, but her friends made her quiet down a little because she was bothering the other customers.  
  
At 7:20pm, the girls got up to leave and were planning to do some shopping before going home.  
  
Dylan was writing down some notes at the counter where a colleague of his accepted the customers’ payments, when Melody suddenly showed up behind him. She shifted sheepishly as she reached out to gently poke his shoulder to get his attention.  
  
Dylan turned to see who it was and was pleasantly surprised to see Melody standing behind him. “Hey,” he greeted her, smiling a bit.  
  
“Hi,” Melody replied, shifting again as she smiled back at him. “I, uh… Sorry about earlier… It seems that Andrea is pretty, um… well, crazy.”  
  
Dylan laughed at her choice of words. “I know. She’s been in my parallel class for years. I know how she is.”  
  
“Right.” Melody shifted again, glancing between the floor and Dylan. “I, uh, just wanted to let you know that it’s really nice meeting you again. I never really got to thank you for making me feel better during our stay at the hospital. I was really upset and it felt like my whole life had just broken into pieces after my wing got hurt, but you made me feel like me again. I just wanted to say thanks for that.”  
  
Dylan blinked at her, surprised to hear her say that. A small, modest blush appeared on his cheeks then. “Um, you’re welcome. Glad you’re feeling better.”  
  
“Yeah… Though my wing is still pretty ugly.”  
  
Melody glanced at her left wing with a sad look. It was still a bit crooked after she had broken her wing pretty badly when the boy from her elementary school had pushed her down some stairs.  
  
“And that’s why I had to switch schools…” she continued. “‘Cause the boy who did this to me suddenly transferred to my new school. I couldn’t take it when he was near me, so I asked my parents to move me to a different school for the new school year.”  
  
“Oh…” Now it made sense to Dylan why Melody had switched schools in the last year of middle school. He had been wondering about that. “And your wing isn’t ugly. I think I’ve told you so multiple times in the past as well.”  
  
Dylan’s words made Melody shift as she smiled at him with joy.  
  
“Well, I’m glad that at least you don’t think so,” she told him, chuckling.  
  
“You shouldn’t think so either.”  
  
Dylan’s sincere words made Melody feel sheepish and overjoyed inside. She gave him a warm smile before saying, “I, um… Have to go now. They’re waiting for me.”  
  
“Oh. Okay,” Dylan said, looking behind Melody to see her friends waiting for her outside the restaurant. He then looked at her again. “Have a nice evening.”  
  
“Thanks. You too,” Melody grinned. She turned and started walking out of the restaurant, but then she turned around again and told him, “And see you tomorrow at school.”  
  
Dylan responded with a smile and a nod, and watched as Melody left the restaurant and joined her friends outside. They all started waving at him when they spotted him looking their way, and he chuckled as he waved back before going back to work.

  
***

  
Meanwhile, Derek had picked Claire up from her friend’s house at 6pm and headed home with her.  
  
Claire was excited to spend some time alone with Derek, whom she didn’t see that often during the day because he always locked himself in his room and only came downstairs for dinner and sometimes when they had guests. She hoped she would get to spend more time with him tonight.  
  
They walked home together, which took about twenty minutes. Claire kept talking about her day and what she and her friend Maria had been up to, and Derek mostly just listened. He was still a little annoyed that he had to be the one to pick up Claire, but it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. Claire’s constant ranting could get pretty annoying, though.  
  
When they came home, Derek made them some sandwiches for dinner.  
  
“Remember I don’t want pickles!” Claire said as she played with some toys in the kitchen while Derek prepared the sandwiches. She had two small pony figures that she loved, and she moved them across every surface in the kitchen, pretending they were riding around.  
  
“Who the hell puts pickles in sandwiches anyway?” Derek asked, grimacing at the idea alone.  
  
“Nathan does!”  
  
Derek made a face, but kept his eyes on the sandwiches he was making. “Doesn’t surprise me. He’s always been weird.”  
  
Claire laughed at that before moving her ponies across the kitchen counter towards Derek.  
  
Derek flinched a bit when his sister put one of the ponies on his arm and started moving it up towards his shoulder. She had to stretch her arm a bit because he was too tall, and she giggled when he squirmed.  
  
“Gosh, Claire, you’re almost as annoying as Nathan,” Derek muttered, but with fondness. He squirmed away from the pony, and his sister laughed as she finally pulled away from him.  
  
“Sorry. But I’m so hungry!”  
  
“Annoying me isn’t gonna make me finish your sandwich any faster, though.”  
  
Claire pouted and went to play with her toys on the other kitchen counter instead.  
  
When Derek was done with the sandwiches, he joined Claire in the living room where they sat down and starting eating together. Derek found a new animated movie from Disney on Netflix and put it on for them to watch. He didn’t mind watching those movies; they were often pretty good, though he didn’t want his friends to know that he watched Disney movies.  
  
Derek put his feet on the couch table as he ate and leaned back into the couch. It didn’t go unnoticed by Claire, who gasped when she saw it.  
  
“You can’t do that! Mommy and daddy will be furious!” she told him.  
  
Derek just snorted. “I can do it when they aren’t around.”  
  
“No… Rules are rules.”  
  
Derek turned his head to look at her. “Yeah? Who’s going to stop me?” He smirked and turned his attention back to the movie.  
  
Claire blinked at him and went quiet for a second. Then she leaned back into the couch as well, placing her sandwich on her lap, and reached out her feet to try to rest them on the couch table as well, but her legs were too short.  
  
Derek laughed as he listened to the noises his sister was making as she tried to reach the table, but then she suddenly shifted a bit and swung her legs up on top of Derek’s, using his legs to rest her feet on instead.  
  
“Hey,” Derek told her with a small glare. He wanted to throw her legs off of him, but when he saw her giggling face he decided to let it be.  
  
It was a small thing, but Claire enjoyed spending time with Derek like this, and she was glad he didn’t push her off.  
  
They sat for a little more than an hour, watching the movie together and eating. Derek went and got them some chips after they finished their sandwiches. He knew he wasn’t supposed to eat those unless it was Friday, but he really wanted to munch on something and so did Claire, so he decided no harm was done about it.  
  
After about an hour, Claire had to go use the bathroom.  
  
Derek paused the movie and waited for his sister to return. It was 7:45pm already, so it wouldn’t be too long until their parents and Dylan were home.  
  
He had kind of wanted to head into his room as soon as he and Claire came home, but he knew that his sister would be really sad if he did, so he stayed with her downstairs. It was actually more fun than he had expected. Claire didn’t interrupt the movie too often and she wasn’t being as troublesome today as she sometimes was, Derek thought.  
  
After Claire was done in the bathroom, she ran through the living room, saying, “Be right back! Wanna put on my new pajamas!”  
  
Derek frowned. “What? What for?” he called after her, but she was already running up the stairs and couldn’t hear him. It was a little odd to him that she wanted to put on pajamas already, but he guessed it was because she had recently gotten a nightgown and pants with the image of some of her favorite cartoon characters, and she could get pretty obsessed with those things.  
  
Derek put his feet back on the table and ate a few more chips. A couple of minutes later he heard Claire on the stairs as she was about to come back down, but then suddenly there was a loud crashing noise. Derek sat up straight on the couch, feeling his heart stop when he heard what sounded like Claire falling on the stairs.  
  
Just after the loud crash, he heard Claire crying. Really loud.  
  
Derek dropped everything in his hands and quickly ran out to the stairs in the entrance hall to check on his sister.  
  
He found Claire laying on her stomach on the floor at the foot of the stairs with her arms stretched out in front of her. She was clearly in pain as she cried, but some of it was probably from shock.  
  
“Claire! Are you okay?” Derek exclaimed, coming over to her and checking her all over.  
  
Claire cried and carefully got up from the floor. She turned to Derek and wrapped her arms around his neck, crying against his shirt.  
  
The fact that Claire could move her arms and hands told Derek that they weren’t broken at least. He froze a bit as she wrapped her arms around him, but then carefully placed his arms around her body and tried to comfort her. “What happened?”  
  
Claire sobbed and sniffled as she tried to speak. “I-It was Fizzles. S-She ran up the stairs so fast and it scared me… And I fell.”  
  
Derek growled at the stupid cat before carefully getting to his feet, lifting up Claire in the process, whose arms were still wrapped around his neck.  
  
Derek wasn’t used to handling Claire like this. It was always one of the others who comfort her when she was crying and hurt, but no one else but him was around now. He felt a little awkward about it, but when Claire started crying loudly again and was holding on to him even tighter, he began shushing her gently.  
  
“Hey, it’s okay,” Derek told her and started walking into the living room with her. He supported her weight with a hand under her butt and his other hand on her back under her wings, while her arms were still wrapped around his neck.  
  
She was a little heavy, but she was small for a 9-year-old, so Derek could easily carry her into the living room and over to the couch. He carefully sat down on the couch and placed Claire so she was sitting across his lap. His sister leaned into his chest and kept crying against him.  
  
“Does it hurt badly?” Derek asked her, just sitting with her and holding her.  
  
Claire sniffled and sobbed against him, curling up a bit as she sat in his lap. She relaxed a bit when he placed an arm around her. “M-My arms and knees hurt.”  
  
“How far did you fall?”  
  
“O-Only three or four steps,” Claire sobbed out. “But it hurts…”  
  
Derek nodded and quietly held her. It was painful to listen her cries and sobs, and he cringed in sympathy. His best guess was that Claire had been bruised pretty badly during her fall, which could indeed hurt quite a lot. He was just glad she hadn’t broken anything and didn’t have to be taken to the hospital.  
  
“Wanna watch the rest of the movie together? I’m sure it’ll make you feel better,” Derek asked her after a couple of minutes.  
  
Claire nodded quietly against his chest, and Derek then carefully put her on the floor before getting seated properly on the couch.  
  
As soon as Derek was seated, Claire climbed up next to him and leaned against her brother as he turned the movie back on. She leaned into his side and sniffled, and Derek let her.  
  
There was something nice about comforting his sister and making her feel better and safe again. It scared Derek a bit to feel that protective instinct and softness again, but he let it stay there for now. All he cared about was making sure that Claire felt better again soon, and she did seem to calm down after a few minutes, although she was still hurting.

  
***

  
It was 8:20pm when Jayden, Noah, and Dylan finally came home.  
  
Claire was still hurting from the bruises she had gotten, and she didn’t want to get up from the couch, where she was still sitting with Derek and was leaning into him.  
  
Derek felt a little conflicted with himself when the others came home. He didn’t really want to be caught sitting with Claire like this, because it was kind of girly in his mind, but he didn’t have the heart to pull away from his sister. So he stayed, watching something about animals on TV after the Disney movie had ended five minutes ago.  
  
“Anybody home?” Jayden called from entrance hall in a playful tone before going into the living room when he could hear the TV. He was a little surprised to see Claire and Derek sitting so close on the couch together.  
  
“Daddy!” Claire chirped with joy when she saw him. She smiled widely at him, but she didn’t want to leave her spot beside Derek. Her body still hurt and she liked sitting with her brother, it was so rare that she got to do that.  
  
Noah and Dylan came into the room as well, also looking a bit surprised about Claire sitting so close to Derek.  
  
Derek tried to ignore them, but felt his face get warm with embarrassment.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden grinned at Claire as he walked over to them. He looked between them with wonder, but saw it as a good thing. “Did you guys have fun?”  
  
Claire nodded, smiling. “Yeah, we watched movies, and we ate sandwiches and chips!”  
  
Derek groaned when Claire mentioned the chips. He had told her not to say that.  
  
Claire immediately let out a gasp when she realized she had said something she wasn’t supposed to say. She turned her head to give her brother a look of apology, and saw him glaring a bit at her.  
  
“Chips, huh?” Jayden repeated, quirking an eyebrow at Derek as he gave him a serious look. “I wonder who allowed that…”  
  
Derek scowled back at his dad. “It was just _one_ bag. And we shared it together.”  
  
Dylan rolled his eyes at Derek, who had a habit of always breaking the house rules like that.  
  
Jayden still looked unsatisfied with it, though.  
  
Noah had watched the interaction quietly until he noticed how Claire winced when she moved. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” he asked, coming over to check on her. He sat down on his knees in front of her and carefully reached out to check her arms.  
  
Claire let out a pained gasp when he touched her arm, and she quickly pulled it back. “Ow! That hurts.”  
  
Noah’s worried frown deepened.  
  
“What happened?” Jayden asked, his voice sounding more demanding now.  
  
Derek already felt like his dad was putting the blame on him, but Claire spoke before he could snap anything at his father.  
  
“I went upstairs to put on my pajamas, and then Fizzles startled me on the stairs when I walked back down,” Claire explained, looking upset. “I fell down the stairs and hurt my arms and knees.” Tears appeared in her eyes again, and she leaned forward to wrap her arms around Noah’s neck when he leaned in to give her a hug.  
  
“Aww. I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Noah said, cringing. He gently ran his hand up and down her back as she cried.  
  
Derek watched them quietly before saying, “Yeah, I heard the thud when she fell… I went to check on her and she was crying like crazy. She could still move her arms and legs just fine, so I don’t think anything’s broken.”  
  
Jayden and Dylan both cringed in sympathy for Claire.  
  
Claire still cried as she hugged Noah, and he tried his best to comfort her.  
  
“Shh, it’s okay,” Noah told her softly. “Does it still hurt?”  
  
Claire nodded weakly against him. “A bit…”  
  
Jayden sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, Fizzles didn’t want to scare you, you know that, right? She’s a cat; sometimes she just runs around like that.”  
  
Claire nodded again. “I know. I’m not mad at her.”  
  
Claire quickly calmed down again, and she moved closer to Noah when he sat down next to them on the couch.  
  
Derek was kind of relieved that no one was in his personal space anymore, but he didn’t mind it much when it was Claire.  
  
When Claire was feeling better, Jayden switched the topic. “So how was your first day at school, Derek? I hope you didn’t cause any trouble?”  
  
Derek snorted a bit at the last comment and crossed his arms in front of his chest in a nonchalant manner. “It was okay. It was boring as hell, as usual.” He ignored the look his dad gave him for phrasing it like that. “And no, I didn’t get into trouble, but it’s really hard not punching Steven’s stupid buddies when they shove or walk into me and Dwayne in the corridors.” He growled in anger, but controlled himself.  
  
Noah was a little surprised to hear that. “They are still causing you trouble?”  
  
It had been an issue ever since Derek and Dwayne started at the school just before the holidays, and they had reported some of the incidents to the headmaster. Derek hadn’t wanted to it to be reported to the headmaster, though; he knew it would only cause more trouble, but Jayden didn’t want to just do nothing about it so he had told the headmaster about the problem. Derek knew it had only made it worse, just like he predicted.  
  
“What a bunch of dumbasses,” Dylan commented with a small growl.  
  
Jayden sighed in frustration. “Guess I have to talk to your headmaster again—”  
  
“No!” Derek cut him off, startling Jayden a bit. “I can handle those assholes myself. You’re just gonna encourage them to keep doing it if you tell the headmaster.”  
  
“Handle them yourself?” Jayden repeated, looking unconvinced. “By beating them up and getting yourself into more trouble? I don’t think so.”  
  
Derek got up from the couch, feeling irritated with his dad for sticking his nose into his business, even though Jayden just wanted to help.  
  
“Just stop making it worse!” Derek told him with a small growl. “Or it’s gonna get _me_ beaten up.”  
  
Jayden’s reply died on his lips when he realized that maybe Derek had a point. He had almost forgotten how high school alphas didn’t like snitches, and Derek would be seen as a snitch if the headmaster took action against them. Jayden had seen students get beaten up from that before, so maybe it was better to try to let Derek handle it for now. Jayden didn’t feel quite sure about that either, because it was still his job to protect Derek, and if someone was picking on him, Jayden had to take action. And even though Derek got himself into less trouble now than he had before, he was still pretty short tempered sometimes and didn’t think all his actions through when he got into a fight, so Jayden was a little worried that things would escalate.  
  
Claire had tensed up when Jayden and Derek started arguing, but she relaxed when they seemed to calm down again. She turned to look at Derek, saying, “But no one can beat you up! You’re too strong for that!”  
  
Derek blinked at her and couldn’t help the proud, arrogant feeling he got when his sister said that. He also felt a little flattered about it.  
  
Claire had seen Derek at his Jeet Kune Do practices a few times. He was one of the best on the team, and the teacher had praised him many times. Therefore, Claire couldn’t imagine that anyone would be able to beat up her brother.  
  
Dylan also knew that Derek was a pretty strong alpha, so he also doubted that just anyone could beat him up. He had the feeling that maybe there was a particular alpha that Derek was afraid would beat him up if Jayden went to the headmaster again, and that this alpha was a strong one. But he didn’t know for sure, because Derek never spoke about it to him.  
  
Noah felt a bit of relief at Claire’s words because he knew she was right; Derek couldn’t be beat up so easily, so Noah didn’t have to be so worried about that.  
  
Jayden, on the other hand, knew that Derek wasn’t untouchable even though he was stronger than most alphas his age. He pondered what to do before sighing and saying, “Fine, I’ll let it be for now. But the moment you get yourself into trouble, or if those guys escalate their behavior, I won’t just be standing around anymore, okay? And you better not start any fights with those guys, or God so help me,” he growled.  
  
Derek nodded, pleased that his dad let him handle this himself, even though he knew it was only until something happened that would give Jayden a reason to get involved in it again. “Yeah, yeah, I won’t go around punching them, dad.”  
  
Jayden gave a pleased nod, though he still wasn’t sure if he had done the right thing.  
  
There was silence for a couple of moments until Noah broke it.  
  
“And now it’s bedtime for you, young lady,” Noah told Claire with a playful smile.  
  
“Nooo! Dun wanna sleep!” Claire protested.  
  
“Well, you have to. It’s 8:30 and it seems that Derek forgot that your bedtime is at 8pm.”  
  
Derek had completely forgotten that Claire was supposed to go to bed at 8pm on school days. He hadn’t quite adjusted to it not being holidays anymore yet.  
  
“Sorry,” Derek muttered as Noah carefully helped Claire down from the couch.  
  
Claire leaned against Noah for support, still feeling sore from her bruises. She still managed to walk on her own, even though she had to limp around because of the pain.  
  
Everyone said good night to Claire before Jayden picked her up and carried her upstairs to sleep. He and Noah stayed with her for a bit because she wanted them both to tuck her in, and meanwhile Derek headed up to his room to game for a bit before going to sleep as well.  
  
Dylan got himself a quick snack from the kitchen before heading upstairs as well. He wanted to finish the last part of his homework before going to bed at 9pm.

  
***

  
After Claire had been tucked in and was sleeping, Noah headed downstairs to take a shower. He didn’t want to occupy the upstairs bathroom in case Derek or Dylan needed to use it, so he showered downstairs instead.  
  
Jayden decided he wanted a shower as well, so he snuck into the bathroom before Noah could lock the door, so they could shower together.  
  
Noah giggled as Jayden pressed him up against the wall and pressed kisses to his neck and jaw.  
  
They were both dressed, but Jayden had locked the door before starting to kiss Noah.  
  
Noah had missed being intimate with Jayden lately. Because Jayden had been so busy with work after his boss got sick, it meant that he always came home late and slept until late in the morning, leaving them with almost no time for sex. They had had sex a few times in the middle of the night when they were both in the mood for it, but last time had been weeks ago.  
  
“Gosh, I’ve missed you,” Jayden breathed against Noah’s neck as he placed more soft kisses there.  
  
Noah bared his neck for him, welcoming his affections. “Me too.”  
  
“Sorry that I haven’t been around much lately…” the alpha murmured between the kisses and the nuzzling.  
  
Noah smiled, placing his hands gently on Jayden’s shoulders. “It’s okay. It can’t be helped…”  
  
Jayden let out a growl as he couldn’t handle his lust anymore. He started undressing Noah and himself, quickly tearing off the layers of clothes, and Noah helped him out to make it go faster.  
  
They moved into the shower stall, and Noah let out a gasp when he was pushed up against the cold wall by his lustful mate. He felt Jayden’s fingers enter him and use his own wetness to prepare him to take Jayden’s cock.  
  
Noah hadn’t been so horny for a long time, and he writhed and squirmed impatiently until Jayden finally pulled out his fingers. He was then lifted and placed against the wall while his legs wrapped themselves around Jayden’s waist to not fall down, and seconds later Jayden pushed his cock into him in one fast shove.  
  
Noah let out a loud gasp at how fast and suddenly Jayden shoved himself all the way into him. He held on to Jayden for dear life as his mate started pounding into him like there was no tomorrow.  
  
It was rough and animal-like, but Noah loved it. After only ten seconds he was already ready to come, and he whimpered against Jayden as he leaned forward to rest his forehead against the alpha’s shoulder as he was fucked senseless.  
  
Jayden felt how Noah’s hole clenched around him and he knew he was about to come. He closed his mouth around a spot on Noah’s soft neck and sucked it hard, feeling Noah come right after that. Jayden held him through it, feeling every spasm in Noah’s body and loving the small, helpless sounds he made as he came.  
  
Jayden slowed down his pace a bit, but fucked Noah all the way through his intense orgasm. He smirked in satisfaction that he had made Noah come so fast. Noah could be really sensitive when they hadn’t had sex in a while, and then he would usually come almost instantly.  
  
Noah barely had time to recover from his climax before Jayden picked up the pace again, chasing his own orgasm now. Noah held on to him and dug his fingers into Jayden’s skin.  
  
The wall was still a bit cold behind Noah, so he reached out and fumbled to find the switch for the shower. When he found it, he turned on the hot water and moaned in appreciation as the warm water flowed down on their bodies.  
  
Jayden seemed to appreciate the water as well. His grip tightened on Noah’s buttocks as he held him before pounding into him extra hard now.  
  
Noah bit his lip to keep the noises back that he was making every time Jayden’s thrusts seemed to knock the air out of him. When his mate began touching his wing as well, Noah started feeling another orgasm approaching. Warmness pooled in his abdomen, and he could tell that Jayden was getting close as well. The alpha’s breath became faster and his grunts got deeper.  
  
It was when Noah started rubbing Jayden’s skin almost soothingly that the alpha finally came. Jayden gripped Noah’s buttocks tightly as he emptied his load deep inside of him, biting into his own lip to keep back the noises of pleasure.  
  
Jayden’s climax brought about Noah’s own, and he held on tightly to Jayden as his second orgasm rolled through his body and made him shake and tremble.  
  
Their moans and grunts filled the room, even though they were trying to hold back and not be too loud. The sound of the water deafened most of their sounds though, so no one outside the door should be able to hear them.  
  
Noah felt completely boneless once it was over. He panted against Jayden, who had to let him go when he started feeling tired as well.  
  
After Noah’s feet were back down on the floor again, the two of them took a few seconds to catch their breath before looking at each other with a smile.  
  
Jayden ran his hand across Noah’s wet cheek with soft affection before leaning in to kiss him under the shower.  
  
It was a soft kiss, one of the kinds that Noah liked the best.  
  
The water flushed away the mess they made of each other, and then Jayden suddenly pulled away from the kiss and moved his hands up to Noah’s hair.  
  
Noah grunted a bit when he felt Jayden’s big hands in his hair and how his mate was practically massaging his head.  
  
“You know that won’t work without shampoo, right?” Noah told him and gave him a small glare as the water kept flowing on his head.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, I know. But I love it when you look at me with that grumpy look of yours. It’s cute.”  
  
Noah smacked him on the arm for that, and Jayden just laughed again.  
  
Jayden then found some shampoo and poured it into Noah’s hair. He was gentle this time as he washed his mate’s hair for him, and Noah smiled and closed his eyes as he let the alpha groom him like that.  
  
They helped each other pour special shampoo into their feathers to clean them. It was intimate for mates to do that, and it helped strengthen their bond further.  
  
Jayden was especially good at making Noah feel good and clean when he washed his wings for him. He paid attention to almost every single feather, as if each of them deserved to be worshipped and cared for. Noah had always felt a little embarrassed about it, but he liked it when Jayden did that. He returned the favor afterwards, and didn’t stop until he was satisfied with the cleanliness of Jayden’s wings.  
  
They ended up spending more time in the shower than they had planned, and it was far past 9:30pm when they got out and dried their wings before heading to bed.  
  
There was no noise to be heard from Dylan’s room, so he was probably already sleep. From Derek’s room, however, they could hear some noise from his video game and how he sometimes cursed when he lost.  
  
Noah went on into the master bedroom to go to bed, while Jayden went over and knocked gently on Derek’s door.  
  
“Hey, remember to go to bed soon, Derek. Otherwise you’ll just have trouble getting up tomorrow,” he told him, trying to keep his voice down so he wouldn’t wake up Dylan or Claire.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” came Derek’s annoyed reply from inside the room. There was a series of curses after that, and Jayden guessed that Derek had probably just lost in the game.  
  
“Good. See you tomorrow, I hope. Good night,” Jayden said and walked away from the door.  
  
“Night,” Derek replied inside the room.  
  
Jayden kind of doubted that Derek would go to bed until he had managed to win the game, though, but he was honestly too tired to care right now. He yawned as he padded over to the master bedroom before going inside to lay down on the bed with Noah.  
  
Noah was already under the covers when Jayden walked into the bedroom. He got out of his pants and shirt before laying down beside Noah, pulling the covers over himself.  
  
Noah turned onto his side, facing Jayden. The light above the bed was still on, so they could still see each other clearly.  
  
“Derek has really changed, hasn’t he?” Noah spoke, looking at Jayden as they faced each other.  
  
Jayden smiled. “Yeah, I think he has. He’s still a bit rude and short-tempered, but I think he’s more considerate now of what his actions do to others. And maybe a little less obsessed with being cool than he was before. I was surprised to see him sitting with Claire like that.”  
  
Noah smiled and nodded. “Yeah, me too. I think it suits him, though.”  
  
Jayden let out a small laugh. “Well, just don’t tell him that or he might get offended.”  
  
They both laughed about that before turning off the lights and settling down to sleep.

 


	66. Chapter 66

**September/October 2071 (Noah is 45, Jayden is 47, Nathan is 21 (almost 22), Derek is 17, Dylan is 14, Claire is 9 years old).**  
  
The new school year was good so far. Both Dylan and Claire did well in school, and Jayden and Noah hadn’t been called to the headmaster’s office at Derek’s new school a single time yet. Derek still had some trouble at school because of some alphas who knew Steven, but so far nothing serious had happened and Derek had controlled himself.  
  
Today was a day like any other.  
  
Dylan and Claire got onto the school bus together and headed to their school. Their school was the same one, as it consisted of both an elementary and a middle school, so they were always on the same school bus, while Derek took another bus and sometimes used his bike to get to his high school.  
  
They mostly seated themselves next to their respective friends on the bus. Dylan’s friend Benjamin was sick today though, so Claire decided to sit down next to her brother on the way to the school to keep him company. Dylan noticed some of the other kids snickering a bit about that, but he ignored them.  
  
When they arrived at the school, they got off the bus together and walked through the school’s playground towards the main building of the elementary school.  
  
“Are you going to work today, Dylan?” Claire asked her brother as they walked next to each other. She was always jumping around when she was in a good mood, and Dylan chuckled a bit as he watched her do so that morning.  
  
“Yeah, I’ll be home at around 8:30 or so,” he replied.  
  
There was a lot of noise around them as the other kids were talking, shouting, and even screaming. They had to be careful not to walk into someone as they walked through the crowd.  
  
Claire didn’t look very happy about Dylan having to go to work. “Why you gotta work? Derek has practice tonight and then I’ll be all alone at home…”  
  
“What are you talking about? Mom’s gonna be home.”  
  
“Yeah, but I want you and Derek home too!” Claire pouted.  
  
Dylan felt kind of sorry for her, but there was nothing he could do.  
  
Dylan was just about to speak when someone bumped into him, hard. Dylan was a little startled at first, but when he turned to see who it was, he saw it was someone he knew quite well – and it wasn’t someone he liked.  
  
“Watch it, freak,” said the alpha angel who had just bumped into Dylan. The guy gave him a mean smirk, and Dylan glared at him for it.  
  
“Watch it yourself, Deaton. You’re the one who walked into _me,_ ” Dylan muttered, hating how the boy was always picking on him. Deaton was in his parallel class, and Dylan was pretty grateful that he wasn’t in the same class as him. The guy still harassed him whenever he spotted him outside the classroom, though.  
  
Deaton didn’t look happy when Dylan talked back at him. “Maybe you should just stop taking up so much space. You’re a waste of fucking space anyway and so is your sister.”  
  
Claire flinched a bit with hurt when the alpha made that comment about her.  
  
Dylan growled and spread his wings a little. “Go find your brain, Deaton. Sounds like you really need it,” he spat at him.  
  
Claire couldn’t help herself as she giggled at Dylan’s comment, and Deaton got a somewhat startled but angry look on his face. However, there was a teacher nearby them now, so he couldn’t do anything about it.  
  
“You’re so dead, Dylan!” Deaton growled and pointed his finger at Dylan as he made the threat. He glared sharply at Dylan before getting out of there, not wanting to attract the teacher’s attention.  
  
Dylan just glared at him, knowing that Deaton wasn’t going to do anything about it anyway.  
  
“That boy is so mean,” Claire commented after he was gone.  
  
“Yeah, he’s an asshole,” Dylan muttered.  
  
Claire gasped. “You cursed!”  
  
“Yeah, I did… Don’t tell Dad.”  
  
“I won’t,” Claire snickered and smiled up at Dylan.  
  
They reached the front door of the elementary school, and Dylan had to part ways with his sister there.  
  
“Take care of yourself, okay? And tell me if someone’s mean to you,” Dylan told her as he gave her a warm smile.  
  
Claire smiled back and nodded. “I will! Bye, Dylan! See you later!”  
  
“Bye,” Dylan smiled and turned to leave.  
  
They waved at each other as Claire headed into the elementary school and Dylan turned to head over to the middle school, which was in the northern part of the school grounds. If you came on the school bus, you had to pass through the part of the school that was the elementary school in order to reach the middle school, so it wasn’t like he had made a big detour by walking Claire up to the front door.

  
***

  
Dylan had a few other friends besides Benjamin whom he hung out with at school, so he didn’t feel completely alone without his best friend around, but he still missed him.  
  
The first class of the day passed by quietly, but it was the second class that Dylan had really looked forward to for a few days now. They had a group project in their English class with their parallel class, and Dylan was on the same team as Melody. The two of them had become good friends since school started, and they often sat together during their lunch break along with their other friends.  
  
Benjamin was on the team as well, but since he was sick he could not participate today. Andrea – the mischievous demon girl – was also in their group, as were two other girls whom Dylan didn’t know that well.  
  
Melody smiled at Dylan when they sat down next to each other in class, and Andrea and the two other girls in their group seated themselves around them. Today they were going to present the project. Each group had to choose a short story that they wanted to interpret and then present in front of everyone. The teachers had picked ten different well-known short stories for the students to pick from, and the students were judged by their ability to find the hidden meanings in the language of the stories and on their skills to communicate their interpretations.  
  
Deaton was in the room as well, since he was in the same class as Melody, but Dylan pretended like he didn’t exist, even though he could feel his eyes boring into him all the time.  
  
Everyone was nervous about presenting their projects. They knew they would be evaluated, and it was kind of a big deal to stand in front of two classes and present your project. Even Dylan was a little nervous about it, but he was confident that their project was a success, so he kept thinking it was going to be okay.  
  
There was a lot of chatter in the room just before the first presentation started. All the students had to get ready and work out the last few issues before presenting.  
  
Dylan’s group had already made a plan of who was to say what during the presentation, but they had to split up Benjamin’s part between them since he wasn’t there.  
  
Dylan was writing down some notes for himself when Melody suddenly spoke to him.  
  
“I saw you walking to school this morning with a little girl,” Melody said, smiling at Dylan as she talked. “Was that your sister?”  
  
Dylan looked up and blinked at her. He hadn’t noticed her at all this morning, but the crowd had been so big that he probably just didn’t spot her. “Yeah, that was Claire.”  
  
“She’s cute,” Melody grinned. “I remember when we were at the hospital, your family came by sometimes to see you. I remember Claire. She really adored you.”  
  
Dylan blushed a bit at that but tried not to let it show. “Well, she adores my oldest brother Nathan just as much. And my brother Derek… Well, I’m not sure if there’s much to adore about him.”  
  
“Everyone has a quality in them that’s worthy of being adored for,” Melody said, smiling softly.  
  
Dylan lifted his eyes from his notes to look at her, a little startled by her sincere words. He thought about it for a second. “Yeah, I guess… And Claire _does_ adore him, it’s just… Well, he’s pretty macho.”  
  
Melody laughed at that, and Dylan grinned with her.  
  
“Hey,” came a voice from the table behind them.  
  
Dylan recognized Deaton’s voice, and he slowly turned around to look at him. Melody turned as well.  
  
“Are you in a group full of girls, Dylan? Better be careful; you might grow some girl parts too,” Deaton smirked, sounding pretty proud of his comment.  
  
The guys in Deaton’s group all laughed.  
  
“Oh, I think he already has some,” one of the betas commented. The others only laughed more at that.  
  
The two teachers had just left to get some coffee, so the students were all alone in the classroom now and there was no one to stop the guys from being bullies and laughing so much.  
  
Dylan glared at them, finding them all ridiculously childish.  
  
Melody also glared at the boys before turning her attention back to their own table and ignoring the immature boys behind them. “Just ignore them. They’re all assholes.”  
  
“Yeah,” Dylan murmured, trying to concentrate on his notes again.  
  
However, Deaton and his buddies weren’t done yet.  
  
“Aww, what’s the matter?” Deaton cooed in a really mocking way. “Are you two lesbians too good for us now?”  
  
Dylan grimaced at that. There were no words to describe how childish and immature those guys were, and he decided it was probably best to ignore them for now.  
  
But then Andrea suddenly rose from her seat and looked at the boys. “Hey, don’t insult my lesbos here!” she said with an angry frown and a really loud voice.  
  
Dylan was startled by Andrea’s outburst, and he almost choked when she called him and Melody her ‘lesbos’. He knew that Andrea herself was more into girls than guys, though, so she often used that term. It was just a little odd when she called _him_ that.  
  
“Especially when there’s a dead bird peeping out of your pants,” Andrea went on, directing her glare to Deaton.  
  
Deaton frowned, wondering what on earth she meant, but when he looked down, he knew.  
  
Dylan glanced over his shoulder at Deaton, whose face went bright red as he hastily tried to zip up his fly, which had apparently been down the entire time. Now Andrea’s metaphor made more sense. The ‘dead bird’ was probably Deaton’s dick, which made her comment insanely funny, even though Deaton was clearly wearing underwear under his jeans.  
  
The whole classroom was filled with laugher then, and Dylan couldn’t stop himself from laughing too.  
  
Deaton had never looked more embarrassed and humiliated, and he clumsily got up from his chair and ran out of the room.  
  
Dylan almost felt sorry for him, but the guy kind of had it coming.  
  
Andrea was grinning like an idiot after she owned him, and Dylan couldn’t blame her. She high-fived some of her girlfriends before sitting back down just as the teachers came back into the classroom. The teachers had no idea why everyone was laughing, but they told the class to be quiet so that the presentations could begin.  
  
Melody had tears in her eyes from laughing so much, and she and Dylan shared a smirk before being called up to start with their presentation.

  
***

  
After school, Dylan made his way to the mall where his work began at 5pm. He had done all of his homework at school before that, as he had had some time to kill between his last class of the day and when he had to be at the mall.  
  
The presentation in English class had gone pretty well. The teachers had praised his team for a good presentation, and Dylan was glad that all their hard work had paid off. Even Andrea had presented it pretty well, even though the teachers didn’t appreciate her small funny comments every now and then. Dylan, however, thought it was pretty funny.  
  
On his way out of the school, Dylan ran into Melody. The two of them started chatting, and Melody decided to join Dylan at the mall, as she had to run some errands for her mother there anyway. Dylan didn’t mind the company. It was way better than going there alone.  
  
“So, Dylan,” Melody said as the two of them wandered through the first floor of the mall. There were four floors in the mall, and right now they were walking through the center, which had a wide, open space with no floors above it. The ceiling there had windows at the top, letting sunlight shine right into the mall, and right in the center was a small water fountain. “Are you still a waiter at the restaurant or did you go back to washing dishes again?” she asked, looking at him as they walked side by side.  
  
Dylan chortled softly at her question. “I’m back to washing dishes again,” he replied. “Apparently you have to be 15 or older to work as a waiter, so I gotta wait one more year until I can do that. I only worked as a waiter there for a little over a month ‘cause the guy who had the job had an accident. Now they hired someone else to do the job until the other guy is back. So… dishes for me.”  
  
The two of them laughed a bit about that.  
  
“Too bad. You were a good waiter,” Melody told him, again with that kind smile of hers that made Dylan stare.  
  
Dylan smiled sheepishly and glanced at his feet as they walked. She often made him blush a bit with the things she said and he didn’t want her to see that.  
  
They chatted for a bit more as they headed up the escalator to the next floor. They decided to walk around a bit because there was still time until Dylan had to be at work.  
  
Dylan was so busy laughing at something Melody had said that he almost didn’t see Deaton, who was suddenly standing right in their path. Dylan stopped abruptly when he spotted him, causing Melody to stop as well and look over to see what he was staring at. Her eyes widened when she spotted Deaton.  
  
Deaton looked between them with what could only be described as very angry, spiteful eyes. “Well, look who it is…” he said, his gruff voice full of venom as he spoke. “The two little freaks.”  
  
Dylan glared at him, feeling fed up with Deaton already.  
  
Melody didn’t like the way Deaton looked at her crooked wing with a mean smirk, and she instinctively moved back a little to stand behind Dylan.  
  
“Not you again,” Dylan groaned, rolling his eyes at Deaton. “Don’t you ever get tired of this?”  
  
“Don’t you ever get tired of being a freak?” Deaton spat back venomously.  
  
Dylan’s eyes narrowed as he said that, and the two alphas glared at each other for several seconds.  
  
When Deaton just kept glaring at them and was not moving away, Dylan had enough.  
  
“Okay, I’ve had enough of this,” Dylan said, rolling his eyes. “Let’s go,” he told Melody, gesturing at her to follow.  
  
Melody followed Dylan as he tried to walk around Deaton, but Deaton stepped to the side and blocked their path.  
  
Now Dylan was getting more than fed up with this bully. He growled as he spread his wings a little, and his feathers sharpened themselves on their own.  
  
“You’re going to regret how you laughed today,” Deaton growled, getting right up in Dylan’s face.  
  
Dylan kept eye contact with him and was not backing down. “You know, it wasn’t just _me_ who laughed. Everybody laughed at it.”  
  
Deaton let out a growl and shoved Dylan hard in the chest, pushing him back.  
  
A few people looked over to see what was going on. The area they were in wasn’t all that crowded, but it still attracted some attention when people saw two young alphas shoving each other like that.  
  
Dylan growled as he spread his wings more, but he didn’t want to fight Deaton. He knew it would lead them nowhere. “Just move already. I don’t want trouble.”  
  
The bully laughed at that. “Really? You don’t want trouble? What are you, a freaking girl?”  
  
“Is that supposed to be an insult?”  
  
Deaton’s eyes narrowed as Melody giggled behind Dylan. His face flushed with fury and he was just about to throw himself at Dylan in the middle of the mall when he suddenly felt someone standing right behind him. He swirled around, boiling with anger and ready to hit whoever was trying to interfere, but his fist was caught before he had the chance.  
  
Dylan looked up and was very surprised to see none other than Derek standing right behind Deaton.  
  
Derek glared sharply at the younger alpha, whose fist he was still holding in a firm grasp after he had caught it.  
  
Deaton flinched back, pulling his hand out of Derek’s grasp and suddenly looking much less confident than he had before. Derek was much larger than him. He was three years older, but he was also a pretty tall alpha (he was already a little taller than Jayden now), and his practice in martial arts made him look muscled but toned. Deaton, on the other hand, was just 14, and his mouth and temper were way bigger than his muscles.  
  
“You got a problem with my little brother?” Derek asked as he glared Deaton down.  
  
Deaton opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He glanced between Derek and Dylan a few times, noticing the resemblance between them, before shaking his head heavily. “N-No, not really.”  
  
“Really?” Derek quirked an eyebrow at him and was clearly not convinced. “So it was just me you were trying to punch a minute ago?”  
  
Deaton looked really nervous now, and Dylan had to control himself so he wouldn’t laugh or snicker at him, because it was so satisfying seeing how Derek was burning that bully raw in the frying pan.  
  
Again, Deaton shook his head, looking more terrified now. “S-Sorry. I have to go.” And then he was suddenly out of there in a hurry, quickly disappearing into the crowds of people.  
  
Derek just glanced after him before letting out a snort and turning his attention to Dylan, who could finally laugh now.  
  
“And here I thought you didn’t know how to pick fights,” Derek commented as he looked at Dylan.  
  
“I wasn’t picking a fight. The guy’s a bully,” Dylan explained, ceasing his laughter.  
  
“I figured,” Derek huffed. “At least your bully is a pussy. That should give you somewhat of a chance against him.”  
  
Dylan frowned as if offended. “I wasn’t going to punch him.”  
  
“And I didn’t say you should.”  
  
Dylan was a little surprised to hear that from Derek. Derek usually always encouraged him to punch the people who gave him a hard time, but Dylan decided not to comment on it in front of Melody. Instead, he asked him, “What are you doing here?”  
  
Derek shrugged and buried his hands in his pockets. “There’s another two hours until my practice starts, so Dwayne and I went here to kill some time at the bowling center downstairs. But then he ran into a crush of his and their chatting might take a while, so I’m walking around for a bit so I don’t have to puke at them.”  
  
Dylan couldn’t help but chuckle at Derek’s grimace as he said that. “But that’s nice. That Dwayne has a crush that is.”  
  
Derek’s grimace deepened. “No, his awkwardness every time she comes near him makes me wanna vomit. It’s seriously disgusting to witness.”  
  
Dylan laughed, and Melody also laughed at it.  
  
Derek finally looked at Melody, whom Dylan had mentioned a few times at home. “Hi,” he greeted her somewhat awkwardly.  
  
Melody smiled. “Hi. You must be Derek, right?”  
  
Derek nodded. “Yeah. You must be Melody. Dylan’s mentioned you.”  
  
Dylan cursed Derek inside for saying that. It was awkward as hell and he couldn’t help but blush all over his face. Melody just giggled softly next to him, almost like she thought it was cute.  
  
Things were a bit awkward between them now, so Derek cleared his throat.  
  
“I gotta go,” Derek announced. “Have fun at work, squirt.” He reached out and ruffled Dylan’s hair with his hand, making Dylan grunt and pull away from him.  
  
“Hey!” Dylan protested grumpily, but Derek just laughed at him.  
  
“See ya,” Derek said, giving him a smirk before turning to leave.  
  
“Yeah,” Dylan said as he tried to make his hair look nice again. “And, uh… Thanks. About earlier…”  
  
Derek froze in his steps. It was awkward to be thanked by Dylan like that, but it wasn’t unwelcome to him.  
  
Derek just nodded before parting ways with them, letting Dylan be alone with his friend.  
  
Dylan and Melody moved on and so did Derek, but he didn’t get far before he stopped in his tracks when he saw a face in the crowds that he would recognize anywhere.  
  
Just a few feet away was Milan. He was standing just outside a clothing store, almost hidden between the clothing racks and the many customers in front of the store, and he was staring right at Derek, blinking. When he noticed that Derek had spotted him, however, he grasped his old shoulder bag nervously and got out of there in a hurry.  
  
Derek blinked, having not expected to see Milan at the mall. He hadn’t been standing very far away from the scene just now, so it was possible that he had seen and heard everything that had just happened with the bully and with Dylan.  
  
Dylan and Melody were long gone, but Derek stood there for a few seconds, processing what had just happened.  
  
He had seen Milan several times at the new school already. Milan was in the same P.E. class as him and they also had algebra together, but they had never spoken to each other. Milan always avoided Derek and Dwayne like the plague, keeping his head down as if trying to become invisible. Derek couldn’t blame him. They had bullied him a couple of times at the old school after all, and there was no doubt that he had heard about them getting expelled for the things that had happened with the girl Sarah. Derek was still not proud of that and neither was Dwayne.  
  
After a couple of seconds, Derek shrugged it off and moved on, thinking he better head back to Dwayne and see if his friend was done being a clumsy love-struck idiot already.

  
***

  
A couple of weeks passed and Derek still hadn’t gotten into any trouble at school. At least nothing serious enough that would have the headmaster be involved, and not really anything he felt like mentioning to his dad either.  
  
Noah and Jayden were relieved that they didn’t have to go to work every day anymore, wondering if the headmaster would call them to tell them that Derek had beaten up another student or that he had gotten hurt. But despite that relief, they knew that Derek still had some troubles at his school with some of the other alphas, and Noah couldn’t help but be concerned about that.  
  
Today was a Wednesday, and as usual Noah was fixing lunch for the kids in the morning while they had breakfast at the kitchen table.  
  
Dylan and Claire sat next to each other and ate, and Claire was fooling around with some of her cereal. Dylan was torn between finding it funny and being a considerate big brother who would tell his sister to be behave.  
  
“Splash!” Claire exclaimed when she dropped a piece of cereal into the milk in her bowl. She giggled in amusement about it.  
  
“Oh, come on, Claire. You’ve done that like ten times already. It can’t be funny forever,” Dylan told her as he ate his own breakfast properly.  
  
“But I’m so sleepy! I dun wanna go to school,” Claire complained.  
  
She did indeed look very sleepy, which would also explain her silliness.  
  
Dylan sighed. “Yeah, I know. That’s why you’re supposed to sleep at night and not stay up and read books.”  
  
“But that book was really good!”  
  
Dylan didn’t have the chance to reply to that before Noah came over to them.  
  
“You can read your books during the day, Claire,” Noah told her, putting her finished lunchbox next to her on the table so she could put it into her school bag afterwards. “If you stay up at night reading, you’ll just be too sleepy on the next day to learn anything at school.”  
  
Claire knew they were both right, but she still preferred reading her fantasy book to the end instead of going to sleep just when the good parts started.  
  
They all looked up when Derek entered the kitchen and padded over to the table. He looked a bit like a zombie as he went over and seated himself opposite them, murmuring a small ‘good morning’.  
  
“Good morning,” Noah replied, feeling a bit sorry for Derek, because he himself also thought it was tough getting up in the morning. “Ready for school?”  
  
Derek just snorted at that, and Noah chuckled at him in sympathy.  
  
“Why’s everybody so sleepy?” Dylan asked. “The sun is already up.”  
  
“The sun might be up, but I’m not,” Derek murmured and poured himself some cereal. He watched as the small pieces jumped out of the package and into his bowl before he put the package away and poured milk on top of the cereal. “So glad we don’t have P.E. class at 8am…”  
  
Claire laughed at that, agreeing with Derek on that one.  
  
“I prefer early P.E. class, though,” Dylan said. “It wakes you up more.”  
  
“God, what the hell is wrong with you?” Derek groaned. “How can you be so awake in the morning?”  
  
“How can _you_ be so sleepy when the sun is up?”  
  
Noah shook his head fondly at them, watching as the two glared at each other because the other had such different views on things.  
  
Claire thought it was pretty amusing and she just sat there, giggling at them.  
  
Derek had gone through some major changes lately. He wasn’t as condescending and snappy around his siblings as usual, and sometimes he even seemed playful. But he was still pretty anti-social and stayed in his room a lot when he was at home, and he was still somewhat of a macho alpha. But especially Noah had noticed how he showed more respect now than he had before, especially towards him. Derek always used to protest or look annoyed when Noah told him what to do, and he could still be a little like that sometimes, but generally he was listening more to him now.  
  
“Derek, can you do a favor for me this afternoon?” Noah asked.  
  
Derek let out a groan, though it wasn’t as rude as it used to be before whenever Noah asked him to do something. “I guess? What is it?”  
  
“Can you pick up Claire from the after school at 4pm and take her to the dentist? She has to be there at 4:20. I won’t be off from work until 5:30, and your father is still busy at the restaurant…”  
  
“Yeah, and I have work,” Dylan added.  
  
Derek sighed and ran a hand down his sleepy face. “Fine. I’m off at 3pm, so I guess I’ll have time for that…”  
  
Claire beamed when Derek agreed to pick her up.  
  
“Thank you. I appreciate that,” Noah told him with a grateful smile.  
  
Derek just nodded and took another slurp of the milk in his cereal.

  
***

  
Derek had never been very interested in going to school, and that was no different at the new school. But at least he had settled in pretty well by now, as had Dwayne.  
  
They got along well with a couple of other alphas in their classes, and it was nice having a group to be a part of again. Their new friends weren’t like Steven and the others; they didn’t bully and pick on others, but they weren’t really the soft kind of alphas either. They were jocks and liked attracting attention from the girls, gaining popularity that way. Derek and Dwayne still went to their Jeet kune Do practice in the evenings, but they decided to try out for the school’s lacrosse team, which their new friends were a part of. So far it was going pretty well. Derek used the sport to get rid of his frustrations and anger, and lacrosse was a good way to blow off steam. It was rough and violent, and Derek liked that.  
  
They had algebra in their first class of the day, and Derek could barely stay awake. He hated algebra more than anything. He didn’t understand half of it and it all seemed completely useless to him. Why would he need to find x and y in a future job situation? He didn’t see the point in it.  
  
Dwayne had to shake Derek awake when he almost fell asleep after the teacher asked them to solve the problems on page 136 in their books. Dwayne wasn’t the best at algebra either, but he was better at it than Derek and didn’t fall asleep during class.  
  
Derek groaned when his friend shook him awake, and he lifted his lazy head from his arms to glare at him. He had folded his arms on the table in front of him and had used them a pillow to sleep on.  
  
“Dude, Mr. Hastings is gonna kill you if he sees you sleeping in his class,” Dwayne whispered at him.  
  
Derek let out a displeased groan and forced himself to sit up straight again. His sleepy eyes scanned the class to look for the teacher, but instead he accidentally locked eyes with Milan, who had looked up from his seat to glance his way.  
  
The submissive quickly looked away when their eyes met, and he almost pressed his nose into his book as he tried to hide from Derek’s glance. He was sitting next to a human girl whom Derek had seen him hang out with a lot, but the girl hadn’t noticed what had happened.  
  
Derek looked away again, trying not to wonder about why Milan had glanced at him just now.  
  
Derek somehow survived the class and the one after that, and he was glad when he found out that his next class was P.E. class. It was past 10am now, so Derek was awake enough to make it through P.E. class. He liked that class, as long as it wasn’t in the early morning.  
  
The students all headed to the locker rooms to get ready for their class, and as usual Derek and Dwayne stayed with each other.  
  
An alpha angel named Travis walked into Dwayne on purpose when they walked towards the school’s sports field. Derek growled at him for it, but controlled his anger and didn’t start a fight with him.  
  
Travis was one of Steven’s many friends. He had shoved Derek and Dwayne a few times in the cafeteria and in the corridors at school, and he often tried to trip them during P.E. class, but he hadn’t caused them much trouble lately. Since Derek and Dwayne became friends with that small alpha group, Travis hadn’t dared to provoke them when they were nearby.  
  
Derek and Dwayne let Travis get ahead of them so they didn’t have to deal with him, and soon after that their new alpha friends showed up. Together, they headed to the locker rooms to change before class started.  
  
The three alphas whom Derek and Dwayne had made friends with were called Jack, Mike, and Cornell. Jack and Mike were angels – Jack with golden wings, and Mike with dark grey wings mixed with black and brown – and Cornell was a demon. They all stayed close to each other in the locker room as they all changed their clothes to get ready for class.  
  
“I hope the teacher doesn’t make us play dodgeball again,” Mike complained as he pulled off his shirt.  
  
Cornell laughed at that. “Yeah, that’s getting way too childish. But the girls seem to like it.”  
  
“I’d rather have him make us play basketball. I always get a glimpse of Tamara’s panties when she jumps in her skirt,” Jack commented, making the others laugh.  
  
Derek snorted lightly at that. It was a typical thing to hear in the guys’ locker rooms.  
  
“I still don’t get why she wears skirts in P.E. class,” Dwayne said as he put on his training pants.  
  
Jack laughed. “’Cause she likes the attention!”  
  
“Yeah, all whores do,” Mike grinned.  
  
The other guys in the room laughed, but Derek didn’t. There was a time where he would have laughed at it, but now he kind of felt sick to his stomach when he listened to their sexist comments. He didn’t say anything, though. It was better to keep his mouth shut than to make enemies with his new classmates.  
  
The guys were still changing clothes when the male teacher came into the lockers rooms and told them all to hurry up.  
  
Suddenly, everybody was in a hurry to finish up and head outside before the teacher wrote any bad notes about them.  
  
“Shit,” Derek muttered under his breath as he struggled to zip up his shirt. His shirt had zippers under his wings so that he could put it on without his wing getting in the way, but the zipper under his left wing was jammed. He decided to let it be for now and headed outside with the others so he wouldn’t be late.  
  
Once outside, all the students gathered in the middle of the field where the teacher was. The teacher was a very well-trained human male, and he used his whistle to call the remaining students over to him so the class could begin.  
  
Derek was falling a bit behind because he was still struggling with the zipper. He couldn’t see a thing because it was located under his left wing, and he couldn’t look that far behind himself to see it. He cursed lightly under his breath as he struggled with it, and the teacher had already started talking about what they were going to do today.  
  
Derek heard the teacher mention basketball and suddenly all the guys were cheering. Some of the girls cheered as well, though not as many.  
  
Finally, Derek managed to unjam the zipper and quickly zipped it up. Even if he hadn’t succeeded it wouldn’t have mattered much – it would just have made part of his back and the base of his wing visible, that’s all.  
  
He had just fixed the zipper when he got that sense that someone was watching him. Derek looked over to his left and spotted Milan standing in the back of the crowd, looking at him. The angle he was standing at would have made Derek’s bared skin perfectly visible to Milan, and he would have had a good view of Derek’s wing as he had had to stretch it out almost fully in order to reach the damn zipper without his feathers getting in the way.  
  
Once again, Milan looked away immediately when he noticed Derek looking his way.  
  
Derek frowned. This was becoming somewhat of a habit, he noticed.  
  
Class started and everybody began the usual warm up, which was to run around the field three times. Derek had always been in good physical shape, so he had no problems running around the field, same with Dwayne. Their new friends also kept up, but there were some students who fell behind. Especially the girls, betas and most humans didn’t last as long as the alphas did. Milan was the only submissive in their P.E. class, and one of the six submissives in total at the school at the moment, and he couldn’t keep up that well either.  
  
As usual, Travis gave Derek and Dwayne a bit of a hard time during the warm up when they got a bit separated from their friends. He started running right behind Derek, almost stepping on his heels, and some of the other guys were snickering about it. Derek felt the urge to punch the guy, but he knew he couldn’t do that without getting into trouble, so instead he slowed his pace abruptly, causing Travis to bump into him and fall on his ass. Luckily for Derek, the teacher just barked at Travis to keep his eyes open when he was running, and Derek gave the guy a smirk as he kept on running. The others all laughed at Travis, whose butt was a little sore when he got to his feet.  
  
After the warm up, the students were divided into two groups so they could play basketball. Students were selected randomly by the teacher. Derek and Dwayne got on the same team, and Jack joined them. Milan ended up on the other team, but his human friend was with him.  
  
Jack spent most of the game trying to get behind Tamara when she had the ball, just so he could get that glimpse of her panties when she jumped up to throw the ball in the net. The other guys thought it was hilarious, and Derek rolled his eyes every time. Although it was a pretty nice sight when Tamara’s panties showed, it was kind of disgusting how they all behaved. Dwayne also thought it was kind of hilarious, but like Derek he showed more respect for her than the other guys did.  
  
Milan tried to stay in the background as they played, not wanting to get a hoard of people chasing him if he had the ball, and he wasn’t someone who liked attention that much.  
  
Derek barely noticed Milan’s presence at all, at least not until they had a small break and he realized Milan was missing. He glanced around but didn’t spot him until he looked over to the building next to the bleachers where the doors to the locker rooms where. Milan was standing by the door, and in front of him was an alpha angel named Warrick, who was one of Travis’ buddies.  
  
Derek couldn’t hear what was said from this distance, and Dwayne was talking to him, but he saw how Milan’s wings folded themselves tightly against his body as the alpha cornered him up against the wall. It didn’t look like it was a pleasant conversation.  
  
At first, Derek didn’t want to get involved. He knew Milan could stand up for himself – he had witnessed that first-hand before – but when Warrick didn’t seem to back away from Milan and only got closer to him, Derek bit his lip and wondered what to do. Slowly, he made his way over to see what was going on.  
  
Meanwhile, Milan was completely cornered as Warrick stood in front of him and blocked his way.  
  
“Aww, are you sure you don’t wanna give me your number?” Warrick asked Milan, faking hurt in his voice. He was clearly mocking and bullying him, and was getting off on Milan’s fear and humiliation.  
  
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Milan bit out, glaring daggers at the guy and just wanting him to get lost already. He was all alone, as the others were in the middle of the basketball court and too far away for him to run towards without Warrick catching him first, and the teacher was nowhere to be seen. There was a door right next to him, but there was no chance Milan could get to it because the alpha was blocking his way, and the door swung towards them if it opened, which only made it harder to get through the door if he ever managed to open it. Milan cursed himself for having left the crowds to go to the toilet on his own in the first place.  
  
“Then who am I gonna call when I need a tight little ass to shoot my load into?” Warrick went on. A lewd smirk covered his face as he crowded Milan a little closer up against the wall.  
  
Milan’s face flushed with humiliation. He was scared, but he tried not to let the alpha see that.  
  
“I don’t know. Not my problem,” Milan muttered, his back and wings pressed against the wall now because he couldn’t step back any further.  
  
“Then you better give me your fucking number, _sub,_ ” Warrick growled at him. He was far past the appropriate distance one would keep to a submissive now, and Milan was about to panic.  
  
When Warrick got even closer, Milan lashed out and kicked him on the shin. Unfortunately, his foot didn’t hit him properly and it barely had an effect on the alpha, who was only more pissed off now.  
  
“Why, you little—!”  
  
Suddenly, Warrick was hit by the door right next to them when it was swung open really fast, knocking him off his balance and almost making him fall over.  
  
Milan stared in shock, and he quickly turned his head to see who had opened the door. He was surprised to see Derek standing there, and he almost panicked even more until Derek spoke.  
  
“Oh, I’m sorry. Didn’t see you there at all, Warrick,” Derek spoke, completely nonchalantly. He smirked at the guy before calmly closing the door. “You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?”  
  
Derek had gone to the other door earlier to enter the locker rooms, and had exited this door on purpose, knowing the door would hit Warrick, whom he had seen standing by the door earlier before he went inside. He was pretty smug that it had actually worked.  
  
Warrick turned to growl at him, but Derek wasn’t intimidated.  
  
However, instead of throwing himself at Derek, Warrick only glared at him with blazing eyes. “No, I’m cool,” he said, trying to regain his posture again and act nothing had happened.  
  
There was no doubt that he knew that Derek had done that on purpose, because Derek did nothing to hide the smugness in his voice and face. But Warrick didn’t do anything about it. Derek wasn’t sure if it was because Warrick was too afraid to, or if it was because the guy didn’t want to get into trouble at school. Maybe it was both.  
  
The two alphas glared at each other before Warrick turned and walked away, angry and slightly humiliated.  
  
Derek glared at Warrick as he watched him head back to the court and the others, while Milan was still frozen in shock.  
  
When Derek was done staring at the other alpha, he carefully turned to look at Milan. “Um… Are you okay?”  
  
Milan seemed surprised that Derek asked him that, but he nodded at the question. He was still trembling a bit after what had happened and was in a bit of a shock.  
  
Derek felt kind of sorry for him.  
  
“Good. Uh… We should head back,” Derek said awkwardly, pointing towards the court and the others when he saw that the teacher had returned from the break.  
  
Milan just nodded, still too shocked and surprised to say anything.  
  
Derek felt really awkward about it and turned to walk back to the others. He noticed that Milan didn’t follow until Derek was a good distance away, and that the submissive avoided looking at him and Warrick for the rest of the class.

  
***

  
The rest of the day passed by as usual. Derek went to his classes and tried his best to participate but sometimes almost fell asleep, and at 3pm he was finally free.  
  
He hadn’t seen Warrick since P.E. class, which was a good thing, because the guy had spent the rest of the class glaring at Derek like he wanted to murder him. Dwayne had noticed it, but Derek hadn’t wanted to talk about it.  
  
Derek was relieved when he left the classroom at 3pm, knowing all his classes today were over. He still had to pick up Claire at 4pm, but he had an entire hour until then.  
  
“Hey, wanna head to the park and hang out?” Dwayne asked him as they walked down the corridor together.  
  
“Nah, I can’t. Promised my mom I would take my sister to the dentist,” Derek explained.  
  
“Oh. Too bad. Guess I’ll see you for practice later then?”  
  
“Yeah, unless you’re going over to your _girlfriend’s_ house to make out,” Derek said, giving his friend a knowing smirk.  
  
Dwayne blushed and gave Derek a hard shove. “Shut up, man! She’s not my girlfriend.”  
  
Derek laughed. “Oh, but you are so lost in her, dude. I’m seriously worried you’re going to poop hearts soon. It’s disgusting.”  
  
“Shut up!” Dwayne hissed, blushing furiously because a group of girls who passed by had heard Derek’s comment and were giggling about it now.  
  
Derek just grinned, enjoying teasing his friend like that.  
  
The two of them parted ways after that, and Derek decided to head to the school’s sports field to kill time by looking at the football team practicing there. Lacrosse was on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, so today he didn’t have to go to practice after school today – except for his Jeet Kune Do practice at 7pm.  
  
The school was pretty empty now, and it was always odd to see the corridors so abandoned. There was trash laying around everywhere, though, but the school’s cleaning staff would take care of that soon.  
  
Derek walked through one of the long corridors, which he had all to himself now. He was completely lost in thought, thinking about his day and trying to plan when exactly to leave the school so he could be at Claire’s school at 4pm.  
  
Because Derek was lost in his own thoughts, his guard was completely down as he rounded a corner, where he was suddenly and very brutally kneed hard in the stomach by someone. It knocked all the air out of him and his legs gave in, making him sink to his knees on the floor, grunting at the pain.  
  
He barely had time to register what the hell had happened when someone grabbed him by the front of his shirt and threw him up against the wall.  
  
Suddenly, Derek was looking right into the angry face of Warrick, and that was when he finally regained his senses. He snarled at the other alpha in rage before punching him to the ground.  
  
Warrick fell to the floor, but was quickly on his feet again. He was blind with rage as he charged at Derek, who easily blocked his attack before giving him a swirling kick right in the face, sending Warrick crashing to the floor again.  
  
Adrenaline and testosterone was pumping through Derek’s veins. His body and mind were in total fight mode, and it wasn’t until Warrick was laying on the ground and whimpering as he grabbed his bloody nose that Derek realized what he had just done.  
  
Derek was still staring at Warrick in shock when he heard the voice of a male teacher.  
  
“Hey! What’s going on back there?!” the voice shouted.  
  
Derek panicked. He could hear the teacher’s footsteps coming fast from around the corner, and Warrick was still whimpering on the ground.  
  
A thousand thoughts went through Derek’s mind until his body suddenly decided it was best to run away, so he did. He ran away fast, only barely rounding the next corner before the teacher had reached Warrick. And then he kept on running. He ran through corridor after corridor, only thinking that he had to get away as fast as possible. Far away.  
  
Derek finally reached the school’s big entrance door, which he pushed open before running outside, heading over to the sports field, which was surrounded by bleachers all the way around it. He quickly ran towards it and into the building where the locker rooms were.  
  
Once he was inside the empty locker room, Derek’s mind finally started working again.  
  
Panic ran through him when he realized he had just knocked another student half unconscious and bloody. He had lost control when Warrick came at him and Derek had beat him up. He wasn’t supposed to do that. He had promised himself he would not lose control like that anymore and that he wouldn’t get into the same trouble as he had at his previous schools. He could already see the disappointed looks on his family’s faces and it made him cringe. He didn’t want to see them looking at him like that anymore. He could be better than that. Not perfect, but just better than before.  
  
_“Fuck!”_ Derek shouted as he grabbed onto one of the lockers in the changing room and knocked it hard to the ground. The heavy locker hit the ground with a loud _bang,_ and the sound echoed through the room and in Derek’s ears.  
  
He grabbed at his hair in frustration and tried to calm himself down. He closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing, taking slow, deep breaths and exhaling slowly.  
  
His mind was exploding with all the thoughts inside, and he prayed that the teacher hadn’t managed to catch a glimpse of him earlier. He wondered if Warrick would tell the teacher who had knocked him to the ground like that. Derek wasn’t sure. He didn’t know Warrick very well, but he knew that if Warrick did tell the school that it was Derek, he would also be in big trouble, because he was the one who had started the fight to begin with.  
  
Derek paced around as he wondered what to do. The adrenaline was dying down, and that was when he felt it – the stinging pain in his stomach. He hadn’t been able to feel it much before because of the adrenaline, but now he could feel the pain from the kick Warrick had delivered right in his gut earlier. It hurt like hell, and Derek groaned as he placed a hand there. Carefully, he rolled up his shirt to check himself for injuries and saw that the skin was all red. It would without a doubt leave a nasty bruise.  
  
Sighing, Derek rolled his shirt back down and closed his eyes for a bit. He inhaled and exhaled calmly a few times until he felt more relaxed. He then went over and pulled the locker he had knocked over back into place again, hissing in pain when he felt his bruise hurt.  
  
After he had cleaned up the mess he had made, Derek went outside to the bleachers.  
  
The school’s football team was practicing, like they always did on Wednesdays at this hour, and Derek watched them absently before going up to sit on the bleachers. He went up four aisles, but not quite to the top, and seated himself on the empty bleacher.  
  
His stomach hurt as he leaned forwards and rested his arms on his knees as he stared down at the field, but he ignored the pain.  
  
Derek sat there for a few minutes, staring absently at the students in the field. The thoughts in his head were still killing him, and eventually he buried his face in his hands, trying to think of something else.  
  
He had only sat like that for about a minute until he felt someone approach him quietly.  
  
Alerted, Derek snapped his head to the side to see who it was and was startled to see Milan standing there.  
  
Milan stopped when Derek’s head snapped up to look at him. He was standing a few feet away from him on the same bleacher, holding onto the strap of his old shoulder bag which rested at his side.  
  
The two of them stared quietly at each other for a few seconds until Milan carefully sat down on the bleachers a few feet away from Derek. They were sitting pretty close, but still with a good distance between them.  
  
Derek blinked at him, wondering why the submissive had come to him.  
  
Milan didn’t look at him. He stared at the field in front of them until he finally cleared his throat to speak. “I, um… I-I wanted to say thank you. About earlier. I…” He trailed off, wondering how to form the right sentence before he swallowed and continued. ”I, uh, don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up. So, um… Thank you.”  
  
Milan’s voice was quiet and mostly calm as he spoke, but there was a bit of trembling in it. He seemed a little nervous to be around Derek, and he kept shifting in his seat like he didn’t know if he should stay or get up and run away.  
  
Derek had not expected to get a thank you, especially not from Milan. He blinked at him in shocked surprise a few times before snapping out of it. “Uh… You’re welcome.” He cleared his throat awkwardly when his voice seemed raspy as he spoke.  
  
Milan didn’t speak, but his posture relaxed a bit after Derek spoke.  
  
The two of them stared at the field together, watching the coach yelling at a couple of the guys who had done something wrong during the practice. The sun was shining in their faces, making them have to squint their eyes a bit as they looked at the field.  
  
There was silence between them, though it wasn’t entirely uncomfortable. But it was a little awkward.  
  
After a few minutes, Milan glanced cautiously at Derek and noticed the uncomfortable look on his face whenever he shifted. The submissive frowned softly. “Are you hurt?”  
  
Once again, Derek was surprised by Milan’s words. He quickly glanced down at his stomach before looking away. “It’s not a big deal.”  
  
There was a loud, almost amused snort next to him, and Derek turned to look at Milan in wonder when he realized the snort had come from him.  
  
Milan blushed when he realized he had snorted loud enough for Derek to hear it. When he noticed the questioning stare Derek was giving him, he shifted a bit before saying, “Sorry. It’s just… It’s so typical for an alpha to say that.”  
  
Derek’s eyes narrowed a bit, but not in a negative way. “Well, I _am_ an alpha.”  
  
“I know that,” Milan said, finally lifting his head to look at him. “But…” He trailed off for a second before looking into Derek’s eyes, almost searching them. “You’ve changed. Haven’t you…?”  
  
Derek blinked at him before looking away and into his lap. He was quiet for a few seconds before saying, “Yeah, I guess.” He then slowly turned his head to look at Milan again, his eyes narrowing as he studied the submissive’s face as if trying to wrap his head around him. “Why are you even talking to me?” he finally asked, though a bit more accusing than he had intended. He quickly added another sentence to not offend the sub too much. “I mean, you’re the last person I had expected to show up and sit down next to me here. So why?”  
  
Milan swallowed and looked away into his lap. He was fumbling absently with a small leaf that he had just picked up from the bleacher, and he stared at it as he spoke. “Because… You kind of remind me of my older brother,” he admitted in a quiet voice, and a small smile curved his lips.  
  
Derek frowned, still not understanding it. He wanted to ask why he reminded Milan of his brother, but when he saw the small smile on Milan’s face turn into sadness, he decided it was better if he didn’t pry any further. He still didn’t understand what the sub had meant, though.  
  
There was silence again, and Milan kept fumbling with that leaf.  
  
The silence between them was getting a little awkward now, Derek thought. Mostly because Derek didn’t understand why Milan hadn’t gotten up and left already. He had thanked him already, so why stay?  
  
After a few more moments of silence, Derek finally spoke again. “Why did you change schools and come here?” he asked before he could help himself.  
  
Milan tensed, and Derek cursed himself inside for being so nosy.  
  
Milan hesitated for a few seconds before replying. “Because… Something bad happened at the other school and I wanted to get away from it all. To start over…”  
  
“Oh.” Derek watched him out of the corner of his eyes for a few seconds in silence. “But you’re still getting picked on.”  
  
It wasn’t a question and Milan knew that.  
  
The submissive nodded his head quietly, staring into his hands and at the small leaf. He fumbled with it in his fingers, a way to handle the nervousness he felt.  
  
Derek cringed when he saw Milan was looking a little upset now. No matter what Derek did or said, he always ended up doing something wrong.  
  
“Uh, sorry… I didn’t mean to pry.” Derek hated apologizing, but he felt bad for having made Milan upset again.  
  
Derek’s soft words made Milan relax a bit.  
  
The submissive wiped away a tear that had threatened to fall from his eye before looking at Derek with a warm smile. “No problem.”  
  
Derek hadn’t expected that smile at all, and he couldn’t help but stare at Milan’s face. There was an odd feeling in his chest now, like a big butterfly was trying to get out. It was kind of scary, but also really pleasant.  
  
Suddenly, Derek remembered that he had to pick up Claire. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the time; it was 3:47pm.  
  
“Shit!” Derek exclaimed, rising from his seat and startling Milan a bit. “Ah, sorry,” he said when he noticed how Milan flinched at his sudden exclamation. “I almost forgot I have to pick up my little sister and take her to the dentist. _Fuck!_ My mom’s gonna kill me!”  
  
“Oh.” Milan blinked up at Derek, who quickly gathered his stuff and started walking down the bleachers, trying not to trip over them.  
  
Derek stopped when he reached the last bleacher and then turned around to look up at Milan. He hesitated before asking, “Uh, are you gonna be okay?”  
  
Milan was going to be all alone on the bleachers now, and Derek couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit worried about that, especially after seeing how Warrick had picked on him earlier today.  
  
Milan was taken aback by the question and blushed a little. Derek was too far away to see that, though. He nodded at the alpha’s question and smiled as he said, “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Go get your sister.”  
  
Derek nodded and ran out of there in a hurry, and Milan chuckled as he watched him go.

  
***

  
Derek ran as fast as he could to the nearest bus stop, and he thanked god that he made the bus just on time. He was at Claire’s school at 4:03pm, and together they headed to the dentist’s clinic so that Claire could have her teeth checked.  
  
Claire was in a talkative mood as usual, but Derek didn’t really listen much to her today. He was still worried that Warrick would go and tell the teachers about him, and it made his chest feel like there was a huge stone inside it, weighing down on him. It was an unpleasant feeling, and his tail kept swishing from nervousness because he couldn’t stop thinking about it. However, when he thought about Milan and the smile he had given him on the bleachers, the weight seemed to be lifted just a little. He still didn’t know why that was. He refused to think it was because he had feelings for the sub. Maybe it was more because it was a nice feeling when someone smiled at him like that? Derek didn’t know.  
  
After Claire was done at the clinic, they took the next bus home together. Claire was still talking and was smiling as she sat next to Derek on the bus. Derek paid a bit more attention to her now than earlier, but he found it kind of embarrassing how an old lady sitting behind them kept smiling as she watched their interaction. It made him feel soft and he squirmed at the weird, uncomfortable feeling.  
  
They were home at 5:25pm, and fifteen minutes later Noah came home as well.  
  
Claire jumped up from the couch where she had been sitting with Fuzzles in her lap and headed straight for the entrance hall to greet Noah.  
  
Derek had sat with her downstairs because he knew how sad his sister would get if he just went up to his room and left her all alone. He slowly got up from the couch and buried his hands in his jeans’ pockets as he headed to greet Noah as well. He felt the nervousness spread through his body as he wondered if Noah had received a call from the school about today.  
  
“Hi, Mommy!” Claire exclaimed, coming over to give Noah a big hug.  
  
Noah grinned and was happy to receive a hug from his daughter after coming home from a long day at work. He hugged her back, and looked up a little when Derek appeared too.  
  
“Did you have a nice day?” Claire asked, looking up at Noah.  
  
“It was alright,” Noah replied as he started taking off his shoes. “Really busy, though…”  
  
Derek snorted softly at that, knowing how difficult kindergarteners could be. He leaned against the doorframe as he studied his mom closely, but tried not to be too conspicuous about it. So far it didn’t look like his mom was upset or was going to pull aside for a serious talk. Derek felt kind of relieved about that, but he still wasn’t sure if Noah knew anything about the events today.  
  
“How did it go at the dentist?” Noah asked, looking from Claire over to Derek.  
  
Derek shrugged nonchalantly. “Okay, I guess. We got there on time and Claire went inside and had her teeth checked.”  
  
“Yeah! No cavities!” Claire said with pride.  
  
Noah sighed in relief. He had been a little worried that Derek might have forgotten about it, and he had totally forgotten to call his son to remind him of it. “I’m glad to hear that,” he smiled at Claire. He then looked at Derek. “And thank you for taking her there for me.”  
  
Derek’s tail curled sheepishly. In the past he never really did anything to receive a thank you and now people were telling him ‘thank you’ so often. It was strange, but it was a nice feeling.  
  
“Is Daddy gonna be home tonight before I go to bed?” Claire asked Noah. She had a somewhat sad frown on her face, like she already knew the answer to her question.  
  
Noah sighed. “I’m afraid not… He’s still busy with work.” He swept his fingers through his daughter’s long, dark blonde hair and gave her a sad smile.  
  
Claire’s wings slumped in disappointment and she stared down at the ground as she gave a silent nod.  
  
Derek felt a little sorry for his sister. He hated seeing her so sad.  
  
“Isn’t his boss gonna be back soon?” Derek asked Noah, still leaning against the doorframe.  
  
“I don’t know,” Noah replied with honesty. “He’s recovering from an embolism and such things take time… Maybe he will never be able to work again.”  
  
“So… The restaurant might close then?”  
  
“I’m not sure. Your father said that since his boss doesn’t have any children to pass the business on to, he had asked your father if he would be interested in taking over the business if the worst should happen. But I don’t think your father has decided yet. He’s still confident that his boss will make it.”  
  
Claire gasped. “Daddy might get to be the big boss?”  
  
“Maybe. Nothing’s for certain yet,” Noah told her as he gently corrected a few stray hairs on her head.  
  
Claire looked pretty excited about that before she jumped on back to the living room.  
  
As soon as Claire had left the room, Noah came over to Derek with a serious frown on his face.  
  
Derek’s heart dropped, thinking that Noah had heard from the school after all, but then his mother suddenly touched his shirt with a disapproving frown.  
  
“Please tell me you did not wear this to school,” Noah said, staring at the hoodie that Derek was wearing. It was an old hoodie and it had a few tears here and there.  
  
Derek glanced down at himself. “What? No. I changed my shirt when I came home. The other one needed washing.”  
  
“Good, ‘cause I will not have any of my sons wearing _that_ to school.”  
  
Derek was a little insulted about that, but he agreed the hoodie looked too old to wear to school.  
  
“And I’m guessing you didn’t turn on the washing machine?” Noah asked next, looking up at Derek again.  
  
Derek shifted. “No.”  
  
Noah sighed. “You might be an alpha, but you can at least do your own laundry sometimes.” He headed towards the laundry room by going through the living room, thinking he might as well wash the shirt right away.  
  
Derek groaned. “Why should I? You always do it anyway,” he spoke out loudly so his mom could hear him as he headed to the laundry room.  
  
“Maybe one day I won’t,” came Noah’s reply from the laundry room.  
  
Derek rolled his eyes and turned to head upstairs. He wanted to be alone before dinner was ready and he didn’t feel like watching cartoons with Claire again.  
  
As soon as he was in his room, he threw himself on his back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.  
  
The school hadn’t called his parents. That meant that Warrick hadn’t mentioned that it was Derek who had kicked him in the face. If he had, the school would have called already, because it was almost three hours ago.  
  
Relief washed over him and he could finally relax. He didn’t really feel sorry for kicking Warrick in the face, because the guy had it coming – no one attacked Derek like that and got away with it. But Derek didn’t want to get into that kind of trouble again. He didn’t want to be the son and brother that others would be ashamed of. Not anymore.  
  
Derek closed his eyes and thought about the many events today, which led his thoughts towards Milan again. It had been a good feeling to have saved Milan’s day by owning Warrick like that. It had made him feel so much like a real alpha.  
  
Milan’s thank you to him on the bleachers made Derek smile as he thought about it, and suddenly that stupid butterfly feeling in his chest was back.  
  
He kept playing the events of the day over in his head again until he eventually dozed off on the bed, feeling more pleased with himself than he had ever been before.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, it was pretty weird writing Derek in this chapter. It's a challenge when a character is going through some serious changes, but I like the outcome :)
> 
> There will be more Dylan/Melody and Derek/Milan interactions soon! I'll be taking baby steps with their relationships :)


	67. Chapter 67

**November 2071 (Noah is 45, Jayden is 47, Nathan is 21/22, Derek is 17, Dylan is 14, Claire is 9, Castiel is 82, Dean is 83 (almost 84), Joanne is 21 (almost 22) years old).**  
  
A little over a month passed and it was now November 27th, a Friday.  
  
Derek had just finished his last class of the day and was looking forward to the weekend. Mostly he just looked forward to not having to go to school, but the weekend itself included Nathan coming home to celebrate his twenty-second birthday with the family, which was tomorrow. Derek had mixed feelings about his brother coming home. He had always had trouble being around Nathan because his brother was so good at pissing him off, although they had gotten into fewer fights lately.  
  
Before going home, Derek and Dwayne had to go to lacrosse practice. It was usually on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, but yesterday they had cancelled it and put it for today instead.  
  
“Man, I wish lacrosse practice had been yesterday instead,” Dwayne complained as he and Derek walked through the school’s corridors on the way to the sports field where their practice was. “I just wanna go home and have weekend already.”  
  
“Yeah, same,” Derek sighed.  
  
The corridor was busy and crowded after the bell had rung five minutes ago. It was a complete mess, especially because it was the time where most students finished their classes for the day, and there were people and noise everywhere.  
  
“Isn’t Nathan’s birthday tomorrow?”  
  
“Yep… And I _really_ look forward to him criticizing me as usual,” Derek said, putting as much sarcasm into it as possible.  
  
“Yeah, but he can’t be criticizing you _that_ much anymore, right? I mean, you’ve changed… A lot,” Dwayne pointed out, saying the words almost cautiously. “Sometimes I wonder who kidnapped my reckless, rude, and totally obnoxious macho of a best friend,” he grinned, clearly teasing Derek now.  
  
“Hey! I’m not obnoxious!” Derek protested and shoved Dwayne so hard that he almost bumped into another guy in the crowded corridor.  
  
Dwayne laughed as Derek glared at him. “Sorry, but you kinda were. You got me into _so_ much fucking trouble in the past. And you still do! That snack you decided to steal from Jack yesterday – _I_ got the blame for it! And I’m telling you that guy packs a punch, even if it was just my shoulder.”  
  
Derek laughed out loud at that, almost not feeling sorry for Dwayne at all.  
  
Suddenly, Derek got the feeling that someone was behind him. He turned to see who it was, expecting to see an alpha who wanted trouble, but he didn’t see anyone until he lowered his gaze and spotted Milan walking a few feet behind him.  
  
Recently Milan had started going near Derek whenever he was being harassed or followed by some of his usual bullies. He found that if he stayed close to Derek, the bullies would often back off and not approach him. Derek hadn’t really defended him since the scene with Warrick last month, mostly because he hadn’t been around when someone had harassed Milan, so it wasn’t like it was known to anyone that Derek would stand up for Milan. Milan suspected the bullies backed off because Derek was one of the strongest guys at the school, and because it was widely known that he didn’t like bullies. Derek hadn’t been respected much for the first few months at school, but a few weeks ago, Travis – the alpha angel who was a friend of Steven’s – had picked on Derek for being a hybrid and had harassed him and Dwayne as usual. That was when Derek had had enough of the guy. He had grabbed him and pushed him up against the nearest wall right in the middle of the corridor, threatening him to shut up and never bother them again. Travis hadn’t been able to push Derek off of him, which had made some of the others laugh and boo at him, and he ended up running away in humiliation after Derek had let go of him. After that, Derek had gained some respect from the crowds and people tried not to get on his bad side. Much to Derek and Dwayne’s relief, Travis and Steven’s other friends hadn’t bothered them since.  
  
Derek’s and Milan’s eyes locked for a moment, and Derek could see the distress in the submissive’s eyes. When he glanced behind Milan, he saw two Junior alphas eyeing Milan like he was prey. However, when they saw Derek looking their way, they quickly began walking slower and eventually disappeared into the crowds.  
  
Seeing how the two alphas didn’t dare come close to him made Derek feel pretty good, and it only fed his alpha ego. But the way Milan was starting to look to him for cover made him feel even better. He couldn’t describe it, but it was a nice feeling to provide protection for someone.  
  
Knowing that things would get awkward if people saw him and Milan interacting, Derek looked away from the submissive again and pretended like he wasn’t aware that he was there. That way no one could start spreading rumors about them. If an alpha stood up for a submissive, others always thought it was because the sub was his little bitch or boyfriend, and Derek didn’t want those rumors going around. He was pretty sure that Milan didn’t want that either.  
  
Dwayne was oblivious of what was going on, and Derek kind of preferred it that way. He didn’t feel like answering his friend’s questions if he found out that Milan was sticking close to him to get away from the bullies.  
  
They continued walking over to the sports field and were heading towards the locker rooms to change before their practice.  
  
Derek cast a glance behind him to see if Milan was still around. He found the submissive standing further away now. Milan was looking around to see if the bullies were still nearby, but they were no one to be seen. He then glanced over at Derek, giving him a small and shy smile before getting out of there in a hurry and with a blush on his face.  
  
The smile sent butterflies flying through Derek’s chest and stomach again, but he had no time to think about it before Dwayne suddenly started speaking to him.  
  
Looking away from Milan, Derek went to join Dwayne in the locker rooms to get ready for the lacrosse practice.

  
***

  
It was 9:30pm when Derek came home that evening. After lacrosse practice, he had had Jeet Kune Do practice from 7-9pm. Sometimes he didn’t have practice on Fridays and had it on Saturday instead, but it switched a lot from week to week. He preferred having Friday night free, though.  
  
Derek took the bus home from practice and had to walk for ten minutes from the bus stop to his home.  
  
When he finally came home to his house, he saw that the lights were on all over the house. It wasn’t unusual, but through the upstairs window he could see three people standing in Dylan’s room. He groaned when he realized that Nathan had already come home. He hadn’t expected to see him until the next day.  
  
Derek went up to the front door and used his keys to get inside. They always locked the door even if they were at home, just in case a thief should sneak inside while they weren’t paying attention.  
  
He was still kicking off his shoes in the entrance hall when Claire appeared.  
  
“Derek! You’re home!” Claire exclaimed, grinning at him with joy.  
  
“Yeah, apparently so,” Derek murmured, giving his sister a small smirk before putting away his shoes and taking off his jacket.  
  
Jayden also appeared in the entrance hall, having heard Derek enter the house. “Hey,” he greeted him with a smile. “How was practice?”  
  
Derek shrugged lightly. “It was good. Dwayne sprained his wrist during lacrosse, though, so he didn’t come for our Jeet Kune Do practice.”  
  
“Ow.” Jayden grimaced in sympathy. “Is he okay?”  
  
“Yeah, he’s fine. It happens.”  
  
Claire stared at Derek with wide, shocked eyes. “Why did he get hurt?”  
  
Derek didn’t manage to reply before Jayden spoke.  
  
“Because lacrosse is a harsh game,” Jayden explained. “People often get hurt. It’s not a sport for soft people,” he chuckled.  
  
Claire looked horrified as she glanced up at Derek next. “But I don’t want Derek to get hurt. Why do you play such a terrible game?”  
  
“It’s not terrible,” Derek protested. “It’s fun. It can be brutal, yeah, but that’s what makes it fun.”  
  
Claire looked like she thought he was crazy for thinking it was fun to play a game where you got hurt. She could not wrap her head around that at all.  
  
Suddenly there was a loud snort somewhere above them, and Derek turned to look up at the stairs and saw Nathan walking down the steps.  
  
“You’re so macho, Derek,” Nathan told him. “You don’t care if you break your arms and legs, as long as you look cool.”  
  
Derek glared at Nathan, even though his brother’s tone hadn’t been mean as he said it. “And I keep saying it over and over again: a beta like you won’t understand it.”  
  
Again, Nathan snorted, but it sounded more amused this time. “Whatever you say.” He stopped as he reached the floor and looked at Derek with a smile. “It’s good to see you again, though. Still staying out of trouble at school?”  
  
Derek shrugged. “I’m still a student there, so yeah.”  
  
Jayden rolled his eyes at that, but he was glad that they hadn’t gotten a single call from Derek’s school yet. They had been to a routine meeting at the headmaster’s office a couple of weeks ago to hear how Derek was doing, and the headmaster had said that Derek’s grades were a little better than at his previous school, and that he was attending almost all of his classes. Only one teacher had had a complaint about him and that was because she had seen how he had pushed Travis up against the wall a couple of weeks ago and threatened him. But when Derek explained the situation about how Travis had picked on him and Dwayne for a while and that he had acted to defend himself, the headmaster had let it slide.  
  
Nathan chuckled at Derek’s comment and went over to give his brother a hug. It was a short hug and Nathan never hugged Derek too tightly, not wanting to hurt his macho image. Their tails touched briefly in a brotherly greeting, and Claire beamed when she saw them exchange the tail greeting, which they usually never really did.  
  
Derek hugged his brother back, though he felt a bit awkward about it.  
  
They pulled away, and Nathan had to glance up to look at Derek’s face now. He was still trying to get used to how tall Derek was. Of course, Derek had been really smug about it when he had finally outgrown Nathan in height, and he had been insufferable for a while, but lately he hadn’t bragged about it at all.  
  
Derek glanced around and noticed that the others were missing. “Where is everybody?”  
  
“Upstairs,” Nathan replied. “Dylan was helping Joanne and me changing the sheets on his bed so we can sleep there tonight, so you’re gonna have to share your room with Dylan.”  
  
Derek groaned at that, but didn’t protest otherwise.  
  
“And Mom’s getting Claire’s bed ready,” Nathan continued.  
  
“What? Nooo! I dun wanna sleep!” Claire protested, putting on a big pout as she crossed her arms in front of her chest in defiance.  
  
“Oh, but you have to, princess,” Jayden grinned as he reached down and picked her up.  
  
Claire squealed loudly as her father picked her up pressed her against his chest and started peppering her with kisses. “Nooo! Let me go!” she laughed.  
  
Derek had to step back when Claire almost kicked him, and Nathan laughed at the scene.  
  
Suddenly they heard Joanne’s voice from upstairs. “Is everything okay? Is Claire hurt?”  
  
“No, she’s fine. My Dad’s just teasing her,” Nathan yelled back up at her, chuckling.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Claire was so loud that Joanne must have thought that she was hurt.  
  
“Now, up to bed with you,” Jayden told Claire, whom he was still holding against his chest.  
  
“Nooo! Still dun wanna!” she protested, squirming in his hold.  
  
Jayden put her down on the ground before suddenly grabbing her again and swinging her over his shoulder so that her head was near his wing and her legs were kicking in front of his chest.  
  
Derek and Nathan both stepped away from the staircase when Jayden went over to walk Claire up the stairs like that. They couldn’t help but laugh as their sister kicked and squealed, but Jayden had a good, strong grip on her so she wouldn’t fall down.  
  
Claire’s protests turned into laughter and shrieking because she liked it when her Dad held her like that. She still didn’t want to go to bed though, so she kept kicking and squirming.  
  
Nathan went upstairs with them, and Derek decided he might as well join them.  
  
Jayden took Claire to her room, and she had to quickly yell good night to everyone before her Dad brought her into her room and dropped her on the bed.  
  
Joanne thought it was pretty amusing, as did Dylan.  
  
“Hey, Derek,” Joanne greeted him when Derek came upstairs with Nathan.  
  
“Hey,” Derek greeted her back, burying his hands in his pockets.  
  
Nathan went over to his girlfriend, and Joanne chuckled shyly as he placed his hands on her hips and leaned in for a kiss. They were standing in the middle of the doorway to Dylan’s room, so Dylan had to carefully sneak out of the room behind them while trying not to bump into them.  
  
Derek looked away as Nathan and Joanne kissed, finding it awkward to witness, while Dylan just smiled at the scene.  
  
Dylan went over to Derek, holding a blanket and a pillow in his arms. “I’ll go set up a mattress in your room for me to sleep on,” he announced as he made his way over to Derek’s room.  
  
Derek just nodded absently and listened to Claire laughing at something back in her room. When Dylan had almost reached the room, Derek turned and shouted, “But if you break anything in there, you pay for it!”  
  
Dylan rolled his eyes heavily at that. “Yeah, yeah, I will,” he yelled back before pushing the door open and going inside.  
  
Derek’s comment attracted Nathan’s attention. He leaned away from Joanne to tell Derek, “I’m pretty sure Dylan won’t break anything in there. He’s not as reckless as you, after all.”  
  
“Har, har. You’re so funny,” Derek told him with dry sarcasm, giving him a dark scowl.  
  
“I cannot count all the things you’ve broken in this house during your life…” Nathan said as he looked like he was giving it deep thought. His used his fingers to count as he started reciting some of the things. “You broke several of Mom’s vases, you broke a chair in the dining room once, you’ve broken plates and pots, you almost broke my old laptop when I was in high school, and you broke our cat’s trust once when you kicked a ball at her. Not to mention all of the bones you’ve broken in your own body.”  
  
Joanne looked pretty impressed as Nathan kept coming up with examples of things that Derek had broken, and in the end she couldn’t hold back a giggle.  
  
Derek just glared hard at Nathan as he mentioned all of those things. When Nathan was finally done with his examples, Derek snorted loudly and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You’re such a nerd, Nathan. Keeping history of all the things I’ve broken… Don’t you have better things to do?”  
  
Nathan laughed. “Nah, they just popped into my mind. I have a good memory.”  
  
“A nerdy memory, if you ask me.”  
  
Nathan snorted, and Joanne seemed to find their little argument pretty amusing.  
  
“Now, don’t be so tough on him,” Joanne told Nathan and placed a hand on his chest to calm him down.  
  
“Nah, he can handle it,” Nathan said with a small smirk. “Sometimes you gotta be rough with him, otherwise his ego grows so large it’ll kill him.”  
  
“You’re honestly a dumbass, you know that?” Derek told him with an unimpressed huff.  
  
Nathan just grinned at that.  
  
They looked up when Dylan came out of Derek’s room, already done setting up the mattress for tonight. He glanced between his brothers, sensing some of the usual tension between them. He then slowly came over to join them, hoping they were done with their little disagreement already.  
  
“Are Mom and Dad still with Claire?” Dylan asked, glancing towards Claire’s room. The door was closed so he couldn’t tell if they were still in there.  
  
“Yeah, she’s fussy ‘cause she doesn’t wanna sleep,” Nathan explained.  
  
“Ah. I see.”  
  
“You done conquering my room now?” Derek asked Dylan, still standing with his arms crossed in front of his chest.  
  
Dylan frowned a bit at the phrase, but nodded. “Yeah, I’ve set up the mattress.”  
  
“Good. Then I’ll go use my computer for a while. Don’t come into my room for the next half an hour; I need some privacy in this crowded house,” Derek told him as he walked towards his room.  
  
Dylan just nodded, not bothering to ask why.  
  
“I was just about to ask if you’re hiding a girl in there, but I seriously doubt that’s the case. Who’d wanna hide _in_ _there?_ ” Nathan spoke, smirking at Derek as his brother turned his head to glare at him.  
  
Derek just gave Nathan a glare and flipped him the finger before disappearing into his room and closing the door.  
  
Dylan was shocked that Derek would do that in front of Joanne, but to his surprise she just laughed about it, so did Nathan.  
  
Once Derek was in his room, Joanne turned to glare a bit at Nathan. “Jeez, why can’t you leave him be? I’m not surprised you two always fight. You totally provoke him!”  
  
“I provoke him only to get him down from his high horse. All his machoness is not healthy, and believe me; he’s macho as hell,” Nathan explained. “Not to mention that half of the time, it’s _him_ who starts it.”  
  
“I’m not saying he’s not a macho, but sometimes you really overdo it…” Dylan spoke, almost cautiously.  
  
Nathan sighed. “True. But I do have to say… his reactions to my insults have changed a lot. I almost miss him shouting at me.”  
  
Dylan chuckled. He had noticed the change too. Derek did still growl and shout at Nathan sometimes when he was really angry, but it was much rarer now. Now he mostly just quipped back at him or glared him down with a deadly look.  
  
A couple of minutes later, Noah and Jayden came out of Claire’s room when she had finally settled down. They all decided to head downstairs and spend some time together before it was time for bed.  
  
Derek didn’t join them, which didn’t come as a surprise to any of them. The half an hour that Derek said he wanted to spend at his computer alone dragged out to more than an hour, and it wasn’t until everyone went to bed at 10:50pm that Derek stopped his video gaming.  
  
The others had spent the night downstairs with social interactions. They could have stayed up a bit longer than 10:50pm, but they had a busy day ahead of them tomorrow, so they all decided it was best to go to bed early.  
  
They all looked forward to tomorrow, because Dean and Castiel would be dropping by for a visit on Nathan’s birthday. They hadn’t seen them since August already, and Noah really missed his parents.

  
***

  
The next day, Nathan turned 22 years old.  
  
Everybody gathered for breakfast in the kitchen in the morning, and Jayden had bought fresh bread from the bakery for them to eat.  
  
Nathan didn’t get as many presents as he had when he was a kid, but he was still happy about the presents he got. He got some useful things from his parents, such as new bedsheets, a new tablet that he wanted, a new lamp, and some money. From Dylan he got a gift card for two for the cinema, from Derek he got a big box of his favorite chocolate, Claire gave him a handmade wristband she had made at school, and finally Joanne gave him a gift card for a hotel for the two of them to use.  
  
Afterwards, Jayden started making preparations for their dinner and for the cake. For dinner, Jayden was going to make tuna mousse for a starter course, and for the main dish they were having roast beef with potatoes and vegetables, which was one of Nathan’s favorites. Since Dean and Castiel were joining, Jayden had a lot of food to prepare, and he began early with the tuna mousse, which had to cool in the refrigerator for a few hours before it was ready to be served.  
  
Dean and Castiel would arrive at around 1pm, and until then the family spent time together downstairs, playing some games and chatting, and Joanne helped Claire feed the cats and clean their litterboxes.  
  
“Eww, cat poop!” Claire grimaced in disgust as she and Joanne went outside to dispose of the litterbox contents in the trash bins by the road.  
  
Joanne laughed as she threw the bags into the trash. “Yeah, it’s not exactly delicious, is it?”  
  
“No,” Claire agreed, still looking disgusted even after Joanne had closed the lid again. “But I’m glad it’s not a person’s poop!”  
  
Joanne laughed and headed back to the house with her. “Yeah, me too. That would be _really_ disgusting.”  
  
Claire just grinned, and together they went back inside the house.  
  
Nathan happened to walk through the entrance hall as they came back inside, and he smiled at how well his girlfriend and sister got along. “I see you two are still best friends.”  
  
Claire beamed. “Yeah, she’s my best adult friend!”  
  
Joanne grinned, looking kind of flattered about that.  
  
Nathan chuckled at his sister and fondly ruffled her hair.  
  
They looked up when Noah came over to them with a frown on his face. “Have you guys seen Derek around? He suddenly disappeared…”  
  
“He’s probably in his room, as usual,” Nathan said, snorting about it.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
“I think he said he was going to do some homework,” Joanne said.  
  
“Derek? Homework? Oh boy,” Nathan remarked, making Claire laugh.  
  
Dylan was standing in the doorway to the living room, silently listening to them. He then suddenly remembered something. “Oh, shoot! I left my phone in Derek’s room!” he exclaimed, already heading towards the stairs to go up and get his phone.  
  
“Be careful Derek doesn’t kill you,” Nathan warned him. “He tends to flip out if people interrupt him when he’s actually doing his homework for once.”  
  
“I know, but I need my phone! I’m waiting for a message,” Dylan said, stopping on the stairs to talk to Nathan.  
  
“What, you have a girl whose message you are expecting?” Nathan asked, mostly to tease. When Dylan froze and looked away, Nathan’s eyes widened. “Oh, so there _is_ a girl!”  
  
Dylan snapped out of it quickly. “What? No! I mean… She’s just a friend. I’m helping her solve some issue with her laptop, and she said she’d write me today when she has time so we can talk about it.”  
  
Nathan didn’t look quite convinced, especially when Dylan blushed a bit, but he decided not to comment further.  
  
“Is it Melody?” Claire asked him curiously. Dylan had mentioned Melody to her a few times and Claire knew that they were good friends.  
  
“Yeah,” Dylan replied before running up the stairs and away from the conversation.  
  
Noah just smiled, thinking it was nice that Dylan and Melody were good friends. He knew how important it could be for an angel/demon hybrid to have another hybrid like themselves as a friend, so he was happy for Dylan.  
  
Dylan hurried away from the embarrassing conversation and slowly approached Derek’s room. He knew the door was probably locked, so he went over and quietly knocked three times on the door. “Derek, are you there?”  
  
“What is it?” came Derek’s annoyed voice from inside.  
  
Dylan cringed, hating to disturb Derek when he knew his brother wanted to be left alone. “Sorry. I just want to get my phone. I left it in your room earlier.”  
  
There was a small pause before Derek said, “The door is open. Just come in.”  
  
Dylan blinked in surprise when Derek said the door was open. He turned the doorknob and walked inside when the door opened, heading over to the mattress to find his phone there somewhere. He glanced up a Derek a few times, who was sitting by the desk. His brother was scratching his head and staring into a thick book on his desk, looking frustrated and really annoyed.  
  
Dylan quickly found his phone and saw that Melody hadn’t contacted him yet. He was a little disappointed about that, but he knew she would text him sooner or later. He was just about to leave the room when he slowly turned and went over to see what Derek was studying.  
  
“Algebra?” Dylan asked when he saw Derek’s school book.  
  
Derek was still sitting with one hand buried his in hair and with a red marker in his mouth as he stared helplessly into his book. He used the marker to mark the sentences that were important to him, but barely anything on those two visible pages was marked. On his laptop screen was an assignment that the students had to finish by Monday, but so far all the spaces for the answers were empty, as Derek had no idea what the solutions to the given problems were.  
  
“Yeah,” Derek murmured around the marker and tapped his fingers on the desk with his free hand. He moved his hand up and removed the marker from his mouth, letting out a deep, frustrated sigh. “Whoever the fuck wrote this book should be fired. I don’t understand anything in it!”  
  
Derek had never been very good with numbers, and algebra could be pretty complicated.  
  
Dylan glanced into the book. “I, uh… I can help you a bit if you want? I’m pretty good at math and stuff.”  
  
Derek glanced at him, skeptically. “You’re in middle school. This is an algebra book for high school seniors. Are you sure you’re not overestimating yourself?” He couldn’t help but sound a little condescending, but he was in a really foul mood, and he seriously doubted that his little brother was smart enough to solve the problems in this algebra book just yet.  
  
Dylan stepped a little closer to study the book in more detail. “Hmm. Well, if I take some time to read it, I think I might understand it.”  
  
Derek stared him quietly for a few seconds before saying, “You’re a fucking nerd, you know that?”  
  
Dylan frowned at him in offense. “Well, if you don’t want my help, I’ll just—”  
  
_“Wait,”_ Derek said sharply when his little brother was about to turn and leave.  
  
Dylan turned and looked at Derek again, waiting for him to speak.  
  
Derek tapped his fingers nervously on the desk, glancing between the algebra book and his brother. He really didn’t want to get help from his baby brother, who was three years younger than him. It was embarrassing on all levels, and Derek was a very proud person. He liked to do things on his own and hated asking for help – and that hadn’t really changed about him. But he really could not wrap his head around algebra, and even though Dwayne was better at him at this, he knew his friend was probably just as useless as himself to solve these tricky problems.  
  
It took Derek several moments before he finally gave in. “Okay, I could use your help… The teacher will kill me if I don’t hand this one in. _But,_ ” he quickly added when he saw Dylan was about to speak. “If you mention this to anyone, I’ll kill you.” He pointed the marker sharply at Dylan.  
  
Dylan closed his mouth and blinked at Derek before suddenly grinning. “Fine, I won’t tell. But the others in this house might notice it when I spend more time with you than usual… Even Nathan.”  
  
Derek let out a long, displeased groan at that. He did _not_ want Nathan to know that Dylan was helping him with homework. He would never hear the end of it.  
  
“How long is Nathan staying here for?”  
  
“Until tomorrow night,” Dylan replied.  
  
Derek groaned again and sat back in his chair. “Fucking great…”  
  
“I don’t think you should worry that much about Nathan, though,” Dylan told him. “He’ll understand.”  
  
“Yeah, right. Since when does Nathan _not_ seize every opportunity he has to mock me?”  
  
“Well, you mock him too, so I think guys are even.” Dylan shrugged.  
  
Derek grumbled a bit about that. “So, uh, you’ll help me?” It was so awkward to ask and Derek almost felt like shooting himself.  
  
Dylan, however, just smiled. “Yeah, I just said I would. But not today, though. Maybe tomorrow? I, uh, don’t wanna be anti-social when it’s Nathan’s birthday.”  
  
“Right,” Derek murmured, looking a bit relieved that Dylan agreed to it. “And, uh… thanks.”  
  
Dylan blinked at him, still not used to hearing the word ‘thanks’ coming from Derek’s mouth. “You’re welcome,” he smiled and turned to leave.  
  
When Dylan had left the room, Derek groaned loudly and leaned his head far back as he slumped back into his chair. He cursed that stupid algebra book and his brain for him not being to solve it on his own.

  
***

  
It was almost 1pm now, and everyone was getting ready for Dean and Castiel to show up at any minute.  
  
Noah was doing some laundry so the basket wouldn’t be full when their guests came, while Nathan and Joanne helped each other clean the couch of cat hairs.  
  
Jayden was in the kitchen, baking a chocolate cake for this afternoon, and Claire and Dylan were helping him out. They were adding the ingredients into a big bowl, and Claire stared at the brown, thick liquid with fascination.  
  
“Now, use the electric whisk to mix it well,” Jayden instructed his daughter as he handed her the whisk.  
  
Claire grinned eagerly as she grabbed onto the electric whisk and placed the two whisks at the end into the bowl.  
  
“Dylan, maybe you should hold the bowl, just in case the whisks slip from her grip. I don’t want chocolate cake all over the kitchen,” Jayden said, chuckling a bit.  
  
Dylan chuckled and grabbed onto the bowl to hold it steady. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” He made sure to place his hands on the side of the bowl and not near the top.  
  
“Nooo! I can do this!” Claire protested, pouting at them both because she wanted to do it on her own for once.  
  
“Maybe after you’ve tried it a few more times,” Jayden told her, giving her a sorry smile. “And remember not to touch the whisks while they are moving.”  
  
“I know,” Claire said and fumbled to hit the on button. She was standing on a stool so that she could properly look into the bowl. The kitchen counter was a bit tall and Claire wasn’t that big yet.  
  
Dylan held onto the bowl firmly as Claire started the electric whisk. She started on the slow function, but after a few moments Jayden pressed the button to speed it up a bit. He let Claire handle it from there, and she concentrated as she let the noisy whisks do their job. She moved them around the bowl a bit so that everything got mixed well, and Jayden smiled at her concentration.  
  
It was when she felt confident enough to use the highest speed function that it went a little wrong for Claire. As she fumbled with the button, she accidentally lifted the whisks a bit so that they weren’t buried in the cake mass anymore, and that made all the sticky cake mass on the whisks splatter everywhere.  
  
Claire gasped when the cake mass hit her in the face, and she quickly put the whisks back into the bowl. But the mess had already been made. It was on her face, wings, and clothes, and Dylan got a bit on him as well. Not to mention the kitchen wall and the counter.  
  
Jayden had luckily stepped away a little to get the cake form ready, so he wasn’t hit.  
  
“Claire!” Dylan yelped in complaint, removing his hands from the bowl to wipe the mess off his face when Claire had shut off the electric whisk.  
  
Jayden, however, just started laughing. “I told you to be careful,” he told Claire with amusement. He picked up a rag and washed it under the sink before going over to clean up the mess.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Claire said, looking forlorn and embarrassed.  
  
Jayden chuckled at his daughter as he gently wiped her face clean with the rag before wiping the wall and the counter.  
  
“Urgh! It’s all over my face and wings! I’ll go to the bathroom,” Dylan announced, looking a bit grumpy as he turned to leave the room.  
  
Claire glanced after him with a forlorn look on her face as her brother left. “You think Dylan is mad at me?” she carefully asked her father.  
  
“Nah, I don’t think so,” Jayden smiled, still wiping everything clean. “He’s probably a little annoyed ‘cause he just had a shower and now he has to wash again.”  
  
Claire looked more guilty now, and Jayden chuckled warmly at her and booped her nose to cheer her up.  
  
They heard the doorbell ring just then, indicating that their guests had arrived.  
  
Claire lifted her head to look at Jayden before a wide grin spread all over her face. She jumped down from the stool and ran out towards the entrance hall, excited to see her grandparents.  
  
Claire managed to get to the door before everyone else, and she eagerly opened it and grinned up at her grandparents, who were standing outside. “Grandma! Grandpa!”  
  
“Hey,” Dean greeted her with a wide grin. He got the air knocked a bit out of him when Claire went forward and gave him a big hug, and he chuckled as he hugged her back. “How are you doing, Claire? And what’s that you’ve got all over you?”  
  
Claire lifted her head to grin up at him as she stepped back from their hug. “I’m good! And that’s cake. We were baking and I accidentally pulled up the whisks a bit… And then… _splat!_ ” She giggled as she shifted and curled her tail innocently.  
  
Dean and Castiel laughed at that.  
  
“But I’m so happy that you’re here! I’ve been waiting all day!” Claire grinned, and then went to hug Castiel next, who chuckled warmly at her as he hugged her back.  
  
“And we’re happy to see you too,” Castiel told her as he returned her hug. He was holding a big, wrapped present for Nathan in his hand, and he tried not to hit her with it as they hugged. He blinked at his granddaughter when Claire stepped back a moment later. “And you have gotten bigger, have you not?”  
  
Claire grinned again and her tail curled with excitement.  
  
They looked up when Noah, Nathan, and Joanne appeared behind Claire.  
  
Jayden was still in the kitchen, and no one had really seen Derek since this morning.  
  
“Yeah, she’s growing a lot,” Nathan commented when he heard what Castiel said. He walked over to them and chuckled down at Claire, who looked sheepish and proud as they talked about her. “But I still think Dylan and Derek have grown even faster.”  
  
Dean laughed at that. “Of course. They’re alphas, so they grow a lot taller. Makes it easier to notice when they grow.”  
  
“Yeah, that must be it…”  
  
Dean chuckled at him before coming inside and pulling Nathan into a hug. “And happy birthday! And once again one of our grandkids have gotten way older than we can remember them to be.”  
  
Nathan laughed softly at that as he returned the embrace.  
  
Castiel smiled at Dean’s comment and could only agree. They had a lot of grandchildren and all of them were growing so insanely fast. “Happy birthday, Nathan,” he told his grandson as he pulled him into a hug after Dean. He had put the present away on the floor so his hands were free to hug everybody.  
  
“Thanks,” Nathan smiled, hugging him back.  
  
Meanwhile, Dean gave Noah a big hug, grinning at the sight of his youngest kid. “What about you, Noah? Starting to feel old yet?”  
  
Noah grunted against his dad as he hugged him. When they pulled away, he sighed heavily. “I’ve been feeling old since Nathan turned eighteen…”  
  
Dean laughed and almost felt sorry for him. He patted Noah’s shoulder gently in sympathy before turning to greet Joanne. They had met before, so Dean had no problem pulling her into a hug.  
  
Claire closed the door after they had stepped inside, and she kept beaming as she watched everyone greet each other.  
  
They had all greeted each other, Noah suddenly frowned when he spotted the stains on Claire’s wings and clothes.  
  
“What happened to you?” Noah demanded softly as he went over to investigate.  
  
“Baking accident, she told us,” Dean replied before Claire had the chance.  
  
Claire once again giggled innocently, and Noah sighed.  
  
“You did that on your Dad’s birthday too…” Noah said, staring at her dirty clothes with disapproval.  
  
“I know… Sorry. And I hit Dylan too, that’s why he’s not here,” Claire explained. “He went to the bathroom to clean if off.”  
  
Nathan laughed at that. “Too bad you didn’t hit Derek as well.”  
  
Joanne gently shoved Nathan for being mean, while Claire just laughed.  
  
“Oh. And this is for you,” Castiel said when he almost forgot about Nathan’s present. He picked up the present from the floor and handed it to Nathan.  
  
Nathan reached out and took the present from Castiel. It was a little heavier than he had expected, and he wondered what was inside. “Thanks,” he beamed, looking at his grandparents. “I’ll open it when Dylan and Dad show up. Not sure when Derek is going to show his face down here, though.”  
  
Dean chortled at that. “Yeah, that will apparently never change. Although I do hear he’s changed a lot?”  
  
Nathan was about to speak when Jayden suddenly showed up.  
  
“Yeah, he’s certainly becoming a better alpha,” Jayden spoke, smiling at Dean and Castiel as he went over to them. “No troubles at school either. And better manners. Not perfect, but definitely better.”  
  
“Wow,” Dean laughed. “What did you do? Send him to alpha boot camp?”  
  
Jayden laughed at that and shook his head. “No. He just learned his lesson after the incident with that girl. I think it really opened his eyes to reality.”  
  
They had all heard the story about what Derek and his friends had done to the girl Sarah at the previous high school. It had been a while since Dean and Castiel had last seen Derek, because he had been busy with other stuff when the rest of the family had visited Dean and Castiel, so they hadn’t seen for themselves how he had changed yet. Most of the change had happened during the summer, and the family hadn’t had much contact since then.  
  
Nathan snorted. “It was about time…”  
  
Dean shrugged. “Well, better late than never.”  
  
Dean and Castiel formally greeted Jayden before they all headed to the living room together to chat and relax while the cake was getting ready to be put in the oven soon.  
  
Just as they all entered the living room, Dylan finally exited the bathroom and looked up when he spotted them through the open door in the laundry room, which was between the bathroom and the living room.  
  
“Oh, there he is!” Dean laughed when he spotted Dylan. “I was wondering how dirty you got from the cake since you took so long in there.”  
  
Dylan blushed a bit before hurrying into the living room to greet them. “Sorry. I hate getting that stuff in my feathers, so I had to clean them.”  
  
“No problem,” Castiel said, smiling at him. “And it’s good to see you.”  
  
“You too,” Dylan grinned, stepping forward to hug his grandmother and then his grandfather.  
  
After the hug, Dean studied Dylan closely. “And Nathan was not kidding when he said that you and Derek grow fast. You were most certainly not this tall last time I saw you!”  
  
Dylan grinned and shifted sheepishly. “Yeah, I guess.”  
  
Jayden chuckled and patted Dylan proudly on the shoulder while looking at Dean and Castiel. “Well, everyone in this house except for Noah and me are going through somewhat of a growth spurt.”  
  
“And also except Joanne and me,” Nathan added. “I think we’ve both stopped growing already.” He glanced at his girlfriend with a smile and gently joined hands with her. Joanne smiled back at him and entwined their fingers and tails.  
  
The others laughed softly at that before Jayden told everyone to take a seat.  
  
They went to the couch to sit down, and Claire was eager to sit next to Castiel, who had sat down next to Noah.  
  
They all watched as Nathan opened his present from Dean and Castiel. He studied the package a bit, much to Claire’s annoyance, because she was apparently even more impatient than him to know what was inside. When he was done taking his time just to tease his sister, Nathan opened the present. Inside were new speakers for his laptop, which Noah and Jayden had told Dean and Castiel that he wanted for his birthday. Nathan was thrilled about the present and thanked them a lot, and Dean and Castiel were happy that their present was well received.  
  
Then, they took their time to chat and share the latest news from the family. Noah was eager to hear about Lily and Eden’s grandchildren, whom Dean and Castiel had recently had the honor of babysitting for a few days. He was glad to hear that things were going well with them, and Noah made a note to himself that he should soon go visit his siblings and catch up with them.

  
***

  
About an hour later, the cake was finally ready to be eaten.  
  
Noah and Jayden helped each other set the table in the dining room, and Claire ran upstairs to get Derek, who had still not come out of his room.  
  
“Derek! It’s time for Nathan’s birthday cake!” Claire shouted outside Derek’s room and banged on his door. “You gotta come!”  
  
“What? Oh. Yeah, I’m coming,” Derek yelled back from inside the room.  
  
Claire then eagerly ran back downstairs to join the others again, while Derek got ready to leave his room.  
  
Everyone had just started heading into the dining room when Derek came down the stairs.  
  
Dean looked up as he walked by the stairs and saw Derek coming down. “Ohh, look who’s alive!”  
  
“Yeah, sorry…” Derek said, feeling a little guilty as he went down the steps to greet his grandparents. “I was playing a video game and didn’t hear it when you arrived. And I kinda lost track of time…”  
  
“That’s alright,” Castiel smiled at him. “We’re just glad to see you.”  
  
Derek nodded, relieved that they didn’t seem too upset.  
  
Castiel went and gave him a hug because he knew how bad Derek was at taking the first initiative for such things, and afterwards Dean hugged him too.  
  
“And damn, you’ve gotten tall,” Dean commented as he pulled back from Derek. He looked the teenager up and down with an impressed grin. “You’re almost just as tall as me now, aren’t you? You’re definitely a little bit taller than your Dad.”  
  
Jayden was about 2cm (0.7 inches) shorter than Dean, so Derek was about 185cm (72.83 inches) tall now and was still growing a bit.  
  
Derek shifted sheepishly and shrugged a bit. “I guess.” His tail curled with pride, as he liked it when people commented on his height.  
  
Jayden, who had just appeared when he heard them talking to Derek, laughed at how modest Derek was being. “What’s wrong? You’re never this modest. You were such a loudmouth when you outgrew Nathan, but not when you outgrow me?”  
  
Derek groaned and buried his hands in his pockets.  
  
Noah chuckled softly as he watched Derek looking like he had no idea what to say.  
  
“I already cheered about it internally,” Derek eventually commented, making the others laugh. “And I don’t wanna hurt your pride.”  
  
Jayden laughed at the smirk that was on Derek’s face now. “My pride’s not hurt. From what I hear, it’s normal to be outgrown by your sons.”  
  
“Well, Isaac did certainly not outgrow me,” Dean said. “But Adrian is the same height as me. I can settle with that.”  
  
Jayden laughed, obviously agreeing.  
  
Castiel rolled his eyes as the alphas were now only talking about height and pride.  
  
Nathan didn’t seem too happy about all the alpha chat either. “And sometimes I wonder where Derek gets his machoness from…”  
  
“Hey,” Jayden said, smacking Nathan’s arm playfully as he laughed.  
  
Next, they all headed to the dining room to sit down.  
  
Noah sat down on one side of the table with Claire to his right, and next to her was Castiel, then Dylan, and Derek.  
  
Dean, Jayden, Nathan, and Joanne sat down on the other side.  
  
Noah had wanted Nathan to sit at the table end because he was the birthday kid after all, but he hated sitting at the table end, so they ended up sitting the way they did. It didn’t matter much anyway, because everyone could see it when Nathan blew out the candles. Nathan thought he was getting too old for that, but everyone agreed that there had to be candles in the birthday cake and that he had to blow them out, so he had no choice.  
  
Derek sat there with a smug grin on his face as he watched Nathan blow out the candles, and Nathan was really trying his best to not kill him for it.  
  
When the candles were out, Nathan got up and cut the cake into pieces, making sure there was enough for everyone. Jayden had been about to do it, but Nathan – having good manners – decided to it instead.  
  
They began eating, and it soon turned out that the cake had been a real success.  
  
“You always make such good cakes, Jayden,” Castiel commented while they ate. “And they always taste a little bit different… Or am I wrong?”  
  
Jayden laughed, appreciating the compliment. “Yeah, I like to use different recipes sometimes so there’s some variation in it. And this time Claire and Dylan helped me bake it. I’m glad it turned out well, considering Claire’s little mishap.”  
  
Claire sunk into her chair a bit and put on an innocent giggle as they all turned to look at her.  
  
Dylan rolled his eyes softly at her when he saw that she was maybe not that sorry after all.  
  
“How’s it going with the restaurant, by the way?” Dean asked Jayden next. “Are you the new big boss yet?”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at that. “No. But my boss isn’t really getting better… Last time I went to see him a couple of week ago, he seemed to have made up his mind already about not returning.”  
  
“So… He’ll pass his business on to you?” Castiel asked.  
  
“Yeah, looks that way. There’s just a lot of paper work to be done when there’s a change of ownership, so that will take a while.”  
  
Dean and Castiel looked impressed and pleased that Jayden would soon own the restaurant, and the others looked happy as well. Noah was proud of his mate that he would soon be a CEO of a business, although the circumstances were a bit sad.  
  
Jayden himself felt kind of excited about it, but he was of course also worried about his boss, whom he was pretty good friends with. It wasn’t easy for Jayden to see him so sick after he had had the embolism.  
  
“Congrats,” Dean grinned. “I’d give a toast to that, but toasting in juice, coffee, and cocoa is not how it’s done properly, so let’s save that for tonight.”  
  
The others laughed about that, and they chatted for a bit longer about the restaurant before switching the topics.  
  
They started chatting about Nathan’s studies as they finished the cake, and Nathan mentioned that he had some exams coming up next month. He hated having exams in December, but it couldn’t be helped. Otherwise, things were still going well for him. He liked going to college and had found many new friends there. Joanne was also doing well at her college, and in two years she would be a fully-fledged paramedic.  
  
When they finally done eating the cake, Dean suddenly addressed Derek, who was the only one he hadn’t really spoken much to today.  
  
“So, Derek,” Dean suddenly spoke and looked over at Derek, who was sitting obliquely opposite from him. “I hear that you’ve finally started behaving more like a real alpha should.”  
  
Derek tensed a bit when he was addressed, and he groaned internally when his grandfather intentionally didn’t say more than that and instead just stared at him, waiting for his reply. He cleared his throat a bit and shrugged lightly before speaking. “Yeah, I guess so.”  
  
“Not harassing any more girls and subs?”  
  
“No. Definitely not…”  
  
“Good. I was wondering when you’d finally see some reason. I was actually thinking that I’d have to kick your ass myself if you kept going down your previous path, and I’m glad I didn’t have to.” Dean chuckled a bit about that.  
  
There was some laughter at the table, and Derek cringed a bit. It was an awkward conversation, Derek thought.  
  
“Yeah, and he’s gotten a bit nicer too,” Dylan added, glancing at Derek with a pleased smile.  
  
“And somewhat more helpful around the house,” Noah said next, also smiling.  
  
Castiel smiled, and he chuckled softly when he saw that Derek was shifting uncomfortably, like he wasn’t used to all that praise. It was good for him, though.  
  
Of course, Nathan couldn’t help but make a comment.  
  
“Be careful, guys. I think Derek’s brain is about to have a breakdown,” Nathan snickered when he noticed how Derek seemed to find it a bit difficult to handle all those comments about him.  
  
Derek immediately glared at him from across the table. “Shut up, man.”  
  
Nathan just laughed, and Derek glared at him more.  
  
Castiel then spoke up, breaking the tension that was forming between Nathan and Derek. “Do you know yet what you want to do after high school?” he asked as he leaned forward a bit to look at Derek who was sitting further down the table.  
  
Derek turned his attention away from Nathan and to his grandmother instead. “Uh, not entirely sure yet… I’m thinking of taking a year off after high school and maybe go join the military for a while. I think they have some programs that last for a few months.”  
  
It was the first time that any of them had heard of Derek’s plans, and they all seemed both impressed and surprised.  
  
“Oh, the military, huh?” Dean said, sounding very pleased. “There are many good jobs for alphas in there. It’s not a bad idea to take a closer look at it.”  
  
Derek nodded and felt a little sheepish as they all looked at him now.  
  
“You haven’t told me about that before,” Jayden told Derek. He grinned proudly at him because he was pleased that Derek had been giving some thought about his future. “It sounds really interesting.”  
  
“Hmm, just the right place for a macho,” Nathan commented.  
  
Derek glared at him and tried to kick him under the table, which didn’t go unnoticed by the others.  
  
Dean laughed. “Well, _that_ certainly wouldn’t be allowed in the military, you know. You’ve got to have discipline there.”  
  
Nathan let out a not very discreet giggle-snort the word ‘discipline’ because it was not what he associated with Derek at all.  
  
Derek, of course, noticed Nathan’s reaction to that. “You’ve got something to say?” he asked with a small growl.  
  
“Nah,” Nathan laughed.  
  
Dylan rolled his eyes at them and found them both pretty embarrassing, while Claire was giggling in her chair.  
  
They all laughed about that, and the conversation ended up taking a different turn again.  
  
After everyone was done eating and had finished their drinks, Jayden and Noah got up to clear the table and do the dishes, and Dylan went to help them.  
  
Castiel, Nathan, and Joanne were still seated at the table where they chatted a bit while the others went to the kitchen.  
  
Derek got up to head to the bathroom, but Dean stopped him when he was half-way through the kitchen on his way there.  
  
“Hey,” Dean spoke, making Derek stop and turn to look at him. Dean had a serious look on his face as he went over to Derek, and he gently poked him in the chest to get his full attention. “Don’t fall back into old habits, okay? I know a little something about what’s like to want the respect of others, particularly other alphas, and I’ve done things I wish I could take back now. Don’t be that guy. Don’t make other people’s lives miserable just because you want to feel more powerful, you got it?”  
  
Derek nodded slowly, feeling a little nervous as his grandfather lectured him like that.  
  
Dean was pleased that Derek seemed to be listening, but he went on. “Being an alpha is not about being better than others by stepping on them, or thinking that you’re allowed do to whatever you please. It’s about protecting, about being a good example, and about being a leader. If you hurt others in the process, you are not a real alpha. Got it?”  
  
Derek nodded again, swallowing a bit. “Yeah, I got it. My Dad told me pretty much the same thing.”  
  
Dean smiled. “Good. Would have expected nothing less of him.” He glanced briefly in Jayden’s direction, but Jayden was too busy doing the dishes with the others to notice what they were talking about. Dean then turned his attention back to Derek and gave him a pat of approval on the arm. “I’m glad you’ve changed, though. I know that Noah is really happy about it. He’s told me how proud he is of you.”  
  
Derek couldn’t help but blush at that, and that didn’t go unnoticed by Dean.  
  
“All of your family is proud of you,” Dean added, and patted him again. “So don’t disappointment them, yeah?”  
  
“Yes, sir,” Derek said as he nodded once more.  
  
Dean looked pleased with that and finally let him go. “And I hope you’ll go to the military like you said you wanted. It would be good for you.”  
  
Derek smiled and nodded, and was just about to turn and leave when Dean spoke again.  
  
“And remember,” Dean added, making Derek look at him again. “I’m watching you.” He then pointed two fingers at his own eyes and then at Derek.  
  
Derek laughed at that before finally sneaking off to the bathroom.  
  
Dean could be pretty intimidating, even though he was getting a little old now, and Derek definitely took notice of his words. He was already starting to notice how such a simple thing as making sure that Milan was safe when he was near him made him feel better and more like an alpha. He would probably never be able to control his temper completely when someone provoked him or picked a fight with him, but he would definitely never pick on someone weaker than himself again.

  
***

  
The afternoon was spent with everyone being social and chatting. Even Derek was around all afternoon and didn’t go to his room, which surprised the others a little, but pleased them as well.  
  
Derek and Nathan got into a bit of a bicker sometimes, as usual, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been in the past.  
  
In the late afternoon, Nathan, Joanne, Dylan, Claire, and Derek went outside in the garden for a bit while the adults stayed inside and chatted.  
  
It had been a while since the siblings had all been alone together, and Joanne’s presence didn’t bother them at all. Claire especially liked having Joanne around. Nathan had the feeling that she kind of thought of Joanne as the older sister she had never had, and it was pretty sweet, he thought. Joanne didn’t have any younger siblings, so Claire was kind of like a little sister to her now as well.  
  
They kicked a soccer ball around on the lawn, but weren’t exactly playing soccer. They just kicked it between each other and laughed when someone failed to catch the ball. Mostly it was Claire who didn’t catch it, so she had to run after it before she could kick it back to the others.  
  
At some point, Nathan and Derek ended up having a bit of a competition going on. They were testing who could master the ball best, which the others thought was kind of amusing. They kicked the ball up high in the air to see who could kick it highest, and they did some tricks with their feet and tails as well.  
  
Nathan had to admit that he lost when Derek could balance the ball on the tip of his shoe for way longer than him.  
  
“What? Can’t keep up anymore?” Derek asked his brother with a smug smirk as he kicked the ball from foot to foot.  
  
“I already told you that you’ve won,” Nathan replied with an annoyed tone.  
  
“Hmm, I know. I just like hearing you say it. Why don’t you say it again?”  
  
Nathan shoved Derek for being an asshole, but Derek just laughed and swept the ball back up with his foot after he dropped it, and then started bouncing it on his knee.  
  
“Gosh, you are so full of yourself, aren’t you?” Nathan gritted out, scowling at Derek for looking so smug.  
  
“And you’re just a sore loser.”  
  
Nathan grumbled a bit at that, and Joanne laughed next to him.  
  
“Wow, you guys are such kids, aren’t you?” she said, chuckling.  
  
Claire snickered, and Dylan sighed at his brothers in embarrassment.  
  
“You have no idea,” Dylan muttered. He reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, checking if Melody had texted him yet. She hadn’t.  
  
“Why do you keep checking your phone every two minutes, Dylan?” Derek asked when he noticed it for the one hundredth time today. He was still playing with the ball and Claire watched with fascination as it bounced up and down on his knee.  
  
“For no reason,” Dylan murmured, not meeting Derek’s eye.  
  
“He’s waiting for Melody to text him,” Nathan explained.  
  
Dylan’s face flushed at that, and he was about to complain that Nathan had mentioned it in front of Derek, when Derek suddenly laughed.  
  
“I should have guessed,” Derek laughed. “Aren’t you spending an awful lot of time with her lately?”  
  
Dylan suppressed a blush as he frowned at Derek with annoyance. “No… We sometimes do homework together after school, but that’s all.”  
  
“Just homework?”  
  
“Yeah, just homework,” Dylan repeated, snapping a little because he was getting embarrassed.  
  
“You do homework with her at school until 9pm? You weren’t home until 9pm last Tuesday, and I know for a fact you didn’t work on that day.”  
  
“I hung out with some guys from school and played basketball. It dragged out,” Dylan explained, getting a little annoyed with how Derek was smirking at him.  
  
“Right,” Derek chuckled, unconvinced. He was still bouncing the ball on his knee, trying to keep it moving and off the ground for as long as possible.  
  
Dylan glared at him. He really was just friends with Melody, and it was embarrassing when his brothers thought it was more than that.  
  
“Don’t be such an ass to him, Derek,” Nathan finally told Derek. “Dylan can hang out with any girl he wants to.”  
  
“I didn’t say he couldn’t,” Derek said, getting a little defensive. “But he’s acting really girly about it, blushing and all… Almost like Dwayne when he talks about his crush Stefanie.”  
  
“I’m not blushing!” Dylan denied, but the blush on his face now didn’t make him very convincing.  
  
Joanne couldn’t help but snicker at that and find it kind of cute.  
  
Nathan laughed softly at Dylan before looking at Derek. “What would _you_ know about that? You’ve never had a crush before, just occasional mindless sex with random girls, if I know you right.”  
  
Derek snorted loudly at that and focused on the ball. “I don’t get crushes.”  
  
Nathan laughed at that. “You know, the day you actually _do_ get a crush, I’m gonna tease you _so_ badly about it. You know that, right?”  
  
Derek growled and threw the ball at Nathan. “And that day will never come!” His wings sharpened unconsciously as he spread them at Nathan. He was trying really hard not to blush in front of his brothers and he cursed Nathan for once again being so god damn annoying. Derek still wasn’t entirely comfortable showing his softer sides to anyone, especially Nathan, and the whole talk about crushes was a little embarrassing and awkward.  
  
Nathan caught the ball that Derek threw at him and chuckled at Derek’s denial.  
  
Claire frowned as she turned to look up at Nathan. “What does ‘mindless sex’ mean?”  
  
Nathan almost choked on his own spit, and they all stared at Claire in horror as she asked that. She looked confused about why everyone was so startled by her question, which only made her more curious.  
  
“It’s, uh… You should go ask Mom and Dad that,” Nathan told her, blushing a bit.  
  
“But they aren’t here. They’re inside.”  
  
“Then ask them later,” Nathan said. “Trust me, you don’t want _us_ to explain that to you.”  
  
Claire looked confused about that, and Joanne couldn’t help but laugh.  
  
Derek smirked at Nathan. “Why? Too shy to explain it?”  
  
“No,” Nathan denied, but didn’t sound too convincing. “But I’m not exactly eager for it either. And I’m definitely not letting _you_ explain it to her. You’ll just scar her for life.”  
  
“Oh, I have no intentions of explaining _that_ to her.”  
  
“Eh, why not?” Claire complained, pouting in offense. “Why does no one wanna tell me?”  
  
“’Cause it’s Mom and Dad’s job,” Nathan told her, coughing awkwardly. “Now, stop asking silly questions and go back inside. It’s starting to rain now, and Mom will get upset if your clothes get wet.”  
  
They all glanced up at the sky and noticed the dark clouds up there. They all felt a few raindrops hitting them on the face, and they knew it was time for them to head back inside.  
  
“Of course it rains… It’s your birthday after all,” Derek told Nathan with a teasing smirk.  
  
Nathan scowled at him and threw the ball back at Derek, who caught it with one hand. “Shut up.”  
  
Derek just grinned, and they all began heading back inside. Derek kicked the ball back onto the lawn before they all walked around the house to the front door. Their shoes were full of grass, so it probably wasn’t a good idea to enter the house through the terrace door, which led directly into the living room. Noah and Jayden would be furious if they messed up the floor.  
  
They entered the house through the front door and went to take off their shoes.  
  
The others heard them enter the house, and suddenly they heard Dean’s voice from the living room as their grandfather shouted at them.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Dean yelled from the living room. “Had fun outside?”  
  
“Yeah!” Claire chirped with a happy grin and went to the doorway to smile at the adults. “Derek’s really good with the ball!”  
  
The adults laughed softly at that and smiled, and Derek felt both a little embarrassed but also proud as Claire said that. Nathan gave him a small shove when he noticed the look on Derek’s face, and Derek almost lost his balance as he was taking off his shoe. He glared at Nathan and shoved him back, and Dylan rolled his eyes at them while Joanne chuckled.  
  
“So, Dad asked me earlier if I wanna help him clean the cars and tidy up in the garage tomorrow,” Nathan said randomly as they all put away their shoes in the entrance hall. “Wanna help us out, Dylan? We could probably use an extra hand.”  
  
“Oh.” Dylan blinked at him before nodding. “Yeah, sure. But I also promised Derek to help him with his homework tomorrow, so it has to be after that.” The words had just left his mouth when he realized he should probably not have said that. His eyes widened and he quickly put a hand over his mouth, but it was too late – Derek was already mad.  
  
Derek growled lightly at Dylan and gave him a small smack on the head for being so stupid. “Dumbass,” he hissed with embarrassment and irritation.  
  
“Sorry,” Dylan said, but couldn’t help but giggle a bit about it when he saw how flustered Derek looked.  
  
Nathan blinked at them in surprise before he finally burst out laughing. “Whoa, you’re helping Derek do his homework now? For real?” He laughed about it and turned to look at Derek. “Wow, Derek. I didn’t know you knew how to ask other people for a favor, especially Dylan.”  
  
“Shut up,” Derek grit out, trying not to blush. He knew Nathan would be an ass about it, and he glared at his older brother when Nathan seemed to find it extremely amusing.  
  
Claire gasped and looked up at Derek. “Really? Is your homework _that_ difficult?”  
  
“It’s algebra,” Derek grumbled. “I hate that stupid subject. It doesn’t make any fucking sense.”  
  
Nathan was still laughing about it and that was really getting on Derek’s nerves now.  
  
Dylan looked a little worried as he glanced between them, while Joanne tried to make Nathan stop laughing already.  
  
“Sorry,” Nathan finally said when he noticed how angry Derek was at him for laughing. He cleared his throat and tried to be serious, but it was clear that he was still very amused. “I hate algebra too and have never been good at it. Dylan has always been the family nerd when it comes to that. I’m just really surprised that you actually asked Dylan for help.”  
  
Dylan frowned in offense. “I’m not a nerd.”  
  
Derek ignored Dylan’s comment and kept scowling at Nathan. “He offered to help and I accepted it. What’s so fucking funny about that?”  
  
“Nothing,” Nathan chuckled. “It’s just a little out of character for you, that’s all.”  
  
Derek still didn’t look very happy about it, and Nathan almost felt sorry for laughing at him.  
  
“And stop cussing so much,” Nathan finally said. “Claire is right there.” He gestured at Claire, and Derek turned to look at her.  
  
Claire, however, just giggled. “I don’t mind it. Derek always swears. It’s a little funny when Daddy tells him not to.”  
  
“Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me,” Nathan chuckled.  
  
Suddenly there was a loud _pling_ sound, and they all turned to look at Dylan, who pulled out his phone when he realized he got a message. A small grin appeared on his face when he saw it was Melody who had finally texted him.  
  
“Oh, is it Melody?” Claire asked eagerly. “Please ask her to come by! I wanna see her!” Claire had only seen Melody a few times at school when she had been with Dylan. They had never interacted much before, only greeted each other briefly, and Claire thought that Melody was pretty nice. She was especially interested in meeting Melody because she was also an angel/demon hybrid, and Claire hadn’t met that many of those.  
  
“Uh, I don’t think she can come by, though,” Dylan explained, giving his sister an apologetic look before heading up the stairs to his room so he could have some privacy.  
  
Claire pouted and her wings drooped in disappointment. Joanne smiled at her and placed a hand on Claire’s shoulder, which made Claire feel a bit better.  
  
Nathan smiled as he watched Dylan head up the stairs with his eyes glued to his phone, while Derek just snorted softly about it.  
  
When Claire jumped into the living room to join the adults, Joanne followed her.  
  
Derek crossed his arms, still feeling a little annoyed at Nathan, and turned to head to the kitchen to get something to drink.  
  
Nathan hesitated for a bit. He was about to follow Claire and Joanne to the living room, but decided he better go and talk to Derek. He slowly followed after his brother, and stopped in the doorway to the kitchen, watching as Derek opened the fridge with more aggression than needed and pulled out a coke.  
  
Derek’s tail was swishing in agitation, and Nathan could tell that he was pretty annoyed. He waited a few seconds before approaching him.  
  
Derek glanced over his shoulder when he heard someone behind him, and his eyes narrowed a bit when he saw that it was Nathan.  
  
Nathan approached him with buried his hands in his pockets as he went over to stand next to Derek, but he kept some distance between them just in case. “Um, sorry if I sometimes get a little too much on your nerves,” he began, choosing his words carefully. “I probably shouldn’t have laughed so much when Dylan said he was going to help you with your homework. I’m sorry about that.”  
  
Derek had to confess he was pretty surprised to hear Nathan apologizing to him like that. His posture immediately relaxed, but he didn’t really know what to say to that. His gaze drifted away from Nathan when he suddenly felt awkward. “It’s fine. It’s a grown in habit of yours, isn’t it?” he muttered dryly, taking a long sip from his coke.  
  
An awkward laugh escaped Nathan. “Well, I guess we have that much in common. You often laugh at me as well.”  
  
Derek couldn’t say that wasn’t true, so he didn’t say anything. He just glanced away and shifted uncomfortably.  
  
They were now both staring at the floor, feeling awkward and weird, but it was also kind of nice to actually talk to each other for once.  
  
“You know,” Nathan began, making Derek look at him again. “I never actually got to say this to you, but… I’m really glad that you’ve, um, well, changed. I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but I think you’ve gotten a lot more mature in the past few months, and I know the change hasn’t been easy for you… And well, I like you a lot better now.”  
  
Nathan’s sincere smile and his words flattered Derek more than he could say. Derek just stood there, blinking at Nathan like he couldn’t quite believe that his brother was actually telling him this. He then looked away with a blush before clearing his throat awkwardly.  
  
“Um, thanks…” Derek said, glancing at Nathan almost skeptically. “You’re not pranking me right now, are you…?”  
  
Nathan laughed out loud at that, but shook his head. “No, I’m not pranking you. I’m serious.”  
  
Derek looked a little relieved about that, and reached up his free hand to scratch the back of his neck sheepishly. “Well, thanks. And, uh, sorry if I get on your nerves too.”  
  
A grin appeared on Nathan’s face, and he couldn’t help but reach out and give Derek a small shove. “Now you almost sound girly,” he teased.  
  
“Hey,” Derek warned him with a soft growl, and Nathan just laughed. Derek smiled about it as well.  
  
Both of their tails curled with joy, and their postures were much more relaxed than usual as they stood beside each other.  
  
“But I guess we probably won’t stop teasing or snapping at each other, even after saying this,” Nathan continued. “Just know that I don’t do it ‘cause I hate you, okay? You’re just really fucking annoying sometimes, and other times I just can’t resist teasing you.”  
  
Derek snorted loudly at that, but he was smiling as well. “You know that counts for you too, right? Being fucking annoying, that is.”  
  
Nathan laughed. “Isn’t that what it means to be brothers?”  
  
“I don’t know. I don’t find Dylan half as annoying as you.”  
  
“Hey,” Nathan warned with a laugh, and Derek couldn’t help but laugh too.  
  
They turned to walk to the living room together, and couldn’t help but shove the other on their way there. The first shove was light, and the next one was a bit harder, and so it escalated until some of Derek’s coke spilled on the floor in the laundry room. Nathan laughed about it, but he was quick to fetch a rag to clean it up with, seeing as it had been his fault after all.  
  
The others all noticed how Derek and Nathan seemed to get along a little better than usual when they came into the living room, and they were a little surprised about that. However, none of them commented on it, but instead smiled as Derek and Nathan both went over to join them.  
  
The mood was more relaxed than usual as Nathan and Derek joined the others, but it was a good feeling.  
  
The all chatted and laughed about some stories that Dean and Castiel told them about their great-grandchildren. They already had four great-grandchildren; Eden and Jason’s son Daniel had 2 children (one girl, one boy), Adrian and Natalie’s daughter Maya had a son, and Lily and Tony’s daughter Jennifer had a little girl. And there was one more coming, as Adrian and Natalie’s son Aaron was expecting a little girl with his mate next month. The family was growing faster than Dean and Castiel could keep track of, but they were happy to have more and more great-grandchildren that they could babysit sometimes.

  
***

  
It was almost 10pm when Dean and Castiel finally headed home.  
  
Noah didn’t really want his parents to go. It was always difficult to say goodbye when he wasn’t sure when he would see them again – sometimes weeks or even months could pass. But Christmas was coming up next month, so he was relieved that this time he knew exactly when he would see them again.  
  
“Where are you going to spend Christmas this year?” Noah asked Castiel as his parents were getting ready to leave in the entrance hall.  
  
Castiel wrapped a scarf around his neck to protect him from the cold outside as he answered Noah’s question. “With Isaac and Kaylen. Though, I do hope that Isaac will keep his mischief to a minimum this year… Last time he placed a fart cushion on my chair _three_ times during the same night.”  
  
Noah laughed and felt kind of sorry for his papa when he saw the frustrated look on his face.  
  
Dean burst out laughing and wrapped an arm around Castiel’s shoulders. “But you gotta admit it was funny, Cas!”  
  
Cas glared at him out of the corner of his eyes. “It was funny the first time maybe, but the second and third times were just ridiculous.”  
  
Everybody laughed at that, and it made Castiel blush a little.  
  
“You know how Isaac is,” Noah chuckled. “To him it’s not just the first time that’s funny… It’s always funny.”  
  
“Yeah, and the more times, the better,” Jayden agreed, laughing.  
  
Dean laughed at that, and Castiel groaned because he knew they were right.  
  
Joanne was standing in the background with Nathan. She slowly turned to look at Nathan, her mouth open in slight disbelief. “Is he really like that?”  
  
“Yeah,” Nathan snickered.  
  
“What? She hasn’t meet Isaac yet?” Derek asked when he heard what Joanne and Nathan were saying.  
  
“No, I don’t really see our uncles and aunts and their kids much except for at Christmas and sometimes at birthdays,” Nathan explained. “And Joanne doesn’t always join me when I go visit them. College is too busy for that.”  
  
Meanwhile, Dylan turned to look at Castiel, who still looked a little annoyed about the incident with Isaac. “Actually, I think Kaylen might have been the one to place the fart cushion on your chair one of those times,” he said. “I remember him mentioning that to me once… He thought it was funny when you blamed Isaac.”  
  
Dylan’s comment only made Dean laugh harder, and Castiel didn’t look much happier.  
  
“That does not surprise me,” Castiel murmured as he corrected the scarf around his neck.  
  
“Kaylen is naughty!” Claire laughed and kept giggling like crazy.  
  
They all laughed at that, and Dean and Castiel finally hugged everyone goodbye. They promised they would come and visit them again during the Christmas holidays, and they all looked forward to that.  
  
Nathan thanked his grandparents for the present once again, and he joined his parents outside to wave goodbye as Dean and Castiel got into their car and drove off.  
  
Derek noticed the firm look his grandfather sent him just before he left, and it made him swallow nervously. He had not forgotten their conversation earlier, but Derek had no intentions of falling back into his old habits.  
  
Once Dean and Castiel were gone, they headed back inside and closed the door to keep out the cold.  
  
Claire was yawning because it was usually her bedtime at around 8pm or 8:30pm, and today had been a long and eventful day.  
  
“Ready for bed?” Noah asked her, brushing a gentle hand through Claire’s hair.  
  
Claire nodded weakly. “Yeah… But…” She looked up at Noah and Jayden with a serious frown on her face. “I wanna know what ‘mindless sex’ means!”  
  
Everyone almost choked in shock and stared at her with wide eyes. None of them had expected her to say that all of sudden.  
  
“What?” Jayden asked, not knowing whether he should be concerned by that or if it was a joke.  
  
“Nathan said earlier that Derek has occasional mindless sex with random girls, and I wanna know what it means,” Claire explained. “They wouldn’t tell me and said I gotta ask you.”  
  
Both Nathan and Derek’s faces were bright red now, and Dylan and Joanne couldn’t help but laugh.  
  
“Claire!” Nathan blurted, horrified that his sister had revealed that.  
  
“But that’s what you said,” Claire told him, frowning at Nathan with stubbornness.  
  
Nathan groaned and facepalmed himself.  
  
“Is that so?” Jayden asked as he turned to stare at his sons with a quirked eyebrow. “And just how did you end up talking about that? No wait… I don’t wanna know.”  
  
Derek groaned, finding it all awfully awkward, not to mention embarrassing.  
  
“But I wanna know,” Claire insisted, looking more stubborn now.  
  
Noah glanced at Jayden like he didn’t know what to do, and two of them shared a look before Jayden sighed heavily.  
  
“Well, I guess we’ll never avoid this conversation…” Jayden murmured in defeat.  
  
Claire beamed. “Are you gonna tell me?”  
  
Noah sighed and tried not to look too awkward. “Yes, we’ll tell you… But you have to get ready for bed now.”  
  
“Maybe you’ll tell me when you tuck me in?”  
  
Noah hesitated and tried not to blush as the others looked at him. “Sure, of course. Now, go upstairs and brush your teeth.”  
  
Claire beamed and said good night to everyone before running up the stairs.  
  
Once Claire was gone, Jayden laughed and looked at Noah. “How about I just let you handle this conversation? I think she’ll prefer to hear it from you.”  
  
Noah lifted his head to scowl at Jayden for pushing the responsibility onto him, but he didn’t protest.  
  
“I’m so glad I’m not gonna be around for that,” Derek muttered, putting his hands in his pockets and turning to head up the stairs. “I’m going to my room. Good night.”  
  
The others said good night to him, but Derek stopped when he was just three steps up the stairs.  
  
Derek then turned and looked directly at Dylan. “And try not to stumble on your way to the bathroom if you gotta go in the night. Last night you woke me up at 2am ‘cause you almost fell on your nose.”  
  
Dylan looked flustered and annoyed about Derek’s comment, especially as they others laughed. “I only stumbled ‘cause some of your clothes were near the door!”  
  
“No, they weren’t.”  
  
“Yes, they were!”  
  
Jayden groaned loudly. “Oh, not you guys too, please… And here I thought things were finally just getting better between Nathan and Derek.”  
  
Joanne laughed. “Yeah, same.”  
  
Derek glared at them before huffing and heading upstairs to his room.  
  
“I’ll go tuck Claire in,” Noah announced next and headed for the stairs.  
  
“Good luck,” Jayden said, giving him a smirk.  
  
Noah glared at him over his shoulder before walking up the stairs.  
  
After Noah was gone, Joanne turned her disapproving glance to Nathan. “All just ‘cause you had to make that comment about Derek earlier…”  
  
Nathan laughed, but did look a little guilty. “Yeah, sorry… But she would have needed the talk sooner or later anyway.”  
  
“I feel a bit sorry for Mom, though,” Dylan chuckled.  
  
Jayden laughed about that, and the four went to the living room for a bit to hang out before going to bed.  
  
Meanwhile, Noah went upstairs to Claire’s room. She was still in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and getting ready for bed, so Noah tidied up some of her toys that were on the floor and got her pajamas ready.  
  
After a few minutes, Claire was done in the bathroom and came into her room. She looked kind of excited, whereas Noah felt a little awkward about the conversation they were going to have.  
  
Claire went and put on her pajamas, and Noah waited for her to get into bed before he sat down on the edge of her bed and looked at her.  
  
The room was dark except for the lamp that was next to Claire’s bed. She used to have a small lamp with a faint light to light up her room at night because she had been afraid of the dark, but now she wasn’t so afraid anymore and could easily sleep without any lights on.  
  
“So, are you gonna tell me?” Claire asked, pulling the covers closely around her as she looked at Noah with anticipation.  
  
Noah gave her a soft smile and wiped a few stray hairs away from her forehead. “Well, it’s not exactly a fun conversation… But your father and I have actually been wanting to have it with you for a while.”  
  
“Oh. What is it?”  
  
“Well…” Noah swept a few more hairs away from his daughter’s forehead. He did it unconsciously and it helped him with the awkwardness. “How much do you know about sex…? Have you ever heard about it before?”  
  
Claire seemed to give it some thought. “I’ve heard the word… I think it’s something that mates do? But Derek doesn’t have a mate? So is ‘mindless sex’ when it’s not with a mate?”  
  
Noah chuckled a bit about that. “No, not exactly… But you’re right that it’s something that mates do. But not just mates; anyone can have sex, but not within the family or with someone too young. You have to be old enough. Do you know what sex includes?”  
  
Claire shook her head hesitantly. “No… But some of the girls in my class said it was gross. The boys seem to find it interesting, though. I just know it’s when you’re naked, and that it’s how you make babies. That’s all.”  
  
“I’m not surprised,” Noah chuckled when Claire mentioned the girls and boys thing. “Well, let’s start from the scratch… You know there are different genders, right? Male, female, and submissive.”  
  
Claire nodded.  
  
“Well, all of them are biologically different. Males have a penis, females have a vagina, and submissives, such as me, have, um… well, something almost like a vagina.” Noah paused to make sure that Claire understood what he was saying. When he saw her nodding, he went on. “When you have sex with someone, it usually includes that the male will put his, um, penis inside the female’s vagina, or into a submissive’s, um… well, hole.”  
  
Claire’s eyes widened. “Why would they do that?”  
  
Noah chuckled at her horrified look. “Because that’s how it works. And it doesn’t hurt,” he added when he saw that she was about to ask about that. “If the female or submissive is ready, then it doesn’t hurt. It feels very pleasurable, and it’s a way for them to feel closer to each other psychically as well as mentally.”  
  
So far, Claire seemed to understand it pretty well. “Oh. So that’s how babies get into their mom’s tummy?”  
  
Noah nodded. “Yes, it is. Because males have tiny little sperm cells that come of their penis during sex, and when they go into their partner, it can make her or him pregnant. Females and submissives both have little eggs inside of them instead of sperm, and when the sperm and egg connect, they form a baby. The baby then grows inside the mother until it becomes big enough to be born.”  
  
“That’s so cool!” Claire exclaimed, her eyes wide with amazement. She giggled awkwardly after that, though. “So is that how me, Nathan, Derek, and Dylan ended up in your tummy? ‘Cause you and Daddy did _that?_ ”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but blush. “Yes, it is… But I can’t become pregnant at any time, though. There are only certain times of the month where a female can become pregnant, and submissives have to be in heat to have a baby. A heat is when the egg is ready to meet a sperm cell.”  
  
“So people only do it then?”  
  
“No,” Noah said slowly, blushing again. “People can have sex at any time… Mates, at least, have sex a lot, sometimes multiple times during the day. But females and submissives can eat a pill or have something inserted into them that stops them from going into heat, and then they can’t have a baby. So, when the mates have sex, they don’t make a baby.”  
  
Claire was giggling with awkwardness now, but at least she seemed to understand the concept.  
  
“So what does it mean that Derek has ‘mindless sex’?” she asked, whispering the word like it was dirty and forbidden now.  
  
Noah felt extra awkward talking about it when it involved one of his own children, but he replied to her question anyway. “It means to have sex with someone you don’t feel anything for. Most people have sex with people they love – like mates and girlfriend and boyfriends – but sometimes they have sex with people they don’t know or don’t have any romantic feelings for.”  
  
“Oh… So Derek doesn’t have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend?” Claire almost sounded disappointed about that.  
  
“I don’t think he does…” Noah said, thinking about it. “I’m not sure if he would tell us right away if he did, but I don’t have the feeling that he’s seeing someone.”  
  
Claire still looked a little disappointed, and Noah guessed it was because she really wanted Derek to be happy, and she had been how happy Nathan had become after meeting Joanne. Plus, she probably wanted another ‘big sister’ like Joanne.  
  
Noah then went on and told Claire a little bit more about girls’ anatomy and how she would one day have her first period. Claire seemed genuinely horrified at the thought of blood coming out of her, and Noah couldn’t help but laugh at that. He also explained the different sexual orientations to her. Claire didn’t seem too surprised about it, as she had seen many couples of the same gender before, but she found it pretty interesting how many sexual orientations there were.  
  
Afterwards, Claire asked a few more questions about the parts she didn’t understand that well, and Noah calmly replied. He was pretty glad that they were alone, because the boys would have just interrupted it with stupid comments and remarks. He was also proud of Claire that she had the courage to ask more about it, even though she was clearly starting to feel awkward about the conversation.  
  
They sat for over half an hour and talked about it. When the conversation was over, Claire seemed more than ready to sleep already. Her eyes fell closed almost immediately, and Noah smiled at her as he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before turning off the lamp and quietly leaving the room.  
  
Noah carefully closed the door before heading downstairs to join the others. He could hear them laughing and chatting in the living room, and he yawned as he went there to join them.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden greeted him when he saw Noah coming over to them. “Survived?”  
  
Noah scowled at Jayden for grinning like that. “Yes, I survived. It was a little awkward, but I think it went well.” He went over and sat down next to Jayden after Dylan scooted over a bit to make space for him.  
  
Dylan had been sitting next to Jayden, and Nathan and Joanne were sitting on the other side of the ninety-degree couch, holding hands.  
  
Jayden chuckled at Noah’s words and shifted so he was resting his arm on the back of the couch behind Noah while leaning his way. This way he could easily reach out and pet his mate’s wings when he wanted.  
  
“Well, I’m glad that Nathan didn’t tell her about it,” Joanne said. “I’m afraid he’d have blushed all over and stumbled over the words, just making it all even more awkward.”  
  
“Hey,” Nathan protested gently, but Joanne just laughed at him and leaned in to press a loving kiss to his cheek.  
  
Dylan smiled as he watched them, but tried not to stare too much.  
  
Jayden laughed at Joanne’s words. “Yeah, he probably would have.” He looked at Nathan then. “Just wait until you get kids and have to explain those things to them. Then you won’t be chuckling as much as you did when Noah went upstairs earlier.”  
  
Nathan blushed a bit at that, as did Joanne, while Dylan laughed.  
  
“Yeah, I’m not looking forward to that part,” Nathan admitted.  
  
Nathan and Joanne’s pink faces made Noah smile and chuckle a bit. They were still holding hands, and Noah liked how Nathan wasn’t afraid to do those things in front of others.  
  
They chatted a bit about the events today, but after twenty minutes, Nathan turned and looked at his girlfriend. “I don’t know about you, but I’m dead tired. Wanna head to bed?”  
  
Joanne nodded. “Yeah, I’m sleepy too.”  
  
They rose from the couch and said good night to the others.  
  
Dylan was also sleepy, so he decided he better head to bed as well.  
  
Jayden and Noah got up and hugged them all good night. They smiled as Nathan and Joanne held hands as they walked up the stairs, and how Nathan was teasing Dylan a bit as he walked behind them. Nathan slapped Dylan’s leg intentionally when his little brother was spacing out while walking up the stairs, and that resulted in Dylan trying to grab Nathan’s tail as payback. There was a bit of a struggle and some laughter as Nathan tried to escape, and Joanne ended up having to tell them to quiet down before they woke up Claire and Derek. There was some giggling after that, but soon they all reached the top of the stairs and parted ways to go to bed.  
  
When Jayden could hear that they had all gone into their rooms, he went over to Noah and wrapped his arms around him from behind.  
  
Noah smiled as Jayden embraced him, and he enjoyed feeling his mate’s protective arms around his body and how he hummed against his ear.  
  
“So, Nathan is already twenty-two now…” Jayden murmured into Noah’s ear.  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
“And next year Derek will be eighteen…”  
  
Noah still had difficulties accepting how fast time had passed. It was difficult for him to let go of his babies as they started entering adulthood one after one.  
  
“Why do you always have to depress me with those statements?” Noah murmured, annoyed.  
  
Jayden laughed softly and let go of him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. But I’m afraid there’s no way around it.”  
  
“I know that,” Noah sighed before turning around to face his mate. He glanced up at Jayden and moved his arms up to wrap them around Jayden’s neck while looking him in the eye. “Right now, however, I really want to go to bed. And I want to be intimate with you before falling asleep,” he whispered in a small, seductive voice.  
  
Noah’s voice and words made Jayden’s cock twitch in approval. “I really like that idea,” he grinned, placing his hands possessively on Noah’s hips.  
  
The submissive grinned and blushed, and together they locked up the house before heading upstairs, eager to join their bodies and strengthen their bond before going to sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate to admit that writing Derek after he's changed is as much fun as it is a challenge :)
> 
> And I'm glad to know I still have readers who follow the story. The comments I've gotten recently have really helped boost my motivation, so thank you so much! Your feedback means a lot and helps me write faster :)


	68. Chapter 68

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Someone pointed out that me that it's difficult to find my character descriptions. You can always find the link in the first chapter of the story (in the description above the chapter), but here is a link to the descriptions: https://luciel89.livejournal.com/62063.html  
> I'll be adding more descriptions of more characters soon, so please note that the descriptions are still under construction! Hopefully I will have them done soon.

**January 2072 (Noah is 45, Jayden is 47, Nathan is 22, Derek is 17, Dylan is 14, Claire is 9 (almost 10), Joanne is 22 years old).**  
  
It was a little cold as Derek and his friend Dwayne stood on the school’s sports field with the others from their lacrosse team, waiting in a line to show what they’ve got. Their new friends Jack, Mike, and Cornell were also at the tryouts, but were further up in the front of the line.  
  
Today were the new tryouts for lacrosse, on the first Friday right after the Christmas holidays were over. Their former captain had fallen sick with an infection, and their coach had decided that all team members should be reevaluated so their skills fit their position on the field and so that he could choose a new captain among them.  
  
Derek didn’t feel particularly nervous about it. He was pretty good at lacrosse, and as long as he stayed on the team, he didn’t care. He wasn’t as eager to get the captain’s position as the others, but he wouldn’t mind it if he was chosen.  
  
Just before Christmas, Derek had won the national championship in Jeet Kune Do, which he had practiced for for a long time now. He had also attended the championship a few years ago and had gotten pretty far, but he had lost in the semifinals to someone better than him. Derek was really proud of himself for finally reaching his goal and winning, and Nathan had cracked a few jokes about how his inflated ego was posing a health threat to him, even though Derek had actually contained his pride pretty well compared to in the past.  
  
Because he had already come pretty far with his martial arts, Derek didn’t feel a big need to be the captain of the school’s lacrosse team. He wasn’t dying to get the position, but if he got it then he wouldn’t turn it down. That was why he was probably one in the line who was the calmest as they all waited their turn.  
  
Dwayne, however, was shivering behind Derek as they waited their turn in the line.  
  
“What? Are you nervous?” Derek asked him, smirking teasingly at his friend as he glanced behind himself at Dwayne.  
  
“No, it’s freaking cold, man.”  
  
Derek chuckled about that and wasn’t entirely convinced. It was indeed unusually cold today, but it was January after all. And Dwayne seemed more nervous than cold right now anyway.  
  
“What’s wrong, Dwayne?” came a voice from behind them, and they both turned their heads to see Warrick coming over to the line. “Feeling scared?” He gave them both a cocky smirk as he passed them.  
  
Derek’s eyes narrowed when he saw Warrick. At first, he thought that Warrick was going to join the tryouts, but when Warrick went over and talked to some of the guys in the back of the line, Derek realized he was just there to hang out with his friends who were part of the team. Derek couldn’t help the relief he felt about that. He certainly didn’t want Warrick to be on the same lacrosse team as him. He and Warrick couldn’t stand each other, especially after what had happened between them last year where Warrick had picked on Milan and had later attacked Derek in the corridor. Warrick had never told anyone that it was Derek who had beaten him up, though. Probably because he didn’t want the humiliation that came with everyone knowing that it had been Derek.  
  
“I’m not scared,” Dwayne bit out, glaring at Warrick as the guy went to talk to his friend.  
  
Derek hadn’t told Dwayne what had happened between him and Warrick last year, but because they had glared at each other in the corridor whenever they met afterwards, Dwayne knew that something must have happened between them that Derek wouldn’t tell him about.  
  
Derek kept a close eye on Warrick, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he turned his attention back to practice when the tryouts finally began.  
  
One by one, they had to try to shoot the lacrosse ball into the net. The goalkeeper was pretty good, so it was a real challenge to get the ball into the net.  
  
The coach watched each of them closely and wrote down notes, and he was constantly using that whistle of his whenever someone screwed up or when it was time for the next person to come forward.  
  
Derek was getting tired of that loud whistle, but he ignored it when it was his turn. He pulled the face mask of his helmet down in front of his face and ran forward, picking up the ball with his lacrosse stick before successfully throwing the ball into the net before the goalkeeper had a chance to stop it. They all had three tries per turn, and Derek managed to score on each try.  
  
So far, only a few of the students had managed to score, and none of them had scored on all three tries, so they all cheered when Derek managed to do just that.  
  
The coach looked pleased and wrote down a few notes, while Derek pulled the face mask up and high-fived some of the others as he went to get to the back of the line. He glared at Warrick as he passed him, and once he was in the back of the line again, Derek unconsciously glanced towards the bleachers. He blinked when he saw Milan standing between two of the bleachers, looking at him.  
  
When he noticed that he had been spotted, Milan blushed and ran out of there, leaving Derek to wonder why he had been there in the first place.  
  
Milan had continued sticking close to Derek lately to get some cover from the bullies and the sexist guys at the school. One time, Derek had had to push a guy away when he had tried to grab Milan’s bag, but other than that he had never had to take any physical action. They hadn’t spoken much though, only a few times during their shared P.E. and algebra classes, but it was mostly to say hi or when Derek asked Milan what their homework was.  
  
Meanwhile, Warrick had taken notice of the small glances between Derek and Milan just now. He was standing a bit away from the line to watch them, even though the coach had told him to get out of there already. Suddenly, he went over to Derek with a mean smirk on his face. “What’s that? Did Derek get himself some submissive pussy lately?”  
  
Some of the others laughed a bit at that, and Derek growled as he turned to glare at Warrick.  
  
“Why? You jealous ‘cause you can’t get any?” Derek quipped back at him.  
  
That made the guys laugh even harder, and Warrick growled as he took a threatening step towards Derek.  
  
Suddenly, a long, high-pitched whistle nearby made all the guys groan and cover their ears.  
  
“Hey! Shut up and focus, or you’re out!” their coach threatened as he glared at them all for laughing at something earlier.  
  
Warrick mumbled something under his breath before backing off when the coach glared at him next, but not before he had sent a deadly look over at Derek.  
  
Derek just huffed and let it go. He didn’t really know why Warrick was trying to pick a fight with him again, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t afraid of him and didn’t want to bother worrying about it.

  
***

  
It was late when Derek came home that Friday night.  
  
He entered the house at 9:45pm and threw his school bag away in the corner of the entrance hall as he started taking off his shoes and jacket. He could hear his family talking in the living room, and it didn’t take long before Claire came to greet him.  
  
“Derek!” she shouted, running over to him and getting behind him as if to hide.  
  
“Whoa,” Derek exclaimed, surprised to suddenly be used as a shield. His wings were in their half-sharp state, but he trusted Claire to be careful around them so she wouldn’t hurt herself if she touched them.  
  
Derek was still confused about what was going on when Dylan suddenly came into the entrance hall with a playful grin on his face.  
  
“You have to go bed, Claire. Dad says so,” Dylan said as he started trying to catch his sister, who kept hiding behind Derek.  
  
“Nooo, I don’t wanna,” Claire laughed, running left around Derek when Dylan tried to catch her from the right.  
  
Derek groaned as his younger siblings played catch around him. “What a bunch of kids,” he muttered and tried to walk over to the closet to hang his jacket in there, but Claire was still sticking to him to get away from Dylan.  
  
“We _are_ kids!” Claire protested, and laughed when Dylan almost caught her.  
  
“I can see that,” Derek grumbled. “Seriously, Dylan. Aren’t you getting too old for this?”  
  
Dylan stepped back, looking a little offended. “I’m just playing with our little sister. And why do you always have to ruin the fun, Derek?”  
  
Derek just scowled at him, and they all looked up when they heard Jayden laughing at them from the doorway to the living room.  
  
“If you ask me, all three of you are a bunch of kids,” Jayden chuckled with a smirk on his face.  
  
Now it was Derek’s turn to look offended, and Dylan laughed at that.  
  
Claire ran over to hide behind Jayden now, and the alpha chuckled as he let her. He then turned his attention to Derek. “How was school?”  
  
Derek shrugged. “It was okay. Didn’t do much today.”  
  
“And the lacrosse tryouts?”  
  
Derek shifted, and if Jayden didn’t know him any better, he’d say he looked modest.  
  
“Well, the coach made me captain of the team,” Derek said and couldn’t hold back the proud smile on his face.  
  
Dylan and Jayden both looked impressed with that, as did Noah when he appeared behind Jayden to see what was going on.  
  
“Wow. Congratulations,” Jayden grinned, looking really proud of him.  
  
“That’s great,” Dylan smiled.  
  
Derek shrugged, feeling a little awkward to be congratulated. “Thanks.”  
  
Noah smiled proudly as he emerged from behind Jayden. “That’s really nice. I’m sure you’ll be a good leader.”  
  
Jayden laughed softly when he saw how uncomfortable Derek looked now with all the praise he got. He knew his son was still trying to adjust to all that, as he had been used to getting scolded and receiving disapproving looks from them all his life because of all the trouble he had gotten himself into. Jayden was still really proud of how much Derek had changed, even though he was still a little bit too proud and macho sometimes. The boy still had much to learn.  
  
“Is that a good thing?” Claire asked, not really knowing what it meant to be the captain of the team.  
  
“Yeah, it’s a good thing,” Jayden told her, smiling as he ruffled her hair with affection. “It’s the highest position on the team.”  
  
Claire’s eyes widened and she looked up at Derek with amazement.  
  
The situation was getting too much for Derek now, so he coughed awkwardly and turned to head upstairs. “I’m heading up to my room. See you guys tomorrow.”  
  
Noah frowned. “You don’t want dinner?”  
  
Derek stopped on the stairs to reply. “Nah, I went out with my friends and ate before my Jeet Kune Do practice. And I had snack with Dwayne after practice, so I’m good.”  
  
“Alright. But remember that Nathan and Joanne are coming to visit tomorrow.”  
  
Derek let out a loud groan at that. “Right. Good night.”  
  
“Good night,” the others all said in unison and watched him head upstairs and go to his room.  
  
After Derek was gone, Jayden smiled and looked at Noah. “I don’t know about you, but sometimes I can hardly recognize him.”  
  
Noah smiled at that. “Yeah, same.”  
  
“I can still recognize him,” Dylan said, making them turn to look at him. “He’s still an ass sometimes and is pretty smug about it. And he still hates to show his feelings.”  
  
Jayden laughed a bit at that. “Well, true. But he’s getting better at it, at least.” His gaze then shifted his attention to Claire, and he reached down and caught her before she could run away. “And now it’s _really_ bedtime for you, young lady!”  
  
Claire squealed and kicked, but she couldn’t get away from Jayden once he had caught her.  
  
Noah and Dylan chuckled as they watched Jayden carry her up the stairs to bed, and soon after that they also decided to head to bed and get some sleep before tomorrow.

  
***

  
The next morning, the family could sleep for longer than usual because it was a weekend. Nathan and Joanne were going to show up at 11:30am, so they had to be up before that, though.  
  
It was 9:40am when Dylan woke up. He lay for a while, staring up at the ceiling while trying to wake up properly. He usually never had trouble getting up in the mornings, but he felt kind of sickish. He had felt it coming yesterday and this morning it was worse. He felt snotty, his throat was sore, and his head was a bit stuffed, so he guessed he had probably caught a cold.  
  
After laying there for ten minutes, doing nothing, he finally gathered enough energy to get up and head to the bathroom. He coughed a bit on his way there, trying to get rid of whatever was blocking his throat, and padded over to the bathroom. He felt a bit like a zombie as he walked, and he couldn’t wait to find some tissues to blow his nose with.  
  
When Dylan turned the doorknob and opened the bathroom door, he was met by the sight of a half-naked Derek standing in front of the sink. Dylan’s eyes widened in surprise, as he was not used to walking in on someone in the bathroom. They always locked the door when someone was in there.  
  
“Hey, get out,” Derek growled at him, glaring at him out of the corner of his eye as he was busy shaving. There was foam on his cheeks and chin as he used the razor to shave away the unwanted scruff, and he was wearing only his boxers. No socks, no pants, and no shirt.  
  
Dylan noticed a few bruises on Derek’s side and back, which were probably either from lacrosse or his martial arts training.  
  
“Jeez! Why didn’t you lock the door?” Dylan asked accusingly, grimacing at the sight of his brother’s naked torso. “Normal people usually lock the door when they don’t wanna be disturbed!”  
  
“The lock is broken,” Derek snapped lightly, now turning his head to scowl at his little brother in annoyance. “Didn’t you see the sign that Mom put on the door?”  
  
Dylan frowned and looked at the door. And there it was; a piece of paper with the words ‘The lock is broken, please knock before entering’ in Noah’s handwriting, taped to the door and very difficult to miss.  
  
“Oh.” Dylan blinked at it, surprised he had missed that.  
  
“Now, get the hell out,” Derek said, waving his hand as if to shoo him away.  
  
Dylan scowled at him before getting out and closing the door. He turned to head downstairs, but looked up when Jayden came out of the master bedroom.  
  
“Sounds you didn’t read the sign on the door,” Jayden said, sounding amused. He had been awake for about an hour, but had gone upstairs to change his shirt when he realized he was still wearing the shirt he had slept in.  
  
“Yeah… I wasn’t paying attention. I think I’m coming down with a cold…” Dylan coughed a few times and felt his nose starting to run. He let out an annoyed groan and began walking down the stairs to find some tissues.  
  
Jayden laughed at him with sympathy. “Yeah, you probably caught that from Benjamin. Didn’t he stay home from school this week ‘cause he got a cold?”  
  
“Yeah, but I hung out with him last weekend… Must have caught it from him then.”  
  
Jayden chuckled and followed his son downstairs.  
  
Noah and Claire were already awake and were having breakfast in the kitchen. Claire had woken up an hour ago, but hadn’t been hungry until Noah had come downstairs ten minutes ago. Noah and Jayden had woken at the same time, and after some intimate activities they had gotten up to join their daughter downstairs until Jayden had to go change his shirt.  
  
Dylan disappeared into the downstairs bathroom as soon as he and Jayden came down the stairs, and Jayden went to join Claire and Noah in the kitchen.  
  
When Dylan was done, he went to the kitchen to have some breakfast as well.  
  
Noah looked at Dylan with worry and sympathy when he saw his son entered the kitchen and sniffling. “Are you alright?”  
  
“Yeah, I just got a cold, that’s all,” Dylan said and sat down at the table. He sat down opposite from Claire, not wanting to get too close to her when he was sick. “And you guys seriously need to fix that lock in the upstairs bathroom… Saw more of Derek than I bargained for.”  
  
Jayden laughed at that while he cleaned the kitchen counter. “Why? Was he naked in there?”  
  
“No, he was wearing his underwear. Thank god,” Dylan groaned and grabbed a piece of bread.  
  
Claire giggled across from him.  
  
“Couldn’t have been all that bad then,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Dylan just grumbled lightly, and the others chuckled at him.  
  
“I’ll fix the lock soon,” Jayden told him. “Or maybe just buy a new door… It’s the third time the lock has broken.”  
  
“Yeah, I think a new door is better,” Noah agreed.  
  
“I wanna go with you when you buy it!” Claire exclaimed, already looking excited about it.  
  
Jayden laughed at her. “Sure. Wanna make sure I don’t buy an ugly door?”  
  
Claire nodded, but they all knew she just wanted to join so she could spend some time with her Dad.  
  
Jayden and Noah then started cleaning up the last few things before their guests came.  
  
Derek showed up after a bit, but disappeared upstairs again with his breakfast.  
  
Claire was sad and disappointed as usual when Derek preferred to sit alone in his room rather than spending time with the rest of the family, but Dylan quickly managed to cheer her up.  
  
Everyone was excited for Nathan and Joanne to come home for a visit, especially because they hadn’t seen them that much during the holidays. Nathan had spent Christmas with Joanne’s family, and they had only come by to visit Nathan’s family only for a single day during the holidays because they were busy studying for exams in January. Nathan hadn’t been home for New Year either, so they were really glad that he and Joanne were going to come by and sleep over until the next day.  
  
It was around 11:13am when Derek finally showed up downstairs again.  
  
Jayden was in the kitchen, making sure they had all the ingredients for tonight’s dinner, when Derek showed up and walked over to the dishwasher to put away the plate he had used for breakfast earlier.  
  
Jayden eyed him a bit before speaking. “I’m really hoping you won’t disappear into your room like that when our guests come. It’s not a kind signal to send when you just lock yourself in your room all day and aren’t being social.”  
  
Derek seemed slightly annoyed to be corrected by his Dad. “What? I need my privacy sometimes. Being down here all day is god damn boring, and I’m not good at sitting around and listening to you guys chatting all the time.”  
  
“I know that, but sometimes I feel like you’re not even trying to give it a chance,” Jayden said, also sounding a little annoyed now. “Especially when Nathan is over, you tend to just disappear. Why are you still doing that? I thought you guys are getting along better now.”  
  
“We are,” Derek said and couldn’t keep the slight snapping out of his voice. “It’s just… I need space sometimes.”  
  
“Okay, that’s fine. We all need space. But… Just don’t put too much space between yourself and your family, alright? You’ve gotten a lot better at being social, and I’m grateful for that, but this Christmas you spent way too much time in your room when we had guests, and it kind of hurts their feelings.”  
  
Derek looked away, thinking a bit about what his Dad was telling him. He bit his lip as he molded it over in his head before nodding. “Yeah, I get it. I’ll try to be around more.” He rolled his eyes in half defeat and half annoyance.  
  
Jayden smiled and gave Derek a proud pat on the shoulder. “Good. I sure hope so.”  
  
After the conversation, Derek left the kitchen and wandered off to the living room. It wouldn’t be long until Nathan and Joanne showed up, so Derek didn’t feel like going to his room and starting a video game just to be interrupted when they arrived.  
  
He walked around the room, wondering what to do until the guests showed up. He could hear the others upstairs and how Claire was shrieking and laughing. She and Dylan were probably playing around, he figured. Seconds later, he heard a crashing sound that made him flinch, but when he heard Noah’s voice as he scolded them for knocking over a vase in the upstairs hallway, he knew it was nothing to worry about. He listened as his Dad went upstairs to help with the broken vase, and how Claire sounded a little upset by what she had done.  
  
Derek rolled his eyes softly at them, but was relieved that nothing serious had happened.  
  
He continued wandering around in the living room, wondering what to do with himself before Nathan and Joanne showed up. He was bored as hell, and he stared absently at Fizzles, who was currently licking herself clean on top of her cat tree.  
  
Derek snorted lightly at the lazy cat before deciding to head upstairs to see what was going on.  
  
Noah and Jayden were still cleaning up the mess Claire had made, and Dylan was trying to hold Claire back for now so she didn’t step on the broken pieces, which lay scattered around on the floor.  
  
Derek walked up the stairs slowly and stopped right before he reached the top. “Everything okay?”  
  
“Yeah. Claire just broke a vase,” Jayden explained. He was on his knees on the floor, cleaning up the mess piece by piece, while Noah was standing next to him with a bag in his hand for Jayden to put the broken pieces into.  
  
Just then they heard the doorbell ring.  
  
“Derek, will you get the door, please?” Noah asked.  
  
Derek rolled his eyes but nodded. He turned around and headed down the stairs to get the door, but when he heard the door ring again and again, he knew it wasn’t Nathan and Joanne. They never fooled around like that.  
  
Derek frowned, and then he suddenly heard someone banging frantically on the door and his name being shouted.  
  
It was definitely _not_ Nathan and Joanne.

  
***

  
Meanwhile a few streets away, Milan was on his bike, taking a quiet tour through the neighborhood.  
  
Even though the weather was a little cold, the sun was shining brightly and it was a good day to spend outside.  
  
Wanting to get away from his house for a bit, Milan had gotten on his bike and was heading for a nearby park. He often went there in his free time, just to relax and maybe get some inspiration for his drawings. Sometimes he would sit down and draw pictures of the people and animals he saw there. It was what gave his mind some peace after spending a whole week in school, where he always had to worry about bullies and sexist guys who couldn’t keep their comments to themselves.  
  
He was just a few hundred yards from the park when he stopped and got off his bike to drink from the water bottle he had brought with him. He had gotten pretty thirsty all of sudden.  
  
There were birds tweeting in the nearby tress, and Milan listened quietly to them as he took a drink. His old shoulder bag with his pencils and sketchbook hung at his side, and he played absently with the strap while drinking.  
  
As Milan was drinking from his bottle, he suddenly heard the sound of several bikes coming to a stop a little distance away from him. Then, he heard voices that he would recognize anywhere and it made his blood run cold. He put down his water bottle and glanced over his shoulder towards the voices. His eyes widened in absolute terror when he saw Warrick, Travis, and some big human guy from his school whose name he didn’t know.  
  
“Oh, look what we have here,” Travis smirked, staring at Milan like he was prey. “I knew the figure on that bike was familiar.”  
  
Warrick and the human snickered about that and got off their bikes along with Travis.  
  
Milan glanced around and noticed that there weren’t really any people nearby. He was a little distance away from the park, and there were no people visible in the streets or in the front yards of the nearby houses. There was only one other person he could see, but that was an old man, and Milan doubted he could help.  
  
“Are you sure you should be riding around on your own?” Travis went on as he and the others walked a little closer.  
  
Milan swallowed nervously, but tried not to look intimidated. The boys were still a little distance away from him, so he had no reason to panic completely just yet.  
  
“I can ride around alone if I want,” Milan told them, giving them all a defiant glare.  
  
The boys all laughed at that.  
  
Milan bit his lip nervously. He had a history with Travis and Warrick. They had picked him as their target as soon as he had transferred to the new school. Mostly it was just their nasty comments he had to listen to, because some alphas liked to sexually harass submissives in front of their friends just for entertainment or to feel more powerful. They seemed to get off on watching their victims squirm and how they looked embarrassed and humiliated. But they hadn’t really gone after him much in the past few months, at least not as much as before. Milan wondered why they were going after him now; they weren’t even at school.  
  
“I saw this one staring at Derek yesterday during the lacrosse tryouts,” Warrick suddenly spoke, and turned his mean smirk towards Milan.  
  
His words caught Travis’ attention. “Oh?”  
  
Travis had nothing but contempt left for Derek after he had ruined his image at school a few months ago. It had been more than humiliating to have had to run away when Derek had pinned him against a wall and everyone had seen how Travis couldn’t get away. People had laughed at him for weeks afterwards and Travis only blamed Derek for it.  
  
“Yeah. And Derek also defended him from me once,” Warrick went on. He got a sour look on his face as he mentioned that.  
  
Travis then turned to look at Milan again, and his lips curled into an unpleasant, mean smirk. “Is that so?”  
  
Travis eyed Milan up and down closely, and Milan shivered as he saw him do that.  
  
“He must be Derek’s bitch, then,” the human sneered.  
  
“In that case, why don’t we defile him a little?” Travis suggested. “Mostly I just wanted a bit of fun with this little piece of ass, but if it’ll upset Derek, then I’m even more pleased.” With a malicious grin, he started walking towards Milan, who was really starting to panic now.  
  
“Go away!” Milan snarled when Travis came too close for his liking. He growled and gave Travis a hard shove to push him back, but the alpha barely even budged.  
  
The guys all laughed at that.  
  
“What? Is he being serious?” Warrick laughed.  
  
They all thought it was amusing to watch a submissive trying to fight back, and Milan was a lot smaller than them. He was 155cm (61.02 inches) tall and was pretty thin. He was absolutely no match for two alphas and a human male.  
  
Travis grinned with his friends before turning to look at Milan. His grin turned into something much more sinister and his voice got an eerie, dark tone in it as he spoke. “You’re gonna have to push a lot harder than that to get rid of me, _sub._ ”  
  
The next second, Travis hit Milan so hard in the chest that the submissive fell over and landed hard on the ground.  
  
Again, there was laughter, and it took Milan a second to process what had just happened. His backside hurt from the impact with the ground, as did his palms, which had gotten scraped on the asphalt as he instinctively had tried to soften his fall with them. It hurt so bad, but most of all he felt panicked and afraid as they just stood there and laughed.  
  
Travis went over to high-five his friends, who were still cheering about it.  
  
Milan felt tears appear in his eyes. Not because he was sad, but because he was overwhelmed with anger, fear, and hurt. He was fed up with being pushed around by bullies like that.  
  
While the guys were busy cheering about how Travis had knocked Milan over like he was nothing but an insect that was in his way, Milan took his chance to get some payback. He reached out and picked up a small rock lying next to him, and then he threw it as hard as he could right to the back of Travis’ head.  
  
There was a sharp gasp of pain coming from Travis when the rock hit him, and Milan used the confusion to escape. He quickly got on his bike and rode away as fast as he could.  
  
_“Hey!”_ the guys all barked and hastily got onto their own bikes to pursuit him.  
  
“You little piece of shit! Come back here!” Travis yelled at him, his voice like thunder and fury.  
  
Milan just rode away as fast as he could, too afraid to look back. He knew they were all right on his heels now, and all he could think of was to get away from them. His heart beat faster than ever, and his injured palms stung as he grabbed the handlebars of the bike tightly as he rode away as fast as his legs could handle it.  
  
He could hear the boys yelling at him to stop and how they were shouting curses and names at him, but Milan didn’t look back. He was in a panic, and he really wondered if it had been a good idea to throw the rock at Travis like that. He definitely kind of regretted it now.  
  
Milan knew the neighborhoods around the park well. He knew the houses, he knew the shortcuts, he knew every curve of the roads and which paths were the best ones to ride on if you wanted to get away. That gave him some advantage.  
  
Milan picked a few shortcuts and bushy paths in order to shake the bullies off, but just when he finally thought they were gone, he glanced behind himself only to see them emerge from behind the bushes on their bikes.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened, having not expected that they would be able to keep up. Now he was really starting to panic. There were three of them and they all looked really pissed, and Milan couldn’t go home because he didn’t want them to know where he lived, and no one was at home right now anyway.  
  
There was only one place he could go to now.  
  
As they approached a sharp turn on the current road, Milan saw an oncoming car approaching. He rode up to it fast, and just as he expected, the driver hit the brakes when he thought that Milan was about to hit him. The bullies hit the brakes on their bikes just as Milan expected when they saw the car, and he used the situation to make a sharp turn on his bike to ride back the way they had come from.  
  
The guys cursed at him before following after him again.  
  
Milan panted as he hastily rode away, and he felt a bit of relief when he was finally on the street he had been trying to get to. He glanced behind himself to see that the guys were a good distance away from him now. He smiled in victory when the stunt with the car had slowed them down and Milan now had a bigger head start, but it was still too soon to celebrate.  
  
Milan wasn’t all that familiar with this street, so he had to keep a close eye on the houses as he rode by them, hoping to find the very house he was looking for.  
  
Just when Milan had started to fear that he was on the wrong street, he finally spotted it – Derek’s house.  
  
Relief washed over him, and he just prayed that Derek was actually home, otherwise all his efforts would have been in vain.  
  
As soon as he was in the driveway of the house, Milan got off his bike and practically threw it aside as he ran up to the house to ring the doorbell.  
  
He was panting hard and was tripping around in panic as he waited for someone to open the door. He kept glancing over his shoulders, afraid to see the bullies appear at any moment now.  
  
He frantically began ringing the doorbell when he heard the guys’ voices nearby, but no one opened the door.  
  
“There he is!” Travis shouted when he spotted Milan’s bike lying in the driveway.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened in panic, and he now began banging on the door in desperation, feeling more scared and panicked than ever before.  
  
“Derek! Derek, please open up!” he shouted at the door, feeling the tears running down his cheeks now. He had never been so scared in his life, and he hoped and prayed that someone would just open the door already.  
  
“You little shit!” Travis snarled as he and his friends spotted him and got off their bikes to run up to him.  
  
Just then the door was opened and Derek appeared.  
  
Milan was so relieved to see Derek in the door, even though the alpha seemed very surprised to see him there.  
  
“Milan? What—”  
  
Derek didn’t manage to say anything else before Milan threw himself at him and grasped his shirt desperately.  
  
“Derek! Please help me! I didn’t know where else to go!” Milan cried, pressing himself against Derek for protection and unable to hold back all the tears and his fear now.  
  
Derek frowned at him in confusion before he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He looked up just to see a very furious Travis running up to the door, looking like he wanted to murder someone.  
  
Derek instinctively pushed Milan behind himself and growled as Travis ran up to him. He reached up his hand and blocked the punch Travis was about to land on him, and he then pushed the other alpha back hard, sending him back a few steps and away from the threshold.  
  
Their wings spread out in anger and aggression, and Derek’s knife-sharp feathers pointed right at Travis as he glared him down with fury.  
  
“Give me that little whore! He’s gonna pay for what he did!” Travis shouted demandingly. He tried to run inside the house to get to Milan, but once again Derek shoved him back.  
  
“Back the fuck off!” Derek growled at him, using his body and wings to block the doorway.  
  
Warrick and the human guy were right behind Travis now. The human took a few steps back when he saw Derek’s sharp feathers, and he looked pretty scared as he stared at him. Warrick was wary of Derek, but he didn’t back off as much as the human did.  
  
Milan watched the scene from behind Derek with horrified eyes. He had never seen an alpha sharpen his feathers that much up close before, and Derek’s wings looked kind of scary right now. However, Milan didn’t feel afraid of that, because he knew it wasn’t aimed at him.  
  
Travis, however, was still out of it with rage. He charged again, and Derek responded by using his martial arts to block his attack and kick him right in the chest, sending him flying to the ground.  
  
That was when Jayden finally appeared, as he and the others had all heard the commotion from upstairs.  
  
“Hey! What the hell is going on?!” Jayden demanded, coming down to see what was happening.  
  
Derek was standing just outside the door now with his sharpened wings spread out in aggression, and he growled at the guys as Travis was on the ground and Warrick came over to help him up.  
  
Noah came downstairs as well. He was surprised to see a young angel submissive he didn’t know standing right behind Derek, trembling and crying from fear and panic. Noah went over to him and tried to calm him down while Jayden and Derek were at the door.  
  
Dylan was on the stairs behind them and was holding back Claire so she wouldn’t get too close to the fight that was suddenly going on in their doorway. Neither of them had any idea of what was going on, but Dylan knew he had to keep Claire away from it.  
  
Travis was still on the ground, grunting from pain and glaring up at Derek like he wanted to kill him. Warrick then turned to Derek and approached him with his wings spread in aggression.  
  
“You’re gonna regret that, Derek,” Warrick threatened.  
  
“Regret what? That you show up at my house and try to punch me?” Derek spat back. “No, it’s _you_ _guys_ who should back off! And leave Milan the fuck alone.” He growled and spread his wings more. He was really angry right now. Not just because the guys had been after Milan like that, but because he loathed Travis and Warrick, and he did _not_ like them coming to his house and picking a fight.  
  
Warrick just growled at that, and Travis got to his feet again.  
  
When Travis was about to have another go, he was stopped by Jayden, who pushed him back with a single hand.  
  
_“Hey!”_ Jayden barked at them furiously. He was still completely confused about what was going on, but he could tell that Derek definitely knew those boys. “Back the hell off before I call the cops! You’re on private property here.”  
  
Finally, the guys seemed to realize that they weren’t on the street anymore, but were in front of Derek’s house. They had been so consumed with anger towards Milan that they hadn’t thought about consequences at all.  
  
Travis and Warrick shared a look before slowly backing down. They folded their wings against their backs and stepped back a little, and their human friend was still looking nervous behind them.  
  
“Sorry,” Travis bit out. He then turned to look at Derek, growling as he pointed a finger at him. “You tell that little whore I’ll get to him sooner or later!”  
  
The words made Derek lose it again. He was just about to throw himself at Travis when Jayden reached out and stopped him.  
  
They all turned to look at Jayden again, who was glaring the teenagers down with a calm but really scary look on his face. “Last warning. Back off or break something. Your choice.”  
  
Derek hadn’t expected his Dad to say that, but he was pleased when he saw the boys all looking a little more nervous now.  
  
Finally, the boys retreated and went to get their bikes. Travis cast one final glare at Derek before getting on his bike and riding out of there in a hurry with his friends.  
  
Once they were finally gone, Derek lowered his wings again. That was when he finally remembered Milan. He quickly turned and went inside to check on him.  
  
Milan was standing in the entrance hall, and Noah’s hand was on his shoulder as he tried to comfort him. Milan was crying and trembling from fear and shock, and he was clearly very affected by what had happened.  
  
“You okay?” Derek asked him, eyeing the submissive with worry.  
  
Milan lifted his gaze to glance at him and gave him a small nod.  
  
“What the hell was that?” Jayden asked as he entered the house and shut the door behind him. He was looking at Derek, but was also glancing at Milan with a frown as he wondered who he was.  
  
Claire was still on the stairs with Dylan, and she looked pretty upset by what had just happened. When Jayden had closed the door, Dylan slowly went down the stairs to join them and Claire followed.  
  
“Guys from school,” Derek grit out, still looking at Milan with concern. His fists clenched with anger and his feathers sharpened again. “Travis is one of Steven’s friends. He’s a fucking pain in my ass and so is Warrick. I don’t know the human guy, though.”  
  
Jayden nodded slightly before glancing at Milan again. The young submissive was still upset and Noah was doing his best to calm him down. “You know him?” he asked Derek.  
  
“Yeah, that’s Milan. He’s, uh… I share a few classes with him. The guys often pick on him,” Derek explained.  
  
Finally, Milan looked up and spoke. “I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t know where else to go. They were chasing me and I…” His voice broke and he started crying again, unable to say any more.  
  
Derek felt another surge of anger towards those guys for being after Milan like that. He felt sorry for the submissive that he was never left alone by such bullies.  
  
“It’s alright,” Noah told Milan softly, rubbing his arm soothingly to calm him down. “Why don’t you come inside and sit down for a bit?”  
  
Milan tensed a little and looked at Noah. “No, I…”  
  
Jayden sensed that the young submissive didn’t want to impose on them, so he gave him a soft smile and said, “It’s alright. You can stay until you’ve calmed down, okay?”  
  
Milan still looked hesitant, but he followed Noah when he gently started leading him into the living room.  
  
Derek was starting to feel kind of awkward about this now. Of course he didn’t mind that Milan stayed until he had calmed down, but it was really odd having him in the house while his family was there. He slowly followed after them, and Dylan and Claire also followed.  
  
“Is he your friend?” Claire asked Derek as they went into the living room. She looked a little skittish after everything she had just witnessed, but she wasn’t as upset as Milan was.  
  
“Uh…” The question took Derek by surprise and he didn’t really know what to answer. “No, I… We just share a few classes together. I don’t know him much.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Noah led Milan over to the couch to sit down, and Jayden went and got him some water to drink and some tissues to wipe his tears away with.  
  
Derek watched as Milan warily sat down, hugging his wings and arms around himself like a frightened animal. Derek had never seen him looking so small before and it made him feel more protective of him somehow.  
  
Jayden came back with the glass of water and some tissues, and Milan murmured a small ‘thank you’ before wiping away the tears from his face.  
  
Noah was glad that Milan seemed calmer now. He knew exactly how scary it was to be chased around by bullies, and he felt sorry for Milan that he had had to experience that.  
  
“Do you want us to call your parents?” Noah asked Milan softly, still sitting close to him, but with a little distance because they didn’t know each other.  
  
Milan tensed at that. “No, I… I’ll tell my mom later. I-I can ride home on my bike…”  
  
“Absolutely not,” Jayden said. His words made Milan flinch a bit, but his voice was a lot softer as he continued. “I’m not sending you out there while those guys could still be nearby. It’s not safe for you.”  
  
Milan slowly glanced up at him and shifted uncomfortably. “But I… I don’t want to impose…”  
  
Jayden just smiled at him. “You’re not. You can stay for as long as you need to. I’ll drive you home when you’re ready, okay?”  
  
Milan looked really surprised by that offer, but gave a short nod when he saw that Jayden was being serious. “Thank you.”  
  
Derek shifted a bit. Things were definitely a little weird now, he thought, but he was glad that Milan was okay.  
  
“You think those guys are still out there?” Dylan asked his Dad, making the others look at him.  
  
Jayden’s face hardened again, and he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I don’t think so, but you can never be sure.” He turned his head to look at Derek. “I think I better have a talk with your headmaster on Monday, and this time you can’t talk me out of doing it. I know this Travis guy was one of the ones who used to be after you and Dwayne after you transferred schools, and it seems he’s just landed himself in even more trouble.”  
  
The anger in his father’s voice told Derek that he could definitely not be talked out of it, but Derek didn’t really want to do that anyway. He hated Travis and Warrick more than anything, and this time they had definitely gone too far.  
  
“Are you sure we shouldn’t go to the police instead?” Dylan asked, frowning a bit.  
  
“Trust me, I’m seriously considering that too,” Jayden said, his voice tight with anger towards those boys. “Coming to my house and picking a fight is good enough reason to file a report against them. But if the headmaster at school will expel them as well, then they can’t harass anymore students there.” He glanced a bit at Milan, who had tensed up a bit when they started talking about police and headmasters.  
  
Before anyone could say anything else, they suddenly heard the doorbell ring.  
  
Milan flinched a bit, while the others shared a look and seemed pretty calm.  
  
“I’m really hoping that it’s Nathan and Joanne,” Dylan said warily.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Yeah, it must be. I doubt those boys have the guts to come back here just yet.”  
  
Derek snorted at that.  
  
Jayden and Dylan went to answer the door, and Claire followed.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened when he realized they were expecting someone. “Oh, you’re having guests? I…”  
  
Noah smiled at him and spoke before Milan could say anything more. “Yes, but you can stay. It’s really not a problem.” He gave Milan another smile before slowly getting up. “Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”  
  
Derek watched as Noah also went to the door to greet Nathan and Joanne, leaving him alone in the room with Milan.  
  
Milan slowly got up from the couch and looked a bit like he didn’t know what to do with himself. He glanced over at Derek and slowly moved a little closer. He glanced between the floor and Derek’s face before speaking. “I’m sorry for bringing you all that trouble…”  
  
Derek looked back at him. His arms were folded in front of his chest and his tail swished because he was still agitated about those guys, but his face softened a little when he looked at Milan. “It’s fine. Not really your fault that they’re all a bunch of assholes.”  
  
Milan’s lip curled into a little, amused smile at that.  
  
When there was suddenly laughter from the entrance hall and they could hear how the family greeted Nathan and Joanne, Milan looked a little nervous again.  
  
Derek noticed how anxious Milan suddenly looked and unfolded his arms to appear more relaxed. “It’s my older brother Nathan,” he murmured when he saw the question on Milan’s face. “He’s a pain in my ass, so I’m sorry if we end up arguing about something.”  
  
Milan actually let out a small laugh at that, which surprised Derek a little.  
  
It was nice that Milan was calmer now, and Derek smiled unconsciously as he looked at Milan.  
  
They both looked up when the others came into the living room, and Derek saw Nathan’s eyes widen a bit in surprise when he spotted a face he didn’t know. Unconsciously, Derek moved a little closer to Milan, but he told himself it was to take up less space in the room.  
  
“We have ourselves an extra guest for a bit,” Jayden explained when he saw the surprise on Nathan and Joanne’s faces.  
  
Nathan looked at Derek in disbelief. “Don’t tell me you got a boyfriend, Derek?”  
  
Derek’s face instantly reddened, and Milan’s eyes widened as his face turned equally red.  
  
“No!” Derek barked at his brother, flustered from the unexpected and very embarrassing comment. “That’s… I barely know him. We only share a few classes together.”  
  
Jayden laughed at Derek’s red face and the confusion on Nathan’s. He decided he better explain it to them. “Well, Milan here was in some trouble and came to Derek for help. So we just had quite an intense situation going on with a few boys who had been after him.” His voice was more serious now, and Nathan and Joanne’s eyes widened in understanding.  
  
“Oh, that’s awful,” Joanne said, glancing at Milan, who had stepped a little closer to Derek now.  
  
“Oh. Sorry about that,” Nathan told Milan, feeling a little embarrassed about his comment earlier. “But it would be just like Derek not to tell anyone if he ever actually got a girl- or a boyfriend.”  
  
Derek growled at him in annoyance, still finding it embarrassing. “Why the hell would I tell _you_ if you’re just gonna make fun of it anyway?”  
  
There was a bit of laughter at that, and even Milan couldn’t help but be a little amused.  
  
Suddenly, both Noah and Jayden were looking at Derek as if they wanted something from him. He frowned back at them, and it took him a couple of seconds to understand that they wanted him to make introductions. He groaned internally about that, because the whole situation was already more than awkward.  
  
“So, uh,” Derek began, scratching the back of his head nervously as he addressed Milan. “That’s my brother Nathan and his girlfriend Joanne…”  
  
Nathan and Joanne both smiled at Milan, and Joanne gave him a small wave to greet him.  
  
“And that’s my little brother Dylan and my little sister Claire,” Derek went on, gesturing at them.  
  
Milan shifted bashfully but smiled at everyone. “Hi, I’m Milan. It’s nice to meet you all.”  
  
“You too,” Claire grinned, shifting as she studied Milan with interest. “Are you a submissive?” she suddenly asked.  
  
The question startled Milan a little and he blushed once again. “Yeah, I am.”  
  
Derek groaned at how embarrassing his sister’s curiosity sometimes was.  
  
“You’re really pretty,” Claire then said, smiling.  
  
Derek really wanted to cover Claire’s mouth right now, while the others laughed softly at her comment.  
  
Milan’s face was even more red now, and he shifted nervously because it was getting pretty awkward for him as well.  
  
Jayden laughed and told Milan, “Don’t mind Claire. I don’t think her social filter is fully developed yet.”  
  
“Yeah, she always just speaks her mind,” Dylan chuckled, and reached out to ruffle his sister’s hair.  
  
Claire glared at them for saying such things about her, and now Milan was chuckling about it.  
  
“And I’m Jayden and that’s Noah,” Jayden then explained, pointing at himself and at Noah. “Derek obviously forgot to mention that.”  
  
Milan giggled a bit at that, and Derek just groaned loudly.  
  
“So you share classes with Derek?” Nathan asked Milan, trying to get rid of some of what awkwardness that was hanging around them like a thick cloud.  
  
Milan nodded. “Um, yes… P.E. class and algebra.”  
  
“So, his favorite and his least favorite classes,” Nathan chuckled, ignoring how Derek glared at him.  
  
“Same with me… But, the other way around,” Milan murmured. He liked algebra better than P.E. class, while it was the opposite for Derek.  
  
“Oh, you like algebra?” Dylan asked him curiously.  
  
Milan shrugged shyly. “Kind of. I’m… pretty good at it.”  
  
Nathan laughed. “Maybe you should give Derek a hand, then. He sucks at that class. He even has to have Dylan help him with homework.”  
  
Derek was glaring even harder at Nathan now. “Yeah, you just keep throwing rocks at me when you live in a nice little glass house, Nathan. You suck at algebra too.”  
  
“Yeah, but my ego is not as big as yours, so…”  
  
Derek growled at that. He was so annoyed at Nathan that he almost didn’t notice how Milan was giggling softly at their interaction.  
  
“Okay, enough, you two,” Jayden said, laughing a bit. “Don’t fall back into old habits here.”  
  
Derek was still glaring at Nathan though, while Nathan just looked a little amused about it, as usual.  
  
Noah rolled his eyes at his sons before looking at Milan, who seemed more relaxed now. He smiled at that, but then he suddenly noticed Milan’s hands. He gasped as he came over to look. “Your hands are injured.”  
  
They all looked over when Milan slowly turned his palms up to look at them.  
  
“Oh… I almost forgot,” Milan murmured. He had been so upset earlier that he hadn’t really paid much attention to the pain in his hands. When Travis had knocked him to the ground earlier, he had scraped his palms a bit on the asphalt. It wasn’t bad, but it had bled a little and the skin was all red.  
  
“We have some disinfectant for that,” Noah offered. “I always have some at the house because Derek tends to injure himself a lot.”  
  
“Hey,” Derek protested lightly when he heard the accusation in his Mom’s voice. He glared at Nathan and Dylan when his brothers snickered about it.  
  
Again, Milan giggled a bit.  
  
“I think it’s in the upstairs bathroom, though,” Noah said, ignoring Derek’s little protest.  
  
“I’ll go get it,” Derek said, already heading to the entrance hall to go upstairs.  
  
“It’s probably easier to apply the disinfectant in the bathroom,” Jayden said after Derek was gone, looking at Milan. “You can join Derek if you want. He should have some experience using it,” he chuckled.  
  
Nathan laughed at that, and Milan looked a little sheepish as he slowly moved towards the entrance hall.  
  
“Thank you,” Milan told them, giving them all a small smile before heading for the stairs.  
  
“But be careful up there,” Noah told him. “Claire broke a vase and we didn’t manage to clean it all up yet.”  
  
“Oh. Alright,” Milan said and went to the stairs.  
  
The house was unfamiliar to him, so Milan slowly went up the stairs. He could still hear the others talking in the living room, but he didn’t really listen to it as he went up the steps. His shoulder bag had been hanging at his side the entire time, and he grabbed onto the strap as he walked up the steps. It was an old habit of his to always hold on to that strap whenever he was nervous.  
  
Once he reached the top, Milan saw a stain on the floor and a few fragments of a vase. He then noticed he was still wearing his shoes, because he had never had the chance to take them off, and he cringed slightly at that. It was impolite not to take off your shoes in other people’s homes and it made him feel kind of bad.  
  
Milan was just about to head back downstairs to take off his shoes when he heard rustling coming from the door to the right. He looked up to see Derek appear in the door where the rustling had come from.  
  
Derek had heard someone on the stairs and had peeked his head out to see who it was. He was surprised to see that it was Milan. “Oh.” He blinked at him couple of times before gesturing at the floor. “Uh, be careful of the broken vase.”  
  
Milan nodded and decided he could take off his shoes later. He carefully stepped around the fragments, even though he was wearing shoes, and slowly made his way over to Derek. He glanced around the hallway almost cautiously, and stared a bit at a few family photos on the walls.  
  
Derek watched him out of the corner of his eye before going into the bathroom again. He went over to the sink and opened the bottle of disinfectant that he had just placed there. It had been in the cupboard behind the mirror, but it had taken Derek a few moments to find it because everyone seemed to place all kinds of useless things in there.  
  
Milan slowly came over, looking a little skittish.  
  
Derek couldn’t blame him for being so cautious. The submissive was all alone in a house full of people he didn’t know, and he had just been chased by three guys who wanted to hurt him. And now he was alone in a bathroom with Derek, who had bullied him on a few occasions last year. He figured it must all feel pretty strange to Milan.  
  
“So, uh, you should wash your hands in the sink and then use this,” Derek told him, holding up the small bottle of disinfectant.  
  
Milan nodded and went over to wash his hands in the sink when Derek stepped back.  
  
Derek noticed there were a few injures on his hands, but it didn’t look too bad. But he still noticed how Milan winced a bit in pain as he washed his hands clean.  
  
After he had washed his hands, Milan turned and carefully took the bottle from Derek’s offering hand. He fumbled a bit and winced again because washing his hands had made it hurt again.  
  
“Uh, I can help you,” Derek offered when he saw it was a little difficult to Milan to do. It felt odd to him to offer his help like that. Usually, he wasn’t really the helpful type, but for some reason it felt almost natural to be like this around Milan. It was a strange feeling.  
  
Milan tensed, but after a couple of seconds he nodded and let Derek take the bottle. He held out his hands over the sink as Derek carefully poured some disinfectant on them. It stung a bit, but Milan sucked it up and barely made a noise.  
  
After that was done, Derek put away the bottle on the edge of the sink before carefully asking, “Uh… Did those guys hurt you more than that?”  
  
Milan slowly shook his head. “No. I rode away from them as fast as I could…”  
  
“They seemed pretty angry at you, though,” Derek noted.  
  
Milan tensed and started shifting nervously, and he almost looked embarrassed as he kept his eyes on the ground. “I… might have thrown a rock at the back of Travis’ head… ‘Cause he was an asshole…”  
  
Suddenly Derek started laughing, and Milan glanced up at him in surprise.  
  
“You’ve got some guts doing that,” Derek laughed. “That’s a bad habit, really.”  
  
Milan frowned. “Why?”  
  
Derek’s laughter ceased. “Because… It, uh… When you fight back on an alpha like that, especially in front of his friends, you hurt his pride. And when you hurt an alpha’s pride like that, he’s gonna come after you.”  
  
“But _you_ didn’t.”  
  
Derek blinked at that. He knew Milan was referring to the incident where he and Steven’s gang had bullied Milan and his friends last year, and how Milan had slapped Derek on the cheek for what he did.  
  
Derek began shifting nervously as things got awkward again. “Yeah, well… I was pretty close to, though. Don’t know why I didn’t.”  
  
Milan looked down again and there was silence between them for a bit.  
  
“I, uh…” Derek began, shifting nervously on his feet. “Sorry for what I did to you at the previous school. I realized I never apologized for that.”  
  
  
“It’s fine,” Milan said, still looking down. “I know it was mostly Steven who dragged you into it. I’ve never liked that guy…”  
  
“I don’t like him either,” Derek growled.  
  
Milan finally lifted his head to look at him, and this time there was a small smile on his lips.  
  
There were a few moments of silence between them, but it wasn’t an awkward silence.  
  
They were just about to turn and leave the room when Derek spoke again. “How did you even know where I live?” he asked, frowning. The question had been in his head ever since he had first seen Milan at the door when he opened it.  
  
Milan stopped, but didn’t look at him. He hesitated a bit and grabbed the strap of his bag once again. “I… I often ride my bike to a nearby park,” he began, turning to face Derek again. “I like the park a lot. It brings me some peace to go there. And I often ride around in the nearby neighborhoods on my way there just to kill some time and sometimes to enjoy the weather. I know pretty much every street around here, and one day I was riding down this street when I saw you in the front yard with your little brother and sister. It was just before Christmas. You were helping each other wash your parents’ car, I think. That’s when I knew that this was where you lived.”  
  
“Oh.” Derek hadn’t noticed him riding by on that day at all. He had never noticed it, actually.  
  
“When those guys came after me today, I…” Milan trailed off and bit his lip nervously before continuing. “I didn’t know where else to go. I panicked…”  
  
New tears were forming in Milan’s eyes. He was clearly still upset by what had happened, and Derek felt helpless about what to do.  
  
“It’s fine,” Derek told him, shrugging a bit. “Just glad I could help.”  
  
Milan wiped away the small tear from his eye and smiled at him.  
  
The smile sent odd, pleasant shivers up Derek’s spine and he couldn’t help but stare at Milan.  
  
Suddenly, they heard footsteps on the stairs, and Derek looked through the open door to see Claire appearing as she made it upstairs. She tiptoed her away around the fragments from the vase and grinned when she spotted Derek and Milan in the bathroom.  
  
“Oh for—” Derek growled and went over to scold Claire. “Claire, what are you doing?! You can’t walk here when there are fragments everywhere!”  
  
“But I wanted to see what you were doing,” Claire said, completely nonchalantly, and smiled as she jumped into the bathroom with them. She looked over at Milan and her expression turned a little concerned. “Does it hurt?”  
  
Milan glanced at his hands. “Not much.” He smiled at her to reassure her, and Claire seemed happy to hear that.  
  
Derek was still not pleased that Claire was being so reckless. “You should go downstairs. And don’t step on those fragments, or _I’ll_ be the one who gets the blame when you get hurt.”  
  
Claire pouted up at him in offense. “Why are you so mean? I just wanted to see if you’re okay.”  
  
“I’m not ‘mean’.”  
  
“Yeah, you are!”  
  
Derek let out a frustrated groan, while Milan was laughing softly at them.  
  
“Nathan also thinks you’re mean,” Claire told him as she headed towards the stairs. She stuck out her tongue at Derek, although playfully.  
  
“I don’t care what Nathan thinks,” Derek muttered.  
  
Claire giggled at that and headed back downstairs before the others noticed she was gone.  
  
“Your sister is cute,” Milan said after she was gone, still giggling a little about the conversation just now.  
  
Derek groaned. “She’s a pain in my ass sometimes. They all are.”  
  
“But at least you have siblings…”  
  
Derek turned to look at him when he heard Milan say it as if he didn’t have any. He frowned at him in confusion. “Didn’t you have a brother…?”  
  
Milan looked away and his body tensed again. It took several seconds before he was able to answer that question. “Not anymore…” he murmured quietly, like a whisper.  
  
“Oh. Sorry to hear that…”  
  
Milan swallowed and still didn’t meet Derek’s eye. “I… I don’t wanna talk about it. Not now.”  
  
Derek cringed at himself for once again saying something that upset Milan. ”It’s fine. You don’t have to. Sorry for prying.”  
  
“You’re not prying,” Milan told him in a soft voice and raised his head to look at him. He was smiling a little, and Derek suddenly thought his mouth felt unusually dry as he looked at him.  
  
Again, there was silence. It was a little awkward, but it wasn’t too bad.  
  
After they had stared at each other for what felt like ages, Derek finally snapped out of it.  
  
“Uh… Wanna head back downstairs?” Derek asked, not knowing what else to say. He really needed something to drink. And why was his heart beating so fast?  
  
Milan nodded slowly and followed Derek as the alpha went over to the stairs.  
  
They carefully stepped around the fragments from the broken vase, and Derek went first as they walked downstairs together.  
  
When they reached the end of the stairs, Jayden suddenly appeared from the dining room.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden smiled at them, stopping to talk. He had just been fetching something to drink for the guests and was holding a jar of juice in his hands. “Did it help?” he asked Milan, glancing at his hands.  
  
Milan nodded and gave him a grateful smile. “Yes, thank you.”  
  
“Good. I hope Derek was behaving himself when he was with you.”  
  
Derek’s face flushed bright red, because Jayden’s words could easily be misunderstood. “Why wouldn’t I?” he asked, maybe a little too defensively.  
  
“’Cause being polite isn’t your strong side,” Jayden pointed out, giving him a serious look. “And you’re certainly not known for being hospitable. You always find some excuse to hide in your room until all the guests are gone.”  
  
Derek groaned and felt so annoyed with his Dad for saying such embarrassing insults to him when Milan was standing right next to them, listening.  
  
Milan just smiled and appeared to be kind of amused by the exchange.  
  
Jayden now finally turned to look at Milan again. “Wanna join us?” he asked, holding up the jar of juice and smiling.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened. “Oh. I…”  
  
Jayden chuckled when he saw how nervous the submissive looked. “Well, you can join us for a bit and then I’ll drive you home when you’re ready. Alright?”  
  
Milan nodded, and Jayden smiled before going to the living room.  
  
Derek had mixed feelings about it. It wasn’t that he wanted Milan to leave, but he would rather not be around all that awkwardness that came with his family being around while Milan was there.  
  
Derek and Milan headed to the living room to join the others, and Milan quickly took off his shoes before following after Derek.  
  
Once they were in the living room, the others looked up and smiled as Milan came over to them. He was staying a bit behind Derek and still felt a little out of place.  
  
The couch was pretty full, but Dylan scooted over to make more space, and Claire jumped over to Jayden in the chair and went to sit on his lap so there was more space on the couch.  
  
Milan sat down next to Noah, and Derek seated himself between Milan and Dylan. Nathan and Joanne were on Dylan’s other side.  
  
“So, Milan, I was wondering…” Joanne spoke after they sat down and got something to drink. “What do you have your bag? I couldn’t help notice that it seems kind of precious to you.” She smiled as he gestured at Milan’s shoulder bag, which he still hadn’t taken off.  
  
Milan blinked at her before glancing at his bag. “Oh, it’s…”  
  
“He keeps his drawings in there,” Derek answered for him when Milan hesitated a bit.  
  
Everyone’s eyes widened with interest.  
  
“Oh, you draw?” Noah asked Milan curiously.  
  
Milan blushed and nodded. “Yeah, it’s, um… my hobby.”  
  
“I wanna see!” Claire blurted, looking really curious and excited about it.  
  
The others laughed.  
  
“Sorry,” Jayden told Milan with a soft laugh when he saw the submissive was a little embarrassed about it.  
  
“It’s fine. You can look,” Milan said, smiling shyly as he placed his bag on his lap and opened it.  
  
They all watched curiously as Milan took out his sketchbook and passed it around for them to see. Noah, Jayden, and Claire were the first ones to see it, and they all looked amazed by what they saw. Claire’s mouth was open as she just stared at the drawings like she couldn’t believe that Milan had made those, and she couldn’t tear her eyes off them.  
  
The sketchbook was then passed on to Dylan, and Nathan and Joanne leaned over to see it too.  
  
“Whoa, these are good,” Dylan said as he looked at them.  
  
They all agreed and were impressed by Milan’s talents.  
  
There were mostly drawings of people in the sketchbook, and Derek recognized some of the backgrounds as being from the local park. He couldn’t help but stare, as he hadn’t had much time to look at the drawings last time he had caught a glimpse of them. It made him feel a little worse about how he had once turned Milan’s bag upside down and made all his drawings fall to the floor.  
  
Dylan passed the sketchbook on to Nathan and Joanne so they could have a closer look, and the two of them spent a few moments going through the pages and staring in amazement.  
  
“I imagine you must get good grades in your art class,” Nathan commented as he passed the sketchbook back to Milan after everyone had looked at it.  
  
Milan looked a little modest, and he took the sketchbook back from Nathan and put it back into his bag. “Yeah… I enjoy that class a lot.”  
  
Nathan smiled at that before looking at Derek. “I don’t suppose you have art classes, Derek?”  
  
Derek snorted softly. “Nope.”  
  
“Good! ‘Cause Derek can’t draw at all!” Claire blurted loudly.  
  
Everyone laughed at that, and Derek felt a little annoyed with Claire for always blurting out things like that.  
  
Noah chuckled a bit before addressing Milan again. “Your parents must be proud of your talent as well.”  
  
Milan tensed a little before smiling a bit. “My Mom is, yeah. She always buys me more pencils for my birthday and for Christmas. I run out of them so fast.”  
  
The others laughed at that.  
  
“I know,” Noah chuckled. “My papa is also an artist. He used to do artworks for Hollywood until he retired a few years ago. I remember him always running out of pencils as well.”  
  
Milan’s eyes widened in amazement. “Oh, your mother is a submissive too? And had such a job?”  
  
Noah smiled and nodded. “Yes. For a submissive it’s rather easy to find jobs that involve creativity.”  
  
There was almost like a light in Milan’s eyes now, like he had just discovered his future. Noah couldn’t help but smile and feel happy about that, while Derek couldn’t stop staring at his classmate.  
  
Nathan noticed how Derek was staring at Milan. Not just now, but the whole time since he had arrived. He couldn’t help but smile at it, but didn’t make any comments about it.  
  
They then switched the topic and started chatting a bit, mostly about how Jayden was going to officially take over the restaurant from his boss on Monday. They all knew he would be really busy for a while so he could get an overview of all the new responsibilities and keep the business running, but they were glad that he had taken this weekend off to be with the family before he would be too busy with work.  
  
Milan didn’t seem so tense anymore and he listened quietly as they talked. He glanced at Derek every now and then, smiling a little when he saw him looking a bit bored as the others chatted. Their wings were almost touching as they sat next to each other, and at one point when Milan shifted, they actually did touch. Both he and Derek quickly pulled their own wing back towards themselves and looked at each other, but neither of them said anything. Milan blushed heavily though, before finally relaxing again, but he was careful their wings didn’t touch again.  
  
Dylan had to leave a couple of times because his nose was running, which resulted in some jokes both from Derek and from Nathan. Dylan thought they were both being annoying as hell, and the sibling interaction made Milan smile as he witnessed it.  
  
After about half an hour, Jayden got up to get them more to drink. The jar of juice was empty and they needed a refill of coffee as well.  
  
“I’m gonna get us something more to drink. Wanna give me a hand, Derek?” Jayden asked as he got up to get more.  
  
Derek groaned loudly and unfolded his arms, which had been crossed in front of his chest for most of the time. “Why me? Why don’t you ask Nathan or Dylan? They’re always so eager to help.”  
  
“’Cause I’m asking _you,_ ” Jayden replied firmly. “Now, get your butt up and give me a hand.”  
  
Derek rolled his eyes in irritation before getting up to help.  
  
Milan giggled a bit about it and pulled his feet closer to the couch so Derek could pass him.  
  
After Jayden and Derek were gone, Nathan let out a small snort and said, “That’s so typical Derek. Always expecting others to help out and not wanting to lift a finger himself.”  
  
Dylan laughed. “Yeah. But, he _has_ been a little bit more helpful around the house lately.”  
  
“Is that so?” Nathan didn’t sound very convinced. “Last time I was in his room, there were empty cans everywhere and his bed was unmade. And I don’t remember ever having seen him do the dishes voluntarily.”  
  
Claire laughed from where she was sitting in the chair. “Yeah, Derek’s lazy!”  
  
Joanne laughed, while Noah wasn’t sure if he should laugh or feel helpless about his son.  
  
Milan didn’t say anything, but chuckled a little at the things they said.  
  
“Do you have a brother who’s like that too?” Dylan asked Milan curiously.  
  
They all noticed how Milan’s body language tensed a bit at the question, but eventually he nodded and forced a smile. “Yeah. My, um… my brother used to be like that too.”  
  
“Is he an alpha?” Nathan asked. When Milan nodded at that, Nathan let out a small snort. “Must be an alpha thing, then.”  
  
“Hey, I’m an alpha,” Dylan protested.  
  
“And your father is not like that either,” Noah pointed out.  
  
“Okay, must just be a Derek thing, then,” Nathan sighed.  
  
The others laughed and the topic changed after that.  
  
Meanwhile, Jayden and Derek were getting more drinks in the kitchen.  
  
Derek was still a little annoyed that he had to get up and help his Dad when he knew that his brothers certainly wouldn’t have minded helping, but he still did as his father asked.  
  
“So,” Jayden spoke as the two of them made more coffee and cleaned the jar before filling it with more juice. “I better drive Milan home soon, and I hope you’ll come with us. You’re a familiar face, after all.”  
  
“I don’t know him that well, though,” Derek murmured as he cleaned the jar under the water tap.  
  
“No?” Jayden looked at him like he wasn’t convinced. “Out of all the houses in this neighborhood, he came _here_ for help, because he knew _you_ lived here.”  
  
Derek froze and felt his Dad’s stare on him.  
  
“Something tells me you know each other a bit,” Jayden continued, eyeing Derek carefully as he cleaned the counter after he had spilled some coffee powder on it.  
  
“A bit,” Derek murmured, glancing away.  
  
Jayden smirked and decided not to pry further. “Anyway, once we’ve taken him home, I’m planning on going to the police station and filing a report about those guys. I won’t put up with them coming here to pick a fight, and it’ll teach them a lesson for chasing Milan around like that. It’s not acceptable.”  
  
Derek slowly nodded in agreement. “Yeah, they have it coming… I fucking hate those assholes. But I just hope it won’t make it worse at school…” He groaned in dread, because he knew that it most definitely would.  
  
“Like I said earlier, I’ll talk to your headmaster about it as well. Let’s see what he thinks of his students chasing after another student like that and threatening to beat him up, even if it’s not during school hours. I’m sure they have a history of coming after Milan like that, don’t they?”  
  
Derek just nodded and tried to hold back the sudden anger he felt towards those guys once again.  
  
They didn’t talk more about it for now.  
  
When the jar was clean, Derek filled it with more juice and went to the living room with it so everyone could have some. The coffee was finished a minute later and Jayden brought it to the living room.  
  
The others were still chatting on the couch, and Derek was a little surprised to see Milan interacting with Claire, who had taken Derek’s seat while he was away. She quickly jumped off the couch when she saw Derek return, and when Jayden came back, she went to sit on his lap once again.  
  
They sat and chatted for ten more minutes until it was time to take Milan home.  
  
“It was nice meeting you,” Noah told Milan as they all got up to say goodbye to him. “I hope you won’t have to deal with those boys anymore…”  
  
Milan gave him a grateful smile as they parted ways in the living room. “I hope so too… And thank you for helping me and letting me stay for a bit.”  
  
Noah’s smile widened. “You’re welcome.”  
  
Nathan and Joanne came forward to say goodbye as well, and Milan smiled as he shook their hands.  
  
Dylan also came forward to say goodbye, but had to retreat a bit when he suddenly started sneezing. He had been coughing and sniffing all day because of his cold.  
  
“For god’s sake, Dylan, you’re gonna make us all sick,” Derek complained when Dylan started sneezing multiple times into his own arm.  
  
“Shut up,” Dylan said between sneezes, glaring at him. “I can’t help it.”  
  
“Yeah, shut up, Derek,” Nathan remarked with a teasing smirk on his face.  
  
Derek now turned his attention to Nathan, scowling back at him. “Shut up yourself.”  
  
“No, _you_ shut up. You’re the one picking on Dylan.”  
  
“I’m not picking on him,” Derek protested, ignoring how Dylan sneezed once again. “But every time he gets a cold, _I_ get one too. And he gets a cold _all_ the fucking time.”  
  
“Not his fault he easily gets sick,” Nathan argued.  
  
“Guys,” Jayden interrupted when he saw their argument was about to escalate further. “You can keep arguing when Derek and I come back home later. Right now we gotta go.”  
  
Milan watched them with slight amusement and saw how Derek glared at his older brother once more before snorting and looking away.  
  
Claire giggled a bit at her brothers before going over to Milan. “Bye, Milan! Was nice meeting you!”  
  
“It was nice meeting you too, Claire,” Milan grinned at her.  
  
After they had all said goodbye, Milan went and put on his shoes, and then followed Jayden and Derek out the door when they were ready to go.  
  
They had to attach Milan’s bike to the back of Jayden’s car before they could go, and Nathan came outside to give Jayden and Derek a hand with that. Dylan wanted to help as well, but Noah thought it was better if he stayed inside where it was warm.  
  
“Good luck with everything,” Noah told them from the doorway as they went to get Milan’s bike from the driveway so they could put it on the back of the car.  
  
Jayden knew Noah was referring to his plans of going to the police after dropping off Milan at his house. “Thanks,” he smiled at him and waved goodbye when Noah headed back inside.  
  
It took only a few minutes until Milan’s bike was fixed to the back of the car, and he thanked them for their help before getting into the car with Jayden and Derek. Jayden was driving, and Derek was on the passenger seat while Milan was in the backseat behind Derek.  
  
Milan gave Jayden instructions on how to get to his house, and it wasn’t all that far away. Just two minutes by car.  
  
“Want me to come inside and explain things to your parents?” Jayden asked, glancing at Milan in the rearview mirror as they drove.  
  
“No, I… My Mom won’t be home until pretty late,” Milan explained.  
  
Derek frowned. “So you’re home all by yourself all day?”  
  
“Um, yeah… It’s just me and my Mom, and she works a lot. So I’m often home by himself.”  
  
Derek didn’t know what to think of that, and he couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Milan. He didn’t know what had happened to his brother or why his father wasn’t around, but it didn’t sound easy having a mother who was never really around. Derek suddenly wasn’t so surprised about why Milan spent so much time drawing.  
  
Milan hesitated a bit before asking them, “Are you sure it’s a good idea to go to the police? I… What if those guys get upset about that?”  
  
“I’d say to just let them get upset,” Jayden answered with nonchalance. “What they did was in no way acceptable, and I won’t ignore how they came to my house and threatened both you and Derek. I’m hoping your headmaster will see fit to have them expelled when I tell him about it on Monday. It might have been outside school, but as far as I know, they’re after you just as much at school as they were today, right?”  
  
Jayden glanced at Milan in the mirror and saw him nodding and looking a bit nervous about everything.  
  
Jayden gave Milan a smile to reassure him. “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. It’ll be me who reported it, so hopefully they shouldn’t come after you.”  
  
Those words seemed to reassure Milan a little, and he gave Jayden a grateful smile in the mirror.  
  
Derek then let out a deep, frustrated sigh and sank back into his seat. “Awesome… If they know it was you, they’re gonna come after _me._ Just adds more to the list of all the people who wanna beat me up if I see them again.”  
  
Jayden glanced quickly at Derek before looking at the road again. “What, you wanna just let them get away with it?”  
  
“Yeah, well, the number of people who wanna beat me up is already pretty long. I can count at least five right now, but it’s probably more like ten.”  
  
Jayden let a small laugh at that. “That usually never concerns you much, though. You always seem to be looking for fights.”  
  
Derek just huffed and glanced out the window.  
  
Milan was a little nervous about it as well, but he had to agree that just letting them get away with it wouldn’t solve anything.  
  
They arrived at Milan’s house a few seconds later and got out of the car.  
  
Milan thanked Jayden many times for driving him home, and Jayden smiled at him before he and Derek got Milan’s bike down from the car together.  
  
Milan’s house was pretty small and had lots of trees surrounding it. It was white and had only one story, and there was a small garage on the right side of the house.  
  
Milan unlocked the garage so Derek could put his bike in there for him.  
  
“Thanks,” Milan told Derek after he had put his bike into the garage. He gave the alpha a shy smile as he glanced up at him from under his lashes.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Derek said and put his hands into his pockets to appear cool. He didn’t want Milan to see how his smiles affected him.  
  
They both looked up when they heard a voice nearby. They saw a human man in his forties coming over to talk to Jayden by the car, and it appeared that the two knew each other.  
  
Milan blinked in surprise, and Derek soon realized that it was one of his Dad’s colleagues from the restaurant. Apparently, the guy lived on this street and had spotted Jayden by the house, and now he had come over to say hi.  
  
Derek and Milan both watched as Jayden and the man shook hands and began chatting, leaving the two of them alone by the garage.  
  
“I think it’s one of my Dad’s colleagues,” Derek explained when he saw the confusion in Milan’s face.  
  
“Oh.” Milan blinked at the two men before looking at Derek again. “Funny how small the world is sometimes.”  
  
Derek chuckled. “Yeah.”  
  
There was silence again, and they listened absently to Jayden and the man talking over by the car.  
  
After a few moments, Milan spoke again. “I, um… Hope you didn’t mind me being around while your family was there today. I still feel a little bad for imposing on you…”  
  
“Nah, it’s okay. But it was a little awkward, though.”  
  
Milan chuckled at that. “Yeah. But your family is very nice.”  
  
A small snort escaped Derek, who still had his hands buried in his jeans pockets. “They’re okay, I guess. But they can be quite embarrassing…”  
  
“I think all families are like that,” Milan chuckled.  
  
Once again, there was silence, but it wasn’t that uncomfortable.  
  
Milan glanced up at Derek every now and then, and Derek did the same when Milan wasn’t looking. When their eyes did meet, they both looked away with a small blush.  
  
They looked over and saw that Jayden was ending the conversation with his colleague now.  
  
Milan then turned to Derek and said, “Um… Thank you again. For everything.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Derek replied, shifting sheepishly.  
  
“No, really. You saved me today.”  
  
Derek swallowed as he watched Milan smile at him with so much gratitude and sincerity. He was still trying to get used to the feeling of being thanked, but it felt especially nice when it was coming from Milan.  
  
Suddenly, Milan snickered and reached out to give Derek a small shove. It was enough to snap Derek out of his thoughts, though it barely made him budge.  
  
Derek blinked at the submissive several times in confusion, not understanding what that was for. “What?”  
  
“You were spacing out. And looking kinda creepy,” Milan explained with a small giggle.  
  
Immediately, Derek started frowning in offense. “I was not spacing out.”  
  
Milan laughed at the alpha’s denial. “Yeah, you were.”  
  
Derek then reached out and gave Milan a small shove in return, but was careful not to hurt him. “Was not.”  
  
Milan laughed at that, and Derek couldn’t help but grin as he watched him.  
  
Suddenly, it was like something had changed between them, but in a good way. A few barriers had been lifted, and Derek was surprised by how open he felt around the submissive. He had just shown a side of himself to Milan that he usually never showed to anyone – a side Derek himself barely even knew existed. It scared him a bit, but it also felt nice.  
  
“So, um… See you on Monday?” Derek said, shifting a bit and glancing at Milan, who was a lot shorter than himself.  
  
Milan smiled and nodded. “Yeah, see you. For algebra.”  
  
When Derek groaned loudly at the mention of them having algebra on Monday, Milan laughed and felt kind of sorry for him.  
  
“That class is so fucking useless, I don’t even know why the hell I’ve been forced to take it,” Derek complained.  
  
Milan laughed. “I find it interesting, though.”  
  
Derek grimaced. “Something has to be seriously wrong with you…”  
  
Milan could easily tell that Derek was joking, which was why he laughed at it rather than being insulted about it.  
  
Before any of them could say anything else, Jayden came over to them to say goodbye to Milan after his colleague had left.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden smiled as he came over. He was kind of oblivious of the moment that the two of them had just shared, and he turned his attention to Milan as he spoke. “I hope you’ll be okay on your own until your Mom is home?”  
  
Milan nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. The bullies don’t know where I live anyway.”  
  
“Good,” Jayden said, pleased about that. “I guess we better head to the police station now. The sooner that’s over with, the sooner we can go home.”  
  
Derek nodded and joined his Dad as they turned to leave.  
  
“Bye, Milan. Take care,” Jayden told the submissive with a warm smile.  
  
“Thank you,” Milan smiled. “And thanks for everything!”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Jayden grinned and walked back to the car.  
  
Derek glanced one more time at Milan. “See you.”  
  
“Yeah,” Milan smiled, and watched as Derek headed over to the car to join his Dad.  
  
Derek got into the car with Jayden, who immediately set the course for the police station. He cast one final glance at Milan, smiling a bit as he watched him head up to the front door of his house and disappear inside.  
  
When the house was out of sight, Derek sighed and sank back into the seat, staring absently out the windshield as his father drove them through the neighborhood and towards the city center. Derek really didn’t want to go to the police station, but he didn’t want Travis and Warrick getting away with what they had done either.

  
***

  
It took almost two hours at the police station because there was a line and because the police needed a lot of information for their report.  
  
By the time Jayden and Derek got home, the others were already starting on making dinner. It was only 3:50pm, but the meat needed at least two hours in the oven, and they had to cut potatoes and get everything ready.  
  
Noah greeted them in the entrance hall when they came home. “Hey. How did it go?” He looked between them, anxious to know if things had gone well or bad.  
  
“Don’t know yet,” Jayden said as he put his jacket into the closet. “We filed the report and they’re gonna contact the boys and their families. And then we’ll hear more.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Derek didn’t say anything. He just kicked off his shoes and put his jacket into the closet.  
  
They looked up when Nathan appeared in the doorway to the dining room. “Did you drive Milan home safely? Those guys weren’t still around, were they?”  
  
“No, we didn’t see them,” Jayden answered. “I think he’ll be fine. He’s a little nervous they’re gonna retaliate, but I think if they’re gonna do anything, they will probably target Derek.”  
  
“Jee, thanks, Dad,” Derek said, his voice heavy with sarcasm.  
  
Jayden laughed and reached out to give Derek a small pat on the arm. “You’ll be fine. I doubt they’re gonna make a move. I saw how that Warrick guy was too scared to confront you outside today, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just me who intimidated him. Besides, you’re a martial arts champion, so I’m not that worried.”  
  
Derek felt a little flattered by that and knew his Dad was probably right. It was just Travis who had tried to pick a fight with him, and that was most likely because he riled up by his anger towards Milan. Warrick hadn’t tried to come at him, and Derek suspected that even if his Dad hadn’t been around, Warrick still wouldn’t have had the guts to do it. Warrick had avoided him like the plague ever since Derek had kicked him in the face in the corridor once, and he barely even dared looking Derek in the eye. Derek doubted Warrick would cause him any further trouble, but he wasn’t sure about Travis.  
  
“Dad, I’ve told you not to fuel Derek’s arrogance…” Nathan said. “Just look at him; his ego is all boosted up now.”  
  
Nathan’s words made Derek snap out of his thoughts. His eyes narrowed as he glared at Nathan, who laughed when he saw it.  
  
“Shut up, Nathan.”  
  
Nathan just laughed, which irritated Derek further.  
  
Noah sighed, wondering if his sons would ever stop behaving like this.  
  
Jayden was so used to Derek and Nathan being like that that he simply just ignored them for now. Instead, he glanced around and frowned a little when he peeked into the living room and didn’t see anyone. “Where’s everybody?”  
  
“They’re cooking in the kitchen,” Nathan explained. “You better go keep an eye on them. Joanne is a good cook, but you always like to deviate a bit from the normal recipes, so…”  
  
“Well, my intuitions are way better than any recipes,” Jayden argued before heading to the kitchen to make sure everything was okay.  
  
Noah and Nathan laughed softly at that.  
  
“I’ll go upstairs for a bit,” Derek announced. “Have an English assignment I gotta finish before Monday.”  
  
“Alright,” Noah said, stepping away from the stairs so Derek could pass.  
  
Derek had just made it to the stairs when Nathan sudden spoke. “You sure you’re not just gonna daydream a little about Milan?”  
  
His brother’s words made Derek stop instantly. He quickly turned to look at Nathan, putting on an angry face so his brother couldn’t see how flustered he was. “ _What?_ Why would I do that?”  
  
“Oh, come on. I saw how you were staring at him today,” Nathan said, returning Derek’s anger with a cocky smile. “Do I sense a little bit of a crush…?”  
  
Noah was really surprised to hear that, and he glanced at Derek on the stairs to see if it was true.  
  
“Be careful I don’t crush your face,” Derek growled, glaring hard at Nathan before running up the stairs and away from it all.  
  
Nathan immediately knew he had hit a sore spot when he saw Derek’s reaction. He couldn’t help but grin and feel happy for his brother that he had such feelings towards the submissive, even if Derek was still in denial about it.  
  
“Stop making fun of him like that,” Noah told Nathan after Derek was gone, giving his oldest son a disapproving stare.  
  
“Sorry, I kinda couldn’t help it,” Nathan said, his tail curling in what seemed like shame. “But his reaction told me that I’m right.”  
  
“You still shouldn’t make fun of him,” Noah insisted. “You know he doesn’t handle that so well.”  
  
“Yeah, I know. But he needs to get over it and learn it’s okay to feel like that about someone.”  
  
“Well, he won’t think that if he feels like you’re ridiculing him for it.”  
  
Nathan let out a defeated sigh. “Yeah, you’re right, Mom… Sorry.”  
  
Smiling, Noah came over and placed a hand on Nathan’s arm to forgive him. His son gave him a soft smile, and together they headed to the kitchen to join the others.  
  
Meanwhile, Derek went to his room and closed his door with a little more force than necessary. He hated Nathan and his stupid, mocking comments sometimes. Just when things were going okay between them, his brother had to be an asshole again. Derek knew he wasn’t a saint himself either, and that he had always provoked the fights even more than Nathan, but it was still annoying as hell.  
  
Derek threw himself on his bed, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling. He still had homework to do, but he just didn’t feel like doing it right now. So many thoughts were swirling around inside his head. All he could think of was Milan. The thought about how the submissive had come to _him_ for help made something stir inside Derek. It was the same, pleasant feeling he got whenever Milan walked close to him at school to keep the bullies away, but it was also something else.  
  
He was still surprised by how relaxed he was starting to feel around Milan lately, and how he sometimes couldn’t stop staring at him.  
  
Maybe Nathan was right? Maybe it was a crush?  
  
Derek was still in denial about him having such feelings for Milan, but he knew deep down that it had to be something like that.  
  
He groaned loudly and covered his face with his hands as he thought about it. Things were so much easier back when he went to parties and had sex with random girls there – when there were no feelings involved except for pure lust and the need to be sated.  
  
These last few months, Milan had started turning Derek’s world completely upside-down, and today it had only gotten worse. Derek still didn’t know if it was a good or a bad thing, but he didn’t want to stop seeing or talking to Milan. Actually, he wanted to get to know him even more, and that was kind of frightening to him.  
  
After a few minutes of lying on the bed, completely lost in his many thoughts, Derek finally got up to do his homework. At least that sort of distracted him from all the thoughts swirling around inside his head at the moment.  
  
It was the first time he had ever appreciated having homework to do, and hopefully also the last time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was a little surprised that so many of you took a liking to Milan so fast, but I'm glad! I think there will be more Derek/Milan focus in the upcoming chapters. It's fun to write about them and there's a lot to explore and write :) The next chapter probably won't have that much focus on them, but it'll come soon!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	69. Chapter 69

**February 2072** **(Noah is 45 (almost 46), Jayden is 47, Nathan is 22, Derek is 17 (almost 18), Dylan is 14, Claire is 9 (almost 10) Isaac is 51, Kaylen is 46 (almost 47) years old).**  
  
After Jayden had taken ownership of the restaurant when his boss was too sick to continue, he had been even busier than usual.  
  
It took a toll on everyone in the family that Jayden was barely at home at all now, but they knew that it was temporary until Jayden had settled fully into his new job position and had taken care of all the paperwork that came with him taking over the restaurant.  
  
Claire was especially affected by her dad’s absence. She was very sad about it, and sometimes her sad mood made her sulky and ill-mannered, especially in the evening when she started getting sleepy. Dylan and Derek handled it easier because they were both older than her and didn’t need their dad around just as much. Dylan still had the job as a dishwasher at the restaurant, so he saw Jayden every now and then. However, his Dad was often too busy to spend time with him, so sometimes it felt like Dylan didn’t see him at work at all.  
  
And then there was Noah. Not having his mate around to help him with the chores at home and taking care of the kids was a little difficult for him. But most of all he missed cuddling with his mate and feeling his comforting arms around him. The only time he saw Jayden was when his mate came home at night, which was often between 10:30pm and 1am, and by that time Noah was mostly asleep. And In the morning Jayden was still sleeping when they all left for work and school, so they barely spoke at all.  
  
This morning wasn’t much different.  
  
Noah was woken by the alarm clock next to the bed, and he quickly reached out to turn off the offending noise. He felt Jayden shift on the bed behind him and roll over to sleep on his other side. Noah listened for a few seconds, wondering if this was one of those mornings where Jayden wasn’t able to fall asleep again and would spend a few minutes cuddling with him, but when he heard Jayden’s soft snoring he felt a little disappointed.  
  
Sighing, Noah forced himself to get up and get dressed. He turned on the lamp on his nightstand, and since Jayden had his back to that side of the bed, the light didn’t wake him at all.  
  
Noah quickly found some clothes in his drawers and got dressed before turning off the lights and carefully leaving the room. Everyone was still asleep except for him, but he knew that Dylan would soon be up.  
  
Noah went about his usual morning routines and started by going to wake up Claire. His daughter let out a sleepy and annoyed groan before turning around to sleep on her other side, so Noah had to pull off her blanket to make her get up.  
  
Afterwards he went to wake up Derek, knocking on his door until he heard his son’s muffled, grumpy voice telling him that he was awake, before he went down the stairs to prepare breakfast and lunch for everyone. He never went to wake up Dylan, because he never had much trouble getting out of bed in the mornings.  
  
Noah always felt like a zombie for about half an hour after he had woken up, and this morning was no different. But there was another feeling inside him as well though, and it wasn’t pleasant. The bond he shared with Jayden was usually very strong, but their lack of physical and mental intimacy had made it weaken a little over the past one and a half months. It had happened before, usually just after the kids were born, and Noah hated that feeling. He longed to feel the strong, comforting pulse of the bond he shared with his mate, and he knew Jayden could feel it too.  
  
“Good morning,” Dylan suddenly spoke behind Noah as he entered the kitchen.  
  
Noah flinched slightly in surprise and turned to look at him. “Good morning,” he smiled before continuing to make their lunch boxes. He had already put the breakfast on the table.  
  
Dylan quickly noticed that his mom seemed a little off. It didn’t take him long to guess it was because of Jayden being so busy and absent all the time, but he didn’t comment on it because he didn’t want to upset his mom further. “Is Claire not up yet?” he asked as he went over to wash off some of the knives Noah had used make their lunch with.  
  
“I think she’s in the bathroom. I heard her earlier,” Noah replied, not taking his eyes off the lunch that he was preparing.  
  
Dylan yawned and nodded absently. “And I’m guessing Derek is still in bed.”  
  
“Most likely, yes.”  
  
Dylan chuckled and rolled his eyes at his older brother.  
  
“Oh, um,” Dylan began, making Noah turn his head to look at him. “I’m gonna be home a little later than usual tonight. We’re gonna have extra basketball practice after school, but I’ll be home at around 6:30 for dinner.”  
  
“Alright. I’ll make sure we don’t start eating until you come home,” Noah said, smiling at him before turning his attention back to the lunch once again.  
  
Dylan gave him a grateful nod, and looked up when Claire jumped into the kitchen.  
  
“Morning!” she chirped, grinning as she went over to have breakfast.  
  
Both Noah and Dylan were surprised to see her in such a good mood that morning, but they were happy that she was in a better mood now than she was last night. She had been pretty upset last night and kind of disobedient when told to go to bed, which was a little unusual for her. Noah knew it was because Jayden’s absence upset her and she missed her dad, but there wasn’t anything they could do about it.  
  
“Morning, little sunshine,” Dylan grinned and went over to the table to join her.  
  
Claire just grinned at the nickname and began pouring cereal for herself.  
  
“Why are you in such a good mood?” Dylan asked his sister, feeling a little curious.  
  
“’Cause I walked by Derek’s room and he was swearing a lot in there. It was funny,” Claire giggled.  
  
Dylan frowned. “Swearing a lot?”  
  
That also caught Noah’s attention, and he turned his head to look over at them.  
  
“Yeah,” Claire snickered. “I think he hit his toe against his chair again. He does that a lot in the mornings.”  
  
Dylan sighed. “That’s what he gets when he never pushes his chair into place before going to bed… Then he stubs his toe against it when he gets up in the morning. That dumbass.”  
  
Claire kept snickering, and Noah couldn’t help but find it a little funny as well, even though he felt bad for Derek.  
  
Claire and Dylan began eating, and Noah joined them when he finished making their lunch for today.  
  
A few minutes later, Derek finally showed up.  
  
Dylan couldn’t wipe the amused smirk off his face when he saw his older brother limping a bit as he walked. “Did your toe survive?” he asked, not hiding the smirk on his face.  
  
Derek sent him a look that could kill. “Shut up,” he grumbled before sitting down to eat.  
  
Claire giggled like mad, and Noah smiled in amusement.

  
***

  
For Derek, today was just another boring day at school.  
  
Every class that Derek had today made him wanna crawl home in his bed and just sleep. Especially algebra was making him want to fall asleep because it was so boring, but lately he been able to keep himself awake during class by glancing at Milan every now and then. It had started just after the incident last month where Milan had come to his house when Travis and Warrick had chased after him, and he and Milan had shared a few moments alone. Somehow, it had made him feel closer to the submissive, whether he wanted to admit it or not, and sometimes he couldn’t help but glance his way.  
  
Derek sat next to Dwayne in their algebra class, and while the others were busy trying to solve the problems in their books, Derek was staring at Milan, who was sitting a bit in front of him over by the windows. Next to Milan was a human girl he often seemed to hang out with, and Derek watched as the two discussed the problem together and how Milan leaned in over his book to mark certain sentences in it. Derek could see some of his profile from where he was sitting, because Milan was sitting in the far other row, and he stared at how concentrated the submissive looked while thinking and how he smiled when he solved one of the problems. It was kind of amusing to watch.  
  
“Dude.”  
  
Derek snapped out of it when he heard Dwayne speaking to him. He turned his head to look at his friend, who was eyeing him with a suspicious look on his face.  
  
“What are you staring at? Don’t tell me it’s that sub?” Dwayne asked and made a small gesture at Milan.  
  
Derek immediately became all flustered about it. “What? No! I’m not staring! I’m just spacing out ‘cause this class is so freaking boring.”  
  
“No, you were totally looking at that sub,” Dwayne smirked, keeping his voice down so the others in class wouldn’t hear.  
  
“Was not!” Derek hissed back, suppressing a blush.  
  
Dwayne chuckled at his denial, and Derek didn’t like the way his friend was looking at him all smugly now.  
  
Derek cursed himself for having been so obvious. If Dwayne had noticed him staring at Milan, so could someone else. He had to be careful, otherwise he would just get himself _and_ Milan into trouble, and he did not want the other alphas in their class targeting Milan.

  
***

  
Lunch break was at 12pm to 12:45, and Derek and Dwayne went to the cafeteria to eat with their friends.  
  
Ever since Derek had become captain of the lacrosse team, he had become pretty popular with the other students – especially the girls were paying more attention to him now. Their attention made it easier for him to get laid at the few parties he had attended recently, but as usual there were no feelings involved with the girls he had slept with. It had only been about the physical pleasure and release, and he was pretty sure the girls felt the same way.  
  
After eating, Derek left the table to head to the bathroom.  
  
Things were generally going easier for Derek at school ever since Travis and Warrick had been reported to the police for having shown up at his house and threatening him and Milan. The headmaster had expelled both boys when Jayden had told them what had happened. It turned out that they had already received two warnings from the headmaster before that for vandalizing school property and for bullying other students, and what they had done to Milan was the final straw. Their human friend hadn’t gotten expelled because he hadn’t received just as many warnings, but Derek hadn’t really seen him since.  
  
Now that Travis and Warrick were gone, Derek didn’t really have any of Steven’s friends left to worry about. There was only one other guy at the school who was friends with Steven, but he never came anywhere near him and Dwayne anymore, so Derek wasn’t worried about him.  
  
It was also easy for Derek to see that Milan was more relaxed now. Travis and Warrick had been the ones to bully him the most, and it seemed that them getting expelled had scared some of the other bullies. Derek hadn’t seen Milan get picked on for a while now, and the submissive didn’t feel the need to stay around him that often anymore either. Derek actually kind of missed that.  
  
Derek headed through the school corridors and to the bathrooms to do his thing. The bathroom near the cafeteria had a long line, so Derek decided to go to a more remote bathroom at the school where there usually wasn’t a line.  
  
He met a few senior girls on his way there who all eyed him and smiled at him with interest, and Derek couldn’t help the satisfying and maybe a little smug feeling he got. Having such attractive girls looking at him felt pretty nice and Derek loved the attention.  
  
When he was done in the bathroom, Derek washed his hands thoroughly in the sink before turning to leave. That was when he suddenly heard a bit of commotion going on just outside the door. He didn’t think much of it at first, because it wasn’t unusual that students got into fights during the breaks, but as soon as he stepped out the door, he was met by the sight of Milan being bullied once again.  
  
“Give it back, you jerk!” Milan yelled at a human student, who had managed to grab his shoulder bag from him and was now holding it up above his head, out of Milan’s reach.  
  
It was a complete mirror of what Derek and Steven had once done to Milan, and Derek was almost shocked to see it.  
  
Next to the human was a beta demon, who was smirking meanly at Milan as his friend bullied him.  
  
“What are you gonna do?” the human guy dared. “Cry on me like the little girl you are?”  
  
The guy wasn’t that muscled or tall, but still a lot larger than Milan, and so was the beta. Derek thought both of them looked a little familiar, and he faintly remembered having seen them harass a few other students at the school before.  
  
Milan jumped up to get his bag, but the guy stepped back and laughed when Milan failed to grab it.  
  
Derek narrowed his eyes at the guys and stepped a little closer. He couldn’t have chosen a better place to stand, because as the guy turned around to run away with Milan’s bag, he bumped right into Derek and almost fell on his ass.  
  
Both the boys were startled by Derek suddenly appearing out of nowhere, and Milan’s eyes widened when he saw him too.  
  
“Hey, watch it!” the guy snapped at Derek before he had even looked at him properly. However, when he realized he had just said that to an alpha who was much taller and stronger than himself, he stepped back and swallowed nervously.  
  
Derek just stood there, glaring at them both before speaking. “How about you give that bag back to its rightful owner and get the fuck out of here?”  
  
“Oh, come on, man. We were just having some fun,” said the beta demon, chuckling nervously.  
  
The human nodded in agreement, but they both flinched when Derek reached out and grabbed a hold of the human’s shirt, pulling him in close.  
  
“Give. It. Back,” Derek growled at him, glaring the human down so hard he was almost getting worried that the guy was going to pee his pants.  
  
The guy stared wide-eyed into Derek’s eyes and gave a scared nod. “O-Okay.”  
  
The guy let go of the bag, but Derek caught it with his free hand before it hit the floor. He then let go of the guy, who sent him a small glare before getting out of there in a hurry with his friend.  
  
Derek snorted at them as they left, while Milan stood there and blinked at him in surprise.  
  
“Here,” Derek said, handing the bag back to Milan.  
  
Milan smiled as he reached out to take his bag from Derek. “Thanks.”  
  
“You really seem to attract the attention of bullies, don’t you?” Derek said next, chuckling a bit.  
  
Milan grimaced slightly. “I guess so, yeah… Not sure why. I guess it’s because I’m quiet and like to read and draw… I guess that makes me a typical nerd. And it’s probably also because I’m a submissive… and easy to push around.” He stared at the floor like it was something to be ashamed of.  
  
“Or maybe it’s because pretty much everyone at this school are a bunch of immature assholes who should mind their own business,” Derek muttered, hoping to make Milan feel a little better.  
  
Milan laughed at that, and once again Derek stared at him as he did so.  
  
“Yeah, that must be it. That would explain why it’s not just _me_ who’s the target, but a lot of others are as well.”  
  
Derek chuckled a bit along with Milan after the submissive said that.  
  
“Thanks for helping me again,” Milan said, giving Derek a shy smile. “But sometimes I feel like you totally enjoy giving those bullies such a hard time…”  
  
Derek shrugged. “I like to watch them squirm. Is that a crime?”  
  
Milan snickered. “No, it isn’t.”  
  
The two of them shared a small smile before they heard a larger group of people coming from around the corner. They shared one final look before Derek headed back to the cafeteria, not wanting to be seen talking to Milan by the wrong people. He felt bad for thinking like that, but he knew that others wouldn’t understand it and would pick on them both, so it was better this way.  
  
As he walked back to the cafeteria, Derek couldn’t stop thinking Milan and the grateful smile on the submissive’s face when he had thanked him. He didn’t think he would ever get tired of seeing that smile on Milan’s face, even if it was a very girly thing to think.  
  
He was unaware that further down the other corridor, Milan was smiling to himself as he headed to his next class, unable to stop thinking about Derek as well.

  
***

  
For Dylan, today was also just an ordinary school day, and even though he didn’t mind school that much, he still looked more forward to his basketball practice after school.  
  
When it was finally 3pm and classes were over, Dylan went to the gym with Benjamin to change clothes before practice. They were going to play outside because the indoor facilities were under construction, but it wasn’t all that cold in late February anyway. Spring was just around the corner.  
  
The two of them headed there together, walking through the school’s corridors on their way, and that was when Dylan spotted Melody in the crowds. She was hanging out with her female classmates, and as usual Andrea was being very loud as she laughed at something one of the other girls had said.  
  
Dylan started walking slower without realizing it, keeping his eyes focused on Melody up ahead, who hadn’t noticed him in the crowd yet. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice that Benjamin was far ahead of him now, until his friend stopped and looked around to find him.  
  
When Benjamin finally spotted Dylan again, he quickly noticed the source of Dylan’s attention. He rolled his eyes at his friend before going back to him. “Dude.”  
  
Dylan snapped out of it and looked at his friend. “What?”  
  
“Stop staring at Melody nonstop! We’re gonna be late for practice!”  
  
“I’m not staring at her,” Dylan denied, frowning in offense.  
  
“Then who are you staring at? Andrea?” Benjamin asked, sounding kind of amused by Dylan’s denial.  
  
“What? No! I think she’d slap me if I did.”  
  
Benjamin let out a laugh at that. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re not her type, seeing as you don’t have any boobs. But we’re still gonna be late for practice if you don’t stop staring soon, so let’s go.” He gestured towards the exit with his head.  
  
“I’m not staring,” Dylan denied once more. An offended frown wrinkled his forehead as he followed his friend through the corridor towards the exit. He ignored the girls who were staring at him as he walked through the corridor. There were a few girls at his school who had started eyeing him a lot and who sometimes started giggling shyly as he walked past them, but he had never really paid much attention to that.  
  
As Dylan and Benjamin walked by Melody and her group, Melody looked up and spotted them. A wide smile spread across her lips when she saw Dylan.  
  
“Hi, Dylan,” Melody greeted him, smiling.  
  
“Hi.” Dylan smiled back and stopped for a quick chat. He didn’t notice how Benjamin rolled his eyes next to him.  
  
“Are you going to practice?”  
  
“Yeah. That’s the only thing I’ve been looking forward to all day.”  
  
Melody giggled at that, as did some of her friends.  
  
“The only thing _I’ve_ been looking forward to all day is to go home to my bed!” Andrea suddenly exclaimed next to them, followed by the cheering of her friends.  
  
Dylan chuckled at Andrea’s comment, always finding her energetic personality pretty amusing.  
  
Dylan and Melody were now both staring at each other with a small smile, and the others around were busy listening to something Andrea was saying, which was why they were all startled when someone walked by behind Melody and bumped into her wings. She stumbled forward at the impact, and Dylan instinctively reached out to steady her. Her wings flinched and folded themselves tightly again her back, and her whole body shivered in response to her wings getting into contact with the person who had walked into her. It was a very unpleasant feeling for her, and she immediately glanced behind herself to see who it was.  
  
They all looked up to see Deaton smirking at Melody with malice. “Watch it, freak. You’re taking up too much space.”  
  
Dylan growled as he glared at Deaton. He really could not stand him at all and he knew the feeling was mutual. “ _You’re_ taking up too much space, you asshole,” he growled at the bully.  
  
Deaton stopped and turned to face Dylan with blazing eyes. He spread his wings as he growled, “What’s that, _freak?_ ”  
  
Dylan really hated that word, but he controlled himself and just glared Deaton down instead of returning his aggressive challenge.  
  
When Deaton saw how Dylan didn’t make a move to fight back, he let out a loud snort. “Pussy,” he huffed and walked away.  
  
Dylan’s eyes narrowed at that, but he didn’t return Deaton’s provocation. Deaton was just as much of a pussy anyway. Dylan still remembered how he had run away in a hurry that one time where Derek had confronted him at the mall. It had taken Deaton several weeks before he dared coming anywhere near Dylan and Melody again, but now he was back to being the same bully as before.  
  
“You okay?” Melody’s human friend Maggie asked as she came over to check on Melody.  
  
“Yeah, just… I really hate him,” Melody murmured and started correcting her feathers a bit.  
  
“I don’t think anyone likes that loser,” Andrea snorted, folding her arms as she glared at Deaton further down the corridor.  
  
Dylan stepped back a little when he saw that Melody was okay, and he didn’t snap out of it until he felt Benjamin tug at his sleeve.  
  
“Hey. We’re gonna be _so_ late already,” Benjamin said, tripping impatiently as he tried to pull Dylan along.  
  
“Oh, right.” Dylan had almost forgotten about their basketball practice when Deaton had shown up. He quickly turned to look at Melody. “See you tomorrow. Bye!” He then began running down the corridor with Benjamin, hoping they would make it in time and not get scolded by their coach.  
  
Melody just smiled and waved at him as Dylan ran off.

  
***

  
Dylan and Benjamin made it for their basketball practice just on time. But if they had arrived just thirty seconds later, they would have faced some serious scolding by their coach, who did not like it when his students were late for practice.  
  
The basketball team consisted of about eighteen students of different gender and species. Dylan got along with almost all of them, except for two boys from his parallel class – Deaton and his angel/human hybrid friend Jeff. Deaton had joined the basketball team at the start of the new year in January, and Dylan avoided him as much as possible. Luckily, they rarely ever ended up on the same team when they played, because the coach knew how bad they were at cooperating.  
  
The game began almost immediately, and everyone split into two teams to fight against the other team.  
  
Dylan had practiced basketball for years with Benjamin, so they were both pretty good at it. They weren’t the only ones with experience though, but that just made it more challenging and fun for them.  
  
The sun was starting to set already, casting beautiful orange colors on all the surroundings. It didn’t feel cold outside though, but even if it had been cold, the physical activity of playing basketball would have warmed them up anyway.  
  
They were all busy with an intense game when Dylan got the ball and went to score. He was just about to throw the ball into the net when he was distracted by a familiar laughter. Glancing to his left, he saw Melody and some of her girlfriends sitting on the bleachers, watching the game while doing homework. His and Melody’s eyes locked for a second when they both looked at each other at the same time, and the next thing Dylan knew, someone from the other team had come over and grabbed the ball from him before he could score.  
  
_“Dylan!”_ the coach roared when he saw what happened. “Focus, boy!”  
  
There was snickering among the students from the opposite team, while Dylan’s own team looked pretty annoyed that he had failed to score and had let the ball fall into their opponents’ hands.  
  
“Oh. Sorry…” Dylan blushed with shame for having lost focus like that.  
  
Benjamin came over to him while the others chased the ball. “You okay?”  
  
“Yeah. Just…” Dylan glanced briefly towards Melody on the bleachers before looking at his friend again. “It’s nothing. I’m good. Sorry about that.”  
  
Benjamin eyed him with worry before they both concentrated on the game again.  
  
Dylan saw Deaton and his friend snickering and eyeing him almost knowingly. Their staring felt uncomfortable, but Dylan ignored them and focused on the game again.  
  
For the rest of the game, Dylan tried not to pay attention to how Melody and her friends were looking at him. It was pretty distracting, but it wasn’t forbidden for other students to come and have a look while they practiced, as long as they didn’t interrupt. Dylan often noticed a few girls sitting on the bleachers in the afternoons, and sometimes he felt them staring at him. But it wasn’t half as distracting as when it was Melody who was staring at him.  
  
After the game was over, the coach told them all to take a ten-minute break before they would continue with a new game. They were practicing for three whole hours today to make up for practice having been cancelled last week due to the coach being sick.  
  
Some of the students went inside to use the bathroom or get some water, while the coach also headed inside.  
  
Dylan and Benjamin always had water bottles with them to their practice, so they headed over to the bleachers where their bottles were to drink some water.  
  
Melody put away her homework and came over to them when she saw they were taking a break.  
  
“Hey,” she said as she came over to Dylan and Benjamin. She smiled when Dylan lifted his gaze to look at her, and she began shifting shyly while ignoring her girlfriends’ giggling behind her. “Just wanted to say that I saw Claire around earlier. You’re not supposed to take her home or something and forgot about it, right…?”  
  
Dylan chuckled. “No. My mom will pick her up at around 5 and take her home. My practice doesn’t end until 6, so I’ll be taking the bus home.”  
  
“Oh.” Melody’s eyes lit up in understanding. “Good. Just wanted to make sure. I’d feel bad for her if you forgot her…”  
  
“It’s usually Derek who forgets her. It hasn’t happened to me yet,” Dylan chuckled, still holding his water bottle and was playing absently with the cap while talking to Melody.  
  
Melody chuckled softly at that. “Yeah, but there’s a first time for everything.”  
  
Dylan chuckled at it, while Benjamin was starting to feel a little awkward being the third wheel behind them.  
  
Suddenly, Deaton and his friend Jeff came over to them, and they didn’t look like they wanted to join the conversation in a friendly matter.  
  
“Oh, look, it’s the two freaks,” Deaton said, smirking as he came over to stand in front of them.  
  
Dylan looked up and his eyes narrowed as he scowled at the boys. He put away his bottle as he turned to face them.  
  
“Thanks for letting us have the ball earlier, Dylan,” Deaton said as he smirked at Dylan. “Maybe your little girlfriend should come around more often? She seems to be a good distraction for you, making you miss your score and everything…”  
  
“Or maybe he just scored _her,_ ” Jeff snickered in response to Deaton’s comment. “What a good match; two freaks to produce more little freaks… You were totally right when you said this world is getting more fucked up. I mean, look at them! You can’t even tell if they’re supposed to be angels or demons, or just natural freaks.”  
  
Their racist and provocative comments agitated Dylan so much that his feathers sharpened by themselves. “How about you just shut up and go back to your kindergartens?”  
  
Deaton and Jeff just laughed at him.  
  
“Why don’t you make us?” Deaton dared, taking a step closer to Dylan while glaring him directly into the eyes. “Or are you too afraid when your big brother isn’t around to protect you?” Deaton had become more daring and brave lately, and it wasn’t a change that Dylan liked about him.  
  
Deaton’s condescending voice made Dylan growl in anger and he took a threatening step forward.  
  
“Hey,” Melody said, trying to get between the boys to break up the tension. “Just go away, Deaton. No one wants to fight you, okay?”  
  
Deaton flinched back in disgust when Melody came closer to him. “Get away from me, freak! Don’t wanna catch any diseases from you. I wouldn’t want my wing to look ugly like yours.”  
  
Deaton’s comment made Melody flinch back with hurt, and both Deaton and Jeff started laughing when they saw her face.  
  
Something snapped inside Dylan then. Before he could think, he suddenly tackled Deaton so hard that the alpha angel fell to the ground with a loud thud. Dylan was on top of him right away, his wings spread out in anger and his feathers sharp like knives, and he didn’t think as he landed a hard punch right on Deaton’s jaw.  
  
It came to a shock to everyone when Dylan did that, and both Melody and Benjamin stared at the scene in complete disbelief.  
  
The attack also surprised Deaton, but just two seconds after he got punched, he let out a loud snarl and pushed Dylan off of him with force.  
  
Suddenly the two of them were wrestling around, growling and tearing at the other, and it soon attracted the attention of the other students.  
  
The entire basketball team came over to look as Dylan and Deaton fought each other with blind rage, and some of them began cheering and rooting for one of them.  
  
Several punches and kicks were delivered between them, but Dylan couldn’t manage to get a good hold of Deaton to put an end to the fight because the other alpha was putting up too much of a struggle.  
  
“Dylan!” Melody yelled with worry, trying to snap him out of it.  
  
Melody’s voice brought Dylan’s mind back to reality again. He suddenly become aware that what he was doing was an extremely bad idea, and he almost couldn’t recognize himself. He couldn’t believe that he had just punched Deaton like that. It wasn’t like him at all. But after having put up with Deaton’s comments and bullying for so long, he just couldn’t take it anymore. Something had just snapped inside of him when Deaton had hurt Melody like that, and all he could think of was to make him shut the hell up and never bother him or Melody again.  
  
Dylan managed to get to his feet and tried to pull away from the fight, but Deaton was so angry that he threw himself at Dylan right away instead of letting it be. Dylan pushed him back hard and blocked every punch and move Deaton made to knock him to the ground.  
  
“Stop it! I don’t wanna fight you,” Dylan yelled at Deaton, trying to calm him down. He held his hands up to show Deaton that he didn’t want to fight, and he lowered his wings with the hope that it would make Deaton back off and calm down.  
  
“ _You_ started it! And I’m not gonna stop until you’re out of my face, you freak!” Deaton roared back, fueled by anger and humiliation that he couldn’t win against Dylan in front of everyone.  
  
Frustrated and angry that he couldn’t gain the upper hand or land a punch on Dylan, Deaton grabbed a metal rod that had been lying between the basketball court and the bleachers. It had probably been blown onto the field with the storm they had had three days ago, because it didn’t look liked it belonged anywhere at the school.  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened when he realized that Deaton was going to beat him with that, and he instinctively moved his right arm up to block the attack that was aimed at his body. The next thing he felt was the metal rod colliding with his arm and the loud crack as the bone in his arm broke.  
  
Everyone let out a loud gasp when they saw what happened, and Dylan immediately fell to his knees as the pain in his arm seemed to paralyze him. He cried out at the agony and gritted his teeth as he tried to cope with the sharp, stinging pain that spread through his right arm.  
  
“Dylan!” Benjamin shouted and was at his side instantly.  
  
Melody also rushed over to him, while Deaton took a few steps back as he stared at the scene in front of him. Deaton blinked a few times before dropping the rod, letting it fall to the ground with a thud before he turned and ran out of there in a hurry. His friend Jeff stared at the scene in horror before running after Deaton, not wanting to get in trouble either.  
  
The whole team came over to see if Dylan was alright, but he almost couldn’t speak because the pain in his arm was so strong. He was in shock by what had happened, but then he suddenly heard the horrified scream of a familiar voice nearby.  
  
“Dylan!”  
  
Dylan looked up to see Claire come running over to him, crying and looking really scared. It took him a second to register that Claire must have come to the court to see him like she sometimes did when her classes were over and she knew Dylan was at basketball practice. Her after-school was in the building nearby the court, so it was easy for her to go look at Dylan practicing.  
  
Seeing the pure look of horror on his sister’s face and how hard she cried as she ran over to him made Dylan almost forget about the pain in his own arm and think only about his sister. It hurt so much to know that she had just seen that happen.  
  
Some of the other students went to get the coach, who immediately came over to check on Dylan.  
  
Benjamin tried to comfort Claire with the help of Melody, because it was clear that she was really shocked and upset by what had happened to her brother. Benjamin had known Claire for years, so she felt comfortable around him, and she let him pull her a bit away as the coach went to check on Dylan.  
  
Dylan wasn’t crying, but his face was pretty tight as he tried to hold back the pained grunts that wanted to escape his throat as the coach studied his broken arm. He knew it would only upset Claire further if she saw that he was in pain, so he kept quiet for her sake.  
  
The coach could easily see that the arm was broken, and he made a call to Noah so he could come pick up Dylan and take him to the hospital.  
  
Dylan felt kind of bad that his actions had caused Claire to get so upset, and that his Mom now had to leave work earlier to take him to the hospital.  
  
Benjamin helped him get to his feet again, and Dylan winced as the pain throbbed through his arm.  
  
“I’m so sorry,” Melody said after Dylan had gotten to his feet and was trying his best not to move his arm. Tears appeared in her eyes, and she was still in shock by what had happened. “If I hadn’t come over to you then Deaton wouldn’t have—”  
  
“Hey,” Dylan cut her off before she could say any more. “It’s not your fault,” he told her firmly. “I only blame Deaton for being such an insufferable dick. And myself for snapping like that… I don’t know what happened. I just lost it.” He glanced away, feeling the shame rise up inside him.  
  
“Are you kidding me?” said Benjamin, making both Dylan and Melody turn their heads to look at him. “I’m surprised you’ve never punched that guy before now. He’s been asking for it for _years._ Most alphas would have punched him or fought back a long time ago. I don’t get how you’ve put up with it for so long.”  
  
Dylan knew that Benjamin had a point, but it didn’t really make him feel much better. He still felt guilty and ashamed.  
  
Claire stayed close to Dylan until Noah arrived fifteen minutes later. She was still upset, but Dylan’s calmness reassured her a bit.  
  
Noah had been shocked to hear that Dylan had gotten into a fight and had broken his arm, but he didn’t comment on that when he arrived. He rushed over to Dylan and Claire, and sighed in relief when he saw Dylan looking like he was okay despite his broken limb.  
  
They left right after that, and Dylan managed to say a quick goodbye to Benjamin and Melody before his Mom drove him off to the hospital.

  
***

  
The hospital wasn’t too far away from the school, and Noah knew the way pretty well by now. They had all gotten quite familiar with it because of Derek’s many accidents, and they knew the way to the ER like the back of their own hands by now.  
  
As soon as they came to the hospital, Noah went to the ER’s reception to tell them what they were there about, and afterwards they all seated themselves in the ER’s waiting room.  
  
There were several other patients in the waiting room with them. Most of them had broken limbs, while others had cuts or bruises. Noah tried to shield Claire’s eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at a man sitting across from them with blood on his clothes.  
  
Dylan was trying to hold his arm as still as possible while they waited, but the throbbing pain made him grimace and wince every now and then. Claire was sitting on the seat to his left, and Noah was on her other side. Claire kept glancing at Dylan with worry and teary eyes, and it only made Dylan feel worse about what had happened.  
  
“Are you sure you can manage to wait?” Noah asked Dylan after they had waited for ten minutes. “You seem to be in pain…”  
  
“Yeah, but I’m good,” Dylan said, trying not to let his voice reveal how much it hurt. “It just hurts a bit.”  
  
“Why did that boy hit you like that?” Claire asked, sniffling as she wiped away another tear. She was a little traumatized by having seen her big brother get beaten up like that. It had been pretty violent and Dylan had gotten hurt.  
  
“’Cause he’s a bully,” Dylan murmured and stared into his lap.  
  
Claire didn’t say anything to that, but her face turned really sad as she looked at Dylan. Noah reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly to give her some comfort. He smiled when he sensed her relax a little bit.  
  
After a few moments of silence, Dylan spoke again. “I’m sorry, Mom…”  
  
A small frown wrinkled Noah’s forehead as he looked at him. “For what?”  
  
“For making you have to leave your work earlier to drive me here,” Dylan murmured as he continued to stare holes into his lap. “I don’t know what came over me. I just lost it when Deaton started saying those things… He’s been doing it for _so long_ and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I shouldn’t have started a fight with him, I’m sorry.”  
  
“We’ll talk about that later, okay?” Noah said in a soft, forgiving voice.  
  
Dylan nodded. He was glad that his mom didn’t sound very upset, but he still felt bad.  
  
They all looked up when someone suddenly came over to them.  
  
Neither of them was particularly surprised to see Kaylen standing in front of them, dressed in his green nurse uniform and smiling at them.  
  
“For a second I thought I read the name on the patient list wrong,” Kaylen said with a small chuckle in his voice. “It’s usually always Derek who comes in here with broken bones. Not sure if Dylan’s been here with any broken limbs before…”  
  
Noah chuckled as he rose from his chair, still holding Claire’s hand. “He hasn’t.”  
  
“I thought so,” Kaylen chuckled before looking at Dylan. “Follow me and I’ll make sure you get the best treatment this hospital has to offer.”  
  
Dylan laughed a bit when Kaylen gave him a wink before leading them out of the room.  
  
Kaylen led them to a nearby room where they could be alone and where Dylan’s arm could be examined. It didn’t take Kaylen long to diagnose it as broken, and one of his colleagues from the x-ray division came by to take a few x-rays of his arm to see how bad the fractures were.  
  
The x-ray revealed a bad fracture on the ulna bone, so he definitely needed to have an orthopedic cast on his arm for several weeks.  
  
Dylan was really annoyed by it, because it was on his right arm and he was right-handed. It meant he would have trouble doing everyday things for the next many weeks and would need help from others. It also meant he couldn’t go to basketball practice for a while.  
  
Although Claire was still upset and feeling really worried about Dylan, she thought it was interesting when her brother’s arm got x-rayed. She was really fascinated by the x-ray image of Dylan’s bones, and Kaylen’s witty nature quickly helped her cheer up more.  
  
It was Kaylen who put the cast on Dylan’s arm – with the assistance of another nurse – and he wasn’t surprised to see Dylan holding back his pain so that his sister wouldn’t get upset. He didn’t comment on it though, but instead tried to relax Dylan by asking him a few questions about how he was doing in school and about his basketball practice. It seemed to help Dylan focus on something else besides the pain.  
  
Claire watched the scene nervously, but also with fascination. She had never seen how a cast was put on broken limbs before, and she was surprised that it was so soft to begin with and then got harder as it stiffened.  
  
“I really hope I won’t see you around here anymore, though,” Kaylen told Dylan as he put on the last piece of the orthopedic cast. “I’ve seen enough of Derek around the ER, I don’t need to see you too. Seeing you at family visits is more than enough for me.”  
  
Dylan couldn’t help but laugh a bit at that. “I’ll try my best.”  
  
“You better. Or I’ll kick your ass myself.”  
  
They all laughed at that, and the other nurse (a female human with dark hair) looked almost a little shocked by Kaylen’s comment, even though she knew that they were Kaylen’s family.  
  
When the cast was done, Kaylen made Dylan sit up so he could check that everything was alright with the cast.  
  
“How’s it going with Jayden, by the way?” Kaylen asked Noah as he checked Dylan’s cast and arm. The other nurse had just left the room now that the casting was done and Kaylen didn’t need her help anymore.  
  
Noah was a little surprised by the sudden question. “It’s going well, I think. We haven’t seen him much because he’s so busy…”  
  
Claire’s wings drooped with sadness as she said, “Yeah, I miss Daddy…”  
  
“Oh…” Kaylen felt a little sorry for them when he noticed how affected they were by Jayden’s absence. “I can imagine he has a lot to see to now. I bet there’s a lot of new responsibilities he had to take care of as the new owner of a business.”  
  
“Yeah,” Noah confirmed. “I didn’t even call him to tell him about Dylan yet either… I’ll have to do that when we get home. If he even picks up the phone…”  
  
“I’m sure he will if he sees that it’s you calling him.”  
  
Noah couldn’t help but be unsure of that, even though he shouldn’t be. Jayden knew that Noah wouldn’t call and disturb unless it was important.  
  
The mention of his dad made Dylan swallow nervously. He knew Jayden would be disappointed that he had gotten into a fight like that, and he dreaded having to face him again. He wasn’t that worried about Derek, even though he knew his brother would start making comments about how he had some alpha in him after all. He could handle Derek, but his dad was a different matter.  
  
After Kaylen was done checking the cast and approved of its state, he gave Dylan a sling so he could rest his arm in it. Dylan was really starting to feel like a cripple now, but it made Claire giggle a little when she saw his annoyed face.  
  
“Oh, and if you’re lucky, you’ll run into Isaac on your way out,” Kaylen commented as they were about to part ways after the treatment was finished. “My car broke down, so he’s coming to pick me up. He should be here in ten minutes when my shift ends.”  
  
“Oh.” Noah was kind of surprised by that. “I guess we can stay a bit until he shows up. It’s been a while,” he smiled. He then suddenly remembered that Dylan might still be in pain, so he quickly turned to look at his son. “If that is okay with you? Are you in much pain?”  
  
“Nah, I’m good,” Dylan lied, because it did hurt a lot.  
  
Kaylen laughed when he sensed that Dylan wasn’t being entirely honest. “Here, I’ll give you some pills to help with the pain.” He went over to one of the cupboards in the medical room and found some painkillers for Dylan. He got him a glass of water as well and handed them to his nephew.  
  
“Thanks,” Dylan murmured, looking a little flustered about how Kaylen had seen right through him. He took the pill from Kaylen, put it in his mouth, and then grabbed the water with his left hand to help swallow the pill with.  
  
Afterwards, they went outside to wait in the corridor where Kaylen said that Isaac usually came to wait for him.  
  
Kaylen went to finish his paperwork before his shift was over, while the others waited on the benches in the corridor.  
  
Claire was still staying close to Dylan, as if afraid that he would suddenly get hurt again. She kept looking at his cast, both curiously and with worry. Dylan was pretty sure she was already wondering what she should draw on it and it made him chuckle.  
  
“Does Derek have practice tonight?” Dylan asked as they sat on the bench and waited.  
  
“Lacrosse, yes, but not his martial arts practice, so he should be home for dinner,” Noah replied.  
  
Dylan gave a short nod but didn’t say anything.  
  
“I wish that Derek was there today!” Claire suddenly blurted. “He would have taught that bully a lesson!”  
  
Dylan chortled at that. “Yeah, then it would have been Deaton and not me who ended up in the hospital.”  
  
“I’m not sure if that’s funny,” Noah said, but still laughed along with the kids.  
  
They were still chuckling about it when Noah looked up and spotted Isaac further down the corridor. His brother stopped the moment he saw him too, blinking his eyes in disbelief a few times before Noah got up and went over to him.  
  
“Holy shit! Do I need an eye doctor or is that Noah I see?” Isaac said, still not believing his own eyes.  
  
Noah laughed at his brother’s ridiculous comment. “No, it _is_ me.”  
  
A wide grin appeared on Isaac’s face then, and as soon as Isaac came over to them, he pulled Noah into a tight, breath-taking hug. “My baby bro! I’ve missed you!”  
  
Noah grunted as Isaac squeezed him tighter than necessary, and he sighed in relief when Isaac finally let go of him.  
  
“How are you?” Isaac grinned at him, until he spotted Claire and Dylan behind him. When he noticed the cast on Dylan’s arm, his eyes widened. “Oh, don’t tell me one of your kids broke a limb again! Damn! You guys really love coming here for Kaylen’s treatments, don’t you?”  
  
Noah rolled his eyes at that, while the kids laughed a bit.  
  
“That’s not really why we came here, though…” Dylan began, but Isaac interrupted him.  
  
“Nonsense! Of course you came to watch my sexy mate in his nurse uniform! Shame on you for your fetish, Dylan!”  
  
The way Dylan’s eyes widened was almost comical, and Isaac burst out laughing when he saw it.  
  
“I think it’s _your_ fetish, Isaac,” Noah muttered, not very impressed by how Isaac accused Dylan of such things, even though it was all just for fun. But something serious had happened and Isaac was making fun of it, as usual. Noah couldn’t help but be a little annoyed by that.  
  
Isaac just laughed even more at Noah’s words. “Yeah, you got me there.”  
  
Claire frowned at the unfamiliar word and stared between the adults in wonder. “What’s a fetish?”  
  
“Oh, you wanna know?” Isaac asked with a smug grin on his face. Before Noah could interrupt, he explained, “That’s when you find a particular thing, such as an object, body part, or maybe item of clothing _really_ sexy. Me? I enjoy looking at Kaylen in a nurse uniform, ‘cause it makes him sexy like _damn!_ Though I prefer the old-fashioned nurse uniforms over those green ones… Need to see more skin.”  
  
Noah half expected Claire to be horrified by Isaac’s rather graphic description, but instead she started laughing and giggling, but at the same time blushing a little.  
  
Dylan grimaced, because he really didn’t feel like he needed to know about his uncle’s fetishes, and Noah was also not impressed to know about it.  
  
None of them noticed Kaylen appearing behind them until they suddenly heard him speak.  
  
“Are you guys talking about me?”  
  
Everyone snapped their heads around to see Kaylen looking between them with his eyebrow raised skeptically.  
  
“Oh, there he is!” Isaac exclaimed as soon as he spotted Kaylen. He immediately came over to pull Kaylen close to him and placed his possessive hands on the submissive’s hips. “My sexy nurse,” he smirked with a wicked grin plastered on his face.  
  
Kaylen just chuckled and placed a finger on Isaac’s lips when the beta tried to lean in for a kiss. “Let’s keep it PG here, shall we? There are kids watching, and my boss can walk by at any moment.” He used force to press Isaac’s face away from him with the finger that was on his lips.  
  
Isaac let out a long, disappointed grunt. “Eh, you’re such a party pooper! Even Eliza is more graphic than you when she snogs her boyfriend in our presence.”  
  
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot she has a boyfriend now,” Dylan spoke when he overheard their conversation.  
  
Kaylen gently pried Isaac’s hands off his hips and turned to look at Dylan. “Yep, she does. Ronald is his name.” He glared at Isaac when his mate let out a loud giggle-snort next to him.  
  
“I still don’t know whether his parents named him after that Harry Potter character of after the McDonald’s clown,” Isaac snickered.  
  
Kaylen smacked Isaac on the arm and gave him a deadly glare. “Stop being such an ass! He’s a nice guy.”  
  
Claire found the two of them endless funny as usual and started laughing, and Dylan chuckled at them as well.  
  
Noah also found it pretty amusing, but he disapproved of Isaac making fun of Eliza’s boyfriend’s name like that. He really hoped he hadn’t said that to the guy’s face, and if he had, then Noah hoped Isaac had let him know that it was a joke. Otherwise it would have been very rude.  
  
“Anyway,” Isaac said, now turning his attention back to Noah. “You guys seriously need to come over to visit us soon! I almost feel like I don’t have a little brother anymore! And you better bring that eye candy of your mate with you!”  
  
A flustered blush appeared on Noah’s cheek as Isaac referred to Jayden as ‘eye candy’, though he really should be used to that by now. “Yeah, yeah, we will. I’ve thought about it as well…”  
  
“Thinking isn’t enough! You gotta _do!_ ”  
  
“Yeah, that’s what I tell you every night,” Kaylen murmured dryly behind Isaac.  
  
It didn’t take Isaac long to register that Kaylen had just cracked a sexual joke. He burst out laughing before turning to look at him. “What? Don’t I _‘do’_ enough for you?”  
  
Kaylen smirked as he reached out and let the tip of his index finger slide up Isaac’s chin in a fast, teasing movement. “What did I say about keeping it PG here?”  
  
“Hey, _you_ started it!”  
  
“Did not.”  
  
“Did so!”  
  
Once again, Claire and Dylan started giggling and chuckling at their childish behavior.  
  
“Anyway,” Kaylen said, cutting off Isaac before his mate could continue the childish behavior. “You guys should probably head home so Dylan can get some rest… It takes a little while for the painkillers to work.”  
  
“Yeah, I can feel that…” Dylan murmured.  
  
Isaac laughed at that until Noah came over to part ways with them.  
  
“Thank you so much, Kaylen,” Noah told him as he pulled him into a grateful hug.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Kaylen smiled, hugging him back. “I’ll send you the bill later.”  
  
They all laughed at that.  
  
“Thank god there’s public health care, so Noah won’t have to worry about it!” Isaac laughed.  
  
“Yes… Otherwise we would be broke already,” Noah sighed, thinking back to all the times that they had brought the kids to the hospital for various injuries and illnesses.  
  
Kaylen chuckled at that and watched as Isaac and Noah hugged next. He felt a little sorry for Noah when Isaac ruffled his hair pretty harshly after they pulled away from the hug, and how the kids laughed at him for it.  
  
“And don’t break any more limbs!” Isaac told Dylan when they parted ways. “Or I’ll have to start getting jealous of all the attention you get from my mate. It’s already bad enough with Derek, I don’t need you as a competitor as well!”  
  
Dylan knew that Isaac was just fooling around, but it still made him blush and feel a little awkward, even though he laughed about it.  
  
Kaylen rolled his eyes at Isaac’s comment, and Noah chuckled as he saw it.  
  
Claire went forward to hug Kaylen and Isaac goodbye, and she laughed and shrieked when Isaac tried to tickle her tummy.  
  
They waved at each other as they went their separate ways in the corridors, as their cars were parked in different parking lots.  
  
When they reached their car, Noah helped Dylan into the passenger seat and helped him buckle his seatbelt. It was difficult for him to do it when his arm was broken and in a cast, and the sling didn’t make it easier.  
  
Claire got into the backseat, looking worried as she watched her mom help Dylan out. Every time Dylan let out even the smallest noise of pain, Claire started feeling really bad and worried. She was still very shocked by what had happened today, and Noah knew he had to talk to her about it later so she wouldn’t be too traumatized by the events today.

  
***

  
It was around 6:40pm when they came home.  
  
Dylan immediately noticed Derek’s shoes in the entrance hall and knew his brother was home already. He wasn’t particularly eager to see him though, knowing that Derek would make some sort of comment about his broken arm, and Dylan really wasn’t in the mood for that.  
  
Noah went to help Dylan take off his shoes, but then Dylan groaned and tried to pull away from him.  
  
“Mom, I’m not a baby,” Dylan complained, feeling a little uncomfortable having his Mom help him with that.  
  
Noah gave him a look of surprise. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to help.”  
  
Now Dylan felt kind of bad about it. “I know, I just… I’m 14.”  
  
“I’m aware of that, but you just broke your arm pretty bad,” Noah pointed out. “You’re not turning into Derek now, are you…? Being too proud to accept some common help…”  
  
Dylan’s mouth closed. He blinked at his mom when he realized that he had a point. And Dylan did definitely _not_ want to be as macho and proud as Derek was.  
  
After a few seconds, Dylan let out a sigh of defeat. “Okay… Please help me out of my shoes, Mom… It kinda hurts when I try to bend forwards.”  
  
Noah just smiled at him before bending down to help take off Dylan’s shoes for him.  
  
Claire giggled at them as she took off her own shoes. She thought it was a little strange to see her brother getting help taking off his shoes, but it also worried her a little.  
  
When Dylan was out of his shoes and jacket, they heard the door to Derek’s room open upstairs. Seconds later, they heard him walk down the stairs to greet them.  
  
“Derek!” Claire chirped and smiled at him when she spotted him.  
  
“Hey,” Derek smiled back at her. He reached the last step on the stairs when he suddenly stopped abruptly. He stared at Dylan’s arm in surprise and blinked a few times. “Whoa, what happened to you?”  
  
There was a hint of concern in Derek’s voice, and that made Dylan feel a little relieved. He sighed before turning to face his older brother. “Nothing, just… I got into a fight,” he muttered, staring at the ground.  
  
Derek was genuinely surprised by that and he even looked a little skeptical. “ _You_ got into a fight?”  
  
“Yeah,” Dylan muttered, lifting his gaze to scowl a bit at Derek. “I got into a fight with Deaton ‘cause he’s a fucking asshole and has been getting on my nerves for _years._ And then the guy hit me with a piece of metal…”  
  
“Deaton?” Derek repeated, looking even more surprised. “You mean that boy who harassed you at the mall once and who ran away like a chicken when I showed up?”  
  
“Well, he wasn’t being a chicken today,” Dylan argued, growling at Derek in annoyance. He couldn’t help but feel like Derek was making fun of him.  
  
Noah got between them when he sensed the tension forming. Mostly it was Dylan who was getting agitated, while Derek looked pretty relaxed, although a bit shocked to see his little brother coming home like that.  
  
“Please don’t start fighting,” Noah said, holding up his hands towards them and looking between them. “I think Claire has seen enough of that today.”  
  
Derek didn’t understand what his mom meant until he glanced at Claire and saw her looking really skittish all of sudden. He then realized that Claire must have witnessed what had happened. It made him feel a sudden surge of anger inside. Not just that Claire had had to witness such a horrible thing, but also that some stupid bully had gone so far that he had actually broken Dylan’s arm.  
  
“Next time I see that little piece of shit, I’ll kick his fucking ass,” Derek growled behind his gritted teeth.  
  
Derek’s anger came as a surprise to Dylan, who had not really expected to get that reaction from him.  
  
“Yeah, kick his butt! He’s mean!” Claire agreed, wiping away the new tears that had formed in her eyes.  
  
Noah was also a little taken aback by Derek’s reaction, but on the other hand he wasn’t all too surprised. “Please don’t start any more fights with anyone, either of you.” He looked at his sons with a firm but worried stare. “I’m tired of having to take you both to the hospital all the time.”  
  
“Right. Sorry…” Derek muttered, looking away as if in shame. Dylan did the same.  
  
Noah was pleased that neither of them argued any further about it.  
  
“Derek, can you go to the kitchen and heat up the food that’s in the fridge? It’s the lasagna leftover from yesterday. Just put it in the oven for a few minutes until it’s warm,” Noah asked. “I’ll go call your father in the meantime.”  
  
Derek always hated being asked to do chores, but he still gave a brief nod before heading to the kitchen. Claire and Dylan followed him, while Noah went to the living room to call Jayden.  
  
Noah paced the living room a few times as he stared at his phone. The kids were all in the kitchen now, so he had the room to himself. Fuzzles was in the cat tree, but the cat didn’t bother him as he was about to make a call.  
  
He didn’t like having to call Jayden when he knew his mate was busy. Some part of him was also scared that Jayden wouldn’t answer the phone at all, or maybe be snappy with him because he was too stressed to be able to deal with Noah suddenly calling him.  
  
It took Noah a few moments before he finally pressed ‘Call’ on his phone next to Jayden’s name, and brought the phone up to his ear while he waited for his mate to pick up.  
  
The phone dialed several times, and Noah was just about to give up when Jayden finally picked up.  
  
_“Hey, precious. What’s up?”_ Jayden said in the other end of the phone.  
  
Noah chuckled at the nickname and felt relieved when it sounded like Jayden was smiling while he said it. “Hi. I, um… I just wanted to tell you that I just came back from the hospital with Dylan…”  
  
_“What?! What happened?”_  
  
“It’s probably best if he tells you the details himself when you’re home at some point… But he got into a fight with that boy Deaton from his school, and Deaton hit him with a metal rod… His arm is broken pretty bad.”  
  
_“Oh my god.”_ Jayden sounded really shocked by that. _“Is he okay?”_  
  
“Yeah, I think so. He’s acting a little tough about it, just like Derek usually is,” Noah chuckled.  
  
Jayden laughed a bit in the other end. _“Can’t be as bad as Derek though, right?”_  
  
“No, it isn’t, but still…” There was a moment of silence before Noah continued. “Anyways, I just wanted to let you know. I understand if you won’t be home until pretty late tonight, but you should know that Dylan probably really needs to talk to you about it… He hasn’t said so, but I can feel it. I think he’s very upset that he got into that fight, and I think he needs to talk to his father about it…”  
  
There was a deep sigh in the other end of the phone, and Noah’s heart sank when he was almost certain that Jayden was about to tell him that he didn’t have time for that today.  
  
_“Well,”_ Jayden began, _“I guess I can leave a bit earlier today… I’m too tired to stay here for much longer anyway. If I’m lucky I can leave at 8:30, if not then it won’t be until around 10. But let’s hope it’s 8:30. I really need a break from this stupid administrative and financial stuff; it’s killing me, but the damn accountants are on my ass all the time.”_  
  
Noah smiled widely, even though he knew Jayden couldn’t see it. He was almost ready to jump around from sheer relief and happiness. “Alright. I really hope so. We miss you.”  
  
_“And I miss you guys too,”_ Jayden grinned. _“I’ll see you later, okay? Love you.”_  
  
“I love you too,” Noah smiled before hanging up.  
  
Noah was still smiling after he hung up. He really needed Jayden to be home for just one night. They all needed that.  
  
He quickly turned to head to the kitchen to tell the kids that their Dad would be home earlier tonight. He knew they were all going to be thrilled about it, especially Claire.

  
***

  
The news of Jayden coming home a little earlier tonight made them all in a good mood as they sat down to have dinner together.  
  
Dylan found it pretty challenging to use the fork and knife to eat his food with. He gave up on using the knife and simply used the fork to cut the lasagna into pieces, but even that was a little challenging when he wasn’t that used to using his left hand. He tried to ignore how Derek seemed to find his struggle kind of amusing.  
  
Afterwards, Noah sat down with Claire to have a talk with her. He knew she was still kind of traumatized after having seen Dylan get his arm broken by that bully, so he sat down with her in her room and talked to her about it. He let her cry and explain things from her point of view, hoping it would help her cope with what had happened. He also explained to her that what Dylan had done when he had thrown the first punch wasn’t because he was turning into a bad guy, but because he simply couldn’t handle Deaton’s bullying anymore. Claire seemed to understand that very well, and she appeared to be doing better after their little talk.  
  
When Jayden texted Noah at around 8:15 to tell him that he was leaving work now, Noah let Claire stay up past her usual bedtime tonight so that she could be there when her Dad showed up. She was really thrilled about that, and she sat down on the couch downstairs to watch TV in her pajamas while waiting for her Dad to come home.  
  
When Claire ran downstairs to watch TV, Noah slowly headed over to Dylan’s room. He knew his son was in there, because he had heard him enter his room earlier.  
  
Noah knocked carefully on the door before entering.  
  
Inside the room, Dylan was struggling to take off his shirt. It was really difficult, because he had to unzip his shirt under his wings, but he couldn’t do that so easily with just one hand. The zipper under his right wing easily jammed when he used his left hand to try to open it with, because the angle he was doing it from was not ideal.  
  
“Do you need some help?” Noah asked when he saw how Dylan was struggling with it.  
  
Dylan’s wings drooped in defeat, and he looked almost pathetic as he turned his head to look at Noah. “Yes, please…”  
  
Noah gave him a sympathetic smile before coming over to help. He unzipped the shirt for him and helped him out of it. Afterwards, he helped his son put on his pajamas shirt so that he was all set to go to bed later.  
  
“Thanks,” Dylan murmured, and couldn’t help but feel helpless like a baby. He didn’t like that feeling at all, but he couldn’t move or use his arm, so putting on or taking off a shirt was a real challenge.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Noah smiled. “How are you feeling?”  
  
“A little better,” Dylan sighed. “My arm still hurts, but the painkillers help.”  
  
“I know. But it’ll get better…”  
  
“Yeah… But it really fucking sucks. How the hell am I gonna get dressed when I’m like this?”  
  
“I’m afraid you’ll just have to have some assistance…”  
  
Dylan groaned at that. Being 14 and having to have someone help you get dressed was really not cool.  
  
Noah felt sorry for his son, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.  
  
“Your father will be home soon,” Noah kindly reminded Dylan as he turned to leave. “I’ll go make some coffee for him. See you downstairs soon.”  
  
“Um, Mom?” Dylan said hesitantly before Noah had reached the door.  
  
Noah turned to look at him, blinking in surprise. “Yes?”  
  
Dylan shifted sheepishly and stared at his feet. “Can I… Can I ask you something?”  
  
“Of course. Anything.”  
  
Dylan still looked really nervous as he shifted on his feet, and he kept glancing between Noah and the floor. “I, um… How do you know when you’re, um… well, in love with someone?”  
  
The question came as a surprise to Noah. He blinked at Dylan a few times before putting on a soft smile. “Is this about Melody?”  
  
Dylan’s face was all red now. “No! I… I mean yes…” He stared at the floor again, trying to cope with how embarrassed he was and how warm his cheeks felt.  
  
Noah chuckled softly before walking a little closer to him. “Well… It’s something you feel everywhere in your body, but mostly here.” He placed a hand over his own chest to show Dylan. “When this person is near you, your heart starts beating faster, your palms might feel a little sweaty, and you won’t be able to stop looking at them. You think about them all the time and when you do, you’ll feel a very relaxing and soothing sensation in your body, or maybe even like there’s a million butterflies inside of you. But most of all, you want to be around this person all time and it’s all you can think of.”  
  
Dylan listened to his mom’s words and nodded slightly in understanding. His blush grew deeper. “Um, okay. Thanks, Mom. And please don’t tell the others that I asked! Not even Dad.”  
  
Noah chuckled softly at that. “If you don’t want me to, then I won’t.”  
  
Dylan nodded gratefully and felt even more embarrassed now.  
  
Although Dylan was clearly embarrassed about it, Noah was pretty proud of him that he had opened up and asked him such an intimate question. He knew from experience how difficult it was to talk about such things, especially at that age, but Dylan had always been more comfortable showing feelings that Derek had.  
  
“Will you tell Melody how you feel?” Noah asked him softly, hoping he wasn’t prying too much.  
  
Dylan’s face grew even redder, if that was even possible. “What? I… No. I mean, I don’t know… I think I really like her, and sometimes I have the feeling she might like me too, but… I’m not sure if I’m ready for anything more than friendship right now. I like the way things are between us at the moment…”  
  
Noah nodded in understanding. “Well, if you don’t feel entirely ready yet, then you should wait.”  
  
Dylan cringed. “But what if she starts liking someone else?”  
  
“I don’t know… But you can always start by telling her that you like her and then take it from there. It doesn’t have to be a romantic declaration, it can just be a friendly one,” Noah said. “And if she _does_ feel the same way about you, then she won’t start liking someone else.”  
  
Again, Dylan nodded, taking in his mom’s advice. “Alright… Thanks, Mom.”  
  
Noah smiled. “You’re welcome.”  
  
“And…” Dylan added before Noah could turn to leave. “Is it just me, or does Derek have a crush on someone…?”  
  
Noah’s eyes widened in surprise.  
  
Dylan continued. “I mean, sometimes when he comes home, he’s smiling for no reason at all. When I ask him why he’s smiling he suddenly gets all defensive about it. And I’ve caught him smiling at random moments like when we’re having dinner or when we’re leaving in the mornings, and it looks like he’s daydreaming about something. Or someone…”  
  
Noah suddenly remembered when Nathan had joked about Derek having a crush and Derek’s very defensive reaction to it. Dylan was right that it did seem like something was going on with Derek. He wasn’t sure what else could explain those random smiles and good mood except for Derek having a crush on someone. Noah was almost certain that this someone had to be Milan.  
  
“I’m not sure,” Noah finally said, smiling a little. “Derek hasn’t talked about it, and I kind of doubt that he will when asked. You know how he is…”  
  
Dylan snorted loudly. “Yeah, that macho king…”  
  
Noah chuckled briefly at that. “But I think we all have a pretty good theory of who it could be that Derek has such feelings for.”  
  
“Milan? Probably… He was pretty nice. Wonder what he would see in Derek, though.”  
  
Noah shrugged lightly. “Well, sometimes opposites attract. And a lot of submissives are attracted to dominant alphas.”  
  
“Even macho ones?”  
  
Noah laughed at that. “I guess so.”  
  
They chuckled a bit about it until Dylan spoke again. “Um, well… Thanks, Mom. For listening and for the talk.” He tried not to blush, but it was hard not to.  
  
“Any time,” Noah smiled at him before turning to leave.  
  
This time, Dylan let him leave and sighed as he sat down on his bed afterwards. So many thoughts were swirling around inside his head right now, and a lot of them were about Melody. He really regretted having gotten violent in front of her, and he hoped she wouldn’t think anything bad of him.  
  
Just as Dylan was thinking that, his phone started buzzing on his desk, followed by a _‘pling’_ noise that indicated that he had just received a text message. Dylan immediately got up and went over to see who it was from. He felt both happy and nervous that it was from Melody.  
  
He brought his phone with him over to the bed and sat down to read Melody’s message.  
  
**_Melody_** _: Hey Dylan, how are you doing? Please let me know if you’re OK. Melody._  
  
Dylan fumbled to write a message with his left hand only, which turned out to be more difficult than he thought, because it felt a bit like he was doing things reverse.  
  
**_Dylan_** _: Hey I’m OK. Arm is broken but I’m good. Sorry about today_  
  
A couple of minutes later, a reply ticked in from Melody.  
  
**_Melody_** _: Its alright its me who should apologize. Deaton has been coming after me a lot lately and I should have stayed away from you when he was near :(_  
  
Dylan frowned. Melody hadn’t told him that she had been bothered so much by Deaton lately. It came as a surprise to him.  
  
**_Dylan_** _: No it isn’t your fault it’s only Deaton’s for being such a jerk. It was him who hit me not you_  
  
**_Melody_** _: I know, you’re right…. glad you’re OK. Hope to see you at school tomorrow or maybe I will come visit you to make sure you’re really OK :) :)_  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened at that last comment. His heart jumped at the thought of Melody coming by his house just to see if he was okay, but he knew deep down that she was probably just joking. Still, he kind of hoped she would.  
  
He quickly texted back to her that he would try to be at school tomorrow and that they would see each other then.  
  
Hopefully he would get the chance to talk to her face-to-face and reassure her that it wasn’t her fault.  
  
Just after he had sent the last text message to Melody, Dylan heard the faint noise of the front door opening, followed by Claire’s loud chirping as she went to greet Jayden, who had just come home.  
  
Dylan left his phone in his room and headed downstairs to greet his dad. He was so glad that his dad was home a lot earlier for once and not after everyone had gone to bed.  
  
Derek also emerged from his room to go greet their dad, and together the two of them headed downstairs. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw Claire hugging their dad tightly and grinning up at him with happiness.  
  
“So glad you’re home, Daddy!” Claire grinned.  
  
“And I’m glad to be home too, little princess,” Jayden grinned as he hugged her back. “Did you behave at school?”  
  
Claire stepped back from their hug and smiled as he nodded at his question. “Of course I did!”  
  
Jayden chuckled and fondly patted her on the head.  
  
Noah was standing next to them, smiling as he watched the interaction between Claire and Jayden. When Jayden turned to him next, they shared a quick hug and a kiss before Jayden glanced over at the boys.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden smiled, looking between Derek and Dylan. His eyes landed on the cast on Dylan’s arm and his expression grew a bit more serious then. “How’s the arm? I heard you got into some trouble today.”  
  
It was almost like Dylan was trying to step a little behind Derek to hide.  
  
“I’m okay. It doesn’t hurt much anymore,” Dylan replied, having trouble meeting his father’s eyes. He was still pretty ashamed to have gotten into a fight, and he was afraid of what his dad thought of him.  
  
Derek glanced at Dylan, huffing slightly at how his brother was trying to hide right now.  
  
“It was a bad fracture, but it will heal in about six weeks,” Noah said when he sensed that Dylan wasn’t going to say anything more.  
  
“Yeah, Auntie Kaylen gave him a nice cast,” Claire added. “I really wanna draw on it!”  
  
They all laughed a bit at that.  
  
“I’m sure Dylan will let you draw anything you want on it tomorrow,” Jayden laughed.  
  
Claire’s eyes widened in excitement. “Even unicorns?”  
  
“Even unicorns,” Jayden laughed.  
  
“But please draw other things than just unicorns…” Dylan muttered, cringing a bit at the thought of having hundreds of unicorns drawn on his cast.  
  
Derek laughed out loud next to him. “What? And you call _me_ macho?”  
  
“Well, if it were _you,_ you wouldn’t allow her to draw even a _single_ unicorn on your cast, so don’t say _I’m_ macho,” Dylan snapped lightly at him.  
  
Claire laughed at that, knowing that Dylan was totally right.  
  
Noah and Jayden chuckled about it as well until Jayden changed the topics.  
  
“Did you guys have dessert yet?” Jayden asked, looking between them all.  
  
“No…” Derek said slowly, frowning.  
  
Claire’s eyes widened and she held her breath with the hope that her dad meant that he was going to make them some dessert.  
  
Jayden smirked as he picked up a small plastic bag from the floor, which he had had with him home from work. He reached into it and pulled out a big box of ice cream. “Then I’m sure you guys don’t mind eating this?”  
  
Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise, having not expected Jayden to have brought home some dessert for them.  
  
“Yay! Ice cream!” Claire cheered loudly, bursting with joy.  
  
Noah frowned a bit at the ice cream. “Is that something you sell at the restaurant?”  
  
“Not exactly,” Jayden chuckled. “We don’t sell boxes with ice cream; we use the ice cream from the boxes as part of a dessert and serve it on a nice plate. But the box _is_ from work; it’s from our main supplier of ice cream, and I grabbed one from the freezer before I left work.”  
  
“Is that allowed?” Dylan gasped.  
  
Jayden shrugged. “I’m the boss now, so I can do what I want.”  
  
Claire was cheering even more about it now, and the others looked pretty happy about it as well.  
  
Noah couldn’t help but feel like Jayden was kind of smug about the ice cream, and he rolled his eyes at it with fondness.  
  
“Let’s eat in about ten minutes, okay?” Jayden said and handed the ice cream box to Noah. He then turned to look at Dylan, and smiled a bit as he gestured towards the stairs with his head. “Wanna head upstairs for a bit before we eat?”  
  
Dylan swallowed nervously before nodding a bit.  
  
Noah watched as Jayden and Dylan headed upstairs to Dylan’s room together. He knew that Dylan really needed to talk to his dad about what had happened today, and he knew Jayden wouldn’t be too rough on him, as it wasn’t entirely Dylan’s fault what had happened.  
  
Dylan followed after his dad as he went up the stairs and over to his room. Once they were inside, Jayden turned around to look at him.  
  
“So, what happened today?” Jayden asked. He didn’t sound angry or demanding, but rather curious and a little concerned. “It’s not like you to get into physical fights like that.”  
  
Dylan glanced away. “It was that stupid boy Deaton and his friend Jeff,” he muttered. “They came over when I was talking to Melody and started calling us freaks. They were being assholes, like always, and then when Deaton called Melody’s wing ugly, I… I don’t know. I just snapped. He’s been harassing us both for _so long_ and he just won’t stop. And when he hurt her like that, I just… I got so _angry._ ”  
  
Jayden crossed his arms as he listened to Dylan’s story, nodding quietly in understanding at what he said.  
  
Dylan went on, and his fist clenched as he felt the anger rise inside him as he talked about the things that Deaton had done. “I just kind of lost it, and the next thing I know, I was on top of him and punching him. I know I shouldn’t have done that, but I was so angry! I’m so tired of putting up with him!”  
  
“Yeah, I understand that…” Jayden said.  
  
“I tried to pull out of the fight, but Deaton kept coming at me. He was pretty angry at me, and then he suddenly picked up that metal thing to hit me with. I thought he was going to hit my body with it, so I moved up my arm before I could think, and then my arm broke when he hit me,” Dylan explained. He stared at the floor and swallowed in shame. “It was still me who started the fight, though… I’m really sorry about that, Dad…”  
  
“Hey,” Jayden spoke, making Dylan lift his gaze to look at him. “I’m not really mad at you, okay? I think anyone would have snapped in a situation like that. I know this Deaton boy has gotten on your nerves for a long time, and the way he’s been harassing you and Melody is really not acceptable. I don’t blame you for snapping when it all just became too much for you to handle. _But,_ ” he added with a more serious tone, which made Dylan swallow nervously. “Just don’t let that become an excuse for starting fights in the future, okay? I know you didn’t start the fight today because you wanted to, but try not to go around punching everyone who provokes you, yeah? Keep your self-control.”  
  
Dylan nodded quietly. “Yeah, I know... I’m not like Derek.”  
  
“Well, Derek is short-tempered and thus has a little trouble with self-control. And he tends to take everything personally, so he kinda snaps when someone provokes him. I know you’re a lot better at keeping your cool, but I also know that sometimes that can be very difficult, especially when you’re dealing with a bully,” Jayden spoke. “There are always going to be assholes like that around; it can’t be avoided. And unfortunately, we alphas are pretty prone to react physically when we’re angry at someone.” He chuckled a bit about that, and it made Dylan’s lip curl into a small smile as well.  
  
“Yeah, I know… I’ll try not to do that again.”  
  
Jayden smiled as he reached out to pat Dylan’s left shoulder proudly. “Good. And a good advice is to just shove the person instead of punching them; that’s what I usually do when I feel that irresistible urge to punch someone who’s being an asshole, and shoving them can feel just as satisfying as punching someone. It lets the other person know that you’re not putting up with their bullshit, and it doesn’t get you into the same kind of trouble as punching does. _But,_ you should still avoid getting physical if you can.”  
  
Dylan nodded, grateful for his Dad’s advice. “Yeah. Thanks, Dad,” he smiled.  
  
Jayden smiled and let his hand drop from Dylan’s shoulder. “And I expect that the headmaster will want to talk to us about what happened today?”  
  
Dylan nodded slightly. “Yeah, the coach told Mom that you guys should go talk to the headmaster after going to the hospital. But it was pretty late when we came back home, so it will have to wait until tomorrow…”  
  
“Alright. I’ll try to come to your school to speak to your headmaster about it. He seems like a reasonable man, so he’ll understand why you snapped when Deaton harassed you and Melody like that.”  
  
Dylan knew his dad was right about that, but he still couldn’t help but feel nervous about it. He didn’t like getting into trouble.  
  
“And how is Melody doing, by the way?” Jayden suddenly asked.  
  
“Uh, she’s okay, I think. I just… I feel ashamed that she had to see me start a fight like that…” Dylan stared at the floor again, which made Jayden chuckle a bit.  
  
“Yeah, I know the feeling, but I’m sure she’ll understand. It’s not how you usually are, after all, and she knows that, right?”  
  
Dylan nodded quietly.  
  
Jayden still sensed that it was bothering Dylan a little, so he chuckled and reached out to gently ruffle his hair a bit. “Don’t worry about it, it’ll be fine. And so will your arm at some point.”  
  
“Yeah, but I can’t even get myself dressed when my arm is like this,” Dylan groaned. “Mom had to help me change my shirt… That was so embarrassing.”  
  
Jayden laughed at that. “I know. I broke my arm, shoulder, and a lot of my ribs when I was 11, and my mom had to help me get dressed as well. I also thought that was embarrassing as hell, but it couldn’t be helped. And you know what? There’s no shame in it except for the shame that you feel yourself. So stop worrying about it.”  
  
“Yeah… But it’s still annoying,” Dylan murmured.  
  
Jayden let out a small chuckle at that before saying, “Come on, let’s head back downstairs to the others. I bet they wanna eat the ice cream already, unless they’ve already started on it.”  
  
A nervous look appeared on Dylan’s face. “I hope not.”  
  
Again, Jayden chuckled, and together they turned to leave the room.  
  
“And tomorrow I’m gonna have a serious talk with your headmaster about Deaton,” Jayden spoke as they headed towards the stairs together. “He’s gonna wish he hadn’t messed with you and Melody in the first place.” There was a small growl in his voice as he spoke.  
  
Dylan was feeling a little better now, and he was glad that his dad was going to do something about Deaton. It would be nice if he and Melody could go to school without having to worry about that boy anymore.  
  
When they came downstairs, Noah had already put dessert plates on the table. Claire was looking really impatient about having ice cream already, while Derek stood a bit in the background with his hands buried casually in his pockets. They all looked up when Jayden and Dylan entered the kitchen.  
  
“Hey, guys,” Jayden smiled at them. “Ready for some ice cream?”  
  
“Yeah! We’re just waiting for _you!_ ” Claire said, sounding like she was pretty fed up with waiting already.  
  
Jayden laughed softly that. “Sorry, sweetie. Had to talk to Dylan about something.”  
  
“You didn’t scold him, did you, Daddy?” Claire asked carefully, glancing between her Dad and Dylan with worry. “It wasn’t his fault what happened…”  
  
“I know. I didn’t scold him. We just talked.”  
  
Claire looked very relieved about that.  
  
Noah took out the ice cream from the freezer, which he had placed in there earlier so it wouldn’t melt, and they all seated themselves at the table to eat.  
  
They didn’t get ice cream that often, so everyone was happy to eat it for once. Even Derek looked pretty pleased about it.  
  
Once again, Dylan had some trouble putting food onto his plate and scooping ice cream with just one hand, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Derek.  
  
“Don’t worry; it gets easier after a few days,” Derek told him.  
  
“It doesn’t really feel that way right now… But of course _you_ would know,” Dylan murmured, remembering that Derek had broken his right arm too once when he was a kid.  
  
Claire’s eyes widened as she ate. “Derek once broke his arm too?”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at that. “Yeah, he did. When he was like seven, I think? He’s broken a lot of bones, and it was always your poor mom who had to be around to deal with it.” He glanced at Noah with a small chuckle.  
  
Noah scowled at Jayden for mentioning it. Jayden knew very well that Noah hated dealing with broken limbs and blood, which was why he was annoyed that it was always him who had to drive the kids to the ER. Most of the times it had happened while Jayden was at work, although Noah had been a lucky a few times that Derek had gotten hurt while Jayden was around to deal with it instead of him.  
  
Derek snorted softly. “Well, it’s not like I did it on purpose…”  
  
Jayden huffed. “No, you’re just incredibly reckless.”  
  
Derek scowled a bit at his dad for saying that, while Claire giggled at them.  
  
They continued eating the ice cream and there was a good mood at the table. Everyone was glad that Jayden was with them, and Jayden was also very happy to be with his family again and not stuck at work. There was just so much to do right now after having taken over the business; he had to take care of administrational and financial things, which he didn’t have much experience with, and there were so many other things he had to get an overview of to make sure the business could keep running. If he screwed up, it could mean that the employees lost their jobs, so a lot was at stake. His old boss helped him the best he could, but because of his condition he could only help him out a few hours a week when he had the strength for it.

  
***

  
Right after dessert, Jayden went upstairs to tuck Claire in. She didn’t really need to be tucked in anymore, but he wanted he spend a little time with her before she fell asleep. It was already way past her bedtime, so she would likely have some trouble getting up the next morning, but it was worth it when it meant she got to be with her Dad for a bit.  
  
Dylan went to bed as well, knowing he might have some trouble falling asleep when he could barely move because of the cast on his arm, and Derek also went to his room after saying good night to everyone.  
  
Noah let Jayden and Claire have some alone time and instead went to the master bedroom to get dressed for bed. It was already 9:20pm and Noah felt sleepy. He took off his clothes and pulled on a nightgown before lying down to rest. He stayed awake though, waiting for Jayden to come to bed.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Jayden finally entered the room and went to take off his clothes. The lamp on Noah’s nightstand was the only light in the room, but it was enough for Jayden to see what he was doing as he pulled off his clothes and went to sit on the bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed with a deep, exhausted sigh, and rubbed his face with his hands.  
  
It was easy to see that Jayden was feeling a little stressed, and Noah could understand that very well. He knew Jayden didn’t get much sleep at night because he was working for many hours a day, and the whole thing with Dylan today must have worried Jayden as well.  
  
Noah slowly sat up and crawled over to Jayden. He stopped behind him and sat on his bent knees as he reached up to place his hands gently on Jayden’s shoulders. He felt the alpha tense a first until his muscles finally relaxed. Jayden’s muscled, red wings spread out and lowered in relaxation as Noah started rubbing his shoulders. The rubbing turned into massage, and Noah tried to use as much strength as he could to loosen up Jayden’s tense shoulder muscles more.  
  
Jayden let out a soft sigh and drooped his shoulders as he tried to relax, allowing Noah to massage him better. “Mmhm. Feels nice when you do that.”  
  
Noah smiled and kept massaging and rubbing Jayden’s shoulders and his neck. “I’m glad. It’s been a little while since I’ve done this and it feels like you need it. Sorry that my hands are not strong enough to do it properly…”  
  
“No, it’s fine. It feels nice,” Jayden smiled, closing his eyes as he let himself enjoy Noah’s massage.  
  
Noah chuckled softly when Jayden started purring a bit, and he slowly leaned in to place a soft, loving kiss on the alpha’s shoulder. Jayden hummed at that, definitely approving of the affection.  
  
“Sorry that I haven’t been around much,” Jayden suddenly spoke after there had been a comfortable silence between them for a while. “I feel bad about not being home with you and the kids… Hopefully it won’t be long until things are back to normal again.”  
  
“I know. We understand,” Noah spoke as he continued with the massage. “But we do all miss you a lot… And the bed feels so empty without you…”  
  
Jayden chuckled. “Well, I’m on it now, aren’t I?” He turned slowly, forcing Noah to stop the massage. He gave Noah a small, wicked smirk before gently pushing Noah back onto the bed and crawling forward so he was on top of him. He stared into Noah’s surprised but turned on eyes before leaning down to capture his pink lips in a loving kiss.  
  
Noah hummed as they kissed, and Jayden shifted so his body was covering Noah completely, and so that he had one hand free to grasp his mate’s beautiful feathers with. Noah gasped into his mouth as Jayden grasped his wings somewhat harshly, but without hurting him, but Jayden swallowed the gasp by deepening the kiss.  
  
Their bodies moved together in a slow, sensual rhythm, and it was the most romantic moment they had shared for a long time.  
  
It was a moment they never wanted to end; a moment of completeness.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel a little bad about letting Dylan get hurt like that, but I promise he'll be okay!
> 
> So, the next few chapters will be very Derek/Milan orientated. I hope you guys don't mind that, it's just that there's so much to tell! I'm also very glad that you guys have taken such a liking to them :)  
> I will still include the other characters as much as possible, but it will be a while until Dylan and Melody are old enough and ready enough to become more than friends.


	70. Chapter 70

**March 2072 (Noah is 45 (almost 46), Jayden is 47, Nathan is 22, Derek is 17 (almost 18), Dylan is 14, Claire is 10 years old).**  
  
“Shit!” Dylan exclaimed when he woke up that morning and took a look at his alarm clock. It read 6:57am already, and his school bus left at 7:23.  
  
He almost got his feet entangled in his blanket as he hurried out of bed and went to get dressed. His broken arm was still in a cast, making it difficult for him to get dressed by himself, and it only stressed him out more that it went so slow. He muttered and cursed, and his feet were tripping impatiently on the floor as he tried to hurry up.  
  
Dylan wondered why on earth his mom hadn’t woken him up yet, but it was probably because Dylan always got out of bed by himself in the mornings. But last night he had forgotten to set his alarm, so he hadn’t woken up until just now. He still didn’t understand why his mom hadn’t noticed his absence yet, and it only frustrated him more as he struggled to pull on his jeans and socks with just one arm available. With some effort, he managed to pull off the shirt he had slept in, which he luckily never zipped up at night ever since his arm got broken, and afterwards he pulled on a new shirt while heading towards the stairs. He would have to have his mom help him zip up the shirt as usual.  
  
Dylan was stilling struggling to pull on the shirt as he entered the upstairs hallway and headed for the staircase, and that was when Derek exited the bathroom and spotted him.  
  
Derek stopped in his tracks when he saw Dylan. “Shouldn’t you be up already?” he asked, finding it strange to see Dylan upstairs when his brother was usually downstairs to have breakfast at 6:45.  
  
“I forget to set my alarm,” Dylan explained, hurrying over to the stairs so he could head to the kitchen as fast as possible.  
  
Derek chortled at that and followed him. “Well, that’s a first.”  
  
Derek’s amusement annoyed Dylan to no end, but he didn’t comment on it. He quickly headed to the kitchen where Claire had just finished eating her breakfast.  
  
“Oh. I thought you were sick,” Claire spoke when she spotted Dylan. She was still in her seat and her now empty bowl was in front of her.  
  
“No, I just forgot to set my alarm,” Dylan explained. He glanced around for Noah, but didn’t spot him anywhere. “Where’s Mom?”  
  
“In the bathroom,” Claire replied. “One of the cats vomited on the floor so he’s cleaning it up…” A disgusted grimace twisted her face as she said that.  
  
Dylan groaned, realizing why his mom hadn’t noticed his absence yet. He quickly sat down to have breakfast, and Derek sat down as well.  
  
“Take it easy, dude. You’re stressing me out,” Derek commented as he watched how Dylan was doing everything in such a hurry.  
  
“But I hate being late,” Dylan complained, pouring cereal and milk into his bowl before eating at a fast pace.  
  
“You still have twenty minutes or so until the bus arrives.”  
  
“Yeah, and I still gotta use the bathroom, pack my bag, put on my shoes, and find my allergy pills somewhere and I have no idea where to look. Not to mention that my stupid arm slows down everything I do!”  
  
Claire felt a little sorry for Dylan when she saw how stressed he looked. Dylan liked being punctual, while Derek had a much more relaxed view on time.  
  
“Then I guess it’s a good thing you’re getting that cast off today,” Derek commented and slurped the milk from his cereal.  
  
“Oh, it’s today?” Claire asked, glancing at Dylan with joy. She knew how much he wanted to get that thing off already.  
  
“Yeah, I can’t wait,” Dylan murmured while eating.  
  
“It might still take a while until you can use your arm again properly, though,” Derek reminded him. “It might still be a bit tender.”  
  
Dylan felt a little annoyed with Derek for bursting his relief like that, but he knew Derek was just telling him the facts.  
  
They all looked up when Noah entered the room. The submissive was surprised to see Dylan eating in such a hurry. “What’s wrong? Did you wake up late?”  
  
“Yeah, I just came downstairs. I forgot to set my alarm…” Dylan explained and was already almost done with his breakfast.  
  
“Oh.” Noah cringed and felt a bit guilty for not having noticed that at all. “Sorry, I was cleaning up after the cats in the bathroom. I thought you were up already.” He went over to help Dylan zip up his shirt for him, and Dylan glared daggers at Derek when his older brother looked kind of amused by it, as usual. Noah noticed the interaction and wasn’t very pleased with Derek. “Derek, stop finding it so funny. Remember I used to help you like this too when _your_ arm was broken.”  
  
“Yeah, but I was a little kid back then. Dylan is fourteen,” Derek snickered.  
  
“Gosh, sometimes I _really_ understand why Nathan always finds you so annoying,” Dylan muttered as he glared hard at Derek.  
  
Derek continued to look smug and amused, and even though Dylan felt pretty annoyed at him right now, he was kind of glad that Derek wasn’t being as mean about it as he once used to be. He didn’t snicker in order to hurt Dylan’s feelings and Dylan knew that.  
  
Claire also knew that Derek wasn’t trying to make Dylan feel bad, so she giggled a bit as she watched her brothers interact. She still felt sorry for Dylan, though.  
  
After Dylan’s shirt was fixed and he managed to do the rest of his chores that morning, he and Claire went outside to wait for the bus together. Derek joined them, as his bus arrived two minutes after theirs, and Dylan and Claire said goodbye to him as they got onto their bus together.  
  
Dylan was really looking forward to going to the hospital later that day to get the cast off his arm. His mom was picking him up at 2:10pm, so he didn’t have to attend P.E. class in the afternoon. He felt a bit sad about that, though, because he shared P.E. class with Melody’s class, but his participation had been pretty limited anyway while his arm was broken.

  
***

  
They arrived at the school at around 7:43am and classes started at 8. Dylan had been sitting with Benjamin on the bus and Claire with her friend Maria, but after they got off the bus Dylan went to pull Claire aside before his sister disappeared into the crowds.  
  
“Hey,” Dylan spoke as he gently grabbed Claire’s arm to stop her.  
  
Claire turned and looked up at her brother, and her friend stopped to wait for her.  
  
“I’m not sure if Mom told you, but we’re coming to pick you up from the daycare at around 3:30 today,” Dylan told his sister. “I’m getting my cast off my arm at the hospital at 2:30pm, but sometimes they’re a little behind schedule, so it might take a while. Just stay at the daycare after school until we come to pick you up, okay?”  
  
Claire smiled as she nodded at her brother’s words. “Yeah, okay! I hope it doesn’t hurt to get it taken off…”  
  
“I don’t think it does, but I haven’t tried it before…”  
  
Claire eyed him worriedly. “But Derek said they’re gonna use a hammer…”  
  
Dylan groaned at that. “Don’t listen to Derek; he’s just screwing around.”  
  
Benjamin laughed as he overheard the conversation. “Don’t worry, it’s not that bad. They’ll use a small saw and some scissors to cut it open with and it won’t touch the skin. You won’t feel a thing.”  
  
“Oh, you’ve tried it?” Claire asked, blinking up at Benjamin with a curious look.  
  
“No, but my sister once broke her ankle and that’s how they removed the cast.”  
  
“I hope they don’t cut you with the saw,” Maria murmured as she stared nervously at Dylan.  
  
Now Claire was looking worried again, and Dylan sighed at how Benjamin’s helpful words had only caused more concern. “They won’t saw my arm off,” he reassured them. “But I gotta go now, and so should you. See you later.”  
  
“Okay, bye!” Claire chirped, waving at Dylan as she watched him head towards the middle school with Benjamin.  
  
“You know, it’s kinda cute how worried your sister is about you,” Benjamin told Dylan as they walked through the crowds towards the middle school together.  
  
“Well, you didn’t have to mention saws and scissors,” Dylan told him with a small, disapproving scowl.  
  
“It’s not my fault those kids have such a vivid imagination! I was just telling them how it’s done.”  
  
Dylan let out a sigh. “I know.”  
  
They headed to entrance door of the middle school and went inside. As usual, the corridors were crowded and noisy in the morning, as all the students were in a hurry to go to their classes in time. Dylan and Benjamin’s first class of the day was math, which Dylan liked a lot.  
  
Both of them were heading towards their classroom when Dylan spotted Melody further up the corridor. She was wearing her blonde hair in a ponytail, and Dylan couldn’t help but think that it really suited her when she wore her hair like that.  
  
Melody spotted him as well, and they smiled at each other as Dylan went up to her.  
  
“Good morning, you two,” Melody smiled at Dylan and Benjamin before looking at Dylan’s arm. “Is it today that you’re getting your cast off?”  
  
“Yeah, this afternoon,” Dylan confirmed.  
  
“That’s kind of a shame… I really like Claire’s drawings on it.” Melody gestured at the big unicorn that Claire had drawn on Dylan’s plaster. It was actually pretty well done for a girl her age, and she had added a big rainbow over the unicorn and a small message that read ‘Get better soon Dylan!’. It also had a few other messages from Dylan’s friends and family on it, and a couple of drawings – mostly stars and hearts (Melody had drawn one of the hearts, which had made Dylan blush when she did so), and someone had drawn a cat and a dog on it.  
  
Dylan glanced at his plaster and almost felt a little sorry that he was going to get it off soon. “Yeah… She’s probably gonna be upset when she learns that the doctors throw it away… So I think I’ll let her draw a new unicorn for me on a piece of paper. That should cheer her up again.”  
  
Melody grinned at that. “That’s sweet of you. Always thinking of her well-being…”  
  
Benjamin watched the two quietly, and when Melody glanced away when she heard her friends calling her name, he started to pretend like he was gagging from their conversation. Dylan blushed and was all flustered as he reached out and smacked his friend hard on the arm for being such a jerk, and Benjamin started laughing at that.  
  
When Melody turned to look at them again, she frowned when she saw how Benjamin was laughing all of sudden. “What’s wrong? What’s so funny?”  
  
“Nothing,” Dylan said before Benjamin could speak. “He’s just being a jerk, that’s all.”  
  
“Oh.” Melody gave them both a skeptical stare before one of her friends once again called her name from further down the corridor. “Oh, I gotta go… Don’t wanna be late for class. See you later.” She smiled at them, but mostly at Dylan, before turning and running down the corridor to her friends who were all waiting for her.  
  
“Bye,” Dylan yelled back, watching her go. Benjamin’s stupid snickering next to him quickly caught his attention, and he smacked his friend again. “Stop laughing!”  
  
“I’m sorry, but you guys are seriously disgusting sometimes,” Benjamin laughed.  
  
“We’re not. We’re _friends._ ”  
  
“I think we both know you feel a little bit more than _friendship_ for her…”  
  
Dylan blushed. “So what? We’re still just friends. I don’t want that to change for now.”  
  
“Since when are you afraid to talk about your feelings? Why don’t you just tell her how you feel already?”  
  
“Because I’m not ready for things to be more than just a friendship,” Dylan explained, getting kind of embarrassed by the conversation, and he tried to keep his voice down so no one around them could hear him. “I’ll tell her when I’m ready.”  
  
Benjamin nodded quietly and smiled, but didn’t say anything.  
  
“And we’re gonna be late!” Dylan suddenly exclaimed. “That’s _your_ fault!” he told his friend as they both started running towards their classroom.  
  
“It’s not! _You_ were the one talking to Melody for ages in the middle of the corridor!” Benjamin yelled back as they ran through the crowds.  
  
Dylan groaned, knowing that Benjamin had a good point.  
  
They ran as fast as they could, and Dylan was careful not to bump into anything or anyone with his arm.  
  
They reached their classroom a minute before the teacher arrived and seated themselves next to each other while trying to catch their breaths again.  
  
Dylan spent the first few minutes of class thinking about Melody. It was nice that they could have a conversation in the corridor now without Deaton coming by and dropping one of his usual racist comments. After he had broken Dylan’s arm like that, he had been expelled from the school.  
  
Lately, a lot of people that Dylan and Derek knew were getting expelled from their schools. Dylan didn’t feel sorry or guilty about that though, and he knew that Derek didn’t either. Those guys deserved it for being bullies. Dylan was just a little worried that he would run into Deaton outside school and that the other boy would retaliate – or even worse if it was Melody who ran into him. He knew that Derek had had a small run in with Travis a couple of weeks ago in town, and that Travis had been pretty aggressive when he had met Derek, but Derek had left the scene before things had escalated. Dylan wondered if Deaton would get aggressive as well, or run away like a chicken. He really wasn’t sure.

  
***

  
For Claire, the day started out as any other day at school. She attended her classes with her classmates, and she spent the breaks with her best friends Maria and Amelia. They had been friends since they started elementary school, but Claire and Maria had known each other since kindergarten.  
  
However, things took a little turn for Claire when she went to the daycare facilities after her classes ended, and her friend Maria mentioned how Billy from their class was having a birthday party in a few days. Claire hadn’t heard about that all.  
  
“Oh, you didn’t get the invitation?” Maria asked Claire as they sat together in the corner of the big playroom in the daycare.  
  
Claire shook her head. “No…” She felt a little hurt about it, especially because everyone else in her class seemed to have gotten an invitation from him.  
  
It had been a couple of weeks since Claire had turned 10 years old, and she had invited all her classmates to her birthday party. Most of them had attended, but five of them had not – and one of them was Billy. She had been pretty upset about that, especially because they had promised to come, but she was starting to realize more and more how some kids seemed to avoid her simply because she was a different kind of hybrid. Her friends didn’t have the same problem, though. Maria was an angel and Amelia was a human, so when they had a birthday, all their classmates usually showed up.  
  
“He didn’t show up at my birthday either…” Claire murmured sadly, staring at the floor.  
  
Maria and Amelia were both seated around to Claire as they sat in a circle, and they shared a concerned look when they saw how sad she looked.  
  
“Maybe he was just busy?” Amelia suggested.  
  
“Yeah. And maybe he forgot to send you an invitation for his birthday,” Maria said, hoping to cheer Claire up. “You got invited last year after all.”  
  
“Maybe…” Claire thought about it for a moment. She wasn’t sure if Billy had done it on purpose because he didn’t want her at his party, or if he had genuinely forgotten to give her an invitation. It wasn’t the first time that Claire hadn’t received an invitation for a birthday though, but it didn’t happen that often either. At first, she had trouble understanding why and mostly thought it was because the kids were only allowed to bring a few other kids to their birthday parties, but in the past couple of years she was starting to understand that it wasn’t because of that at all. It was because she was different and they others didn’t want her around. It hadn’t been a big deal until now, because when they were younger all the kids had been invited, including her, but now a few of them were starting to exclude her. And that really hurt.  
  
“Maybe you should go ask him,” Maria suggested. “Otherwise you won’t know for sure.”  
  
Claire was a little conflicted about that, but she knew her friend was right. Her natural stubbornness came up in her and was she determined to find out. “Yeah, I will!”  
  
Maria and Amelia both grinned as they all got up from the floor, but before they could go find Billy, one of the teachers came over to them.  
  
“Maria, your mother is here to pick you up,” the female teacher said.  
  
“Eh, already?” Maria said, sounding disappointed. She had really wanted to go confront Billy with Claire.  
  
The teacher chuckled at Maria’s surprised face. “Yeah, you have an appointment with the dentist today, remember?”  
  
Maria pouted and gave Claire an apologetic look. “I’m sorry… I have to go.”  
  
Claire’s wings drooped a bit behind her, but she nodded in understanding. “That’s okay. See you tomorrow!”  
  
Maria smiled and waved goodbye at Claire and Amelia, who now had to go find Billy on their own.  
  
“You still wanna ask him?” Amelia asked Claire after Maria had left.  
  
Claire nodded. “Yeah. I wanna come to his party too! So I wanna ask him if I can come.”  
  
Amelia smiled, and together they walked around to find Billy somewhere. The daycare facilities were rather big, so they had to go to a lot of rooms to look for him. When they didn’t find him anywhere inside, they decided to go outside to look for him. Claire knew that the boys often played soccer in the small court just outside the daycare building, and sometimes they climbed the trees in the backyard.  
  
Amelia stayed close to Claire as the two of them walked around and asked the other kids if they had seen Billy. One of the boys said he had seen him climbing the trees in the backyard, so that’s where Claire and Amelia went to look next.  
  
And true enough, they spotted Billy climbing some of the short trees in the backyard of the daycare facility. Behind the trees was a large wall that separated the yard from the big road outside, and they could hear cars and trucks passing by out there all the time.  
  
“Billy!” Claire shouted as she and Amelia came over to the trees.  
  
Billy was an alpha demon, and he was busy having a competition with three of his friends to see who could climb the highest in the trees. The trees weren’t very tall, but they had lots of thick branches to climb on, and there was often a teacher in the garden to keep an eye on them. Right now there was no teacher nearby, though.  
  
Billy and his friends looked down when they saw Claire and Amelia approaching.  
  
“Can I come to your birthday party?” Claire asked, looking hopeful as she smiled up at Billy.  
  
Billy and his friends shared a look before they laughed, and Claire watched as Billy climbed down a couple of branches before he jumped down on the ground below.  
  
“Why would I want _you_ at my party?” Billy said, approaching Claire with a mean look on his face.  
  
Claire took a small step back. She felt a stab of hurt in her chest, but she didn’t want him to see that. Instead, she put on a stubborn face and frowned at him. “Why not? You invited all the others. I’m no different.”  
  
Billy laughed, and his friends jumped down to join him.  
  
“But you _are_ different,” Billy said, coming forward to give Claire a small shove. “My dad says you’re a dirty mix-blood.”  
  
Claire’s frown grew deeper and offended. “I’m not _._ ”  
  
“Yeah, you are! You’re full of diseases!” Billy shouted, shoving Claire so hard that she fell and hit the grass.  
  
Amelia gasped in horror when she witnessed it. “Why would do you that?”  
  
“Because she’s a freak!” Billy growled. “And you’re a weak human! Maybe I shouldn’t have invited you either!”  
  
Now it was Amelia’s turn to look hurt, and Claire got angry when she saw that. She got up from the ground and went over to shove Billy back.  
  
“Stop being mean!” Claire shouted and glared at him with anger.  
  
Claire’s defiance seemed to anger Billy more, and the next thing Claire knew was him pushing her to the ground and climbing on top of her. She screamed and shouted at him as he held her down, and she was dimly aware of the other boys pushing Amelia away so she couldn’t help. Claire’s trashing and screaming made Billy afraid that the teachers were going to hear her, so he put a hand over her mouth to shut her up.  
  
“Shut up, you freak!” Billy growled at her, putting his face right in front of hers. “I don’t want you at my party! Nobody wants you at their party, so just _go away!_ ”  
  
The boy’s mean words were like stabs to Claire’s chest. She stared at him with her teary eyes, and she cried when he laughed at the tears he saw in her eyes.  
  
Claire was confused and hurt. She didn’t understand why other kids and people in general didn’t like hybrids like her. She just couldn’t wrap her head around it. It hurt to be treated like she wasn’t worth anything, like she wasn’t a person. It hurt so badly that all she could do was cry, and that just made the boys laugh at her even more.  
  
“Aww, she’s crying!” one the boys laughed, and soon they were all laughing loudly at her.  
  
Mostly it was Billy who was laughing. Two of the other boys seemed to find Claire’s distress funny as well, while the third one looked a little hesitant as he joined them.  
  
The humiliation was more than Claire had ever felt before. She looked around to find Amelia, but she couldn’t see her anywhere. She didn’t know if the boys had chased her away or if she had run away on purpose and had left Claire all alone with those boys. She couldn’t help but think that her friend had abandoned her, and that hurt even more.  
  
Billy got to his feet, and he and the other boys gathered in a circle around Claire and kept laughing as they watched the tears run down her face.  
  
Slowly, Claire sat up and tried to wipe away the tears, but new ones kept coming whenever she wiped them away. She glanced up at the boys who were still laughing at her and she had never felt so heartbroken and humiliated before.  
  
She got to her feet, aware that her clothes were full of dirt and grass, and kept listening to the boys’ laughter. She felt a sudden surge of anger inside, but the pain and sadness were too strong and she just didn’t have the strength to use her anger to fight back.  
  
“Aww, are you gonna run to your mommy?” one of the boys mocked her, making the others laugh even louder than before.  
  
Claire just couldn’t take it anymore now. She let out a sob before she turned and ran away. She didn’t want to go inside, feeling too humiliated to tell the teachers what had happened, so she ran around the building and towards the middle school.  
  
All she could think of was to find Dylan, but when she had almost reached the basketball court where he usually practiced, she remembered that he was at the hospital today. She was all alone.  
  
Distressed, heartbroken, and panicked, Claire wandered around as she kept crying. She didn’t know where to go, and it took her a few moments to remember the way to Derek’s high school.  
  
Not knowing where else to go, Claire began running towards Derek’s school. It was closer to her school than her house was, and she knew that no one was home anyway.  
  
A few people eyed her as Claire ran out of the school’s grounds and onto the public sidewalk, but she ignored them all. She could only think of finding Derek, and her desire to find her big brother and seek comfort with him gave her the strength to keep running and not look back.

  
***

  
Meanwhile, Milan had just finished his last class for the day and went to sit on some benches outside in the sunny weather. His human friend Annie was with him, and the two of them sat down with their laptops and did some homework together. The two of them often sat like this after school, and Milan found it nice to have someone to collaborate with when he did his homework.  
  
They sat for about half an hour until Annie had to go.  
  
“I’m so sorry, Milan. But I have a date with my boyfriend now,” Annie said as she got up and gathered her stuff.  
  
“That’s alright,” Milan said, smiling up at her as he watched her pack her laptop away. “Hope you guys will have fun.”  
  
“Thanks,” Annie beamed. “He said he’s gonna take me somewhere, but I have no idea where. I’m a bit nervous, actually.”  
  
Milan couldn’t help but chuckle. “Don’t be. I’m sure he has something nice in mind.”  
  
“Yeah. He’s always nice to me,” Annie said, smiling about it. She stood in her own thoughts for a few seconds before looking at Milan. “I hope you’ll find someone nice as well. You totally deserve that, and I’m sure whoever you find will be absolutely crazy about you!”  
  
Milan blushed heavily as she said that. “Maybe… I don’t know…”  
  
Annie chuckled at his shyness and pulled her laptop bag over her shoulder as she got ready to leave. “Well, I know so,” she smirked. “And now I gotta go. See you tomorrow, Milan! Bye!”  
  
“Bye,” Milan called after her as he watched her run in the direction of the parking lot where her boyfriend was most likely waiting for her in his car. He smiled as he watched her go, feeling a little bit jealous of her. It would be nice to have a boyfriend to hang out with and who treated him with such adoration like Annie’s boyfriend did, Milan thought.  
  
Milan didn’t feel safe sitting outside on the benches all by himself, so he gathered his stuff and decided to head inside to the school’s library to finish his homework there. He didn’t feel like being at home all by himself right now, and he knew his mother wouldn’t be home until around 11pm.  
  
After gathering his stuff and putting his laptop into his shoulder bag, Milan headed inside and began walking towards the library.  
  
The school was pretty abandoned at this hour, as all classes had already ended. There were still a few students around, though; mostly those who stayed in the classrooms to do homework, those who were in the library, the school’s chess team, and the lacrosse team who were currently training on the sports field outside. Milan knew Derek was at lacrosse practice right now, and sometimes he went there to watch him. He wondered if he should do it today, but he was a little concerned that someone would notice it, so he decided not to.  
  
As Milan walked through the empty corridors, he suddenly heard an unusual sound. He frowned as he heard what sounded like someone running around, but the footsteps were too light to be an adult or a teenager. He listened for a bit and swore that he could hear someone sobbing and crying.  
  
The noise was suddenly really close now, and Milan turned around to look when the sound seemed to be coming from behind him. That was when he saw Claire come running around the corner of the corridor he was in. Milan recognized her right away and he was startled to see her at the high school.  
  
Claire was crying and sobbing, and she was panting from having run for such a long time. Her pace slowed because she was exhausted, and she seemed lost in the many corridors of the school.  
  
“Claire?” Milan spoke, staring at her in disbelief as they stood about 10 meters (32 feet) away from each other.  
  
Claire’s head snapped up, and her eyes widened the moment she recognized Milan. She let out a sob of relief when she finally saw a familiar face before running over to him.  
  
“Claire? What’s wrong?” Milan shouted in concern as he began running towards her as well.  
  
They met each other half way, and Claire immediately wrapped her arms around Milan and clung to him as she sobbed into his shirt.  
  
Milan was a little startled to be hugged by her like that, but the way she cried against him in utter distress made him realize that something was terribly wrong. Slowly, he moved his arms up and returned her hug. He rubbed her back to calm her down, but she just kept crying. “Claire, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” he asked her softly, getting more confused and worried by the second.  
  
“T-The boys… They were s-so mean,” Claire sobbed against his shirt, hiccupping and crying uncontrollably.  
  
Milan frowned and kept trying to comfort her the best he could. “What boys? From your school?”  
  
Claire nodded against him, unable to speak because she was crying so hard.  
  
It was really painful to see such a loving girl like Claire so heartbroken. Milan knew very well what it was like to be bullied, and he felt his own heart break a little as he listened to her sobs and felt how tightly she was clinging to him, even though they barely knew each other. He also felt completely helpless about what to do.  
  
“Shhh, it’s okay. The mean boys are gone now,” Milan soothed her and rubbed comforting circles into her back. Her feathers touched his hands a bit as he did so, but because he was a submissive, Claire wasn’t really bothered by it.  
  
It took Claire a few moments to calm down just a little, and that’s when Milan spoke again.  
  
“Come on. Let’s go find Derek, okay?”  
  
Claire sniffled and slowly pulled away from him. She wiped some of the tears from her eyes and looked up at him, hesitating a little. She then nodded and reached out to grab his hand.  
  
Milan gave her a comforting smile before slowly leading her down the corridor. He held her hand all the way, going as slowly as was needed as he led her towards the sports field where Derek was busy with his lacrosse practice.  
  
Claire was still sniffling and crying a bit as they walked down the empty path that led to the sports field, and she held on tight to Milan’s hand.  
  
As they approached the sports field, Milan felt Claire getting a little scared when she heard all the shouting coming from the field. It could be a little scary to listen to, and Milan himself was also starting to feel a little nervous now. He didn’t know how Derek’s teammates would react when he showed up at the field with Derek’s little sister in his hand, but he had to get to Derek.  
  
Milan led Claire towards the back of the bleachers and in between the space that separated them. Claire was still holding his hand tightly, and once they were on the other side of the bleachers, they could see the sports field and the lacrosse team, who were right in the middle of a game.  
  
All the members of the lacrosse team were wearing their outfits and helmets, and because the helmets had bars that covered their faces a bit, it was very difficult to tell who was who in the field.  
  
Milan knew that Derek always wore the shirt with the number 12 on it, so he quickly scouted the field for that. It didn’t take long before he spotted Derek, who was busy yelling commands at his team.  
  
Luckily, Derek chose that moment to glance towards the bleachers by coincidence. He spotted Milan standing there, holding Claire’s hand, and he immediately knew that something was wrong. When he saw his sister’s face covered in tears, he instantly began running towards her.  
  
Milan was relieved that Derek had spotted them, and he watched as Derek headed over to them and took off his helmet and threw it on the ground as he ran. That was when Claire recognized him, and she let go of Milan’s hand as she started running towards her brother, crying desperately.  
  
“Derek!” Claire cried as she ran over to meet him.  
  
“Claire! What are you doing here?” Derek asked before Claire threw herself at him and hugged him tight. Derek had never seen Claire so upset before, and he was baffled as she clung to him and cried into his shirt. He moved his hands up and hugged her back, frowning in worry at how she was crying so heartbrokenly against him. “Claire? What’s wrong?”  
  
But Claire was crying too hard to reply. She just clung to him and grasped his shirt so hard that he was a little afraid she was going to tear it.  
  
The coach whistled loudly to stop the game when he noticed that Derek had left right in the middle of it. The other players glanced at each other and at Derek in confusion, not understanding what was going on, but Derek didn’t care about that now.  
  
“Claire?” Derek tried again, but his sister was still crying and sobbing so hard that she couldn’t speak. He knew that something was definitely wrong, but he had no idea what, and he knew she wouldn’t calm down enough to tell him for the next few minutes. He let a sigh before leaning down to pick her up. Claire immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, and Derek supported her with both of his hands under her butt as he started carrying her over towards the bleachers.  
  
Milan was still standing by the bleachers, looking concerned as Derek came walking over with Claire in his arms.  
  
“What happened?” Derek asked him as he came over.  
  
“I’m not sure… I saw her wandering the school corridors and crying. She talked about how some boys were mean to her, but she was too upset to say anything else…” Milan explained, feeling pretty worried as he watched Claire cry hard against Derek.  
  
Derek let out a small growl at that, and continued holding Claire against him and trying to comfort her. “Hey,” he told her softly. “Claire, you gotta talk to me…”  
  
Claire just shook her head against him and kept crying. Her arms were like a vice around Derek’s neck and she wasn’t ready to let go of him just yet.  
  
Derek sighed, feeling helpless about what to do. He didn’t like seeing her so upset, and it made him angry to know that some stupid boys had made her this way.  
  
When the coach realized that the little girl was probably Derek’s sister and that Derek had left the game to attend to her, he went back to the field and told the others to keep playing. They all glanced towards Derek in confusion, but went back to their game when their coach ordered them to. Dwayne, however, quickly ran over to Derek to see what was going on.  
  
“Hey,” Dwayne said as he ran over to them. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”  
  
Derek turned his head to look at him, but it was difficult when Claire’s arms were wrapped around him. “I don’t know… She’s too upset to talk. Just go back to the game. I’ll come when I’ve solved this.”  
  
Dwayne nodded and eyed Claire with worry. He had never seen her so upset either and worried him a bit. He cast a quick but confused glance at Milan before running back to the field to continue the game.  
  
Derek kept holding Claire, but she was getting a little heavy, and the way she was clinging to him made his neck feel a little sore. He sighed when she still hadn’t said a single word. “Claire, come on… Tell me what happened.”  
  
Claire finally tried to find her voice again. She pulled away just a little and sniffled as she attempted to stop her crying. “B-Billy wouldn’t let me come to his b-birthday party… H-He said I’m a f-freak,” she sobbed.  
  
Derek growled at that, and Milan was kind of startled that someone Claire’s age would say such a thing to one of his classmates.  
  
“That Billy sounds like an asshole,” Derek growled. “Don’t let it bother you. You’re better off not going to his stupid party anyway.”  
  
Derek’s words made Claire giggle a little bit before turning sad again. “B-But they were so mean about it… T-Thy just stood and laughed at me… And pushed me… And they w-wouldn’t s-stop.”  
  
It was painful for Derek to picture that happening to Claire. It made him angry at those stupid boys and at their parents for teaching their kids such things. He hugged Claire close and rubbed her back to comfort her, and his sister sobbed against him as she hugged him back.  
  
Milan felt really sorry for Claire that she had to experience that. He knew very well that was it was like to be bullied and excluded like that, and his heart ached for little Claire as he watched her cry against Derek.  
  
After a few moments, Derek’s arms were getting a little sore from holding Claire for so long. “Okay, I’m gonna have to put you down now, okay?” he announced and prepared to put her down on the ground.  
  
“Noooo!” Claire whined, clinging to her brother.  
  
Derek almost got choked when she tightened her arms around his neck, and Milan couldn’t help but smile a bit at the sight.  
  
“Well, you’re too heavy for me to hold all day,” Derek sighed and leaned forwards, forcing her to unwrap her legs from around him and put them on the ground. Once her feet were on the ground, Derek gently began prying her arms off of him, ignoring her small protests.  
  
Claire didn’t want to let go, but eventually she gave up and let go of him. She sniffled and tried to wipe her eyes afterwards, but the tears still kept coming.  
  
“Does Mom know you’re here?” Derek asked her.  
  
Claire slowly shook her head.  
  
A loud groan escaped Derek. “Claire, you can’t just run away from school like that! Now Mom is probably looking all over for you and worrying his ass off!”  
  
“B-But I didn’t want to stay with t-those boys,” Claire sobbed out. “I-I didn’t know where else to go but here…”  
  
Derek let out a deep sigh and ruffled his own hair as he thought about what to do. He knew he had to call his mom to let him know that Claire was at the high school and was safe, but his phone was in the locker room. He then glanced at Milan, who was still standing next to him. “Uh… Can I borrow your phone? I better call my mom and let him know that Claire is here…”  
  
“Yeah, sure,” Milan said, reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone and hand it to Derek.  
  
“Thanks,” Derek told him before looking at the phone. He then suddenly realized that he wasn’t even sure if he could remember his mom’s number. He usually always just hit the call button next to his name on his own phone, so there was never a reason for him to memorize it. He groaned loudly and tried to remember the number that his parents had told him over and over again that he should memorize in his head just in case he once had to call them without having his own phone around. “Fuck, what was my mom’s number again…”  
  
Watching Derek almost breaking his head as he tried to remember his mom’s number made Milan giggle a bit.  
  
Claire also noticed it and began snickering a bit between her sobs.  
  
When Derek finally remembered the number, he walked a bit away to call his mom, hoping he had remembered the number correctly.  
  
When Milan heard Derek start talking to Noah on the phone and was sure that the alpha had typed in the right number, he turned his attention to Claire, who was still a little upset.  
  
“Here,” Milan told her as he handed her a tissue that he had just found in his bag.  
  
Claire smiled and accepted the tissue. She sniffled as she used it to wipe her eyes and blow her nose with.  
  
“I’m sorry that boy didn’t want you at his birthday party,” Milan told Claire softly. “I, um… I know that feeling very well. I often didn’t get invited for my classmates’ birthdays either.”  
  
Claire’s eyes widened as she stared up at him. “Really? Why not?”  
  
Milan shrugged a bit. “Well, I’m not a hybrid like you, but I guess people don’t like submissives much either… Especially alphas often make fun of me and say hurtful things. When I was a kid, they didn’t want me to come to their birthday parties, and neither did some of the others…”  
  
“But you’re so nice!” Claire exclaimed, shocked that anyone would exclude Milan like that.  
  
Claire’s comment made Milan blush shyly. “And so are you.”  
  
Now it was Claire’s turn to blush, and she grinned shyly at the compliment.  
  
Milan was pleased that Claire seemed a little bit more cheerful now, even though he could tell that she was still a little upset.  
  
“Anyway, don’t think too much about it, okay?” Milan told her next. “Those kinds of kids are not worth your tears. They say mean things because they’re stupid, and you shouldn’t listen to someone who’s stupid. And I’m sure you get invited to lots of other parties, right?” When Claire nodded, Milan smiled and continued. “Good. Then focus on that. Usually it’s always more fun to attend the birthday party of a real friend instead of some bully.”  
  
Claire thought it about it for a moment and realized that Milan was right. She beamed and nodded her head. “Yeah!”  
  
Claire’s better mood made Milan grin. “Good. And even if no one else wants to invite you over on their birthday, I still would. So don’t worry about it, okay?”  
  
“You would?” Claire asked, her eyes widening with joy. “Does that mean I can come to your next birthday party?”  
  
Milan laughed softly at that. “If I actually had a party, then yes. I’ve never really held any birthday parties before to be honest…”  
  
Claire frowned at that. “Why not?”  
  
A sad smile curved Milan’s lips a little as he shrugged. “My dad didn’t want me to have birthday parties… So I never really had any. But I do invite the few friends I have out for dinner when it’s my birthday. Though, I didn’t start doing that until about two years ago…”  
  
“Your dad sounds kinda mean…”  
  
“Yeah, he is…”  
  
Their conversation was interrupted when Derek came back over to them. “Mom is coming to pick you up in about five minutes,” he told Claire.  
  
“Nooo! I wanna stay with you!” Claire whined, getting tears in her eyes again.  
  
“Well, you can’t… I’ve got lacrosse practice and martials arts later. And mom is really worried about you, so you have to go home.”  
  
Claire pouted a little, but didn’t argue any further about it.  
  
Derek was just about to start walking Claire to the school’s parking lots when the coach blew the whistle and yelled at everyone that they were going to take a small break now. All the lacrosse players started walking towards the bleachers to sit down during the break, and a few headed to the locker rooms to use the bathroom or get something to drink.  
  
“Hey, Derek,” yelled one of Derek’s team members as he and a few others headed over to the bleacher where Derek was. “Are you a babysitter now?”  
  
“Nah, it’s just my sister,” Derek told him.  
  
One of the alpha demons, whose name was Tyler, stopped and glanced between Claire and Milan before saying, “Which one of them?”  
  
The others who had heard it started laughing, and Derek scowled at Tyler who making such a stupid comment.  
  
Claire stepped a little closer to Derek when all those people came over to them and when the guy made that comment. Derek could easily tell that she felt a little uncomfortable about it.  
  
Milan also glared at the guys for being so childish, but he didn’t say anything.  
  
“Or maybe that’s your _girlfriend?_ ” Tyler said next, pointing to Milan with a smug smirk.  
  
“Mm. He sure has taste,” said the other guy as he eyed Milan. He laughed when he saw Milan frown at him in disgust.  
  
Again, there was laughter from the others, and Derek’s eyes narrowed as he glared at the two guys who had said those things.  
  
“Wow, Derek. You sure are popular with the girls. Why don’t you share a little?” Tyler said next, laughing at his own joke, which he obviously found very amusing.  
  
The comment made Milan stare at the ground. It was always so humiliating when guys made those kinds of remarks.  
  
Derek, however, growled and turned to face Tyler and everyone else who was laughing. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize this was a kindergarten. Do I have to go get your pacifiers or will you willingly shut the fuck up?”  
  
Tyler’s mouth fell shut when he heard the anger in Derek’s voice. He blinked at him in bewilderment, and the other guy who had also joked about it earlier also went all quiet and started looking nervous.  
  
“Oh, come on, man. Relax. We were just fooling around a little,” Tyler said with a nervous laugh.  
  
“Do you see me laughing?” Derek asked, pointing at his own dead-serious face.  
  
Tyler glanced at those around him before slowly saying, “No, but…”  
  
“Then it probably wasn’t funny,” Derek cut him off, growling again. “Now, I’m gonna take my little sister to the parking lot, and Milan – who was so kind to take care of her and lead her over to me when he found her – will join me. Do any of you dumbasses have a problem with that?” He glared at Tyler and the other guy, and at all those who had found their immature comments so funny earlier as he dared them to make any kinds of protests against it.  
  
Tyler shook his head and swallowed nervously, and the others also didn’t dare to make any protests or comments about it.  
  
“Good,” Derek grunted before turning to leave. “Come on. Let’s go find Mom,” he told Claire as he started leading her away. He looked briefly at Milan, who followed them out of there and away from the awkward atmosphere that Derek had just left behind.  
  
Dwayne had witnessed the whole thing, and once Derek was gone, he burst out laughing as he watched how quiet everyone was. “Gosh, you’re so stupid for behaving like that around Derek, Tyler. You know he doesn’t put up with that kind of bullshit.”  
  
“Yeah… Remind me not to make any jokes around him again,” Tyler muttered. “I thought he was gonna kill me.”  
  
“Your jokes were really not funny at all,” said one of the team’s two female members as she stepped forward.  
  
She was a demon with hazel eyes and brown hair, and she had a very sporty look. Her name was Stefanie – and she was Dwayne’s girlfriend. Dwayne had had a crush on her pretty much ever since he started at the school with Derek, and a few weeks ago they had finally become a couple after Stefanie had been fed up with his hesitation to ask her out and had instead decided to take the initiative and had asked him out. She had joined the lacrosse team in the end of January and hadn’t been there since the start, but she was one of the best players.  
  
Stefanie’s voice attracted the attention of everyone, and she crossed her arms in front of her chest as she looked between Tyler and his friend with an unimpressed expression on her face. “Did you guys not read the situation at all? That was Derek’s little sister and she was clearly very upset about something. And Derek finally managed to calm her down until you guys went over and said the most stupid and immature things I’ve heard since I was in kindergarten! You guys were asking for it when Derek got mad at you. Not to mention that you don’t talk like that to a submissive either! You fucking dumbasses!”  
  
Tyler and his friend flinched a bit because Stefanie could be quite scary when she was angry. The two of them shared a glance, and Dwayne could clearly see the shame and humiliation on their faces. It didn’t take long before Tyler and his friend sneaked away from the field in shame, because it wasn’t cool to be put into place by Stefanie like that in front of half of the team.  
  
After they were gone, Dwayne grinned and walked over to Stefanie. “Remind me not get _you_ angry.”  
  
Stefanie chuckled and moved her hands up to correct Dwayne’s shirt a bit. “Yeah, you better not.”

  
***

  
Meanwhile, Derek was taking Claire to the school’s parking lot to meet up with Noah and Dylan, who were driving there as fast as possible to get her.  
  
Milan was walking a few feet behind them and couldn’t help but feel a little out of place. He didn’t think it was necessary for him to follow them to the parking lot, but he didn’t feel like now was the best time to part ways with them either. Not when Claire was still a little upset by earlier. So he quietly followed and smiled a bit as he watched how Derek patted Claire’s head gently to cheer her up. It was kind of sweet, and Milan liked it when he got to see Derek’s softer sides. He was so different then from how he usually behaved at school, where he was always pretty manly, proud, and such a macho-alpha.  
  
As soon as they reached the parking lot, they spotted Noah’s car over by the trees. Noah and Dylan were both standing next to the car, keeping a look out for Claire and Derek. It didn’t take long before Noah spotted them as well, and he quickly began running over to them.  
  
“Mommy!” Claire cried when she saw him and started running towards him too.  
  
“Claire! Oh my god, I was so worried!” Noah exclaimed, pulling his daughter into a tight hug when they met. He held her close and pressed a kiss to her head, and it was easy to see the relief on his face when he saw that his daughter was safe.  
  
Dylan came over too, sighing in relief when he saw Claire. His arm was no longer in a cast, but he still tried not to use it too much just yet.  
  
Milan smiled as he watched how Claire was reunited with her family and he felt happy about it. He glanced at Derek, who was watching the scene with an expression that Milan couldn’t quite read.  
  
As soon as Noah had hugged Claire from relief, he pulled back and gave her a serious look. “What were you thinking, running away from the daycare like that?! Do you have any idea how worried I was when they called me and told me you were missing?! We looked all over for you, and Amelia said she had seen some of the boys being mean to you, but after she had run inside to get a teacher, you were gone when she came back outside to find you. I was so worried, Claire!”  
  
Claire was a little startled when her mom yelled at her like that, and she blinked at him with tears in her eyes. Her eyes widened a little when Noah mentioned that Amelia had gone inside to get a teacher. Claire had thought that her friend had abandoned her, but she had actually gone for help instead. Relief washed over her, but at the same time she felt sad and guilty, and she let out a small sob as she started crying again.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Claire cried. “B-But they were so mean! They said hurtful things and pushed me to the ground, and I didn’t want to be near those boys anymore, so I ran away… I didn’t know where else to go. I wanted to find Derek…”  
  
Noah sighed as he pulled Claire into another hug, letting her cry against him. “Shh, it’s okay. I’m just glad you’re safe.”  
  
Dylan felt a surge of anger that those stupid boys had treated Claire like that. He could understand why she had run away, though. Sometimes when Dylan got bullied, he also felt like just running away and not coming back.  
  
Suddenly, Dylan noticed Milan’s presence and blinked at him in surprise. He hadn’t expected to see him there at all. “Oh. Was it you who found Claire…?” he asked him.  
  
Milan looked up when Dylan spoke to him. “Um, yeah… I, uh, found her wandering in the corridors by herself. She was crying and really upset, so I led her to the sports field where Derek was…”  
  
Noah glanced over at him while he was hugging Claire for comfort. “Thank you so much.”  
  
Noah’s words make Milan shift bashfully. “You’re welcome. But I didn’t really do anything…”  
  
Dylan smiled as he watched Milan shifting modestly next to Derek. He noticed how close the two of them were standing next to each other, but he had the feeling that they hadn’t noticed it themselves. It made him chuckle a bit.  
  
Suddenly, Milan looked at Dylan and blinked. “Oh, I thought you broke your arm? Or did you get the cast off already?”  
  
Dylan glanced at his arm before looking back at Milan with a chuckle. “I just got it off today. Mom took me to the hospital so they could take it off, and the nurse had _just_ removed it when Claire’s daycare called and said she was missing. Guess I was pretty lucky I got it off before we had to leave in such a hurry.”  
  
Derek snorted softly. “Just don’t break it again.”  
  
Dylan gave his brother a small glare for saying that. “I won’t. I’m not as reckless and violent as you are. You’ve broken more bones than all of us together.”  
  
“Actually, I think Dad has broken more bones than me, though.”  
  
“That was a car accident; that doesn’t count,” Dylan growled in annoyance.  
  
Milan chuckled a bit at their little argument. “Still nice that you got the cast off, though,” he told Dylan. “I know I was relieved when I got mine off….”  
  
Dylan looked surprised to hear that Milan had once broken something. “You broke something once?”  
  
“Yeah, my wrist,” Milan said, holding up his left hand briefly. “I did something stupid on my bike…”  
  
Dylan couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Then you’re a perfect match for Derek.”  
  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Derek demanded, glaring at Dylan and taking a small step forward.  
  
”Nothing,” Dylan snickered innocently.  
  
Derek just eyed him skeptically and hadn’t really understood what he meant. Milan, on the other hand, blushed furiously when he understood what Dylan had meant, and he kind of wished he had just kept his mouth shut.  
  
Neither Claire nor Noah had really paid attention to what was said between them because Noah had been busy soothing Claire, who was now finally calmer and had stopped crying. She was still sniffling and wiping her eyes, but it seemed like the worst was over.  
  
Noah took Claire’s hand and was ready to leave, but turned to look at Derek first. “Do you need to be picked up later or will you find your own way home?”  
  
“Nah, I’ll take the bus home tonight. I’ve got my Jeet Kune Do practice at seven,” Derek replied.  
  
Noah nodded. “Alright. I’ll see you tonight.” He smiled at his son before looking at Milan. “Thanks again, Milan.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Milan said, smiling shyly.  
  
“Bye!” Claire yelled and waved at them as she followed her mom over to the car, and Dylan also said goodbye as he came along as well.  
  
“Bye,” Derek told them and crossed his arms in front of his chest as he watched them go.  
  
Milan waved back at Claire before he and Derek turned and walked back towards the school while the others went to the car.  
  
Derek had to get back to his lacrosse practice, so he was in a bit of a hurry. Milan couldn’t really keep up with him and he wasn’t going to the sports field anyway, so he stopped all of sudden.  
  
“I, um,” Milan began, and watched as Derek stopped and glanced back at him. “I’m not going to lacrosse, so I’ll be parting ways with you here…”  
  
“Oh. Right.” Derek had almost forgotten that. He moved a hand up and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he avoided looking at Milan. “Uh… Well, thanks for taking care of my sister when you found her.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Milan smiled. “I hope she’ll be okay. I’m sorry you guys have to put up with all those stupid racists. It isn’t fair…”  
  
“And I’m sorry you have to put up with all the sexist comments that the guys throw at you,” Derek told him. His expression turned a little worried as he asked him, “Has anyone bothered you like that lately? Except for those guys earlier… Don’t mind them. Tyler is just an asshole sometimes. Not much brain in that guy.”  
  
Milan chuckled at that before shaking his head. “No, not more than usual… There haven’t been any serious incidents. It pretty much stopped after Warrick and Travis got expelled. I think the others are kind of scared to make such comments to me when there’s someone else around, and I always try not to wander around alone if I can avoid it.”  
  
Derek frowned a little. “Doesn’t that get tiresome? Always having to make sure that others are nearby whenever you wanna go somewhere?”  
  
Milan shrugged. “It does… But unfortunately, that’s what it’s like to be a submissive… Same for girls.”  
  
Derek couldn’t imagine what that was like. It was one of those things he had never really thought about before, not until after that incident with Sarah. It had opened his eyes to a lot of things, and he couldn’t help but think that the world was really screwed up if subs and girls couldn’t go anyone on their own without being afraid. It wasn’t fair at all.  
  
“Well, I gotta go…” Derek announced when he realized he had been away from lacrosse for quite a while now.  
  
“Of course. See you tomorrow,” Milan told him and smiled as he turned to head towards the library.  
  
“You aren’t going home?” Derek asked him when he noticed the direction Milan was heading.  
  
Milan stopped and turned around to look at him again. “Ah, no… I want to do my homework at the library. I mostly do it there…”  
  
“Oh. Uh, well… See you,” Derek said and began running back to the sports field.  
  
“Bye,” Milan told him, smiling as he watched Derek run off before finally turning and continuing his walk towards the library.  
  
The conversation with Milan just now left an awkward feeling in Derek’s chest. Awkward, but also pretty nice. He was still trying to get used to how he wasn’t really himself when he was around Milan – or at least not his usual self. It was all pretty odd to him, but he decided not to think any further about it as he headed back to lacrosse and hoped the coach wouldn’t be too upset with him being gone for so long.

  
***

  
The rest of the lacrosse practice went by as usual, except for the way some of the others stared at Derek sometimes. Derek didn’t really like it. He guessed it was because most of them weren’t used to seeing Derek comforting someone – especially a little girl – and that it had surprised them a little. Tyler and the other guy avoided him like the plague when he returned, but Derek was pretty glad they did. He was still angry at them for making those pointless comments earlier and for behaving like assholes.  
  
Lacrosse practice ended at 6pm, so Derek had a little over an hour to get to his Jeet Kune Do practice. He usually went there with Dwayne, but apparently Dwayne and Stefanie were going to town to have a quick dinner together, and Derek really didn’t feel like joining them and having to watch them share little kisses and touches under the table. He would rather pass on that.  
  
It was 6:10pm when Derek left the locker rooms after showering and changing back to his normal clothes after practice, and he suddenly wondered if Milan was still in the library. He thought about going there to maybe do some homework with him before he had to catch the bus to his practice at 6:42pm. It was a way better option than Dwayne and Stefanie’s romantic dinner.  
  
After pondering for a few moments, Derek decided the library was probably the best option, so he decided to go there and see if Milan was still around.  
  
Derek rarely ever went to the library, but he knew it was a place the students could go at all hours of the day with their access cards. Luckily, the access card for the library was the same as the access card for the locker rooms, so Derek had it on him.  
  
It took only three minutes to walk to the library, which was a pretty big building with two floors. There were a few books in there, but mostly it consisted of reading spaces and computers for the students to use.  
  
When Derek finally reached the library, he almost had second thoughts about it. It wasn’t a place he wanted to be seen at. After pondering for a bit, he forced himself to stick with his decision and went inside.  
  
He glanced around the place as he entered the library, seeing that most tables were empty and that it was pretty quiet in there. A small group of sophomore girls were sitting in a corner near the entrance, and they gave him a funny look when they saw him – the captain of the lacrosse team in the library at this hour – but Derek ignored them and started walking around to find Milan somewhere.  
  
It wasn’t until he went to the far right corner of the library that he found Milan sitting at a small table. The submissive was busy studying algebra, and he stared into the large book with a very concentrated look on his face and with the tip of his pen in his mouth. He hadn’t noticed Derek at all, which was probably because he was listening to music with two small earphones in his ears.  
  
Derek watched him for a few seconds and swallowed a bit at the warm feeling he got in his body as he did so. It was one of the few moments where he could really take in all of Milan’s pretty features without getting caught doing so. And Milan really _was_ pretty. His skin was smooth and clean, but not perfect – no one was perfect – and there were a few birthmarks here and there, like most people had. His dark hair was kind of messy – but not in a bad way – and seemed to get into his eyes a little. It was funny to see him try to make his hair move away from his eyes as he used his mouth to blow air up at it, and his long eyelashes made it a little difficult for Derek to see his bright green eyes from this angle.  
  
After a few seconds, Derek was starting to feel like a creep as he watched Milan like that, so he coughed a bit before going over to wave a hand in front of Milan’s face, getting his attention.  
  
Milan flinched at the sudden motion in front of him, and he sat back in alert and pulled his earphones from his ears as he stared at the person in front of him. However, as soon as he saw that it was Derek, he immediately relaxed, but started glaring when Derek burst out laughing at his reaction.  
  
“You’re a jerk,” Milan growled at him, blushing a bit from embarrassment.  
  
“I know,” Derek smirked and sat down on the chair opposite from Milan. “But I couldn’t resist.”  
  
Milan kept glaring at him before turning off his music and putting away his phone. “I thought you were going to your Joot Kune… something… practice.” He grimaced a bit, knowing he had said it completely wrong, but he just couldn’t remember what it was called.  
  
“Jeet Kune Do,” Derek corrected him with an amused smirk. “And I am. The bus leaves at 6:42, so I still have some time before that. I just didn’t want to join Dwayne and Stefanie for dinner in town… They’re pretty disgusting to be around.”  
  
Milan chuckled at Derek’s grimace. “So the library was your better choice?”  
  
Derek knew the library was the geekiest place for him to be at, and he could feel that Milan was kind of making fun of him for it. “Way better than being around those two lovebirds. _But,_ ” he pointed a firm finger right at Milan, “if you mention to anyone that you saw me here, I’ll kill you.”  
  
Milan’s eyes widened a bit as Derek got a really scary look on his face, but he soon realized that the alpha was joking about it.  
  
“Okay. Noted,” Milan laughed, finding it kind of cute how Derek was trying to act all cool now after he had just realized that the library wasn’t a cool place for an alpha to be at. “Wouldn’t want your pride to get hurt,” he added with a teasing chuckle.  
  
Derek looked a little grumpy about that, but that made Milan giggle more at him.  
  
“So, what are you doing?” Derek asked, trying to sound and look casual and kind of disinterested as he sat back in the chair.  
  
“Studying algebra,” Milan said, pointing at the book which should have made it obvious. “We have our finals soon, after all.”  
  
A loud groan escaped Derek. “God, don’t remind me of that… I’m so gonna fail that stupid subject.” He leaned his head back and slumped down in the chair in defeat. He knew he was screwed when it came to algebra, and he was getting worried if he would pass high school at all.  
  
“It’s not stupid,” Milan argued softly, frowning in offense. After a few seconds he added, “And, um… If you want, I can help you out a bit…?”  
  
Derek leaned his head forward, back to its natural position, and gave Milan a surprised but skeptical look. “I’m pretty sure that no matter what you do, you won’t be able to make me understand it…”  
  
“Well, the finals mostly present us with problems that we’ve already solved in class – or at least similar ones. Algebra has rules, and if you know those rules, then you’ll be able to solve the problem and pass the exam.”  
  
Derek stared at him, still feeling a little skeptical about it. “And you’re sure…?”  
  
Milan nodded. “Yes.”  
  
Derek continued to stare at Milan for a few seconds as the options swirled around inside his head. Finally, he let out a loud sigh and grasped his hair in defeat. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I, uh, could probably use your help…”  
  
And again, Derek just did something he usually never did; he just asked someone for help. Derek felt really conflicted about it, because it wasn’t cool to admit that he needed help with something, but he also really wanted to pass high school and not have to do his senior year over, so he really _could_ use Milan’s help. He just couldn’t help but feel like his pride being torn into pieces inside of him, which wasn’t a nice feeling, but for some reason it didn’t feel all that bad when it was because of Milan.  
  
Milan smiled in victory. “I don’t mind helping you so you can pass the finals. It’s, um… Well, I kind of owe you for helping me with all those guys who’ve been after me… You’ve saved me a lot of times.” He glanced at Derek from under his lashes, trying to hide his blush.  
  
“Um… Well, you don’t have to repay me for that—”  
  
“But I want to,” Milan cut him off, looking determined. When Derek gave him a startled look, Milan blushed again and lowered his head a little. “And, um… It’ll help me too. By going through it with you, I’ll learn more as well, so it’s kind of a win/win situation for us both…”  
  
“I guess…” Derek hadn’t really thought about that before, but Milan had a point. “But I don’t really have time for it today, though. Gotta leave soon for my practice.”  
  
Milan nodded in understanding. “I know. It doesn’t have to be today. It can be whenever you want and have time.”  
  
Derek nodded and there was silence between them for a bit.  
  
It was almost getting awkward until Milan spoke.  
  
“So, um… How is Claire doing? Do you know if she’s feeling better now?”  
  
“Don’t know,” Derek admitted. “I haven’t heard from my family because I’ve been busy with lacrosse, but knowing them, I think they have managed to calm her down and make her feel better by now.”  
  
Milan nodded. “Yeah, she was pretty upset… Poor girl.”  
  
“The world is just full of assholes,” Derek growled softly. “And apparently they start early.”  
  
“I guess that’s the parents’ fault…”  
  
“Most of the time, yeah,” Derek agreed. “And then there are those who get influenced by friends or society.”  
  
Milan kind of had the feeling that Derek was referring to himself now, but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he said something else. “Well, I think Claire felt much better after you helped comfort her today. She really seems to like you.”  
  
The way Milan was smiling at him now made Derek feel both a little flattered but also kind of uncomfortable. This talk was turning kind of girly and he really wasn’t used to that.  
  
Milan noticed the way Derek started shifting and little a little uncomfortable when Milan pointed out that Claire liked him. It made him chuckle. “You don’t have to feel uncomfortable about that. There’s no shame in being liked by someone.”  
  
“Well, it’s not exactly a thing alphas are dying to hear from someone,” Derek muttered, feeling more and more uncomfortable about the topic. He was just about to change the subject when Milan suddenly let out a small chortle.  
  
“You really are so much like my brother,” Milan said quietly, smiling a bit as he stared down at the table.  
  
Derek blinked at him and watched Milan for several seconds, waiting for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. It wasn’t the first time Milan had said that, and Derek was starting to get curious about what exactly he meant by that. After hesitating for a few seconds about whether or not he should pry Milan any further about it, he finally spoke. “So you keep saying, but I really have no idea what you mean.”  
  
Milan lifted his gaze to look at him. He blinked at him a few times as if he had only just noticed that his comment made no sense to Derek because he hadn’t told him the information he needed to know in order to understand it. Again, his eyes drifted towards the table and he began shifting, like the topic was really delicate for him to talk about.  
  
“I…” Milan began, but trailed off. He swallowed before continuing. “Um, my brother was a lot like you. Always very concerned about being tough and never showing any weakness. He’d never cry, never say he was sorry, and always made himself appear strong and confident. I don’t think many people liked him because he was like that. But when he was with me, he… he was different. He would laugh with me, hug me when I needed it, and tuck me into bed at night and read me bedtime stories.” He smiled at the fond memories, but then his face turned sad again. “Every morning before school he would hug me and tell me he loved me, but at soon as he walked out that door, he was the toughest person you would ever meet. No feelings, no love. Only with me.”  
  
Derek listened quietly and watched as Milan reached up to wipe a tear away from his eye. He could tell this was really hard for him to talk about and Derek kind of regretted that he had asked in the first place.  
  
“He was five years older than me,” Milan added next, glancing briefly at Derek before staring into the table again. “It was mostly my dad who made him like that. He always said he didn’t want his alpha son to be a sissy, so he beat it into my brother from an early age that he had to throw away his emotions, otherwise he wasn’t a ‘real alpha’.” His eyebrows furrowed as he said the word, almost as if it he was angry at it. “He shouted at him and sometimes beat him when he saw Dominic – my brother – showing even the smallest kind of affection towards anyone, or did something that was ‘unmanly’ in his eyes. My mom tried to interfere many times, but every time my dad just hit her and told her to shut up, so no one ever really helped my brother.”  
  
Derek frowned and tried to hold back the anger he suddenly felt towards Milan’s father. “Your dad sounds like an asshole.”  
  
“He is,” Milan muttered bitterly. “But anyway, Dominic ended up only ever showing his tough sides to people. Sometimes I think he even preferred it that way, because it gave him the respect he wanted to have from our dad and from others, and it became a core part of his personality. But I knew that deep inside, he could be the most loving alpha you could ever hope to meet. But then one day, three years ago, he was driving his car in a pointless race on the highway. It was some kind of stupid alpha competition with some of his alpha friends. They just wanted to show off and see who was faster, but then it went wrong… One of them lost control of their car and hit the others, and my brother was killed in the crash. All just because he wanted to prove his toughness to the other alphas and to our dad…”  
  
A sob escaped Milan then, and Derek watched helplessly as the submissive started crying.  
  
Derek swallowed as he took in the harsh story he had just been told. He could not begin to imagine the pain Milan must have felt when he lost his brother, or when he had to see his loving brother trapped behind the facade that their father had pushed onto him.  
  
“Sorry,” Milan croaked, taking a deep breath to calm down and stop his crying. “I didn’t mean to start crying…”  
  
“It’s okay. I’m sorry I pried once again,” Derek said, cringing in guilt.  
  
“It’s fine,” Milan sniffled, wiping away the tears and taking another deep breath before he was kind of back to normal. “Anyway, you remind me of my brother because even though you keep putting up that tough facade, you’re still a good person inside. I didn’t think so when I first met you; all I saw was an asshole – sorry for the insult,” he quickly added when he saw Derek frown in offense. “But then I saw you at the mall when you helped Dylan with that bully who was after him, and I noticed how you didn’t bully anyone anymore after you came to this school. That made me realize that you’re not that much of an asshole after all. I know now that it was Steven who kind of dragged you into those things at the previous school, and you probably joined him because you thought that’s what alphas do.” His shifted his gaze to look directly at Derek. “And I’ve realized that you’re actually a pretty nice person, you just don’t like to show it because of your pride, and maybe because you’re a little insecure about being ‘the nice guy’.”  
  
Milan was now smiling at Derek, who was staring back at him in bewilderment.  
  
It was pretty scary how right Milan actually was and how he had pretty much just explained Derek’s whole character. Like he could see right through him. It was both kind of scary, but it also made Derek feel a little flattered when Milan called him a nice person and smiled at him like that. At the same time it was also really uncomfortable to be analyzed like that, and Derek had absolutely no idea how to react to that.  
  
“That’s…” Derek began, but trailed off because there were so many emotions and thoughts inside his head, and he didn’t really know what to say. He just kept blinking at Milan, who snickered a bit when he noticed the look on his face.  
  
“You don’t have to say anything. And I’m sorry if I insulted you,” Milan said, looking a tiny bit nervous about that last part.  
  
Derek blinked at him a few more times before snapping out of it. “Uh, it’s fine. I’ll survive.” He coughed gracelessly as he glanced away from Milan, feeling too awkward to meet his eyes right now. “So, uh…” he began, knowing he had to change the topic to get rid of that awful awkwardness and save what was left of his pride. “What happened to your dad? Is he still around?”  
  
Milan blinked a bit at the question before shaking his head. “No. After my brother died, my dad ended up drinking… And then my mom took me and moved us far away from my dad. I haven’t seen him since. And I don’t want to…” He said the last part with such bitterness it almost made Derek shiver.  
  
“Yeah, I can imagine…” Derek said, eyeing Milan with sympathy. “Sorry about your brother, though… Sounds like the two of you used to be very close.”  
  
“Yeah…” A sad smile appeared on Milan’s face as he thought about the past. “It’s three years ago now that he passed, so it’s been a while. But I still miss him.”  
  
Derek nodded quietly, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t really know what to say.  
  
There was silence between them until suddenly, out the blue, Milan flinched and exclaimed. “Oh no! What’s the time? You’re not late for your bus, are you?”  
  
Derek pulled out his phone from his pocket to see the time; it was 6:33pm. “Nah, the bus leaves in nine minutes and it takes about three minutes to go to the bus stop from here, so I’m good. But I better start going soon…”  
  
“Yeah… Sorry for dragging time out like that.”  
  
“It’s fine,” Derek chuckled. “You’re very talkative once you get started, aren’t you?”  
  
Milan quickly realized that Derek was teasing him, so he stretched out his leg under the table and gave Derek a small kick on the shin.  
  
“Ow,” Derek complained, having not expected that.  
  
“That’s what you get for insulting me,” Milan muttered, glaring at him.  
  
“I wasn’t insulting you,” Derek denied, but his laugh made him pretty unconvincing.  
  
“Yeah, right,” Milan muttered before sitting up straight in his chair again.  
  
Derek chuckled at him before rising from the chair and grabbing his bag as he got ready to leave. “Anyway, I better go…”  
  
“Oh. You haven’t even eaten yet, have you?” Milan asked when he remembered Derek telling him that he hadn’t joined Dwayne and Stefanie for dinner.  
  
Derek froze when he realized that Milan was right. “Oh. Damn. I hadn’t even noticed I was hungry…” He shrugged lightly before saying, “I’ll survive.”  
  
“You can have my last sandwich if you want,” Milan offered just as Derek was about to leave.  
  
Derek stopped in his tracks and looked over at Milan, who was already reaching into his bag for it. “Uh, thanks, but I’ll pass. It’s, uh…”  
  
“Awkward?” Milan finished for him when Derek couldn’t finish the sentence.  
  
“Well, yeah…”  
  
Milan rolled his eyes at him before getting up from his chair and walking over to Derek. He practically shoved the wrapped sandwich into his hands and gave him a stubborn look. “Just take it and eat it. It’s food, it’s not a declaration of love.”  
  
Derek’s eyes widened and suddenly became all flustered as Milan said that.  
  
“Or you can throw it away on your way out if you want,” Milan added. “Either way, it’s not going to drill any holes in your pride to take the sandwich. Besides, I’m not going to eat it anyway; I just had one before you came. Oh, and don’t worry, I didn’t spit in it.”  
  
“Yeah, would be gross if you had,” Derek joked, laughing.  
  
Milan couldn’t stop himself from snickering about that as well.  
  
“Well, um… Thanks,” Derek said, holding up the sandwich awkwardly.  
  
Milan’s face brightened a little at that. “You’re welcome. Have fun at your practice.”  
  
“Thanks,” Derek told him, giving him a smile before turning around to leave.  
  
There were so many different feelings swirling around inside Derek as he left the library. He felt really sad about how Milan had lost his brother and how he had had to watch him struggle with their father’s forced ideals, and he was both a little embarrassed but also amazed by how Milan had described his character earlier. He was right, though; it was difficult for Derek to be ‘the nice guy’ – it had always been difficult for him. It had always been imbedded into him – mostly by himself – to be tough and try to be respected, and it was difficult to be the guy who showed affection and was all domestic, even though there _was_ such a part deep inside him. He hadn’t really noticed that part until Claire was born and then again when he met Milan. But Derek knew it was there, he just wasn’t entirely ready to show that part of himself in front of anyone just yet. Maybe he would never be ready for that, but if he was with the right person then it felt kind of nice and almost natural to be like that.  
  
Derek walked out of the library and headed over to the bus stop outside the school. He kept thinking about his conversation with Milan, and the more he thought it about it, the more that stupid butterfly inside his chest kept flying around in there.  
  
His stomach started growling as he walked through the empty parking lot, so Derek cast a look at the sandwich in his hand before shrugging and opening the wrapping. He took a quick peek inside it to see what it contained; there was some ham, cheese, mayonnaise, tomato, green pepper, and lettuce. It first glance it looked kind of boring and ordinary, but when he took a bite from it, he realized it was actually pretty good. So good he managed to eat it all just before the bus came – it wasn’t allowed to eat on the bus anyway.  
  
As Derek got into the bus, his thoughts were still only on Milan and their conversation. No matter what he did, he just couldn’t get Milan’s face out of his head, and he couldn’t wipe the smile off his own face whenever he thought of Milan and felt the way that butterfly was swirling around inside of him.  
  
That was when he realized he was really fucking screwed.

  
***

  
It was 9:30pm when Derek came home that night. It was usually at that time that he came home after his martial arts practice, but mostly Claire and Dylan had both gone to bed at this hour when he came home – but tonight they were both awake.  
  
Derek was a little confused when he entered the house and was met by Claire, who ran over to him in her pajamas.  
  
“Derek! You’re finally home!” Claire grinned, coming over to hug him.  
  
“Whoa,” Derek exclaimed as Claire hugged him all of sudden. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”  
  
Claire lifted her head to look up at him. “I can’t fall asleep…”  
  
Derek frowned, and he looked up when he heard his dad coming up behind him.  
  
“Yeah, she’s been tossing around in her bed since 8pm, so I’m letting her run around a bit until she gets sleepier,” Jayden explained. He was standing in the doorway to the living room behind Derek, and smiled a bit as he watched them.  
  
“Oh.” Derek glanced down at Claire and felt a little worried. He knew it was probably today’s events that made it difficult for her to fall asleep.  
  
Noah and Dylan appeared in the entrance hall as well, greeting Derek when they saw that he was home.  
  
“And I can’t sleep either ‘cause she’s been running around the house like crazy,” Dylan said, yawning a bit.  
  
Claire giggled guiltily, and Derek was relieved to see that she seemed to be in a better mood now than she had been earlier.  
  
“Going to bed at nine, like you usually do, is pretty early anyway, Dylan,” Derek murmured as he took off his shoes and put his bag away in the corner.  
  
Dylan gave him an offended frown. “Well, that’s usually when I start feeling sleepy. And it’s not like I go to sleep right after I go to my room at night, you know. Sometimes I do some homework first.”  
  
“Oh, I didn’t know you got sleepy from studying? I thought you liked being a nerd,” Derek said, teasing his little brother a bit.  
  
“At least I’m not a jerk like you,” Dylan muttered as he scowled at his brother.  
  
Jayden laughed as he got between them. “Okay, enough, boys. Don’t be the new Derek and Nathan in the house.”  
  
“I’m still me, though,” Derek pointed out before grabbing his bag heading for the stairs. Before he could go though, Claire suddenly spoke.  
  
“Derek, please make Milan be your boyfriend!” Claire blurted all of sudden before her brother could go.  
  
Derek almost tripped on the steps, and he quickly swirled around to stare at his sister with wide, shocked eyes and a flustered face. _“What?!”_  
  
Noah and Jayden looked shocked by Claire’s sudden outburst, while Dylan laughed at Derek’s face.  
  
“He’s so nice,” Claire explained, smiling shyly and curling her tail as she looked up at Derek. “When you talked to mom on the phone, Milan helped me feel better. He also doesn’t get invited to birthdays often either, and he’s never even had a birthday party for himself before… And I like him a lot.”  
  
Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at his daughter’s random but innocent words, and at Derek’s shocked and flustered face. “Well, just because you like him doesn’t mean that he’ll be Derek’s boyfriend…”  
  
“I know,” Claire said, looking a little ashamed now. “But I’d like him to be…”  
  
Derek groaned loudly at his sister’s embarrassing outburst. Why did she have to blurt out such things in front of everyone?  
  
“Anyway, I’m going to bed,” Derek announced, trying not to let anyone see the slight blush on his cheeks. “See you tomorrow.” He turned and ran up the stairs fast, eager to get the hell away from that conversation and the way Dylan was snickering at him. It annoyed him to no end.  
  
“Good night,” Noah yelled after him and felt a little sorry for Derek that Claire had embarrassed him like that, but he still couldn’t help but chuckle about it.  
  
“If anyone can make Derek feel embarrassed, it’s Claire,” Dylan snickered, finding it all very amusing.  
  
Claire didn’t know whether to be ashamed or proud of that, so she just giggled innocently as she twisted her body from side to side.  
  
Jayden laughed and patted Claire’s head lovingly. “Yeah, she really needs a filter, doesn’t she?”  
  
“Sorry…” Claire murmured, shifting in shame.  
  
Jayden just chuckled at that.  
  
“Anyway, are you ready to try to see if you can sleep now, Claire?” Noah asked her.  
  
“I don’t know…” Claire murmured, staring at the ground.  
  
“Well, you can try, okay?” Jayden suggested, ruffling her hair a bit. “I’ll read you another bedtime story.”  
  
The offer of being read a bedtime story seemed to cheer Claire up, and she practically started jumping up the stairs to her room because she was so eager for a bedtime story.  
  
The others laughed at that, and Jayden turned to place a kiss on Noah’s cheek before he went upstairs. “Let’s see if I can manage to get her to sleep this time.”  
  
“I hope so. Otherwise I’m gonna have trouble waking her up tomorrow,” Noah said, blushing a bit as Jayden placed another sweet kiss on his cheek in Dylan’s presence.  
  
Jayden just chuckled at him before turning to head upstairs. However, he stopped to look at Dylan first. “And good night, Dylan. You’ll probably be in bed when I’ve managed to make Claire fall asleep.”  
  
“Yeah, probably,” Dylan chuckled. “Good night, Dad.”  
  
Jayden smiled at them both before walking up the stairs, hoping he would have some success with making Claire sleep this time.  
  
Dylan yawned loudly after his dad had left, and stretched his arms and wings a little. “I think I better go find my pillow now…”  
  
“Yeah, you do look sleepy,” Noah chuckled.  
  
Dylan finished stretching and looked at his right arm. “I’m really glad I got that stupid cast off, though. Now I can finally get dressed again. I was getting really tired of Derek’s stupid comments…”  
  
“You know how he is. He likes to poke fun at such things.”  
  
“Yeah,” Dylan snorted. “Anyway, good night, Mom.”  
  
“Good night. Sleep well,” Noah told him as he watched Dylan disappear upstairs, leaving him alone on the first floor.  
  
Today had been sort of a stressful day. Noah had been absolutely terrified when he learned that Claire had gone missing from the daycare. It really wasn’t like her to walk away like that, but knowing what had happened, he could understand why she had done it. He was glad that she knew the way to Derek’s school, otherwise he was afraid that they would still have been out there, looking for her.  
  
But it was really difficult to know that his children were going through such hard times all because they were angel/demon hybrids like him. He knew that people had a better view on the hybrids today than they had had when Noah was a kid, but there were still many families who didn’t approve of angels and demons having children together and who taught their kids that they should stay away from those hybrids. It made Noah angry but also sad to know that.  
  
Noah went to feed the cats in the kitchen before he decided to head to bed as well. He hoped Claire would be able to fall asleep soon so he and Jayden had some time to cuddle together in bed before it was time to sleep.  
  
It was nice that Jayden was more around again, and that he was there to help Claire deal with the difficult day she had had today. Noah knew it wouldn’t the last time that one of the kids experienced a setback like that because of being hybrids, but he hoped they would learn to cope with it like he had.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much more Derek/Milan in this chapter! Hope you enjoyed! :) There will be more focus on them in the coming chapters.
> 
> Also, I had some bad luck when I wrote this chapter... My Word decided to do a trick on me and was saving my progress in some temp file. And when I closed it, all that I had been writing for the past 2 hours got lost because the temp file was nowhere to be found. So everything from the scene where Claire showed up at Derek's school and then until just after Noah and Dylan picked up Claire and parted ways with Derek and Milan was lost... And I had to rewrite it all. Some of it turned out better than the first try, but it was difficult to get it everything right again. Thank god I could still remember what I had written, haha.  
> I just hope Word won't do that to me again, because that was a waste of time...
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! :) I will try to post more soon, but December is so busy so it might take a little while.


	71. Chapter 71

**April 2072 (Noah is 45 (almost 46), Jayden is 47, Nathan is 22, Derek is 17 (almost 18), Dylan is 14, Claire is 10 years old).**  
  
Two weeks had now passed and Derek was realizing more and more that he was absolutely screwed when it came to Milan.  
  
The submissive’s face kept popping up in his mind all the time. When he was getting ready for school in the mornings, when he was bored in class, whenever he saw one of the other submissives at the school, when he went to bed at night, and worst of all when he was in the shower. And Derek had no idea how to deal with it. It was too embarrassing to talk to anyone about – even Dwayne – and eventually he had to let go of his stubbornness and denial and just see things for how they truly were; he had a major crush on Milan and it wasn’t going to go away any time soon.  
  
There was one other thing that kept weighing on Derek’s mind lately and that was finals. He really needed to prepare for the final exams of high school, and algebra was the subject he needed to study the most, because it was his worst subject. He knew he had no choice but to follow up on Milan’s offer to have the submissive help him, even if it kind of hurt his pride.  
  
The problem was to find Milan and talk to him in private. Lately, Milan was always hanging out with his human friend Annie, and Derek didn’t really want to approach him and ask him about algebra when she was around.  
  
Finally, in the middle of April, Derek saw the perfect opportunity to talk to Milan alone and ask him if the offer of helping him with algebra was still valid.  
  
Annie wasn’t around for once, so Derek managed to run up to Milan as the submissive headed towards he library to study after school.  
  
“Hey,” Derek called as he ran over to Milan, who was walking along a small path system that led from the main building to the library. It was pretty empty at this hour, so no one was around to see them, and there were a lot of trees and bushes nearby the path so that they weren’t visible from a distance.  
  
Milan flinched a bit and turned around to see who it was, but he instantly relaxed when he saw that it was Derek. “Hi,” he smiled at him and let go of his shoulder bag, which he had clutched nervously against himself when he had turned around.  
  
Derek smiled back at him briefly before rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “So, uh… I wanted to hear if your offer is still valid.”  
  
Milan’s eyes widened. “My what?”  
  
“Your offer. You said you wouldn’t mind helping me out a bit with algebra.”  
  
“Oh. Right.” Milan relaxed again and seemed kind of relieved when he finally knew what Derek was talking about.  
  
“I, uh…. I hate admitting this, but I could really use some help before finals,” Derek muttered, hating how embarrassing it was to say that. He quickly buried his hands in his jeans pockets, trying to appear cool and not embarrassed at all. But he had the feeling that Milan saw right through him anyway. The submissive was pretty good at that.  
  
Milan chuckled softly and nodded. “Yeah, I don’t mind helping you. Like I said to you a few weeks ago, it will help me too.”  
  
“Cool,” Derek grinned, shifting awkwardly.  
  
“Um, maybe you want to do it on a weekend?” Milan asked carefully. “I, uh… I know you’re busy with lacrosse and martial arts on the weekdays, and I think it will take a few hours to go through algebra, so…”  
  
“Right.” Derek groaned a bit and tried to think of a good time. “Argh, crap. This Saturday I’m supposed to babysit Claire. My parents are going to some event with my Mom’s work, and Dylan is gonna study at a friend’s house, so I’m on babysitting duty… And Sunday might be busy as well…”  
  
“Oh. Um, well, maybe I can come to your house on Saturday? I don’t mind that Claire is around as well…”  
  
“Well, she can be a little distracting… But I suppose I can just ask her to watch movies all day or something. That should keep her busy.”  
  
Milan laughed softly at that. “Okay. So, I come to your house on Saturday then? At what time do you want me there?”  
  
Derek shrugged lightly. “10 is fine. My parents leave in the early morning and so does Dylan, I think. Algebra is probably gonna take a while, so we’ll need the time…”  
  
Milan smiled and grabbed the strap of his shoulder bag as he began shifting a bit with joy. “Okay. I’ll be there at 10.”  
  
“Cool,” Derek grinned. He shifted a bit when it was starting to feel awkward, and he slowly started taking a few steps back as he prepared to leave. “And, uh, thanks.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Milan smiled.  
  
Derek quickly turned around and began walking away, not wanting to suddenly start staring at Milan’s pretty smile. It was ridiculous how silly he was starting to behave around the submissive, and he muttered a few curses at himself as he began heading towards the sports field to play lacrosse.  
  
Milan was smiling to himself as he continued his journey to the library, but then he suddenly heard some loud voices behind him that attracted his attention. He looked back and noticed that the voices were coming from the direction that Derek was in.  
  
“Oh, look who’s here,” came a sudden voice in front of Derek.  
  
Derek stopped in his tracks and looked up to see two other alphas standing in front of him. He almost flinched when he saw that the two guys were none other than Steven and Miguel.  
  
“What the hell are you doing here?!” Derek growled demandingly at Steven, feeling anything but happy to see him again. So many thoughts started swirling around inside his mind as he tried to figure out what the hell Steven and Miguel were doing at his school.  
  
Steven didn’t manage to reply before someone suddenly came running over to them.  
  
“Derek!” Dwayne yelled as he ran over to him. “There you are, man! I’ve been looking all over for you!” He laughed a bit as he came over to Derek, but stopped when he saw his friend staring firmly at something in front of him and how his entire body was all tense, like he was ready for a fight. Dwayne frowned and followed Derek’s gaze, and his eyes widened in terror when he finally saw Steven and Miguel. “Oh shit.”  
  
“Hi, Dwayne,” Steven greeted him with a mean smirk and a casual wave. Next to him, Miguel’s lips curled into an equally cruel smirk as he stared Dwayne as well.  
  
“I asked what the hell you’re doing here!” Derek snarled when Steven still didn’t reply to his question.  
  
“Don’t be so rude, Derek,” Steven told him with an eerily calm voice as he frowned at him with offense. “I’m just here to look at the lacrosse team. After all, we’re going to compete against each other next month.”  
  
“ _You_ play lacrosse?” Dwayne asked, raising his wings in a defensive stance as he stood next to Derek. Both he and Derek were glaring at Steven and Miguel with spite, and the other alphas’ eyes weren’t exactly friendly either.  
  
“Yeah. Imagine my surprise when I read the names of our opposing team and spotted _your_ names among them,” Steven said, his voice like a small growl while his eyes sharpened with anger. “And apparently, little Derek here is the team captain. Isn’t that sweet.”  
  
Derek let out a loud growl and took a threatening step forward, but Dwayne reached out to grab his arm, holding him back.  
  
“Whoa, let’s not do that,” Dwayne told Derek, swallowing nervously as he glanced between Derek and Steven. He knew how much Derek despised Steven and Miguel after everything that had happened at the previous school, but he was still surprised to see Derek this agitated and angry. He hadn’t seen him so riled up for a long time, and it was kind of scary how Derek’s eyes were fixed on Steven like he wanted to murder him. Dwayne couldn’t really blame him, though.  
  
“Oh, there he is,” Steven laughed mockingly as he looked at Derek. “The short-tempered Derek I remember. I’ve heard rumors you don’t pick fights anymore. How come? Have you turned into a pussy?”  
  
“ _You’ll_ be a pussy when I’m done with you!” Derek snarled, and was ready to throw himself right at Steven if Dwayne wasn’t still holding him back.  
  
However, when Steven and Miguel started laughing mockingly at him, Derek lost it. He snarled as he wrestled his arm free from Dwayne’s grip, but before he could throw himself at Steven, Milan suddenly showed up right in front of him.  
  
“Derek, no!” Milan shouted, getting in front of Derek and placing a hand in the middle of his chest to hold him back. “He’s not worth it!”  
  
Nothing could have stopped Derek from pushing Milan aside and attacking Steven if that was what he wanted. Milan was in no way capable of holding Derek back physically – he was too small and weak for that – but the moment Milan’s hand touched Derek’s chest, it was like he had just hit his off switch.  
  
Dwayne’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw Derek stand down immediately; his wings went back to their half-sharp state and lowered into a defensive stance rather than offensive, and he even took a small step back. Dwayne was in total disbelief at what he had just seen, because Derek wasn’t someone who would calm down so easily – it was almost impossible. Steven and Miguel seemed notice this as well.  
  
Milan let out a small sigh of relief when Derek stood down. For a moment he had been really scared that Derek was too far gone to listen to him and would have just shoved him out of the way, but he hadn’t.  
  
When Derek was calm, Milan slowly removed his hand from Derek’s chest and gave him a small smile of relief.  
  
“Wow, what was that?” Miguel laughed at what he had just witnessed.  
  
“Are you taking orders from that little bitch?” Steven asked with the most mocking voice Derek had ever heard from him, before he cracked up like Miguel. “Oh, wait. I know you,” he suddenly added as he pointed at Milan. “You’re that little bitch who slapped Derek once. Derek must _really_ like your ass if you’re all it takes to stop him like that.”  
  
Derek growled and raised his wings at the way Steven was talking to Milan, but Milan just narrowed his eyes and slowly turned to face Steven and Miguel.  
  
“No. I just thought it would be a shame if you came home to your mommy tonight looking like an ugly, beat-up punching bag once Derek is finished with you,” Milan muttered dryly as he glared back at Steven.  
  
Milan’s words came as a surprise to everyone.  
  
Steven and Miguel both looked startled, while Dwayne starting cracking up.  
  
Derek had to try to not crack up like Dwayne, because he didn’t really want things with Steven to escalate, but he couldn’t stop the amused smirk that appeared on his face.  
  
“Why, you little—!” Steven snarled in outrage and stepped forward fast and threateningly.  
  
Derek immediately pushed Milan behind himself, feeling the submissive grab his arm and cling to him as Steven’s reaction frightened him. Just when Derek was sure that Steven was going to attack, there was a sudden loud, deafening whistle that stung their ears.  
  
Derek looked to the side and spotted their lacrosse coach standing a few feet away from them, his eyes blazing as he glared between Derek, Dwayne, Steven, and Miguel.  
  
“What the hell is going on back here?!” the coached yelled, growling at them all. “Fighting is not allowed at school! You got a problem with each other, take out at the game next month! But for now, get outta here! All of you!”  
  
Steven stepped back, but looked really annoyed to have been interrupted before he could punch Derek. Miguel looked the same, and the two of them glared Derek and Dwayne down before walking away.  
  
Derek followed them with his eyes, a low growl rumbling in his chest as he watched them go.  
  
Once Steven and Miguel were gone, the coach turned to look at Derek and Dwayne. “What the hell are you guys even doing back here? Practice is in ten minutes! Get your butts moving!”  
  
“Yes, sir!” Dwayne said, immediately straightening up.  
  
Derek didn’t speak, and the coach eyed him oddly before turning and walking towards the sports field, leaving Derek, Dwayne, and Milan alone on the path.  
  
“Whoa,” Dwayne said once they were finally alone. “I had really not expected that Steven and Miguel would be on the opposing team of our next lacrosse game with another school.”  
  
“Yeah, me neither,” Derek said between gritted teeth.  
  
“That’s not gonna be fun.” Dwayne cringed at the thought alone. “What the hell are we gonna do?”  
  
“Don’t know,” Derek muttered. “Kick their asses like we do with any other team, I guess?”  
  
“But if we win, they will _kill us._ ”  
  
“They will kill us either way,” Derek said, snapping a bit. When he saw Dwayne taking a cautious step back, Derek let out a sigh. “Sorry. I’m just… really fucking angry right now.”  
  
“Yeah, I know. So am I.” Dwyane glanced briefly at Milan, who was still standing next to Derek, before he looked at Derek again. “So, uh… I’ll go to the locker room and change. See you there soon?”  
  
“Yeah, I’ll be right there,” Derek murmured.  
  
Dwayne nodded before leaving, glancing back over his shoulder once before disappearing behind the trees on his way to the sports field.  
  
Once he was alone with Milan, Derek’s body posture became relaxed again and he let out another deep sigh, though this time it was calmer.  
  
“Thanks… for stopping me before I did something stupid,” Derek murmured and glanced briefly at Milan.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Milan said quietly.  
  
“You really shouldn’t have done that, though. I could have hurt you.”  
  
“I know,” Milan said, staring at the ground for a bit. “I just… I didn’t want you to get into more trouble. You could have gotten thrown off the lacrosse team for attacking Steven like that, or maybe even expelled from the school. I didn’t want to see that happen… Especially not because of some stupid guy like Steven.”  
  
“Yeah, he’s not really worth it. He’s ruined my life enough as it is,” Derek muttered and looked away.  
  
Milan looked at him, but Derek was still staring into the distance.  
  
After a few seconds, Derek coughed to break the awkwardness and started shifting nervously. “Anyway, I gotta go. Still have lacrosse practice. But I better follow you to the library, just in case Steven and Miguel come back here.”  
  
“Ah, you don’t have to—”  
  
“Just shut up and accept the offer,” Derek told him, although in a playful tone so that Milan knew he wasn’t trying to be rude. “It’s gonna make me feel more at ease, so just do it for me.”  
  
Milan let out a small laugh. “Okay. If it’s for you, then I will.” He gave Derek a teasing smirk before turning on his heels and heading back in the direction of the library.  
  
“Oi. Now you just make it sound like I’m a girl,” Derek grumbled as he followed behind him on the path.  
  
Milan glanced over his shoulder at him with a playful grin. “Are you not?”  
  
“Shut up,” Derek growled softly. “ _You’re_ the girl here.”  
  
Milan laughed when he noticed how embarrassed and pride-hurt Derek sounded.  
  
They walked to the library together, and Milan still seemed a little amused about how he had teased Derek earlier. Derek acted pretty grumpy about it, although the playfulness between them made him feel so much better after all the tension with Steven. Milan just had a way of making Derek feel relaxed, and right now Derek really appreciated that.  
  
After making sure that Milan arrived at the library safely, Derek parted ways with him and headed back towards the sports field. He ran most of the way because he knew he was already late for practice.  
  
When he reached the locker rooms and went to change his clothes, Dwayne was still in there, getting dressed while everyone else had gone outside already.  
  
“Oh. I was wondering where you went,” Dwayne said when Derek showed up. He eyed Derek cautiously as he watched his friend take off his clothes fast and replace them with his training clothes. After a few moments of watching Derek out of the corner of his eye, Dwayne spoke again. “So… What is the deal between you and that sub?”  
  
“What deal? There’s no deal between us,” Derek snorted as he closed his locker, maybe a bit harder than necessary. He was done putting on his training shirt and pants, and now he just needed to put on the lacrosse gear.  
  
“You know what I mean,” Dwayne said, trying to get Derek’s attention by getting in front of him, but Derek turned the other way every time. “The way he stopped you from charging at Steven… _No one_ does that! Not with you; you’re way too short-tempered to calm down so easily. And I’m not stupid, Derek! I’ve _seen_ the way you look at him in algebra and P.E. class.”  
  
Dwayne reached out to grab Derek to make him look at him already, but when he touched Derek’s arm, Derek let out a loud snarl and pushed him off. Dwayne stepped back in surprise, blinking at him.  
  
Derek glared at Dwayne for a few seconds until he finally gave in. A deep sigh escaped him as he reached up to grasp his own hair. “Sorry about that. I just… I’m so fucking screwed, man.”  
  
Dwayne frowned. “Screwed how?”  
  
“Milan!” Derek exclaimed, like it was obvious. “I can’t get him outta my head! It’s killing me!”  
  
It took Dwayne a few seconds to understand what Derek meant, and when he did, he suddenly burst out laughing. “Oh my god! You’re totally in love!”  
  
Derek growled and pointed a finger at him as a warning. “Do _not_ use that word.”  
  
“But you are!” Dwayne laughed. “I never thought I would see this day coming!”  
  
Having Dwayne laugh at him was really getting on Derek’s nerves. He was really starting to question his decision of revealing his darkest secret to his best friend, because he did not sign up for getting laughed at. He couldn’t help but think that his friend was a real jerk for laughing at him like that when Derek had just told him a secret that’s been weighing on his mind for so long.  
  
“Sorry,” Dwayne snickered when he realized how uncomfortable his laughter was making Derek feel. “I’m not laughing to make fun of you, I’m laughing ‘cause I’m happy for you! This is a _good_ thing!”  
  
“ _How_ is it a good thing? I feel like such a girl…”  
  
“Well, if there is one thing I’ve learned since I started dating Stefanie, it’s that it’s a girl – or a sub, or any partner in general – who makes you a real alpha. _They’re_ the one who bring out the best qualities in you, the one who gives you a purpose. Alphas protect, and who is better for you to protect than your partner? Look at this this way; you’re both pieces of the same puzzle and together you’re complete. Whole. Whatever. And once you’re a whole person, you’re also a whole alpha.”  
  
Derek eyed Dwayne with a somewhat skeptical but thoughtful look as he listened to his friend’s words. Maybe Dwayne did have a point. Maybe this was why he felt so content around Milan? Because they were opposites, and the alpha part in Derek was a perfect match for Milan’s submissive part. Like two pieces of a puzzle, like Dwayne said.  
  
Derek almost got dizzy thinking about it.  
  
“That’s the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard you say, Dwayne,” Derek murmured, grimacing a bit at the way all that thinking made his head hurt. “You sure you aren’t growing girl parts soon?”  
  
“Hey!” Dwayne protested, and smacked Derek on the arm with a small laugh for insulting him like that. “But I _do_ have a point. Since I found Stefanie, it’s just like I found a part of myself that was missing… And now I feel whole. Girly or not, I think that’s how it works.”  
  
“Yeah, okay, I got it,” Derek said, groaning a bit. “But still… I’m not… I can’t…” He let a loud sigh before he finally said, “I’m at a total loss of what to do about it. Not to mention that I haven’t got the slightest idea what to do in a relationship… What do couples even do?”  
  
Dwayne shrugged a bit. “Everything. Eat together, sleep together, talk to each other, watch movies, go out to do fun stuff together, laugh together, pull pranks on the other, and then, you know, lots of sex.” He smirked at the last thing and could swear Derek almost blushed a bit.  
  
“Yeah, I didn’t need to know that last part… Gives me horrible images of you and Stefanie. Ugh.”  
  
“You were the one who asked,” Dwayne laughed.  
  
Derek just glared a him before muttering, “Still, I have no idea what to do about it. What the hell am I supposed to do about Milan now without behaving like a total girl?”  
  
Dwayne chuckled at him and reached out to pat Derek’s shoulder. “You’ll find out.”  
  
Derek almost felt like smacking Dwayne for giving him such useless advice, but then the coach suddenly came into the room and yelled at them for not being on the field yet.  
  
They quickly put on their gear and ran outside to play.  
  
Derek was relieved that they didn’t have the game with Steven’s school until next month, but he already dreaded it. He had hoped that he’d never cross paths with him again, but of course fate seemed to want it differently.  
  
He tried to push both Milan and Steven out of his head and focus on lacrosse instead, but Dwayne’s words from earlier kept echoing in the back his mind throughout the entire game.

  
***

  
A few days later it was finally Saturday.  
  
Noah and Jayden were in their bedroom, getting ready to leave for the event that Noah’s kindergarten was hosting. It was an event for employees and their mates, and it was mostly to welcome the three new employees and make everyone get to know each other better. They were going to do some fun activities together, and in the afternoon there was barbeque and drinks for everyone.  
  
“Feeling nervous?” Jayden asked Noah as he helped his mate brush his wings to make his feathers look nice after showering and blow-drying them earlier.  
  
“Not really,” Noah said, humming a bit at the nice feeling of Jayden brushing his feathers. “We’ve had such events before and they’re always pretty fun. And I’ve known the new people for like three weeks already and they’re nice, so I’m not really nervous.”  
  
“Right,” Jayden chuckled. “Do you know what they are gonna make us do today?”  
  
“No. My boss is keeping it a secret. She likes when things are a surprise.”  
  
“Yeah, that’s just like her…” Jayden smiled as he gently brushed a few feathers that seemed a bit entangled. “Lucas is coming too, right?”  
  
Noah nodded.  
  
“How’s it going with his grandkid?”  
  
Lucas’ daughter Nina had a little baby girl last year. She had gotten pregnant by accident just after finishing high school, and now she was a single mom going through college.  
  
“Things are pretty good, as far as I know,” Noah replied. “Nina is still living with Lucas and Caleb while studying. I don’t think she has any plans about moving any time soon.”  
  
“Yeah, moving when you’re a single mom in college is probably not the easiest…”  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
They both looked up when they heard Claire knocking on their door and giggling outside.  
  
“Come in,” Jayden said loudly.  
  
Claire opened the door and jumped over to them. She had a big smile on her face – the kind of smile that usually meant she was going to ask permission about something. “Mommy, Daddy… Can Derek and me order pizza tonight?”  
  
“Yeah, sure. I already gave Derek some money for that,” Jayden said, chuckling a bit.  
  
Claire beamed. “Yay! Thank you!” She was just about to run out of the room again, but when she turned and titled her head a bit as she watched what her father was doing. “Wow, you’re making Mom’s feathers look so nice!”  
  
Noah smiled at the compliment about his feathers and blushed a bit.  
  
“Thanks,” Jayden grinned. “Gotta make sure Mommy is pretty for today, right?”  
  
Claire nodded in agreement. “I still wish I could come too…”  
  
“I know, sweetie…” Noah sighed. “But children are not allowed to join… Maybe we’ll go do something together another weekend, okay? Maybe a museum or a water park or something?”  
  
“Yay! That would be nice!”  
  
“Alright, let’s not plan too much just yet,” Jayden chuckled before looking down at Claire. “You’re still grounded, remember?”  
  
Claire’s joy turned into annoyance then, and she crossed her arms in front of her chest with a defiant snort.  
  
Last weekend, Claire had had her friend Maria over for a visit at the house, and the two girls had eaten all the ice cream in the freezer without permission. They had simply sneaked back and forth between Claire’s room and the kitchen and had smuggled it up there to eat. One entire box of vanilla ice cream, half a box of strawberry ice cream, and two popsicles. It usually wasn’t like Claire to do such things, but she had apparently thought she could get away with it.  
  
“Don’t look at me like that, young lady. It was your own fault,” Jayden said when he noticed the way Claire was looking at him.  
  
“I know… I’m sorry,” Claire murmured before turning to leave.  
  
Noah watched her go with a sad smile. “I still don’t understand why she did that…”  
  
“What? Stealing ice cream?” Jayden asked. When Noah nodded, Jayden sighed. “Well, I guess every kid is a little rebellious sometimes… And maybe Maria helped talk her into it. Both girls have a sweet tooth, so…”  
  
“I guess,” Noah murmured.  
  
“Anyway,” Jayden said, switching the topics. He put the brush away before taking a close look at Noah’s wings. A wide grin appeared on his face as he studied the outcome of his brushing. “You look absolutely gorgeous now. Like always – bit just a little bit more than usual.”  
  
Noah spread his wings and inspected them. They really did look nice, and he smiled up at Jayden with gratitude. “Thank you. Though, you didn’t have to make them look _this_ tidy. They’re probably gonna get messed up during the day anyway.”  
  
Smiling, Jayden went forward and placed his hands on Noah’s hips, pulling him closer. “I know, but I wanted to.” He leaned down to capture Noah’s lips in a sweet kiss, humming as the submissive kissed him back.  
  
Their relationship was prospering once again after Jayden had fixed all the financial and administrative stuff at the restaurant and now had more time to spend with his family again. He still had to take care of that stuff, but it had been real chaos in the beginning, but that was over now. Noah enjoyed having his mate around more often, and he knew the kids did too.  
  
They had been kissing for about ten seconds when they suddenly heard someone at the door.  
  
“Ugh,” came Derek’s disgusted voice from behind them. “Why did I even bother to look in here?”  
  
Jayden pulled away from Noah to glance over at Derek. “I don’t know. Why did you? This is _our_ bedroom and we’re allowed to do whatever in here. Stop looking inside if you’re scared of what you might see.”  
  
Noah blushed and felt a little awkward about how Derek had seen their intimate kiss.  
  
Derek was still grimacing, but he knew his dad was right. “Well, I just wanted to find you and ask you if you can give me a little bit more money for the pizza tonight?”  
  
Jayden raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “Why? Are two pizzas not enough for you and Claire?”  
  
“Well, I, um… Milan is gonna come by,” Derek said slowly, reaching up to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. “I asked him to help me study for our finals in algebra, so he’s coming over today… And, uh, it might take a while. I just want to have enough money to buy a pizza for him as well, if he’s still here by dinner time.”  
  
Both Jayden and Noah looked surprised when Derek mentioned that Milan was coming by.  
  
“Really? You actually asked him to help you with your studies?” Jayden asked, not knowing whether to be amazed or think that Derek was telling a lie, because it was really unusual for him to ask for help like that.  
  
Derek gave him an annoyed scowl. “Yeah, I asked him to help me out. So what? Would you rather I fail my finals?”  
  
“No, it just surprises me, that’s all – but in a good way,” Jayden said, giving Derek a proud smile. “Sure, I’ll give you some extra money for that.”  
  
“Thanks,” Derek said and turned to leave before things got more awkward.  
  
After Derek had left, Jayden turned to look at Noah, and they both had the same stunned expression on their faces.  
  
“Wow. Sometimes he’s still like a completely different person,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
“Yeah, he is,” Noah agreed. He felt really proud of Derek’s progress. He just hoped that his son would behave himself around Milan. As a submissive, Noah knew it could be pretty scary to be alone with an alpha – especially someone as macho as Derek could be. Noah didn’t know Milan all that well, but he did have the feeling that he and Derek got along rather well. Maybe he didn’t have to be worried at all.  
  
After Jayden and Noah were done doing feathers and hair and whatever else they had to do before going, they were finally ready to leave the house and go to the event.  
  
Dylan, Claire, and Derek gathered in the entrance hall to say goodbye to their parents as they put on their shoes and got ready to go.  
  
“Remember, no ice cream for Claire,” Jayden told Derek firmly while scowling slightly towards Claire.  
  
“Yeah, I got it,” Derek said.  
  
Claire pouted and crossed her arms, clearly not happy.  
  
Dylan chuckled a bit at his sister’s attitude, but he knew she deserved it and he didn’t feel all that bad for her.  
  
“And don’t open the door to strangers,” Noah reminded Derek.  
  
“Yeah. Got it, Mom. I’m not five,” Derek said as he rolled his eyes.  
  
“I know, but I want to make sure that you both understand that.” Noah glanced from Derek to Claire.  
  
“I know. I won’t open it for anyone!” Claire promised.  
  
Jayden and Noah went to hug Claire and Dylan goodbye, while Derek wasn’t the hugging type. Jayden patted him on the shoulder instead, and Noah briefly touched Derek’s arm and gave him a smile before leaving.  
  
Claire and Dylan stood in the doorway and waved goodbye at them, while Derek went to his room for a bit until Dylan had to leave.  
  
Dylan wasn’t surprised to see Derek disappearing the moment he saw the chance for it, but he hoped that his big brother wouldn’t do that when he was alone with Claire.  
  
It was 9:20am now, and Dylan was planning to go to Benjamin’s house at around 10, so Derek would have about forty minutes in his room until he had to take care of Claire on his own.  
  
Meanwhile, however, Dylan looked after Claire and made sure she didn’t do any mischief.

  
***

  
At 9:58am, Dylan was preparing to leave in a few minutes. He had just packed his laptop into his bag and brought it downstairs, and now he was making sure that he had his keys and everything on him. When it all checked out, he turned to walk up the stairs to tell Derek that he was leaving, but then the doorbell suddenly rang.  
  
Dylan frowned, wondering who it could be. He knew not to open the door to just anyone, so he went over and peeked through the peephole in the door. He couldn’t really tell who it was because the person was looking down, but he could tell that it was a small person.  
  
Deciding the person wasn’t a threat, Dylan went and opened the door. He was pretty surprised to see Milan standing on the other side of the door, blinking at him.  
  
“Hey,” Dylan greeted him with a surprised but polite smile.  
  
“Hi,” Milan replied. He shifted shyly as he stood outside the door, but smiled as he glanced up at Dylan. “I, um… Derek asked me to come and help him with some algebra today.”  
  
“Really?” Dylan was pretty stunned to hear that. “He, uh, didn’t mention that to me.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
“But please come inside,” Dylan said, smiling as he stepped aside to make space for the submissive.  
  
“Thanks.” Milan gave him a grateful but shy smile as he slowly entered the house. He looked a little nervous and held onto the strap of his shoulder bag while glancing around.  
  
Dylan closed and locked the door before turning to look at him. “Derek is upstairs. He tends to spend most of his time in his room, like the antisocial being he is.”  
  
Milan chuckled softly at that.  
  
Dylan was just about to go get Derek when they heard movement on the stairs and looked up to see Derek coming down.  
  
Derek stopped when he spotted Milan and glanced between Milan and Dylan before heading down to greet his guest. “Hey. Uh, sorry. I forgot about time.”  
  
“Hi. And that’s okay.” Milan shifted a bit as he smiled up at Derek. His white wings twitched behind him and were folded tightly against his back, and Derek couldn’t help but stare at them for a few seconds.  
  
“You didn’t mention that Milan was gonna come by to help you with algebra,” Dylan suddenly said, raising his eyebrow a bit at Derek.  
  
“Maybe ‘cause not everything is your business, Dylan,” Derek replied and gave him a small scowl.  
  
An offended frown appeared on Dylan’s face. “Well, alright, Mr. Secretive.”  
  
Dylan’s name-calling made Derek scowl at him more, but they both snapped out of it when they heard Claire yell something from the downstairs bathroom. Seconds later she came running into the entrance hall, looking distressed.  
  
“Derek!” she cried out when she spotted him. “Derek, I dropped by favorite necklace into the bathroom sink! Please help! I can’t get it out!”  
  
Derek groaned loudly at that. “Jeez, Claire. That’s the second time you’ve done that.”  
  
“I know! I’m sorry! Please help,” Claire begged, looking up at her brother with puppy eyes.  
  
Dylan hated those puppy eyes because they were so hard to resist. Even Derek had trouble saying no to them.  
  
Derek groaned in defeat. “Okay, fine. I’ll go fish it out of the drain for you.”  
  
“Thank you!” Claire beamed, jumping with joy. That was when she finally noticed Milan standing in the entrance hall as well. She blinked at him in surprise, and then her eyes widened in excitement. “Is Milan gonna stay with us today?”  
  
“What? Oh. Yeah, he’s gonna help me with something, so he’ll be around,” Derek explained. He then turned to look at Milan, saying, “Sorry, I have to go necklace-hunting. I’ll be right back.”  
  
Milan chuckled and nodded. “Okay.”  
  
Derek went to the bathroom to disassemble the drain under the sink and see if he could find Claire’s necklace in there, while Dylan and Claire stayed with Milan in the entrance hall.  
  
“So nice you’re here! Do you wanna play games?” Claire asked Milan eagerly.  
  
Milan chuckled at how Claire was all excited about his presence. “I don’t think I can play with you all day, though. I’m here to help Derek with studying…”  
  
Claire’s wings drooped a bit in disappointment. “Oh… But is one game okay?”  
  
“Yeah, I guess.”  
  
Claire beamed at that, and Dylan couldn’t help but laugh softly at his sister.  
  
“Claire!” Derek suddenly yelled from the bathroom. “Come give me a hand!”  
  
“Eh, why me?” Claire yelled back, pouting because she wanted to be with Milan.  
  
“’Cause you’re the one who dropped the necklace!” Derek yelled back, sounding annoyed.  
  
Claire pouted even more and started walking to the bathroom to help Derek with whatever he needed help with.  
  
Dylan suspected Derek probably just needed Claire to get him the right tools and maybe grab a bag for him to throw away all the nasty stuff from the sink into.  
  
“You can take off your shoes,” Dylan told Milan when he noticed that he was still wearing them.  
  
“Oh. Right.” Milan blushed at his forgetfulness and went over to take off his shoes and his jacket.  
  
“I hope you can handle being around Derek all day,” Dylan said while watching Milan taking off his shoes. “He can be a little, uh, well… difficult. I mean, he’s not known for being hospitable, so if he doesn’t go get you something to drink, just go get it yourself.”  
  
Milan let out a small chuckle. “Okay. Noted.” He put his shoes away neatly before turning to face Dylan again. He did feel a little awkward standing there alone with Derek’s little brother, and he could tell that Dylan felt the same.  
  
“It’s funny that Derek didn’t mention that you were coming over, but it doesn’t really surprise me much,” Dylan said in order to break the silence. “He’s not all that talkative…He doesn’t talk much about school or anything he does, really. He’s always too busy being a macho, so I hope you can handle that.”  
  
Milan let a soft laugh at Dylan’s words. “I have some experience with macho alphas, so I think I can handle it.”  
  
“Good,” Dylan chuckled. “He used to be a lot worse, though…”  
  
“I know. I, um, knew him a bit at the previous school… I went to that school as well.”  
  
Dylan was really surprised to hear that, and it was evident on his face. “Really? I didn’t know that. You transferred schools like he did?”  
  
“Not for the same reason, but yes…” Milan glanced at the floor and shifted a little. It was a delicate subject. “But I know he changed, and I like him a lot better now. He’s helped me a lot with the bullies at the new school, so for that I’m grateful.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Dylan had had the feeling that Derek must have done something like that. He had had that feeling ever since Milan came running to their house a few months ago, seeking Derek’s help when Travis and Warrick were after him. Dylan couldn’t imagine that Milan would have done that if Derek hadn’t already helped him out with it before.  
  
“So, those guys who went after you once… They’re not at your school anymore now, right?” Dylan asked, breaking the silence that was about to form between them.  
  
Milan nodded. “Yeah, they got expelled… I’m glad they did. They really weren’t pleasant…”  
  
“Yeah, I can imagine,” Dylan murmured. “I deal with bullies too, but maybe not as much as you… I guess submissives are more targeted than others. It’s like we live in the freaking stone age and some people just haven’t realized that subs have the same rights as everyone else now.”  
  
A small chuckle escaped Milan. “Yeah, it feels that way sometimes…”  
  
They both looked up when Derek finally came back to the entrance hall, carrying a bag of trash. “Ugh, that was gross,” he muttered as he came over to them.  
  
Dylan was pretty glad that it wasn’t him who had had to fumble around in the drain like that. He had helped his dad with it once before and the smell was really nasty. “Did you find the necklace?”  
  
“Yeah, and lots of other nasty stuff that I don’t even wanna know what is.”  
  
Milan giggled at Derek’s disgusted face and watched as he went to open the front door.  
  
“Gonna take this outside,” Derek murmured as he opened the door and went to drop the bag of trash into the big trashcan by the road.  
  
Dylan felt kind of sorry for Derek that he had to clean the drain like that, but it was also kind of amusing.  
  
Claire finally showed up then, holding her necklace and eyeing it carefully. “That was disgusting,” she grimaced. “I hope I managed to clean all the nasty stuff off…”  
  
“Maybe you better clean it one more time just to be sure?” Dylan suggested.  
  
Claire grimaced even harder and nodded in agreement before heading back to the bathroom to clean the necklace one more time.  
  
“Don’t drop it again, or Derek will kill you!” Dylan warned her.  
  
“I won’t!” came Claire’s voice from the living room as she headed towards the bathroom.  
  
Milan giggled at their interaction until Derek came back inside.  
  
Derek closed the door before turning to look at Dylan and Milan. His eyes narrowed a bit. “Hope you didn’t tell Milan anything stupid in the meantime, Dylan.”  
  
“Nah, I just told him what a jerk you are,” Dylan said with nonchalance.  
  
Milan giggled as he watched Derek glare at Dylan for that, while Dylan just smirked.  
  
“Anyway, I gotta go,” Dylan announced as he went over to get his laptop bag. “Gonna study for a project with some classmates. I hope you’ll keep an eye on Claire while you study?”  
  
“Yeah,” Derek replied. “Shouldn’t be too difficult.”  
  
“I don’t know. I find it difficult when she’s all hyper and wants attention. Just make sure she doesn’t raid the freezer again.”  
  
Milan frowned as Dylan said that, not understanding what he was talking about, while Derek let out a small chortle next to him.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I got. Just go already,” Derek said, almost ushering Dylan towards the door. “I bet Melody wants your company more than I do anyway.”  
  
Dylan turned and gave his brother an annoyed frown. “I’m not going to Melody’s house, I’m going to Benjamin’s.”  
  
“But Melody is coming over too, right?”  
  
“Well, yeah, and so are two others ‘cause we’re studying for a project together…”  
  
“Well, try not to stare at her too much, okay? Otherwise the others are going to think you’re weird.” Derek’s lips curled into a teasing smirk, knowing how Dylan hated it when he commented on his little crush on Melody.  
  
“You’re an asshole,” Dylan muttered as he glared at Derek while blushing.  
  
Milan watched their interaction quietly. He felt a little sorry for Dylan when Derek teased him like that. Derek was maybe stepping a little too far and was indeed being an asshole about it, but it was also kind of amusing to watch their interactions.  
  
Dylan stopped at the door when he remembered that he hadn’t said goodbye to Claire yet. “Claire!” he yelled. “I’m leaving now! See you later!” He waited a few seconds and soon heard his sister’s fast footsteps as she ran to the entrance hall to say goodbye.  
  
Claire came running into the room like lightning and quickly went over to hug Dylan goodbye. “Bye, Dylan! Have fun!”  
  
Dylan grinned and returned her hug. “You too. Make sure that Derek doesn’t break anything in the house, okay?”  
  
“Hey,” Derek protested with a small growl, making Milan giggle next to him.  
  
Claire just laughed and stepped back from Dylan. “Okay, I will!”  
  
Dylan smiled at them before going outside and leaving on his bike.  
  
Derek let Claire wave goodbye at Dylan from the threshold until he was out of sight, before gently pulling her back inside and locking the door.  
  
“Okay, so Milan and I are probably gonna be busy with studying for most of the day,” Derek began, looking at Claire. “So we’re not gonna have that much time to play and stuff, alright?”  
  
Claire’s wings drooped behind her as she gave a small, affirmative nod. “Okay… But we can still play a few games, right?”  
  
“Yeah, sure, but not right now,” Derek told her. “How about you go watch a good movie on Netflix? Or play with your toys or whatever.”  
  
“Okay,” Claire said, looking pleased enough with that.  
  
“We’ll probably be either in my room or the dining room to study, so just come and find us if something’s up, okay? I’ll keep the door open.”  
  
Claire smiled and nodded at that. She glanced up at Milan with a big smile before turning and heading to the living room to find a good movie to watch.  
  
Milan smiled as he watched Claire go. Now that he was alone with Derek, he shifted shyly on his feet and suddenly felt a little awkward. He wasn’t used to coming to an alpha’s house and help with studies. It was actually the first time he did that, so it was unfamiliar to them, even though he knew Derek rather well by now.  
  
Derek also felt unfamiliar and strange about the situation. He rubbed the back of his neck a bit before saying, “So, uh, my laptop is upstairs in my room… We can either study there or in the dining room. The table in the dining room might be better, though. It has more space.”  
  
Milan shrugged lightly. “Wherever you prefer, it’s fine with me.”  
  
Derek nodded quietly at that and considered it for a few seconds. “Well, dining room it is. I just have to go get my laptop and my algebra book first.” He headed over to the stairs to go up to his room, but then stopped and glanced back at Milan. “Uh, you can come if you want…”  
  
Milan was a little surprised to be invited to Derek’s room, but he only hesitated for a second before nodding and following him up the stairs. It was a little strange still, but he felt safe around Derek. He knew Derek wasn’t a bad person, even though he could get pretty scary when he was angry at someone and had a rather tough personality, but Milan trusted him not to harm him. Claire was also in the house, so there was no reason for him to think that Derek would hurt him in any way.  
  
They went to Derek’s room, which was a little bigger than Milan had imagined. He hadn’t seen this room last time he was at the house, as the door had been closed back then. He slowly entered the room behind Derek, glancing around at the posters from various video games on the walls and a big poster from the Jeet Kune Do championships. The room was pretty tidy, but Milan guessed it probably didn’t look like this every day. The windows had both curtains and blinds – the curtains were open but the blinds were almost completely closed, making the room pretty dark and gloomy. Milan wasn’t surprised about that, though. He had kind of imagined that Derek was that type of teenager to live in a dark room, and it made him smile a bit.  
  
Derek went over to get his laptop from his desk. He packed it into his laptop bag along with the charger and his algebra book so it was easier for him to carry it all.  
  
“My brother used to like having his room this dark as well,” Milan chuckled as he looked around. “I’m not sure if that’s a normal thing for teenage alphas. Personally, I think it reminds me of a vampire room.”  
  
Derek laughed softly at that. “Yeah, sorry. It’s just easier to see my screen when I’m gaming if I don’t have too much light that shines into it or in my eyes.”  
  
“It’s not good for the eyes to game in a dark room, though.”  
  
“So my mom keeps saying,” Derek snorted softly and turned around to face Milan when he was done packing his laptop bag.  
  
Milan smiled a bit at that before looking at the posters again. “So, you play war games a lot?”  
  
Derek shrugged a bit. “Yeah, mostly.”  
  
Milan kept looking at the posters as he walked around the room a bit. “You know, when I was a little younger, I really wanted to help design characters for video games…”  
  
Milan’s confession came as a surprise to Derek. “Really?”  
  
Milan nodded and kept his eyes on the posters. “Yeah… They always make new games and I find it interesting how the characters always look different. There are so many possibilities for designs and stuff. But I kind of gave up on that dream, because it’s an industry ruled by alphas and betas… But I still enjoy looking at the character designs of the games that are out there.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Derek felt a little sad for Milan that there were such barriers to stop him from doing something he wanted to do. He had never really thought about how the gaming industry was mostly ruled by alphas and betas. He was pretty sure that there a few women and submissives in the character design department, but probably not that many. For a somewhat shy submissive like Milan, it would probably be pretty difficult to get into that industry.  
  
Sensing the sudden silence his words had caused, Milan turned around and smiled at Derek again. “Anyway, I like your posters a lot. They’re nice. I kind of imagined you’d be the type to have posters hanging on all your walls.”  
  
“You know, it’s creepy how good you are at reading me sometimes,” Derek said, trying to sound a little playful about it. “You sure you’re not psychic or something?”  
  
Milan laughed at that and shook his head. “No. I… I think I’m just a good judge of character.”  
  
Derek chuckled about that, and his tail swished and curled slightly in joy next to him. It rarely ever did that. It was mostly only when he was with Milan.  
  
“So, uh…” Derek began, coughing a bit to clear his throat. “Maybe we should get started? It’s probably gonna take you a while to make me understand any of that crap…”  
  
“It’s not ‘crap’,” Milan snorted softly, rolling his eyes.  
  
“In _my_ mind it is.”  
  
“Well, then I guess I better help you ‘un-crap’ it.”  
  
Derek chuckled a bit at that word before heading over to the door to leave the room. Milan followed him, and together they walked back downstairs and into the dining room.  
  
The table in the dining room was much larger than Derek’s desk, so there was lots of space for their laptops, books, and notes. It was also easier to keep an eye on Claire from there, though Derek was pretty sure she was going to behave herself when Milan was around.  
  
They went ahead and set up their laptops. They seated themselves next to each other, and Derek pushed the other chairs back a little so that there was a little more distance between them. That way it was easier to move and there was more space for their laptops.  
  
Claire came into the room to watch them curiously as they set up their stuff, but Derek shooed her out when he spotted her. He knew she just wanted attention, but he really needed to focus on algebra, otherwise he would never pass his final exams.  
  
Derek went and got them something to drink before they got started on the studies, and Milan started out slow as he tried to explain the very basics of algebra to him. Derek tried to pay as much attention as possible as Milan explained to him how algebra was the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols, and that the letters in a quadratic formula represented a number, and that you had to follow the rules of algebra to figure out what that number was.  
  
Derek had never been good at paying attention in class when the teachers were talking about things that he didn’t immediately understand. With algebra, he had just never really understood the basics, and therefore all the classes after that had just been like gibberish to him. Milan seemed to know that this was the reason why Derek sucked at it so much, so he tried with patience and repetition to explain the basics to him so he would understand.  
  
It took almost two hours for Derek to finally get an overview of the basic rules and to understand them rather well. Milan had been pretty patient with him and had repeated things a lot of times and sometimes in different contexts and with metaphors so he would understand, and Derek couldn’t remember that anyone had ever taken their time with him like that. He kind of admired Milan for not losing his patience with him right away.  
  
Dylan had also once tried to explain algebra to him, and he had been pretty patient as well, but Derek had to admit that he had kind of rushed his brother and pushed his help away because he was too proud sit with him for too long and learn algebra. It felt different with Milan, though. _Derek_ felt different with him, like he could be more himself around him and let go of his barriers, and that made it much easier for him to accept Milan’s help.

  
***

  
Time seemed to fly by as Derek and Milan went through the studies of algebra together. It had been 10:25am when they started, and suddenly it was already 2:10pm. Derek wouldn’t have noticed that so much time had passed if it hadn’t been for his stomach suddenly growling and making him look at the clock.  
  
“Holy shit, it’s 2:10 already!” Derek exclaimed, shocked that they had been at it for so long.  
  
Milan glanced at the clock on his computer and his eyes widened when he noticed that Derek was right. “Oh. Yeah, you’re right. I didn’t notice at all.”  
  
Derek groaned and got up from his chair. “I really need a break. And I’m _starving._ ” He looked at Milan. “You want a sandwich?”  
  
Milan smiled and gave him a small nod. “Sure.”  
  
“Okay. I’ll go ask Claire if she’s hungry as well. I bet she is,” Derek said as he made his way to the entrance hall to go to the living room that way.  
  
“Okay. I’ll use your bathroom,” Milan called after him before getting up. He heard Derek say something in affirmative before he got up and went to find the bathroom. He knew there was a bathroom upstairs, but he also knew there was one downstairs, because Derek had gone there earlier to clean the drain. Milan just wasn’t sure where exactly it was.  
  
Milan wandered through the kitchen and into the laundry room, where he found the door to the bathroom on the right side. He quickly went in there and locked the door as he went to do his thing. When he was done, he went to wash his hands in the sink and glanced into the mirror above it. His hair looked a little unruly, so he used to the mirror as he tried to correct it a bit.  
  
He stood for a few moments, staring at himself in the mirror and trying to make his hair look nice. When he realized what he was doing, he stepped back with a small blush. He usually never cared much about his hair, so why now? Was it because Derek was around? He felt a little foolish about that, but at the same time he kind of wanted to look nice around Derek.  
  
Just as Milan was about to leave, he noticed something sticking out of his pants’ pocket. Frowning, he glanced down to see what it was, and he was so close to just grabbing the thing when he quickly stopped himself. There was a feather half-way down his pocket and it wasn’t his own. It was dark red and looked a little sharp, and Milan was glad that he hadn’t just gone ahead and grabbed it. He realized it must be one of Derek’s feathers. They had been sitting pretty close, so he guessed the feather had somehow fallen on him as it fell off Derek’s wing naturally, and it had gotten half-way stuck in his pocket by coincidence.  
  
Milan was an angel, and he really wasn’t used to dealing with feathers that belonged to alpha demons or alpha hybrids who had sharp feathers, so he didn’t really know how to grab the feather without getting hurt. Or maybe it wouldn’t cut him at all because it wasn’t attached to Derek anymore? He had no idea.  
  
He stood for a few moments, wondering what to do about that feather. Was it dangerous to touch it? Every time he tried to reach for it to get it out, that question popped into his mind and he suddenly felt too scared to dare and touch it.  
  
It was amazing how distressed one simple feather could make him, but he really didn’t know what he should do. He also didn’t want to stay in the bathroom for too long, otherwise Derek would suspect that he had a bad stomach or something, and it would be kind of embarrassing if he thought that.  
  
Not having any choice, Milan left the bathroom with the feather still attached to him and slowly walked into the kitchen.  
  
Derek was busy making sandwiches for them, and Claire was jumping around next to him. Luckily for Milan, Claire suddenly remembered that she hadn’t paused her movie, so she quickly ran out of the room to go pause it, leaving Milan alone with Derek for a few moments.  
  
“Um…” Milan began as he went over to Derek, feeling very embarrassed by what he was about to ask him.  
  
Derek turned his head to look at him when he heard Milan approaching him. “What?” he asked when he sensed that something was on Milan’s mind.  
  
Milan groaned before shyly gesturing at the feather, which was still stuck in his pocket. “I think one of your feathers kinda got stuck on me and I… I don’t know if it’s safe to touch it to pull it out. I, um… I’m not very experienced with demon feathers.”  
  
It was embarrassing to say, and it only got worse when he saw Derek blink at him a few times before he burst into laughter.  
  
“It isn’t funny,” Milan grumbled, glaring at Derek for laughing at him.  
  
“Sorry,” Derek laughed and turned around to help him. “You grab it like this,” he said as he slowly reached out and grabbed the feather gently between his index finger and his thumb, making sure to touch the broad side of the feather and not the edges. “Never touch the edges,” he added as he pulled the feather out of Milan’s pocket.  
  
Milan blinked and nodded at the instruction. “Um, thanks. I wasn’t sure how to do that.”  
  
Derek just chuckled at him before throwing the feather into the trash can under the kitchen sink.  
  
“But isn’t that dangerous? When you guys leave sharp feathers all over the house and there are kids here…” Milan asked.  
  
“Um, I guess kids learn early that they should never touch feathers that are just lying around,” Derek said, shrugging a bit. “And my parents have always been very careful to remove fallen feathers around the house whenever they see one, especially when Claire and the rest of us were smaller. Another way to avoid it is if everyone just softens their feathers when they're at home, then the feathers will be soft when they fall out. I don't do that, though. And Claire knows how to touch the feathers without getting cut.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Milan took in the new information. He had always kind of wondered about how demon and demon hybrid families dealt with that. He also knew that alphas didn’t like to soften their feathers in front of others unless it was their mate or child, so he didn’t bother asking Derek why he didn’t just do that. He could imagine that someone as proud and macho as Derek wouldn’t just willingly soften his feathers unless it was really necessary.  
  
Claire came running back into the kitchen then, oblivious of their conversation just now. She grinned widely when she saw that Milan was back from the bathroom and she quickly went over to him.  
  
“Do you have any siblings, Milan?” Claire asked out of curiosity.  
  
“Claire,” Derek scolded her lightly for being so nosey. He knew Milan was touchy when it came to that subject.  
  
“It’s okay,” Milan told Derek before smiling down at Claire. “I used to have an older alpha brother, but he passed away a few years ago…” He remembered that he had briefly mentioned that he had a brother back when he had come to Derek’s house for help when he was being chased by Travis and Warrick, but he guessed Claire must have forgotten about that. It was a while ago anyway.  
  
“Oh…” Claire’s face turned sad and somewhat guilty when she heard that, and her wings drooped a bit. “I’m sorry… And you don’t have other siblings?”  
  
Milan gently shook his head. “No, it was just him and me.”  
  
“Was he nice?”  
  
“Not always… Not many people liked him, I think. But he was nice to me, and I liked him.”  
  
Claire laughed a bit at that. “Kinda like Derek! He’s also not always nice, but I like him!”  
  
“Jee, thanks, Claire,” Derek muttered, not knowing whether to be offended or flattered about that.  
  
Both Milan and Claire laughed a bit at Derek’s reaction.  
  
Derek finished with the sandwiches, and they all went to the living room to eat because Derek was getting pretty tired of the dining room. They had been sitting in there for hours already and he needed a new scenery.  
  
“Did you know it’s Derek’s birthday soon?” Claire suddenly asked Milan while they were eating. She was sitting between the two of them, and was glancing at them with a big smile.  
  
The sudden question surprised Milan a bit. “No, I didn’t.”  
  
Derek rolled his eyes at his sister’s random ranting. It was so embarrassing sometimes.  
  
“His birthday is on May 19th! And he’ll be… uh, seventeen?”  
  
“Eighteen,” Derek corrected her grumpily and gave Claire a gentle shove. “And jeez, Claire, you always talk so much.”  
  
“But I like talking!” Claire argued and glared back at him.  
  
Milan giggled at their interaction and tried not to choke on his sandwich. He swallowed his food before saying, “I’m also turning eighteen in May.”  
  
Claire gasped and quickly whipped her head around to look at him. “Really?”  
  
“Yeah. But on May 24th…”  
  
“Nice! Can I come for your birthday?” Claire eagerly asked, grinning at Milan while staring at him with those puppy eyes of hers. “You said once you’d invite me!”  
  
Milan laughed softly. “I’m not throwing any parties, though…”  
  
“Oh…” Claire sat back in disappointment.  
  
“But if I was, you’d be the first one I would invite,” Milan told her to cheer her up.  
  
Claire grinned at that, while Derek was watching them quietly.  
  
Derek felt an odd but pleasant tingling sensation inside him every time he learned something new about Milan. He wasn’t sure if he could ever get used to the sudden need he felt to get to know more about Milan, or those butterflies he felt whenever he saw the submissive smile and look happy. It was so girly, but Derek was starting to accept the feelings. Even if it felt unfamiliar, it still felt very nice, and it was like he couldn’t get enough of it.  
  
After finishing their sandwiches, Claire persuaded them to play a quick card game with her before they went back to studying algebra. Derek and Milan both agreed, and they sat down to play a game of cards with her.  
  
They played a simple game that was easy for Claire, but it still ended with Derek winning. They had five more short games after that; one where Milan won, one where Claire won, and the rest where Derek won.  
  
Milan quickly learned that playing card games with Derek was fun – just not when he won, because he had quite a boastful personality, it turned out.  
  
“Oh, guys seriously need to work on your card skills,” Derek grinned with superiority after the games were over.  
  
“You cheated!” Claire accused as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.  
  
“I did not,” Derek denied, laughing. “Don’t be a sore loser like Nathan.”  
  
“Nathan’s not a sore loser, _you_ are!”  
  
“Yeah, but I won four out of six games, so I’m not the _big_ loser here,” Derek smirked.  
  
“I’m not a big loser either! I won once!” Claire pointed out.  
  
“Only ‘cause I let you.”  
  
Milan watched them argue, and felt a little sorry for Claire when her brother was being kind of mean to her like that. Still, he enjoyed watching their sibling interactions.  
  
“You’re stupid!” Claire growled and smacked Derek playfully on the leg.  
  
“You’re most stupid,” Derek quipped back and grabbed her hand when she tried to smack him again. “And you’re a loser. A _big_ loser.”  
  
Claire squealed when Derek kept her hand trapped in his grip and at the same time reached out to tickle her with his other hand. “Nooo!” she laughed and squealed, and Milan had to move back a little when he almost got hit by her beating wing. “Let go!”  
  
Derek chuckled before letting go, glaring playfully at Claire when she stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
“You’re still a sore loser,” Derek snorted at her.  
  
Claire was about to protest, but then Milan spoke up.  
  
“Stop being so mean,” Milan chided Derek softly. “I bet you’re also a loser at a lot of things, so don’t be so cocky about it.”  
  
Derek snorted loudly at that. “I bet neither of you can mention even _one_ thing I’m bad at.”  
  
“Algebra,” Milan immediately snickered, giving Derek a smug smirk when he saw the alpha’s mouth fall shut.  
  
Claire laughed as she watched how Derek immediately shut up when Milan said that.  
  
It took Derek a few moments to recover from that blow to his ego, but when he did, he was back to being cocky again. “Okay, but you can’t mention _two_ things then.”  
  
“Writing essays,” Milan said.  
  
Claire snickered heavily as she watched how Derek’s mouth closed once again.  
  
Derek growled a bit in annoyance. “Okay, anything that’s not school related?”  
  
“Cooking!” Claire exclaimed.  
  
Milan laughed at that one, and Derek grumbled when he realized this wasn’t going the way he predicted.  
  
“Giving hugs!” Claire exclaimed next. “Using your left hand!”  
  
“Being on time,” Milan added, snickering heavily.  
  
“Yeah, okay, I got the point,” Derek grunted in a moody voice as he grabbed his plate and rose from the couch. He leaned down to take Milan and Claire’s plates too, looking very annoyed at how they were both snickering at him.  
  
Claire cracked up, thinking it was very funny to tease Derek for once, and Milan couldn’t stop snickering about it either.  
  
Derek rolled his eyes at them before heading to the kitchen, reminding himself how he should never ask them to mention the things he was bad at ever again. It felt like someone had just torn his pride out of him and had stepped on it repeatedly, and it wasn’t a nice feeling.  
  
Milan almost felt bad for Derek, because he knew he wasn’t very good at handling it when people made fun of him or when his ego was stepped on, but the alpha kind of deserved it for challenging them in the first place.  
  
Milan stayed a bit with Claire, who was in a very talkative mood now. He had a bit of fun with her until Derek was done with the dishes and cleaning up, and it was time to resume their studying.  
  
Claire was a little upset that they had to study again, but she accepted it and sat back down on the couch to turn on her movie again.  
  
Meanwhile, Milan and Derek sat down at their laptops in the dining room, getting ready to continue with algebra.  
  
“I hope you’re not a sore loser now,” Milan joked and snickered a bit at Derek as they sat down.  
  
Derek snorted. “That’s very funny.”  
  
His voice was heavy with sarcasm and it made Milan giggle a bit.  
  
“Not sure how I like it when the two of you gang up on me like that,” Derek added in a mumble as he pulled out his notes and got ready to study.  
  
A soft chuckle escaped Milan. “Sorry. It was pretty fun, though. I almost felt sorry for you.”  
  
“Almost?” Derek asked, looking at him with his lip curved into a small smirk.  
  
“Yes, almost,” Milan chuckled. “And are you ready for more algebra?”  
  
The mention of algebra and the prospect of more studying drew a loud groan from Derek. He just wanted it over with. “Yeah, hit me with it…”  
  
Milan could easily tell that Derek wasn’t particularly eager to keep studying, but he kind of admired how the alpha pulled himself together to get it over with anyway. He was a little impressed by how much Derek had paid attention earlier, and Milan hoped he could keep up the concentration now as well.  
  
They went back to algebra, and Milan moved on to teach Derek more about some of the equations that they would most likely face at the finals and how to solve them.

  
***

  
Again, time passed by quickly as they studied, and suddenly it was 6:20pm.  
  
They were all getting hungry again, so Derek ordered the three pizzas for them that Jayden had given him money for earlier. He ordered two normal sized pizzas for himself and Milan, and a child-sized pizza for Claire. He was pretty relieved that Milan wasn’t one of those who liked pineapple on his pizza. Derek thought it was a serious insult to pizza to put pineapple on it and the thought alone made him shiver in disgust.  
  
The pizza arrived at 6:37, and they once again seated themselves in the living room to eat. That way Claire could watch an episode of one of her favorite cartoons while being around Derek and Milan as well.  
  
After they were done eating, Claire suddenly asked Milan to draw something for her. She was really curious to see him draw, so Milan got out his best pencil and his sketchbook and began drawing. He placed his sketchbook on the couch table and sat down on the floor between the table and the couch so he was comfortable while drawing.  
  
Claire watched with interest as he started drawing a unicorn like she had asked for, and Derek watched as well.  
  
Milan was going a little faster than usual, because sometimes it took him hours to finish a piece and he didn’t have that time right now, so he didn’t add as many details as he normally would. Derek watched in amazement as Milan turned that blank piece of paper into an artwork, and it was entrancing to watch the submissive draw line after line, adding texture and shadows, erasing a few things to draw them better, and how he piece by piece added life to the unicorn sketch.  
  
Derek normally didn’t have the patience to watch these kind of things, but right now he was really enjoying watching Milan work. It was cute how the submissive worried his lip a bit when some parts caused him a little trouble, and how concentrated he stared at the paper while drawing. It was like he could see the finished outcome inside his mind already and he was drawing lines that were already there, but were invisible to them. It was pretty fascinating.  
  
After twenty minutes, Milan’s sketch was done, and Claire beamed when he carefully ripped it out of his sketchbook and gave it to her.  
  
“I can keep it?” Claire asked, staring wide-eyed at Milan and holding her breath with hope.  
  
“Yes, of course. I drew it for you,” Milan told her, chuckling.  
  
“Awesome! Thank you so much!” Claire grinned, and took the sketch from Milan’s hands when he offered it to her. She spent a few seconds just staring at it like she couldn’t believe it was hers now before grinning like mad. “I’ll go put it in my room!”  
  
“Okay,” Milan said, smiling as he watched her jump down from the couch and run upstairs to her room. He moved up from the floor to sit on the couch instead. He was pretty satisfied with the outcome of his work, even though he knew he could have done it much better if he had had more time, but all that counted was that Claire liked it.  
  
After Claire was gone, Derek leaned back into a couch and put a casual arm on the back of it while looking at Milan. “I think you’re her new best friend right now.”  
  
Milan blushed and smiled at that. “Well, I’m glad she likes my drawing. And she’s very cute. I wish I had a little sister like that.”  
  
Derek snorted softly. “You can have her. All her hyperness tires me out.”  
  
Milan just laughed at that before reaching out to pack his sketchbook away. He was reaching for his eraser when Derek suddenly grabbed it. At first, Milan thought he was trying to tease him, but when he looked at him, he saw Derek eyeing the eraser curiously as he held it up in front of his eyes to study.  
  
“This has an odd shape…” Derek commented as he stared at the eraser.  
  
“Well, it used to be in the shape of a cat… But now it’s kind of worn.”  
  
Derek’s eyebrows shut up in surprise. “A cat?” He then burst out laughing. “You buy erasers that look like cats?”  
  
“So what?” Milan murmured, glaring at Derek when he felt like the alpha was making fun of him. “It’s boring just to buy the rectangular shaped ones all the time.”  
  
“So you buy cat shaped ones instead?” Derek chuckled.  
  
Milan blushed. “Well, sometimes also dog or horse shaped… So what?” He reached out to grab his eraser, but then Derek suddenly held up his arm so he couldn’t reach it.  
  
Milan’s eyes narrowed as he stared back at Derek, as if he was trying to read his intentions. When he saw the teasing smirk on the alpha’s face, he knew that Derek was trying to annoy him. He let out a small growl before reaching for it again, but then Derek just brought the eraser even further out of his reach.  
  
This time, Milan got to his feet to get his eraser, and he almost managed to grab it before Derek stretched out his hand over the back of the couch and completely out of Milan’s reach. Milan would have to either walk to the other side or get up on the back of the couch and reach out to get it, but even if he got on the couch and reached for it, Derek’s arm was still a lot longer than his own.  
  
“Oi, give it back,” Milan laughed, smacking Derek on the leg in irritation.  
  
Derek just smirked at him like an idiot, and Milan knew the alpha wasn’t going to give up so easily.  
  
Milan let out a small, playful growl before climbing onto the couch and reaching for the eraser, but like he predicted, Derek’s arm was way longer than his and he still couldn’t reach it.  
  
Frustrated, Milan smacked Derek’s arm while he laughed. “Stop being an ass!”  
  
“I’m not. All you have to do is get it,” Derek smirked, looking very pleased with himself. His tail flicked playfully on the couch behind him, and it had been a very long time since he had been in such a good and playful mood, but he just couldn’t help himself around Milan.  
  
Milan growled softly and grabbed onto Derek’s arm, trying to force him to bend it his way so Milan could grab the eraser from his hand, but Derek had a lot of muscles in his arm and it didn’t budge so easily. Milan still managed to make it budge a bit and make Derek have to concentrate so that Milan didn’t suddenly get the chance to pull his arm any closer to himself.  
  
After a few long moments of desperately fighting for his eraser, Milan had to give up. He let go of Derek’s arm with a defeated sigh that was mixed with amused laughter.  
  
Derek smirked in victory when the submissive gave up, but just as he was pulling his arm back towards himself, Milan launched forward to give it one more try. Derek quickly pulled his arm away from him, but then Milan lost his balance and almost stumbled right into Derek. However, Milan managed to bring his hands up to stop the impact. His hands landed firmly on Derek’s chest, and Milan’s face ended up right in front of Derek’s, their lips and eyes just inches from each other.  
  
Everything stopped for a second and they could hear each other’s surprised gasps.  
  
They both froze for that single second, staring at each other, until Milan finally pulled away with a heavy blush.  
  
“S-Sorry,” Milan murmured, quickly sitting back down on the couch and trying to pretend like nothing had happened. His wings folded themselves tightly against his back in a shy gesture, and he glanced up at Derek every now and then with a small, embarrassed smile.  
  
Derek swallowed, trying not to show Milan that it had caused him some embarrassment as well. He coughed once before gently throwing the eraser back to Milan, who caught it in a quick move. “Here. I can’t keep teasing you with it all night. Although, you would lose if I _did_ continue all night.”  
  
Derek’s smug smirk made Milan roll his eyes softly at him.  
  
“Only because your arm is longer than mine,” Milan murmured. He leaned over towards the couch table to place his eraser on it before leaning back into his previous position.  
  
Derek just chuckled and kept smirking at him all smugly and confidently, and it both annoyed Milan but also made him chuckle.  
  
They were sitting closely next to each other on the couch, their bodies twisted so that they faced the other, and Derek’s right arm was now once again resting casually on the back of the couch behind Milan.  
  
They sat in silence for a bit, just staring at each other.  
  
They had both completely forgotten about Claire, who had still not returned to the living room after going upstairs with the drawing that Milan had given to her.  
  
Derek knew he shouldn’t be staring at Milan like that, but he couldn’t help himself. There was an addictive, pleasant feeling in his body right now. He felt so relaxed and calm, and his tail just wouldn’t stop flicking and curling even if he tried to will it to stop. All he knew was that it was Milan who was the cause of that pleasant feeling and of his unusually playful behavior. He was still like a different person around Milan, but not in a bad way. Derek was starting to like that person he was when he was with Milan, although it was still strange to him.  
  
Milan was staring right back at Derek, his lips curved into a small, shy smile.  
  
Derek wasn’t sure which one of them had moved closer first, but suddenly the space between them seemed shorter. He stared into Milan’s bright green eyes, seeing him staring right back at him, until his eyes lowered and his gazed landed on Milan’s soft, pink lips.  
  
Milan’s eyes lowered as well, focused on Derek’s lips now and how the space between them seemed to disappear.  
  
Their hearts were beating in unison inside their chests, their wings lowering behind them, and distance between them becoming ever shorter.  
  
Suddenly, their lips were just inches apart.  
  
Milan swallowed nervously and his lips parted just a little. That was what made Derek close the small distance that was left between them, without even thinking about it.  
  
The first touch of their lips sent small, pleasant sparks through both of them, but neither of them pulled away.  
  
Derek’s eyes fell shut – like Milan’s – and a small, inaudible gasp escaped them both as their lips met fully. It was slow and soft, and Derek’s heart had never beaten so fast in his chest before. It was the softest kiss he had ever shared with anyone, but it was also the best by far. There were no words in existence to describe it.  
  
The kiss lasted maybe only for five seconds at the most, but it felt like eternity.  
  
When they slowly started pulling away, Derek’s eyes flew open when he finally registered that he just actually _kissed_ Milan. He looked away fast, hiding the huge blush that reddened his cheeks, and couldn’t help the awkwardness he suddenly felt.  
  
Milan also looked away with a blush. His hands were buried in his lap, and they rubbed together nervously as he glanced at Derek out of the corner of his eye.  
  
“Um. Sorry, I…” Derek began, not knowing how to deal with the situation all of sudden. He had kissed before, but never like this. Never with emotion. “I’m not sure why I did that.”  
  
Derek regretted the words as soon as they left him, because when he dared a quick glance at Milan, he saw the submissive flinch lightly with hurt.  
  
“Oh.” Milan stared into his lap, feeling kind of ashamed now. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable—” He barely managed to finish the sentence before he felt Derek’s hand on his cheek, and then suddenly his head was forced up as Derek leaned in to kiss him again, swallowing whatever words would have left his mouth after that.  
  
Milan was completely baffled for a second, but as soon as he felt Derek’s lips move against his own, he relaxed and closed his eyes, trying to mimic the alpha’s movements. He had never kissed before – just now had been his first kiss ever – and he felt a little clumsy about it. However, the kiss was very slow – almost sensual – Milan quickly found out how it worked.  
  
Derek’s hand was still on Milan’s cheek, and it felt strangely comforting to Milan as they kissed.  
  
Their lips made small, almost wet noises as they met in several slow kisses, just exploring lightly. After a few moments, Derek’s kisses turned a tiny bit more controlling, but were still slow and sensual. Milan shivered at it, and he liked the way it was slow, but also how Derek’s somewhat tough personality shined through as it got a little bit more possessive for a second before going back to being slow and careful again.  
  
When they finally pulled apart to catch their breaths, Derek titled his head forward so that their foreheads met and rested against each other. His hand was still on Milan’s cheek, and Milan had the feeling that the alpha wasn’t even aware of how he was rubbing small, gentle circles into Milan’s skin with his thumb.  
  
They were both breathing heavily and fast, and when Milan opened his eyes to look at Derek, he saw the alpha’s grey/blue eyes staring back into his.  
  
Milan’s lips curled into a wide, shy smile, and Derek couldn’t help but smile back.  
  
“Scratch what I said earlier,” Derek finally said, still staring into Milan’s eyes. “I know exactly why I did it.”  
  
Milan frowned a bit until he understood what Derek was referring to. His cheeks reddened further as he blushed again, and a shy giggle escaped him. “Good. I know why I did it too. I’ve… um, had a crush on you for a long time now.” His wings twitched a bit behind him because he was so embarrassed, and Derek seemed to find it amusing.  
  
“Same. It was starting to drive me crazy,” Derek grinned before pulling away. When he realized how girly that just sounded, he coughed and looked away to hide his blush. “Don’t tell anyone I just said that.”  
  
Milan laughed softly. “Okay, I won’t. _If_ you stop being so afraid of those funny things that you sometimes get, called ‘emotions’ and ‘feelings’.”  
  
“Oi,” Derek warned when he realized that Milan was mocking him. His eyes narrowed a bit as he glared at Milan, but he wasn’t angry.  
  
Milan just laughed.  
  
“Sorry,” Derek muttered, looking away again. “I’m not very good with those things…”  
  
“I know. I’ve realized that,” Milan said with a small giggle. “But just so you know, I really like those parts of you, so don’t be ashamed of them.”  
  
The sincerity in Milan’s voice made Derek glance at him. Again, he had to suppress a blush, because the way Milan told him that he liked those parts of him felt very intimate.  
  
Suddenly, there was an innocent giggling somewhere nearby. They both looked over to the door that led to the entrance hall, spotting Claire standing in it.  
  
“Sorry,” Claire giggled when she realized she had been spotted. “I just wanted to see if you were done kissing already…”  
  
_“Claire!”_ Derek roared, getting up from the couch fast. “You don’t spy on people!”  
  
There were no words to describe how embarrassed and somewhat angry Derek felt when he realized that Claire had been watching them kiss.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened in horror when he realized it too, and his face turned bright red with embarrassment.  
  
“I wasn’t spying!” Claire denied, taking a small step back when her brother came over to her with his wings raised in anger. “I came downstairs again and saw that you were kissing, and then I went to the kitchen to leave you alone. And just now I walked back to see if you were finished, and I heard Milan say that he likes some parts about you. That’s all.”  
  
Derek felt a certain relief when he realized that Claire hadn’t been standing there, watching them like a creep the entire time. His wings softened and folded themselves behind his back again, and he let out a deep, tired sigh. “Okay. Got it. But if you _were_ spying on us, I’ll get angry!” he warned, pointing a raised finger at her with a small growl.  
  
“I wasn’t spying!” Claire insisted, frowning like she was offended to be accused of that.  
  
“Good,” Derek grunted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He still felt pretty embarrassed about it though, because he knew that Claire had seen at least _some_ of that kiss, and he knew his sister just couldn’t keep her mouth shut about such things.  
  
Once her brother had calmed down, Claire started snickering as she glanced between him and Milan, who was still sitting on the couch, but was twisting around to look at them. “So, is Milan your boyfriend now?” she asked Derek, snickering innocently as she looked up at him in anticipation.  
  
Again, Derek felt his face blush, and he knew it was probably almost as red as a tomato now. He cast a small glance over at Milan, who was blushing heavily but was looking over at Derek from under his lashes.  
  
Derek opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again when he wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to tell Claire that they didn’t have a label yet, but he wasn’t sure if that would hurt Milan’s feelings or not. He pondered hard for a few seconds, until a sudden possessiveness inside of him finally made him decide on an answer.  
  
“Yeah, he is,” Derek told her, still with his arms folded in front of his chest and with the best manly posture he could keep up right now. “And if you spy on us again, I’ll throw you out of the house and lock the door,” he threatened, although with a somewhat playful tone because he didn’t have the heart to hurt his sister’s feelings.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened and there was a huge spark of happiness inside him when he heard Derek say that. However, he quickly blushed and was smiling uncontrollably as he looked over at Derek and Claire.  
  
Claire’s eyes widened with excitement the moment Derek said that, and she jumped in joy. “Yay! Finally!” She grinned up at Derek while her wings flapped with exhilaration behind her. “And I wasn’t spying!” she insisted once more, glaring at him for accusing her of it again.  
  
“Whatever,” Derek snorted as nonchalantly as he could before turning to look at Milan. He was pretty relieved that the submissive hadn’t protested when Derek took a chance and told Claire that they were together now, and the way Milan was smiling at him right now sent butterflies through his stomach. “Um… We should probably finish that final example of an equation that we didn’t get to finish before we had dinner.”  
  
Milan nodded and got up from the couch. “Yeah… It’s getting late.”  
  
Claire watched them both with a grin as they walked past her and headed to the dining room where their laptops were. Derek glared briefly at her for looking at him like that, but he decided to ignore it and instead tried not to look nervous as he and Milan went to the other room together.  
  
When they reached the dining room, they sat down on the same seats as before and got ready to continue with the final part of their algebra study.  
  
Derek was trying not to look at Milan right now. He still felt really awkward about everything – especially how Claire had seen them – and it was a little difficult for him to handle it.  
  
Milan glanced at the alpha a few times, sensing his trouble. He knew how difficult it was for Derek to give in and accept his feelings sometimes, and that he was very obsessed with what others thought of him, so he knew the alpha must be pretty embarrassed right now. But there was something that Milan _had_ to know.  
  
“Um,” Milan began, shifting a bit while waiting for his laptop to wake up from its slumber. “Did you… Did you mean what you said earlier? W-What you said to Claire…”  
  
Derek felt Milan’s expecting stare on him. It made him feel a little uncomfortable, and he reached up to rub the back of his neck a little. “Yeah. Unless… you mind it?”  
  
Milan’s face split into a happy grin. “No, I don’t mind it. I’m just worried that _you_ do…”  
  
“I don’t ‘ _mind it’,_ I just…” Derek trailed off and stared into the table as he tried to find the words. “I… I haven’t done this before. I always thought such things were the ultimate girly things and that I’d _never_ go there, and I just… I’m not sure how it works,” he finally admitted, daring a small glance at Milan to see his reaction.  
  
Milan, however, just gave him a patient smile. “I don’t know. I haven’t done this before either. I’ve never…” He blushed and looked away. “That was my first kiss earlier,” he whispered.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
There was an odd, possessive feeling inside Derek when he heard Milan say that. Not that he would have minded it if Milan had tried it before, but some part of him was really glad that he had been the first. Knowing that Milan hadn’t been kissed before until earlier also let Derek know that the submissive had never had sex before. He was a virgin. Again, that possessive feeling came up inside Derek, and he both liked it but also wondered if he should be worried about it.  
  
“Anyway, we should finish this before I have to go home,” Milan announced, clearing his throat a bit to try to get rid of that embarrassment inside him.  
  
“Yeah,” Derek agreed, coughing away the embarrassment too before getting started.  
  
It was even more difficult to focus now than it had been earlier. All Derek seemed to be able to focus on were Milan’s lips and how pretty his hands were. He hadn’t really noticed it all that clearly before, but Milan had beautiful hands. Small, feminine, and soft. The total opposite of Derek’s, and Derek liked those differences. A lot.  
  
Milan seemed to notice how Derek was having difficulties concentrating and how he was sometimes staring, because he had to gently smack or shove Derek to bring him back to reality a few times. To Derek’s defense, it was getting kind of late and he was tired from studying all day, so keeping focus was a real challenge. It didn’t make it any easier when all he could keep thinking about was that Milan was his boyfriend now. _His_ boyfriend. He had never felt such a warm, possessive, and proud feeling inside him before, but he definitely liked it.

  
***

  
Over an hour passed until they were finally done with today’s studies.  
  
Derek was impressed with himself that he had actually learned a lot of new things, but it was all thanks to Milan and his patience. For the first time ever, Derek was pretty sure he could pass the final exam in algebra.  
  
“You have no idea how much I owe you for this,” Derek sighed once they were done. He was so relieved to be over with it, but he knew he had to keep studying on his own so he wouldn’t forget it before finals started. “Thanks… for helping me out.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Milan smiled as he slowly started packing his stuff together. “Teaching you wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, actually.”  
  
“Should I be offended by that?” Derek asked, narrowing his eyes a little as he looked at Milan with an offended frown.  
  
Milan giggled. “A little bit, maybe.”  
  
Derek snorted and shoved him lightly, which just made Milan laugh at him.  
  
Milan closed down his laptop and packed it away into his bag. He was almost done putting his stuff away when he noticed that Derek was staring at him and seemed completely lost in thought. Milan’s cheeks reddened a bit when he noticed it, and he slowly put the bag away before daring to lean closer to Derek.  
  
Derek snapped out of it when he saw Milan leaning closer. His heart gave a small, joyful jump inside him when he realized that Milan was going to kiss him, so Derek smiled and leaned forward to meet him halfway. He let Milan close the final distance between their lips this time, feeling how he started out in a somewhat insecure way before he relaxed and kissed Derek a little harder.  
  
They still kept their kisses slow, even though Derek felt an urge to kiss him deeper as if to lay claim on him, but he suppressed that instinct for now. He didn’t want to overwhelm or scare Milan, who was still very new to these physical things.  
  
When Milan pulled away from the kiss, he didn’t pull away all too far, so their faces were still close. He panted lightly for breath before smiling at Derek. “I think I like kissing you,” he admitted with a shy giggle.  
  
Derek chuckled and looked back at him with a smirk. “Yeah, I’m not half bad, am I?”  
  
Milan smacked the alpha lightly on the leg for being cocky, which just made Derek laugh.  
  
The sound of the front door opening made them both flinch lightly in surprise, but they quickly realized it was Noah and Jayden who had just come back home. Derek was a little surprised when he heard Dylan’s voice as well.  
  
The two of them pulled away so that the distance between them was more appropriate, and Milan quickly put the last of his stuff into his bag before getting up.  
  
“I, um, should better head home anyway,” Milan said. “My mom’s gonna be home soon…”  
  
“Yeah.” Derek got from his chair as well and pushed the chair back into place against the table. His laptop and notes were still on the table, but he would clean that up later. “Um… Thanks again. You saved my ass.”  
  
Milan just gave him a warm smile before strapping his shoulder bag around himself. Because he had wings, he couldn’t just pull the strap over his head and shoulder, so shoulder bags for angels, demons, and winged hybrids, had detachable straps. By detaching the strap, they could place the strap over their shoulder where it needed to be before attaching it to the bag itself again.  
  
Derek and Milan went to the entrance hall to greet the others, and Claire was already there to hug her parents and Dylan.  
  
It was Jayden who spotted Derek and Milan first, and he smiled when he saw them. “Hey. How did it go with your studies?”  
  
“Good,” Derek replied, burying his hands in his pockets. “I think I have a better chance of passing my finals now.”  
  
“That’s great,” Noah smiled, looking between them both. “Thanks for giving Derek a hand with that, Milan.”  
  
“No problem,” Milan said, smiling shyly as they all looked at him.  
  
“And Dylan also got some studying done,” Jayden said, looking proud as he glanced between Derek and Dylan. “At this rate all my sons will be geniuses.”  
  
Derek snorted loudly at that, while Dylan looked a little modest.  
  
“Well, calling us ‘geniuses’ is maybe a little bit exaggerating, Dad,” Dylan pointed out.  
  
Jayden laughed. “Maybe, but as long as you pass your finals, I’ll be proud of you.”  
  
“Oh, did you have fun at the event?” Claire asked when she realized that she had forgotten to ask about it the moment they came home.  
  
“Yeah, it was pretty fun,” Noah smiled.  
  
“And we had lots of nice things to eat,” Jayden added.  
  
“Nice!” Claire grinned. “And we had pizza! Lots of pizza. I’m so full now…”  
  
“Yeah, for a second I was worried you were gonna throw up after you finished all that pizza,” Derek remarked. Next to him, Milan laughed and nodded in agreement.  
  
Claire looked a little embarrassed when they all laughed at that.  
  
“Oh, and Milan is Derek’s boyfriend now!” Claire announced in a loud, happy voice as she grinned over at them.  
  
The way everyone’s eyes widened in surprise and how they immediately turned to stare at Derek and Milan in disbelief was almost comical. Not to mention the way Derek almost choked on his own spit, and how wide Milan’s eyes got when they heard her blurt it out like that.  
  
_“Claire!”_ Derek hissed at her angrily, blushing all over his face. He could not believe his sister had just blurted that in front of everyone like it was some common announcement.  
  
Dylan stared between them in complete disbelief and amazement. “Whoa, seriously?”  
  
“Wow.” Jayden blinked at them with surprise before smiling widely. “Seems like a lot of things happened while we were gone.”  
  
Derek groaned loudly in embarrassment, and Milan stared at the floor and twitched his wings awkwardly.  
  
“Sorry,” Claire said with an innocent giggle when she realized that Derek didn’t want her to tell the others. “I’m just so happy about it… And you were kissing.”  
  
When Claire mentioned the kiss, Derek thought he was going to die from utter embarrassment.  
  
“Claire, would you shut up already!” Derek growled lightly at her, glaring daggers at her.  
  
Claire went to hide behind Dylan, but they could all hear her innocent giggling.  
  
Dylan laughed at the situation, although he did feel very sorry for Derek and Milan – especially Milan – that Claire had said those things out loud for everyone to hear. “I don’t think Claire has any shame at all.”  
  
“Claire…” Noah scolded his daughter lightly, staring at her in disapproval when she peeked out from behind Dylan to look at him. It was really not okay for her to say such personal things like that. Noah would have to talk to her about that later.  
  
“Well, I suppose I should say congratulations?” Jayden said as he turned to face Derek and Milan, staring between them with a smile.  
  
“Um, thanks…” Derek muttered, not knowing what else to say. He just wanted to get the hell out of there.  
  
Milan just nodded his thank you at Jayden before shifting again. “And I, um… I should head home. It’s late.”  
  
“Of course,” Noah said. He knew that Derek and Milan were both probably dying to get out of there, and he really couldn’t blame them. Still, Noah was really happy that things had developed into something more between them. He was still shocked that it had happened so fast, even though he knew Derek had known Milan for months already, but it still came as a surprise to Noah.  
  
“Derek can help strap your bike to back of the car and then I’ll drive you home,” Jayden told Milan with a friendly smile.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened. “Oh, but I don’t live that far away, so you don’t have to—”  
  
Jayden waved it off. “Nah, I’m happy to do so. It’s already past 9 and it’s dark outside, so I’ll drive you. And since you’re kind of my son-in-law right now, I wanna make sure you get home safely.”  
  
Those words made Milan’s cheeks turn even redder, and he ended up nodding and accepting Jayden’s offer.  
  
Jayden beamed when Milan gave in, and he then turned to look at Derek, who still looked like he wanted to crawl out of there. “Come help me with Milan’s bike, then. You better drive with us.”  
  
Derek nodded and went to put on his shoes and jacket before following his dad outside to put Milan’s bike on the back of the car.  
  
Meanwhile, Milan went to put on his shoes, feeling a little shy as the rest of the family stood around him and watched.  
  
“Do you have all your stuff?” Noah asked him, wanting to make sure he didn’t leave anything behind.  
  
Milan nodded. “Yes, I think so.”  
  
“Otherwise Derek can just drop by at your house tomorrow and give it back to you,” Dylan said, shrugging lightly. “Unless he’s too lazy for that.”  
  
Milan couldn’t help but laugh at that final comment, and neither could Claire.  
  
“No, I think I have everything. I didn’t bring much with me,” Milan said, blushing a bit before reaching for his jacket inside the closet to put it on.  
  
“And thanks for drawing the unicorn for me earlier!” Claire suddenly blurted as she grinned up at Milan. “It’s really pretty! I love it!”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Milan smiled.  
  
“Oh, you drew something for Claire?” Noah asked curiously.  
  
Milan nodded. “Yeah, she seemed very eager to watch me draw something, so I did.”  
  
“Just don’t spoil her too much,” Dylan chuckled. He laughed when he felt Claire smack him for saying that.  
  
Milan chuckled at them before it was time for him to say goodbye. “I, um, hope to see you guys again soon.”  
  
“Sure. I’ll make Derek bring you over to visit us once in a while,” Noah said.  
  
Milan laughed a bit at that.  
  
“And if he gets too macho for you, just kick him,” Dylan told Milan.  
  
Milan laughed at that too. “I will. Goodbye.”  
  
They all said goodbye to him and waved as Milan headed outside to the car when Derek and Jayden were done fixing his bike to the back of it.  
  
Derek smiled a bit as Milan came over, and the three of them got into the car and drove off towards Milan’s house.  
  
Milan was on the backseat while Derek was sitting in the front. There was silence for most of the way, but the trip to Milan’s house wasn’t longer than two minutes.  
  
“Well, hopefully you’ll soon get rid of me when you need a ride home in the future, Milan,” Jayden suddenly spoke, glancing at the submissive in the rearview mirror. “When Derek turns eighteen in a month, he’ll be able to drive you home instead of me.”  
  
Jayden had been giving Derek driving lessons lately, and as soon as Derek turned eighteen he would be allowed to drive a car without supervision from an adult.  
  
“Oh.” Milan blinked at that. He didn’t know that Derek had started to learn how to drive. He smiled a bit as he turned to look at Derek.  
  
“Yay, an entire month… An entire month until I get freedom,” Derek sighed, resting his elbow against the side door so he could rest his head on his hand.  
  
Jayden chuckled as he glanced at his son. “What? You don’t feel free?”  
  
“Well, it’ll be nice when you can’t ground me anymore…”  
  
“You’re still living in my house though, so I can do other things to limit your ‘freedom’ while you’re living there. Remember that.”  
  
Derek groaned loudly when he realized his dad was right. He heard Milan snicker on the backseat, and once again that cute sound made his heart do a small flip inside him against his will.  
  
They arrived at Milan’s house and got out to get his bike off the car.  
  
There was no light shining in the windows, so Milan knew his Mom wasn’t home yet.  
  
“Does your mother always work late?” Jayden asked as he and Derek helped each other take the bike down from the car.  
  
“Yeah,” Milan replied. “She works two jobs, so she’s mostly away from 7am till about 10-11pm. I don’t see her much, as she often works on the weekends as well.”  
  
Derek frowned at that. “Why does she work so much?”  
  
“Um, she has to pay off a lot of debt from the past, and my dad isn’t around anymore, so she has to care for me and for herself. I also have the feeling that work helps her stay sane sometimes…”  
  
“Ah, I see…” Derek still couldn’t help but feel that it was a little unfair of Milan’s mother to not be there for her son. He had never met her though, and he didn’t know all the details – just what Milan had told him so far – so he wasn’t in a position to judge her that much.  
  
When Milan’s bike was finally detached from the car, Derek grabbed it and wheeled it over to Milan.  
  
“Thanks,” Milan smiled, looking between Jayden and Milan.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Jayden smiled back. “I’ll give you two some space. Have a nice evening, Milan.”  
  
“Thanks, you too,” Milan smiled at Jayden and watched him get into the car and wait for Derek to part ways with him.  
  
Derek shifted a bit as they were now facing each other alone, while Jayden waited in the car. His hands were buried deep in his pockets, but he didn’t feel as awkward anymore as he did earlier. “So, um… I’ll see you on Monday, right?”  
  
The submissive smiled and gave a short nod. “Yeah.”  
  
Derek beamed at that, but soon tried to look casual about it again. Milan chuckled when he noticed that.  
  
“I’m sorry about Claire…” Derek finally said, cringing. “I think I’ll buy her a muzzle for Christmas. One that will keep her mouth shut so she can’t say stupid things like that anymore.”  
  
His words made Milan laugh out loud. “Yeah, sometimes she does need that, doesn’t she?”  
  
Derek snorted and nodded.  
  
“But still… I like her,” Milan smiled. “You have a very nice family.”  
  
Derek didn’t really know what to say to that. He was glad that Milan liked them and that they seemed to like Milan as well, but he didn’t know what to say.  
  
“Anyway, I better go before my dad gets impatient…” Derek said when he noticed the silence that was forming between them.  
  
Milan nodded. “Yeah.”  
  
“And thanks again for helping me out.” Derek had already thanked Milan so many times for it that it was starting to feel girly, but he really owed his boyfriend for helping him out. When he realized he had just thought of Milan as his boyfriend again, his heart did another of those funny flips and a possessive feeling pooled inside of him.  
  
“You’re welcome. Again,” Milan chuckled.  
  
Derek returned his chuckle before slowly taking a step closer to the submissive. Milan blinked up at him before Derek leaned down and gently used a hand to tilt Milan’s head upwards for a kiss.  
  
Milan immediately relaxed and closed his eyes, and their lips met in another soft and gentle kiss that sent small shivers up his spine.  
  
Derek was very much aware that his dad could see them in the rearview mirror of the car, but he didn’t care. Milan was his boyfriend now, and Derek felt the possessiveness rise up inside him whenever he thought about that.  
  
When their lips met, there was a strong, soothing feeling that spread through Derek’s body. It felt warm, pleasant, and very addicting. Milan’s lips were so soft and responsive against his own, and he just couldn’t stop himself when had he leaned in for that kiss. He loved it when Milan made a small, needy sound in the back of his throat when Derek kissed him just a little bit harder, but he was still careful not to take it too far just yet. He wanted Milan to feel comfortable with it first, and he had the feeling that the submissive liked taking things gentle and slow.  
  
When they pulled apart, Milan’s lips were kind of swollen and his pupils were dilated when he lifted his gaze to meet Derek’s eyes. It sent pleasant waves right to Derek’s groin, but even more to his chest.  
  
Derek moved his hand up from Milan’s chin to his cheek instead, rubbing the soft skin gently with his thumb a few times before pulling away with a smile. “See you.”  
  
Milan swallowed before he could reply. “Yeah. Bye,” he smiled, staying by the road to wave goodbye at them as he watched Jayden and Derek drive away in the car.  
  
Milan stood by the road for a few seconds after they were gone, smiling widely as he thought about everything that had happened between himself and Derek today. When he finally snapped out of it, he grinned happily before turning around to walk up to his house, feeling happier than ever before.

  
***

  
Jayden and Derek drove back to the house in silence, but it wasn’t an unpleasant silence.  
  
Derek kept staring out the side window, trying to hide the girly smile on his face so his dad wouldn’t see it.  
  
When they were finally home and got out the car, Jayden suddenly pulled Derek to the side to talk before they went inside.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden said, gently grabbing Derek’s arm to stop him in the driveway.  
  
It was getting dark outside, but the lights from the house and the outdoor lights illuminated the driveway enough for them to see each other’s faces.  
  
Derek turned and faced his dad, blinking at him in wonder.  
  
“I just want to make sure that you don’t rush things between you and Milan too much,” Jayden said, his voice turning a little serious. He let go of Derek’s arm as he continued. “I’m really happy for you that you’ve found someone, and Milan seems like a very sweet submissive. But I just want to make sure that you remember to take things slow and gentle with him. Especially when things go in a sexual direction…”  
  
Derek immediately knew where this was leading, and he let out a loud, embarrassed and half offended groan at his father’s words. “Dad! I’m not a freaking virgin; I know how things work!”  
  
“That’s not what I mean,” Jayden snapped softly. “I know you’ve had sex before, but I also know that you’ve never been in an actual relationship. And submissives… Well, they often tend to be more careful around their partners than girls are – especially those who have oil glands, like Milan does. When things between you go to the next level, just make sure that _he’s_ ready for it. Don’t rush things, even if it might take a long time until he’s ready. You can’t get impatient with him, and don’t get angry if he suddenly changes his mind about it, or you’ll lose him.”  
  
Derek groaned. This was a really embarrassing conversation to have. “Dad, you don’t have to be so worried about that. I have no intentions of doing anything he doesn’t wanna do. Doing anything like that without my partner’s full consent is a big turn-off for me anyway, so that won’t happen…”  
  
“Okay, good.” Jayden stepped back a little, pleased to hear that Derek respected the rules of consent. He smiled as he gave Derek a proud pat on the shoulder. “Just wanted to be sure that you’re absolutely clear on that.”  
  
“I am,” Derek muttered, rolling his eyes. It was embarrassing to talk his dad about sex and relationships. But Derek would never try anything with Milan if he sensed that the submissive didn’t want it or wasn’t ready. Like he said, it was a big turn-off for him if his partner wasn’t into it.  
  
“Alright. Then I guess I have nothing to worry about,” Jayden grinned, patting Derek’s shoulder again before heading up to the house.  
  
Derek buried his hands casually in his pockets as he followed his dad into the house. The conversation had been a little awkward, but he was also kind of glad that his dad gave him some advice. It was nice to know that he cared.  
  
Facing his mom, Claire, and Dylan after everything that had happened that day was too weird for Derek, so he quickly gathered his stuff from the dining room before saying good night and going upstairs to his room. The way they were all smiling at him was getting way too uncomfortable, even though he knew they were smiling because they were happy for him.  
  
Dylan wasn’t surprised to see his brother disappearing the moment he came back home, but he hoped Derek would stop hiding like that every time something embarrassing happened to him.  
  
“I’m gonna head upstairs too,” Dylan announced to the others after Derek left. “Good night.”  
  
“Good night,” Noah said, glancing over his shoulder at him as he stood by the kitchen counter and poured some water for himself.  
  
“Night,” Jayden smiled as Dylan walked past him. “And if you see Derek, try not to tease him too much about today. You know how annoyed he gets.”  
  
Dylan laughed. “Yeah, I know. Still shocked that he got a boyfriend now – especially someone as nice as Milan.”  
  
“Derek can be nice too!” Claire said.  
  
“I know. I know he’s nicer now than before, but he still has a long way to go. Wouldn’t hurt him to show his nicer sides more often,” Dylan said before disappearing out of the room and heading upstairs.  
  
Jayden and Noah chuckled a bit about that before Jayden ushered Claire to bed. She wasn’t being too fussy today, so Jayden felt no need for anyone to help tuck her in.  
  
Claire went and hugged them both good night before running upstairs to bed, leaving Noah and Jayden alone downstairs in the kitchen.  
  
Once they were finally alone, Jayden sighed and went over to hug Noah from behind. His mate smiled and welcomed the hug, and Jayden folded his hands on Noah’s flat stomach as he embraced him.  
  
“Can you imagine that? Derek having a boyfriend…” Jayden murmured softly against Noah’s ear.  
  
Noah laughed softly. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. But I think Milan will be good for him. He’s sweet and gentle, and very opposite from Derek. I think Derek will enjoy looking after him.”  
  
“Yeah, alphas tend to be attracted to submissives because it spikes that old instinct in them to protect, and subs often look like they need protection…”  
  
Noah frowned. “Many of us can take care of ourselves, though. We’re not children.”  
  
“I know,” Jayden chuckled, pressing a small kiss to Noah’s neck in apology. “But like I said; they are old instincts. Hard to get rid of those…”  
  
“I can feel that,” Noah murmured dryly when he felt Jayden’s erection poking his lower back.  
  
Jayden laughed behind him. “Sorry. But when we went to that forest today and had to cross the river, and your colleague in front of you splashed water on your shirt, I was really turned on when I could see your nipples through your shirt…”  
  
Noah snorted. “Is that why you grabbed me so fast and dragged me back to the cabin where our stuff was so I could change my shirt?”  
  
“Well, I couldn’t let anyone else see it…”  
  
Noah rolled his eyes fondly, but was kind of turned on by Jayden’s possessiveness.  
  
The activities today at the event had been pretty fun, and it wasn’t very often that they went to the forest and went ‘treasure hunting’. It had been a different but very fun activity, and Noah had to admit that he had also stared at Jayden when he watched his mate and a few of the other guys lift some heavy timber. There was something very pleasing about watching Jayden do hard work and use his muscles.  
  
When Jayden’s erection kept poking against him, Noah eventually couldn’t handle the teasing anymore. They quickly locked up downstairs before heading up to bed to get rid of those sexual desires and then spend a few minutes to talk about today.  
  
Noah really hoped that things would work out between Derek and Milan. He had the feeling that Derek showed sides of himself to Milan that he didn’t let anyone else see, and he hoped that his son wouldn’t be too afraid to show Milan how much he cared about him. Noah knew how important it was for a submissive to be told by their partner that they were loved and not just desired, so he really hoped Derek was capable of saying that to Milan. Maybe he wouldn’t be ready to admit those feelings right away, but hopefully he wouldn’t be too late to admit it either.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Consider this my Christmas present to all of you! :)
> 
> Also, I'd like to thank all of those who are still reading this story and who leave me lovely comments that help me stay motivated and reward me for my efforts. So thank you all so much! You are very appreciated <3
> 
> And there will be Derek/Milan coming. I'm far from done with them, haha. I will of course include the other characters as much as possible.
> 
> And I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hope to see you again for the next chapter :)


	72. Chapter 72

**May 2072 (Noah is 46, Jayden is 47 (almost 48), Nathan is 22, Derek is 17 (almost 18), Dylan is 14, Claire is 10, Milan is 17 (almost 18) years old).**  
  
May arrived and the high school finals weren’t far away. The first finals started in mid-May and continued into June, and after that was graduation.  
  
Derek couldn’t wait to be done with high school and move on. He was fed up with studying, although he was going to miss playing lacrosse.  
  
However, there was still one lacrosse game that Derek dreaded above everything else, and that was the game against Steven. He still couldn’t believe his bad luck that Steven was also playing lacrosse now, and that their schools were set to play against each other. He knew that Steven was going to do everything in his power to win that game, and Derek was a little concerned that he would target him or Dwayne in the field and cause an ‘accident’. It weighed on his mind almost more than finals did.  
  
But the thing that helped cheer Derek up was that things between him and Milan were going well. Their relationship hadn’t developed further than kissing in the past four weeks, except that the kisses sometimes got a little deeper and longer than before. There was no sexual touching, because Derek didn’t want to freak Milan out or make him uncomfortable, and they hadn’t really been properly alone for that yet. So far the touches were restricted to cupping cheeks during kisses, and one time where Derek had placed his hand on Milan’s hip during a kiss. Derek wasn’t used to the slow pace, but he found that he actually didn’t really mind it. There was something exciting about waiting and getting to know Milan more during that time. He had never thought he would think that, though.  
  
No one at school except for Dwayne and his girlfriend Stefanie knew about Derek and Milan being together now. They were careful not to let anyone at school know about it, because they knew it would only cause them both trouble. Not even Derek and Dwayne’s three alpha friends knew.  
  
After a normal day at school and lacrosse practice, Derek was preparing to head to his usual martial arts practice at 7pm. Usually he hung out with Dwayne in the meantime, but when Dwayne once again had plans to go eat with Stefanie before practice, Derek decided to head to the library to find Milan. He figured his boyfriend was most likely still sitting there studying.  
  
The library was pretty much empty at this hour, except for a small group of freshmen girls sitting nearby the entrance, and another group sitting on the library’s second floor.  
  
Derek walked around to check the corners, and just as he predicted, Milan was still sitting there studying, even though the time was now 6:15pm and classes had ended over three hours ago. Derek snorted softly at that before making his way over to his boyfriend, who was sitting at a small table in one of the corners with his laptop and a book in front of him.  
  
“Hey,” Derek greeted him with a smile as he sat down in the chair opposite from Milan and casually threw his bag on the ground.  
  
Milan’s eyes lit up when he saw Derek. “Hi,” he grinned with that shy smile that made Derek’s heart do a flip inside of him.  
  
“I figured I’d find you here.”  
  
Milan snorted softly. “Yeah, this is the nerd corner… Sorry for being so predictable. I just get fed up sitting at home all night…”  
  
“And you don’t get fed up with this place?” Derek asked, chuckling a bit as he glanced around.  
  
“Not as much,” Milan said. “At least here there are other students who study as well, and I often sit with Annie until she has to go at around 5:30.”  
  
“Good point…”  
  
There was a bit of silence until Milan asked, “Are you going to your martial arts practice soon?”  
  
“Yeah, the bus leaves in about twenty-five minutes.”  
  
Milan glanced a bit down and his cheeks reddened before shyly asking, “Um, can I join you…?”  
  
Derek frowned. This was the first time Milan had asked to join Derek for his practice. “Sure. Do you wanna start taking lessons or something?”  
  
“No,” Milan chuckled. “I just…” He trailed off and started looking a bit nervous. “I, um… I went to try to sneak a little peek at your lacrosse practice earlier, and I… I saw Steven nearby.”  
  
Derek’s whole body tensed at the mention of Steven.  
  
“Now I just… I don’t feel quite safe walking around on the school grounds by myself,” Milan confessed and stared into the table. “I’m a little scared he’s gonna pop up from around the corner and hurt me, so I’d rather be around you…”  
  
“Yeah, you can join me for my practice,” Derek said, growling a bit at the thought that Steven had been at the school today. “That fucking asshole probably went to look at the way we play. He should stay the fuck away.”  
  
“Yeah… I just ran away as soon as I spotted him. Luckily, he didn’t spot _me,_ ” Milan murmured. “And thanks… for letting me join you tonight.” His smile soon turned into a concerned frown, though. “But are you sure you’re okay with that? I mean, the others at your practice may start asking questions if I tag along with you…”  
  
“It’s fine. They’re not going to dare speak their minds if they have a problem with it, and if they do, they know I will show no mercy next time they face me in a fight.” There was a small, cocky smirk on Derek’s face as he said that. “Besides, most of them are nice guys. There are a few girls as well, and I know they won’t let the guys pick on you.”  
  
“Oh. That’s nice to know,” Milan smiled.  
  
Derek just smiled at Milan’s relief before glancing at the big book next to Milan’s laptop. “What are you studying?”  
  
Milan glanced at the book as well. “Oh. Um, that’s not for finals, though. It’s one of my own books.”  
  
When Derek frowned in confusion, Milan pushed the book over to him so he could see. Derek opened it and saw that it was full of guides and tips on how to draw certain things, like body parts, animals, backgrounds, and tutorials for how to color the drawings in Photoshop. He knew Milan also drew pictures digitally, but that he liked it best when he could bring his pencil and sketchbook with him somewhere and just draw what he saw.  
  
“I didn’t know they made such big books for that,” Derek murmured as he skimmed through the book and its contents.  
  
Milan chuckled. “They do. But this is the best book I’ve found so far. It cost a fortune, though. I didn’t have the money for it, so my mom gave it to me as an early birthday present.”  
  
“Nice,” Derek smiled and gently pushed the book back to Milan. “I can’t even draw a proper stick figure…”  
  
That comment made Milan laugh. Derek didn’t mind it that the submissive laughed at him for being bad at drawing, because it gave him the chance to see his boyfriend’s face when he laughed. He knew it was kind of girly, but it was so addicting to watch and hear Milan laugh. It was the most beautiful look on him.

  
***

  
After sitting and chatting for a while in the library, they walked outside to get on the bus together.  
  
Milan kept glancing around as they walked through the empty school, still afraid to see Steven somewhere. Unconsciously, he reached out and grabbed Derek’s hand, holding on to it for reassurance as they walked next to each other.  
  
They had never held hands before. They always tried to keep things between them casual at school so that the bullies wouldn’t come after either of them, and the few times they had been alone in the library in the afternoon or evening had only included kissing and not hand-holding.  
  
However, as soon as Derek felt the submissive grab his hand and lean closer him to find reassurance, he only grabbed Milan’s hand back tighter and felt a wave of protectiveness inside him. It was a good feeling when Milan trusted him to protect him if a threat suddenly showed up in front of them. Derek felt comfortable in that role. But holding hands also kind of made Derek feel like this was a way of saying that Milan was _his,_ and the other way around for Milan, and Derek found that he actually kind of liked that.  
  
When they reached the bus stop, they were still holding hands. Milan didn’t seem to have realized it yet, but even if he had, Derek wouldn’t have let him pull away so easily because he kind of liked it.  
  
The bus came and picked them up, and together they went to the place where Derek had his Jeet Kune Do practice. It was a little further downtown and it took about eight minutes to drive there with the bus.  
  
Milan felt nervous as he entered the building with Derek. He was a little afraid of how the others would react, and if they would tease Derek and pick on him for bringing his boyfriend along. Milan didn’t want to be the cause of that, and he knew how easily Derek got bothered when someone made fun of him.  
  
Derek went to change in the locker rooms, and Milan waited for him outside in the corridor. The other students who passed through the corridor in the meantime eyed him funnily. It was unusual for them to see a submissive in such a place, not to mention that the team that Derek was on was the advanced team, so no new students could enter unless they came from another school and had the right qualifications. And Milan really didn’t look like he practiced martial arts.  
  
Milan waited for about five minutes until Derek came out of the locker rooms, dressed in his Jeet Kune Do uniform. Unlike karate and many other martial arts, Jeet Kune Do had no belt rankings, so the color of his belt didn’t mean anything. The uniform at this school was black, but was red at the v-shaped collar and at the end of the sleeves. The school’s logo was printed on the back and on the front, at the chest. Milan stared a bit at the dragon that was part of the logo, admiring the art for a second, before looking up at Derek’s face.  
  
Derek gestured at him to follow, so Milan did. He had not expected Derek to grab his hand, and his face flushed a bit when Derek did just that as he led him down the corridor and into the big training room at the end.  
  
The training room was a lot bigger than Milan had expected. It was almost the size of a school gym, and had four large mattresses on the floor for the students to fight on, and a big ring that reminded him a bit of a boxing ring. There were windows on both sides of the room. Near the corridor, the windows were located in normal position above the ground, while in the other end they were so far up you wouldn’t be able to look outside unless you climbed the bars that were fixed on the side of the walls.  
  
A few of the other students were already in there, ready to start practice. Milan blushed a bit as they all stared at him and Derek in wonder, as they were clearly not used to seeing Derek walking around and holding hands with a submissive. They still greeted Derek though, and he greeted them back briefly while leading Milan over to the side near the windows.  
  
“So, uh, you can sit here and wait. And watch, of course,” Derek told him, feeling a little awkward because he wasn’t used to bringing Milan with him to his practice.  
  
Milan nodded and took off his bag as he sat down on the floor. “Thanks,” he told Derek with a smile before sitting down. He crossed his legs and tried to find a comfortable position to sit in on the hard floor.  
  
Just then, Dwayne showed up and walked over to them. “Hey,” he greeted Milan with a friendly smile.  
  
“Hi,” Milan smiled, looking up at him.  
  
“Comfy on the hard floor?” Dwayne asked, chuckling a bit.  
  
A small grimace appeared on Milan’s face as he shifted once again to get comfortable. “I might have to stand up every now and then…”  
  
Dwayne laughed at that while Derek groaned.  
  
“I’ll go see if I can find you a mat or a pillow or something to sit on. Might be more comfortable,” Derek murmured as he went over to the storage room where the teacher kept all the tools and extra mats.  
  
Dwayne wasn’t surprised to see Milan at practice, so Milan guessed that Derek must have told him about it in the locker room earlier. He hadn’t interacted much with Dwayne before, so Milan felt a little bit nervous as the alpha stood next to him.  
  
Dwayne glanced over at Derek before looking down at Milan on the floor. The teacher wasn’t there yet, and not all students were done in the locker rooms, so Dwayne carefully sat down on the floor next to Milan, but with a respectable distance between them. Milan was very surprised when Dwayne did that.  
  
Dwayne shifted a bit before speaking. “I bet you’ve also noticed that Derek’s mind has been a little distracted lately…”  
  
Milan glanced at Dwayne with a small frown. He then nodded slowly.  
  
“It’s ‘cause of Steven,” Dwayne muttered, staring straight ahead and not at Milan. “The lacrosse game against him is in three days, and it’s making Derek nervous. Heck, it’s making _me_ nervous as fuck, and Steven doesn’t even hate _me_ as much as he hates Derek.”  
  
Milan frowned a bit at that as he stared at Dwayne’s profile. He ignored the noise from the others as they laughed at something and fooled around while waiting for the teacher. “Why does he hate Derek more?”  
  
“’Cause Derek was kind of his best friend for a while,” Dwayne muttered, glancing briefly at Milan. “And it hurts Steven’s pride when one of friends suddenly turns against him like that.”  
  
A small snort escaped Milan as he stared into space too. “Why are you alphas so obsessed with your pride…”  
  
Dwayne laughed at that, though he had the feeling Milan wasn’t actually asking _him_ that, but that he was just thinking out loud. But still, he decided to reply to the question. “And you’re asking _me_ that? _You’re_ the one who’s dating Derek, who’s one of the proudest alphas I know, even though he’s not the cruelest one.”  
  
Milan blushed a bit at that, but before any of them could say anything more, one of the other students suddenly appeared in front of them. Milan looked up at the guy, who was a very broad, muscled alpha. He was a little shorter than Derek, but a lot broader.  
  
“What’s this, Dwayne? I thought you already had a girlfriend?” the guy asked, smirking a bit as he teased Dwayne.  
  
Some of the others laughed, and Dwayne’s eyes widened as he glanced between Milan and the alpha. “Ah, no. He’s not…”  
  
Before Dwayne could finish his sentence, Derek finally showed up again.  
  
“He’s _my_ boyfriend,” Derek growled at the other alpha and glared at him.  
  
Milan felt a certain relief when Derek returned, and he couldn’t help but smile and feel all shy and happy as Derek said those words out loud in front of everyone. He watched as the other alpha took a small step back while staring between Milan and Derek with wide eyes.  
  
“Oh,” the guy said, slowly backing off as Derek kept glaring at him.  
  
“Or do you have a problem with that?” Derek added, glaring at the guy and at the small crowd behind him that had been laughing earlier.  
  
“No,” said the guy, shaking his head before walking away and trying to look casual about it.  
  
Derek glared at the others until they all backed off too before he snorted and turned to look at Milan and Dwayne. “Are you trying to steal my boyfriend, Dwayne?” he asked his friend in a somewhat playful tone. He was holding a small, flat pillow in his hands, which he had just found in the storage room for Milan to sit on.  
  
Dwayne scrambled to get up from the floor. “No, I was just keeping him company.”  
  
Milan also got up from the floor, smiling at Derek for having brought him a pillow to sit on. It was way better than the hard floor.  
  
Derek didn’t say anything, but snorted softly at Dwayne before handing Milan the pillow. “Here. Hope that’s more comfortable.”  
  
“Thanks,” Milan said as he took the pillow from Derek.  
  
The two of them shared a small smile until one of the girls suddenly came over to them.  
  
“Oh, did you really get a boyfriend, Derek?” the girl said as she came over to them, smiling. She was a demon girl about their age with long brown hair and hazel eyes, and Milan noticed that she was wearing black nail polish. She seemed nice, but also like someone you wouldn’t want to piss off.  
  
“Yeah,” Derek said, shifting a bit as she came over.  
  
Milan noticed something odd in Derek’s body language as the girl came over to them. Mostly it was how he leaned a bit away from her and didn’t meet her eyes, even though she was being very kind. It made Milan wonder if something had happened between this girl and Derek once. The thought that maybe Derek had slept with her in the past caused an uncomfortable surge of jealousy to rise up inside him, but he quickly willed it away.  
  
“Hi, I’m Anja. Nice to meet you,” the girl said as she smiled at Milan. She reached out to shake his hand, and Milan accepted the handshake.  
  
“Nice to meet you too. I’m Milan,” Milan smiled back, noticing again how Derek shifted.  
  
Anja beamed. “You know, I never thought Derek was someone who would commit himself and be in a relationship, but meeting you, I can see why he’d choose that suddenly.”  
  
Her kind comment made Milan blush hard.  
  
Dwayne laughed at Anja’s comment, while Derek didn’t react much except for crossing his arms in front of his chest.  
  
“And Derek might have won the national championship recently, but everyone here knows that I’m his best competitor,” Anja said as she gave Derek a challenging smirk.  
  
Derek snorted loudly. “You haven’t won a fight against me for _weeks_ , so I seriously doubt that.”  
  
“Oh, I will beat you tonight!” Anja said, pointing her finger firmly at Derek as she challenged him.  
  
Milan looked between them almost nervously while Dwayne burst out laughing next to him.  
  
“Now, that’s a fight I’d love to see!” Dwayne laughed.  
  
Anja grinned at that and smiled at Milan and Derek one more time before heading back to the other students.  
  
Derek watched her go, still standing with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He wasn’t aware that Milan was watching him silently.  
  
The teacher finally appeared and called all the students over to gather in a long line, side by side, so he could go through today’s agenda with them before they got started on warm-ups.  
  
Before he turned to join the others, Derek turned leaned down to capture Milan’s lips in a soft but possessive kiss.  
  
The kiss came as a surprise to Milan, who had not expected Derek to do that in front of so many people that he knew. For the first second, he was completely startled, until he finally kissed him back. He heard Derek’s chest rumble with a pleased growl when he returned the kiss, until he suddenly tore himself away and gave Milan a small smile before running over to join the others.  
  
Milan couldn’t stop smiling. Sometimes Derek really surprised him like that, and he so thrilled that his macho boyfriend had just kissed him so openly. He saw how Anja glanced over at him afterwards and he couldn’t help but feel pleased that she had seen the kiss too. He felt a little bad about the jealousy, though. It wasn’t like him to feel that, but he couldn’t help it when it suddenly appeared.  
  
Milan put the pillow on the floor and sat down on top of it, watching as Derek and the others get started on the warm-ups. He was still smiling like crazy, but was trying to hide it, and his heart jumped pleasantly inside of him every time Derek looked his way.

  
***

  
At 9pm, the practice was over and the students headed to the locker rooms to shower and go home.  
  
It had been pretty fun for Milan to watch Derek practice his martial arts. He had never seen any martial art fights up close before, so when the students had fought against each other as part of their training, Milan had held his breath and had watched them closely. He had gotten to see Derek fight several times – against a human guy, one of the beta angels, two alphas, and against Anja. The fight against Anja had been the most difficult for Milan to watch, though it had been pretty professional between them. Derek had ended up winning, even though Anja did deliver some good blows to him as well. Milan, however, was very pleased when Derek won all the fights he was in, though they hadn’t all been easy to win; he had to really concentrate and focus to win. However, during his last fight against one of the alpha angels, the other alpha had accidentally struck a hard blow to Derek’s left shoulder that had made Derek grunt loudly in pain. Milan was instantly worried that something serious had happened, but Derek had continued the fight and had won.  
  
“Are you okay?” Milan asked Derek after practice had ended and his boyfriend had come over to him. Milan had just gotten up from the floor and was now standing in front of Derek, eyeing his left shoulder with worry.  
  
Derek placed his right hand on his own shoulder as he rolled it a bit to see if it was okay. The movement made him wince as it sent sharp sparks of pain through him, but he knew it wasn’t anything serious. It was just a little bruised. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’ll go away.”  
  
Milan didn’t look convinced, though.  
  
“Anyway, I’m gonna go shower and change my clothes. Wait for me here and I’ll come and get you when I’m ready to leave,” Derek said, offering him a small smile before he started moving towards the locker rooms with the others.  
  
Milan nodded and watched him go. He noticed the way some of the others were staring at him as they passed him on their way to the locker rooms, but he ignored them.  
  
Milan listened idly to the chatting and laughter from the students as they all left the room, and he glanced briefly at his phone to see if he had gotten any new messages. There were none, but he hadn’t really expected any. His mom rarely ever wrote him, and Annie was probably busy with her boyfriend right now.  
  
Almost all the students had left the room when Anja suddenly came over to him. Milan looked up at her in surprise, and instantly felt a little wary about what she wanted from him.  
  
“Hey,” Anja smiled as she came over. She stopped when she was standing in front of Milan, shifting a bit from one foot to the other as she looked at him. “So, um, I noticed you’ve been eyeing me the whole time during practice and I couldn’t help but notice that it wasn’t an entirely friendly stare…”  
  
Milan’s eyes widened in horror. “Ah, no, I…”  
  
“No, it’s okay,” Anja cut him with a friendly chuckle. “I just wanted to clear a few things up, okay? Since I’m not sure if Derek will.”  
  
Milan felt a nervous about what she was going to say, but he still nodded.  
  
“So, nothing romantic ever happened between Derek and I,” Anja said, getting straight to the point. She kept smiling at Milan as she spoke, looking patient and friendly. “But we did, um, have sex a few times…”  
  
Milan had expected that, but it still kind of hurt somehow. He wasn’t sure why, because he didn’t care that Derek had slept with others; it didn’t change his feelings for him. So why did he suddenly feel so insecure and weird inside?  
  
Anja went on. “But it was just sex. There was nothing else involved; no feelings, no commitment, nothing – for either of us. And we did definitely _not_ share any sweet kisses either.” She chuckled at that last part.  
  
“Oh. That’s okay. I, um, kind of expected that something happened between you,” Milan said, glancing between Anja and the floor.  
  
Anja just smiled. “I just wanted you to know that. And to know that I don’t even know Derek that well. We’ve never really talked… He’s not a very talkative guy unless he’s around people he really likes, I guess. With me, it was just rough sex and nothing else, and I wasn’t interested in anything more than that either, so you’ve got absolutely no reason to be jealous.” When Milan looked a little ashamed, she just chuckled and went on. “Anyway, you can probably imagine my surprise when I learned that he’s got a submissive as a boyfriend now, and that he’s dragged you with him to practice, openly claimed that you’re his boyfriend, kissed you sweetly in front of everyone, and taking focus away from practice every now and then to send you small smiles. That was a real surprise to me.”  
  
Again, Milan blushed, and he couldn’t help but shift sheepishly at what she said. “Yeah, I guess that is probably pretty surprising for someone like him… And I’m sorry for staring at you like that. I don’t know why I felt jealous. It’s just… we’ve never, um…” He trailed off and blushed furiously, but Anja seemed to understand exactly what he meant.  
  
Anja snickered softly at him before leaning in to whisper something in his ear. “Don’t worry; Derek’s very good in bed.”  
  
Milan’s face had never been redder, and it must have been pretty obvious, because Anja laughed when she pulled away and looked at him. She then gave him a wink before walking off towards the girls’ locker rooms, leaving Milan standing alone in the room and blushing furiously.  
  
Anja’s last words to him kept echoing in Milan’s mind for minutes after she had left. His and Derek’s relationship hadn’t developed in a sexual direction yet, so he didn’t really know what to expect. Of course he had thought about it – and had fantasized about it a lot already – but her words made the situation feel so much more real to him. It made him realize that one day, Milan would get to see if her claim was true or not. He was still not ready to take their relationship that far yet, though. He needed to get to know Derek more and explore a few things before he was at the point of being ready, but for some reason Anja’s words just made him more curious.  
  
A few minutes later, Derek finally showed up. He was dressed in his normal clothes again, and was holding his bag as he walked up to Milan.  
  
“Hey,” Derek smiled.  
  
Milan’s heart flipped inside of him, but it wasn’t just because he was happy to see him, it was also because he suddenly felt awkward, nervous, and embarrassed after speaking to Anja earlier. Still, he returned the alpha’s smile. “Hi.”  
  
“Ready to go?”  
  
Milan smiled and nodded. “Yeah.”  
  
Derek smiled and turned to leave, and Milan followed him.  
  
They met Dwayne in the corridor, who said goodbye to them as he went to the parking lot where Stefanie and her mother were waiting for him to drive him home, while Derek and Milan headed to the bus stop to get on the bus that led to the neighborhood that Milan lived in.  
  
They only had to wait two minutes for the bus, and Milan’s heart raced inside of him as he and Derek sat down next to each other on the bus, so close that their thighs were touching. Derek was sitting next to the aisle, and he made sure to sit somewhat askew so he could put some distance between their wings. He wasn’t sure if Milan was comfortable with having their wings touch yet.  
  
The drive to the bus stop near Milan’s neighborhood took about fifteen minutes, and they got off the bus together and started walking towards his house.  
  
The sun had already set, but there were still some orange colors in the far horizon, though most of the sky was dark blue and black. The streetlights kept the sidewalk illuminated though, making them able to see where they were going.  
  
They had to walk down a long street before they reached the street that Milan lived on. The neighborhood was mostly quiet at this time of the night, but they could hear people arguing inside and outside some of the houses, as well as dogs barking and babies crying.  
  
Derek noticed Milan flinch a bit when they heard the loud, angry voice of a middle-aged alpha somewhere nearby who was shouting at his wife. Derek reached out and grabbed Milan’s hand to reassure him when he noticed the submissive looking a bit frightened, and he liked how his touch helped the submissive relax almost instantly. Derek guessed that the shouting might have reminded Milan of his dad and that it had stirred up bad memories inside of him.  
  
They chatted a bit about school as they walked to the house together. Mostly about the upcoming finals and how Derek looked forward to getting it over with, and a bit about some of their most hated teachers. They laughed a bit together at some of the things that were said, until they finally reached Milan’s house.  
  
Derek followed Milan up to the porch, wanting to make sure that his boyfriend got home safely.  
  
“Thank you for following me home,” Milan told him as they stood in front of the porch. He turned to smile up at Derek with gratitude.  
  
Derek had his hands buried casually in his pockets, and he shrugged lightly at Milan’s words. “No problem.” However, shrugging like that made his bruised shoulder hurt, causing him to wince at the sudden pain.  
  
It didn’t go unnoticed by Milan.  
  
“Let me see that,” Milan said, reaching out to push the collar of Derek’s shirt down so he could see his shoulder, but the alpha pulled away.  
  
“Nah, I told you it’s nothing.”  
  
Milan frowned stubbornly. “Stop being so god damn proud for one second and let me look!”  
  
Derek blinked at the seriousness in Milan’s otherwise very calm and friendly voice. He hated being bossed around and told what to do, but with Milan he didn’t feel the same urge to snap or get annoyed at it. He hesitated for a couple of seconds before giving in. Sighing in defeat, he reached up to pull his collar to the side, revealing the skin on his left shoulder.  
  
Milan used the light from the porch to look at Derek’s shoulder. He couldn’t see much, only that the skin was a little red, and that Derek had some very nice muscles there. When he reached up to touch the shoulder lightly to inspect it, Derek hissed softly.  
  
“Sorry,” Milan said, immediately pulling his hand back.  
  
“It’s fine. It just stung a bit,” Derek murmured before correcting his shirt again and straightening up. “I guess you didn’t see anything?”  
  
Milan shook his head. “No, just a bit of red color on your skin. I think it’s probably bruised…”  
  
“Yeah, I know,” Derek said, gritting his teeth a bit in irritation. “Which is great, ‘cause I’m facing Steven at lacrosse in three days. Gonna be so awesome with a sore shoulder.”  
  
Milan could easily hear the sarcasm and annoyance in Derek’s voice, and it made him both a little amused but also really worried. “I don’t want you fighting him, though…”  
  
“Well, I can’t just stay away from the game. They’re all gonna think I’m a pussy if I do.”  
  
“I know,” Milan murmured. “But still…”  
  
Derek looked at him for a few seconds until his lips curled into a small, amused smile. “Why? Are you worried about me?”  
  
“Of course I’m worried,” Milan said as he raised his head to look up Derek. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”  
  
Derek felt a little flattered about that, but also happy. It was strange to know that someone worried about him, but it also felt nice.  
  
Slowly, Derek reached out and placed a gentle finger under Milan’s chin to make him look up at him again after the submissive had started staring at the ground. When their eyes met, Derek smiled at him. “Hey, I’m gonna be fine. You should be more worried about the others.”  
  
Milan let out an amused snort at the cockiness he could hear in Derek’s voice.  
  
Derek just smirked before pulling his hand back to himself. “So, uh, what did you and Anja talk about after I went to the locker rooms?”  
  
Milan whipped his head up to stare at Derek with wide, nervous eyes. “W-What?”  
  
“Dwayne told me he saw Anja walking over to you to talk. He could see you from the corridor after he was finished using the bathroom.”  
  
“Oh.” Milan began shifting nervously. He didn’t really want Derek to know that he had been jealous of Anja at first. He was still a little ashamed of that, even though he knew now that his jealousy was because he was afraid to lose Derek to someone with more sexual experience than himself. He knew it was a stupid thought, but he couldn’t help but feel a little secure because of his inexperience. “I… She just told me a few things about you. And about her… That you, um…”  
  
Derek’s eyes widened a bit when he realized what Anja must have told Milan. A loud, irritated groan escaped him. “Argh, she’s so damn talkative sometimes!”  
  
Milan just blinked up at him.  
  
“That’s, uh…” Derek trailed off, feeling very awkward all of a sudden. “I did sleep with her a few times,” he admitted, looking away. “But it wasn’t anything serious. I don’t feel anything for her, I just…”  
  
“I know. She told me,” Milan said, chuckling softly at the way Derek was behaving now. “And I don’t mind it. As long as you don’t, um, do that with others when you’re with me…”  
  
“Don’t worry; I’m not _that_ much of an asshole.”  
  
Milan laughed softly at that, and Derek smiled a about it until a bright light suddenly appeared behind them.  
  
Derek glanced behind himself to see a car pulling up into the driveway. The headlights illuminated the whole front yard and the outside of the house until they were switched off when the engine of the car was turned off.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened. “Oh. That’s my mom, I… I didn’t think she’d be home already.”  
  
“Oh.” Derek shifted and suddenly felt pretty nervous. He had never met Milan’s mother before. He had actually never met any kind of in-laws before because this was his first relationship ever. And he suddenly realized he had no idea what to say or how to act around Milan’s mother. He didn’t want her to hate him, but he wasn’t very good at showing his good sides to people – maybe with Milan being one of the only exceptions. Plus, the idea of talking to a woman whose son he was dating felt incredibly awkward.  
  
Milan’s mother exited the car, but stopped for a second when she spotted them by the porch. She then started walking up them while fumbling to put away her car keys into her handbag, which was hanging from her right shoulder. In her other hand she as carrying a grocery bag with fresh groceries, but they couldn’t see what was inside.  
  
She was about the same age as Derek’s parents, had long brown hair that was set up into a somewhat messy ponytail (Derek guessed it had gotten messy after working for so many hours that day), her eyes were green, there was make-up and lipstick on her face and lips, and her wings were light grey with a few light brown feathers in them. She was wearing high heels and a long, beige coat that covered most of her body.  
  
“Hi, sweetie,” she smiled at Milan as she came over. She glanced somewhat warily at Derek.  
  
“Hi, Mom,” Milan greeted her back, shifting a bit as he stood by Derek’s side. “Um, this is Derek,” he said when he saw his mom eyeing Derek carefully.  
  
“Oh.” Milan’s mother blinked at Derek before hesitantly reaching out to shake his hand with a polite smile on her face. “Hi, I’m Clarissa.”  
  
“Derek,” Derek introduced himself and tried to smile politely as he shook her hand.  
  
Clarissa smiled at him, but still looked a little bit wary. Derek guessed it was because she hadn’t had the best experiences with alphas before. Milan had told him that his father wasn’t a very nice alpha and that he had sometimes hit his mother, so Derek guessed Clarissa was probably being very careful around alphas now – especially an alpha who was dating her son. At least that would explain the way she looked at him as if she was analyzing him and deciding whether he was a threat or not.  
  
“Did you just come home?” Clarissa asked Milan, frowning a bit.  
  
“Yeah,” Milan replied. “I was in the school library most of the afternoon, and then I went with Derek to his martial arts practice. He followed me home.”  
  
Clarissa’s eyes widened a bit before she turned to look at Derek. “Oh, you do martial arts? Milan didn’t mention that. He didn’t tell me all that much about you.”  
  
“Well, you wouldn’t really listen when I tried,” Milan muttered quietly, so low that Derek suspected that it was only him who had heard it – or maybe Clarissa just ignored it, because she made no comment about it.  
  
“Yeah, I practice Jeet kune Do,” Derek told her when it looked like Clarissa was curious to hear more. Once again, he buried his hands casually in his pockets. He didn’t know what else to do with his hands. And there was an unpleasant tension between Milan and his mother that he hadn’t expected, but he didn’t dare comment on it.  
  
“Oh, that sounds interesting,” Clarissa smiled before glancing briefly at Milan. She then looked back at Derek. “Well, I better head inside with the groceries before they turn bad.” She briefly held up the bag and smiled. “It was very nice meeting you, Derek.”  
  
“You too, ma’am,” Derek smiled, feeling incredibly awkward about the conversation.  
  
Milan watched his mother walk up to the front door and unlock it before she disappeared inside.  
  
Once she was gone, Milan sighed and turned to look at Derek. “I’m sorry… We had a big fight a few days ago and haven’t spoken since… So there’s still tension between us.”  
  
“That’s okay,” Derek said, wondering a bit about what the fight was about, but he didn’t want to pry.  
  
“She doesn’t really approve much of me dating an alpha,” Milan slowly explained, looking up at Derek from under his lashes. “She’s kinda paranoid when it comes to alphas… and men in general. She got mad when I told her about you a few weeks ago. And then the other day she confronted me about it again. There was some shouting and some nasty words – mostly coming from me, to be honest. I just got so mad that she wants to suddenly interfere with my choices when she’s never around to care anyway.”  
  
Derek had never heard Milan sound so angry before, and it kind of startled him. He didn’t really know what to say either. “Uh, sorry about that…”  
  
“It’s not your fault,” Milan reassured him with a soft voice and a small smile. “But she actually treated you a lot better than I thought she would. I guess that’s a good thing.”  
  
Derek chuckled at that. “Yeah. Guess I should be glad she didn’t try to murder me.”  
  
Milan laughed a bit at that. “Yeah… But she’ll come around. She’s just a bit scared after everything with my father and so on.”  
  
Derek nodded in understanding, but didn’t say anything.  
  
Milan smiled shyly at him before reaching out to grasp the front of Derek’s shirt gently, pulling him down to his level so he could kiss him.  
  
Derek chuckled at how Milan had to do that in order to reach his lips because of the height difference, and he let himself be pulled down a little so their lips could meet in a deep kiss. The submissive hummed into his mouth and rested his hand on the back of Derek’s neck, almost as if he wanted to say that he wanted more.  
  
The possessive feeling that he so often felt around Milan surged up again, and Derek growled softly as he kissed Milan a bit harder and cupped his cheek as he did so. Their tongues got involved now too, and Derek loved the purr-like sound that came from Milan then.  
  
They hadn’t intended for their kiss to be this deep or long, and they were both a little out of breath when they finally pulled apart.  
  
Milan panted softly and stared up into Derek’s eyes with wide pupils before blushing and stepping back a little. “And, um, thanks for following me home.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Derek smiled.  
  
They smiled at each other for a bit until Milan took a small step back towards the house. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Get home safely.”  
  
Derek let out a small, amused snort. “Of course I will. See you.”  
  
Milan chuckled at Derek’s confidence before waving goodbye at him and heading inside. He paused in the doorway, watching Derek disappear down the driveway and eventually down the sidewalk until he was no longer in sight.  
  
Slowly, Milan shut the front door behind him and began heading towards his room. He avoided his mother, who was in the kitchen on the first door to the right. He was still upset with her after their argument the other day. When Milan had told her about Derek a few weeks ago and how he felt about him, she hadn’t wanted to listen to him at all. She had gotten mad and had told him to stay away from alphas like Derek without even knowing him, and that really upset Milan. They hadn’t spoken about it since then, not until the other night when his mom had brought it up again. She hadn’t wanted to listen to a single word he had to say, and Milan had gotten so mad at her that he had said things he kind of regretted now, but he couldn’t help it. They used to be so close once, but now it was like she was shutting him out. It upset Milan more than anything.  
  
However, Milan barely managed to take three steps down the hallway before his mom suddenly appeared in front of him. Milan stopped in his tracks when she blocked his way, and he was just about to ask her to move when he saw her shifting nervously.  
  
“I, um…” she began, staring between the floor and Milan. “You seem to like that alpha very much.”  
  
Milan suddenly realized that she had been watching them from the kitchen window. “You were spying on me?!”  
  
“Only ‘cause I was worried,” Clarissa said, her wings drooping in shame. “I just wanted to make sure that he didn’t hurt you, but then… Well, he looked very gentle when he kissed you. He didn’t touch you in any weird places…”  
  
Milan groaned at that and tried to walk past her. He was embarrassed and angry that she had spied on that private moment between him and Derek, and he just wanted to go to his room already, but his mother blocked his way again.  
  
“I’m sorry, Milan, okay?” his mother said as she blocked his way. She looked very upset, like she was about to cry. “I shouldn’t have spied, I know that. I was just worried. I’m sorry. And I should have listened when you tried to talk to me the other day instead of just shutting you out… I’m so sorry about that. I’ve just been inside this deep hole lately… A few months ago would have been your brother’s twenty-second birthday, and I just… It’s really tough to get out of that hole it’s left behind.” She reached up to wipe away a tear from her eye before taking a deep breath and continuing. “And I realize now that as long as you’re happy with your boyfriend and he treats you well, then I have no say in this at all. You’re almost eighteen after all, and I trust you to make better choices than me. I just want you to be happy.”  
  
Milan opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He closed his mouth again before blinking at his mom in bewilderment. He wasn’t used to her caring that much about him. Since his brother died and they had left his father, his mother had buried herself in work as a distraction from the pain, and it was rare that they spent time together. There were periods when she was doing better and they actually had fun and talked, but that was months ago now. Lately, she had just been isolating herself more and more, so Milan was surprised to hear her apologize and care like that.  
  
After recovering from his surprise, Milan was finally able to speak again. “I… Thanks, Mom.”  
  
Clarissa beamed when her son said that. “So, I was thinking… Do you wanna have a late dinner together tonight? Then you can tell me more about this boyfriend of yours and what’s going on in your life.”  
  
Milan’s eyes lit up and a wide smile spread across his face. He quickly nodded at her words. “Yeah, that would be nice.”  
  
They grinned at each other as they went to cook some pasta for dinner before sitting down to chat.  
  
Milan was happier than he had been in a long time. Finally, his mom was opening up more, and he hoped she would warm up to Derek eventually.

  
***

  
Three days passed and today was the big lacrosse game against Steven’s school. And Derek didn’t like it one bit.  
  
He had told his parents about it, since they were going to come and see the game, which was one of the last big lacrosse games he would have in high school. Both Noah and Jayden were shocked to hear that Steven was on the team that Derek would be fighting against. Derek could sense that his mom was particularly worried about it, while his dad got an angry look on his face whenever he thought about Steven. Dylan and Claire were coming to see the game as well, and Dylan was just as worried as their parents were. Claire, however, didn’t fully understand what was going on, as her family hadn’t told her much about it. They didn’t want her to be worried.  
  
Derek was tense all day. He barely said a word to his family that morning before leaving for school, and he couldn’t concentrate on his classes all day either.  
  
Dwayne was the same. He was also more quiet than usual, and when evening arrived and the game was about to start, he was almost starting to shiver.  
  
“Let’s just get this stupid game over with and pretend it’s just like any other game,” Derek muttered as he and Dwayne went to the locker rooms to change and prepare for the game.  
  
“Yeah,” Dwayne agreed, walking at Derek’s side as they headed to the locker rooms. “Both Steven and Miguel are probably gonna do what they can to provoke us, so let’s just try not to fall for their tricks.”  
  
Derek snorted. “Easier said than done.”  
  
When they reached the entrance to the boys’ locker rooms, Dwayne suddenly froze. Derek stopped and glanced at his friend.  
  
“You know they’ll be in the same locker room as us too, right?” Dwayne said, swallowing nervously as he glanced at Derek.  
  
Usually, the visiting team would be in a separate locker room, but that locker room was under maintenance, so that meant that Steven and the rest of his team would be sharing locker rooms with Derek’s team.  
  
Derek hadn’t thought about that at all. “God damn it,” he growled under his breath. “Let’s just change quickly and head to the field, shall we?”  
  
Dwayne nodded, and together they entered the locker rooms.  
  
Their friends Cornell, Mike, and Jack were already in the locker rooms, unaware of Derek and Dwayne’s tension. They didn’t know about Steven and Miguel, and Derek didn’t really want to talk to them about it.  
  
Derek scouted the room quickly for Steven or Miguel, but couldn’t see them. Relief washed over him when he realized they either hadn’t arrived yet or had already changed and gone to the field. Either way, he and Dwayne were quick to change their clothes and get their gear, not wanting to be in the locker rooms if Steven or Miguel showed up.  
  
After changing clothes and getting their gear, Derek and Dwayne went outside with the others. There was still about ten minutes until the game started, so Derek went to find his family and talk to them before the game. He quickly spotted them on the bleachers and went over to them, while Dwayne stayed on the field to be with Stefanie.  
  
“Hey,” Jayden greeted him with a smile when he saw Derek coming over. He was sitting on the lowest bleacher with Noah, Dylan, and Claire, but he got up when Derek came over to them.  
  
“Hey,” Derek greeted him back and smiled at everyone briefly. “Did Milan show up yet?” He glanced around to find his boyfriend, but didn’t see him. Milan had promised that he would show up and watch the game, even though Derek had told him that he really didn’t have to. But the submissive had insisted. Derek was kind of relieved that his boyfriend was going to be there. He didn’t want to admit it, but it gave him some comfort to know that he was nearby when he had to face Steven in the field.  
  
“No, we didn’t see him yet,” Noah replied, glancing around in worry.  
  
“He’ll show up soon,” Jayden said, smiling at Derek to reassure him.  
  
Derek didn’t like it that Milan hadn’t shown up yet. What if he had run into Steven on his way there? The thought alone made Derek growl and clench his fists.  
  
Just then, Milan finally showed up. He quickly headed over to them when he spotted them, blushing a bit because he knew he was late. “Hi. Sorry for being a little late.”  
  
Derek tried not to let the others see his sigh of relief, while his family turned to smile at Milan.  
  
“Milan!” Claire grinned when she saw him. “Please, please! Sit next to me!”  
  
Milan laughed softly at Claire. “Sure.” He smiled briefly at Derek before going over to sit down next to Claire. Milan was now sitting at the end of the bleacher with no one on his right side but with Claire on his left side. Next to Claire was Noah, Dylan, and then Jayden. Next to Jayden was a stranger, who seemed to the dad of one of the other team members, and his family was sitting next to him. The strangers were too busy with their own conversation to pay attention to anything else that was said around them.  
  
“Glad you could come,” Noah smiled at Milan as the younger submissive sat down.  
  
“Yeah. I wouldn’t miss it,” Milan said, blushing a bit.  
  
Dylan chuckled a bit at them before looking up at Derek. “Did you see Steven yet?”  
  
“No,” Derek said as he glanced across the field and at the other players. Most of the players were waiting on the field, while some of them were with their families by the bleachers for now.  
  
Jayden was still standing in front of his seat next to Dylan’s. His arms were crossed in front of his chest as he too glanced across the field, trying to spot Steven somewhere. He had also tried to locate Steven’s family on the bleachers, but didn’t see them.  
  
“Just keep your focus on the game, okay? Whatever he does, don’t let yourself be provoked,” Jayden told Derek. “He’s probably gonna try to make you mess something up.”  
  
“Yeah, I know he will,” Derek growled as he kept a look out for his nemesis. When he still didn’t see him or Miguel anywhere, he turned to look at his dad again. “I actually thought you were gonna be too busy with work to come tonight.”  
  
Jayden laughed a bit at that. “Nah, I wouldn’t miss your game for the world. And since I also went to see Dylan’s basketball game recently, I couldn’t really stay away from your game now, could I?”  
  
“Yeah, I guess…” Derek tried to hide his gratitude and relief. He was glad his dad and the others had come to see his game. It offered him some comfort.  
  
Derek glanced across the field again and finally spotted Steven and Miguel, who had just come out of the locker rooms. His body tensed and his eyes narrowed as he glared at the two, watching them go over to their own team on the field to talk and prepare for the game. A low growl rumbled in Derek’s chest as he watched them. “There they are,” he muttered. “I better go join my team…”  
  
“Alright. Good luck,” Jayden told him with a proud smile before sitting down next to Dylan.  
  
“Be careful!” Noah yelled after him.  
  
Milan twitched nervously as he watched Derek run into the field to join Dwayne and the others again. He was nervous about what Steven would do, and he knew Derek was also very on edge about it. He had felt how it had bothered Derek for days now, even though his boyfriend was too proud to admit just how worried he was.  
  
“Go, Derek!” Claire cheered, grinning as she watched him go. It was the first time she was watching a lacrosse game and she was pretty excited about it.  
  
“I hope nothing goes wrong…” Dylan murmured as he watched his older brother anxiously.  
  
“He’ll be fine,” Jayden reassured him. “If Derek manages to control himself, I’m sure things will go smoothly. The worst that can happen is if he lets himself be provoked by Steven and starts a fight with him… That could make him lose his position on the team.”  
  
Dylan swallowed nervously at that, and Milan’s eyes widened when he overheard what Jayden said.  
  
Claire was too busy focusing on everything else around her to listen to what Jayden and Dylan were saying, but Noah had heard it. He also started feeling more nervous now. He knew that Derek would be really upset if he was thrown off the lacrosse team because of Steven.  
  
The two teams got into position and the game finally started.  
  
Claire gasped when she watched the players tackle each other and start running after the person who had the lacrosse ball in the net of their stick. It seemed pretty violent to her and she was a little shocked. But Noah quickly wrapped an arm around her and comforted her, so she soon relaxed a bit.  
  
Someone from Derek’s team went and tried to score, but someone blocked it and the ball fell into the opponent’s hands. Now everyone was chasing that person while the opponents tried to defend their team member so he could pass the ball to someone else on their team. The ball was passed to an alpha angel on the opposing team who tried to throw the ball into the goal, but the goalkeeper stopped it, and then Derek swooped in and took the ball.  
  
There was cheering among Jayden, Noah, Dylan, Claire, and Milan as Derek got the ball, and they all watched anxiously as he tried to move past all the opponents and pass the ball to another team member without the opponents getting it. He managed to pass it to Stefanie, who passed it on to Jack, who only barely managed to pass it back to Derek, who then finally scored their first goal.  
  
The cheering among the audience was loud, and Noah and Jayden shared a proud grin before turning their attention back to the game.  
  
A few of Derek’s teammates came over and high-fived him, including Dwayne and Stefanie. He grinned proudly as he high-fived them back, until he suddenly looked over and locked eyes with Steven. Both of them glared at the other and there was almost sparks in the air between them before they both carried on with the game.  
  
The ball was now in the opponents’ hands, and Derek joined forces with Dwayne, Stefanie, and Cornell to get the ball back.  
  
Derek was so close to getting the ball back when he was suddenly slammed into hard. The person he collided with hit his left shoulder, and a loud, pained grunt escaped him before he could help it. That was the shoulder he had bruised during his martial arts practice the other day and it was still pretty sore.  
  
When he glanced back to see who he had collided with, Derek was not shocked to see that it was Steven.  
  
“What’s up, Derek? Sore shoulder?” Steven smirked when he noticed Derek’s pained reaction.  
  
Derek growled at him, and Dwayne quickly came over to calm him down before he could do anything stupid.  
  
Derek glared at Steven’s smug face before focusing on the game again.  
  
“You okay?” Dwayne asked him.  
  
“Yeah,” Derek muttered. “But now Steven knows my shoulder is kinda bad…”  
  
“Shit. I’ll cover you, okay?”  
  
Derek nodded and then they both went back to the game and tried to get the ball back.  
  
Meanwhile on the bleachers, Jayden frowned a bit when he saw Derek rubbing his left shoulder a bit. “I didn’t think Steven ran into him that hard…”  
  
“Me neither,” Dylan said, wondering about that as well.  
  
“Oh, Derek hurt his shoulder at his martial arts practice the other day,” Milan said, making the others turn to look at him. “One of the others landed a pretty hard blow on him and his left shoulder got bruised pretty bad…”  
  
The others looked a little shocked to hear that.  
  
“Is that true?” Noah asked, blinking. “I didn’t know that…”  
  
“Yeah, he hasn’t mentioned that to me either,” Jayden said.  
  
Dylan snorted. “That macho…”  
  
Dylan’s comment made Milan smile a bit in amusement, but the smile disappeared as soon as he started feeling worried again. Now that Steven knew that Derek’s shoulder was bad, what would he do?  
  
Derek kept as much distance between himself and Steven and Miguel, but he could feel them staring at him and plotting something. It didn’t make it any easier for him to concentrate on the game.  
  
The opponents scored three times while Derek’s team scored another four times. It was now 5-3 to Derek’s team, and there was still seven more minutes to go until the first break, and after that was another half hour of the second half of the one-hour game.  
  
Milan bit his lip nervously as he watched Derek’s team try to score another goal. The ball was passed between several team members until it landed with Derek, who was closest to the goal. Milan held his breath as Derek went for the score, but then suddenly Steven showed up to ruin his shot.  
  
When Steven was suddenly blocking his path, Derek turned and tried to pass the ball to one of his teammates, only to suddenly be blocked by Miguel, who was trying to knock the ball out of Derek’s stick with his own. The first hit was on the stick, which almost made Derek lose the ball, but the next hit was to Derek’s left shoulder – right where it hurt. While Derek was distracted by the pain for a couple of seconds, Steven came running towards him and cross checked him right on his collarbone and his shoulder, sending Derek flying to the ground.  
  
There was gasps among the players and the audience because Steven had come at Derek at full speed and the impact looked pretty harsh and painful.  
  
If Derek hadn’t had a bruise already, he definitely had one now. The pain was agonizing, and the way Steven laughed and the other team cheered made him angry.  
  
Miguel got sent to the bench for having hit Derek in the shoulder with his stick, but it seemed like it had all been part of their plan. Cross-checking wasn’t forbidden, so Steven wasn’t sent to the bench for that.  
  
Snarling, Derek got to his feet to confront Steven. “You fucking asshole!” he roared at him, spreading his sharpened wings in anger. He was boiling with rage at how dirty Steven and Miguel were playing, and every fiber in his body told him to retaliate.  
  
“Whoa, Derek! Calm down!” Dwayne said as he quickly came over to hold him back.  
  
Steven just laughed, looking at Derek with a smirk that made Derek want to rip it right off his face.  
  
“Aw, did it hurt?” Steven mocked. “Maybe you’re just not cut out for such a harsh game… Perhaps you should go play with dolls instead?”  
  
Steven’s provocation almost made Derek lose it, but he suddenly remembered that he was better than this now. Derek’s eyes briefly darted towards the bleachers where his family and Milan were sitting. He saw them all looking worried and watching the scene anxiously. But when he saw Milan’s face all distraught and worried to death, Derek finally managed to will himself to calm down.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Derek relaxed and folded his wings back behind his back again. He glared hard at Steven before turning his attention back to the game, and saw the way Steven blinked in surprise when he decided to stand down. He knew how short-tempered Derek was, so it was a surprise for him to see Derek calm down so fast and ignore his provocation.  
  
Dwayne sighed in relief when Derek calmed down, and now they could finally keep playing.  
  
Derek’s team managed to get in another score before the first half of the game ended and there was a 15-minute break.  
  
Derek sighed in relief when there finally was a break, and he headed to the locker rooms to get something to drink and to relax his sore shoulder for a bit. Dwayne joined him.  
  
His shoulder was hurting like a bitch after Miguel and Steven had targeted it like that. Every movement of his arm hurt, and Derek wondered if he’d be able to endure another half hour of the game. He knew it might be best to rest his shoulder, but he was too stubborn. And he didn’t want to give Steven and Miguel the satisfaction of watching him sitting on the bench for the rest of the game.  
  
“Remember to keep your cool, Derek,” Dwayne told him as he watched Derek inspect his shoulder in the mirror above the sink in the back of the locker rooms. “I wanna punch them as much as you do, but that’s not gonna get us anywhere.”  
  
“I know, I know,” Derek groaned, slightly irritated by Dwayne’s lecture even though he knew his friend was just trying to help. “But self-control has never been my strong side, it was always yours.”  
  
Dwayne laughed a bit at that. “Well, maybe you’re starting to learn it. That’s the second time I’ve seen Milan calm you down like that.”  
  
Derek turned to look at him with a confused frown, until he realized that Dwayne must have seen him glancing Milan’s way out in the field just now when Steven had provoked him. And it had happened a few weeks ago too, when Milan got in front of him to stop him from punching Steven.  
  
The way Dwayne was smirking at him all knowingly and like a jerk made Derek blush a bit. He shoved his friend lightly, who just laughed at it, before turning to wash his face.  
  
Derek was still splashing water in his face by the sink when he heard some of the members from the opposing team enter the locker rooms as well. Both he and Dwayne froze when they heard Steven and Miguel’s voices.  
  
It didn’t take long until Steven and Miguel came over to them, looking all cocky and smug.  
  
“Are you gonna sit on the bench for the rest of the game, Derek?” Miguel asked as they came over to Derek and Dwayne.  
  
“Or is he gonna go his mommy and cry?” Steven added before he and Miguel burst out laughing together.  
  
Dwayne grimaced at the childish comments, and flinched when he heard Derek slam his hands down hard on the sink. The noise made everyone go quiet, and Dwayne watched as Derek turned around slowly and looked right into Steven’s face.  
  
“You know what? You may think that you’re all cool and awesome, but reality is, you’re both pathetic,” Derek said, glaring between Steven and Miguel, who looked surprised by his comment. “I should have realized a long time ago that neither of you have much brain, especially you, _Steven._ ” He growled out the name and poked Steven hard in the chest, making the other alpha step back from the force of it.  
  
“What’s that?!” Steven growled, raising his wings and taking a dangerous step towards Derek.  
  
“You heard me,” Derek growled back, raising his own wings in aggression. “You’re both pathetic. You’re nothing but bullies and sexist assholes who get off from watching other people squirm and cry. Is that really the only way you can feel good about yourselves? By picking on others? I know I once used to be just as pathetic as you are, but at least I grew the fuck up. What about you, huh? Did _you_ grow up?” He was right up in Steven’s face now, literally just inches from him, and he was glaring him down with no sign of fear or hesitation. His voice was tight and angry – but it was controlled and calm at the same time.  
  
Dwayne swallowed nervously as he watched how Steven was just staring right back at Derek, who was the taller of the two. He looked quite shocked to be confronted by Derek like this, and Dwayne himself was pretty damn surprised too. He had never seen Derek look so scary before, but he couldn’t help but grin at how his friend was finally confronting Steven without using his fists.  
  
Miguel was starting to back off and look a little nervous as well, because he wasn’t used to seeing Derek so fearless around Steven.  
  
Steven, however, looked like he really wanted to punch Derek. His fists were clenching with anger, his wings were raised and sharpened, and he kept eye contact with Derek as they glared each other down. However, he didn’t make a move or speak. He just stared right back at him, growling.  
  
When Derek had enough, he let out a loud snort and pushed past Steven, bumping into him hard on purpose. “Come on, Dwayne. Let’s prepare for the next half of the game.”  
  
Dwayne nodded and followed after Derek.  
  
They had almost reached the exit when Steven finally turned around.  
  
“You’re gonna fucking lose this game, you hear me?!” Steven roared at them, his loud voice like thunder as it echoed through the locker room. It made some of the others in the room flinch.  
  
Derek stopped and slowly turned to look at Steven. Miguel and the few others in the room watched them nervously.  
  
“We’ve already won, you asshole,” Derek just said, glaring one more time at Steven before turning to leave with Dwayne.  
  
Steven looked like he had no idea what Derek was talking about, but Derek didn’t care.  
  
Dwayne smirked back at the guys before going outside with Derek. He knew exactly what Derek meant. He hadn’t meant the lacrosse game at all, but life. Steven and Miguel were doomed to always be pathetic losers, but Derek and Dwayne had accomplished more; they had moved on from the stage they were in earlier and were happy now. More than Steven and Miguel would ever be.

  
***

  
Meanwhile on the bleachers, Milan was waiting anxiously with Derek’s family for Derek to come back outside. He was a little worried that Derek’s shoulder hurt too badly for him to play, but he was even more worried when he had seen Steven and Miguel enter the locker rooms just Derek and Dwayne had.  
  
“Am I the only one who doesn’t like it that Steven and Derek are in the same room now?” Dylan murmured as they all waited for the game to continue.  
  
“No, I don’t like it either,” Jayden murmured, glancing towards the door that lead to the locker rooms. He really hoped that Derek would be able to control himself if he and Steven confronted each other in there.  
  
“Is this Steven a bad bully?” Claire asked, looking a little confused.  
  
“Yes, he’s a very bad bully,” Noah said, sweeping a gentle hand through Claire’s hair as they sat next to each other on the bleachers. “He’s the one who got Derek into trouble when he was expelled from the other school. Remember?”  
  
“Oh… I hope Derek kicks him in the butt then!”  
  
Jayden laughed a bit at that. “Actually, you should hope he doesn’t. He could get into bad trouble for it.”  
  
Now Claire was looking nervous as well, but Noah tried to reassure her.  
  
Milan bit his lip nervously as he listened to them and waited for Derek to return. He wished Derek would just show up already so he could see if he was alright.  
  
Finally, Derek and Dwayne emerged from the locker rooms to join their team on the field and get ready to continue the game.  
  
They were all relieved to see that it didn’t look like he had been in a fight. He didn’t look bruised, his clothes weren’t any more ruffled than earlier, and his body posture was calmer. Moments later they saw Steven and Miguel come out of the locker rooms as well, and that they both avoided going near Derek and Dwayne and didn’t look at them.  
  
Jayden frowned a bit when he noticed that Steven and Miguel didn’t look as cocky as they did earlier. He wondered what had happened in the locker rooms.  
  
The game started again and all the players gathered on the field to continue.  
  
The second half of the game was more intense, because now both teams were trying everything they could in order to win – time was running out after all. Derek’s team was still ahead with points, but the other team almost managed to catch up until Stefanie scored a goal, followed by Derek afterwards.  
  
Steven and Miguel didn’t make any further moves against Derek or Dwayne, but there was some intense glaring when their eyes met.  
  
The game ended with 17-14 to Derek’s team, and the cheering among the audience was loud and long.  
  
After the game was finished and all players headed inside to change shower and change clothes, Milan stayed with Derek’s family on the bleachers, waiting for Derek to come back outside to go home with them.  
  
Most of the other people in the audience were heading home or going to their cars, and the bleachers quickly become emptier. There was a lot of noise and a lot of trash lying around because people were bad at cleaning up after themselves, but a few volunteers walked around and picked up the trash.  
  
“Well, that was an interesting game,” Jayden smiled as they all waited.  
  
“Yeah. I’ve never seen a lacrosse game before,” Dylan admitted.  
  
“I thought it was brutal!” Claire said, looking like she hadn’t liked that part much. “Why would anyone wanna play that…”  
  
They all laughed a bit at that.  
  
When their laughter ceased, Noah turned to look at Milan. “Would you like a ride home when Derek comes back?”  
  
Milan blinked at him in surprise. “I… If you don’t mind. But are you sure there’s space in your car?”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at that. “I came in my own car, and Noah came here in his. So with two cars I don’t think space is gonna be an issue.”  
  
“Oh.” Milan blushed sheepishly. “Then I would like a ride…”  
  
Noah smiled, and Claire grinned excitedly between them. She was always happy when she got to spend time with Milan or with Joanne.  
  
They chatted for a while and talked a bit about the game while waiting for Derek.  
  
About twenty minutes after the game ended, Derek finally showed up and went over to them.  
  
They all got up to greet him, and Claire jumped in excitement when she saw her brother.  
  
“Hey. Nice game,” Jayden grinned at Derek as his son came over to them. He reached out and patted him proudly on the right shoulder, watching Derek looking a little modest.  
  
“Thanks,” Derek said, looking at everyone as they smiled at him. He had changed back into his normal clothes again and was carrying his bag with his school stuff and sports clothes. His feathers and hair were still a little moist from the shower, and he smelled like shampoo.  
  
“Yeah, it was kinda cool,” Dylan admitted as he smiled at Derek.  
  
“I thought it was too violent!” Claire complained loudly. “Didn’t like it…”  
  
The others laughed at that, and Derek rolled his eyes fondly at his sister before chuckling at her.  
  
“Really? But you were cheering for Derek the whole time,” Jayden pointed out.  
  
“Well, I still don’t like it…” Claire murmured, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Especially when Derek got knocked over… Are you okay?” She looked up at Derek with worry.  
  
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Derek said as he rolled his sore shoulder a bit. “But I probably shouldn’t use my arm too much in the next few days…”  
  
Noah sighed, always hating it when Derek got himself hurt. He hoped that Derek wouldn’t need to go see the doctor with it.  
  
“Well, you didn’t want to stay on the bench…” Milan pointed out slowly.  
  
Derek turned to look at his boyfriend, frowning as if he was offended. “I’d rather die than stay on the bench during such an important game.”  
  
Milan chuckled at that while the others laughed a bit.  
  
Noah just rolled his eyes and sighed even more.  
  
They all looked up when Dwayne and Stefanie walked over to say goodbye to Derek.  
  
“See you on Monday, Derek!” Stefanie grinned, giving him a small wave before heading towards the parking lots.  
  
“Yeah, see you,” Derek told her.  
  
Dwayne murmured something at Stefanie, likely telling her to just go ahead and wait for him, before running up to Derek. “So you’re not coming for our Jeet Kune Do practice tomorrow? Busted shoulder and all…” he asked as he gestured at Derek’s left shoulder.  
  
Derek groaned loudly. “I don’t know… Maybe I should wait a few days before doing that.”  
  
“Yeah, that might be best,” Jayden said next to him.  
  
Dwayne smirked when Derek rolled his eyes in irritation.  
  
“What happened during your break earlier?” Dylan suddenly asked, looking between them with a curious frown. “First Steven was coming after you all the time, and then in the second half of the game, him and that other guy seemed to avoid you like the plague…”  
  
Derek and Dwayne shared a look until Dwayne grinned.  
  
“Nothing much. I think Derek just managed to put his strength into his words instead of his fists,” Dwayne said with a pleased grin on his face. “Steven certainly didn’t wanna come close to us again after what Derek said to him.”  
  
Jayden looked surprised by that. He then turned to give his son a curious look. “What did you tell him?”  
  
Derek shrugged lightly. “Nothing much. Just that he and Miguel are pathetic and will never end up becoming anything more than that. So, basically just the truth.”  
  
“It was a little more than that,” Dwayne argued, knowing that it wasn’t just Derek’s words but also his fearlessness that had scared Steven and Miguel a little. Those two got their confidence from invoking fear and respect in others, but when Derek talked to them like that they suddenly didn’t know what to do.  
  
“Anyway,” Derek cut his friend off and turned to look at him. “I thought you said earlier that you and Stefanie were going to the movies now? Aren’t you a little late?”  
  
“Argh, crap!” Dwayne exclaimed. “I gotta go! Bye, everyone!” he yelled as he started running towards the parking lot where Stefanie was waiting for him.  
  
The others laughed and yelled goodbye at him too before it was time for them to leave as well.  
  
“So, let’s head home and get something to eat,” Jayden grinned at everyone. “Maybe you want to join us, Milan? Before we take you home.”  
  
Milan’s eyes widened. “Oh. I…”  
  
“Please, please!” Claire interrupted him as she started jumping around in excitement.  
  
Dylan laughed at his little sister. “I think Claire definitely doesn’t mind it if you eat with us.”  
  
Milan blushed modestly before glancing at Derek. The alpha was smiling at him and shifting awkwardly, but it didn’t look like he had any objections. Milan let out a small sigh of defeat before looking at Jayden with a smile and gave a short nod. “Sure. I’d love to.”  
  
Jayden grinned and began heading to the parking lot and the others followed.  
  
Noah smiled at Derek and Milan when the two let the others go ahead before following after them.  
  
Derek and Milan walked side by side a little distance behind the others, watching Claire jump around happily and annoy Dylan a bit. Derek rolled his eyes at her hyperness.  
  
“That was a good game,” Milan said as they walked together. “And I didn’t know that Stefanie was so good at it…”  
  
“Yeah, she’s one of the best players, actually,” Derek said, chuckling a bit. “I’m just glad the game is over with…”  
  
Milan could understand that. Derek had been worried about it for so long that it must be a relief now that it was finally over.  
  
As they walked towards the mostly empty parking lot, Milan suddenly felt like reaching out to grab Derek’s hand, but he wasn’t sure if the alpha was okay with that. He couldn’t really see anyone from their school around, as most of them had already left, and Derek’s family was walking in front of them and were busy chatting.  
  
Milan bit his lip nervously as he wondered about whether he should take the chance or not. Derek’s family was right there. And they had never kissed or held hands in front of them before. Actually, this was the first time that Milan was around them since the day that he and Derek had shared their first kiss.  
  
Finally, Milan took the chance and slowly reached out to grab Derek’s hand. The alpha looked down in surprise, having obviously not expected that. Milan was almost sure that Derek would pull his hand away from his, and the thought alone hurt so badly, but then Derek slowly grabbed his hand back and squeezed it tightly.  
  
Milan looked up Derek in surprise, but then started beaming at him. Derek wasn’t looking at him, most likely because he didn’t want him to see his blush, but Milan was fine with that. He grinned a bit as he squeezed Derek’s hand back, not letting go even when they reached Noah’s car.  
  
Milan felt that Derek was about to pull away from him when everyone stopped and looked their way, but he still didn’t let go of Milan’s hand. Not even as Dylan blinked at them in surprise and smiled in a way that would definitely make Derek feel all flustered.  
  
The others just shared a knowing smile before getting into the cars, and that was when Milan was forced to let go of Derek’s hand.  
  
Derek, Milan, and Claire drove home in Noah’s car, while Dylan went to sit in Jayden’s car.  
  
They were all eager to share a nice dinner after watching the intense game earlier, and the mood in both cars were good as they drove home.

  
***

  
As soon as they came home, Jayden and Noah went to the kitchen to help each other make some mac and cheese for dinner.  
  
The time was already 8:30pm, but it was a Friday so they didn’t have to go to bed that early.  
  
“I’m gonna take my stuff up to my room,” Derek announced to his siblings after Jayden and Noah went to the kitchen to make dinner. He glanced at Milan before saying, “Wanna come?”  
  
Milan nodded and walked up the stairs with Derek.  
  
“Noooo! You’re stealing Milan!” Claire complained from the entrance hall as she watched them go.  
  
“Hey, he’s _my_ boyfriend,” Derek argued back at her and kept walking.  
  
Milan chucked softly at Claire. “I’ll be back downstairs soon.” He smiled at her before following Derek upstairs, soon disappearing from Claire and Dylan’s sight.  
  
Claire pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest after Derek and Milan were gone. She knew she would see Milan again for dinner, but she hated it when Derek went to his room and didn’t want to be around them. And now he was taking Milan with him.  
  
Dylan laughed softly at his sister. “Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of time to be around Milan when we’re having dinner. Just let them be alone for a bit, okay?”  
  
Claire reluctantly nodded and let it go.  
  
Meanwhile, Derek went to his room and sighed as he threw his bag into the corner. It was pretty dark in there, so he turned on some lights so that Milan or himself wouldn’t trip over the stuff on the floor.  
  
“Sorry, I didn’t clean my room for a while…” Derek murmured, suddenly feeling a little ashamed of the mess.  
  
Milan chuckled and glanced around at the clothes and school books that were on the floor, as well a few empty coke cans on the desk. “How do you live in this mess?”  
  
“Well, mostly I’m just too tired to clean it up during the week,” Derek admitted. “I leave early for school and come home late, and then I’m too beat to start cleaning up… So I mostly clean on the weekends. And it’s Friday now, so…” He didn’t mention how it was his mom who always forced him to clean on the weekends, because Milan didn’t need to know that, he thought.  
  
Milan seemed kind of amused by that and followed Derek over to the bed.  
  
Derek let out a long, exhausted sigh before sitting down on the edge of his bed. The mattress bounced a bit and made some noise, and Milan went and sat down next to him on his left side.  
  
It was clear that Derek was pretty tired after the game, so they just sat in silence for a few moments. It was a pleasant silence, though.  
  
They had left the door ajar because it was a little awkward if the others knew they were in Derek’s room and the door was closed. Their relationship was still new, so it was weird to have the others think that they were doing inappropriate things in Derek’s room. If the door was left open then no one would suspect that they were doing anything weird in there.  
  
“So…” Milan began after a few moments of comfortable silence. He stared down into his lap and his wings twitched a bit behind him in a shy manner when he felt Derek turn his head to look at him. “Your birthday is next Thursday, right?”  
  
“Yeah,” Derek confirmed.  
  
“I guess I should buy you something, then,” Milan said, smiling into his lap before looking up at Derek. “What would you like to have for your birthday?”  
  
Derek blinked at him. He hadn’t really thought about that at all. Well, he had told his parents what he wanted because otherwise his mom kept nagging him when he didn’t know what to buy for him, but he hadn’t thought that Milan was going to buy him something as well. He wasn’t used to exchanging presents with his friends, and he had never had a boyfriend until now. He and Dwayne had stopped giving each other birthday presents when they were like 12 – after that they had just hung out on their birthdays and had some simple fun instead.  
  
“Uh…” Derek thought really hard about it. The only things that popped into his mind were useful things like socks and shirts, but he had the feeling that Milan didn’t want to buy something as ordinary as that for him. “Well, I wouldn’t mind getting a new poster…” he finally said, shifting a bit. “I’ve got this big empty space on the wall over there, and it kind of needs a poster… And, uh, it doesn’t have to be an official poster.”  
  
Milan’s face split into a grin. He knew that Derek meant that he wouldn’t mind getting a poster with one of Milan’s own drawings, and it made him happy that the alpha wanted that. “Okay. I might be able to come up with something.”  
  
Derek grinned at that, and Milan blushed when he saw Derek looking very pleased. He had the feeling that Derek didn’t show it very often when he was happy or thrilled, at least not in the same way as he did around Milan, and Milan was kind of flattered that he got to see those parts of Derek. The alpha looked very handsome when he smiled or grinned, and Milan could stare at his face forever.  
  
When Derek slowly leaned in for a kiss, Milan closed his eyes and let out a soft gasp when their lips met. It started out slow and almost loving, and Milan’s gut tingled and fluttered at the feeling. Their lips moved together in sync, creating soft, wet noises.  
  
After a few moments, Derek grew a little bolder as their tongues got involved. The taste of Milan was all over his mouth and it made him dizzy. It was like strawberry and vanilla – so sweet and delicious, and he couldn’t get enough.  
  
Derek moved his right hand up to cup Milan’s cheek as their kiss deepened and got a little more possessive. The noise Milan made went straight to Derek’s groin, but he controlled himself. He loved how Milan was kissing him back like he wanted more, but still let Derek take charge and submitted to him willingly. When Milan moved his hand up and grasped Derek’s shirt tightly as if he needed something to hold on to, Derek couldn’t help the possessive growl that escaped him.  
  
They pulled away moments later, needing to catch their breaths, and their foreheads rested against the other’s.  
  
Kissing Milan was the biggest rush Derek had ever experienced. He had never thought that kissing could be so addicting, but then again, _everything_ about Milan was addicting.  
  
Their noses touched as they rested their foreheads against each other. They could hear the other’s breath, which was slowly starting to calm down as they caught their breaths again. It was a very intimate but innocent moment, and Derek enjoyed it. Just a few weeks ago he would have pulled away immediately, saying that it was girly and silly, but here he was, enjoying it. Milan was really starting to change him, although Derek knew he wouldn’t be like this with just anyone. Only with Milan.  
  
Derek was still catching his breath and had his eyes closed when he suddenly felt Milan’s hand on his chest. The touch made him open his eyes, and he felt how the submissive’s smaller hand rested right there in the center of his chest before moving a bit to the side. It was like he was exploring Derek’s muscles there, and it made Derek smirk a bit.  
  
When Milan finally realized what he was doing, he pulled his hand back and blushed furiously as he leaned away from Derek so they weren’t touching anymore. “S-Sorry. I got caught up…”  
  
Derek just grinned in amusement, but it was also kind of cocky. “I don’t mind it.”  
  
His comment made Milan blush more, but he couldn’t help but smile a bit. They hadn’t really touched each other much while kissing – only on the cheek and maybe grasping the other’s hair a bit – so it was all very new to Milan. He had just suddenly gotten curious and wanted to feel Derek’s firm muscles with his hand. He had done it completely unconsciously, which was why it was so embarrassing now.  
  
Their small moment was kind of ruined when they heard Claire shriek and laugh downstairs, and Dylan how scolding her for something.  
  
Derek groaned at the noise and Milan chuckled at him.  
  
“God, those brats… They’re never quiet,” Derek complained.  
  
Milan just giggled softly. His wings twitched a bit behind him, and when Derek saw it he couldn’t stop staring. Milan’s wings were very pretty. And very soft looking. They were snowy white, like Castiel’s, but had a few light grey feathers there and here.  
  
Dylan shouted something downstairs again, pulling Derek out of his little trance.  
  
“So, uh,” Derek began. “Wanna head downstairs to the others? Dinner is soon, and it kinda sounds like Claire and Dylan are wrecking the house, so maybe I should check on them…”  
  
Milan smiled and nodded shortly. “Sure.”  
  
Derek returned his smile before they both got up from the bed.  
  
“And maybe you should clean up some of the mess?” Milan suggested, gesturing at the pile of clothes on the floor. “Since we’re going downstairs anyways…”  
  
A loud groan escaped Derek as he reluctantly went over to pick up his laundry from the floor. He made sure not to move his left arm too much as he reached down to pick it up. “Gosh, you sound like my mom…”  
  
Milan giggled at that before going over to take the empty coke cans from Derek’s desk. “And you’re a pig for leaving such a mess in your room.”  
  
If anyone else had said that, Derek would have gotten pretty annoyed and possibly a little snappy, but when Milan said it he just felt a little guilty because he knew the submissive was right.  
  
“God, you really _are_ like my mom!” Derek complained, smirking briefly at Milan to let him know that he wasn’t angry, before heading out of the room with his laundry in his arms.  
  
Mila just laughed before following after him, holding the four empty cans in his hands.  
  
They walked downstairs with the things, and Derek was heading through the living room to put his laundry into the basket in the laundry room when Dylan and Claire suddenly came running towards him. It looked like they were playing catch, which would explain all the noise Derek had heard earlier.  
  
Dylan stopped when he saw Derek walking with his hands full of laundry and Milan walking behind him with empty coke cans. “Oh. What’s this? Is Milan making you clean your room, Derek?” he asked, snickering like mad.  
  
“Shut up, Dylan,” Derek growled at his brother. He glared at Dylan when his brother laughed at him before he headed to the laundry room.  
  
Claire also laughed when she heard what Dylan had said. “That’s good! No more dirty socks in your room!”  
  
“How about next time, I just throw them into _your_ room?” Derek said from the laundry room.  
  
Milan snickered at Claire’s disgusted face as he walked into the laundry room to Derek. “Um, where do I put these?” he asked as he held up the cans in his hands.  
  
“Oh. Uh, they belong in a bag that’s in the garage,” Derek said. He was just about to help Milan with it when Dylan suddenly came over.  
  
“Oh, I’ll take them out for you,” Dylan said, smiling at Milan as he grabbed the cans from him.  
  
“Thanks,” Milan smiled.  
  
They watched Dylan grab the cans and head outside with them, and Claire snickered a bit after he left.  
  
“I’m so happy Derek got you as a boyfriend now!” Claire told Milan with a wide grin. “He’s so much happier now!”  
  
Milan looked a little surprised by that, and Derek was embarrassed as hell by his sister’s words.  
  
“Hey, you make it sound like I was miserable before! I was not,” Derek told her with a firm scowl. He tried to hide how embarrassed he was by arguing with her instead.  
  
“No, but you’re still happier now!” Claire argued back, grinning. “And nicer!”  
  
Milan giggled in amusement as he saw how Claire’s comments embarrassed Derek. He knew Derek was still a very proud alpha and was insecure about showing his feelings, so he could understand why Derek was so annoyed when his family made those comments about him. Milan’s brother had been like that too when Milan had commented on his niceness when his friends were around.  
  
“Well, _you’re_ certainly not nice,” Derek grumbled at Claire. He smirked as he watched his sister gasp in offense.  
  
“No, _you’re_ not nice!” Claire argued and used both of her hands to shove Derek hard. Her brother didn’t budge, though, and instead just laughed at her, and that made Claire growl stubbornly as she tried to push him out of his balance again. “Stupid Derek!”  
  
Milan watched in amusement as Claire kept trying to make Derek budge, and how Derek just laughed at her futile attempts.  
  
Milan then noticed Dylan returning to the room and how the younger alpha stopped to watch his siblings fool around. He saw the way Dylan rolled his eyes with a smile before going over to help Claire.  
  
“Hey!” Derek complained when Dylan interfered and managed to shove him a few steps back. He glared at his younger brother in betrayal, who just laughed at him.  
  
“What? I just evened out the strength between you two. You had way too much advantage,” Dylan smirked.  
  
Claire cheered when Dylan managed to push Derek back a bit, and she snickered at how annoyed Derek looked.  
  
Derek snorted loudly. “Yeah, whatever. You still can’t even force me to the ground if you tried, so I’m still the winner.”  
  
“God, you’re such a macho,” Dylan complained with a loud groan. “I don’t get how someone as nice as Milan can like someone as insufferable as you.”  
  
Milan laughed softly at that comment and at how Derek seemed a little offended by it.  
  
They all looked up when Jayden called at them that dinner was ready, and Dylan and Derek gave each other a few small shoves as they went to the dining room. Milan and Claire walked behind them and snickered at the exchange.  
  
They were eating in the dining room tonight, and Milan shyly sat down next to Derek at the table. Claire sat down on Milan’s other side, while Jayden, Noah, and Dylan seated themselves on the other side of the table.  
  
The mood was good, and everyone happily began eating the mac and cheese that Jayden and Noah had made.  
  
Milan noticed that the mac and cheese tasted even better than when he made it himself, so he asked Jayden a bit about what he did to make it taste so good. Jayden told him it was mostly the brand of pasta and cheese that made it taste like that, but also some spices that he added to it.  
  
“So, are you guys ready for your finals yet?” Jayden asked while they ate, glancing over at Derek and Milan.  
  
Derek groaned, and everyone immediately knew the answer to Jayden’s question when it came to Derek at least. They all laughed at it.  
  
Milan chuckled at Derek’s groan before replying to Jayden’s question. “I think I’m pretty ready for it… But I really just want it over with.”  
  
Noah could totally relate to that. He felt the same way when he was in high school.  
  
“Yeah, I can imagine you’re more relaxed about finals than Derek is,” Dylan commented as he looked between them. He ignored the way Derek scowled at him and instead turned his attention to Milan. “Do you know yet what you wanna do after high school?”  
  
“Yeah… I think so,” Milan said. “I, um, I think I want to study art and animation at college. Drawing is the thing I’m best at, so I want a job where I can use that… Maybe to work on making cartoons and animated movies and such. Depends on where I can find work.”  
  
“That sounds like good idea,” Noah smiled. “Like I told you before, finding work that involves creativity is rather easy for submissives.”  
  
Milan smiled and nodded.  
  
“But it also depends on the industry,” Jayden argued softly. “I think the video game industry for example is still very ruled by men…”  
  
Dylan snorted softly at that. “Like the stone age…”  
  
They all chuckled a bit at that, and Claire looked at Milan with admiration the whole time. Jayden and Noah found it kind of cute how Claire seemed to look up to both Joanne and Milan, and it was clear that she saw them both as the older sisters she had never had.  
  
Derek smiled a bit as he listened to Milan talking about his future plans. He could totally see him working at for example Disney or DreamWorks with making cartoons or animations.  
  
Jayden turned his attention to Derek, who had been quiet the whole time. “What about you? Still going for the military?”  
  
Derek shrugged lightly and swallowed his food. “Yeah, I think so. Not entirely sure yet what kind of job I want, but I definitely want to join the four-month program they have.”  
  
The military had a four-month program that was kind of like a survival course but also included military training. You would be tested in every way, both physically and mentally, and thrown out in the middle of nowhere to survive, as well as undergo different kinds of training and tests. Many alphas signed up for it because it was a challenge to complete the entire program, and almost forty percent of the people who signed up for it did not make it through. It was rare that submissives signed up for it because they were physically weaker than the other genders, but there were betas and women who signed up for it and completed the program.  
  
Jayden grinned proudly at Derek. “I think it’ll be good for you.”  
  
“Yeah, it sounds pretty cool,” Dylan agreed.  
  
Derek was a little sheepish as they all smiled at him, but he smirked a bit at Dylan when his brother said that. “Why, you wanna join me, Dylan?”  
  
Dylan’s eyes widened a bit, but mostly from surprise. “Nah, not sure if that’s my thing…”  
  
Derek chuckled and the others laughed softly at it.  
  
Milan wasn’t surprised to hear that Derek was interested in that program. Derek had told him a bit about it before, but only briefly, and he knew Derek was the type to take on such challenges. Milan himself would never dare sign up for anything having to do with the military, though. He didn’t have the physical or mental strength for it.  
  
“When does the program start?” Milan asked Derek, turning his head to look at him.  
  
Derek thought it about for a moment. “Uh, I think it’s in August or September, so I’ll have some time after school ends until the program starts.”  
  
“Maybe you should start looking for a job, then,” Jayden told him, smirking a bit.  
  
They all noticed the way Derek groaned at that.  
  
“Yeah, I guess…” Derek agreed reluctantly.  
  
“Derek’s so lazy!” Claire laughed.  
  
“Hey,” Derek warned her with a soft growl. “I’m not lazy, I just don’t have time for a job when I have my martial arts and lacrosse practice, _and_ school.”  
  
“Well, you won’t have school or lacrosse practice when high school ends,” Jayden pointed out.  
  
Derek sat back with a small sigh. “Yeah, I know…” He knew he should probably find a temporary job until the military program started, but he didn’t really know where to start looking. Maybe his dad could help him with that, but he was too proud to ask him while everyone else was listening.  
  
Noah smiled as he watched Derek mull it over. He had gotten pretty good at reading Derek’s body language and could often tell what his son felt and what was going through his mind. He was glad that Derek had a few plans for what he wanted to do, and Noah prayed that it would be good for him in the end.

  
***

  
After dinner, they all helped each other do the dishes. Even Derek helped a bit, but Milan suspected it was just because Claire was starting to call him lazy again and he wanted to prove that he wasn’t lazy. Milan helped out a bit as well, but he could tell that Jayden and Noah didn’t want him to do any work when he was a guest in their house. Still, he helped Claire put away some of the pots that the dinner had been cooked in, and then played a bit with her when she got into a hyper and playful mood again.  
  
After they finished the dishes, it was time for Milan to go home. He and Derek went to the entrance hall to put on their shoes and jackets, and Jayden also prepared to go out. Jayden would be driving Milan home, and Derek would go with them.  
  
“Are you sure you don’t wanna sleep over?” Claire asked Milan with a sad face as she parted ways with him in the entrance hall. “You can sleep in Derek’s room, like Dylan always does when Nathan is here!”  
  
Milan blushed at that and felt Derek shift awkwardly next to him. “Well, I think my mom wants me to come home, so I can’t…” It hurt a bit to watch Claire’s face turn sadder and her wings droop behind her, but Milan was also pretty glad that she liked him so much and wanted him to stay. Milan quite liked her as well. It was a bit like having a little sister and he had never had that before.  
  
Noah smiled at Claire and brushed a hand through her hair. “It’ll be okay, Claire. I’m sure you’ll see Milan again soon.”  
  
Claire still looked a bit sad, though.  
  
Jayden hugged the others goodbye for now and told Claire good night because she would be going to bed right after they left. He then went to the driveway to start the car and waited for Derek and Milan to join him.  
  
“Thank you so much for dinner,” Milan told Noah as he parted ways with them. “It was very nice,” he smiled.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Noah smiled and went forward to pull Milan into a hug.  
  
The hug surprised Milan a bit, but he smiled widely as he turned it.  
  
Claire jumped around impatiently until Noah pulled away, and then she went over to hug Milan too.  
  
Dylan laughed at his sister’s behavior until she pulled away from Milan. Dylan shifted a bit, wondering if he should hug Milan as well. It was pretty awkward when Derek was standing right next to the submissive, and he didn’t know how his brother would react if he hugged him. But he decided to take the chance and went forward to pull Milan into a light hug.  
  
Milan tensed a little bit, as he wasn’t used to getting hugs from alphas, but Dylan kept it very superficial. Milan slowly moved his arm up to return the hug, and he sensed Derek shift a bit behind him.  
  
“Get home safely,” Dylan smiled as he pulled away.  
  
“Thanks,” Milan smiled back and returned to Derek’s side. He almost flinched when he felt Derek’s tail curl around his leg, but he managed to stop himself from jumping in surprise. Derek had never done that before, and Milan sensed a bit of possessiveness as he felt the tail wrap around his leg and how the spiked tip rubbed against his leg.  
  
Milan was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Dylan laugh.  
  
“Oh, come on! I didn’t hug him that much,” Dylan laughed at Derek when he saw the possessive gesture.  
  
“How about you go hug Melody instead?” Derek just told him, his voice tight and like a small growl as he scowled at his brother.  
  
“Hey,” Dylan growled softly when he sensed that Derek was trying to tease him. He blushed at the idea of him and Melody hugging though, and he glared at Derek when his brother seemed to notice that and how he smirked.  
  
Milan blushed, because Derek’s tail was still wrapped around his leg, and he could sense that Noah, Claire, and Dylan were all watching that. It was kind of embarrassing, but it also made his stomach flutter pleasantly at how possessive Derek was being. Milan found that he kind of liked that.  
  
Derek’s tail uncurled itself from around Milan’s leg, and they said another goodbye to the others before going outside to join Jayden in the car.  
  
“Bye, Milan! See you!” Claire shouted from the door as she watched them go.  
  
Milan turned around and waved at them all. He chuckled at how Claire was waving her arms like crazy at him before he got into the backseat of the car.  
  
Derek got into the passenger seat, and the car slowly left the driveway before driving off in the direction of Milan’s house.  
  
Milan was blushing in the backseat the whole way. He could still feel where Derek’s tail had been wrapped around his leg and it made his insides tingle pleasantly. He hadn’t expected Derek to do that, especially not in front of everyone. But he was glad that Derek hadn’t let his pride stop him.  
  
They chatted a bit about Derek’s lacrosse game in the car as they drove to Milan’s house. Jayden kept saying that Derek had played very impressively, and Milan smiled as he watched Derek squirm with embarrassment but also with pride as his dad praised him.  
  
“What about you, Milan?” Jayden suddenly asked, glancing at the submissive in the rearview mirror. “Have you ever played any sports before?”  
  
“Oh.” Milan was a little surprised to suddenly be asked that and he blinked a few times as he thought about it. “Um, I attended swimming when I was a kid. But I stopped when I was like 12… That’s when the boys on the swimming team started being assholes…”  
  
Jayden chortled at that. “Yeah, I can imagine. Boys that age can be quite stupid. That’s when all the body changes happen and they start looking at girls and subs differently…”  
  
“Dad, I’m pretty sure both Milan and I know how that works,” Derek muttered when the topic got a little awkward.  
  
Jayden laughed and looked briefly at Derek. “I know you know. And you were no better than the other boys when you were that age. Actually, I think you were worse than most.”  
  
Derek groaned and sank a bit into his seat. His dad had a point. Derek had been a real immature dick towards the girls and subs at his school when he was younger. He hadn’t really respected them the way he should have until after that incident with Sarah. It him cringe as he thought about how he used to be.  
  
Milan just listened quietly to them and felt a bit sorry for Derek when he could sense that the young alpha was a little ashamed.  
  
They reached Milan’s house, and Derek got out of the car to follow Milan up to the front door.  
  
Milan could tell that his mom wasn’t home yet. The house was dark and there was no car in the driveway. It didn’t surprise him that she wasn’t home yet. She always worked late, even on Fridays.  
  
Milan said goodbye to Jayden as he left the car and thanked him for the ride. He then walked up the house with Derek, who insisted on walking him up to the front door.  
  
Once they were on the porch by the front door, Milan turned to look at Derek shyly. “Thanks for today. I had a lot of fun.”  
  
Derek smiled and buried his hands in his pockets. “You’re welcome. I had fun too. And thanks for coming to watch my game.”  
  
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Milan grinned. “Just be careful with your shoulder, okay?” A worried frown wrinkled his forehead as he glanced at Derek’s left shoulder.  
  
“Yeah, I’ll take it easy with it for a while,” Derek promised.  
  
“Maybe go see the doctor if it keeps hurting?”  
  
“Jeez, I’ll be fine. It’s no big deal.”  
  
Milan frowned and reached out to smack Derek gently on his right arm. “Stop being so macho about it and just do it if the pain doesn’t go away!”  
  
Derek was a little surprised by how bossy Milan could be sometimes, but he found it kind of cute how the submissive worried about him. He rolled his eyes fondly and said, “Yeah, yeah, okay. I promise.”  
  
“Good.” Milan looked pleased with that, and it make Derek chuckle a bit.  
  
They were just about to say goodbye when Derek remembered something. “Oh, um…” He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “You know, prom is coming up soon,” he began, glancing mostly at his feet instead of at Milan. “But I’m not particularly interested in going to that, and I remember you mentioning that it’s not something you wanna go to either, so I was thinking… Maybe you wanna hang out with me while everyone else goes to the prom?”  
  
Milan blinked at him before smiling widely. He quickly nodded. “Yeah, that would be nice. I’m not really interested in going there anyways…”  
  
“Yeah, me neither. I can’t dance, and it all just seems too fancy for me.”  
  
Milan chuckled at that. “Maybe you want to come to my house? My mom won’t be home, so we’ll have it all to ourselves. We can watch movies, eat junk, and maybe play some games or something…”  
  
Derek grinned at that. “Yeah, that sounds nice.”  
  
Milan beamed before getting up on his tiptoes and dragging Derek down to his level by pulling at his shirt. When Derek leaned down, Milan closed his eyes and let their lips meet in a deep, soft kiss.  
  
Derek kissed him back right away, growling possessively in the back of his throat as he moved a hand up and grasped Milan’s dark hairs tightly. The submissive let out a gasp at that, which allowed Derek to slide his tongue into his mouth. He kept it slow and appropriate though, because he knew his dad could be watching from the car.  
  
Their tongues touched and explored each other slowly, and the sweet taste of Milan made Derek feel a bit dizzy. He could never get enough of that taste, and it made him want to taste other parts of Milan as well, but he controlled his urges.  
  
When they pulled apart, their lips were slightly swollen and red, but they were both happy.  
  
They shared a smile before Derek pulled away.  
  
“See you,” Derek smiled at Milan before heading back to his dad’s car.  
  
“Yeah. Bye.” Milan waved at them from the front door until the car drove off, and then went into the house and closed the door.  
  
Jayden didn’t say anything as Derek returned to the car. He just smiled at him before starting the car and driving them home, and there was a comfortable silence between them the whole way there.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter :)
> 
> I hope all of you got safely into 2018! This will be the year where I will wrap up this story and end it... But I want to write a few more things about Derek and Milan before that, and also a few more things before it ends. Not sure how many chapters are left, but I'm pretty sure it's less than 10.


	73. Chapter 73

**May 2072 (Noah is 46, Jayden is 47 (almost 48), Nathan is 22, Derek is 18, Dylan is 14, Claire is 10, Joanne is 22, Milan is 17/18 years old).**  
  
It was a Friday morning and everyone was waking up and getting ready for a day at school and at work.  
  
Derek woke up a little earlier than usual because the pressure in his bladder kept him from falling asleep again after his mom had come to knock on his door to wake him up. It irritated him to no end that he couldn’t snooze for a little while longer and instead had to get up and head to the bathroom.  
  
Dressed in just his boxers and a t-shirt, Derek yawned as he padded out of his room. He felt really sleepy, but he didn’t want to pee in his pants, so he had to go.  
  
Just as Derek stepped out of his room, Dylan came out of his room as well. The two of them glanced at each other and then towards the bathroom door, which was a lot closer to Derek than it was to Dylan. It took them only a second to realize that they were both headed for the bathroom, and in that moment they both started running.  
  
Dylan ran towards the bathroom as fast he could, but Derek was way closer to it than him. By the time Dylan reached the door, Derek had already entered the bathroom and had smacked the door shut before Dylan could get to it.  
  
“Derek!” Dylan shouted, groaning loudly in annoyance just outside the door. “You jackass!”  
  
“You’re too slow, little brother,” came Derek’s cocky grin from inside the bathroom.  
  
Dylan growled and smacked the door in annoyance. He had to pee just as badly as Derek, so he was forced to go downstairs and use the other bathroom instead.  
  
Claire was already downstairs in the kitchen with Noah, while Jayden was asleep upstairs.  
  
When Dylan was done in the downstairs bathroom, he went to the kitchen and joined his sister for breakfast. “Good morning,” he told his mom and Claire as he sat down next to his sister.  
  
“Morning!” Claire chirped at him while she ate.  
  
“Good morning,” Noah smiled at him as he was busy making lunch for everyone.  
  
“So, Nathan is not coming home this weekend?” Dylan asked his mom as he sat down to eat.  
  
“No,” Noah sighed. “He and Joanne are busy with their finals, and he said that something else came up. But he promised he’d come home next weekend.”  
  
Dylan nodded and started eating his cereal. “Okay. I just thought he’d come this weekend, seeing as it was Derek’s birthday yesterday…”  
  
Derek had just turned 18 years old the day before. They had celebrated it with presents and with dinner at Jayden’s restaurant, and Nathan had said he’d be home on the weekend to give Derek his present and to be with the family. But now it seemed that plans had changed.  
  
“I know, but I don’t think he can help it,” Noah pointed out, looking a little sad about it as well. He had also looked forward to seeing Nathan again and now he had to wait another week.  
  
“I miss Nathan…” Claire said. Her wings drooped a bit behind her with sadness, and she started stirring idly in her food while staring at it.  
  
“I think we all miss him,” Dylan told her softly. “Maybe except for Derek…”  
  
Claire giggled heavily at that, and they all looked up when Derek came into the room just then.  
  
Derek stopped when he heard the mention of his name, and he glanced between them with skeptic eyes. “What about me?”  
  
“We were just talking about how Nathan isn’t coming to visit us until next weekend, and that you’re probably the only one who doesn’t miss him,” Dylan explained, slurping a bit from the milk in his cereal while staring at Derek.  
  
Derek let out a snort and seated himself opposite from Dylan and Claire. “All I miss is the present he’s going to give me.”  
  
Dylan laughed at that while Noah scowled at Derek in disapproval.  
  
Noah finished the lunch boxes and went over to eat with the others. He sat down next to Derek and glanced at him as he started pouring cereal for himself. “So, you’re not going to prom tonight?”  
  
“Hell no,” Derek huffed. “I’m gonna go to Milan’s house after school. He’s not interested in the prom either, so we’re gonna hang out and watch movies and stuff.”  
  
“And stuff,” Dylan snickered from other side of the table, smirking at Derek as his brother looked over at him.  
  
Derek kicked Dylan lightly on the shin under the table for being an ass. He knew exactly what Dylan was referring to, and he knew his little brother was trying to annoy him.  
  
“Sorry. I couldn’t help it,” Dylan chuckled after Derek kicked him lightly. “I’m still trying to get used to you and Milan being together… It’s still kind of odd to me.”  
  
“What is odd is that such a softie like you hasn’t asked Melody on a date yet,” Derek said, throwing Dylan’s comment back in his face. “Don’t tell me you’re too scared to ask her out?”  
  
“I’m not scared,” Dylan denied, sounding a little defensive about it. “And stop pressuring me! I’m just not ready.”  
  
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. As long as you stop daydreaming about her nonstop if you aren’t gonna do anything about it anyway.”  
  
“I don’t daydream about her!”  
  
Noah sighed heavily. “Boys, please stop arguing. It’s way too early to argue about such things…”  
  
Claire just sat there, giggling as she watched her brothers argue about their love interests. She thought they were both pretty silly, but it was kind of fun to listen to them.  
  
“Derek, why aren’t you and Milan gonna come here?” Claire asked her brother next. “I wanna see him too…” She sat back with a small pout and looked at Derek with puppy eyes.  
  
Derek groaned at the way his sister was looking at him. He hated it when she looked at him with those eyes. However, Noah spoke before he had the chance to reply to his sister’s question.  
  
“Because I think Derek and Milan want to be alone sometimes,” Noah told his daughter patiently.  
  
Claire crossed her arms in front of her chest and sunk further into her chair as she continued to sulk. She did look like she understood it, though. “Okay… But I wanna see him again soon. Are you gonna bring him over soon?” She still had that puppy eye-look as she looked over at Derek.  
  
“Yeah, I’ll bring him over again at some point,” Derek said, rolling his eyes a bit at her. He thought it was cute how much Claire liked Milan, but Derek didn’t want his sister to steal all of Milan’s attention. Derek wanted to be alone with him for once. They had never actually been home alone before. They always met at the library at school or at Derek’s house when the others were home. He kind of looked forward to it just being him and Milan alone in the same house without having to worry about anyone disturbing them.  
  
Dylan smiled as he watched Derek’s body language. It was clear that he was a little annoyed that Claire was nagging him, but at least he wasn’t being a dick about it.  
  
“I’ve been thinking…” Noah began, making the kids turn to look at him. “It’s Milan’s birthday soon as well, no?”  
  
“Yeah,” Derek confirmed. “On Tuesday.”  
  
“Perhaps he wants to join us next weekend when Nathan and Joanne come home?” Noah suggested. “Since yours and Milan’s birthdays are so close to each other, we could celebrate both of your birthdays at the same time. I’ve talked a bit about it with your dad and he also likes the idea.”  
  
Derek’s eyes widened. He hadn’t really thought about that, but now that his mom was mentioning it, it sounded like something that Milan would be really happy about.  
  
Claire’s eyes widened. “Really?” Her entire face lit up at the idea. “I think Milan will be happy! He told me he’s never had a birthday party before!”  
  
“Really?” Dylan asked Claire, frowning a bit. He had never heard of anyone not having had a birthday party before. It was a little odd to him.  
  
Noah smiled and glanced at Derek to see what his reaction was to the idea.  
  
When Derek noticed his mom looking at him, he nodded in approval. “I don’t mind sharing my birthday party with him. I don’t care all that much about it anyway, and I think it’ll make Milan happy if we celebrated it for him.”  
  
“Alright,” Noah grinned. “Then you should ask him if he wants to come over and join us next weekend. But maybe don’t mention to him that we want to celebrate his birthday as well. Let it be a surprise.”  
  
Claire cheered and seemed very excited about the idea, and Dylan also approved.  
  
Derek kind of couldn’t wait to see Milan’s reaction now. He hoped he would be able to keep it a secret that the birthday party was for Milan as well. It made his stomach flutter pleasantly as he thought about how happy it would make Milan that they were going to celebrate his birthday, and he was really grateful for his mom that he had gotten the idea in the first place.

  
***

  
Derek spent the entire day thinking about how he and Milan were going to be alone tonight at Milan’s house. He was really looking forward to that. Just him and his boyfriend, and no one around to interrupt them. Most guys would immediately think of sex in a situation like that, but that wasn’t really what was on Derek’s mind. He knew Milan wasn’t ready yet, and Derek wasn’t in a rush to go there with him. What he looked forward to was to just be himself around Milan. Sometimes he was still surprised by how soft and playful he was around the submissive, but he kind of liked that. There was just something about Milan that made him feel free.  
  
School ended a bit earlier than usual because of prom, and Derek quickly made his way through the crowds and headed for the library where he was supposed to meet up with Milan. Dwayne was the only one who knew that the two of them were going to hang out tonight, and the way he smirked at Derek when they parted ways made Derek’s cheeks blush a little bit.  
  
There were so many students in the corridors and on the paths outside that Derek decided he better wait a bit before heading to the library. He still didn’t want everyone to know that he and Milan were together, as it would only create trouble for them. So he waited for about fifteen minutes until most people had left school before he finally went to the library.  
  
When Derek entered the library, he saw a few other students there. He didn’t really know any of them and most of them were girls. They glanced at him oddly as he came inside, but he ignored them and went to the corner that Milan usually sat in.  
  
As Derek walked over to the corner, he saw that Milan’s human friend Annie was there as well. It looked like the two of them were saying goodbye, so Derek slowly walked over to them, trying to look cool and casual.  
  
Milan looked up when he sensed someone approaching and he beamed when he saw Derek. “Hi,” he grinned, twitching his wings shyly.  
  
“Hey,” Derek smiled as he came over. He glanced at Annie, who looked a little surprised to see him there.  
  
“Hi, Derek,” Annie smiled. She knew that Milan and Derek were dating, so it wasn’t a surprise to her when Derek showed up. She and Milan were good friends and told each other most things, including gossip about their boyfriends. “Are you coming to steal away my friend?”  
  
Derek shrugged. “I’m pretty sure he prefers me.”  
  
Derek’s remark was so cocky and arrogant that it made Annie laugh out loud and Milan blush heavily.  
  
“Okay, I’ll leave you guys alone then,” Annie chuckled and turned to look at Milan. “See you on Monday.”  
  
“Yeah, bye,” Milan smiled at her. He blushed when she gave him a suggestive wink before leaving, and he was glad that Derek didn’t see that.  
  
Derek watched her go and then turned to look at Milan again, who was still sitting at the small table with his laptop. “Should we go?”  
  
Milan nodded and packed his laptop away. “Yeah. I was just running through a few things with Annie for our finals, but I’m done now.”  
  
“Nerd corner, huh?”  
  
Milan scowled at Derek for using that word, but he could tell that the alpha was just teasing him in a friendly manner. “Yes, I’m a nerd and proud of it.”  
  
Derek laughed at that and waited for Milan to pack his stuff and get ready to go. He observed quietly how Milan put his laptop and books into that old bag of his, and it suddenly made Derek wonder why Milan still had had bag. It looked a little worn and like the strap had once broken off but had been fixed, so it surprised Derek that Milan hadn’t just gotten a new one. He wondered if there was a story behind it.  
  
“I’ve been wanting to ask you…” Derek began as he stared at Milan’s old bag, which the submissive was currently stuffing his sketchbook into.  
  
“Yes?” Milan asked, looking up at him expectedly.  
  
Derek pointed at Milan’s bag as he said, “What’s the deal with your bag? It looks a bit like it’s been fixed a few times, and it kinda made me wonder if there’s anything special about since you don’t just throw it away.”  
  
Milan blinked before glancing down at his bag too. “Oh. Um…” He bit his lip nervously before continuing. “It was a birthday present from my brother,” he confessed, keeping his head down as he spoke. “He gave it to me on my eleventh birthday, so it’s almost seven years old now… I had been wanting it for so long, so I was really happy when he got it for me. I just don’t have the heart to throw it away…”  
  
“Oh.” Derek almost bad felt for asking, but he had no idea that it was a present from Milan’s deceased brother. The way Milan was looking kind of sad now made Derek feel guilty, and he cringed at himself for always somehow bringing up Milan’s brother by accident. “Sorry… I was just curious.”  
  
Milan finally glanced up at him and his lips curled into a small smile. “It’s alright. I don’t mind talking about my brother. It kind of keeps the memory of him alive, and my mom doesn’t really wanna talk about him, so…”  
  
“Oh. But still, it makes you sad…”  
  
“Of course it makes me sad, but it always feels nice to talk about him,” Milan said with a patient chuckle. “So you don’t have to feel bad about it.”  
  
Derek nodded, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say.  
  
Once Milan had packed away his laptop and books, he got up and made sure that he hadn’t left anything behind on the table. When he saw that nothing was there, he smiled and said, “Let’s go,” before heading out of there with Derek.  
  
The two of them left the library together and stayed on the path system as they left school. Pretty much everyone had gone home now, but they still kept an eye out of anyone unexpected. The last thing they needed was someone spreading rumors about them.  
  
They met a few senior girls further down the path, and Milan immediately let Derek walk a few feet ahead of him so they wouldn’t suspect that anything was going on between them. The girls giggled as they greeted Derek, and Milan couldn’t help but glare at them as they passed him next. He knew Derek was kind of popular, being the captain of the lacrosse team and all, so it wasn’t unusual that girls paid attention to him. Milan was well aware that Derek wasn’t interested in those girls, but it still made him feel kind of jealous and annoyed when they greeted him with such familiarity.  
  
Derek and Milan left the school grounds and walked in the direction of Milan’s house. The weather was nice, so Milan suggested that they walked instead of taking the bus. Derek’s didn’t mind that. As long as he was with Milan he didn’t care how they got to his house, even if it took about 45 minutes to go there.  
  
They chatted a bit on their way to the house. Mostly about school and a bit about Milan’s mother. Milan told Derek about how his mother had softened up a bit after Milan had talked to her about his and Derek’s relationship last week. His mother still had some of that fear in her that Milan’s father had left behind, but she had promised to not be rude towards Derek or his family. Milan had the feeling that she was still a little bit skeptical about Derek, but he knew she would soften up eventually. She just needed to get to know Derek better and see that Milan was comfortable around him.  
  
They were almost in the neighborhood where Milan lived when Derek finally remembered the conversation he had had with his family that morning.  
  
“So, uh,” Derek began as they walked side by side, holding hands. Milan turned his head to look up at him, and Derek glanced at him as he continued. “I wanted to ask you if you wanna come over to my house next weekend? Since it was my birthday yesterday, my family wants to celebrate it. My brother Nathan was supposed to come home this weekend, but he was busy and won’t come until next weekend, and I wanted to invite you to come as well… If you want.”  
  
Milan blinked at him a few times like he was surprised by the invitation. But seconds later, a wide grin spread across his face. “Sure, I’d love to.”  
  
Derek grinned back, pleased that the submissive wanted to join. “Cool. I hoped you would.”  
  
“Of course I wanna join your birthday party,” Milan said, smiling shyly and squeezing Derek’s hand as they walked.  
  
“Well, it’s not that much of a party… Just Nathan and Joanne coming over, some social time, nice dinner, and so on. Mostly I find it kinda boring.”  
  
Milan snickered a bit at that. “I guess Dylan was right when he said you were antisocial…”  
  
Derek snorted in offense, which only made Milan more amused.  
  
“But I’d like to join,” Milan said, smiling up at Derek once more. “I like your family a lot. They’re nice.”  
  
“Yeah… And sometimes I think Claire wants to kidnap you and keep you as her own older sister or something,” Derek chuckled. When he realized his choice of words, he immediately added, “Uh, sorry. It’s just that Claire sees you as more of a girl than a boy…”  
  
Milan just chuckled softly at it. “Technically I’m a bit of both, so I’m not offended. Most of the time I feel more like a girl, to be honest. I think many submissives feel that way, but we’re still mostly always referred to as male. It just makes it more confusing, doesn’t it?”  
  
“Yeah, I guess.”  
  
They walked a bit and rounded a corner that led to the long street that was connected to the smaller road that Milan’s house was located on, so they didn’t have far to go.  
  
The weather was still nice. The sun was shining brightly and the fresh spring air felt warm and welcoming. The soft wind made Milan’s hair flutter a bit, as well as his white/grey feathers. Derek found that he quite liked watching the wind doing that to Milan.  
  
As they walked by a few houses that had big bushes in their front yards, a black and white cat suddenly jumped out from the bushes. It meowed softly and went over to Milan, whose eyes widened in recognition.  
  
“Oh, there you are, Mew-Mew!” Milan exclaimed, grinning softly at the cat and letting go of Derek’s hand to bend down and pet the cat as she came over to him.  
  
Derek was a little surprised at how familiar Milan was with the strange cat. “You know this cat?”  
  
“Oh. Yeah, she’s mine,” Milan said as he gently picked up the cat and held her in his arms. He cooed softly at the purring cat and placed a kiss on her head before looking up at Derek. “I’ve had her since my mom and I moved into the house. She doesn’t spend a lot of time inside, though. There’s a cat flap in the backdoor she can walk out of, so she often goes exploring in the neighborhood. I haven’t seen her for a few days now, so I was surprised that she suddenly showed up from the bushes.”  
  
“Oh.” Derek didn’t know that Milan had a cat. The submissive had never mentioned that.  
  
Derek watched quietly as Milan cooed softly at the cat and petted her, and he couldn’t help but smile at the scene. It was quite cute.  
  
“Wanna say hi to Derek?” Milan cooed at the cat and moved a little closer to Derek so he could pet her.  
  
Derek was used to cats because they had two of them at home, but he had never really petted them much. Fizzles was a mean cat in his eyes because she always stared at everyone like they were beneath her, while Fuzzles was calmer but a bit more boring.  
  
Derek moved a little closer and slowly stretched out his hand to pet the cat. He scratched her softly on the head, and the cat purred and closed her eyes contently at the touch.  
  
Milan grinned. “I think Mew-Mew likes you.”  
  
“You’ve seriously named your cat Mew-Mew?” Derek asked, and couldn’t help but chuckle teasingly at him. He thought it was a really ridiculous name, even for a cat.  
  
Milan blushed. “So what? It’s a cute name and the cat likes it.”  
  
Derek laughed at that, and Milan glared a bit at him for it, but he wasn’t really offended.  
  
After a few moments, Milan gently put the cat back down on the ground. “Gotta go now, Mew-Mew. Either go home with us or go hunt some mice, okay?”  
  
The cat just meowed and rubbed herself against Milan’s legs, making Derek laugh a bit.  
  
They kept walking, and the cat followed them most of the way.  
  
When they reached the smaller road that Milan lived on, Mew-Mew spotted something interesting in the bushes on the other side of the street and went that way instead. Milan chuckled at that cat before going home with Derek. The cat could find her own way home.  
  
When they reached the house, Derek waited on the porch for Milan to find his house keys.  
  
After searching for a little while, Milan finally found his keys and unlocked the door, inviting Derek inside.  
  
It was the first time that Derek had been inside the house. It was a lot smaller than his own house, but since it was just Milan and his mother living there, the size seemed fitting enough.  
  
There was a hallway just when you stepped inside. On the right side was the kitchen, and a bit further down on the right hand was the bathroom. To the left side of the front door was a wide door leading to the living room, and after that down further down the hallway was a door leading to Clarissa’s bedroom. At the end of the hallway was Milan’s bedroom. Between the bathroom and Milan’s room there was a door that led to the basement, where they stored some of their things and where the laundry room was.  
  
Derek glanced around a bit, noticing some old pictures on the walls in the hallway. Some of them were of Milan as a small kid, and some were of an alpha that Derek didn’t know. He guessed it was Milan’s brother Dominic, who had passed away. He also saw some pictures of the two of them together, and some where Clarissa was in the photo, but he didn’t see any of Milan’s father. He guessed that Milan’s mother didn’t want to be reminded of him all the time and hadn’t put up any photos of him.  
  
“It’s kind of small, but you know… it’s home,” Milan said, shrugging sheepishly as he watched how Derek was looking around.  
  
“Well, it’s just you and your mom, so I guess this is all you need,” Derek said as he glanced around curiously.  
  
Milan smiled before saying, “Do you want a tour?”  
  
“Sure.”  
  
They both kicked off their shoes and put away their jackets and school bags before going around the house.  
  
Milan showed him all the rooms, and Derek just followed after him and listened as he explained a few things on the way. The kitchen and the living room were rather spacious considering the size of the house, and even though the house was a bit old, everything looked new and tidy. The walls were mostly white, which gave the house more light. The bathroom was a lot smaller than the bathrooms in Derek’s house, but it had what was needed; a toilet, sink, and a bathtub. It looked new and modern though, and the shower curtain had pretty green flower shapes on it.  
  
Milan didn’t show Derek his mother’s bedroom because he didn’t want to invade her privacy, but he did show Derek his own room. He blushed as he led Derek there and opened the door.  
  
“And, um, this is my room,” Milan said as he invited Derek inside.  
  
Derek slowly stepped inside and glanced around. The room was little bigger than he had expected. The walls were painted in a light orange color, except for the wall where the door was – the wall was white there. There were two windows in the room; one was straight ahead if you stood in the doorway, and the other was on the right side of the room. The blinds were white, and the curtains were also white but with butterflies in green, blue, and red color. On the left side of the room was the bed, which was big and spacious and had a few stuffed animals placed near the pillow. Under the window that was straight ahead from the doorway was a long desk with lots of space, and in the right corner to the right of the desk was a tall white shelf with lots of books. There was a big wardrobe on the right side from the doorway, and a few smaller cupboards and drawers filled out the remaining space on the floor by the walls. On the walls were different kinds of posters, and Derek could tell that far most of them were Milan’s own drawings that had been made into big size posters. Mostly Derek had only seen the drawings that Milan had drawn on paper, but he was amazed to see the beautiful artworks that Milan had created digitally and had colored in Photoshop. On the posters were different kinds of fantasy creatures, but mostly elves and dragons, and a few mystical looking animals. Especially a poster of a burning red fox drew Derek’s attention.  
  
Milan watched quietly as Derek took it all in. It was the first time he had ever really let anyone except his mom see his room before and he felt nervous about it. He was a little afraid that Derek thought that it was a bit childish, but he liked his room the way it was.  
  
Finally, Derek turned to look at Milan. “Your room is pretty nice. But I didn’t expect it to be orange,” he chuckled.  
  
“Well, orange cheers me up. It’s a warm color,” Milan argued, blushing. “And it’s not _that_ bright. It’s light and soft, and I like it.”  
  
“I know,” Derek chuckled. “And, um, I like your posters. You drew them all by yourself?”  
  
Milan nodded modestly. “Yeah, except for this one.” He pointed up at an official poster from a Pixar movie. “That one is original Pixar. It’s one of my favorite animated movies, and I really wanted to keep the original poster instead of making my own…”  
  
“I like that movie too,” Derek said as he looked at it.  
  
Milan grinned at that.  
  
“Oh, right,” Milan suddenly said when he remembered something. “Your birthday present! It’s, uh, not entirely finished yet, so I can’t give it to you now… But I’ll let you have it next weekend for your birthday party.”  
  
Derek blinked at him at first, but then chuckled. “Sure. But I’m kinda curious now…”  
  
Milan gave him a stern look and shook his head. “Nuh-uh. No sneak peeks. You’re not gonna see it until next weekend.”  
  
“Alright, fine. I’ll wait.” Derek rolled his eyes a bit in annoyance, and Milan grinned a bit at his reaction.  
  
After Derek had seen all of the rooms, they headed to the living room to hang out and watch a movie together. There was a big couch for them to sit on, and Milan brought them a few snacks from the kitchen before they sat down and got started on the first movie.  
  
They picked a movie about an apocalyptic future. Derek was a little surprised that Milan wanted to watch a movie of that genre, but sometimes the submissive surprised him like that.  
  
They sat closely together on the couch, eating snacks and watching the movie. They chatted a bit sometimes to discuss some of the character’s actions when the movie had a quiet scene where nothing was really happening, but otherwise they tried not to speak too much.  
  
Derek thought it was quite fun. It was nice just spacing out with a movie together with Milan after a stressing week at school, and he had the feeling the submissive enjoyed it as well.

  
***

  
The movie ended after an hour and a half, and they took a small break before deciding on what movie to watch next.  
  
Milan went to the bathroom, and Derek went afterwards.  
  
When Derek returned to the living room, Milan was cleaning up some of the empty chips bags they had left behind earlier. He was bending over a bit to grab the stuff from the couch table, and Derek had to control the reaction in his groin when he looked at the submissive’s butt. He tried really hard not to think about what it would look like when Milan was undressed.  
  
Milan grabbed the empty chips bags and turned to go to the kitchen to throw them out. He stopped when he saw Derek standing a few feet behind him. “Hey,” he smiled at him.  
  
“Hey back,” Derek chuckled, burying his hands in his pockets and shifting a bit.  
  
Milan chuckled at the response before walking past Derek to get rid of the trash in the kitchen. When he returned to the living room, Derek was staring out the window at the road outside, looking lost in thought. Milan watched him for a few seconds before walking a little closer. He walked very slowly so that Derek wouldn’t hear him, and he tried to stay in the alpha’s blind spot.  
  
When Milan was finally right behind Derek, he reached out to grab his arm and scare him, but to his big surprise, the alpha suddenly turned and grabbed his wrist before he could do that.  
  
Milan yipped loudly in surprise, wrestling to free his hand. “Nooo, let go!” he laughed.  
  
Derek just grinned at him playfully, holding Milan’s wrist trapped in a tight grip, but he was careful not to hurt him. “You were too slow.”  
  
“Gah. How did you know I was coming up behind you?” Milan demanded as he kept trying to free himself.  
  
“I could hear your breathing,” Derek chuckled.  
  
Milan groaned. He had really tried to be as silent as possible, and he was a little annoyed that he had failed.  
  
Derek still didn’t let go of his wrist, which was so small that Derek’s hand could easily wrap around it fully and keep it trapped. Whatever Milan tried, he just couldn’t get out of that grip.  
  
“Gah, let go!” Milan laughed again as he started gently hitting Derek’s hand with his free hand to make him let go. “You win! I don’t know how to get free…”  
  
Derek chuckled softly at him before letting go. “That’s ‘cause you’re doing it wrong. If you want someone to let go of your wrist, you need to move your arm up in front of you and then use your other hand to make the other person let go.”  
  
Milan frowned as he tried to picture it in his head. “Hmm. I’m still not sure how that works…”  
  
“I can show you?” Derek offered. “Might be useful to you in the future.”  
  
Milan considered it for a second before nodding shyly. “Okay.”  
  
Derek smiled before reaching out to grab Milan’s wrist again. “Okay, so now I’m holding your wrist and you wanna get free.”  
  
“Uh-huh.”  
  
“So, you move your trapped hand up and make your palm face your face,” Derek instructed.  
  
Milan did as he was told, moving up the hand that Derek was holding in a wrist lock so that his hand was by his face and his palm was facing him.  
  
“Okay, now you use your free hand and put it in under my wrist. The space between your thumb and index finger have to touch the back of my wrist, alright?”  
  
Again, Milan did as Derek instructed. “Like this?”  
  
“Yep,” Derek confirmed with a pleased smile. “Now, put a bit a distance between your feet and make it so that you can easily rotate your hips, ‘cause you gotta do that next. And do not move your free arm. Now, squeeze the back of my wrist with your hand, rotate your hand a bit at the same time as you rotate your hips away from me – and remember not to move your free arm while you do this. This will make my grip on you loosen and you can get away.”  
  
Milan nodded and got ready to try it out. On the first try he grabbed Derek’s wrist wrong, so they had to try again. Derek walked him slowly through the steps again as they tried, and Milan was surprised that it actually worked and his hand got free.  
  
“Okay, try again – without my help, and a little faster,” Derek said and grabbed Milan’s wrist again.  
  
Milan nodded and got ready. “Okay.”  
  
This time he got his wrist free in a matter of seconds, and Milan couldn’t help but grin in victory.  
  
“That was easier than I thought,” Milan grinned.  
  
“Well, it’s easy ‘cause I’m not putting up much of a fight,” Derek pointed out with a small chuckle. “If you get trapped in a wrist lock by someone who wants to hurt you, you should probably also kick the person once you get free or at the same time as you try to get free.”  
  
“Oh. Any specific places I should kick?”  
  
“Well, the groin mostly works just fine, but you can also aim for the knees.”  
  
Milan nodded, making mental notes to remember all of this. “But what if the person grabs my wrist with the other hand? Just now you grabbed my right hand with your left hand, but what if it’s your right hand?”  
  
“Yeah, I was gonna come to that,” Derek said. “I only used my left hand ‘cause you came up on my left side, but in most cases I’d use my right hand ‘cause I’m right-handed. So let’s try.”  
  
Milan nodded and glanced up at Derek with a shy look before asking, “Um, can I try grabbing your wrist this time? And then you show me how you’d get free. I’d like to see how it’s done before I try.”  
  
“Sure,” Derek said, shrugging.  
  
Derek held out his right hand, and Milan then reached out and grabbed the alpha’s wrist with his own right hand. Derek’s wrist was a lot bigger than his own, and he found that he couldn’t reach all the way around it with his fingers.  
  
Suddenly without warning, Derek’s hand twisted lightly in his hold and suddenly he was grabbing Milan’s wrist with his trapped hand and was using his hold on him to pull Milan forward. At the same time, Derek went forward in the other direction and turned, now having the advantage of being behind Milan, who was being moved around like a rag doll as Derek had control of his wrist.  
  
Milan yelped in surprise, having not expected that at all. It went so fast, and he was surprised by how easily Derek had turned the situation around and was now behind him.  
  
“Easy as that,” Derek smirked and let go of Milan’s wrist.  
  
Milan turned and blinked at him. “Okay… Maybe a little slower?”  
  
Derek laughed before getting into position again. He carefully guided Milan through the steps this time and showed him how you should twist your hand slightly and grab the other person’s wrist back, and then how to pull the person forward once you had that grip. Again, he advised Milan to kick the knees before doing it, so that he had better control of the situation once the opponent was distracted or weakened.  
  
Milan was a little insecure about his skills as he tried it for himself. But once he got the hang of it, he realized it was pretty fun when he did that wrist twist and could pull Derek forward like he was a rag doll. He had never had the upper hand on an alpha like that before, but he knew it was just for practice right now.  
  
It didn’t take Derek long to notice Milan’s amusement. “Someone’s having fun now, huh?”  
  
Milan laughed and stepped back once the exercise was over. “Yeah, it was kind of fun having the upper hand on you.”  
  
Derek snorted lightly, and Milan couldn’t help but giggle as Derek got a little macho about it.  
  
“Thanks for teaching me that. I never thought it was so easy,” Milan said. He smiled at Derek with gratitude and shifted sheepishly as he stood in front of him.  
  
“You’re welcome. But in real life situations it might feel very different… If your opponent is good, it might be difficult to get the advantage at first.”  
  
“Yeah, I guess you’re right… Maybe I should take self-defensive classes or something. I’ve thought about it before, I just never actually went to any.”  
  
“Well, I can still teach you a few tricks, but to be honest it’s probably my little brother Dylan who’s the expert on self-defense moves,” Derek said. “He’s always preferred to stop fights rather than starting them, so he was all geeky about self-defense moves once.”  
  
Milan laughed softly at that. “There’s nothing wrong with that. Starting fights is a bad idea anyway.”  
  
Derek rubbed the back of his neck guiltily. “Yeah. Add that to my resume…”  
  
Milan giggled about that.  
  
They went to the couch to choose the next movie in their movie marathon. It was a little more difficult to choose the second movie, and they browsed the options for about ten minutes until they agreed to watch some horror movie.  
  
Milan never really watched horror movies much because he thought they were scary, but now that Derek was with him, he didn’t feel too scared to watch one.  
  
Before they started the movie, they called and ordered some pizza. It was already almost 6pm and they were getting hungry.  
  
They watched the beginning of the movie until the delivery boy came with the pizza. As soon as Milan had paid the guy, they took the pizza with them to the living room and sat down to watch the rest of the movie while eating.  
  
Derek couldn’t help but glance at Milan every now and then. The submissive was staring intently at the screen as the scary parts started, and it was kind of amusing to look at him. The way he couldn’t tear his eyes off the screen, the way he sometimes flinched when something unexpected happened, and how he sometimes had to look away when it became too scary for him. Derek thought it was both amusing as hell and also kind of cute.  
  
After they finished the pizza, one of the scariest parts of the movie began.  
  
Derek was sitting casually on the couch and watching, while Milan was all curled up and was hugging his knees against his chest while staring at the screen.  
  
Suddenly there was a loud, unexpected noise from the TV when one of the characters got attacked by an evil ghost out of nowhere, and it made Milan jump and move closer to Derek. Derek had to be careful as Milan came dangerously close to his half-sharp feathers, and suddenly his right arm was hijacked as Milan grabbed it and held on tightly to it.  
  
Derek laughed at him. “Oh, come on! It can’t be _that_ scary?”  
  
“Shut up,” Milan muttered, blushing heavily while clinging to Derek’s arm. “I told you I don’t watch horror movies often…”  
  
“No kidding,” Derek grinned, endlessly amused by Milan’s reactions to the movie.  
  
The movie was at the final climax now and they watched it intently.  
  
Milan was still holding onto Derek’s arm. Derek had the feeling that maybe Milan hadn’t really noticed it himself yet, which just made it more amusing to him. He didn’t mind it, even though Milan sometimes squeezed his arm kind of hard. He had to admit the movie was a little scarier and more real than most horror movies, so he couldn’t blame Milan for reacting this way, especially if he wasn’t used to horror movies in the first place. Derek thought it was an interesting movie, though. Far better than most horror movies, at least.  
  
When the movie ended twenty minutes later, Milan sighed in relief and finally let go of Derek’s arm. Suddenly he froze, having finally realized how hard he had squeezed Derek’s arm and the way he had practically clung to it for the past twenty minutes. He blushed heavily and felt more embarrassed than ever when he finally realized it.  
  
“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to cling to your arm like that,” Milan said, cringing as he thought about what Derek must think of him now. “I just… It was pretty scary…”  
  
Derek just chuckled. “No problem. I hope you’re not getting a heart attack from the movie.”  
  
“No, but I… I’m not sure how I’ll sleep tonight,” Milan admitted and stared into his knees, which were still pressed against his chest.  
  
Derek chuckled softly at that before gently reaching out and placing two fingers under Milan’s chin. The submissive blinked and turned to look at him, and Derek used his fingers to lift up Milan’s head as he leaned over to kiss him softly.  
  
Milan’s eyes fell shut and he hummed softly as he returned the kiss.  
  
It was a slow and soft kiss, and Milan felt like this was Derek’s way of trying to make him forget about all the scariness. He smiled at the sudden tenderness Derek was showing him, and his stomach fluttered pleasantly at it.  
  
The kiss soon grew a little deeper and more intense, and Milan gasped softly when Derek moved his hand up and grasped Milan’s hair as the kiss deepened. The possessive gesture made Milan shiver and his wings lower themselves in submission without him realizing it. He then suddenly felt the urge to be closer to Derek.  
  
They weren’t sure who made the first move, but suddenly Milan ended up straddling Derek’s lap with one knee on either side of him as they kissed.  
  
Their lips almost didn’t separate as they kissed longer and more intimately than ever. Their minds were getting fogged and dizzy because their kisses were almost like ecstasy, but it felt so good.  
  
Derek’s hands found their way to Milan’s hips, and a small, possessive growl escaped him as he put his hands there. He liked the way Milan just let him and opened his mouth in a soft gasp, which allowed Derek to slide his tongue in further.  
  
Derek was aware that his pants were starting to feel uncomfortably tight at his groin now, to the point of it almost being painful, but he tried to ignore it the best he could.  
  
Milan’s hands were on Derek’s shoulders, his fingers digging into them and maybe even leaving bruises, but it just turned Derek on more. The submissive tasted _so good,_ and he loved the way Milan was into it and was kissing him back eagerly. Although Milan was quite eager during the kiss, he still let Derek be in control. When Derek wanted to use more tongue, Milan let him. When Derek tilted Milan’s head back by gently grasping his hair, Milan let him. Derek loved the submission Milan was showing, but he was careful to keep an eye out for signals that would show if his boyfriend suddenly felt uncomfortable or wanted to stop.  
  
After a few moments, they had to pull away to catch their breaths again. They were panting from the intensity and arousal, and they rested their foreheads against each other as they panted together.  
  
Suddenly, Milan became very aware that he was straddling Derek’s lap. He had been so caught up in the moment that he hadn’t given it much thought, and now he could feel his face become all warm as he blushed heavily. Derek’s hands were still on his hips, but Milan found that he didn’t mind it. It felt nice and kind of comforting. He suddenly realized this was the closest they had ever been to each other physically, and it sent pleasant sparks through his gut.  
  
Derek also became painfully aware of their closeness all of sudden. He lifted his eyes to look into Milan’s as their foreheads rested together, and he saw the submissive blushing shyly as he stared back at him.  
  
“Um, are you comfortable with this?” Derek asked, suddenly wondering if he had stepped across Milan’s boundaries somehow. “Things got kinda outta hand…”  
  
Milan blushed further and gave a shy nod against him. “Y-Yeah. I’m comfortable with it, it’s just… It’s new to me.”  
  
“You know you can just tell me if you wanna stop, right?”  
  
Derek’s concern for him made Milan smile. “Yeah, I know, and I will. But this is nice… I’m just not ready to, um, go to the final step yet.” His face was crimson red now, and he felt way too awkward and uncomfortable with saying the word ‘sex’ out loud in front of Derek. His shyness made him feel like a total virgin, but he _was_ a virgin, so he guessed that explained it.  
  
“That’s fine. I kinda figured that. And I don’t wanna do it unless _you_ want to,” Derek spoke with a soft chuckle.  
  
Milan’s lips curled into a wide smile at that. He then suddenly giggled and looked Derek in the eye. “You know, I really like this side of you. When you’re worried and careful…”  
  
Derek shifted uncomfortably as Milan pointed that out, and the submissive laughed when Derek looked away from him, like he was embarrassed or like his pride had gotten hurt.  
  
“Well, I just don’t want to be a dick to you, that’s all,” Derek muttered, still looking away.  
  
Milan snickered before gently placing his hands on both of Derek’s cheeks and carefully forcing him to turn his head to make him look at him again. “You’re not. I like you. A lot.”  
  
Derek just stared back at Milan’s sincere face and at his soft smile. Derek swallowed nervously and there was an odd, pleasant feeling inside of him. It wasn’t very often that he was told by someone that they liked him – and definitely not in the way Milan was saying it.  
  
Derek didn’t respond, but Milan hadn’t really expected him to. He knew how difficult it was for Derek to put words on his feelings.  
  
“And I’d definitely much rather spend time here with you than to go to prom…” Milan added, murmuring.  
  
Derek laughed a bit at that. “Yeah, me too.”  
  
Milan grinned when he heard the honesty in Derek’s voice. He was glad the alpha felt the same.  
  
They were still in the same position as before; Derek sitting on the couch and Milan straddling his lap. Milan felt his legs go a bit numb from sitting like that for so long, so he slowly moved off of Derek, blushing a bit as he did so. He was careful not to hit the alpha in the face with his wing as he sat back down next to him.  
  
“More movies?” Milan asked, glancing up at Derek.  
  
“Sure. But let’s not pick another horror movie. Wouldn’t want you to get nightmares tonight,” Derek said, smirking a bit.  
  
Milan smacked him lightly when he felt that Derek was making fun of him for it, but he also knew that Derek wasn’t trying to be rude or mean.  
  
They found another movie to watch, and Milan sat a little closer to Derek this time than before. Derek didn’t mind that. In fact, he quite liked it, even though it sometimes distracted him a bit from the movie when he couldn’t help but glance at Milan right next to him.  
  
And Milan was right – this was definitely much better than the prom.

  
***

  
On the following weekend was the birthday party.  
  
Derek and Milan hadn’t really seen much of each other since their evening together on the night of the prom. Derek had stayed until 10:30pm when his dad came and picked him up, and he hadn’t seen Milan’s mother at all because she had been at work all night. It had been a fun night, though, and Derek kind of hoped they would do it again soon.  
  
Tuesday had been Milan’s birthday, and he and Derek had met each other briefly at school that day. They had shared a quick kiss and Derek had wished him happy birthday before they had to part ways before getting caught.  
  
Derek really looked forward to Milan’s reaction when his birthday was properly celebrated that weekend, because he had the feeling that nothing much had happened on Milan’s birthday. Milan still had no idea about it, though; he thought it was just Derek’s birthday they were going to be celebrating.  
  
Nathan and Joanne were coming at around 11am that Saturday, and at 10:40am Derek borrowed Jayden’s car and went to pick up Milan before Nathan and Joanne arrived. He knew the submissive had insisted that he could just take his bike and go to Derek’s house, but Derek didn’t know how late it would be when Milan was going home again, and he didn’t feel safe letting his boyfriend ride around alone after dark, so he picked him up instead.  
  
“Hi,” Milan greeted him when he opened the front door for Derek. He had been too busy packing his stuff inside the house to notice that Derek had arrived until he suddenly heard the doorbell ring.  
  
“Hey,” Derek greeted him back, burying his hands casually in his pockets while smiling at him. “Ready to go?”  
  
Milan nodded and picked up his shoulder bag from the floor. He had just put on his shoes, but he decided he could leave his jacket behind because the weather was very nice. “Yeah, I think I got everything I need… Oh, wait! Just a second!”  
  
Derek nodded and waited for Milan to return after he ran back into the house. After a few moments, the submissive returned, holding a long, cylinder-shaped thing in his hand that was wrapped carefully in gift wrap.  
  
Derek frowned at the thing. “What’s that?”  
  
Milan glanced briefly at him as he fumbled with his keys and stepped outside to close and lock the door. “That’s your present.”  
  
“Ah.” Derek eyed the cylinder-shaped thing carefully. “Is it a poster?” He couldn’t keep the amusement out of his voice, because it was pretty obvious what it was.  
  
“No, it’s a space rocket. Can’t you tell?” Milan said dryly as he locked the door.  
  
Derek laughed out loud at that, having not expected such sass from his boyfriend.  
  
After Milan had locked the door, he turned to smile at Derek while holding his present up against his own shoulder. “Okay, I’m ready.”  
  
Derek smiled, and together they headed over to the car, which Derek had parked by the street.  
  
At first, Milan was surprised that Derek had driven there all by himself, but then he remembered that Derek was old enough to drive a car alone now.  
  
They got into the car and drove off to Derek’s house a few streets away. They chatted a bit on the way, mostly about school.  
  
When they arrived at the house, Derek pulled the car up into the garage, being careful not to hit anything in there because he knew his dad would kill him if he did.  
  
They got out of the car and headed up to the house, and Milan felt a little shy as he stepped inside.  
  
Claire appeared almost immediately, grinning widely when she saw Milan.  
  
“Milan!” she chirped, jumping over to give him a big hug.  
  
“Hi, Claire,” Milan grinned back as he returned the hug. Derek’s present was a bit in the way, but they still managed to share a hug.  
  
They looked up when Jayden, Noah, and Dylan appeared as well.  
  
“Hi, Milan,” Jayden greeted him with a friendly smile. He went over to pull the submissive into a small hug which Milan returned, despite still feeling a little unused to it.  
  
Derek took off his shoes while Milan greeted the others, and he tried to control the possessiveness he felt towards his boyfriend when he saw his dad and Dylan hugging him. He didn’t mind it much when it was Noah or Claire, though.  
  
Noah and Dylan also hugged him, and Milan felt a little sheepish about it, but didn’t mind it. He just wasn’t very used to sharing hugs with so many people. They had never really done that much in his family.  
  
“How are you? Did the finals go well?” Noah asked him curiously after all the hugging.  
  
Derek and Milan’s finals had started this week. They had had two finals so far – written English and algebra. The rest of their finals were scattered around next week and the week after, and after that was graduation in mid-June.  
  
Milan smiled and gave a short nod. “Yeah, I think it went well. Algebra was pretty easy.” He chuckled when he heard Derek snort loudly behind him, as if protesting.  
  
Jayden laughed and looked over at Derek. “What? You didn’t think the same?”  
  
“Well, it could have been worse… I think I _might_ have passed it. But that’s just thanks to Milan helping me so much,” Derek said.  
  
Milan looked a little modest about that.  
  
“I think it was a good thing that you helped Derek out recently,” Dylan told Milan. “He hasn’t asked me for help with algebra ever since.”  
  
“Hey, it’s not like I ask for it all the time,” Derek protested with a small, annoyed growl.  
  
The others laughed when Derek got all pride-hurt about it.  
  
“Oh, oh!” Claire suddenly exclaimed and started jumping. “Late happy birthday, Milan! I forgot to say!”  
  
“Oh, right,” Jayden said, blinking as he too remembered. “Late happy birthday.”  
  
Milan blushed and said thank you as they all congratulated him. Again, this wasn’t something he was really used to, and it felt as much weird as it felt nice.  
  
They all headed to the living room instead of standing around in the entrance hall, and Milan smiled at how Claire stayed close to him and kept beaming at him like he was the best thing that had happened all day.  
  
“You can put Derek’s present on the couch table for now, if you want,” Noah told Milan when he noticed that the younger submissive was still holding it. “Nathan also has a present for him, so Derek can open both of them when Nathan and Joanne arrive.”  
  
“Oh. Sure.” Milan went over to the couch table and carefully placed the present on top of it, careful not to knock over the flower that was on the table.  
  
“I wonder what that is,” Claire said as she eyed the present curiously.  
  
“You’ll find out soon, Miss Curious,” Jayden chuckled as he ruffled his daughter’s hair.  
  
Claire shied away from his hand with a gasp. “Nooo! My hair! Stop messing up my hair!”  
  
The others laughed softly at that until they heard the doorbell ring.  
  
“Oh, that must be Nathan and Joanne,” Noah said and went to open the door.  
  
They all went to the entrance hall to greet the new guests, but Milan stayed a bit behind in the living room because it was too crowded in the entrance hall for him to be there too.  
  
Derek also stayed behind and waited. He buried his hands in his pockets and went over to stand next to Milan as they listened to the others greeting Nathan and Joanne.  
  
Milan suddenly felt Derek’s tail touch his leg lightly. It almost made him flinch at first because he hadn’t expected it, but he quickly relaxed and welcomed the touch.  
  
“I hope my brother doesn’t give me a hard time,” Derek muttered.  
  
Milan chuckled and turned his head to look up at him. “I’m sure he won’t. If you behave yourself, I’m sure he will too.”  
  
Derek let out a loud snort at that before the others finally came back to the living room.  
  
Nathan beamed when he saw Derek and Milan. “Hey,” he greeted them with a wide smile. He went over to greet Milan first to be polite. “It’s nice seeing you again, Milan,” he said as he shook the submissive’s hand.  
  
“You too,” Milan smiled as he returned the handshake.  
  
Nathan smiled at him one more time before turning to Derek. “And late happy birthday, Derek,” he grinned as he pulled his younger – but taller – brother into a hug.  
  
“Thanks,” Derek said as he returned the hug and briefly touched tails with Nathan before pulling back.  
  
Meanwhile, Joanne went to shake Milan’s hand and greet him. Claire was beaming at them both as she stood next to them, and her tail curled happily behind her.  
  
When Joanne had greeted Milan, she went to congratulate Derek as well. They shared a quick hug which Joanne initiated, and Derek thanked her before they pulled back.  
  
Once they had all greeted each other, Nathan looked between Derek and Milan with a knowing but happy smile. “So, the birds tell me you two are together now.”  
  
Derek instinctively stepped a little closer to Milan, whose head lowered shyly.  
  
“Well, the birds are right,” Derek said.  
  
Nathan had kind of expected him to either deny it or react hostile in some way, like he used to do it in the past when he was confronted with such ‘embarrassing’ topics, but he was pleased to see that Derek instead just confirmed it right away and took a possessive step closer to Milan.  
  
“That’s nice,” Nathan smiled, still looking between them. “Congratulations about that.” He reached out and gave Derek a short pat on the arm, like he was proud of him.  
  
Derek shifted and nodded his thanks at Nathan, feeling very aware that everyone was watching them. His tail moved closer to Milan’s leg again, almost wrapping around it as he once again felt a surge of possessiveness towards the submissive.  
  
“Yeah, they make a nice couple,” Jayden commented and smiled at them.  
  
“Yeah, I love them together!” Claire chirped loudly and grinned at everyone.  
  
Derek shifted in embarrassment and really wished his sister would learn to shut up already, while Milan blushed and smiled shyly about it.  
  
The others laughed a bit about Claire’s comment and their reactions before Nathan spoke.  
  
“So, uh, did the others tell you the big surprise yet?” Nathan asked Milan as he looked at him.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened in confusion. “What surprise?” He glanced at the others, who were all laughing and smiling now. He then looked at Derek, who just shifted and glanced back down at him with a smile that Milan couldn’t quite interpret.  
  
“Well, this birthday party isn’t just for Derek,” Noah began, smiling at Milan as the younger submissive turned to look at him in confusion. “Since your birthday was so close to Derek’s, we’ve decided to celebrate your birthday today as well.”  
  
“Yeah, so see it as a joined birthday party,” Jayden grinned.  
  
“And we got you some presents too!” Claire exclaimed with a big, excited grin.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened further and his jaw dropped a bit. He was absolutely speechless. He glanced at everyone like he couldn’t really believe it, but then it dawned on him that they were being serious. “That’s…” He trailed off and had to swallow once before finding his voice again. “I-I don’t know what to say… No one’s done that for me before…”  
  
“Yeah, Claire told us that you haven’t had a birthday party before and we wanted to change that,” Jayden smiled.  
  
Milan was still a loss of what to say or do. He suddenly felt tears appearing his eyes, and he sniffled a bit as he reached up to wipe them away. “That’s… Thank you.”  
  
Milan was embarrassed about how he was practically crying now, but the others just smiled at him and looked happy. Derek’s tail wrapped itself around his leg as if trying to comfort him, and he felt the alpha stepping closer so that their wings were touching. It felt reassuring, and Milan really appreciated the gesture – especially since Derek was doing it while everyone was watching, which he knew wasn’t easy for him to do.  
  
No one commented on how Derek was showing more affection towards Milan than he had ever shown anyone before, but they all smiled when they saw it.  
  
“You’ve really never had a birthday party for yourself before?” Dylan carefully asked Milan.  
  
Milan slowly shook his head. “No… My dad isn’t the type to like that much, so I just grew up without it.”  
  
“That’s mean!” Claire exclaimed, frowning angrily about Milan’s father.  
  
The others laughed a bit about how Claire always just said her honest opinion like that, and Milan couldn’t help but chuckle.  
  
“And we wanted to invite your mother as well,” Noah added, drawing Milan’s attention again. “I made a phone call to her to tell her about it and asked if she wanted to come, but she said she was busy with work… But she did say that she might be able to come in the evening.”  
  
“Oh.” Milan looked really surprised that they had even contacted his mother about it.  
  
“I hope you don’t mind that I called her,” Noah said carefully. They had never met Milan’s mother, and Noah didn’t even know if Milan wanted his mother to join them today or not, but he had decided to call her anyway. She _was_ Milan’s mother after all, so she deserved to be told about it and be invited.  
  
“N-No, I don’t mind it,” Milan said. He then blinked in confusion. “I’m just wondering how you got her number? Both of our numbers are hidden…”  
  
“He got it from me,” Derek explained. “Remember that you once gave me your mom’s number, just in case something ever happened to you? You were quite serious about it, actually,” he chuckled.  
  
Now Milan remembered. Just after he and Derek started dating, Milan had given Derek his mom’s number. If anything should happen to him, then it was best if Derek could contact his mother if needed. Derek had said that it wasn’t really necessary, but Milan had insisted and had personally typed the number into Derek’s phone.  
  
“Oh, right,” Milan murmured, blushing at how he could forget about that.  
  
Claire then suddenly decided to ask a question that had been on her mind for a while. “Why does your mom work all the time?” Her forehead wrinkled as a small frown appeared there. “You always say she’s busy working… Doesn’t that make you sad?”  
  
“Claire…” Jayden warned her gently when his daughter pried too much. The way Milan tensed up a bit showed that it was kind of a tender subject to him.  
  
Milan knew that they were all more or less aware of his family situation. Derek had told him that he had told his family about some of the things that Milan had mentioned to him about his brother and how his dad had left. Milan didn’t mind that Derek had told them. Derek had been very careful when he had said that he had mentioned it to his family, because he didn’t want to tell them things that Milan didn’t want them to know, but Milan knew that if he was going to be part of this family, they had to know a few things about him, and that was fine with him.  
  
“Sometimes,” Milan admitted as he answered Claire’s question. “But I’ve gotten used to it. And we _do_ sometimes do stuff together when she has the time… It’s just that she needs the money, so she works a lot.”  
  
“Oh…” Claire still looked a little sad on Milan’s behalf. She always got sad when Jayden worked too much, but she had her mom and her siblings around instead, but Milan didn’t have that. He was alone.  
  
“Well, let’s hope she can come by tonight,” Nathan said, trying to cheer up the mood a bit.  
  
“Yeah. Would be nice to finally meet her,” Jayden chuckled.  
  
Milan cringed. “Sorry about that…”  
  
“No, it’s alright. Not your fault,” Jayden said, smiling friendly at him and waving it off with a hand gesture.  
  
“But still… It’s just that she’s always so busy. And she’s not the most social person…”  
  
Nathan chuckled about that. “Kinda like Derek, then.”  
  
Derek turned to glare at his big brother, which made Milan giggle softly when he saw it.  
  
“Don’t you ever get tired of saying that?” Derek asked Nathan, sounding pretty annoyed.  
  
“Relax, I’m just fooling around,” Nathan said with a soft laugh. “And I know you’re not as antisocial as you used to be, and that’s nice. You surprise me all the time lately.”  
  
Nathan’s comment made Derek both glad and a little embarrassed. To hide his embarrassment, he scowled a bit at his brother as he mumbled, “Wish I could say the same about you… You’re pretty predictable.”  
  
“Hey,” Nathan laughed.  
  
The others chuckled a bit until Jayden spoke.  
  
“Well, I better go prepare the big birthday cake for our two birthday kids,” Jayden said and smirked over at Derek and Milan. He knew his comment would annoy Derek and he was intentionally trying to get a reaction from him.  
  
“Stop calling me a birthday kid! I’m eighteen now,” Derek grumbled.  
  
“Well, you’re still my kid,” Jayden just laughed and made his way to the kitchen.  
  
Derek scowled at his dad while there was a bit of chuckling and snickering from the others.  
  
After Jayden had left, Noah turned to look at Derek and Milan. “After the cake is done and is in the oven, you two can start opening your presents. Is that okay with you?”  
  
Derek shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”  
  
Milan nodded. “Yeah, I don’t mind. But you really didn’t have to buy me anything…”  
  
“Of course we did,” Noah grinned. “No birthday without a few presents. And it’s not like we bought that much…”  
  
Milan still looked a little bit like he felt that he was imposing on them, but he relaxed when he felt Derek’s tail brush his leg a bit.  
  
Dylan smiled at them before looking at Nathan. “By the way, isn’t it this summer that you’re graduating and finishing college?”  
  
“Yeah,” Nathan confirmed. “Both of us, actually.” He smiled at Joanne, who was standing next to him.  
  
“Yeah, and we just found an apartment for the both of us,” Joanne added. She beamed at Nathan with happiness and reached out to grab his hand.  
  
Noah’s eyes widened. “Really? Congratulations. I know you’ve been looking for one, but I didn’t think you’d find one so soon…”  
  
“Well, we’ve been looking for three months now,” Nathan pointed out with a small chuckle.  
  
“So you’re gonna live together?” Claire asked. She looked really excited and happy for them, and was almost jumping from joy.  
  
“Yep,” Joanne confirmed with a grin.  
  
“Awesome!”  
  
“Yeah, that’s nice,” Dylan smiled, watching as Nathan and Joanne both beamed with happiness. “Did you find jobs yet?”  
  
“I did,” Joanne spoke. “The place I interned at as a paramedic wants to hire me when I graduate next month, so I’ve already signed a contract with them and will start work on July 10th.”  
  
“Wow, congratulations,” Dylan grinned.  
  
The others congratulated her as well, and Noah was impressed that she had managed to find a job before even graduating college. Joanne must have left a good impression with them during her internship.  
  
“I didn’t find a job yet, though,” Nathan confessed. “But I hope to find one very soon.”  
  
“Yeah, better not let Joanne pay all your bills,” Derek smirked. He was standing casually with his arms crossed in front of his chest, but his tail was still near Milan’s leg.  
  
Joanne laughed. “We’ll survive, as long as he hurries up with finding that job.”  
  
Nathan scowled at Derek. “Well, not everyone is pride-hurt about letting the girl in the relationship be the one to provide for the family for a while.”  
  
Derek glared at him because he took Nathan’s comment a little too personally when his brother once again indicated that Derek was a macho. He opened his mouth to quip something back at him to retaliate, like he always did, but he stopped when he felt Milan’s hand on his arm.  
  
The way Milan made Derek stop simply just by touching his arm briefly didn’t go unnoticed by the others, who were all a little bit surprised by it.  
  
Nathan grinned a bit as he looked at Derek and Milan. “You know, I’ve always wondered what it would be like when you got a girl- or a boyfriend. I always thought that it required someone who could easily wrap you around their little finger, and it seems I was right.”  
  
Both Milan and Derek’s cheeks turned a little pink at that.  
  
“That’s very funny, Nathan,” Derek grumbled as he glared him down.  
  
Nathan laughed, but he didn’t tease Derek further about it because of the look Joanne gave him.  
  
“Anyway, please try not to get into any arguments while I go see if your dad needs any help in the kitchen,” Noah spoke. He glanced between Nathan and Derek with a somewhat concerned but firm look before slowly making his way out of the room.  
  
“I’ll keep an eye on them,” Dylan said as he watched his mom go.  
  
Derek snorted loudly at Dylan’s comment, which made the others laugh a bit.  
  
Claire was still really excited that both Joanne and Milan were at the house now, and Nathan hadn’t seen her so excited for a long time. Just after Noah had left, she finally couldn’t hold back anymore.  
  
“Do you guys wanna come see the new shelf my dad put up in my bedroom?” Claire asked Joanne and Milan eagerly.  
  
“Sure,” Joanne grinned.  
  
Claire beamed before looking over at Milan, hoping he would join too. When he smiled and nodded at her, Claire grinned with excitement and jumped out into the entrance hall to head upstairs with them.  
  
Joanne and Milan followed, while Nathan, Derek, and Dylan stayed behind in the living room.  
  
“Claire just hijacked your girlfriends,” Dylan snickered at them after Claire had left with Joanne and Milan.  
  
Nathan let out a soft laugh at that, but wasn’t bothered when his sister walked away with Joanne. “I’ll survive. I just wonder if Derek will.”  
  
A loud snort escaped Derek, who was still standing with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “Yeah, I’m okay with it. Milan likes her anyway.”  
  
“Yeah. And Milan seems pretty nice,” Nathan said as he gave Derek a warm smile. “How long have you been together now?”  
  
The question made Derek feel a bit awkward, because it wasn’t really something he was used to discussing with his brothers. Small talk was never really his thing, but he answered the question anyway. “Uh, since mid-April or so, so about a month?” The way Nathan grinned at him like he was proud of that made Derek feel uncomfortably bashful.  
  
“That’s nice. It’s good for you,” Nathan said with that sincere smile of his that once again made Derek feel uncomfortable but also kind of glad.  
  
Dylan watched them quietly and chuckled softly at the way Derek was shifting now.  
  
Nathan could sense that Derek was too overwhelmed to be able to handle more of that conversation, so instead he turned his attention towards Dylan. “What about you, Dylan? Excited to start high school soon?”  
  
“I don’t know if ‘excited’ is the correct word to use,” Dylan said with a small, thoughtful frown. “But it’ll be nice with a new school and a new scenery… And maybe make a few more friends.”  
  
“Yeah,” Nathan grinned. “Will Melody be going to the same high school as you?”  
  
Dylan blushed a bit. “Yeah. And so will Benjamin and few others of my classmates. I think some of them will go to one of the other high schools, depending on which one they live the closest to and what their parents prefer. But I think most of my classmates will be at the same high school as me.”  
  
Nathan nodded a bit as he listened to Dylan talking. “Yeah, it’s usually like that… And what about that dickhead who broke your arm once?”  
  
“Deaton?” Dylan asked. When Nathan nodded, Dylan’s face twisted into a small grimace. “Not sure… Melody told me she heard one of Deaton’s old friends in her class say that he will go to the same high school as us. But I really hope that’s not the case…”  
  
Derek snorted at that. “If he does, you can just send that little chicken over to me and I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you or Melody ever again.”  
  
Dylan was a little surprised that Derek sounded so serious about it and was acting so protective of him, while Nathan laughed.  
  
“Yeah, I don’t think he’ll dare come anywhere near you after Derek is done with him,” Nathan laughed. “But let’s try not to beat up anyone and get into more trouble, okay?”  
  
“Yeah,” Dylan agreed. “And I’m not even sure if Deaton will still bother us.”  
  
“You can never be sure about such guys,” Derek murmured.  
  
The three of them chatted a bit more after that, mostly about how Nathan was doing at college, because Dylan was curious about it. Derek mostly just listened, but got involved when Nathan teased him for being so quiet and looking bored.  
  
After a few minutes, they heard Claire, Joanne, and Milan come back down the stairs.  
  
Suddenly, Claire jumped into the living room with a happy grin, and Joanne and Milan were right behind her.  
  
Derek watched a bit as Milan and Joanne seemed to get along very well. The submissive was laughing at something Joanne had said, and Joanne was grinning as she looked at Milan. Derek hadn’t really thought about how important it was to him that Milan got along with the rest of his family, and he was very glad when he saw that this was the case.  
  
“Did you show them your new shelf?” Dylan asked Claire when his sister jumped over to them.  
  
“Yep! And they liked it,” Claire grinned.  
  
“Yeah, it’s pretty nice,” Joanne smiled. “I remember her talking about it for months how she wanted to have a shelf in her room for her small collection of figures, and the way she placed them all on the shelf was very nice.”  
  
Claire had recently started collecting a series of figures of unicorns, elves, and other mythical creatures. The figures weren’t toys, but simply decorative and collection items. The average size of them was about 15cm (5.9 inches), but some were smaller and some were bigger. Claire had really wanted a shelf where she could put all her figures to display them, so Jayden had finally bought her one and put it up for her.  
  
“Yeah, it’s pretty creative the way she’s put them,” Milan agreed and smiled down at Claire. “Almost like you’re telling a story with them.”  
  
Claire shifted sheepishly while smiling widely up at him.  
  
“I guess I better go see that as well,” Nathan said. He hadn’t had the chance to see her new shelf yet either.  
  
“Oh!” Claire exclaimed, having completely forgotten that Nathan hadn’t seen her shelf yet. “Come, come!” she grinned, already grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the stairs.  
  
Nathan laughed and went with her, and the others watched in amusement as Nathan was dragged up the stairs to have a look as well.  
  
“She’s easily excited,” Joanne explained to Milan with a chuckle after Nathan and Claire were gone.  
  
Milan chuckled softly at that as he looked at her. “Yeah, I’ve noticed.”  
  
“Just tell her no if she bothers you too much about it,” Dylan told Milan, feeling a little worried that Claire was nagging him too much sometimes.  
  
“Oh, it’s okay,” Milan said. “She’s not overdoing it. Besides, it’s a bit like having a little sister, and I’ve always wanted one…” He blushed as he smiled at the others after making that confession.  
  
“Yeah, same for me,” Joanne said with a soft grin.  
  
Claire and Nathan returned a few moments later, as did Jayden and Noah once they had made the cake and put it in the oven to bake.  
  
They all went to the couch to sit down, and Milan blushed a bit as he seated himself next to Derek, so close that their thighs and wings were touching. He didn’t mind the contact, though, and it seemed that Derek didn’t mind it either, but they both blushed a bit at the way the others smiled at them.  
  
It was now time for Derek and Milan to open their presents, and the others quickly went to get the presents they had bought for them and brought them to the couch table before sitting down again. There were five presents for Milan, and two for Derek. Derek had already gotten his presents on his birthday and was just missing the ones from Milan and from Nathan and Joanne, so there were just two for him to open.  
  
“I’ll let you start,” Derek told Milan as he turned his head to look at him.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened a bit. “Oh, I…”  
  
Jayden chuckled at Milan’s hesitation. “It’s not every day Derek wants someone else to start before him, so if I were you, I’d accept the offer.”  
  
“Hey,” Derek protested when his father kind of insulted him. He glared at his dad and at the others when they laughed.  
  
Milan chuckled a bit about that. The way everyone was smiling at him as they waited for him to open his presents made him feel oddly self-conscious and a little awkward because he wasn’t used to this, but he took a deep breath before reaching out to grab the present closest to him.  
  
“That one is from me,” Derek said with a small awkward cough.  
  
“Oh.” Milan blinked at him before opening the present. It was the size of a book and pretty hard, making him suspect that it actually _was_ a book, but he wasn’t entirely sure. After fumbling a bit with the wrapping, he finally managed to open the present and have a look at it. Inside was a fantasy book that Milan had once briefly mentioned to Derek that he really wanted to read, and his eyes widened when he saw it. “Oh. You actually remembered that I wanted to read this book.”  
  
Derek blushed a bit as Milan turned to look at him, and the others looked curious as they stared at the book.  
  
“Thank you,” Milan grinned at him, thrilled that Derek had actually paid attention when he had mentioned the title, especially because he had only ever mentioned it once.  
  
“You’re welcome,” Derek said, feeling a little awkward as they all smiled at them.  
  
“That’s nice! I like the cover!” Claire grinned as she stared at the book that Milan had gotten. She was sitting next to him and could easily see the book’s cover. There was a phoenix and a mythical water creature on it, and Claire really liked such things.  
  
The others grinned a bit at how Derek was blushing and looking awkward, but none of them teased him about it.  
  
There were four more presents for Milan from the rest of the family, and he opened each of them to see what was inside. The first present was from Jayden and Noah, and contained an artist’s set with a sketchbook and a lot of pencils in different sizes and thickness. Milan was really happy about that, because he was already in desperate need of more pencils and sketchbooks. The next present was from Nathan and Joanne, and it was a big box which turned out to contain some very soft quality towels and some chocolate for him. The third present was also from Jayden and Noah, and was a gift card for the local mall that Milan could spent on anything he wanted, and finally the last present – which was from Dylan and Claire – was a gift card for two to the cinema with all included.  
  
“We didn’t really know what to get you, since we don’t know you that well yet,” Noah told him afterwards. The presents weren’t a big deal and Noah had been worried what Milan would think of them, but they really had had no idea what to buy for him. “But we hope you liked the presents and have use for them.”  
  
“Yeah, same here,” Nathan said, looking a bit ashamed that he and Joanne also had had no idea what to buy for him.  
  
“No, that’s alright,” Milan quickly reassured them. “They’re lovely presents, I like them. Thank you so much.” Again, he felt a small tear appear in his eye, and he smiled at them with gratitude as he reached up to wipe that tear away.  
  
Joanne smiled and added, “I thought you might like the towels ‘cause I recently got some of those myself and they’re seriously the best towels ever. Nothing better than coming out of the shower and drying off with a super soft towel.”  
  
Milan laughed softly at that. “Yeah, they feel nice.” He ran his hand over one of the towels again, taking in its softness. His mom always bought ordinary towels, so Milan looked forward to trying some super soft ones for a change.  
  
“And I hope you like chocolate,” Joanne grinned as she gestured at the chocolate she and Nathan had gotten for him.  
  
“Yeah, I’m crazy about chocolate and I’ve always wanted to have soft towels, so it was a nice idea for a present,” Milan chuckled. “Thank you so much.”  
  
Nathan and Joanne looked very pleased that Milan liked their present for him.  
  
“As for our present…” Dylan began, and glanced briefly at Claire who had helped him come up with the idea before looking at Milan again. “Claire loves the cinema, so she thought a gift card for it was a good idea for a present for you. And well, I thought it could be a nice way for you and Derek to do something together.”  
  
“Yeah, a romantic evening,” Jayden grinned.  
  
Claire grinned at that as well, looking all excited and restless as she glanced between Milan and Derek.  
  
Milan blushed heavily at that. “I like going to the cinema, so thank you for the gift card.”  
  
Derek thought his family was being utterly embarrassing right now, but he didn’t say anything. He just hoped they wouldn’t notice how awkward he was about it.  
  
It was now Derek’s turn to open his presents. He decided to open the one from Milan first, and noticed the submissive shifting next to him like he was anxious about what Derek would think of it.  
  
“Very hard to guess what that is,” Dylan snickered as Derek opened the long, cylinder-shaped present.  
  
The others laughed a bit about that, while Claire still hadn’t figured it out.  
  
“What is it?” Claire asked, annoyed that everyone else had figured it out already.  
  
“You’ll see,” Jayden chuckled at her and watched as Derek carefully took off the wrapping that was around his present.  
  
When the wrapping was off, Derek stood up so that he could unfold the poster that was inside and see what was on it. The others watched him as he carefully rolled the poser down to see it, and his eyes widened in amazement at what he saw.  
  
The poster was rather big, and it was of his favorite video game. His favorite character from the game was pictured on it, standing proudly in the middle of a battlefield with his weapons, and with apocalyptic chaos depicted in the background. For a second, Derek thought it was an official poster, but then he recognized Milan’s style and noticed a few minor things that gave away that it wasn’t official. Milan himself had drawn this and had colored it digitally. Derek was speechless about how real it looked, and he spent several moments taking it all in and admiring every color and detail. “Whoa…”  
  
“Wanna see, wanna see!” Claire complained when she couldn’t see the poster properly because Derek was holding it front of himself.  
  
Derek snapped out of it and realized that everyone was waiting for him to show them what was on the poster. “Oh. Right.” He carefully turned the poster around and showed it to everyone, who looked just as amazed and speechless as him.  
  
“Wow, is that real or…?” Dylan asked, gaping at the poster.  
  
“Um, no… I drew it,” Milan confessed, shifting reservedly as everyone stared at the poster with wide eyes.  
  
“Wow,” Jayden laughed. “Can’t believe you drew that!”  
  
Milan shifted and smiled shyly at everyone’s reactions. He was pretty proud of his own work, especially because it had taken him a long time to make it. Several days, actually. He glanced up at Derek, waiting for his boyfriend to say something, but he was pleased when he saw Derek looking just as amazed as the others.  
  
When everyone had seen the poster, Derek turned and grinned down at Milan, who was still sitting on the couch. “When I said I wouldn’t mind getting a poster from you, I hadn’t expected you to give me something _this_ amazing. I really love it! Thank you.”  
  
Derek’s comment and his happy face made Milan beam and his insides flutter happily. “You’re welcome.”  
  
Derek carefully rolled the poster up before sitting back down on the couch next to Milan. He was still smiling from joy that Milan had given him something so amazing.  
  
“Make me a poster like that too!” Claire suddenly begged Milan.  
  
The others laughed at Claire.  
  
“Don’t be rude, Claire,” Dylan laughed at her.  
  
“Sorry,” Claire murmured when she realized that she had been a bit too rude about it and hadn’t asked nicely.  
  
Milan just chuckled softly. “I can make you a poster someday as well, if you want.”  
  
Claire beamed brightly at that. “Really?” She beamed even brighter than Milan nodded.  
  
When everyone had calmed down from their amazement, Derek reached out to open the present from Nathan and Joanne.  
  
“Well, our present probably isn’t as awesome as Milan’s, but we hope you’ll like it anyways,” Nathan said with a soft chuckle as he watched Derek open the present.  
  
Derek snorted softly at that. “We’ll see.” He curiously opened the present, and saw that it was a gift card for the gaming service Steam where he bought all his games from. It was definitely something he could use.  
  
“I had no idea what to get you besides that,” Nathan confessed. “Just don’t lock yourself in your room and game so much that Milan will start feeling all alone, alright?”  
  
There was a hint of teasing in Nathan’s last comment, which made Derek snort a bit.  
  
“Yeah. Thanks a lot,” Derek told Nathan and Joanne and smiled at them with gratitude. “I can definitely use this.”  
  
“We thought so,” Joanne grinned.  
  
Noah had kind of hoped that Nathan would get Derek something more useful than a gift card to buy more video games with, but he also knew how difficult it was to find a present for Derek. He was just glad that Derek liked the present, and that Derek and Nathan were getting along pretty well today. Things had been going much better between Derek and Nathan in the past few months, but sometimes both Noah and Jayden wondered if that bubble was going to burst soon. Luckily it hadn’t, and hopefully it wouldn’t.  
  
After the presents had been opened, they all sat back and started chatting about the latest news in the family until the cake was ready.  
  
Milan felt very comfortable around everyone, and he quite enjoyed listening to them chatting. Sometimes they asked him things too, and it felt nice to be involved in the conversation.  
  
Derek, however, mostly sat with his arms crossed in front of his chest and looked a little bored and awkward. It was easy to tell that he wasn’t the most social guy when it came to such interactions, but he still got involved in the conversation sometimes when he had a comment on something that was said.

  
***

  
When the cake was ready, they all headed to the dining room to eat.  
  
Noah and Jayden had put plates on the table, and everyone took at seat. Derek, Milan, Dylan, and Noah seated themselves on one side of the table, and Nathan, Joanne, Claire, and Jayden sat down on the other side.  
  
When everyone else was seated, Jayden brought in the cake, which was a pretty big chocolate cake with glaze on top, and with sprinkles in all kinds of colors.  
  
Milan was surprised by how big the cake was, and that Noah and Jayden had placed little candles in each end of the cake for him and Derek to blow out. Milan had never blown out birthday candles before. His father had thought that such things were stupid, so Milan was both excited and happy when he finally got to try it.  
  
“Remember to wish for something!” Claire told Milan as he was about to blow out the candles.  
  
“Oh, right.” Milan had forgotten that you were supposed to make a wish before blowing out the candles, and he was glad that he hadn’t blown them out before doing that.  
  
“But you can’t way out loud what it is!” Claire added.  
  
Milan nodded, and the others watched as he took a deep breath and carefully blew out the five candles in front of him. Jayden and Noah had decided to just place five candles for Milan and five for Derek to blow out, because it would be too many if they both had to blow out eighteen candles. Derek and Milan didn’t mind it anyway.  
  
Everybody cheered when all the candles got blown out, and Milan grinned after he had tried it for the first time ever.  
  
“Nice,” Nathan grinned. “I think you even did a better job than Derek did when he turned five.”  
  
“You’re so funny, Nathan,” Derek growled at him with sarcasm. He glared daggers at his older brother, who just grinned at him all smugly.  
  
They all laughed a bit at Nathan and Derek’s interactions, and Derek scowled a bit at Milan when the submissive giggled at them.  
  
“Sorry,” Milan told him when he noticed Derek’s scowl. He didn’t stop giggling, though.  
  
“And now it’s Derek’s turn,” Dylan said when he noticed that Derek was too busy glaring at Nathan and Milan instead of blowing out the candles so they could start eating.  
  
Nathan smirked over at Derek before reaching out and pushing the cake towards him next.  
  
Derek glared at Nathan for still looking so smug. He knew his brother was looking at him like that because Derek had made fun of Nathan last time he had had a birthday and had to blow out candles like a little kid, and it annoyed him to no end.  
  
Jayden laughed when he saw Derek’s hesitation. “Just blow them out already. It’s not gonna hurt your pride.”  
  
“But this is lame. I’m not a little kid anymore,” Derek grumbled. It was so awkward that he just wanted to dig a hole and bury himself in it.  
  
The others laughed at him, and Milan giggled at how such tiny things as birthday candles could make Derek feel so uncomfortable.  
  
“Just blow them out!” Claire laughed, getting impatient when all Derek did was stare at the candles like they had offended him personally.  
  
Derek groaned and turned his head to look at Milan. “You sure you don’t wanna blow them out for me?”  
  
The way Derek was trying to find a loophole now made Milan laugh. “No way! That’s doesn’t count.” Derek was looking at him like he was a traitor now, it only made Milan even more amused. “Besides, it’s fun. You can do it!”  
  
Derek groaned again before finally giving in and blowing out the candles. They all cheered when he succeeded, and they laughed at how grumpy he looked afterwards.  
  
“See? Wasn’t so bad,” Dylan snickered.  
  
“Shut up, Dylan,” Derek grumbled and leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed in front of his chest.  
  
Derek’s attitude made the others laugh, but they didn’t really feel sorry for him. On the contrary, they thought it was good for him to try things he was uncomfortable with just so he could see that it wasn’t so bad after all.  
  
“And now we can eat,” Jayden grinned, gesturing at the kids to just start cutting pieces of the cake for themselves.  
  
Derek continued to glare at Nathan, who was still looking at him with smug amusement from across the table, and Milan found their silent interaction kind of entertaining.  
  
They all cut a piece of cake for themselves and began eating.  
  
It was one of the best homemade cakes that Milan had ever tried, and Derek watched him with amusement as Milan ate it pretty fast, like he couldn’t get enough.  
  
Nathan and Derek teased each other a bit at the table, but it was much more playful than it had been in the past. Sometimes Dylan got teased a bit too, while Claire just watched her brothers with amusement.  
  
When they were done with the cake, Noah and Jayden took care of the dishes and told the kids to go outside and enjoy the nice weather in the garden. It was a good opportunity for Noah and Jayden to be alone for a bit, and for the kids to do some activities and for Milan to get to know the others better.  
  
After all the kids had gone outside, Jayden playfully bumped his hip into Noah’s as they stood next to each other by the kitchen sink.  
  
Noah stumbled a bit at that, and Jayden laughed when his mate turned and scowled up at him.  
  
“I almost dropped the plate,” Noah grumbled. He was washing the plates quickly in the sink before handing them to Jayden, who then put them in the dishwasher to be washed thoroughly.  
  
“But you didn’t,” Jayden pointed out with a playful grin. He chuckled at the way Noah fondly rolled his eyes at him before speaking again. “Nathan and Derek seem to be getting along pretty well today.”  
  
“Yeah,” Noah smiled, taking the next plate from the pile of dishes next to him. “I had always hoped they would get along better someday when they got older.”  
  
Jayden smiled. “Nathan is being nicer to Derek too, so that’s probably part of the reason. Did you have a hand in that?”  
  
“Well, I told him he should stop always provoking Derek, because it only ever results in an argument between them,” Noah replied. “You know how easily Derek gets annoyed with him… Even more than with Dylan.”  
  
“Well, that’s because Nathan is beta and Derek is a little proud, so he doesn’t wanna put up with it when his beta brother insults him or annoys him.”  
  
“I know,” Noah sighed. “That’s so ridiculous…”  
  
Jayden chuckled and had to agree with that. “Also, did you see how happy Derek was when he got the present from Milan?”  
  
“Yeah,” Noah smiled. “I’ve never seen him thank or smile at someone like that before. And when he got Nathan and Joanne’s present, he was also more grateful about it than usual. It was nice to see.”  
  
Jayden grinned and once again bumped his hip playfully against Noah, but gentler this time. “I think Milan is really good for him.”  
  
Noah smiled. Jayden was definitely right about that.  
  
Noah was still in deep thought about Derek’s joyful mood earlier when he suddenly felt water drops being sprinkled at his face. His gasped in surprise and turned to look at Jayden, realizing his mate had just put his fingers into the running water of the water tap and had then sprinkled some of it right in his face.  
  
_“Connor!”_ Noah growled, picking up the dishtowel to smack him with.  
  
Jayden laughed and jumped back, but Noah still managed to hit his thigh with the dishtowel. When Noah tried to smack him with it again, Jayden reached out and grabbed it, but Noah wasn’t letting go.  
  
They fought over the dishtowel, both of them laughing and tugging at it, until Jayden finally managed to get it from Noah when he reached out to tickle him.  
  
Noah gasped and jumped back when Jayden attempted to tickle him so that he could steal the dishtowel. “That’s cheating!”  
  
“But I have the towel now,” Jayden grinned, way too smugly, and held up the dishtowel for Noah to see.  
  
When Noah realized that Jayden was going to smack him with it to get revenge, he let out a small yelp and ran away. Jayden chased after him, and they were both laughing as Noah ran around the kitchen table to get away from Jayden.  
  
“No! Stop it!” Noah laughed and shrieked, using the kitchen table to hide behind because Jayden had a hard time reaching him when it was in his way.  
  
They chased each other around for a while, shrieking and laughing, and Noah was pretty glad that the kids weren’t around to witness it, because it was so childish and both he and Jayden were fully grown adults. But even adults could be silly and childish sometimes.  
  
It was the most fun they had had in months, but eventually Jayden caught Noah.  
  
Noah shrieked and expected to be smacked with the dishtowel, but instead Jayden just laughed and caught him in an embrace from behind. Noah yelped when he was lifted off the ground, but laughed when he noticed that Jayden was still being playful.  
  
When Jayden finally let go of Noah, they two of them shared a long, loving kiss. Their hearts were racing inside of their chests from the exercise earlier and from happiness. Jayden’s hands roamed possessively over Noah’s body, groping at his butt and his wings. Noah shivered at the touch and reached out to moved his hands up under Jayden’s shirt to touch his muscled abs and his chest.  
  
It was frustrating that they couldn’t live out their sexual desires for each other at the moment, because one of the kids could walk into the kitchen at any time. But once they were alone in their bedroom tonight, they would both be bursting from need and desire when they had sex, and that anticipation was totally worth it.

  
***

  
Meanwhile, the kids went outside into the garden, unaware of the playful events in the kitchen.  
  
Claire was in a really playful and excited mood, so she kept begging her brothers to play ball. It had been so long since all four of them had played together, and Joanne and Milan were there to join the fun as well.  
  
Nathan went and found the soccer ball, which had been lying in the back of the garden for a while. Dylan and Claire sometimes played ball together, so the ball was still regularly used, but it had been a while since Nathan and Derek had last played.  
  
Nathan kicked the ball in front of him as he went back to the others, who were all standing in the middle of the garden. “How about we split into two teams and play?”  
  
“Sure,” Dylan said, shrugging. “How do we split?”  
  
“I don’t know… Boys vs. girls?” Nathan suggested.  
  
“That’s not fair! All of you are good!” Claire protested and pointed at all of her brothers.  
  
Joanne laughed. “Well, I’m pretty good too…”  
  
“Really?” Claire asked, staring up at her with wide, excited eyes.  
  
“Yeah,” Joanne grinned. She then turned to look at Milan. “I guess you’ll qualify for the girls’ team… Are you a good player?”  
  
Milan’s eyes widened. “Ah, no… I suck at it. Sorry.”  
  
Dylan quickly noticed that the two teams had a big difference in advantage, because he knew Nathan and Derek were both very good at playing soccer, and Dylan himself was okay at it. Even though Claire and Milan weren’t so good and Joanne said she was pretty good, they still had less advantage.  
  
“Well, I’ll go join the girls and help them out,” Dylan said as he walked over to join them.  
  
Derek snorted loudly in amusement. “I always knew you were a girl, Dylan.”  
  
Dylan scowled over at him. “ _You’ll_ be the girl when we win.”  
  
The way Derek’s eyes narrowed as Dylan challenged him like that made Milan giggle a bit.  
  
“So, basically it’s now everyone against Derek and Nathan?” Joanne chuckled.  
  
“Bring it on!” Nathan grinned.  
  
They all got into position in opposite ends of the lawn. Milan was a little nervous and felt a bit out of place because he had never really played that much soccer before, and he could tell that the others had played together lots of times. He really hoped he didn’t screw anything up.  
  
Nathan was the goalkeeper, but they didn’t play completely by the rules because Nathan and Derek were understaffed, so he played both in the goal and on the field. On the girls’ team, Milan started out as the goalkeeper, but they were going to switch at some point.  
  
The game started, and Derek and Nathan were both merciless as they went for the ball and tried to score a goal. Dylan and Joanne quickly tried to interfere and block their shot at the goal. Nathan didn’t move too far out into the field because he had to look after the goal, but Derek moved around a lot.  
  
Dylan and Joanne were both pretty good, and they managed to get the ball from Derek and score a goal before Nathan could stop it. However, the joy didn’t last long, because now Derek was in retaliation mode, and it didn’t take long before Derek and Nathan’s team were leading with 4-1. Milan actually managed to stop a lot of the shots that they fired at the goal, but he wasn’t good enough to stop them all, and Derek wasn’t holding back much.  
  
Jayden and Noah came outside after the dishes were done to see what they were doing. They sat down by the table at the terrace and watched them with amusement.  
  
After a bit, Claire went to stay in the goal when she was tired from running, while Milan went into the field.  
  
Dylan and Joanne finally managed to score a few goals, and soon Derek and Nathan were only leading with 7-5.  
  
When Derek went to score the eighth goal, Milan had to get in his way to block it because Dylan and Joanne were too far away.  
  
Milan had always hated soccer because he was really bad at getting the ball away from someone else, and the guys in his P.E. class had always tried to kick him on the legs when they played, so he was a little wary when he had to get in front of Derek and try to kick the ball away from him. But he knew Derek wouldn’t kick him like those boys did, and that gave him the courage to run over and block him.  
  
When Milan got in front of him, Derek instinctively got less aggressive in the game and was suddenly almost afraid to accidentally hurt him somehow. It slowed his moves, which almost made Milan get the ball from him, until Derek snapped out of it and immediately tried to get it back.  
  
They fought over the ball for several moments, and Milan laughed a bit as he tried to push Derek away by shoving at his chest, but the alpha barely budged.  
  
“Damn it,” Derek cursed as they fought over the ball, looking very frustrated that Milan just wouldn’t let him have it.  
  
Milan thought Derek’s grumpiness was kind of funny, and he started to think it was pretty fun getting in his way like this.  
  
“Go, Milan!” Joanne cheered at him as they all watched them fighting over the ball.  
  
Derek kicked the ball a few feet to the side and went to get it and score a goal, but Milan quickly ran over and blocked it, and now they were fighting over it again. When Derek again tried to kick the ball away, Milan put his leg in front of his to stop his kick, but then suddenly they both lost their balance.  
  
Milan yelped when he fell forward into Derek. Since Derek had already lost his balance when their legs blocked each other, having Milan fall into him just sent him straight to the ground.  
  
The others gasped as both Derek and Milan fell over and landed on the grass; Derek lying on his back and Milan ending up on top of him.  
  
The fall didn’t really hurt because the grass was soft, but Derek groaned when he got the air knocked out of him when Milan landed on his chest.  
  
Milan ended up lying flush against Derek’s body, and it took him a few moments to notice their closeness, and how his head was resting on top of Derek’s chest.  
  
“Ah, I’m sorry!” Milan quickly said, looking all flustered as he quickly propped himself up on his hands. He was still on top of Derek; both of his hands were now on either side of Derek’s head, and his body right on top of Derek’s. The feeling of alpha’s larger and more muscled body under his own made Milan blush heavily, especially when he could feel the bulge of Derek’s crotch against his leg. Their faces were just inches apart, and it was a very awkward position to be in in front of everyone.  
  
Flustered and embarrassed, Milan quickly got off of Derek and sat down on the grass next to him. His knees and legs were folded under him, and his hands gathered in his lap as he blushed and tried not to look at Derek.  
  
“You guys okay?” Nathan snickered as he came over to them. The others were right behind him, looking a little worried as they eyed Derek and Milan.  
  
“Yeah,” Derek grunted and sat up. He groaned when he realized that his shirt and wings were full of grass and dirt now. He cast a brief glance at Milan, whose face as all red as he stared into his own lap in embarrassment, and it made Derek feel a bit embarrassed too. There had been a jolt of arousal going through him when he had felt Milan’s smaller body against his own, and it still sent pleasant shivers up his spine. He really hoped Milan hadn’t noticed the twitch in his groin. It was a little awkward.  
  
“That was funny!” Claire laughed. “And Milan almost got the ball!”  
  
They all laughed when Derek scowled at her for saying that. He was still bitter about how he hadn’t managed to get the ball from the submissive.  
  
“Speaking about the ball…” Dylan said as he glanced over at it. “There’s no one at the goal now…” He smirked at Nathan and Derek before running over to the ball.  
  
Nathan quickly noticed his intentions and ran after Dylan to block his shot, but he was too late. Dylan kicked the ball across the lawn and scored a goal, making Joanne and Claire cheer loudly.  
  
“Hey, that’s cheating!” Derek growled at him and got up from the grass.  
  
Dylan just laughed at his brothers. “What? We’re still playing, no?”  
  
Nathan groaned. “That was really low of you, Dylan…”  
  
“But it still counts!” Joanne insisted as she and Claire laughed and high-fived each other.  
  
Milan chuckled and got up from the grass as well, brushing the dirt off his pants.  
  
“Maybe we should take a break for a bit?” Dylan suggested. “I’m too thirsty to continue…”  
  
Derek huffed at him. “You just say that ‘cause you’re scared to fall even further behind on the scores. Especially after you just cheated! Don’t think for _one_ second that Nathan and I won’t retaliate!”  
  
“That’s not why,” Dylan denied, looking almost offended by Derek.  
  
The others laughed at them, but agreed that a break was needed.  
  
Milan could use a break too. He was getting thirsty like Dylan, and all that running around was exhausting. He followed the others back to the house, and felt a little guilty when he saw the dirt on Derek’s feathers and clothes.  
  
Jayden and Noah were still sitting at the table on the terrace from where they had been watching them play for the past few minutes.  
  
Jayden smiled at them as they walked up to the house, and he got up from his chair to talk to them. “So what’s the score?”  
  
“7-6 to Derek and me,” Nathan replied.  
  
“Not bad,” Jayden grinned. “I mean, it’s not bad that others almost beat you two.” He laughed at the scowl he received from Derek, while Nathan didn’t look half as bothered by it. Derek had always been sort of a sore loser and preferred to win, and he liked it best when he get a very good score.  
  
“Yeah, we were good!” Claire grinned proudly.  
  
“Yeah, I also think we did pretty good,” Joanne agreed, glancing back at Claire and Milan. “Though, I think we would have lost so badly if Dylan hadn’t joined us…”  
  
“I don’t think it would have been that bad,” Dylan said. “You’re pretty good, Joanne.”  
  
Joanne looked a little humbled to be told that, and her tail entwined slightly with Nathan’s as they stood beside each other.  
  
Milan watched them quietly. He knew demons and demon hybrids used their tails a lot to express emotions and moods, and he kind of wished he had one so he could entwine tails with Derek. Though, he had the feeling that Derek might be too proud to do such affectionate things with him in front of everyone. At least until he started feeling more comfortable with it.  
  
Noah got up and went over to join them as well. He eyed Derek and Milan with slight worry. “You guys didn’t get hurt when you fell, did you?”  
  
“No,” Derek said, rolling his eyes a bit at his mom’s worried nature. “Just got a bit of grass and dirt on me, that’s all.”  
  
Noah looked at Milan to see if he was unhurt too, and was relieved when the younger submissive shook his head softly.  
  
“I’m okay too,” Milan said. “Derek softened my fall.”  
  
“Hey,” Derek protested when he could hear a certain hint of snickering in Milan’s voice. He glared a bit at him when Milan just started giggling innocently.  
  
“Way to go, Milan,” Nathan laughed. “Just keep him on a short leash and kick that ego of his into the dirt. It doesn’t hurt him to be a little humble once in a while.”  
  
“Shut up, Nathan,” Derek growled at him.  
  
Milan laughed, as did the others.  
  
“I’ll try,” Milan smirked. When Derek turned to send him some very scary eyes as he glared at him, Milan just giggled innocently once again, and the others began laughing.  
  
Claire thought it was the best thing ever to watch Milan and Derek be playful and teasing each other like that, and she was glad that Derek wasn’t being mean when they all teased him a bit.  
  
“Just try not to let things get out of hand,” Jayden told them with a soft chuckle before heading inside. Noah followed him and smiled at Derek and Milan as he went inside.  
  
  
The others headed inside as well, and Milan blushed a bit when Derek brushed his tail against his leg on their way in.  
  
They all gathered in the kitchen to get juice or water, and Claire was in a really talkative mood. She told her parents everything about their soccer game and how fun it had been.  
  
After getting something to drink, Derek decided to head upstairs to change his clothes. Noah had already warned him not to sit on the couch because his butt was full of grass, so he thought it was best if he changed his clothes and got rid of all that dirt and grass. Milan went with him. It was a good opportunity for them to be alone for a little bit.  
  
Derek’s room was pretty tidy when they entered it, but Milan guessed he had probably cleaned it right before he had picked him up earlier.  
  
Milan glanced a bit around the room after shutting the door behind them, and he couldn’t help but stare at all of Derek’s posters again. “Are you sure you have space for the new poster?”  
  
“Of course I do,” Derek told him while rummaging through his drawers to find a new shirt and pants. “There’s a big empty space over there.” He used his head to gesture to the other end of the room, where there was indeed a pretty large space with no posters on it.  
  
Milan chuckled at that and stared around at the many posters. When he glanced over at Derek, the alpha was taking off his shirt to change it. Milan’s eyes widened and he quickly looked away to give him some privacy, even though Derek wasn’t even looking his way.  
  
After a few seconds, Milan slowly turned his head to dare a small look at him again. He stared at Derek’s naked back and saw the muscles flex whenever he moved. It was almost entrancing to look at. Derek’s wings were large and strong, and the wing bones were certainly much thicker than Milan’s own. He watched as Derek pulled on the fresh shirt and reached behind himself to zip it up under his wings. He had to stretch his wings a bit to do that, giving Milan a good look of his feathers. Just like that one time in P.E. class when Derek had had trouble with the zipper and had to zip up his shirt in the middle of the sports field. Milan had stared back then too, but now was different. Now it made him shift when he felt a certain warmth in his abdomen and how his panties were starting to feel a little bit wet.  
  
Suddenly, Derek turned his head and looked straight at him.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened in panic when he was caught staring, and he quickly looked away and prayed that it hadn’t been too obvious that he had ogled Derek like that. “S-Sorry…”  
  
For a moment, Milan thought that Derek would be annoyed at him for staring, but then he heard a soft chuckle coming from his boyfriend.  
  
“No problem,” Derek said and reached down to undo his pants to change them. “I’m not that modest about such things.”  
  
Milan still felt embarrassed about it, though, and he made sure to look away when Derek got out of his pants and changed them. He cringed at the uncomfortable wet feeling in his panties. It could have been a lot worse, but it still wasn’t pleasant. Plus, he had no spare clothes with him, which just made it suck even more.  
  
When Derek was done changing his clothes, he slowly walked over to Milan, who turned around to face him when he sensed him approaching. They looked at each other until Derek leaned down for a kiss.  
  
Milan’s wings twitched with joy when their lips met in a soft kiss, and his stomach fluttered when Derek reached up and cupped his cheek when he deepened their kiss.  
  
The kiss lasted for a few moments until Derek pulled away, panting softly. “I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” he confessed in a gruff voice.  
  
Milan chuckled and blushed as he looked up at him. “I didn’t stop you…”  
  
“I know.” Derek pulled away and shifted uncomfortably. He nervously put his hands in his pockets and glanced away. “It’s just… I’m not so comfortable doing such things in front of my family. It feels a little awkward… Please don’t take it personally,” he quickly added when he realized that maybe Milan was offended that Derek didn’t want to do such things with him in front of everyone. He didn’t want the submissive to feel like it was his fault or that something was wrong with him.  
  
“It’s okay,” Milan chuckled. “That’s what I get for dating a macho.”  
  
“Hey,” Derek warned him playfully. “I’m starting to think of that word as an insult.”  
  
Milan laughed, and Derek felt relaxed when the atmosphere between them softened up again.  
  
“I’m sorry you feel that way, though,” Milan said when he was done laughing. “’Cause your soft side is your best side, and I don’t think your family will mind it if you show it. I’ve noticed that your brothers make some fun of it, but that’s normal for siblings. And I don’t think they mean anything bad by it…”  
  
Derek groaned softly at that. “Nathan is just a dick sometimes, that’s all.”  
  
“And you’re not?” Milan chuckled.  
  
Derek opened his mouth to defend himself, but realized that Milan had a good point. He closed his mouth and looked away, shifting in discomfort.  
  
Milan watched Derek’s body language and smiled a bit at it. “You’ve got a very complicated relationship with your older brother, don’t you?”  
  
Derek could sense that it wasn’t really a question, more like a statement. He huffed a bit at it, because Milan was totally right. “Yeah… Nathan has always been the perfect and responsible son, and I’ve always been the troublemaker. We used to get into a lot of fights, and I think it drove my parents crazy…”  
  
Milan chuckled a bit at that. “But you don’t fight much with Dylan?”  
  
Derek shrugged lightly. “I’ve fought with him sometimes. It used to annoy me that he’s always been so soft and reasonable, but now I don’t really have a problem with it. I just wish he’d stand up more for himself when the bullies get to him instead of just putting up with it, but I think he has been getting better at that lately. And he’s never been as annoying as Nathan.”  
  
“I still don’t understand why you’re so bitter about Nathan… He seems nice.”  
  
Derek let out a loud, almost annoyed snort at that. “Oh yeah, ‘Nathan the perfect, nice guy’. He’s always been the big role model in the family. Everything he did was so perfect, even his god damn farts were perfect! And no matter what _I_ did, I always did something wrong or stupid and got scolded, but never Nathan.”  
  
Milan sensed a certain amount of jealousy in Derek’s voice as he spoke about his older brother. It worried Milan a little, but he realized that maybe Nathan was everything that Derek wanted to be deep inside – someone who was liked, who was dutiful, and who seemed successful in life. It was both pretty understandable, but also a little sad, because Milan knew that Derek had nothing to be jealous of if he really pulled himself together.  
  
“I don’t think anyone’s perfect, though,” Milan said softly. “I’m sure Nathan has flaws as well… We all do. And as for being the nice guy, well… you’re pretty nice too when you want to be. The only thing that’s stopping you from being this ‘perfect, nice guy’ too is yourself.”  
  
Derek blinked as he watched the way Milan was staring at him with such sincerity as he said those words. Like he really believed in the good parts of Derek. It made Derek swallowed nervously and feel strange inside. But he knew Milan was right, though. The only person who had ever held him back was himself.  
  
After thinking about Milan’s words for a few seconds, Derek realized he had been spacing out like an idiot while thinking. Instinctively he quickly tried to regain his cool again. “Argh, it’s seriously kind of creepy when you analyze me like that. _Fuck._ ”  
  
The submissive snickered innocently, if not a little guiltily. “Sorry… I make you uncomfortable pretty often with that, don’t I?”  
  
“Yeah. But I’ll survive,” Derek chuckled, smiling at Milan with his hands buried nervously in his pockets.  
  
Milan just grinned back at him shyly, fidgeting a bit.  
  
There were a few moments of silence until Milan spoke again.  
  
“And about Nathan…” Milan began, glancing warily up at Derek because he knew it was kind of a tender subject and he didn’t want to butt in too much. “Maybe if you stop always seeing him as this perfect, flawless example of a son that you keep thinking he is, you’ll start getting along with him even better. It might also make you feel better about him and yourself. I’m pretty sure your parents don’t love him more than they love you.”  
  
Derek nodded silently at Milan’s words, thinking it over. Milan had a good point. Derek did think of Nathan differently than before, but he still sometimes got that uncomfortable feeling that Nathan was a lot more likable than he was.  
  
“Yeah… Thanks,” Derek said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say.  
  
Milan just smiled at him and decided not to talk more about it.  
  
They stood in comfortable silence for a few moments until they heard movement from the hallway outside Derek’s room. Seconds later, someone knocked on the door, and Derek could tell immediately that it was Claire.  
  
“Yeah?” Derek called, rolling his eyes at how his sister couldn’t leave them alone for more than five minutes.  
  
“Why are you hiding in your room?” Claire asked on the others side of the door, sounding a bit offended. “I wanna hang out with Milan too! You’re not doing weird stuff in there, are you?”  
  
Milan blushed heavily at that, and Derek almost did as well.  
  
Derek let out a small growl of irritation before going over to open the door. “We’re not doing weird stuff,” he told his sister, glaring down at her as he opened the door.  
  
Claire just giggled innocently before gently pushing past Derek and jumping into the room.  
  
Milan chuckled as Claire came over to him with that wide, happy smile on her face. She was really cute, even when she had no respect for privacy.  
  
“Do you wanna play games?” Claire asked him. “The others are talking about serious adult stuff and I got bored…”  
  
Derek groaned. Claire was in a hyper mood again, and it tired him out having to pay attention to her when she was like that.  
  
Milan just chuckled patiently and shrugged. “Sure, I don’t mind.”  
  
“Cool!” Claire beamed. “Maybe Derek wants to join too!”  
  
“You never get tired, do you?” Derek murmured.  
  
“Nope!”  
  
They watched as she jumped out of the room again, and Derek’s annoyance kind of amused Milan. They shared a small smile before heading downstairs to entertain Claire for a bit. Derek didn’t really feel like he was in the mood for it, but he joined because of Milan and because he didn’t know what else to do.  
  
When they came downstairs, the others were chatting at the table in the dining room. Derek could hear it was about Nathan and Joanne’s college and their future job plans, so he really wasn’t interested in going in there to listen to them.  
  
Claire immediately jumped over to the TV in the living room to turn it on and start one of their many video games. Derek and Milan let her pick one, and after searching through their endless number of video games, she finally found one.  
  
“This one!” Claire chirped as she started up the video game on the game console.  
  
It was a rather old game that Derek had once gotten for his eighth birthday or so. It took place in a fantasy world with witches and elves and other creatures, and you could play either single player or multiplayer. You picked a team – either as a mythical creature or as the human who hunted them, or as two kinds of mythical creatures fighting each other – and then you had to kill or capture the other team. It was a game both for kids and for adults, and Derek had liked it a lot when he was a kid because it had very good graphics, many characters to choose from, and a good storyline.  
  
“Oh, that one,” Derek said when he recognized it. “You sure you can play that, Claire?”  
  
“Of course I can! I play it with Dylan all the time!” Claire argued and almost looked offended that Derek questioned if she could play it or not.  
  
Milan’s eyes widened in recognition when Claire started the game. “Oh, I know this one.”  
  
Derek turned his head to look at him in surprise. “Really?”  
  
Milan nodded. “Yeah, I used to play it all the time with my brother when I was a kid. I was pretty good at it.”  
  
“Yay! Then we can join teams and beat Derek!” Claire cheered and jumped from excitement.  
  
Derek snorted at his sister’s words, but he was still a bit surprised that Milan had played the game too. He knew the submissive had wanted to design video game characters once, but he didn’t really know that Milan liked to play the games as well.  
  
They all sat down on the couch and each got a controller to control their character with. Milan and Claire joined the same team – Claire played as a mermaid and Milan was an elf in the game, and Derek picked a creature that was half wolf and half eagle and which fed on other mythical creatures. It was a big and scary character, and Milan chuckled when Claire complained that Derek always picked the scary ones.  
  
As the game started, Derek quickly noticed that Milan was actually pretty good at it. The submissive’s fingers ruled the controller like he had done it for years, and he was quick and swift to react when Derek’s character attacked his elf or tried to hurt Claire’s mermaid character. Derek had not expected such competition at all, and found himself unable to look away from Milan sometimes when he saw the fierce, concentrated look on the submissive’s face, and how he bit his lip as he tried to beat Derek.  
  
Claire cheered every time Derek got hit, and especially when he had to let his character retreat and run away to recover from the assault because Milan had beaten it so badly. It really hurt his pride, but at the same time he was more thrilled than he had been in a long time during this game.  
  
After a few minutes, Dylan and Nathan showed up to see what was going on. They had heard Claire’s cheering and Derek’s loud, annoyed complaints from the dining room and had gone to see what was happening.  
  
“Oh, Derek is getting his ass kicked!” Nathan laughed when he saw what was going on.  
  
On the screen, Derek’s character was out from his hiding place now and was fighting Milan’s elf in a fierce battle. Milan’s elf was delivering one blow after the other to Derek’s creature, and Derek had a really hard time keeping up.  
  
“Shut up, Nathan! You’re distracting me!” Derek snapped and tried to keep his focus on the game.  
  
Dylan laughed as he watched the screen. “Oh, this can’t be good— Ow!” He exclaimed when Milan delivered one last blow that finally killed Derek’s character.  
  
_“Fuck!”_ Derek yelled when he was defeated.  
  
“Yay, we won, we won!” Claire cheered and got up from the couch to jump up and down from excitement. “You’re awesome, Milan!”  
  
Milan chuckled modestly and put away the controller for now. “I used to play this game a lot, so I’ve had some practice with it…”  
  
“That was really awesome,” Nathan laughed.  
  
“Yeah, Derek almost never loses in video games,” Dylan snickered.  
  
Derek still looked sulky about losing, even though he actually handled his defeat a lot better than Nathan had thought he would.  
  
“Very funny, guys,” Derek snorted and sent his brothers a deep scowl. “He took me by surprise, that’s all.”  
  
“Right,” Nathan laughed, clearly unconvinced.  
  
“Sorry,” Milan giggled and felt somewhat guilty when he saw Derek being all sulky about losing.  
  
“Nah, it’s fine,” Derek told him. “I like a challenge. But next time, I _will_ beat you.”  
  
Milan laughed when he saw Derek give him a confident smirk. He had no doubt that next time Derek would try even harder to win, and Milan wasn’t sure if he could beat Derek then. Beating him this time had been a real challenge and he almost hadn’t made it, so next time would definitely be more difficult. He was glad that Derek wasn’t too upset about losing to a submissive, even though Milan knew that it had probably hurt his pride quite a lot, seeing as his brothers were there to witness it and tease him about it.  
  
“Again, again!” Claire begged, already wanting to play more.  
  
“Oh, come one, Claire. We just played for twenty minutes…” Derek began, but then Dylan interrupted him.  
  
“What, I thought you were gonna beat Milan and Claire next time?” Dylan pointed out, smirking.  
  
Derek’s mouth fell shut and he got a look of determination on him that made both Nathan and Dylan laugh.  
  
Milan snickered as Derek started up another game and was seemed very determined to win this time. Milan didn’t mind playing again, though he had the feeling he wouldn’t be able to beat Derek now that the alpha was so obsessed with regaining his video game pride.  
  
Joanne, Noah, and Jayden were in the kitchen and helping each other make preparations for dinner, but they came into the living room just as the next game started. They were quite surprised when they heard that Derek had just lost a game to Milan and Claire.  
  
Nathan and Dylan declined the offer to join the game as well. They just wanted to watch Derek have a hard time against Milan again, and it only put more pressure on Derek as they played.  
  
Claire joined Milan’s team again, but she wasn’t nearly as good or experienced as him, though she still was quite helpful for the first half of the game until they had a direct fight against Derek.  
  
This game was even more intense than the first and a lot longer, and after twenty exhausting minutes of a head-to-head fight, Derek finally managed to beat Milan, but only barely.  
  
Milan didn’t mind losing the second game, and he chuckled as Nathan and Dylan picked on Derek for just wanting to regain his pride.  
  
It was the most fun Milan had had for years, and he enjoyed every second he spent with Derek and his family that day.

  
***

  
They spent most of the day with games and social interactions, as well as enjoying a good meal for dinner. Jayden had cooked pork with potatoes, sauce, red cabbage, and salad. It was really good, and Milan kind of wished that he had a parent who was a professional cook as well so he could eat food like that every day at home.  
  
In the evening, Derek and Nathan still hadn’t gotten into any major fights, which was a big win for all. Derek also felt pretty relieved about it, and also a bit proud of himself that he hadn’t let himself be provoked too much when Nathan teased him. Derek had teased him a few times as well, but he tried not to push it too far. It was just normal brotherly teasing, and Dylan was part of it sometimes as well.  
  
At 9pm, Jayden announced that they were going to have ice cream for a late dessert soon. The reactions had been very positive – which didn’t surprise him – and he and Noah went to the kitchen to find bowls and spoons for the ice cream while the kids stayed in the living room and chatted.  
  
“Today’s been pretty good, hasn’t it?” Jayden asked Noah as the two of them got bowls from the shelves and spoons from the drawers.  
  
“Yeah,” Noah agreed, smiling. “I’m still a little amazed that Derek is so open. The way his tail keeps touching Milan’s leg… He’s being more affectionate than I thought he’d be with everyone watching.”  
  
“Well, Milan is a good influence on him.”  
  
Noah nodded in agreement. “Yeah. He’s just matured so much, and so have Nathan and Dylan.”  
  
“Yeah, I agree with you there,” Jayden said as he placed the bowls on the kitchen counter in front of him. “It’s actually kind of fun to see them grow up and mature like that, isn’t it?”  
  
Noah nodded, but with some hesitation. “I still miss them being little kids, though… Well, maybe not Derek so much, ‘cause he was too much of a handful and pretty rude… But he had his cute moments. But I do miss Nathan and Dylan being kids,” he sighed.  
  
Jayden let out a soft chuckle at that and brushed his wing against Noah’s to cheer him up. “Hey… Soon we’ll probably have some grandkids, and then you’ll get to deal with little kids again.”  
  
Noah’s face almost made Jayden laugh, because the submissive looked both a little shocked and panicked about it, as if he hadn’t realized that his kids were already old enough for that. He looked like that every time Jayden brought it up, and it never ceased to amuse Jayden.  
  
Noah sighed. “Well, I do hope they don’t start with that until they’re ready…”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at him and brushed his tail against Noah’s leg before they went to set the table in the dining room together.  
  
Meanwhile, Claire, Milan, Dylan, and Joanne were playing some card game on the couch in the living room. They hadn’t played video games since before they had dinner, and they didn’t have enough controllers for all of them to play, so card games were the better choice for now.  
  
Derek was kind of fed up with card games by now, so he went outside on the terrace to catch some fresh air and be alone for a bit. All that social and domestic stuff made him exhausted.  
  
Derek had been sitting outside by himself for about two minutes, just listening to the quietness and some faint noises from next door, when the terrace door opened behind him. He was sitting on the steps that led from the terrace to the lawn, and he glanced over his shoulder to see who was approaching him. He had kind of hoped that it was Milan, but when he looked up he saw that it was Nathan.  
  
Derek couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed that Nathan was bothering his alone time, but he didn’t say anything. He turned his head back around and stared at Fizzles, who was walking around on the lawn a few feet away from him, and he was painfully aware that Nathan was walking over to join him.  
  
“Mind if I sit?” Nathan asked, even though he was already moving to sit down.  
  
“Even if I said I mind it, you’d still sit down,” Derek murmured, still staring straight ahead.  
  
Nathan chuckled at that and got comfortable on the steps next to Derek. It was already completely dark outside now, and the steps felt cold as he sat down on them. It made him shiver a bit, but he sucked it up and placed his arms on his knees like Derek did before staring over at Fizzles as well.  
  
There was silence between them for a while, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.  
  
A few birds were arguing in the nearby trees as they settled down to sleep for the night, and a kid was screaming somewhere in the neighborhood until the noise finally died down, making it quiet again, except for the faint noise of crickets chirping. The air was cool but not too cold, and the soft wind rustled their feathers a bit as they sat there in silence.  
  
“You know,” Nathan suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. “I like Milan a lot. He’s very nice, and he’s pretty funny too. I think he suits you well.” He smirked a bit at Derek when his brother turned his head to look at him.  
  
Derek’s eyes narrowed a bit before he let out a small huff. “Did you come here to tease me for being in a relationship? ‘Cause I remember you threatening to do that once.”  
  
“No,” Nathan laughed. “I’m not here to tease you, although it’s kinda tempting. Especially after Milan kicked your ass at that video game. That was freaking awesome.”  
  
Derek snorted loudly in offense when his brother teased him about it once more, and Nathan couldn’t help but laugh at that.  
  
Nathan went on. “Anyway, I’m just here to say that I’m really happy for you that you’ve found him. I think he’s really good for you, and I’ve never seen you look so happy before. It’s nice.”  
  
Derek blushed a bit at that and made sure to look away so Nathan wouldn’t see it, but he had the feeling that his brother could tell it just by seeing him shift awkwardly.  
  
A small chuckle escaped Nathan when he saw Derek looking uncomfortable and awkward, but he didn’t tease him about it.  
  
“And you know…” Nathan added, clearing his throat before continuing. “I really respect your progress in the past year. I don’t think I could have changed so much… I used to almost hate you once, but now you’re one of the alphas that I respect the most. And that really says a lot.”  
  
His brother’s honest words made Derek feel both very flattered and happy, but also really awkward. It was odd getting praised by Nathan, especially because he knew his brother didn’t praise people unless he really meant it.  
  
After fidgeting for a bit, Derek cleared his throat and said, “You really enjoy making me feel all awkward, don’t you?”  
  
Nathan laughed loudly at that. “It does give me pleasure, yes. But you also deserve the praise, so just suck it up and accept it already.”  
  
“Well, thanks…” Derek murmured, looking away in awkwardness.  
  
Nathan just grinned at him and placed a hand on Derek’s shoulder.  
  
Derek turned to look at him, and for the first time in his memory, he shared an honest, happy smile with his older brother.  
  
Moments later, the terrace door was opened behind them, and they both looked over their shoulders to see Dylan standing in the door. The light from the living room shined behind him, and even though they couldn’t see his face because of the darkness, they could definitely tell that it was Dylan.  
  
“You guys are not getting into any fights, are you?” Dylan asked, looking from one brother to the other.  
  
Nathan and Derek shared a small look before Nathan laughed.  
  
“Nah, we’re just having a girly moment,” Nathan grinned.  
  
Derek glared at him for saying that, but didn’t protest.  
  
“How come Derek hasn’t dropped dead yet?” Dylan asked with a smirk in his voice.  
  
Nathan laughed at that as he got up from the steps.  
  
“You’re so funny, Dylan,” Derek grumbled, getting up from the steps as well.  
  
“I know,” Dylan grinned, almost like he was proud of it. He laughed when Derek walked over and gave him a small shove with his shoulder as he went inside.  
  
Nathan also chuckled when he saw it, but he stopped when he reached Dylan. He blinked at his little brother, who was about the same height as him now. “Wow, I still can’t get used to you being so big now… That is seriously freaky.”  
  
Dylan laughed softly. “Well, I don’t think I’ll be as tall as Derek… He was already taller than this when he was my age.”  
  
“Yeah, but you’re definitely gonna be taller than _me._ ”  
  
“That’s ‘cause you’re a beta; you guys are shorter,” came Derek’s voice from inside the living room.  
  
Nathan scowled at Derek when his brother once again brought up the alpha/beta thing. “Here’s one thing that I know won’t change about you: you being an insufferable macho alpha!”  
  
Derek just barked out a laugh at that, and Nathan glared a bit at Dylan when his younger brother snickered at it.  
  
Nathan and Dylan headed back inside together and shut the terrace door, but just when they had entered the living room again, the doorbell rang.  
  
Milan, Claire, and Joanne were still on the couch. They had just finished the card game with Dylan before he had gone outside, and they all shared a look when they heard the doorbell.  
  
“Who’s at the door at this hour?” Nathan asked, frowning.  
  
“Oh. Maybe it’s my mom,” Milan said when he realized it could be her. Noah had invited her over, and Milan remembered that he had said that his mother might show up in the evening.  
  
They all realized that Milan was probably right, but before anyone could go to the entrance hall and open the front door, Jayden was already there and had just opened it.  
  
When Jayden opened the door, he was met by a female angel with light grey wings with some light brown feathers. She was dressed nicely but not formally, and she looked a little bit nervous when she was face-to-face with Jayden.  
  
Jayden smiled friendly when he realized it must be Milan’s mother. “Hey. You must be Milan’s mom, right?”  
  
She nodded at that. “Yes, I’m Clarissa. It’s nice to meet you.”  
  
Jayden grinned and reached out to shake her hand. “You too. I’m Jayden, Derek’s father.” After shaking her hand, Jayden stepped a bit aside to let Clarissa enter the house. “Please, come inside. Milan is in here somewhere.”  
  
“Thank you.” Clarissa smiled at him before coming inside, and Jayden could tell that she was a little a bit wary and careful. She looked over at the door to the living room when Milan showed up there, followed by the others. There was some relief on her face when she spotted Milan and saw that he was alright.  
  
“Hi, Mom,” Milan smiled at her. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come.”  
  
“Hi,” Clarissa smiled back. “Of course I came. I was too curious not to.”  
  
Her gaze then landed on Derek, who was standing right behind Milan. Milan knew his mom had softened up about the whole boyfriend thing with Derek, but he was still unsure of how she would act around him.  
  
“Hi, Derek. It’s nice to see you again,” Clarissa said, giving him a friendly smile.  
  
“You too, ma’am,” Derek replied, shifting nervously while trying to put on a polite smile. He scowled a bit at Milan who seemed to find his nervousness pretty funny.  
  
There was a bit of awkwardness, but the others remembered their manners and came forward to greet Clarissa and shake her hand. Clarissa smiled at everyone, but Milan could tell she was a little overwhelmed by the big family.  
  
After Nathan, Joanne, and Dylan had greeted her, Claire jumped forward and grinned up at her.  
  
“Hi! I’m Claire!” she grinned and reached out to shake her hand.  
  
Clarissa laughed softly as she shook her hand. “Hi, Claire. Nice to meet you.”  
  
“You too!” Claire grinned and shifted shyly after withdrawing her hand. “You’re just as pretty as Milan!”  
  
Claire’s unfiltered outburst made the others blush a bit, and the way Clarissa’s eyes widened in surprise was almost comical.  
  
Jayden laughed at the scene. “Sorry. Claire has a habit of just speaking her mind like that.”  
  
“It’s okay,” Clarissa said with a chuckle in her voice.  
  
They all looked up when Noah finally appeared. He had just been in the bathroom really quick and was now coming over to greet their new guest.  
  
“Hi. I’m sorry I’m a bit late,” Noah spoke, looking a little embarrassed about that before going over to shake Clarissa’s hand. “I’m Noah, Derek’s mom. Nice to finally meet you.”  
  
“Nice to meet you too,” Clarissa said as she shook his hand back. “And thank you for inviting me over.”  
  
“Of course. We’ve all really wanted to meet you, and I think Milan is glad that you’ve joined us.”  
  
Clarissa glanced over at Milan, whose head lowered shyly when she looked at him. It made her smile a bit.  
  
“And you’re just on time for dessert,” Jayden told her, grinning.  
  
“Yeah! We’re having ice cream!” Claire blurted with excitement.  
  
The others laughed a bit about that, and Clarissa followed when Jayden and Noah invited her into the dining room.  
  
Milan felt a little awkward about his mom being in the house too, and he could tell that Derek felt the same. Having their parents meet was really weird, and neither Milan nor Derek had tried that before.  
  
Jayden and Noah quickly headed to the kitchen to fetch the ice cream from the freezer, while the others stood in the dining room and waited politely for them to return.  
  
Claire was really excited about having ice cream and she was still pretty hyper. She grinned as she went over to Derek and jumped around in front of him. “Did you and Mom buy chocolate syrup the other day when you went shopping?”  
  
“Yeah, we bought some,” Derek told her. “And we bought some caramel syrup too.”  
  
“Yay!”  
  
“And for God’s sake, Claire. Please stop jumping around like a kangaroo. You’re stressing me out,” Derek told her when all her hyperness began getting on his nerves.  
  
Claire frowned up at him in offense. “I can jump if I want to!”  
  
Derek sighed heavily in frustration, and Milan giggled next to him.  
  
Claire went and tried to push Derek back because she was annoyed with him now, but as usual he wouldn’t budge. The others laughed a bit at her attempts and how grumpy she got when he didn’t move, and Clarissa watched the scene with surprise.  
  
“Sorry,” Nathan told Clarissa when he saw her staring at them like they were weird. “Everyone in this house is a little weird. Especially Derek.”  
  
“Hey,” Derek protested and glared over at Nathan.  
  
The others laughed at that.  
  
“I think Claire is the weirdest one,” Dylan said and smirked at his sister when she looked over at him when she heard him mention her name.  
  
Claire gasped in offense. “Am not!”  
  
Again there was laughter, and Clarissa also laughed a bit about it.  
  
Claire pouted when they all laughed at her. She then looked up at Milan for help. “They’re mean…”  
  
Milan knew that Claire wasn’t really offended to be laughed at and that everyone was just joking around, but he still chuckled and tried to reassure her. “I know. You should get some payback.”  
  
“Yeah!”  
  
“Hey, don’t encourage her,” Nathan chastised softly, which only increased the laughter in the room.  
  
Jayden and Noah returned with four different flavors of ice cream – chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and banana split flavor. They quickly noticed the mood in the room, and Jayden saw how Clarissa looked a little unused to being around such an energic family.  
  
“Well, this is house is always full of energy. Hope you don’t mind that,” Jayden told Clarissa when she looked a little wary.  
  
Clarissa blinked as she looked over at him. “Oh. No, no, I don’t mind. I was just a little surprised, that’s all.”  
  
“I think it surprised Milan at first too,” Dylan said, chuckling as he glanced Milan.  
  
Milan shrugged shyly. “A bit, but I like it. It’s always fun visiting you guys.”  
  
Claire grinned and jumped around from happiness, and the others were also pleased that Milan enjoyed hanging out with them.  
  
Derek’s tail curled itself around Milan’s leg briefly, and Milan leaned into the touch. This was something that didn’t go unnoticed by Clarissa, who was a little surprised to see her son being so accepting of the gesture.  
  
Now that the ice cream was ready, they all sat down at the table to eat dessert.  
  
Jayden sat at the table end, and Noah, Dylan, Nathan and Joanne were seated on his left side, while Clarissa, Milan, Derek, and Claire were seated on his right side.  
  
Everyone scooped up ice cream, and it varied a lot who preferred what flavor. Jayden told them there was more each flavor in the freezer, so they shouldn’t be afraid to just dig in and eat all they could.  
  
There was a bit of small talk while they all scooped up ice cream and began eating. Mostly it was Jayden, Noah, and Clarissa who were talking and trying to get to know each other. They told Clarissa a bit about what had happened today, and she smiled and laughed a bit as they told her about the games and the soccer game outside.  
  
“I thought you hated soccer,” Clarissa said when she turned to look at Milan in surprise.  
  
Milan blushed a bit. “I’ve never liked it, yeah… But that’s mostly ‘cause the boys at school were always mean when we played it. Today was pretty fun, though.”  
  
“Yeah, and he managed to knock Derek to the ground,” Nathan remarked. He smirked at Derek who he knew would be annoyed by his comment. And just as he predicted, his brother looked up and sent him a deadly scowl.  
  
There was laughter when Nathan said that.  
  
“I didn’t knock him over,” Milan said, a little defensively. “We just tripped over each other’s legs when I tried to get the ball from him.”  
  
“But you crashed to the ground with him and that was pretty funny,” Nathan laughed.  
  
“I’m just glad you guys weren’t hurt,” Joanne said, smiling at them with sympathy.  
  
Derek snorted softly. “As if some grass would hurt me.”  
  
“Maybe not the grass, but Milan falling on top of you would,” Nathan pointed out, maybe with a little too much amusement in his voice.  
  
“He’s not that heavy,” Derek argued.  
  
“I’m just glad _you_ didn’t fall on _me,_ ” Milan murmured next to Derek.  
  
“Yeah, you could have broken something,” Dylan said with a small snicker.  
  
Derek glared at Dylan for suggesting that he was _that_ heavy, which made the others laugh a bit. But actually, Derek was glad that it hadn’t been the other way around. Derek was heavier than Milan, and if he landed on him in the wrong way, he could easily have bruised him pretty badly. He was glad that didn’t happen.  
  
Clarissa chuckled a bit as she listened to the conversation. “It sounds like a lot of things happened.”  
  
“Yeah. But it was fun,” Milan told her, smiling. “But Derek and Nathan still won the game.”  
  
“Only by 7-6,” Joanne pointed out. “We _almost_ beat them.”  
  
“Only _almost,_ ” Nathan pointed out and smirked at his girlfriend when she looked at him. Joanne scowled at him for being smug about winning. She smacked him lightly under the table, which made some of the others laugh.  
  
“I thought it was most funny when Milan beat Derek at the video game!” Claire then exclaimed and started snickering.  
  
Nathan, Joanne, Dylan, and Noah and Jayden all laughed at that.  
  
“Yeah, I don’t think Derek was expecting that,” Jayden laughed. Noah chuckled next to him in agreement.  
  
Milan blushed modestly and glanced at Derek, who looked a little bit irritated when the matter was brought up once more, but otherwise he looked pretty relaxed about it.  
  
“Well, that just means that playing video games with him will be a lot more fun,” Derek said, shrugging a bit.  
  
Nathan laughed. “Since when are you such a good loser?”  
  
“Shut up,” Derek murmured and sent his older brother a small scowl.  
  
Milan snickered at them, and he noticed his mom watching them with interest as well as some amusement.  
  
“And here I thought you didn’t play video games anymore?” Clarissa asked Milan, eyeing him in wonder.  
  
“Oh, I haven’t played for a while… But today Claire really wanted to play, and it was the same game I used to play a lot once. The one with the mythical creatures,” Milan told her.  
  
“Ah.” Clarissa seemed to know which game he was talking about, and a small, sad smile appeared on her face when she remembered that Milan used to play it a lot with Dominic.  
  
Milan noticed his mom’s sudden sadness, so he decided to switch the topics before she got even sadder. “But it was a lot of fun today. It’s been nice having a birthday party for once.” He smiled around at everyone, who returned his smile and looked very pleased that he had enjoyed himself.  
  
“Glad you had fun,” Jayden grinned.  
  
“Yes, and we’ve certainly had fun as well,” Noah smiled.  
  
“Yay! Let’s do this again next year!” Claire cheered.  
  
The others laughed, and the small talk continued a bit after that.  
  
Milan felt Derek’s tail curling around his leg under the table again, and he sent his boyfriend a shy smile when he felt it.  
  
Clarissa fell into talk with Jayden and Noah, and it seemed like she was quickly softening up around Derek and his family. Milan was glad that she did, because it was kind of important to him that she approved of his relationship with Derek and that everyone got along. He knew Derek probably felt the same.  
  
After dessert, the kids all went to the living room to hang out, while Clarissa, Noah, and Jayden ended up chatting at the table in the dining room. The table had been cleared of bowls and spoons, which the kids had put in the dishwasher before going to the living room, and what was left of the ice cream had been put in the freezer again.  
  
“I’m glad to see that Milan is very comfortable around your family – especially around Derek,” Clarissa confessed when she was alone with Jayden and Noah. “But I must admit, I had not expected him to find a boyfriend this early…”  
  
Jayden laughed softly at that. “Yeah, we hadn’t expected Derek to find someone so soon either.”  
  
Noah nodded in agreement. “He’s always been the type that doesn’t really get attached to others.”  
  
“Or show his feelings,” Jayden added. “But it seems to be going pretty well with him and Milan.”  
  
Clarissa smiled softly at that. “Yes, they seem comfortable around each other…”  
  
She had been paying close attention to Milan’s body language tonight, especially when Derek was near, and she was almost surprised to see him so relaxed and happy. She had noticed the way their wings had touched during dessert, how Derek’s tail had brushed Milan’s leg on their way to the living room, and how Milan had been quite comfortable with that. He had even seemed to welcome the touches. Clarissa had never thought that Milan would feel so at ease around an alpha, but she was happy that he felt that way about Derek. She had also noticed that Milan’s mood was a lot better now at home than it had been before, where he had spent most of his time alone in his room to draw. Now, he was always happy and cheerful when she saw him at home, which had surprised her a bit at first.  
  
“I just hope Derek won’t cause you any trouble,” Noah told Clarissa with a worried frown. “He can be somewhat of a troublemaker… Or at least he used to be. But he still doesn’t think everything through before he does things, and sometimes he may come off as rude even though he means well…”  
  
Jayden laughed as Noah pointed that out. “Well, he’s definitely getting better at thinking things through, but his short temper is sometimes a problem when someone provokes him. But I know he won’t let any harm come to Milan,” he added when he saw Clarissa’s forehead wrinkle with worry.  
  
Clarissa smiled a bit at that last part. “I’m glad. Milan’s told me how Derek has looked after at him at school, so I guess I shouldn’t be worried… It’s just that when you have a submissive child, you can’t help but feel extra careful and protective of them, because they are so easily overpowered and often taken advantage of by others…”  
  
Noah knew exactly what she meant. There were too many submissives out there getting used and pushed around by others – by alphas in particular – and parents were often extra worried when they had a child who was a submissive. His own parents had been extra worried about him as well.  
  
“I know Derek enough to guarantee you that he’s not like that,” Jayden told her. “He’s a little rough on the outside, but he’s learned his lesson from previous mistakes, and I know he will go through fire to make sure that Milan doesn’t get hurt. I don’t think he gets attached to someone easily, but when he does, he gets attached with all that he has and he won’t let that person get hurt, no matter what.”  
  
Clarissa smiled at that and gave a small nod, like she was pleased.  
  
Jayden’s words made Noah realize that his mate was right. Noah had never really thought about it before, but Jayden was right. Derek didn’t get attached easily, but when he did, he would do anything for that person.  
  
Noah still remembered the first time they had met Milan when he came to their house to get help from Derek, and how Derek hadn’t hesitated for even one second to defend Milan from the bullies. Derek had defended Milan with all his spirit, and he had been genuinely worried about him afterwards. It was something Noah hadn’t seen him do before, and it made him smile as he thought about it.

  
***

  
The adults spent over half an hour chatting in the dining room.  
  
Milan kept wondering if they would get along, and it wasn’t until his mom showed up in the living room with Noah and Jayden that he knew. His mother was smiling and she looked very relaxed as she and Noah chatted about something. A soft sigh of relief escaped Milan when he saw that things were going well between them.  
  
“Daddy!” Claire exclaimed when Jayden walked over to them.  
  
Claire, Dylan, Nathan, Joanne, Derek, and Milan were all sitting on the couch, playing a card game and having a good time, and they had all looked up when the adults came into the room as well.  
  
“I beat Derek at the game!” Claire grinned with pride as she jumped around in front of Jayden.  
  
Jayden looked pretty impressed by that. “Whoa, really?”  
  
A loud groan came from Derek on the couch. “That’s only ‘cause Dylan gave her advice!”  
  
“I had to; it’s the first time she’s ever played this game,” Dylan argued softly. “And I only gave her a small hint. She figured out the rest on her own.”  
  
Derek kept scowling at him while the others laughed.  
  
Milan giggled at Derek’s annoyed face and decided to tease him a bit. “Sore loser much?”  
  
Now it Milan whom Derek was scowling at. “Only ‘cause she got help.”  
  
Milan’s laugh was unconvinced. “But you’re always so grumpy when you lose to someone, so it can’t just be that.”  
  
“Yeah, he’s a total sore loser,” Nathan agreed. “He always has been, and I guess that’s one part about him that won’t change. When he lost to you earlier today, he was also all butt-hurt about inside.”  
  
“Shut up, Nathan,” Derek grumbled.  
  
There was more laughter now, and even Clarissa chuckled a bit as she listened to them. Once again, she noticed the way Milan’s and Derek’s wings were touching, and she smiled at that. She was a bit surprised to see Milan reach out and place a hand on Derek’s knee, giving it a gentle squeeze to calm him down when everyone was laughing at him. Derek instantly relaxed at the touch, which came as a bit of a surprise to Clarissa.  
  
“Well, I’m glad to see you guys are having fun,” Jayden grinned. “But it’s bedtime for you now, young lady,” he added when he looked at Claire.  
  
“Noooo! I don’t wanna go to bed!” Claire complained loudly. She pouted as she stared up at her dad, but her puppy eyes didn’t work on Jayden right now.  
  
“You have to be in bed by 10:30, otherwise you’re gonna sleep for too long tomorrow morning, and then you’ll have trouble falling asleep tomorrow night. And it’s 10pm now, so you might as well just prepare to head to bed already.”  
  
Claire still looked very unsatisfied with that. “But how come you aren’t shooing the others to bed? Why always just me?”  
  
“’Cause the others are older than you.”  
  
“But Dylan’s not eighteen yet!”  
  
Dylan shrunk a bit when Claire had to point that out. Now he was worried that his parents were going to usher him to bed as well.  
  
“Well, he doesn’t have as much trouble getting up in the morning as you do,” Jayden pointed out. “And stop arguing already.”  
  
Clarissa chuckled softly at how annoyed Claire looked. “And I guess I should be heading home as well…” she said before turning to look at Noah and Jayden. “Thank you so much for celebrating Milan’s birthday and for the presents you gave him.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Noah smiled. “It was our pleasure.”  
  
Milan’s wings drooped a bit when he realized it was time to head home now. He really didn’t want to go, but he felt like he had to when his mom was leaving.  
  
The others slowly got up from the couch to say goodbye, and Milan walked over to his mom with his wings hanging lower than usual.  
  
Clarissa turned to look at Milan as he came over, and she could easily tell that he wasn’t too keen on leaving. Judging by Derek’s expression, he probably wasn’t very happy about it either.  
  
After staring between Milan and Derek for a second, Clarissa smiled at Milan and said, “Well, you’re eighteen now, so I can’t tell you what to do anymore. If you want to come home with me, I will drive you, but if you want to stay, then that’s fine with me too.”  
  
Milan’s face lit up as she suggested that he stayed, but he hadn’t actually been invited to sleep over, so he couldn’t just make that decision. Before he could speak, however, Jayden suddenly spoke up.  
  
“I don’t think anyone minds it if he wants to stay, but that’s his decision,” Jayden said and gave Milan a friendly smile.  
  
“Yeah! He can sleep in Derek’s room!” Claire grinned.  
  
Claire’s comment made Milan blush like mad, and Derek also looked a bit awkward about it, especially when the others laughed.  
  
“I guess Dylan can go crash in Claire’s room if Milan is gonna sleep in Derek’s room,” Nathan suggested when he remembered that Dylan always slept in Derek’s room when Nathan and Joanne were staying over.  
  
Dylan didn’t mind sleeping in Claire’s room. It wasn’t much different than sleeping in Derek’s, but he still preferred his own room, which was unfortunately occupied by Nathan and Joanne at the moment.  
  
Milan dared a small glance up at Derek to see his reaction and saw that his boyfriend was pretty calm about it.  
  
When the others looked at Derek as well, he shrugged lightly. “I don’t mind it. We have an extra mattress somewhere. And I bet he doesn’t snore as badly as Dylan does.”  
  
“Hey, _you’re_ the one who snores!” Dylan argued and glared at him.  
  
There was laughter again, and Clarissa smiled patiently at Milan, who looked like he was still trying to make up his mind.  
  
“So, do you wanna stay or should I drive you home?” Clarissa asked after a few seconds.  
  
“Ah. I think I’ll stay. If, um, everyone’s okay with that,” Milan said, glancing around at everyone to make sure he wasn’t imposing on them.  
  
Derek’s tail flicked slightly in joy, but he quickly willed it to be still so no one would notice his excitement.  
  
“Sure, I don’t think anyone minds that,” Jayden grinned. Noah nodded next to him as he gave Milan a friendly smile.  
  
Milan beamed. “Okay. Then I’ll stay.”  
  
“Yay!” Claire cheered loudly while everyone laughed softly at her.  
  
“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Clarissa said and came forward to place a motherly kiss on Milan’s forehead.  
  
Milan was a little embarrassed by the affectionate gesture, especially because everyone was looking, but he was glad that his mom was so okay with him staying over. “Yeah. See you, Mom.”  
  
Noah went forward to shake Clarissa’s hand as they all parted ways with her. “Thank you for coming over. It was very nice meeting you.”  
  
“You too,” Clarissa smiled and shook his hand back. “And thank you for the dessert and for everything you did for Milan. I don’t even know what to say.”  
  
Jayden grinned and shook her hand as well, and Nathan, Joanne, and Dylan did the same.  
  
Derek also shook Clarissa’s hand as she was about to leave, and she gave him a warm smile as she looked at him.  
  
“I have the feeling I will see you around again soon,” Clarissa told Derek as they shook hands. “Please take care of Milan, yeah?”  
  
“Sure. Will do,” Derek smiled.  
  
Milan groaned a bit when his mom made it sound like he was a child that needed to be taken care of, but he knew she didn’t mean it like that.  
  
They all followed Clarissa to the entrance hall where she put on her shoes and left the house to go to her car. Milan waved at her from the doorway and watched as she drove off. He was relieved that things had gone well, and that she had even allowed him to stay over. Things couldn’t have gone better.  
  
Milan was pretty excited but also a little bit nervous about sleeping over in Derek’s room tonight. He had never had a sleepover with someone who wasn’t a girl before, but he wasn’t worried that Derek was going to try anything that Milan didn’t want to do. But it still felt weird that they would be sleeping in the same room.  
  
After Clarissa had gone home, Jayden gently ushered Claire up to bed.  
  
The others were getting tired too, so they all decided to head to bed and get some rest after a long day.  
  
Dylan went and found an extra mattress for Milan to sleep on, and he and Derek helped each other set it up in Derek’s room while Noah went to find an extra blanket and a pillow for him.  
  
Milan didn’t have a toothbrush or any extra clothes with him, but he’d survive for one night. His clothes weren’t all that dirty and sweaty, so he could easily wear them again tomorrow. In worst case scenario, he could always borrow some clothes from Noah.  
  
Dylan was going to sleep in Claire’s room, which Claire was pretty excited about. He had the feeling that she would probably make him tell her ghost stories before falling asleep, because she really liked listening to such scary stories sometimes. Dylan just hoped she wouldn’t get any nightmares from it.  
  
When everyone was ready for bed, they parted ways and headed into their respective rooms for the night.  
  
After using the bathroom and washing his mouth thoroughly with water, Milan went to Derek’s room to settle down for the night. Noah had given him a purple pajama set of his to sleep in, as they were pretty much the same size. Milan was 156cm tall by now (61.41 inches), and Noah was 157cm (61.81 inches), so the difference wasn’t much.  
  
Milan had changed into the pajamas in the bathroom, and he placed his usual clothes on the ground next to the mattress in Derek’s room and closed the door behind him.  
  
“Uh, you can sleep on my bed if you want,” Derek suggested. “I can just sleep on the mattress.” He felt a little weird about sleeping in his big bed when all Milan had was an old mattress on the floor.  
  
“Ah, no. I don’t mind the mattress,” Milan insisted.  
  
“You sure?”  
  
Milan nodded and smiled at him. “Yeah, I’m sure. But thanks.”  
  
“Okay. Just say if you change your mind.”  
  
Milan nodded at that and watched as Derek pulled out a grey t-shirt from under his blanket.  
  
“I better change for bed,” Derek announced and began unzipping his shirt so he could pull it off.  
  
Milan blushed awkwardly and looked away to give his boyfriend some privacy. He waited patiently for Derek to change, and he had to resist the urge to glance at him over his shoulder and catch another glimpse of Derek’s fine muscles. He was almost ashamed by how he wanted to have a look at Derek’s naked skin.  
  
There was some rustling as Derek changed his clothes, and after a few moments, Milan glanced back to see if Derek was done yet. Derek had pulled on the grey t-shirt he usually slept in, and he wasn’t wearing any pants now except for his boxers. Milan couldn’t help but stare, and he watched how Derek’s tail moved lazily behind him while Derek folded his clothes together and put them away. Mostly Milan was staring at Derek’s wings, and he wondered what they would feel like if he ran his hand through them.  
  
When Derek turned to look at Milan, he once again caught him staring and saw him quickly looking away with a blush.  
  
Derek chuckled. “Should I be flattered that you like to stare?”  
  
“S-Sorry,” Milan murmured, blushing as he faced Derek with his back.  
  
Derek just chuckled, amused by Milan’s sudden shyness, and slowly went over to him.  
  
When Derek was standing behind him, Milan turned around to face him. They shared a small smile before Derek leaned down for a kiss, and Milan hummed softly when their lips met.  
  
It started out slow, but Derek got a little possessive as he reached up and cupped Milan’s cheek with his hand. When Milan opened his mouth in a soft gasp, Derek slid his tongue inside and deepened the kiss, and a small, possessive growl rumbled in his chest.  
  
Milan’s wings lowered in submission when he heard the growl, and it sent pleasant shivers up his spine. He really liked it when Derek made those alpha noises and when he kissed him like he wanted to claim him. It sparked his natural submissive instincts, but it also made him feel desirable. It was a nice feeling.  
  
Unconsciously, Milan moved his hands up and placed them on Derek’s chest. Another one of those possessive, pleased growls escaped Derek then, sending more shivers up Milan’s spine. He slowly moved his hands across Derek’s chest while they kissed, feeling the firmness of the muscles that were underneath the shirt.  
  
Suddenly, Milan couldn’t help his curiosity about Derek’s wings anymore. So many times, he had wanted to touch them and see what they felt like under his hands, and now he couldn’t resist it anymore. His right hand slowly moved across Derek’s chest and up to his shoulder. But just when he was about to let his hand move from Derek’s shoulder to his wing, Milan hesitated and suddenly became a little afraid.  
  
“I…” Milan said as he pulled away from the kiss. His voice was gruff from the kissing, so he cleared his throat before speaking again. “C-Can I touch your wing?”  
  
The question seemed to surprise Derek, who blinked at him at first, but then his pupils suddenly dilated. “Sure,” he said, shrugging lightly. “But you gotta be careful so you don’t cut yourself.”  
  
Milan swallowed and nodded. “Okay. How…?”  
  
“You move your hand down the feathers – never against them, otherwise you’ll get cut. And do it slowly at first.”  
  
Nodding in understanding, Milan slowly reached up towards Derek’s left wing. His heart drummed in his chest from excitement and nervousness, until his hand finally made contact with the rough feathers. They were only in their half-sharp state, which made them less dangerous than their fully sharp state, but still sharp enough to cause a papercut.  
  
Milan was careful as he let his hand slide down the feathers slowly, feeling the rough texture beneath his hand. They felt so different than his own soft feathers, so it was strange to touch them, but it was also pretty fascinating. Although they were rough, it was still pretty pleasant to touch them, and Milan found that he quite liked it.  
  
Alphas weren’t very protective of their wings because they weren’t as sensitive as a female’s or a submissive’s wings, so they didn’t mind it much to have their wings touched. But Derek had never really had anyone touch his wings before. Anja had touched them once, but she had backed off when Derek had given her a small warning growl. He hadn’t felt entirely comfortable with having her touch them, because to him it was a little bit more than just casual sex once you started touching wings. But right now, as Milan touched them, he felt relaxed about it. He shivered a bit at the feeling, because it was actually more pleasant than he had imagined, even though Milan was only running his hand slowly down his feathers. It was oddly intimate to have Milan touch them, especially when Derek saw the amazed, enchanted expression on his face as he took in the feel of them and stared at them like they were the most fascinating thing ever.  
  
Milan let his hand slide down as far as he could before gently pulling away. He smiled shyly as he looked up at Derek from under his lashes. “I didn’t make you feel uncomfortable, did I?”  
  
“No,” Derek said, smiling a bit. “It was kinda pleasant, actually…”  
  
Milan frowned. “You haven’t let anyone touch them before?”  
  
The question made Derek shift, almost shyly. He felt a bit like a virgin when he had to admit that he hadn’t really let someone touch his wings before, and that was really awkward. “Um, no, not really. Anja tried once, but I didn’t let her. It just felt wrong.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Derek cringed when he accidentally brought up Anja again. He didn’t want to remind Milan of his previous habits with having casual sex, because he kind of had the feeling that it made Milan feel insecure about himself. “Anyway, I don’t mind it if you touch them. Just remember to be careful.”  
  
Milan nodded. “Yeah, I will.”  
  
“Well, I _could_ soften them so you don’t get hurt, but that’s not really something that I do around people… I mean, I haven’t done that before. It’s, uh, kinda girly…”  
  
Milan laughed at that, and his laughter almost startled Derek.  
  
“Again with the hate towards everything that’s girly!” Milan laughed and reached out to smack Derek on the chest. “When will you realize that it won’t kill you?”  
  
Derek knew that Milan had a point, but Derek just couldn’t help it. “I know! I just…”  
  
“I know,” Milan chuckled when he sensed that Derek had trouble explaining it. “But even if you one day soften your feathers in front of me, I won’t think of you as ‘girly’. You’ll still be the same.”  
  
“Well, my wings aren’t exactly pretty when the feathers are soft… The feathers tend to get kind of unorganized and messy…”  
  
“I don’t care. Mine aren’t always nice either, but I don’t get inferiority complexes about them.”  
  
“It’s not an inferiority complex,” Derek immediately denied, maybe a little too defensively.  
  
Milan just chuckled softly at him, making Derek think that the submissive didn’t quite believe him. He didn’t have any time to further defend himself, because Milan suddenly moved his hand up and placed it on the back of Derek’s neck to pull him down for another kiss.  
  
Derek was still a little pride-hurt about the comment on his wings, so he was a little rough during this kiss to compensate. Milan noticed it and was kind of amused, but his amusement turned to arousal when he felt Derek’s hand move behind him and come to a rest on his lower back, very close to his butt.  
  
The hand on his lower back felt nice, but Milan was afraid that it would arouse him so much that his panties got wet and uncomfortable to sleep in. However, before he could pull away from the kiss when things escalated, he felt Derek’s hand on his lower back move a bit. At the same time, Milan was moving his wings, and some of his feathers ended up brushing against Derek’s hand. Three of them got trapped between Derek’s hand and Milan’s back, and when Milan moved his wing, he felt the feathers get tugged at a bit. It didn’t hurt, but it sent a strong pulse of pleasure through him – so strong that Milan let out a loud gasp and stepped away quickly.  
  
“Sorry!” Derek immediately blurted, afraid that he had just accidentally caused Milan pain, because his reaction could easily be interpreted as pain.  
  
It took Milan a few seconds to recover from the pleasant sensation and what it did to his body, and he blinked at Derek a few times before he understood that Derek had misinterpreted his reaction.  
  
“Ah, no,” Milan began, blushing furiously. “It didn’t hurt, I just… I was a bit startled, that’s all.”  
  
Derek visibly relaxed when he heard that Milan wasn’t hurt. “Good… But still, I’m sorry.”  
  
“It’s fine,” Milan reassured him, giggling a bit.  
  
“And I’m sorry for touching your feathers without permission. I know you subs don’t like that… I just didn’t realize how close my hand was to your feathers.”  
  
“It’s okay. I don’t mind,” Milan chuckled. “I… You may touch my feathers if you like. Just not near the base of my wings, or my wing bone. I’m not really ready for that yet… And definitely do _not_ touch my oil glands.”  
  
Derek’s eyes widened a bit in surprise that Milan was giving him permission to touch his feathers. He hadn’t expected that so soon. “Uh, yeah. No worries, I won’t touch your oil glands. I know what happens if I do that.”  
  
Milan smiled and was glad that Derek respected that.  
  
“So, uh… We should probably head to bed,” Derek suggested when things were starting to get awkward.  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
They both hesitated a bit, and Derek was just about to turn and climb into his bed when Milan reached up to pull him down for one final kiss. Derek kissed him back immediately, and he couldn’t help but let his fingers brush gently through Milan’s soft feathers now that he had just received official permission for it.  
  
The feathers were just as soft as Derek had imagined. Like silk, but softer. Their touch almost tickled his fingers as they glided through them and Derek definitely liked that feeling. The best part, however, was the soft gasp that escaped Milan when he did it. The sound went straight to Derek’s groin.  
  
Milan’s whole body shivered pleasantly at the contact, and the sudden overstimulation made him pull away abruptly. He glared at Derek when the alpha looked smug about it.  
  
“What? You said I could touch,” Derek smirked.  
  
“I know,” Milan grumbled. “But it caught me off guard.”  
  
Derek just grinned playfully and leaned in to place another quick kiss on Milan’s lips before pulling away. “And tomorrow I promise I’ll put the poster you gave me up on my wall. Just didn’t have the time for it today…”  
  
The submissive chuckled softly. “No problem. I just hope you won’t forget about it.”  
  
“I definitely won’t. It’s too awesome for me to forget about.” Derek looked almost offended that Milan would think that he could forget about the poster. “Still can’t believe you actually drew that.”  
  
The compliment made Milan’s cheek redden and his body shift modestly. “Well, it did take me a really long time to make… I’ve stayed up almost all night every night for the past week to be able to make it on time, and I spent time at the school library to draw it as well…”  
  
“Whoa, you mean to say you didn’t start working on it until about a week ago?”  
  
“I started working on it on the day you told me you wouldn’t mind getting a poster from me for your birthday,” Milan said. “And that’s like two weeks ago. And then it took me ten days to make your present, while I had to study for our finals as well, and then after I finished it I had to go and have it printed at a local store. So yeah, it took me a while. I probably spent like sixty hours or more working on it…”  
  
Derek’s jaw almost dropped at that. “You’re fucking amazing,” he grinned, pulling Milan closer by placing his hands on the submissive’s hips.  
  
Milan grinned shyly and put his hands on Derek’s chest as they stood closely in front of each other. “I’m just glad you liked it.”  
  
“I fucking love it,” Derek grinned.  
  
It was strange to see Derek so happy, because he was always tough and proud, but Milan really liked seeing his boyfriend so happy. Especially because he knew that when Derek finally did show his happiness, it was genuine.  
  
Milan just grinned up at Derek with joy, very pleased that his present had caused such strong emotions in Derek. Before he could help himself, he let out a content sigh and leaned into Derek so that his head was resting against Derek’s chest and his arms moved behind the alpha’s back in a soft embrace. He was just so happy that he wanted to hug Derek, so he did.  
  
At first, Milan had expected that Derek would freeze and hesitate to return the embrace, but he felt Derek close his arms around him almost immediately, with only the slightest hesitation, which was probably caused by surprise.  
  
The gesture made Milan smile, and he closed his eyes in content as he leaned into Derek and listened to the alpha’s strong, steady heartbeat in his chest. He felt Derek’s arms squeeze him tighter, almost protectively, and Milan had never felt safer. He could stay like this forever, safe and content in his alpha’s arms.  
  
They didn’t know for how long they stayed like that, but eventually they pulled apart and settled down to sleep.  
  
It was getting late and they were tired, but they spent several minutes chatting after they had turned off the lights. They mostly talked about the last finals and Derek’s worry that he would fail some of them, and a bit about how relieved Milan was that his mom had showed up tonight after all. When the topic changed to the many games they had played today, Milan couldn’t help but tease Derek a bit about how he had beat him at the video game earlier, which made Derek throw his pillow at Milan in the darkness. Milan was hit in the face, but he just laughed about it before throwing it back at Derek, hitting his face too.  
  
Derek had never had fun with someone in the way that he was having fun with Milan, and he found that he really enjoyed it. That soft, domestic side of him that showed up whenever he was with Milan was starting to become a permanent part of him already, and he really didn’t mind it at all.  
  
All the laughing and playfulness made them more tired though, and they both fell asleep with a smile on their face, looking forward to spending another day together when they woke up again in the morning.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter turned out insanely long, but I hope you guys managed to read it all! :)
> 
> And I hope I managed to describe the trick with the wristlock that Derek taught Milan pretty well. It's difficult to explain it in writing... If you want to see the video I used for this, you can view it on Youtube: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY-P5GBwggU>


End file.
